She kept her eyes trained on Shadow even as Sedna approached, but as the other spoke in low tones, seconding Enya's feelings, her gaze transferred to the other for a second, to show she had heard, and nodded her head once to indicate that she understood. In equally low tones, as she listened to Leviathan's closer-to-usual quips, she replied, "That man has shown himself to be nearly incapable of acting as part of a group; in our last mission together he chose to pursue his own devices rather than follow a group decision and lost two of our members as a direct result. He is too used to working alone; in my eyes he is no longer the leader he pretends to be."

As Leviathan trailed off, Enyalius transferred her attention to the younger senshi, though was still aware and open to Sedna beside her; she was curious about what Leviathan meant - what did she need to be sure of? She was going to ask, her arms unfolding to appear more open, when Shadow spoke again and her arms refolded themselves forcefully, her hands wrapping around her armored biceps and squeezing until the cold metal bit into her palms. "See how he emphasizes himself?" she continued to Sedna, her voice still lowered. He turned then to meet her gaze, petulant defiance in his expression, and she deigned to listen to his ignorant remarks. As he finished, she ignored his question and stated, just a little louder than before but still meant only for Sedna's ears, "He is in this for glory, not for Cosmos."

"In case you have forgotten," she began, her voice low and carrying, "We have actually encountered and defeated another Chaos Seed, but by all means continue with your haughty suppositions rather than requesting information about the endeavor." 

Without offering a word more to him, she turned her attention to Leviathan and approached her, dropping her arms to her sides and spoke more openly, her tone softer, "What do you need to be sure of? I can promise you that we will do our best to help your planet and your friend," she offered at the last, remembering Leviathan's words at Castle Charon.

If what Enya said was true - and Eshana had no reason to doubt that it wasn't - then this Shadow wasn't fit to be a leader. A leader always looked out for their subordinates or group members, not deliberately putting them in harms way and loosing two of them to further their own goals. Shaking her head, Eshana decided that she would not follow this man, but would continue to monitor the situation as it had the potential to break out into a fight. 

"He is in this for glory, not for Cosmos." Eshana snorted, beginning to see this for herself. What did this man have to prove? Was he trying to prove himself to Neo Queen Serenity or was he trying to prove something to himself? Either way, they had no time for these games.

She nodded in approval of Enya's change of tone and body posture towards Leviathan. It seemed as if the younger senshi was skittish and required a gentle hand to guide her.

It was beginning to look like she was going to have to use all of her fathers teachings to get her rag tag group through this mission.

Nix didn’t know who the two people Sailor Leviathan was talking about that she needed to save, but it didn’t matter anyway. She intended to save everyone, and did not expect this much resistance when she was assigned to this planet. What kind of senshi would refuse help to save her own home? It wasn’t that Sailor Leviathan didn’t care—Nix could clearly see her fear and anxiety in the wake of danger—but she couldn’t figure out the reasoning.

When the senshi told them only magic users could stay, Nix was relieved, since she was primarily a magic user anyway. She did wish she could walk rather than swim… As it was pointed out that the sole non-senshi seemed to have that ability, she waited to hear the explanation.

When the man suddenly addressed them as if he was in charge, Nix looked back and forth in confusion. Why did he sound like he held a higher position than the senshi of this planet? That sounded… wrong. She was not alone in her reaction, as the actual leader of the group, Enyalius, visibly reacted in annoyance. However, Nix still caught the information offered. Two people had left 24 hours ago… to go where?

She soon understood that it was most likely the core of the planet where the earthquake originated from. How would they get down there was the next question. However the method, those two clearly needed their help as soon as possible. She waited for Leviathan to tell them what she needed to be sure of to give them their blessing, ready to ask if it became necessary.

More information came from the man, which intrigued her. Dragons. Nix had heard of those magnificent creatures, but she had yet to see one for herself. According to myth, ice dragons once resided in Nix before they went into extinction, but she’d seen pictures. She bet they looked different here, though. She knew there were good ones and bad ones, but if Chaos really got into one of them… then they would certainly make a formidable opponent.

The conversation moved back to the man’s credibility, which shed some light to Nix. His attitude certainly matched what Enyalius was describing, in her opinion. For the moment, she decided to follow the woman, not only because she was a fellow senshi, but because she seemed the more sensible of the two. Then again, women tended to be that way.

Nix herself was interested to hear how they’d defeated the Chaos seed in the previous planet. She anxiously waited for Sailor Leviathan’s answer.

Achelois was in no way surprised that Shadow had decided to attempt a leadership position in the group.  Though she had no idea why he had this death wish of his.  Why would he just assume he was automatically superior to them?  Especially on Leviathan's own planet.  Enya does not assume leadership, she earns it.  Maybe he assumed that because he is unable to play teammate, then he must of course be the leader.  A wrong assumption on his part, before being a leader, a person needs to be able to work well with others.  Not to mention the whole gaining trust thing, no one will follow someone they don't trust.  

They don't have much time, she could feel her internal clock ticking down on their timer from the crone.  They should already be working on their plan, not hesitating to accept help or making grabs at leadership.  She hoped Leviathan would give them her blessing quickly so they could save her people before something terrible happens to them.  She looked out at the city as she listened to the others talk.  At the mention of dragons, her interest peaked, she wondered if she could talk to them.  Though if they were under the influence of chaos they would likely not listen to her.  Still she could use it in some sort of trickery.  

Last time they were arguing like this on a planet infected with chaos, the old woman had appeared and offered assistance.  She wondered what the odds of that happening again were...

Ribbon looked around with some discomfort. She had no idea what was going on - beyond Enyalius staring daggers at Shadow and moving her mouth with small motions to one of the dark-suited senshi - the one that swam well - and Shadow turning around to look at her as the talking went on and on - but she knew that this wasn't helping Leviathan or her planet. If He really were taking revenge, talking wouldn't stop whatever was in store.

"I don't know. Shadow could be onto something. The dragons here are a lot more intimidating than the ones on Zenar, Land of the Goblins. Chaos is chaotic though, right? Hence the name? It could just be farting around in the core for all we know. I just wish Guardian Leviathan wasn't such an ass. I should have gone with her and Enoch."

And there it was again. Just why was Sailor Leviathan not in charge of things? It was evident that this Guardian Leviathan, Shadow and even to an extent Sailor Enyalius had more leadership in this situation than she did. Why was she so pitiful toward her own cause?

Sailor Leviathan seemed unsure of what Sailor Enyalius was saying. She was confused, almost curious as to why Enyalius would care so much about people she never met, especially Enoch. Did they know Enoch once attacked Neo Queen Serenity herself? Then again, he was under the influence of Chaos at the time so he was immediately pardoned.

Her mind wandered though. What if it happened again? If the Chaos got Enoch, could she trust this group to be as kind as Serenity was?

"I need to test something," she said cautiously. She reached out her hand to Shadow of all people.

For just a brief moment, his gills would disappear and he would begin floating again. She immediately restored her blessing with an obnoxious grin.

"That settles it! I can give and take away the blessing at any time! So you all can have it for now. Poof!"

Suddenly, without pomp or circumstance, the others would be granted the ability to walk or swim as they chose, though only Ribbon would gain the gills that Shadow did, being not a sailor soldier herself.

"I am a kind and glorious ruler," she said proudly.

"Well, at least you're working on it," a raspy voice muttered, echoing off the pearl-encrusted walls so it seemed to come from all around them. Suddenly she appeared - a small old lady, wrapped in magenta robes cinched at the waist with a rope belt - in the doorway of one of the rooms off the entrance hall, and hobbled forward until she was near Leviathan in the center of the little room. Her bright eyes caught Enyalius, then Sedna and Amatheia, and over to the rest of the group still by the door. She shrugged, "Well, you made it, but you haven't got enough time to stand there gaping - " she paused suddenly, her head tilting to one side, "What in the world?"

Ribbon flailed about in her suit, her hands coming to either side of her helmet as though attempting to hold her head, her pale green eyes wide with terror.

"Oh for heaven's sakes," The crone snapped her knobbley old fingers and Ribbon was freed from her atmospheric pressure suit, bubbles floating up around her as the suit was returned to the girl's ship. Ribbon panicked even more for a moment, having suddenly found herself underwater without her suit, but the crone had moved on and ignored her.

THERE WERE HOLES IN HER NECK. SHE COULD FEEL THEM. HOLES. SHE WAS GOING TO BLEED OUT AND DIE - Ribbon flailed to cover the holes, but of course she couldn't get her hands anywhere near her neck through her suit, and to make things worse she was getting dizzy she was going to die --

And then suddenly she was out of her suit and going to die even faster. She flailed, kicking through the thick water in a matter that shouldn't've been familiar, and yet it was. The cold shock seemed to travel through her skin to her bones in record time, calming her down enough to realize that she could breathe. Experimentally, she opened her mouth and took a deep breath, only to fill her stomach with salt water. She coughed and sputtered up the water in a curious and gross fashion, only to finally notice that the holes in her neck were gills, and was suddenly glad that she was still mostly behind everyone so, with luck, not many had seen that and were paying attention to the old lady. She waved her hand in front of her face to dispel the warm water - oh gross - and tried to stay quiet and motionless and listen to whatever Leviathan's grandma had to say, while coping with the reality of her situation. 

She had gills, she was deep under the ocean, and she was practically naked without her tall boots and coat. Could she keep her scarf on? Was it going to bother her gills? She wasn't going to give it up. She'd just deal with it. Oh god she probably looked ridiculous. .... Then again the senshi wore skirts as short as hers. They wore shoes, too, but that didn't really matter, right? She had had a pedicure recently. If she played it cool they wouldn't even notice. 

Right. Play it cool.

Achelois felt something shift, and then the old woman was there, releasing Ribbon from her suit.  She kept her eye on her, making sure that for some reason she wouldn't drown, but the young girl seemed to be able to adjust.  It would appear they all had Leviathan's blessing now.  Achelois turned her attention back to the older one among them.  She swam over to the her, the feeling of movement similar to flying.  "If you would elder, tell me, you have a great power, who are you? And is it truly our side that you are on?"  Her tone was one of pure curiosity and wonder.  Achelois could not deny that the elder knew so much more than them, how had she come to be?

Shadow addressed them on the current situation, and to Callisto's confusion, Enyalius seemed to be taking offense with him. Did she miss something? Were they already having a clash of methods before their mission even began? Some of the other senshi seemed to agree with Enyalius, but it wasn't much of her business, so she stayed out of it. As long as they were allowed to stay here and help fight, Callisto was satisfied. After some discussion, Sailor Leviathan finally came to a decision, and Callisto gasped as a strange sensation spread over her. The water no longer wanted to push her up and drag down her movements, and her feet could settle on the surface as if it were dry land. 

Good, being forced to tread in place would have hindered her offensive capabilities and speed to the point of being a very slow, mobile shield. She grinned and oriented herself to stand properly again, but before she could test out her reflexes, a familiar voice interrupted them.

She turned to see the old crone emerge from wherever she came from, and comment on how little time they had. Right, Chaos was already influencing the local life here, going by the things she had heard about dragons and the missing people. If it had found someone powerful to control, this would be a difficult fight. Callisto glanced back at Ribbon, now out of her diving suit, and went back to refocusing herself on the task ahead.

Old grudges. That was what he finally concluded watching as Enyalius and Shadow seemed to be busy throwing each others sour words. He didn't know whether or not the man had tried to get a rise out of the senshi on purpose or if there was more to this story than Oberon knew, but what he was certain this was the best way to lose a precious time. He knew how darkness - or chaos, whatever metaphor of evil - was quick to make empires crumble. Two soldiers were already missing after leaving twenty-four hours ago. The chance to find them alive would decrease each hour that added itself to this count. No need to watch tv shows to be aware of that.

This bunch of mismatched girls - and a strange man many seemed not to appreciate - against dragons and other chaotic obstacles?

What could possibly go wrong?

When Leviathan agreed to extend her blessing to them as well, Oberon slowly sank to the floor, his naked feet probing slightly the material under them before he landed completely, membrane scratching slightly against it. Weird feeling. Fighting wouldn't be so complicated now, though he'd be more comfortable even with his wings out and beating instead of walking around naked as he felt without them.

The old lady's voice brought his attention back to the present. Oberon tensed, defensive. He was worried when Ribbon started to panic, but when she seemed alright he looked back at Achelois speaking to the old woman. So they knew her? As a trickster, he knew how much perceptions were feeble things, so he didn't like her, or her energy, or her presence, but as long as the others accepted her, he would follow suit.

"Hmm?" The crone frowned as Achelois approached, her wizened face creasing ever more, but she did not move away from Achelois or badger her into giving her more space. She looked deep into Achelois's green eyes for a moment before huffing and replied, "I side with Cosmos, dear, and that is is all you need know of me." Still looking at the blonde, the crone reached into the magenta pouch tied to her belt, previously hidden in the folds of her garb, and pulled out a necklace. She reached forward with one hand to take Achelois's hand, then pressed the trinket into the palm of the other, looking at the senshi in a meaningful way, almost as though she were weighing her worth.

But then she moved on. 

"You will need to move quickly if you are to find the Chaos Seed in time," she warned, pausing beside Callisto to hand the helmeted warrior three items from her purse - an amulet like she had given Achelois, a vial of red liquid, and a six-sided die. She moved to Nix and presented her with another amulet and red vial, looking the girl over and nodding once, as though in approval. Turning to Oberon she paused, her scrutinizing eyes seeming to look right through her to read him, and soon she reached up to press a warm thumb to the middle of his forehead, and moved on to Nocturnus.

With a critical, grumpy look, the Crone pulled from her bag a familiar pair of gauntlets, and handed them over with the faintest of scowls. "You can keep these, rugrat," she grumbled, "And don't let your mother say I never did her any favors."

Achelois held the elder's gaze gently, accepting the amulet into her hand, and watching as she moved around distributing gifts again.  She looked down at the amulet in her hand, knowing that she would need every bit of energy it provided.  As she placed the item around her neck, she glanced up to Enya.  She knew her companion must be feeling the pain, and what if... No, she would watch her, she would help her, and she would do whatever needed to be done.

Her attention turned back to the elder as she handed Nocturnus gauntlets, apparently to keep instead of vanishing again.  She chuckled a little, the side of Cosmos huh...  "Well if that's all you'll say of yourself, what about the enemy we're up against?  The chaos here on this planet, what do you know of it?"

The Crone turned away from Nocturnus and hobbled back through the open archway towards the rest of the group, her eyes on the world around them rather than on any person in particular, for the moment. She paused as she reached Amatheia, pulling two amulets and a red potion from her bag and handing it to her. "It is a seed, like the other, though much farther along in its incubation." Her old voice cracked as she moved on to Sedna, and pressed the two more popular items into her hands. "It is hidden deep within the caverns on the other side of this world, guarded fiercely; if it is not eradicated, this world will be torn apart."


As she turned back towards Enyalius, Shadow and Leviathan, she paused, looking puzzled, and then annoyed. Offhandedly, she pointed back to Callisto, "Fata Redire ter," then to Amatheia, "Fortunaga", and activated their special items, preparing them for use.

Sailor Nocturnus

When the Crone appeared, Sailor Nocturnus could have applauded her entrance. Watching Shadow and Sailor Enyalius interact with this much tension and hostility only made little Nocturnus feel uncomfortable. Particularly now, when they had so much work to do, it felt like a distraction from the real problem. Of course, there was noooooo way she was going to voice that. They were both far too intimidating (and stubborn; she knew that from previous adventures) for her to attempt to play peacemaker.

But now, hopefully, the group was back on track. The "blessing" from Sailor Leviathan had caused the group to be able to walk normally, rather than swimming. She didn't mind having to swim, but Nocturnus wasn't particularly good at it. Being back on her feet wasn't something she regretted. And even Ribbon was able to join them in this state, now using gills as Shadow did.

The old woman passed through the group, and Sailor Nocturnus couldn't help thinking of the gauntlets she had been granted on Andromeda. Her throat tightened as she remembered how just touching the items connected her, if only for a moment, to her beloved and distant mother. When the magical things had been recalled after the event, giving them up had been so hard. The young one was so caught up in these thoughts that she paid little attention to the gifts the others received.

And then the Crone was before her, holding out... those same gauntlets. Sailor Nocturnus gaped at her, the dark eyes flickering between the golden armor and the wizened woman. Her fingers trembled as she received them, afraid that this would be an illusion, but no, they were real. The girl clutched the gauntlets to her chest, the gold glinting like the stars marking her dark uniform. She could still feel it: Mother.

Sailor Nocturnus opened her mouth to thank the old woman, but it came out as only the quietest whisper. Her next reaction involved tilting her chin up, avoiding eye contact with anyone else in the group, trying not to sniffle, and pretending that she was absolutely totally too much of an adult to have tears running down her face. That wasn't something a sailor soldier would cry over, so of course she certainly wasn't doing so. They had important work to do. She kept up the act as she listened to the conversation between Achelois and the old one. It was highly unlikely that the others would have been fooled by her charade, but maybe they would pretend and save the girl's pride.

One minute she was floating, the next she felt gravity returned, allowing her to stand as normal once more. It was a nice feeling, and she felt more comfortable and confident about fighting in this state.

As an unfamiliar voice was heard, she looked around before noticing an old woman appearing out of nowhere. She freed the girl with pink hair that had led them into this planet, and though Nix was alarmed by all the flailing, she was glad to see the girl soon settling into her new state of being. It wasn’t until the woman gave her the items she had purchased some time ago from a mysterious shop that Nix recalled her as the shopkeeper. What could an old shopkeeper be doing here, and knowing so much about this war, too?

Her wisdom kind of reminded Nix of the goddess of her planet, and so she listened to what the old woman had to say closely. She felt more anxious about getting on with this mission given the stakes and the time they certainly wasted standing around here, but for the moment her attention was momentarily diverted when she glanced at the youngest soldier in their group. She seemed to be having a… moment, though once again, knowing nothing of these people, Nix had no idea what it was. She just felt an immense need to hug the little one, but being a stranger, she couldn’t possibly do that.

Amatheia's eyebrows rose a little at the interaction between Shadow and Enyalius. She had no idea what Shadow was like, but this was a bit unexpected from Enyalius. As far as she could tell, the reaction to Shadow's words was unprovoked. But she remained silent, and gave no reaction to the mention of dragons. Such creatures were utterly unknown to Amatheia, but she began to gather from the discussion that they were nothing to be trifled with. Though she did let out a faint giggle at the sight of Shadow fruitlessly trying to tame his hair from the subtle currents of the water.

Then she felt rather sympathetic for Leviathan, who seemed so unsure of herself. Amatheia hummed a few notes quietly before she was aware of the water senshi saying she needed to test something. She watched with interest then tensed, about to dart forward when she saw Shadow's gills disappearing. But then just as swiftly they were restored and Leviathan seemed remarkably cheerful now, granting everyone else the same abilities. Amatheia relaxed once more, but looked at Leviathan with slightly admiring eyes.

Being able to grant people the same skill in the water as born water dwellers? She could only imagine the usefulness such an ability could grant. She half wished she had such abilities. Then the Crone appeared again and Amatheia's eyes widened ever so slightly. As per the crone's mysterious nature, she was able to banish Ribbon's water suit, enabling her to move freely in the water like everyone else.

And Achelois was questioning the crone and where her loyalties rested. Amatheia felt quite relieved to hear she was on their side, and that was enough for her. And she felt a thrill as the crone began dispensing her gifts. She listened and accepted the gifts with a grateful smile and placed the amulets around her neck while tucking the potion away.

Then a soft hiss of noise as she inhaled water sharply after the crone had spoken the word at her. Such a sensation of sheer luckiness came over her that it made her feel something approximate to giddiness. It filled her with a confidence she did not have on Andromeda. She smiled, touching the amulets gently.

Shadow's brows knit together as Enyalius appeared to exchange hushed words with her companion. The exact words were outside of his hearing, but Enyalius's gaze had never left him. She probably uttered something that was unflattering of his person, maybe even something slanderous. It was for the best that he did not overhear the verbal exchange, lest he lose sight of his reason for being on Leviathan.

In the wake of his thought, Shadow missed the valkyrie's belligerent statement and almost all of Leviathan's following speech. There was something about the timid senshi's tone that seized Shadow's attention, prompting him to look towards Leviathan, whose hand was now outstretched in his direction.

What is she doing-

Shadow felt his body go buoyant, losing his gills and any feeling of balance within the water. Was he really going to drown?! His hands shot up to his mouth, desperately attempting to stem the flow of lost air bubbles while he thought of a plan..

A moment later, with little warning, his feet touched back down onto the floor.

"Kind and gbl- glorious," Shadow sputtered and coughed into his sleeve after Leviathan reinstated her blessing. He was grateful that she allowed him to breathe underwater, even if the sensation was akin to a perpetual moment of drinking water after consuming a large amount of salted, thinly sliced potatoes. It was a lot easier than attempting to micromanage his respiration, not to mention accounting for hidden dangers like nitrogen narcosis or decompression sickness.

Not long after recovering his breath, Shadow found himself looking at the senshi's unexpected visitor. He kept his eyes on the crone for a short time, listening to her up to the point the Chaos Seed was mentioned. His teeth ground together in annoyance as the details were explained; Enyalius was surely going to taunt him with that knowledge.
 
When Achelois questioned the old woman's motives, she replied with a cryptic assurance of her interests and a pointed refusal to go into further detail. The mention of Cosmos was more relevant to the senshi than to himself; after all, he had no Sailor Crystal and was increasingly being regarded as a liability to the group.

While they conversed amongst each other, Shadow's attention drifted away from the senshi and the old crone towards the surrounding city.

Sailor Leviathan watched in astonishment as the crone appeared and NO ONE QUESTIONED IT. Why wasn't Sailor Nocturnus peeing herself out of fear? Why were the others so happy to see her? Why was the mermaid giggling like an idiot?

Then the crone started talking about the Chaos Seed and where it lay.

"How in the hell do you know that?" Leviathan barked. "Guardian Leviathan never mentioned someone like you before and I would never let you down here to give out presents like you're some kind of Freak Holiday Spirit. You're spouting weird incantations and I don't like it!"

She stepped forward to go toe to toe with the crone. She looked down at her with her fierce yellow eyes. Her teeth even began to grow sharp as she started to lose her human features. She was trying to hold herself together but she was falling apart now. Who was this woman to just stumble into the situation like she owned the place?

"I don't know why the others are trusting you so easily. You're probably the reason Guardian Leviathan and Enoch didn't come back! What did you do with them? Where are they?"

I've never seen her any more intense in this pending crisis.

Shadow quickly raised his head, following after Leviathan to keep her within arms' reach. His previous expression of disdain towards Enya's hostility disappeared, now being replaced with grave concern as he worried that Leviathan would slight someone vastly more powerful than herself. At this particular moment in time, Sailor Drill Sergeant was just not worth any more attention.

"Are Guardian Leviathan and Enoch in immediate peril aside of the earthquakes? And if the seed is hidden deep in the caverns of Leviathan, will it be in the darkest places?"

"Old one," Eshana said, making sure to keep her tone respectful, "Can you tell us if there are any differences between this Chaos Seed and the one on the planet Andromeda in terms of how we may defeat it and any powers it may possess?"

The crone had been reaching into her pouch for another item when she caught sight of Leviathan's flats and followed them quickly to the senshi's face, her bright eyes, unnatural for a face so old, taking in the young warrior expertly. She had listened to her tirade, her mouth creasing and cheeks twitching with annoyance - either at her speech, her closeness, or her tone - but now she tilted her head slightly to one side, as though evaluating the person standing before her. Blinking, she reached up one old, withered hand and made motions as if to brush her aside. 

"Unwad your leotard, girl, that wasn't me," her croaky voice stated dismissively, ignoring Shadow's comment in favor of keeping a close tie to Leviathan. "Your friend and guardian aren't in the best of spots, but that's their own damned fault, not mine. They're there," she pointed a crooked finger and a map jumped off of the table in the adjoining room and floated over to Leviathan to hover in front of her face, floating in the water; it was a map of the other side of the core, where the dragons dwell, and within one of the larger sections of rock that denoted a mountain, a blue x shimmered with its own light. "They found the seed all right - that Enoch is bright enough - but now they're in trouble and they'll need your help to get out of it." She shook her outstretched finger at Leviathan then, a gesture of warning and condemnation all in one.

As she had addressed Shadow's comment, mostly, in her reply to Leviathan, she turned her eyes to Sedna as she reached into her pouch and pulled out another amulet and red potion and offered them to Shadow. "The seeds work the same - they feed off of Planetary Energy until they come to fruition. You need more worry about their guardians; until they are ready to burst, they are relatively harmless."

Having distributed Shadow's items, she shuffled over to Enyalius.

A map! And information! The elder was being generous, Achelois felt the need to ask any questions that could possibly help them on their journey.  Looking around her eyes fell on the senshi no longer possessing legs.  She was reminded of the confusion in the beginning when the other senshi tried to save their attackers.  Though she felt the girl had intended well, her misguided attempts had wasted a lot of time and caused damage to several members of the group.  Maybe they should make sure who the enemy was this time so there was no question.  The elder was now moving towards Enya, Achelois quickly floated behind, her question bubbling forth from her lips.  "Elder, who is our enemy here? Who are we to fight if we are to defeat this chaos seed?"

"A great many things will stand in your way," the crone said irritably, waving her hand in the air beside her head as though to brush Achelois away, but she did so in almost a fond manner, as though if Achelois refused, she would not be unhappy. "But beware the Electric Eel most of all."

Her bright eyes fell upon Enyalius and held the copper gaze as she reached into her bag for a final item.

Shadow looked over the potion and amulet briefly, securing the items in his pocket and around his neck repspectively. After entertaining a few idle thoughts towards his memories and the crone's potential identity, he stepped forward to again address the senshi's strange guest.

"Excuse me.. I can't think of a name with which to address you, nor would I insult you by attempting to think of one out of hand."  Shadow couldn't call the crone Grandma, not even in a joking manner. It was a poor use of their precious limited time. Though the man looked awkward at this realization, he proceeded to address the crone as though she were listening.

"In a short time, three planets related to our actions on the maze world were attacked.. Achelois, Andromeda, and presently Leviathan." Shadow sucked in a salty gillful of oxygen-rich water, moving forward to the important question. "Are there any other worlds that are being subjected to retaliation? If Sol isn't at risk, who else is in jeopardy?"

Amatheia softly exhaled, still delighting in the feeling of positivity when she was aware of questions being asked of the crone, and to her surprise, being answered. She remembered the Siren of Andromeda, whom she had hoped could have been saved. Had she known otherwise, she would have helped more to incapacitate her. Shadow had asked a question, and now Amatheia moved forward to ask her own.

“You say there are many things in our way. But do we have to destroy them to stop Chaos? Or can we save them? Who or what is only victim of Chaos' influence?” She did not want to be distracted by her hopefulness again. If she would have to end a creatures existence, she wanted to know it was necessary.

"Enoch found the seed," Sailor Leviathan murmured. "But then why couldn't they destroy it? That doesn't make any sense. What's wrong?"

She wasn't aware of the adventure on Andromeda, where only Sailor Andromeda was able to destroy the Chaos Seed. She continued to look at the crone in high suspicion.

Electric eel? Sailor Leviathan thought. Just what in the world was that? Oh, it was a fish... thing.

"So... you're going to teleport us to this place then, right?" she asked with huge, sparkling eyes. "To this magical place on the map? Where my friends are? With your magical powers that you used to get on my dump of a homeworld without my permission? The ones that no one is questioning how you got? And then you'll defend the thing that's defending this weird seed thing?"

She became quiet when Shadow's question was brought up. Just what was he asking? The others, Achelois and Amatheia specifically, were asking very good questions. This was just odd for her.

"Other worlds? That can't be, Shadow, you idiot. If that was the case, one of the others would have felt it. They'd freak out like I did."

Sailor Nocturnus

Sailor Nocturnus hadn't thought about the fact that Sailor Leviathan had not met this strange old woman before. No wonder the bright-haired soldier of this planet was so concerned with the robed woman's sudden appearance! The group was abuzz with questions sought of the elder, the sailor soldiers who had met her before on Andromeda hoping to glean as much information as possible. As the smallest of their batch watched and tried to listen to all the conversation, she wondered how soon they'd be on their way.

As she listened, she thought of the Crone's comment about the Chaos Seed: relatively harmless until it comes to fruition. That left only one question in the child's mind.

"How long do we have to defeat it?" she asked softly, afraid of being just one more voice among the chorus but unable to leave the question unspoken.

Maybe it was something she should have known, but at this point Nocturnus felt like she no longer had any reasonable idea of the passage of time. There was too much going on with too many different altered states.

This woman was certainly interesting. Not only did she have items that could help in their journey, but she seemed to also know a great deal of what was going on. How? It seemed like she was one of those people who just knew. She seemed secretive about her own origins but was more than happy to dispense advice about their enemies. Nix couldn’t help wishing the woman could help them more or even journey with them—knowledge was very valuable after all. At least, with her pointing out the location they needed to go on the map, hopefully now the senshi could go straight to the problem and eradicate it.

So… as long as they got there on time, the seed wouldn’t be any more dangerous than the manifestations of Chaos she had seen for the past few months. This seemed promising.

She felt a tad puzzled by the woman’s remark about watching for the ‘Electric Eel’. Was the animal going to be monstrous? Or simply dangerous in unexpected ways?

Oh, wait. They were in water. Electricity in water… yes… that could be very bad indeed... A problem to be solved for sure.

Hearing about other worlds made her think back of her own planet, wondering if Chaos would someday target it again as well. She had a feeling the manifestation of Chaos she’d once faced was not one of the particularly strong ones.

After the last question was posed, Nix finally gathered her courage to speak. “Who is the person behind these planting of seeds, and where might we find him?”

It couldn’t be Chaos itself, because Chaos was an entity without form, scattered all around the cosmos in many manifestations. She knew she couldn’t eradicate the darkness itself for darkness was always needed for there to be light. The balance needed to be maintained forever in an eternal struggle, so trying to get rid of it was impossible. What she meant was the specific agent who was planting these seeds and targeting these planets for a reason.

She removed the potion and pressed it into the taller woman's palm, staring up at her purposefully as the questions rolled over her. "Time will tell," she replied, though to Shadow or Amatheia's question, or both, was unapparent, but where none could see, her face frowned at the armored woman. She then broke her gaze and turned away from Enyalius, hobbling out of their reach to stand near the doorway she had entered through. She motioned loosely to Leviathan, barely answering her question, "That is the duty of a Senshi, not of an old woman like me. It is up to the likes of you to save this planet," her eyes slid to Nocturnus, to show that she had heard even the quietest of voices among the others, "and you have but seven hours to it."


The crone turned to face them all to answer Nix, her voice hoarse, "One among you already knows who he is, or what he presents himself to be. Hope you do not come upon him alone."

With that, she rose into the air and spread her arm out as one might scatter seeds, and before each person floated a small pill, the shape, size, and color of a pumpkin seed. "Take this when the pressure gets to be too much." Before Leviathan, beside the pumpkin seed, was a small blue vial; this the crone did not remark upon, but continued with her odd form of goodbye. "Many lives are at stake here.


"Don't screw up."