The sand of Earth 314 blew angrily through the intruder, trying in vain to destroy that which was determined to conquer it. The biting winds and sharp sands passed right through the woman. Amazonia had left herself insubstantial so as to avoid the harsh climate of her new planet. She looked around in annoyance. When Mathus has said it was a backwater planet, he hasn't been kidding. In tones of yellow and brown, the planet already seemed dead. Amazonia growled irritably. She needed to find a city, a building, a *person* to destroy. The winds died down enough to allow the faint shadow of a city to rise like an enchanted cobra from a crater basket. With a smile of satisfaction, she dematerialized and moments later appeared completely within the city walls. "At last." She smiled cruelly, eyes agleam with demonic lust. From the sheath resting on her hip, she drew her favorite dagger, gleaming bright silver in the sunlight. With a loving caress, she ran her fingers along the sapphire facets of the large gem inset in the hilt. She eyed the city streets, traffic scurrying by and not paying notice to the stranger standing in the street. Taking her dagger firmly in her grasp, she knelt and buried it hilt-deep in the loose sand of the street. Concentrating for a moment, she released her venom into the ground. The earth split from the force, cracking in a spiderweb through the streets. The startled screams of people filled Amazonia's ears with their melody. "Beautiful..." Amazonia purred as a building nearby sank with a roar into the split earth. The quake didn't bother her and she walked as smoothly as if she were on ice. People were frantically running and stumbling past her as the violent quakes threw them to their feet. She could see that they were attempting to reach the crater wall for protection, but it wasn't in her mind the let them go so easily. "Come on! Hurry, or you won't make it to safety!" a passing man shouted over the din, taking her arm in an attempt to drag her with him. Amazonia narrowed her eyes coldly. "Don't touch me." She said with murderous calm. There was a hideous snap, and the man shrieked in horror as he looked at the ragged, bleeding stump where his harm had been. Amazonia held the missing article in her hand, examining where she had broken it from his body. The break was mostly clean, and bleeding plenty. From the corner of her eye she saw the man stumbling away in fear, clutching his bleeding arm desperately. A few people who had witnessed the encounter were hurrying him along, casting nervous glances back at the violent woman standing calmly in the street. "Where are you going?" Amazonia called sweetly, bending to rip her dagger from the ground. Immediately, the ongoing quake stopped. A muffled wail arose from the people on the streets, and the man's eyes widened with terror as he watched her. Breaking free of his supported, he stumbled quickly away from her but in one fluid toss of her wrist he found the dagger had ripped through his chest. The last thing his saw as he slumped to the ground was the clean, shining weapon buried in the rock wall before him. Amazonia knelt by the corpse and ran her fingers through the sticky hole in his chest. She inhaled the metallic scent of blood and death and happily brought her fingers to her lips, sucking on the thick red blood that ran down her palm and pooled around herself and the man. "Sweet..." she crooned softly, her eyes closed in bliss. She lingered there for a moment, reveling in the tenderness of the days first kill. Slowly, she took her dagger from the wall and turned to her audience, only to find they had fled. A smirk crossed her face. "Time to go hunting..." People were running. All they could do was keep running. They were afraid. They were afraid of the desert, which loomed before them with its dangerous winds. They were afraid of the city, which had crumbled and held the terrible woman, who searched hungrily for them. They were afraid of the sky, which had begun to crumble and fall with burning rain. Wails rose in terrible gales, mingling horribly with the roaring winds beyond the crater walls and the hissing of the fiery rain. The vile scent of scorched flesh and blood filled the humid air. Tira ran like the others, not daring to glance back. Her long braids clung to each other, matted together with grit, blood and sweat. Death filled her nostrils with its putrid presence. People scrambled over one another as they attempted to race into the screeching winds of the desert. Far better a death in a familiar land than a death by this heartless invader. Tira risked a glance over her shoulder as she climbed up the rocky crater wall. There was the horrible beauty, her dagger held high as she directed the flaming rain towards the waves of people. Pain shot through Tira's body as her frantic kinsmen treaded upon her. With a grunt, she felt herself losing her grip on the rock. She tumbled down through the masses, towards the enemy. Loose gravel ripped at her body and clothing, punching through her side and arms and bringing dark blood to the surface. Feet trampled over her hair, no one bothered to help the young teen that fell away from the crowd. She rolled to a stop at the bottom of the crater and at the feet of Amazonia. A small river of blood trickled down her forehead and into the crooks of her eyes, partially blinding her. "Well, at least one of you stayed to keep me company. I was so sad that everyone ran away," Amazonia drawled above the fallen girl, eyeing her hungrily. "When all I wanted to do was have a little fun!" her boot met soundly with Tira's side and the teen cried out in pain, rising partially from her laying position on the ground. Through a haze of red, Tira saw the bodies of men, women, children and pets lining the fallen streets where Amazonia had left them. Shakily, she drew herself into a sitting position and glared up at the woman. "Who are you? Why are you here?" She demanded, her voice cracking with the dust that caught in her throat. "I am Amazonia, second sister in the Gorgon Trio." Amazonia crowed, placing the tip of her dagger under Tira's chin and lifting her face to look at her. "And now, I am your sovereign, unless I decide to kill you first." Tira's eyes flashed, causing Amazonia to chuckle. It was a heartless sound that made the teen's blood curdle in her veins. "You don't like the sound of that, I see. That's such a shame. I should think you would be grateful that I've let you live this long, child. You amuse me. But I don't appreciate ungrateful servants!" she pressed her dagger into Tira's throat. Blood began to well out from the wound, and the girl's eyes rolled back into her head. Fighting unconsciousness, she managed to spit at the woman's feet. The blade dug deeper into her flesh. "Amazonia!" a curt feminine voice barked. The pressure of the blade lessened. Tira took a shaky breath and dared a glance at her savior as blood rushed to her head, blackening her sight rapidly. Behind Amazonia stood another woman. She looked exactly like Amazonia, only her hair hung to her ankles in waves. Amazonia let her captive drop, finally in the bliss of unconsciousness. "Regina." She sneered at her sister. She tucked her dagger away in its sheath. The fire rain ceased at once, as did the tremors that still shook the ground slightly. "I can't believe you did this without my consent!" Regina fumed. Amazonia shrugged lazily. "What were you thinking? You're crazy. We are not yet ready for battle." "But sister dear, I have done you a great deed." Amazonia responded politely, her eyes agleam. "Your Shadows are not powerful enough to fight without vessels. Here, I have captured an entire planet of vessels for you to use." She waved an arm vaguely at the destruction she had wreaked. Regina reluctantly cast her eyes to the sight. "This is true." She conceded, still refusing to let her anger subside completely. "Of course it is." Amazonia purred, wrapping her arm around her sister's waist affectionately. "I wanted to make you happy. I began the tirade earlier than planned as a surprise to you. Now, we have already begun to expand our kingdom. This planet will bow to our greater will without question, after the lesson that I have taught them. We can begin our conquest of the Upsilon Andromedae system, and after that, the rest of the galaxy. Then the universe. This is what we wanted! Don't be angry with me." "You just want blood." Regina scowled, narrowing her eyes at her sister. "It will destroy you someday. I won't save when it happens." Something, it may have been hurt, flitted momentarily behind Amazonia's eyes. "If that's the way you want it." She at last replied, letting go of her sister's waist. Regina looked around at the city, which was now a wasteland of blood and fire. She smiled at her sister in an almost affectionate way. "You certainly are thorough, but did you have to make such a mess?" she asked. "Come, let us take the dead back home. I have enough Shadows to occupy them." She began to pool her dark essence into a black ball in her hand. Taking careful aim, she pointed her finger at the mess of corpses. Transparent black tendrils oozed from the ball, wrapping themselves around the lifeless forms. Thousands of tendrils roamed the city, latching themselves onto the scent of death, creating a dark web through the city streets. "This one too." Amazonia demanded, nudging Tira's limp body with her foot. The girl groaned but did not move. Queen Regina frowned. "She's not dead. What use have we for her?" "I want her." Amazonia replied coldly. "She's mine now. Take her too." With a shrug, Regina sent one final tendril to wrap itself around the gypsy girl's body. "Fine then. Let us go." The sisters faded out of existence once again, and those that had been wrapped in the Dark Magic also eased out. The city was empty once again. Those people watching from the crater walls knew that this was the beginning of their Hell on Earth. There was nothing to be done but wait for the return of their invaders. *** Every television in the school was turned to the news. The hallway speakers were tuned to the reports. It was impossible to escape the horrors that poured out through the speakers. "Today there was an attack on Earth 314. Facts are still hazy, but satellites in the area have sent back images of destruction befalling the entire planet. No one knows the casualty rate at the moment, but it is estimated to be in the thousands already. The planet has undergone terrible damage and it is feared that it might collapse entirely. Rescue ships are currently being sent to retrieve any survivors, but there is something in the atmosphere that is preventing entry to the planet's surface..." the reports droned on, each report vague but filled with the terror of the attack. For once, the entire academy was silent with the news. Some cried, others remained in shocked silence. Xi paced, refusing to let emotional heartbreak bring visible tears to her cold grey eyes. The rest of her class had their eyes fixed upon the television screen, which displayed the horrible images transmitted by the satellites. There was her home, the yellow haze of the atmosphere charred black and red. Her home...home... "Miss Lan, would you please be seated?" the teacher gently said. It sounded like a request, but Xi knew it to be a command. Well, too bad. With a glare, she spun on her heels and walked briskly from the classroom. The teacher, sensing something deeper, was not unkind and let her go without a fight. Her hurt quickly boiled into anger as she went through the mostly empty halls. Her ears were filled with the reports. A strike of terror, an impending war, destruction...words of foreboding doom floated through the air. Xi brushed them off, focusing instead on her own anger as she made her way across the campus lawn to the beach. The sun sparkled beautifully on the clear green water as it ebbed and flowed across the white sand. Xi found herself hating the fact that it was so pretty. Nothing deserved to be pretty. She kicked a pebble into the water angrily. "Damn them. Damn them all!" she snarled. Her mother...her father...Tira...how dare they? How dare they destroy her home? How dare they kill those close to her? How dare they? "You used to live there, didn't you?" a voice asked from behind. Xi whirled around to see Astraea lounging on the grass above the beach line. She watched Xi carefully over her yellow glasses, and the teen found it impossible to read the expression in her red eyes. Xi scowled. "What are you doing here?" she demanded irritably, wishing to be alone. "Vela--" "Don't you call me that." Xi snapped. "I listened to your bull the other day because I felt compelled to. I don't have to take it anymore." Astraea sighed and ran a hand through her red-streaked hair while she looked up into the crystalline sky. After a moment, she focused her gaze once more on the irritable student. "I understand how you feel. It's not fair, about your home." Xi rolled her eyes. "No shit, Sherlock." She muttered. "Go away." "No." Astraea replied simply. Xi scowled again, and walked away down the beach. She didn't want to be around anyone. Astraea watched her walk a few paces before calling out to her. "You could have stopped it. You could have saved everything, and none of this would have happened." Xi stopped in her tracks. The gentle crash of the waves by her feet was the only sound that filled the distance between the two women. Ever so slowly, Xi turned to the Guardian. "What do you mean?" Their eyes locked. "You could have stopped it all. If the entire division was gathered, then none of this would have happened." Astraea spoke smoothly and seriously. "This is exactly what the Senshi were reborn to defend against. You must find the remaining three soldiers if you have any desire at all to keep other planets from befalling the same fate, you must accept your role." Xi remained in angry silence, Astraea's words ringing a taunting truth in her mind. She set her gaze to the watery horizon, and Astraea remained thankfully silent. Thoughts sped through the teen's mind. She felt she should have done something to protect those she loved, perhaps it was true that she was senshi. Then again, perhaps it was only natural to wish to defend something so much. Lulled by the rhythmic splash of the sea, it took a few moments for the voice to register. "Xi? Xi, are you all right?" Morgan stood on the shore where Astraea had been sitting. The Guardian had disappeared, and Xi wondered just how long she had been standing on the beach, her mind whirling as she watched the water. Morgan's eyes held a look of deep concern and she took a step onto the sand. There was a sharp intake of breath from Xi and her eyes widened. Morgan noted the expression and stepped towards the girl, genuine concern painted on her face. Without a word, Xi grabbed her arm in a steel grip. "Xi?? What's wrong? Ow, you're hurting me..." "Come with me." Xi said, dragging the other second year student across the campus with her. In her eyes, the green glow surrounding Morgan was unmistakable. Morgan stumbled behind her friend's long, steady strides. "Where are we going?" Morgan pleaded. Xi didn't respond immediately, instead ragging her back into the academic wings through the third year halls. Her ears were closed to the news reports that still droned over the intercom. She threw open the door to a classroom, and all heads turned to stare. Morgan stood limply behind the firm Xi, looking ashamed while the latter looked menacing. "Cecelia." Xi spoke sharply. The lavender haired girl met her eyes and slowly rose from her seat. "Miss LeGruin..." the professor began to protest, but Cecelia gave a charming smile. "I'll return in a moment, ma'am." "Yes, of course." Cecelia strode from the room into the hallway and looked steadily at Xi. "Well?" she asked, folding her arms across her chest and looking down at the younger teen. "Tien said that Dean had it as well. Who is he?" Xi demanded. "You're not going to start that whole thing again, are you? Listen, I'm not getting involved. It's all childish nonsense." "We're gathering. Every last one of us." Xi growled, her eyes narrowing dangerously. Cecelia turned her head away and started to go back into the classroom, but Xi flung Morgan into her. The girl stumbled and looked up at Cecelia, rubbing her arm where Xi had gripped her. "Hello, my name's Morgan O'Claire. Are you a friend of Xi's, I take it?" She asked, completely confused. "I don't believe Xi is capable of having friends." Cece drawled icily. "You see the auras as plainly as I do." Xi snapped, ignoring Morgan's friendly attempts. "You heard the reports. That's my home they destroyed." "Then I'm sorry for your loss." Cecelia responded. Xi lunged for her and threw the older girl against the wall. She pinned Cecelia's arms at her sides with amazing strength for one so scrawny. Xi's eyes blazed and she shook her captive. "Damned if you're *sorry*. We're going to stop this, once and for all. If you don't want to be part of the team, who gives a fuck? I'm the leader, according to Astraea, and I'm telling you, *commanding* you, to bring me to Dean." She gave Cecelia another rattling shake. "Xi! What's gotten into you?" Morgan cried, struggling to free Cecelia from her friend's grip. Neither of the girls answered the redhead's pleas. At last, Cecelia nodded, and Xi released her. "He's in class." Cecelia said, starting down the hall. Xi followed her. "Come on Morgan." Xi called. Confused, curious, and slightly worried, Morgan trotted after the two girls. Cecelia paused outside another classroom. Over the tall girl's shoulder, Xi could see that the television was turned to news of the attack, like everyone else. Cecelia opened the door and stepped inside. Xi and Morgan stood in the doorway as Cecelia made her way to the professor's desk. She whispered some words to the teacher, glancing around the classroom as she spoke. There was a little debate between the two, but at last the teacher nodded. Cecelia smiled. "Miss Johannson, Mr. Castor, please come see me." The professor called. Dean and Erica exchanged glances and slowly rose, approaching the desk cautiously. Cecelia smiled encouragingly at them. There was a little more conferencing, and at last Cecelia ushered her two friends out into the hall, where Xi and Morgan were waiting. "Are you satisfied now, Xi?" Cecelia demanded. Xi set her eyes to the other third year students and looked over them critically. "Grey and pink. Glad you found the her," she nodded at Erica. "so we won't have to look for the final one." She muttered before looking at herself, Morgan and Cecelia. "Purple, green and red. Let's go find Tien." She headed off down the hallway towards the first year wing. "Cece, what's going on?" Erica whispered as the other four slowly followed after the girl. "You really don't want to know." Cecelia sighed. "Is this the same Tien you introduced to me yesterday?" Dean asked eagerly. "Yes. This time, try to be nice and keep your mouth shut?" Cecelia asked. Retrieving Tien wasn't as difficult, and Xi let Tien lead the group back to her dorm. Dean tried to follow behind the short first year, but a glare from Xi kept him beside Erica and Cece. Morgan tugged at Xi's arm. "Xi, talk to me," She said quietly. "What's going on? You don't look well." "I'm fine, Morgan." Xi replied steadily. She almost smiled. "Sorry for making you worry, but there is something that we all need to discuss." She didn't say anything else. Tien led the group up the stairs to her dorm room and opened the door. On the bed sat Astraea. She looked up. "Well, I'm glad you all decided to come." Her eyes peered over her sunglasses and she silently counted the figures attempting to squeeze into the small room. "All of you? I'm impressed Xi. You were quick in collecting the entire division." "What's going on here?" Castor demanded. Astraea slowly rose from the bed. "Ah, Draco. You ask more questions than you used to." She put a hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged it off. "Who are you? What did you call me?" Astraea chuckled. "Come." She cried, ushering the students out the door. "I have my van downstairs. We must take a ride. I'll explain to you in the car." "We're taking a trip? This will be fun!" Erica giggled, skipping out after the woman. Dean shoved his hands in his pockets and followed. Morgan cast a glance at Xi before she too went through the door. Tien, Cecelia and Xi remained in the room for a moment more. "Miss Xi, Miss Cecelia, it's nice to see you again." Tien said, looking at the ground. "This is all ridiculous." Cecelia scoffed. "We'll see." Xi replied coolly before sweeping out of the small dorm room. Tien scurried behind her. After a few more moments, Cecelia at last followed the rest of the group out the door.