The archer she had targeted plummeted to the ground, unmoving, and its death was followed by another of its partners. Five more to go. Chalybs was mechanical as she recalculated their odds. If they kept up this strategy of focusing down enemies, it would be far more efficient than spreading themselves thin.

"We seem to be more effective when aiming for the same creature," Chalybs said, raising her voice to be heard by the others. She switched back to Archer 4 and fired off a Chalybs Beam. They had to keep the pressure up and press their advantage.

Their combined attack both hit at the same time, and a moment later, the creature was no more. She inhaled in surprise; not expecting it to be that effective. But then she threw a smile—a grin, really—at Nyx, her confidence at their teamwork rising. She knew they could achieve amazing things as long as they were together.

However, this wasn’t the time to celebrate just yet. One down, many more to go. Another one soon fell after being shot down by SAM. That left five.

She looked around for other targets. Several of them were aiming for the last moving archer, and Hemera returned her attention to those she had burned earlier.

Seeing that they weren’t moving, she summoned her rod and flew toward Archer 2, swinging its pointy end as hard as she could toward the creature’s neck.

OOC:

...What was he doing?

He was trying to reason with those creatures again? Aldrin's song did squat -- instead it only got her nearly killed -- or did he think that maybe they find songs offensive? Surely his words would be much more effective?

Could he not see that words would not do anything? She would have got it if he attempted to use his powers on them, but talking? From what she had gathered, there was no talking involved when he released her from brainwash; it was a magic ability just like theirs.

At least he had attacked too; then again, she did not get how he believed that it was a good idea to try to reason with them and whack them all in one go. What was wrong with him?

Anyway, for better or for worse, after her attack struck along with her sister's, there was not much of a creature left to reason with. She smiled back at her sister -- much more subtly than her sister's grin, of course -- and she directed her power towards the distracted Archer 1.

As calmly as she could, but quite possibly not as calmly as she would have liked, she addressed the winged one. "If you want to try to save some of them, try using your power on the distracted ones, see if it has any effect. Don't you see words won't do anything?"

Attack:

She had never designated herself as a healer, but her newfound power came in handy in that respect for this battle. Sailor Xtal-Diamante's eyes scanned the group that fought, looking for others. Right now, no one seemed particularly likely to benefit from her other enhancement options. The sisters showed their battle prowess, the winged and bladed one engaged in physical combat against the things, the armored soldier used her beam against them—generally with moderate to high success.

At least she could attempt to keep them from joining Aldrin's current status.

Cosima: she had been hit by several archers. That same eerie light flashed across Xtal-Diamante's eyes as she concentrated on the long-haired warrior.

Attack:

As Ari kept the barrier up, the battled appeared to be turning in their favor. Even though there was not much she could do from the ground but keep her shield up, seeing that her thrown daggers had done nothing, relief washed over her as the rest of the team managed to take out two of the bird creatures and several were incapacitated.

Among the chaos of battle, Ari's ears twitched as she heard the strange emotionless voice of Hex speaking out. Something about vibrations? Had anyone heard her? It didn't seem they had, she wasn't very loud about the matter. Ari winced when an arrow bounced off her shield, missing Alshain, feeling her shield weaken some.

"Bastet Energy Barrier!" she called out, reinforcing the only defense they had.

After that she turned towards Hex, "Hex, what kind of vibrations? Where are they coming from?"

Was it something she could hear? Ari concentrated her hearing to try to pick up any sounds different from the battle. Her stomach churned as she worried over what sort of thing could be causing the vibrations. Hex had mentioned something about it much earlier...was it following them?

With the targets immobile, finally she was able to hit both of them with her attack. The others were beginning to overwhelm their enemies as well, and Hadley allowed herself a small sense of victory. But her nerves were still on edge, and that bout of happiness didn't last for too long. Having forced herself to focus on the battle - and only the battle - was beginning to take its toll on her. The worry for everyone else - wondering how they were doing, if everyone was okay - pulled too heavily at her concentration

Hadley looked around herself, taking in the sight of her friends in all of their varying states of being. Seeing Aldrin unmoving caused a spike of fear to shoot through her chest, her blood running cold. But she was too afraid to ask about the blue senshi's wellbeing. She was too afraid of the answer she might get.

Hearing the familiar sounds of Ari's voice was a welcome distraction. Hadley looked over to her friend, a whole new wave of relief washing through her at seeing the other girl healthy and whole and alive. She had been so focused, she wasn't certain when Ari had landed with the rest of them, but she was so glad to see her now.

The conversation Ari was having with Xtal was concerning, however. "Vibrations?" Hadley repeated, frowning. She didn't have much to add to the conversation, as she couldn't sense anything like that. Normally she would have sought out information through the plants, she feared such a thing would only invite the darkness back in, and she wanted to avoid that. Even just thinking about the sheer emptyness around her made Hadley feel uncomfortable and ill at ease.

So instead, unable to contribute much, she waited to hear more from the other two with their keener senses, ready to act as best she could.

  As Cosima was about to hit the Archer, she caught sight of the beams from the sister's joint attack heading straight towards her and the Archer's direction from her peripheral vision. She held her attack and quickly flew backwards before she could get caught in the impending attack, covering her eyes at the bright light that completely engulfed the creature completely. 

When she had turned back to look back at the archer and saw...nothing. The sister's attack had completely obligated the bird and there was nothing of it left, not even a single feather. To say she was impressed was an understatement as she flew off, deciding that those two could clearly handle themselves. Seeing everyone preoccupied with fighting off one of creatures made her search for one that was alone before she spotted two further away from the group. She flew towards Archer 5, swinging her whip before lashing it at the bird.

Quote :

9 Hemera attacks Archer 2 with her rod!
How much damage?
--6 critical hit
--STR 7
--WPN 2
----Total of 15 13 points of damage.

Archer 2 has been defeated.

9 Amarachius attempts to attack Archer 4!
Did it hit?
--1
Archer 4 twists out of the way at the last second!

6 Archer 4 attempts to grab and bite Amarachius across his neck!
Did it hit?
--6 critical hit!
How much damage?
--4
--STR 7 
--WPN 1
--ARM 0 No armor on neck!
----Total of 12 points of damage!

Archer 4 wrote:

As the shield-bearing prey flew towards it, it was ready - it pivoted, reaching out with one feathered hand to grab it about its shoulders and attaching itself to the other's back, surrounding its body with legs and arms, drawing its sharpened beak across the prey's neck as they spun out of control with the momentum of the grab and swap; while the attack was successful, all of life's blood did not spill, though much washed out - it would take more time for it to bleed out and die. It took control with it's own wings ad prepared - he would next resort to ripping off the wings, as was customary.

5 Cosima uses Starshatter (2WPN) and attacks Archer 5
How much damage?
--3
--STR 11
--WPN 2
----Total of 16 points of damage

5 Nyx uses Moonlight Lullaby (4MP) and attacks Archer 1 
How much damage?
--2
--CTRL 7
--MP 2
----Total of 11 points of damage.

Archer 1 has been defeated.

4 Chalybs uses Chalybs Beam (3MP) and attempts to attack Archer 4
Did it hit?
--4
How much damage?
--1
--CTRL 3
--MP 2
----Total of 6 points of damage

3 Xtal-Diamante uses Recovery (4MP) on Cosima
--3
--CTRL 5
--MP 2
----Total of 10 HP restored

3 Bastet uses 2 MP and Restores Barrier to full strength (10)

 Bastet feels vibrations beneath her feet!

Round Five Battle Order:

DM wrote:

They could all feel it now - a strange vibration beneath them, causing their feet to sink further in the shifting sands, as though the particles themselves were swallowing them, intent on burying them, though they themselves were at the mercy of this odd, overwhelming vibration...

She largely tried to ignore the comments about not being able to talk things out with these things - she stubbornly believed that if they could get one of the immobile ones down there and keep it immobile they could get somewhere, but that kind of strategy should be reserved for after the threat of the remaining enemy was nullified --

Crysdal sucked in her breath as the creature twisted out of Gabriel's rush and turned his advance against him, coiling around him like some wicked piggy-back rider and jerking its long beak at his throat. Stomach lurching, Crysdal froze in fear, terrified of what she was about to see, but the horrifying vision never completed itself. He bled, but not so much as to mean the end of his life - not immediately, anyway. A split second later, Sam's light beam unexpectedly hit the creature and she couldn't help the squeak of fear that cut through her mouth or the rush of energy that propelled her forward; the hit had been too close to him; just a little bit over and it might've hit him instead of the thing holding him. "Gabriel!" she cried, simultaneously assuring him that she knew he was in trouble, and pointing out his plight to the others. She raised both wings, preparing to lift off and help, but the arrow in her back stopped her short, unable to fully extend that muscle to lift her right wing. She grimaced. 

"I can't fly!" she informed anxiously, her wings disappearing immediately to both illustrate the issue and make it easier for someone to help her get up there; in the meantime, she kissed the palm of her hand and blew a kiss, aiming it up at the pair, hoping it would travel and hit Gabriel and not the creature.

Battle Round 5 wrote:

Aegle uses Aegle Kiss (1MP) and blows it towards Amarachius Sworn! 
Does it hit? Sworn is being attacked in close range by an enemy! Auto-Heal will not be in effect as the two grapple.
--2
She misses!
Does it hit Archer 4?
--6 Critical hit!
How much healed?
--4
--CTRL 11
--Affection Hate: -7 HP to aegle!
----Total of 15 HP restored!
----Aegle loses 7 HP!

Battle round 5 has ended. Battle Round 6 begins.

Crysdal recoiled, a cold, dark feeling spreading through her chest like lightning; she gripped her clothing near her heart in an attempt to ease it, staring up at Gabriel hopelessly. She had tried, and she had failed. She had to get up there - she could't afford to miss again!

He was upset.
He let himself be upset by teenage girls.

What a joke.

Joke that turned on him when his reckless charge morphed into a story from nightmares. Nightmares Gabriel knew, had seen once before, had lived through as a survivor. A pained shout broke free, the shield falling off his hand as he felt the pain slicing through him. His legs jerked under him, so did his wings, but his vision almost went white when he felt the creature against his back and his wings under pressure.

Panic took over the pain momentarily as he flailed, desperately trying to throw his arms up over his head in order to grip the creature head. Ears, eyes, flesh, anything that could, would hurt and maybe allow him to save his wings.

He wasn't all that sure about himself. Was it bleeding hard? Was it deep?

Hadn't he heard Crysdal's voice? He closed his eyes without stopping his frenesy, refusing to go down with a dumb expression on his face and his eyes open with how much he was afraid written in them.

Before either of her allies could say anything more, Hadley suddenly felt what they had spoken of. The ground quaked beneath her, trembling. Her feet sank further into the unforgiving sand, so dry and gritty - so void of life - and it made her cringe. She glanced around at the others as she struggled to regain her footing. As she did so, movement in the sky caught her attention and she gasped.

One of the bird creatures had a hold of Amarachius, and things did not look good. Hadley hesitated, unsure what she could do - she had no idea what could possibly help. She was so far away, and she wasn't a good flier. If she attacked, there was a possibility she'd miss and hit her friend instead. She didn't know him very well, their interactions had been very limited, but her heart went out to him. He was a part of this group, and she counted him as friend all the same.

She heard Crysdal's voice call out his name, and she added on to the statement, in case there was something they could do instead. "Amarachius needs help!"

As soon as she got her feet out from the sand, she unfurled her bumblebee-like wings and rose a little above the ground. She did not want to become stuck once again.

Hadley lifted her attention back to the sky. The vibrations scared her, but she didn't know what they could mean or what to do about them. Right now, the main threat was still the creatures. They had one of her friends! She had to make sure they didn't hurt any else.

She wasn't sure which enemy to attack. A large part of her wanted to attack the one who had a hold of Amarachius, but her aim had never been trustworthy. How much more damage would she cause if she accidentally hit him? Hadley shuddered at the thought. She had to trust that the others could help him in a better way than she could. She could help by keeping the remaining enemies from attacking the rest of them.

It would have to be okay. It just had to be.

The words of her attack were on the tip of her tongue, but the sound of Crysdal's voice caught her off guard: 'I can't fly!' Hadley glanced over to the other girl, eyes wide. It was only then that she saw the arrow sticking out of Crysdal's body, and Hadley gasped. How had she never noticed that before? Her heart hurt, panic and worry clawing at her, punctuated on top of the other thoughts tearing at her concentration. But there was no time to do anything about that now.

Hadley forced herself to look away. Calling upon her Verdant Spike attack once more, Hadley sent the attack towards Archer 6. She knew he was blinded from an earlier attack, but she didn't know how much longer that was going to last. He had to be taken out.

She had to keep her friends from any more pain.

Both she and her sister took one more enemy down each, this time with what they were better at; Hemera with physical combat and Nyx with magic. Of course, Nyx did have a significant disadvantage in that aspect. Her sister could virtually attack again and again with only natural exhaustion slowly building up, but magic took a heavier toll on her, she couldn't keep it up for as long. She was already feeling rather drained.

When this was all over, perhaps she should try improving her physical skills as well.

She now felt those vibrations the others were talking about, too distracted to pay that any attention until now. She felt as she was slowly sinking in the sand and she instinctively attempted to levitate to be safer.

She cringed when she looked at Gabriel's way -- it looks like the creature bit him and he was bleeding. Was he okay? Nearly all the enemies were distracted and he could safely attack them, or even ask them to reconsider their evil actions if he was so set on that, but of course, instead of letting them handle this from a distance with magic, he had to dive straight into danger.

It was a task for fighters, right?

Foolish boy.

She shook those thoughts aside. She might be frustrated at him, but that didn't mean she wished him harm. They had to help him, but how? Aegle -- was that an arrow on her shoulder? Nyx winced. Aegle can't fly, but Inara is strong enough. Perhaps she could fly with Aegle towards their way so she could try to heal him...

...and send her sister right in the path of a vampire archer.

Okay, new plan.

Perhaps she could attempt blinding that creature too? But they were too close, maybe she would accidentally strike him too.

Well, that was acceptable. He'd live, and the effect would wear off. Eventually.

ooc:

She faintly heard bickering, and once she dispatched of the archer she’d targeted, she turned to look at her sister chiding Hot Wings. Seriously, what had gotten Nyx so twisted up about this guy? He was good-looking and leader-y and seemed to be pretty smart, but it seemed like Nyx hadn’t been impressed with him at all. Of course, her sister was always edgy when she mentioned she had a crush or found a hot guy somewhere, but this time she seemed particularly annoyed.

But then someone screamed his name. Hemera whipped her head up to look, and she watched in horror as one of their enemies bit Gabriel’s neck. What the hell?! His scream nearly tore her heart out, and Hemera looked in confusion at the pair. Aegle seemed grounded for some reason; maybe Hemera could carry her…? But she needed to get that archer off of him first. Her first instinct was to approach and stab the archer, but they were too close and moving too much; she couldn’t be sure she wouldn’t hit Gabriel instead.

As for magic…

She could set the archer on fire. Sure, she might miss and hit Gabriel instead, but if his clothes were on fire, that would also make the bird creature loosen his grip on him, right?

It was the only option. Either way, he was going to get burned anyway.

I’m so sorry, she said mentally, then directed Spark Ablaze at Archer 4.

Two years ago, Planet Aldrin had a single wish. The Apols, blob-like jelly creatures, were faced with certain doom. Their tiny, dwarf planet was constantly being wrecked by space debris and other foreign objects, forcing them to live underground in cave systems. But even this wouldn’t be enough, they needed something more. They needed brilliance. They needed power. They needed a savior, else they would die.

They found their answer deep underground, encased in crystal. She had no personal memories of her own, but she spoke and acted just like the intellectual Apols. She used her objectivity toward their culture and history to her advantage and discovered solutions. She brought them music. She brought them technology. She was half way through engineering an energy cannon for them that would destroy the space debris that only she could destroy. But she was taken away before it could ever be finished.

Now their savior was lying unconscious in shifting sands.

The strings on the Buzz Axe would likely buzz due to the vibrations, giving off a basic chord. Sailor Aldrin's blue jelly blood stained the sands as she began to sink into the ground.

The intensification of the vibrations clashed within her core. The sand itself was moving, pulling downward. Xtal-Diamante maintained her current position of hovering right above the sand, avoiding the motion of it, but still feeling the vibrations pass through her. Something was coming, and she did not expect it to be something they would enjoy. (At least, given what had happened so far. That seemed unlikely.)

Her attention moved back to the sky when she saw Amarachius Sworn struck violently by one of the flying fighters. The red she could see did not indicate a positive situation. The winged boy's effectiveness was at stake. She knew what she had to do. Again, that light flashed across her eyes.

Attack:

Flashbacks of their first horrid attack on Ciperie flashed through Ari's mind as she watched in horror while Gabriel was bit on the neck. Flashes of the mud reptile biting on her leg flashed through her and phantom pains sparked sharply in her leg. It was all she could do to not vomit at watching the scene and remembering what had happened to them.

However, she had no time to dwell on the matter when the vibrations Hex mentioned came through stronger and they began to sink in the sands. Some of the girls instinctively activated their wings, and Ari summoned her wings as well, preparing to lift herself off the sand until she noticed both Aegle could not fly and Aldrin was still knocked out. Whatever it was, it was large and underneath the sands...they had to get off the ground and fast.

"We need to get off the ground!" She looked around, they would be at a disadvantage having to carry two teammates, on top of the possibility that Gabriel was severely wounded. Ari moved towards Crysdal and Hadley.

"I don't think it's safe in the sands. Do you think if someone helped you, you could fly with one wing? And we need to get Aldrin off the ground. I've got a bad feeling about this..."

Eyeing Aldrin...she wondered how this would work. They were sitting ducks, here and in the sky, but they had gotten their attackers down to three. It was possible they could whittle them down again. Hemera and Nyx proved to be very strong in battle. Ari only wished she could do more right now. Aldrin was out, Aegle injured...Gabriel was...she didn't want to think about it. It was all she could do to keep the tears pooling in her eyes from coming back.

Were they all going to die here?

Quote :

9 Hemera uses Spark Ablaze (4MP) and attempts to hit Archer 4
Did it hit?
--1
miss
Did it hit Amarachius?
--3
miss

Quote :

The creature jerked aside, and Hemera's attack sailed right by the pair, the heat enough to warm Amarachius's skin!

9 Amarachius attempts to claw at Archer 4!
Did it hit?
--5
How much damage?
--3
--STR 12
--WPN 0
----Total of 15 points of damage!

Quote :

The creature cringed against the violent attack against its face, shaking its head back and forth in an attempt to make its prey stop, but the attack when through reguardless! Thoughts of ripping off the wings were pushed back - it was still too strong for that maneuver! It would have to rend more flesh!

Releasing its feet from around the prey's waist, it kicked back violently, instending to plant its claws solidly in the prey's lower back and cut deep, jagged lines into its waist.

6 Archer 4 attempts to attack Amarachius Sworn with its hind claws!
Did it hit?
--5
How much damage?
--4
--STR 7
--ARM -3 Senshi attire
----Total of 8 points of damage

 Amarachius Sworn is K.O.

Quote :

The kick was strong and solid - a little too strong and solid. With a hiss of disdain, the prey escaped from his grasp, its body torquing out from beneath its hold on the arms. It fell towards the sands below without an attempt to stop itself with its wings. Perhaps dead, it thought; regardless, no longer a threat. 

Something about the sands seemed to draw its attention... It shrieked loudly, the cry not one of fear but of warning that could be mistaken for victory, and made as though to fly away.

The other two enemies replied in kind; while blind, they wheeled, flying away from the battleground!

5 Nyx uses Moonlight Lullaby (3MP) and attempts to hit Archer 3
Did it hit?
--5
How much damage?
--2
--CTRL 7
--MP 1
----Total of 10 9 points of damage

Archer 4 has been defeated, and falls to the sands below.

3 Xtal-Diamante uses Recovery (4MP) on Amarachius Sworn
How much recovered?
--Amarachius Sworn is KO! The recovery is not accepted!


3 Valdis uses Verdant Spikes on Archer 6
How much damage?
--5
--CTRL 11
--MP 2
----Total of 18 points of damage.

Round Six Battle Order:

Unsurprisingly, while Nyx was still thinking, Hemera jumped right into action. She watched as her sister directed one of her beams towards the pair... But there was no way she could guarantee to hit the right one?

Wow. And here she momentarily felt concern about possibly blinding him, but it looked like her sister had no qualms about accidentally burning him. She didn't know she had it in her.

Either way, her attack flew past them what with their scuffle. Okay, she had to make her move then. It should be okay.

Preparing to attack, she noticed Gabriel getting the upper hand of the battle, striking the creature. She thought maybe she should hold back, after all...

But then it gave the finishing blow, and she watched in horror as one more of them started falling from the sky.

Nyx clenched her fists. She was too slow... She had to act fast, trust her instincts, but as always, she had to analyze every option, and this was the result. One more of their comrades was knocked out cold, and it was her fault. Sure, he shouldn't have made such a bold move, but she could have helped him. She could have prevented this, right?

The creature shrieked and made to leave. Was it celebrating a job well done? Oh no you don't. No longer having to worry about an ally caught in the crossfire, she unleashed her Moonlight Lullaby and managed to strike it down in retaliation.

She couldn't look away as the pair continued to struggle, her chest felt like brusing with the palpitations of her heart as Hemera aimed an attack at them that narrowly missed in the throws of their fight; she trusted Hemera's judgement, so that the fiery blast was sidestepped made her anxious and worried. Ari's question all but bounced off of her as Gabriel struggled above them, his hands moving back like as to grab the creature's face - could she what? Fly with one wing with help? Very much distracted, Crysdal answered, "I don't think I'm that coordinated with them yet to move only one wing and not have the other interfere with ---" her sentence ended with a stomach churned gasp, watching as the creature kicked Gabriel in the back so hard that Gabriel flipped out from its grasp and fell, turning head over heels, towards the ground below. 

She rushed forward as best she could through the shifting sands, trying to be underneath him when he hit, having to constantly reshift her position as not to be swallowed by the sand. He was falling - why wasn't he catching himself?! He glowed - Hex! - but nothing changed. Something was wrong! "Catch him!" she cried, feebly holding her arms out as though he weren't heavier than she could handle and falling faster than she could account for.

One moment, they were fighting back and the next, everything seemed to be going horribly wrong. The ground was shaking and pulling them down, and an archer had grabbed Amarachius and torn him open. She fired on the creature, but it wasn't enough to free him. It was far too much blood to be a minor wound, and Chalybs was frozen in place in the sand, unable to fire again with such a high risk of hitting an ally. Aegle's attempts to heal him were foiled, and even trying to burn the monster off had failed.

And then it kicked him, and he was falling, lifeless. Chalybs barely paid attention to the fleeing monsters as Aegle struggled to catch him, and then she was moving. Chalybs was in a strange state, stuck between suppressed fear and chemically reinforced calm, but inaction was unacceptable either way.

She wasn't thinking much anymore, focused entirely on getting to Amarachius before he hit the sand. She summoned her wings and pushed out of the sand's grip, propelling herself forward faster. She pulled up and angled herself to intercept his fall and try to catch him.

It was only after her attack hit the enemy that Hadley realized that the creature was actually retreating away from them. That, above else, frightened her. She did not know much about battle tactics or how to deal with the stress of the situation they were in, or even how to forge connections beyond her bond with Ari - but she knew that creatures did not flee in such a way unless a greater predator was near.

The bird creatures had done so much damage to their team, it had been an incredibly difficult battle - one that didn't exactly feel as though they had really won. What could possibly send such powerful beings to flee?

Hadley did not want to find out.

She looked to the others, wanting to say something, to repeat earlier warnings, but saw that there were even more pressing things. Amarachius was falling to his death, and watching Crsydal only broke Hadley's heart. The other girl was trying so hard. Hadley wanted to comfort her, but she had no words. What could she say? What comfort could she give that wouldn't make things worse? And with those vibrations making its presence threateningly known, there was no time to try.

But her heart ached for her friends.

SAM was able to catch Amarachius before he hit the sand below, and Hadley let out a breath of relief. At least they might be able to help him now. How many more of them were going to fall? She looked to Ari then, an expression of worry on her face until she remembered Ari's words from a few moments ago. Hadley's attention was drawn towards the fading blue to her other side and her eyes widened to see just how far Aldrin had sunk into the sand.

Closing the short distance between them, Hadley knelt down onto the unforgiving sand, and began to try and dig Aldrin out enough so that she could be freed from the horrible stuff. She didn't know if she could support both herself and Aldrin, but she was going to try.

Her action happened too late. Their adversaries struck out, again, and then the winged one was falling from the sky like the others before him. Thankfully, Sailor Chalybs moved to intercept and managed to do so. He, too, would have been unlikely to survive the impact. Sailor Xtal-Diamante felt the tremors again, and saw that their foes were leaving. This... this did not bode well.

As she looked around, wondering what was causing these vibrations, she saw the petite Sailor Valdis near where the jelly one had been placed, attempting to free the blue-skinned one from the sinking of the sand. Sailor Xtal-Diamante made her way towards Valdis and Aldrin, to help the smaller Valdis lift the jelly-person from the ground.

The blades of on her whip made at cut on the archers arm but it hadn't been as damaging as she would've liked it to be. Nearly about to deal another blow, she heard a scream from behind her that sounded like it belonged to Aegle. Cosima glanced back to see Sworn falling from the sky, a sight eerily similar to what had happened to Aldrin, and his wings limp as he descended towards the group while SAM rushed forward to catch him. What was going on?

 Had he been trying to talk to one of those birds again and had almost gotten himself killed? She made an angry 'tsk' sound as she debated what she should do before finally deciding to turn back towards the archers. She was too far away to help the others with Sworn but she could at least kill the rest of the birds...or so she thought. Suddenly the birds began to screech at one another causing Cosima to cover her eyes before they flew away frantically, abandoning the group of senshi despite being the initial aggressors. She frowned, her eyes narrowing in suspicion as she watched them leave back in the direction they had came from. Something was wrong. Very wrong. But the question was what?

When Crysdal moved away from her, Ari blinked back her tears as frustration bubbled in her.

"What are you doing--" she hissed and grabbed Crysdal's arm but as the question left her mouth, the girl shouted. Catch him? Ari looked up at the sky. Gabriel was falling! She watched again in horror as another team mate was falling, thankfully SAM caught him in time. As she watched the scene unfold, she noticed that the bird creatures were flying away. For some reason, that felt eerily foreboding

"Are you CRAZY?" Ari couldn't restrain herself, but she managed to take a deep breath before continuing and berating Crysdal. How could she? This was a mess and everything was out of their control, Crysdal was just doing whatever she could.

"I-I'm sorry...I didn't mean to yell..." she trailed off unsure of what to say before rambling on, "You...You're doing your best and while its frustrating to watch you throw yourself into danger, I'm in awe of your bravery and that you do it for others."

She paused again, "I only wish I could be a small ounce of what you are. You're amazing. Go see what you can do for Gabriel!"  

Her face flushed bright red as she quickly turned away to see if her help was needed elsewhere. She was too embarrassed to continue on with Crysdal now.

Running towards, Hadley and Hex, Ari began helping them pull out Aldrin as well.

As they worked to pull her out, Ari addressed both girls. "Did you see the archers fly away? I think it has something to do with these tremors."

Her hands were shaking and she tried hard to hide the fear in her voice, but whatever made the creatures just give up on them like that...it couldn't be good.

She missed both entirely for the first time during this battle, and watched helplessly as Gabriel grappled with his attacker. He seemed to manage to hurt the archer, but then the latter kicked him, and suddenly he was plummeting to the ground. Her heart went cold as she thought about him being dead - not dead, he can't be dead - and then SAM caught him, and the archers were retreating, though not before Nyx finished off Gabriel’s attacker. As they began to back away with that weird shrieking sound, Hemera looked back down for the first time and noticed it shaking, some of the grounded people sinking.

She heard Bastet’s cry about needing to get off the ground, and remembered how Aegle had said that she couldn’t fly. Whatever was coming up out of the ground might be dangerous, and she was a sitting duck.

Hemera swooped low, caught her by the waist as she stood with her chest against Aegle’s back, and quickly flapped her wings again to take to the sky once more.

“I heard you can’t fly! I don’t think it’s safe down there. If you want to go somewhere specific to heal someone, just let me know and I’ll take you there!”

The rest of the creatures were quickly flying away. Might be for the best, she did not think her powers would hold them for much longer. But something was coming, that much was evident, and everyone was preparing; apparently they all agreed the ground was not safe anymore.

What was coming though? Nyx didn't feel as if she had much energy left to fight. This was not good.

She fished for the little vial that old woman had given her... Was it really safe? What if she was that hermit in disguise, attempting to trick them yet again?

But it couldn't be helped. She'd end up being dead weight anyway if she didn't do something. She had to take her chances. And if anything, she did help them recover.

Bracing herself for the potentially awful taste, she drank the blue liquid.

Item:

Now holding Sailor Aldrin, Xtal-Diamante looked back to the sky. The increased vibrations jangled discordantly within her crystal core, and she did not enjoy this sensation. Whatever was causing these was coming closer. The fighters that attacked the group and then fled had not seemed so injured as to retreat...

She did not want to lose the others or become separated. Sailor Xtal-Diamante glanced at the two smaller party members who had attempted to assist Aldrin. Now that the jelly was in her arms, they should not stay here.

"We must to join the others," she stated, the voice as monotone as ever, flying upwards to follow Sailor Hemera.

When Hex effortlessly picked up Aldrin, Ari found herself amazed at the feat. Was it that Aldrin was not all that heavy or Hex was actually really strong? She didn't ponder on the thought long when monotone girl announced they must regroup with the other. She looked around and it looked as if everyone had gotten off the ground. Ari couldn't agree more with Hex and instinctively grabbed Hadley's hand. The warmth of her friend's hand was a much welcomed comfort in the middle of this battle. Unfortunately, there was no time to enjoy the feelings.

"Come on!"

She lifted herself off the ground, encouraging Hadley to follow quickly.

Her heart raced with the stress of trying to figure out just how she was going to both pick up and then carry Aldrin with her into the sky. Her flying skills were minimal at best, and Aldrin was just so heavy. At Xtal's and Ari's arrival, Hadley let out a small breath of relief, and glanced just a moment longer at Ari, checking her over to make sure she was okay. Something pulled at her, sensing that something wasn't right with Ari, but Hadley was unable to detect any physical wounds, and so she had to focus on the task at hand instead.

Xtal was able to lift Aldrin up without any problems, and Hadley blinked in surprise at the ease in which she did it.

She didn't have time to marvel, as Xtal lifted into the air and spoke - her words urgent but the tone in which she said them sounded flat and unperturbed - and Hadley then felt the familiar warmth of Ari's hand grabbing her own. The sensation both comforted her, and helped her focus. The vibrations. Of course. They had to get away from here.

Ari began to lift up into the air, urging her to do the same, and Hadley nodded in response. She unfurled her wings once more, following her friend upwards.