Just breathing hurt almost more than the girl could bear.

	Yumi knew that Tsugiko had always thought that she lived a 
charmed existence.  These past few days, Yumi had felt like 
maybe she did.  With Kyouji in love with her, it had seemed like 
nothing in the world could touch her.  Knowing that he was hers, 
now and forever, she had soared on invisible wings.  Life had 
seemed so glorious it had been almost painful.

	Except it was all a lie.  Kyouji wasn't in love with her, 
and he never had been.

	She had returned to Carob's hut to wait for her friends, 
and after looking at her face, her host had tried to ask her 
what was wrong.  She had politely informed him that she was just 
tired, and he had suggested that perhaps she might like to have 
a nap in the guest bedroom.

	Sleep was not forthcoming, though.

	As she lay on the bed, sobbing into her pillow, she tried 
to remind herself that Kyouji had said that there was still the 
possibility that they would get together.  But it was no 
comfort, not now.

	After her brief expression of sorrow in the restaurant, 
Yumi had composed herself.  Breaking down in front of Tsugiko 
because Kyouji didn't love her wouldn't have done anyone any 
good.  Well, seeing Yumi fall apart might have been cathartic 
for her old roommate, but there was a limit to even the blonde 
girl's selflessness.

	Now that she was alone, though, all of her pent-up emotion 
was pouring out.

	Before, it hadn't been so bad, having to wait for Kyouji.  
But now that she knew what it was like to have him, now that she 
knew what it was she was missing, it seemed like agony.  Every 
second was a new blade stabbing into her heart.

	Some small part of Yumi knew that it was silly to feel as 
she did.  Kyouji was cute and nice and all, but he wasn't the 
only guy around.  There were other boys, if not here then in 
Tokyo, who were just as cute and just as nice and who could make 
her just as happy as he could.  In all probability, it insisted, 
there was a guy out there somewhere who was somehow even better 
than Kyouji.

	That part wasn't exactly being listened to at the moment.

	He was off talking with Tsugiko.  It was supposed to be 
just about the mystery, but Yumi couldn't keep herself from 
imagining all sorts of scenarios.  Their discussion would start 
out tense, of course.  With Tsugiko, conversations so often did.  
But one thing would lead to another, their emotions would 
already be running high, and then...

	The Warrior Priestess forced herself to stop that line of 
thought, if only because she really didn't want to picture some 
of the more extreme scenarios concerning what might happen next.

	Yumi had always thought she'd be happy if Tsugiko and 
Kyouji got together.  She wanted to be, even now.  On some 
level, she actually was.

	But the thought of life without Kyouji made her feel dead 
inside.

>o< >o< >o<

	The Starburst Crystal
	Created by Ardweden

	Chapter Thirty-Eight: An Empty Wrapper
	By Nicolas Juzda

>o< >o< >o<


	"I'll catch up with you later," Tsugiko said.  "I want to 
check out that restaurant."

	"Sure.  Try the butterfinger steak," Kyouji suggested.

	"Okay."  She started to walk away from him down the main 
street of Frango.  But she stopped after she had only gone a few 
feet and faced him.  "Kyouji."  Tsugiko paused until she was 
sure she had gotten his attention again.  "Make sure Yumi's 
okay."  Her voice was subdued, and the boy wondered what she was 
thinking.

	He nodded.  He wasn't sure what to say.

	Then Tsugiko turned away again and walked off.

	"Okay," Kyouji said to himself.  "You just survived 
Tsugiko's wrath.  Dealing with Yumi should be a piece of cake."  
He began to head back to their current residence.  "Why don't I 
believe it?"

	The sun was starting to set, and the street was deserted 
except for the Knight Protector.  As he walked along, he began 
to talk to himself, to ease the sense of isolation that the 
empty street imparted.

	"Weren't we supposed to just stop here for a little while?  
We've spent the whole day here.  Well, I guess that's not too 
bad.  I can't say I'm that eager to get to Guylian right now."

	He moaned.  "So, you'll have an answer by the time you get 
to Guylian, will you, Kyouji?  Care to share it with me?  
Because I'm completely stumped.

	"I mean, sure, it's easy to say that I'll make a choice.  
It's especially easy when Tsugiko's looking like she'll kill me 
if I don't say it.  Actually deciding, that's the tough part.

	"I mean, Yumi's so..."  He waved a hand in the air vaguely.  
"She's the nicest girl in the world, and she cares about 
everyone, and she's so full of joy!  She doesn't hit me all the 
time, which is definitely a plus in a potential girlfriend.  
Plus, she's damn hot.

	"But, on the other hand, Tsugiko's really..."  Kyouji 
smiled ruefully.  "Going to kill me if I don't choose her."  He 
shook his head.  "Yumi's great, but she's sort of unreal.  
Tsugiko's the most real person I've ever met.  She's got this 
intensity...  And it's not like she's so bad looking either.

	"I just can't decide!  Certainly not by the time we get to 
Guylian.

	"Really, the thing I've got to do is figure out how to get 
out of that promise to Tsugiko without her killing me.  But how 
can I do that?"

	Kyouji fell silent and gazed up at the heavens imploringly, 
waiting for an answer he didn't expect would be forthcoming.

	"It sounds like you've got quite the dilemma."

	Kyouji jumped, startled to hear a voice coming from a few 
feet behind him.  He whirled, drawing his sword.

	Kyouji blinked.  Standing in front of him was Carob.  
"Sorry, I didn't hear you."

	"No harm done.  Nice weapon."

	"Thanks.  It's not really mine.  Well, I guess it is now.  
But it's not really the sword I think of as mine.  Though I 
guess I have gotten kind of used to it.  I mean, I did go to a 
bit of trouble to find it again after I dropped it into a swamp 
fighting this big snake, especially since Tsugiko really wanted 
to get out of there after all that we'd gone through, and-"  He 
broke off.  "You don't actually care, right?  I mean, you were 
just making small talk."

	"Technically, I was trying to defuse the tension caused by 
you pointing a sword at me, but that's close enough.  
Incidentally, I hope you don't take it the wrong way if I note 
that you're still doing it."

	Kyouji looked down at his weapon.  He blushed and put it 
away.  The boy turned around and continued walking, and Carob 
fell into step beside him.

	"So, is that what Yumi was upset about this afternoon?"  
Carob asked.

	"My sword?"

	"I meant your love life.  I heard you going on about it.  
You know, they say that talking to yourself is a sign of 
insanity."

	"Yeah.  It comes from breaking the cycle of destiny."  
Kyouji said absently.

	"I don't follow you."

	"Nothing.  Something I dreamt a while back."

	"Well, don't worry.  As long as you don't hear voices in 
your head, you're fine."

	Kyouji forced a grin.  "Yeah."  He paused.  "You were 
saying about Yumi?"

	"She returned to my house about an hour ago.  She was very 
upset, I think, but she didn't want to talk about it.  I put her 
in the guest bedroom."

	"Thanks.  Uh, now that you mention that...  You've been 
very generous so far, and I really hate to push it, but we seem 
to have stayed in town later than we planned, and..."

	"Of course you're welcome to stay overnight.  There's only 
the one spare bed, I'm afraid, but I can probably arrange 
something for the rest of you."

	"I'm sure it will be more comfortable than sleeping by the 
road.  And we'll be out of here first thing tomorrow."

	"Oh no," Carob insisted.  "I've just received word that a 
great hero is passing through town tomorrow.  We'll be holding a 
banquet in his honour.  And yours as well, if you'll attend."

	"A great hero?" Kyouji asked.  Suddenly Carob had his 
undivided attention.

	"Yes.  He's never been in this area before, but his 
reputation has stretched far."
	Kyouji recalled that Carob hadn't even heard that the 
Crystal Warriors were back.  Well, now was not the time for 
jealousy.  If this hero, whoever he was, could help them, then 
Kyouji was all for him.  "What's his name?"

	"It's- well, here we are."  Indeed, they had arrived at 
Carob's house.

	They entered quietly, in case Yumi was asleep, and Carob 
gestured towards the door of the guest bedroom.  Kyouji knocked 
softly, and then entered.

	Kyouji hadn't been in this room before.  It was small, to 
the point where "guest bedroom" was a bit of an exaggeration.  
It was little more than a large closet, in point of fact, barely 
holding the bed and chair that were its sole pieces of 
furniture.

	Yumi was seated cross-legged on the bed.  When the Knight 
Protector first saw her she appeared to be staring at one of the 
walls with unfocussed eyes, but she quickly turned to face him.

	"Hello, Kyouji," she said.  Even by her standards, her 
voice was cheerful.

	"Yumi.  You okay?"

	"I'm fine.  Why wouldn't I be?"  She turned away from him 
to flip over the pillow on the bed, and for a second Kyouji 
thought she just didn't want to have to look at him, but then 
she turned to face him again.

	"Well, you know, with that whole... misunderstanding.  You 
seemed pretty down at the restaurant."

	"Oh."  She put a hand in front of her mouth, her face a 
picture of contrition.  "I'm so sorry.  I know I shouldn't have-
"

	"No, no, it's fine.  I know this must be upsetting for 
you."

	"Really, Kyouji.  I was a bit thrown at first, but I see 
now that you and Tsugiko belong together."

	His jaw fell open.  "I didn't- I mean- I haven't-"  He 
paused, took a deep breath, and started again.  "What?!?"

	"You and Tsugiko."  Yumi smiled.  "It's okay that you don't 
love me.  Honest."

	"Yumi, I meant what I said to you at the restaurant.  Every 
word.  It wasn't me who talked with you on the way to the 
Heaths.  But that doesn't mean-  Well, all it means was that it 
wasn't me that night.  It doesn't mean anything about my real 
feelings.  Not one way *or* the other.  It doesn't mean I don't 
love you."

	"Do you?"

	Her tone had shifted completely with those two words.  The 
cheerfulness was gone, but it wasn't sadness that had replaced 
it.  It was nothing.  Her voice was devoid of any emotion.

	Kyouji briefly wondered what that might mean, but he 
realized that he didn't have time to reflect on that right now.  
He needed to answer her question.

	If only he knew what the answer was.

	"I don't know," he finally admitted.

	"Well, don't worry about it," she replied.  Her voice was 
once again full of bubbliness.  "There's no hurry, right?  
Waiting for an answer won't hurt me.  Take all the time you 
need."

	"Tsugiko won't give it to me."  At Yumi's puzzled look, 
Kyouji continued.  "She told me that she wants an answer by the 
time we get to Guylian.  About if I love *her*, I mean."

	"That's silly," Yumi said, her voice still upbeat but now 
suddenly forceful as well.  "Love is," she paused a split 
second, "love is what makes you feel alive, as if you'd been 
asleep your whole life and never known it until that moment.  
Love isn't something you can just decide about when you're asked 
to.  Love isn't something you put deadlines on."

	"Do you mind telling Tsugiko that?"

	"You really think that would be a good idea?" Yumi replied 
with a teasing grin.

	Kyouji gave a slight smile of his own.  "No, but if it's 
you who says it, maybe she'll deck you instead of me."

	"So you have to decide by tomorrow?"

	"Day after, actually.  Carob wants us to stay for some 
banquet tomorrow night, and he's been so nice that we probably 
should."

	"So, a day's reprieve."  Yumi's face grew serious and her 
voice matched it when she spoke again.  "This is hard for me to 
say, Kyouji, because I don't want to see either of you hurt.  
But that's why I have to say it.  Don't let her pressure you 
into making a decision your heart isn't in.  If you really love 
her, go for her and never look back, but don't do anything 
you'll regret.  In the end, it'll just make things worse for 
everyone."

	"You're not just trying to get me all for yourself, are 
you?" Kyouji teased, trying to lighten the mood again.  But his 
smile became plastered to his face when he saw that Yumi 
remained solemn.

	"No," she said quietly.  "I only want you to be happy."

	"Yeah," he said, embarrassed.  "Sorry, I was just kidding.  
I didn't mean it."

	"I know."

	"Besides, you know this isn't a zero sum game, right?  It's 
not like I have to pick one of you, with just those two choices 
to decide between, and if it's not one it's the other."

	"Well, you can't have us both," Yumi said, and now Kyouji 
was relieved to see that she did produce a sly smile.   "Sorry, 
Kyouji, I'm usually willing to share my things, but I'm going to 
have to make an exception.  I'm just not that kinky, I'm 
afraid."

	Kyouji laughed.  "That's not the sort of joke I expect from 
you, Yumi."

	She blushed.  "I guess not."

	"Anyway, I just meant that, well, that maybe I don't have 
to choose either of you."  He clasped his hands over his heart 
and said in a falsetto voice, "For my one true love is Kit Kat."

	Now Yumi was laughing too.  "I should have known."  She 
picked up the pillow off the bed and threw it at him.  "You 
cad."

	Kyouji felt anxiety he hadn't even known he was feeling 
start to dissipate.  He was amazed at how well Yumi had pulled 
through this.  She had gone through a shock, obviously, but she 
was clearly back to her old self.

	Later, as they both drifted off to sleep, she in the bed 
and he on a blanket on the floor, he never heard her quiet sobs.

>o< >o< >o<


	Tokyo Tower.

	At three hundred thirty three meters high, it is the 
tallest structure in all of Japan.  For decades, it has 
dominated the skyline, and is considered one of Tokyo's most 
popular landmarks, offering a spectacular view of the city.  It 
should be no surprise that numerous schools take field trips to 
the tower every year.

	Which means that it's never, ever empty during the day.

	Until now.

	Kyouji found himself alone again, and the bright daylight 
that shone throughout the room somehow made the solitude even 
more disconcerting than it had been when he had walked down the 
street in Frango.

	He was back in his uniform from Shinonome High, and the 
absence of the Knight Protector suit he had worn since going to 
Mars made him feel even more uneasy.

	"Hello?  Is anyone here?" he called.

	There was no reply except for a faint echo of his words.

	He began to walk, looking for some clue as to his 
situation.  His footsteps sounded incredibly loud.

	He searched for several minutes before he finally spotted 
someone.  Her back was to him, since she was gazing out a 
window, but he recognized her all the same.

	"Teru."

	She didn't turn to face him.  "It's changed so much since I 
last saw it."

	"Tokyo?" he asked as he walked up alongside her.  "Yeah, I 
guess it would ha-"

	He broke off, because what he saw beneath them was not the 
busy metropolis that had been his home for the vast majority of 
his life, but rather Mars.  The window gave a panoramic view of 
those strangely coloured fields and forests that characterized 
the alien planet; he had become so used to the odd hues that 
they seemed almost natural.

	But all was not well.  Even from up here that was apparent.  
An army was sweeping across the land, leaving death and 
destruction in its wake.  As Kyouji watched, paralyzed with 
horror, the force swept over villages, killing all within, and 
he was intensely glad that from this height he couldn't make out 
any details of the slaughter.  It swarmed through forests, 
burning them to the ground, and the resultant clouds of black 
smoke blotted out the sky.  Wherever it went, it left the land 
barren and dead in its wake.

	And its progress was horribly swift.

	Within minutes, all that Kyouji could see was an endless 
plain of ashes.

	"That won't happen!" the Knight Protector said, turning to 
face the dead girl beside him.

	"Pardon?" she replied mildly.

	"That-"  He turned back to look out the window again, but 
this time the view was indeed of Tokyo, and nothing appeared to 
be similarly devouring it.  "I saw Mars consumed."

	"Did you?  How odd."

	"Yeah, real odd."  Kyouji faced her again, and for the 
first time it registered that she was also wearing a school 
uniform.  It wasn't a girl's outfit; it was a boy's, modified 
only slightly so as to accommodate her curves.  In fact, it was 
one from Shinonome High, identical to his.  "That's a new look 
for you, isn't it?"

	"I figured it would subtly establish our kinship while 
incidentally hinting at my own allegedly masculine traits, 
including but not limited to my sexual attraction to females."

	Kyouji blinked.  "Are you really supposed to just tell me 
that?"

	"Hey, by this point I don't exactly think you can connect 
the dots about what your dreams mean.  I mean, most people who 
get visions telling them to pick a girlfriend or doom will 
follow, they don't have trouble getting the message."

	Kyouji turned and began to walk away from Teru, but he 
could hear her footsteps following him.  "Yumi said that I 
should be sure I loved whoever I chose, and not go for someone 
who I don't truly care for just because I'm pressured to."

	"She's right," Teru said.

	Kyouji stopped short.  "You agree with that?"

	"Sure.  The thing is, though, that the problem isn't that 
you're being asked to get together with someone you don't love.  
The problem is that you do love them both."

	"Thanks.  You're so helpful."

	"I try."

	They continued wandering in silence for a moment, and 
Kyouji realized that he had led them to the very vending machine 
from which he had long ago bought a chocolate bar.  But through 
the glass that displayed the wares on offer he could see no 
candy.  Now the machine was mostly empty, and all that it 
contained were two small plush dolls.

	One was a blonde girl in a pink dress; the other was a dark 
haired girl in a green schoolgirl outfit.  Despite the 
exaggeratedly cute features, the resemblances were unmistakable.

	"Aw, look, the little Tsugiko one is even scowling," Teru 
said.  "That's so adorable."

	He shot her a questioning look.  But after a second he 
couldn't help but smile.  "I guess they are kind of cute."  He 
reached into his pocket and pulled out all the change he had on 
him.

	It was exactly enough to buy one.

	Teru looked at him expectantly, as if she was waiting for 
him to ask her something.

	"Okay, I get it," Kyouji said.  "I'm not completely 
stupid."

	"You're going to have to choose, Kyouji.  You know that."

	"I just told Tsugiko I would as soon as we got to Guylian."

	"And you were already trying to figure out how to get out 
of it, weren't you?"

	"Yes."  Kyouji hurled the coins away from him, and they 
clattered as they bounced across the floor.  "How can I choose?  
Why is it so important?"

	"I'll show you," Teru replied.

	"What?"  Kyouji hadn't been expecting that answer.

	"I'll show you why you have to choose.  I'll show you why 
it's important.  I'll show you everything."

	"You'll show me all that?"

	"I'll show you the day I died."

	There was a sudden flash of bright blue light, and then...

>o< >o< >o<


	Teru awoke before dawn.  She had had the second watch, and 
the last one had been Mia's, so she should have still been 
asleep.  But on a day like that one, it was hard to sleep in.

	Today was the day they were going to save the world.  Or, 
alternatively, today was the day they were going to die.

	Teru sat up and walked over to the fire.  Akie had also 
woken early, and she and Mia were talking about something.  They 
broke off their conversation when they saw her approach.

	"Couldn't sleep either, huh?" Akie asked.

	Teru shook her head.  "No."

	They sat for a few minutes by the dying embers, each lost 
in her own thoughts.  Looking at her friends, Teru's mind was 
suddenly filled with cold fear.  They had triumphed over many 
menaces, but Wintergreen was in a whole different class.  There 
was a very real chance that they would lose.

	The thought of her own death didn't particularly faze Teru.  
Shortly after they had been transported to Mars, she had come to 
terms with the fact that her current existence involved combat 
that could end in her demise.

	But Akie dying, or Mia...  Somehow, she had never believed 
it to be a possibility.  Now it loomed large in front of her.

	"Let's get moving," Teru said abruptly.  "We've still got 
some ground to cover if we want to get to Wintergreen's castle."

	They broke camp quickly.  They had had nearly two years of 
practice doing so.

	"Not many soldiers around, are there?" Teru asked.  "I 
mean, considering we're in the heart of Wintergreen's lands, 
you'd think they'd be everywhere."

	"They're probably busy elsewhere," Akie said softly.  
"Conquering in her name."

	"Pity," said Mia.  "I want to get my hands on a few of 
them."

	"Don't worry.  I'm sure there'll be plenty in Wintergreen's 
castle," Teru replied.

	"Well, I think I'll scout ahead a bit and see if I can get 
an early start on the carnage."  Mia quickened her pace, and 
within a minute was out of sight altogether.

	"I wish Mia wouldn't talk like that," Akie said.  "She 
seems to relish the violence more and more."

	"I'm sure she's just eager to get home."  Teru didn't 
particularly believe her own words.

	"Maybe.  But I think she's angry, and not just at 
Wintergreen or her armies.  I wish more than anything that I 
knew why."

	Couldn't Akie see it?  Mia's isolation, silently resenting 
Teru and Akie whenever they were getting along too well.

	Teru had wondered that the night before, and it passed 
through her head again.

	The swordsgirl strongly believed that Mia wanted to be more 
than friends with her, and it occurred to her that maybe the 
reason Akie didn't understand was because the blonde Warrior 
Priestess didn't share that desire.  That question, how deep the 
feelings Akie had for Teru went, was one of the many factors 
that held the swordsgirl all but immobile.

	The rest of her silent questions to the heavens returned to 
her in a flood.

	Teru cared for them both... but how much, and in what way?  
Should she say something to either of them?  Which one?  Was 
there even anything to say?

	Though the question of just how far their relationship 
would go had been as yet unanswered, Teru had been growing 
closer to Akie than Mia.  The latter girl had her attraction, 
and Teru did care for her deeply.  But she was difficult to get 
along with, perpetually on the edge of exploding.  Teru always 
felt tense around her, as if they were both just waiting for 
something to go wrong.  Akie's gentleness and easygoing nature 
were simply easier to live with.  So Teru spent more time with 
the blonde girl, and they grew closer.

	Mia had certainly noticed this subtle shift in the group 
dynamic.  But it only increased her volatility, pushing Teru 
further toward Akie.

	Teru knew that she wanted to spend the rest of her life 
with one of her two friends.  She would gladly have done so with 
either, but fate had cursed her with riches, and she had to 
decide.

	Which one?

	It would have seemed such an easy choice, but for one 
thing.  Akie had not given any sign whatsoever that she would 
even consider getting into a relationship that wasn't with a 
boy.  Indeed, all the evidence indicated that her only interest 
in that regard lay in the male sex.  She had never dropped a 
single hint that she thought of Teru as more than a friend, or 
ever would.

	Mia had.

	But Mia had also made it clear, with characteristic 
vehemence, what she thought of the idea of being second choice.  
If Akie shot Teru down, Mia would not be the consolation prize.

	So Teru waited and waited, paralyzed by the decision.  Go 
for the one she knew she could have, or try for the one she 
perhaps couldn't.

	And in the meantime, Teru knew she was tearing the group 
apart.  Mia's growing resentment, Akie's anguish at the tension 
she could sense but not understand, Teru's own confusion...

	It was, Teru had thought more than once, all so maddeningly 
complicated.

	The swordsgirl looked at Akie.  Her friend was clearly ill 
at ease, but thankfully not due to her company.  It was the 
landscape that bothered her.  The Warrior Priestess in pink was 
more sensitive to the planet than her two companions, and the 
land here was warped and twisted.  The plants looked odd, even 
by martian standards, bent at bizarre angles and covered with 
sickly splashes of grey and black.  There were few animals, and 
what fauna they could see tended to look gaunt and skittish.

	Teru reached out a hand, and rested it on her friend's 
forearm.  "It's alright," she whispered.

	"No, it's not," Akie replied.

	"I can't fool you, can I?"  Teru didn't remove her hand.

	Death was waiting up ahead.  There was no more time for 
hesitation.  The one you can have or the one you perhaps 
can't...

	And suddenly Teru's mind was clear.  She loved Akie.  She 
cared for Mia; in another life, she might have been the one and 
maybe they'd even have lived happily ever after.  In another 
life, anything could happen.  But here, now, she loved Akie.

	Take a chance.  Risk it all.

	After all, you only live once.

	"Akie, there's something I need to ask you.  I think we 
might not make it, and I want you to know that I care for you 
more than anything, and I thought maybe you-"

	"Teru," Akie cut her off.  The blonde girl's voice was soft 
and full of grief.  "If you were a boy..."  She trailed off.

	If you were a boy.  If you were a boy.  If you were a boy.

	If you were a boy, things would be simple.  If you were a 
boy, things would work out.  If you were a boy, there'd be a 
happy ending.

	If, that is, you were a boy.

	At that moment, Teru wished with every fibre of her being 
that it were so.

	She could press on.  Teru knew that.  There was obvious 
pain and conflict on Akie's face.  Maybe the blonde girl could 
be won over, if Teru didn't give up, if...

	If Teru wasn't such a coward.  The brief moment of clarity, 
of courage, had passed as quickly as it had come.

	"Heh," Teru said hoarsely.  "Wouldn't that be strange, if I 
was a boy?  I wonder, if that were the case, would we still be 
such good friends?  Because that's what we are, right?  
Friends?"

	"Of course we're friends, Teru."  Akie smiled slightly.

	"Excuse me, Akie.  I'm going to see what Mia's doing."

	Teru sped up, trying to put distance between herself and 
Akie.  She headed through the light forest, its living trees 
looking like skeletons, until she found the other member of 
their band.

	"Seen anyone?" the swordsgirl asked by way of greeting.

	Mia's warhammer was out, and in her hand.  "Nope."  She 
swung her weapon through the air, knocking aside an invisible 
foe.  "They must have seen me and run off."

	"Can't fault their intelligence," Teru said.  She rubbed 
her head, reacting to memories of pain.  Mia had turned her 
warhammer against the swordsgirl's cranium more than once.

	"You think I'm someone to be avoided?"  There was a sudden 
edge to Mia's voice.

	"No, no," Teru said quickly.  "I just meant that they're 
smart enough not to mess with you."

	"I guess so."  Mia's voice had softened again.  "It's my 
own fault for being so darn intimidating."  She gave a crooked 
smile.  "So, did you want to talk to me about something?"

	Teru looked at her friend appraisingly.  That cocky smile 
was all the more endearing for its rarity.  And the barely 
constrained energy that seemed to radiate from Mia had nothing 
to do with her Warrior Priestess powers.  The fact that that 
energy could be turned on friend as easily as foe did nothing to 
diminish its attraction, and for a second the swordsgirl felt it 
drawing her like a moth to a flame.

	Teru remembered the time she had almost drowned in the 
Orange Soda Ocean.  Mia had given her mouth to mouth 
resuscitation; her lips had lingered longer than was necessary, 
even after Teru had opened her eyes.  Teru remembered what they 
felt like, soft and warm.

	The swordsgirl opened her mouth and said...

	Nothing.

	Teru said absolutely nothing.

	Much as the blue-clad Priestess wanted to say she loved 
Mia, she couldn't form the words.  An image of Akie rose 
unbidden in her mind, stealing her voice.  Beautiful, kind Akie.  
Much as Teru felt for Mia, she cared for the pink-clad Priestess 
just a little bit more.  The blonde girl hadn't said "no", not 
exactly.  There might still be a chance.

	She knew she was a coward, afraid of rejection and 
isolation on the one hand and a potential lifetime of might-
have-beens and regrets on the other.

	She cared for them both... but how much, and in what way?  
Should she say something to either of them?  Which one?  Was 
there even anything to say?

	There were still no answers to be found, not even now, not 
even at the end.

	"You look like a fish with your mouth hanging open like 
that."

	"Sorry.  I forgot what I was going to say."

	"I guess it wasn't anything important then."

	"No.  Nothing important."

	"Hey, do you have the map the brainiac found?" Mia asked.  
"I think we're getting close to where it said the hidden 
entrance was supposed to be."

	"Patty hates it when you call her that," Teru said.

	"It's meant in a good way."  At Teru's disbelieving look, 
Mia sighed.  "Okay, fine.  I guess I'm just jealous.  I mean, 
bad enough that Akie's like five times as smart as me, but 
Patty's a genius.  If I didn't have you around, Teru, I think 
I'd get an inferiority complex."

	"Glad I could be of use."  Teru dug around in her pack, 
trying to find the ancient map that Patty had uncovered in her 
research.  At last, she located it and slid it out of its 
protective case.  The ancient parchment was brittle, so Teru 
unrolled it carefully.  "Yeah, it should be just ahead.  Look 
for a big boulder."

	"I see it!"

	Teru looked up.  The marker they were looking for was just 
ahead: a huge piece of volcanic rock.  Even in this blighted 
landscape it stood out.  "Okay, the entrance to the passage is 
underneath that.  We'll have to figure out some way to move it."

	"No problem."  Mia's aura flared to life as she approached 
the boulder, and she swung her hammer.  It connected with an 
explosive release of energy.  Teru had to duck to avoid the 
pieces of rock that hurtled through the air.

	"You think that was loud enough?" Teru asked.  "I mean, 
Wintergreen's castle is over a mile away from here.  It's just 
remotely possible that you didn't alert her to our presence."

	Mia shrugged.  "I got the job done."

	Where the boulder had been, a hole in the ground was now 
visible.  Teru looked down into it, but saw nothing but 
darkness.  She picked up a piece of the rock and tossed it in; 
to her relief, the sound of it hitting the ground came almost 
instantly.  The drop wasn't more than a dozen feet.

	"Is this it?" Akie asked as she approached the other two 
girls.

	"Yep.  I'll go down and check it out."  Teru sat down on 
the edge, then pushed herself off, and fell into the darkness.

	She landed on her feet.  Her enhanced muscles easily 
absorbed the impact, and she maintained her balance without 
difficulty.

	The Warrior Priestess was in almost complete blackness, the 
only illumination coming from the hole up above.  Teru 
concentrated, and her aura sprang into being, bathing her 
surroundings in a faint blue light.

	She was in a roughly circular room dug out of the earth, 
about fifteen feet in diameter.  Other than her, there was 
absolutely nothing in it.  There was only one exit (besides the 
one through which she had entered), a cramped tunnel that 
stretched as far as she could see.

	"Are you alright?" Akie called.

	"Everything's fine.  Come on down."

	When they had done so, Teru gestured toward the passageway.  
"This must be where we're supposed to head."

	"I'll go first," Mia said.  Her own aura flared.

	"Fine with me.  Akie?"

	The blonde girl didn't answer.  She was staring nervously 
at the passageway.

	Teru remembered an incident from a few months previously.  
Akie had been captured by one of Wintergreen's lieutenants, and 
it had taken the other two Warrior Priestesses nearly a day to 
rescue her.  When they found her, she was being held in a steel 
box the size of a coffin, with just some air holes to keep her 
alive.  Ever since then, Akie had done everything she could to 
avoid close confines.

	"Can you do it?" Teru asked.

	"I... I think so," Akie replied.

	"Don't worry.  Nothing's going to get by me," Mia added.

	"I know."  Akie took a deep breath.  "I trust you both.  I 
know you'll keep me safe."

	"Uh, yeah, whatever," Mia mumbled.

	They headed into the passage.  The light of their auras 
made it easy to see, so progress was quick, but it was still a 
comparatively long walk.  They had gotten used to spending days 
on foot, but that was outside, where there were things to see.  
Here, there was nothing but the narrow tunnel.

	So they talked.

	"What do you think we'll have to deal with when we get 
there?" Teru asked.

	"Wintergreen," Akie replied.

	"Are you sure she's home?  It would be embarrassing if we 
found she had stepped out to despoil the countryside or 
something."

	"She's there.  I can feel her, at the centre of the 
corruption."

	"Good," Mia broke in.  "I want to get this over with."

	"Mia," Teru said.  "You're going to have to be careful.  
Don't let your anger overrule your better judgment when we go 
into battle.  Wintergreen is too strong for that; she'll 
slaughter us if we aren't in control of ourselves."

	"Oh, right.  Like you're mistress of your emotions?  C'mon, 
Teru, your indecisiveness is what's going to get us killed.  You 
flutter back and forth-"

	"What's that supposed to mean?"

	"You know perfectly well."

	"Stop it!" Akie cried.  They both turned to face the blonde 
Priestess, and she continued in a more normal tone.  "We 
shouldn't fight among ourselves.  There's too much at stake."

	They continued in silence for a few minutes.  Finally, Mia 
broke it.  "What about the lieutenants?"

	"Well, we haven't seen much of Turtles since he was 
blinded," Teru said.

	"Thank God.  For a while there, it was like he'd show up 
every nine days or so with some new alchemical potion, then we'd 
kick his butt in two minutes flat.  It was getting to be a 
routine."

	"And once we broke the curse Wintergreen had cast on Kerrs, 
I think he just went back home to his village," Teru continued.

	"I'm glad," Akie said.  "He was a good person.  He didn't 
ask to be transformed into that half-Trident creature."

	"That leaves Del," Teru finished.  She couldn't help but 
notice Akie give a slight shudder at the name.  Del was the one 
who had caged her.  "Don't worry," she whispered.

	"If I see her, I'll kill her," Mia said.  Her voice was 
fierce, and it occurred to Teru that despite all the friction in 
the group, Mia did care for Akie.

	"What's this tunnel for, anyway?" Akie asked.

	"I think Patty said that Wintergreen took over the castle 
of some old king.  This was built centuries ago as an escape 
tunnel, but it got forgotten over time, and not even the Dark 
Queen knows about it anymore.  At least, that's what we hope.  
Otherwise, this could-"

	"Hey, I think we're here," Mia interrupted.  The passageway 
came to a dead end.  There was no sign of any exit.  "The cellar 
of Wintergreen's palace is supposed to be just ahead, right?"

	"Yes.  There should be some sort of hidden-"  Teru's 
sentence was cut off by Mia's sudden blast of power vaporizing 
the wall.  "Or you could just do that."

	The three Warrior Priestesses rushed out into the cellar.  
The air was musty and stale, but nowhere near as much as it had 
been in the tunnel, and the girls greedily gulped it in.

	"Here's where the fun begins," Mia said.

	They made it all the way to the staircase before the 
castle's guards could respond.  But what the defenders lacked in 
response time, they made up for with numbers.  Two dozen men 
were proceeding down the stairs, all with swords drawn.

	Akie waved her wand at the enemy forces, and a pink mist 
formed around them.  The soldiers looked around in confusion, 
trying to figure out what was happening.  Then one by one, the 
guards started to sit down, serene smiles on their faces.

	"Are there a lot of soldiers in this castle?" Akie asked.

	"A couple hundred.  Isn't that great?" a soldier replied 
dreamily.  "Hey, have you ever thought about just how wonderful 
it is to be alive?"

	"All the time," Mia replied drily.  Then, to Akie, she 
said, "You know, it's creepy as anything when you do that."

	"Sorry," Akie said.  "I just thought that since this way we 
don't have to hurt them permanently-"

	"Well, next time let me handle it.  I'm sure they'd prefer 
to be beaten up a bit then spend a few hours in Pollyanaland 
anyway."

	"Hey, guys, let's have a sing-along!" one of the soldiers 
shouted.  Mia shuddered.

	The magical gas had dissipated, and the Warrior Priestesses 
headed up the stairs, stepping over the guards.

	As they reached the first floor, they saw another two dozen 
men running to reinforce their fellows.  Mia hurled her hammer 
at one of them, and it trailed green fire as it flew.  Its 
impact was enough to knock the soldier it collided with five 
feet back, slamming him against the wall with a sickening sound.  
The green-clad Priestess snapped her wrist back, and the hammer 
leapt off the ground to return to her hand.

	The other soldiers had seen this display, and had stopped 
their charge.  That was a mistake.  It allowed Mia to repeat the 
maneuver.  This time she hit her target in the chin, flipping 
him onto his back and dislocating his jaw to the point where it 
was nearly knocked off altogether.

	There were twenty-two soldiers left now.

	Again the hammer flew, and there were twenty-one.

	The enemy seemed frozen in disbelief at the rapidity with 
which their number was dwindling.

	"Should we help her?" Akie whispered.

	"I think they're the ones who need help," Teru replied.

	Mia advanced slowly, moving her warhammer through the air 
in wide arcs that left trails of green energy in the weapon's 
wake.

	Almost absently, she batted one of the nearby soldiers.  
His torso snapped around, twisting almost one hundred and eighty 
degrees.  He fell into a heap with a cry of pain.

	The sound seemed to snap some of the other guards out of 
their trance.  One of the soldiers nearest Mia leapt forward, 
his sword thrust out.  The Warrior Priestess casually altered 
the arc of her latest swing, and her mallet came into contact 
with his blade.  The steel shattered, falling to the ground as 
tiny metal slivers.  Her hammer didn't even slow down.

	The guard looked down at his broken weapon, now little more 
than a handle.  He clearly couldn't understand what he was 
seeing.

	"Want to find out what it'll do to your skull?" Mia asked.

	The disarmed soldier didn't answer.  Instead, he turned and 
ran, and the other guards were hot on his heels.

	"Next time, try it without the hammer," Teru suggested.  
"I'm curious to see if you can make the enemy turn tail with 
your intimidating voice alone."

	They got half a corridor before encountering the next wave.  
A few dozen feet ahead of them, eight archers entered from a 
side hallway, their weapons drawn.  Within a second, a volley of 
arrows were heading for the Warrior Priestesses.

	Instead of trying to find cover, Teru charged.  She waved 
her sword with a speed that made it almost invisible, trying to 
protect her friends by chopping the arrows out of the air before 
they could reach the other girls.  She moved so fast that time 
seemed to distort for her.

	Eight arrows, moving through the air.  Teru passes the 
first; it's on her right; she brings her sword up and cleaves it 
along its axis.  The second is right in front of her; she swings 
the blade around, severing the arrowhead.  The third and fourth 
are coming in low; the girl falls to her knees and brings the 
sword down on one, using the flat of the blade to push it right 
down onto the ground.  The next is almost passed her, and she 
twirls as she returns to her feet, neutralizing it as well by 
cutting off the projectile's rear end.  The pieces of the first 
arrow have just hit the ground, and the slight clattering is 
distended.  Teru is facing forward again, still advancing.  She 
thrusts to her left, bringing the sword across her body, to take 
out the fifth arrow, then whips it back over to the right for 
the sixth.  The second arrow has just hit the ground.  There are 
only two left.  They are on either side of her, and even she 
cannot move her sword quickly enough to intercept them both.  
She chops at the one on her right, barely glancing it, and it 
remains in flight, but its course has been altered and it will 
imbed itself in a wall.  The last one is on her left, far from 
her sword, but not her free hand.  She reaches out, and wraps 
her fingers around the shaft.  There is friction, burning her 
bare skin, but she holds on.  All eight arrows have been 
accounted for.

	Time snapped back to normal.

	The sounds of four arrows falling onto the ground and 
another hitting the wall confirmed that Teru had done her job.  
The one in her hand the Warrior Priestess tossed aside.

	A few feet in front of her, the archers were already 
readying another volley.  This time, they were all aiming right 
at her.  But even their trained hands were far slower than the 
arrows in flight had been, and Teru dispatched them with ease.

	Turning around, the blue-clad Priestess saw that neither of 
her companions had made any sort of move to protect themselves.  
She took a small bit of pride in that unspoken belief in her 
ability to defend them.

	"Not bad, huh?" Teru asked.

	"I took mine out without getting hurt," Mia replied.

	"Oh, Teru, let me see that," Akie said.  She pointed her 
wand at her companion's hand, and the burning sensation stopped.

	"Where to next?"

	Teru checked the map.  "Through there.  It should be some 
sort of dining hall, I think."

	They opened the oak door she pointed at.  There was indeed 
a dining hall on the other side.  And in it were nearly a 
hundred soldiers, all eating some sort of gruel at long wooden 
tables.

	"Perfect," Teru muttered.

	What happened next was a blur.  Blasts of pink and green 
and blue energy flew everywhere.  Teru's sword flashed as she 
jumped around the room in fifteen foot leaps, trying to avoid 
being pinned down and overwhelmed by sheer force of numbers.  
Wherever she landed, she'd slash out at the nearest soldier, 
then take off again before the other nearby enemies had a chance 
to react.

	Through the corner of her eye, she could see Mia swinging 
her hammer, knocking enemies clear across the dining hall to 
smash into the far walls or come crashing down onto the tables.  
Occasionally, it wouldn't be the entire soldier that was sent 
flying, just whatever part of him she happened to hit.

	Teru felt her emotions surge, and knew her aura was surging 
with them.  But no matter how tempting it seemed, she couldn't 
afford to expel the energy in a destructive blast.  It would 
only take care of a few of the guards, and afterward her power 
level would be substantially lower.

	The swordsgirl swung her blade in front of her to clear 
some room, then jumped again, her magically enhanced muscles 
propelling her through the air.  She landed on a table a dozen 
feet away... right in a large puddle of soup.

	Her foot slipped out from under her, and the blue-clad 
Priestess fell.

	Instantly, guards swarmed over her, and Teru thought that 
she'd have no choice but to unleash an energy blast.  Her aura 
increased as she prepared to do so.

	Before she could, however, she realized that the increase 
in the energy surrounding her was not entirely her own doing.  
The colour of her halo was no longer its normal blue; there was 
a fair amount of pink mixed in, tinting it toward purple.

	Teru winced in pain as a sword pierced her thigh, but the 
agony vanished as soon as it was withdrawn.  The wound closed up 
almost instantly.  Another blade plunged down, slashing across 
her shoulder to reveal muscle and bone, but that cut too was 
gone in an instant.

	Wherever Akie was in this melee, she must have seen Teru go 
down, and was funnelling some of her power to her.  The 
swordsgirl frowned; that would leave Akie more vulnerable.

	Another enemy tried to attack her, but Teru had had enough 
of being chopped up.  She brought her sword up, and sliced open 
his wrist, forcing him to drop his weapon.

	It was not a battle that Teru would wish to repeat.  Her 
borrowed healing ability allowed her to fend off her attackers 
and regain her footing, but it made the wounds no less painful 
during the seconds she bore them.

	By the time Teru had fought her way clear, her clothes were 
soaked with blood, and a fair amount was her own.

	As soon as the swordsgirl could, she made her way over to 
Akie.  The blonde girl had apparently not been too unwise in 
lending Teru some energy; it prevented the more extravagant uses 
of her powers (such as what Mia had sarcastically dubbed "Happy 
Gas") but she could still shoot beams of incapacitating energy 
from her wand with machine gun-like speed, and the rapid stream 
of pink bolts was enough to hold her attackers at bay.

	With the soldiers' focus on Akie, they were an easy target 
for Teru, and she chopped her way to her friend without much 
effort.

	As the swordsgirl dispatched the last of the guards 
besieging the blonde Priestess, she noticed that the hall had 
become oddly quiet.  Turning, she saw Mia.  Like herself, the 
green-clad girl was drenched in blood, but other than a small 
cut on her cheek she seemed unhurt.

	None of the enemy soldiers remained standing.  A few were 
apparently still alive and conscious, judging from their 
whimpers, but none were ready to continue the fight.

	"Let me clean the two of you up," Akie said, pointing her 
wand at her friends.  It seemed to Teru an absurd sense of 
priorities to be concerned with their appearance, but it was 
oddly endearing.  At any rate, she didn't object when the gentle 
pink glow from Akie's wand washed away the gore and somehow 
repaired the rips and tears in her outfit.

	"Where to now?" Mia asked.

	"We're pretty close to the throne room," Teru replied.

	They didn't encounter any more guards on their way through 
the winding corridors.  Perhaps their triumph in the dining hall 
had scared any other opponents off, or perhaps there had never 
been all that many soldiers in the castle to begin with.

	The throne room was majestic.  It was draped with 
tapestries depicting all the lands of Mars in vivid detail, as 
if to provide its occupants with a view of the whole planet.  
Wintergreen had enjoyed being surrounded by her entire destined 
dominion.  Objects d'art stood in various places, brought here 
from the lands that she had overrun.  They were eclectic and did 
not fit together well at all, as if they had been selected by 
someone who lacked any particular artistic taste and simply took 
any piece that was treasured by some other person or group, but 
individually they were each beautiful.

	Even amidst such surroundings, though, one object dominated 
the room: the central throne.  It was covered with ornate 
carvings and it looked lush beyond imagining, but there was 
something more than that which drew the eye to it.  Somehow, it 
seemed to possess a sense of majesty.

	It was also unoccupied.  In fact, there seemed to be no one 
but them in the room.

	"Where is she?" Mia asked.

	"I..."  Teru trailed off.  She hadn't thought of this 
eventuality.

	From behind them came a dry laugh.  All three girls turned, 
and saw a figure almost hidden behind a bronze statue.

	It was Turkish Delight, the last of Wintergreen's 
lieutenants.  Although, from the looks of her, she wouldn't be 
such for very much longer.

	Her short purple hair was matted to her skull by blood, and 
she lay limply against the wall in a pool of it.  The dark green 
of her leather uniform was singed black over her entire stomach 
and chest; patches of it had fallen off to reveal similarly 
burned flesh.  Her trademark whip lay a few feet from her, torn 
in two.

	She was dying.  Indeed, if not for that laugh, Teru would 
have sworn she was already dead.  "Del."

	"Is that you, Warrior Priestesses?"  The voice of Turkish 
Delight was hoarse.  Her head flopped forward, but her glassy 
eyes did not focus.  "She said you were coming.  She said it was 
all my fault, mine and Turtles' and Kerrs', that we should have 
stopped you ages ago."

	"It's not like you didn't try," Mia said.

	Del gave a ghastly smile.  Numerous teeth were missing.  
"That I did.  So many times, we duelled, you and I.  How is Akie 
doing these days, by the way?  I remember her begging me to let 
her out..."

	Mia and Teru both drew their weapons simultaneously.  Akie 
shook her head at them.

	"She's killed me.  Wintergreen.  She killed me because I 
failed her.  I'm not dead yet, but it won't be long now.  I know 
that.  She'll kill you too, if you face her.  You think you're 
good, because you can beat my whip or Turtles' potions or Kerrs' 
claws.  But you're nothing compared to her.  She'll destroy 
you."

	"Here's what I think," Akie said.  "I think that if that 
were true, she'd have had no reason to be so mad at you.  She's 
afraid.  We're going to win.  We're going to save Mars.  And 
Wintergreen knows that."

	"You think that, do you?"  Del coughed.  "I'd forgotten.  
For all your battle experience, you're just three little 
schoolgirls at heart.  There are no happy endings."

	"Maybe not for someone who doesn't believe in them," Akie 
said.  "But we're going to go beat Wintergreen and go back home, 
no matter what you... or anyone else... says."

	Turkish Delight gave no reply.  She was dead.

	"Well, that was entertaining and all, but we're no closer 
to finding Wintergreen," Mia said.

	As if in response, the massive doors to the throne room 
flew inward, blown off their hinges.  The three girls dove to 
the floor to avoid being hit by them.

	"Were you looking for me?  I'm so sorry, but I had to step 
out for a minute."

	Wintergreen was standing in the doorway.  She was wearing a 
slinky black dress; its elegance was in striking contrast with 
the blue spear she held in one hand.

	Mia hurled her mallet at the Dark Queen.  There was such 
power in her throw that the warhammer's speed was nearly 
supersonic.

	Wintergreen held up her free hand, palm facing outward, and 
it bounced off.  The force of the impact caused a shock wave to 
reverberate through the room, and a few of the more fragile 
sculptures shattered.  The Dark Queen didn't even flinch.

	"It seems that your little display in the dining hall had a 
most unfortunate effect on morale," Wintergreen continued.  "The 
remainder of my loyal troops were fleeing.  You just can't get 
good help these days, can you?  At any rate, they didn't get 
far.  It just wouldn't do for it to get around that one could 
desert my armies without penalty."

	Now Teru stood up, and her aura flared so brightly that the 
entire room appeared to contain nothing but shades of blue.  
Then it poured forth from the girl, a massive wave of energy 
that might have laid waste to a city, all focussed on the Dark 
Queen.

	When it was done, Wintergreen cocked her head to one side.  
"My, you have been improving.  Good for you.  It shows 
initiative, drive, dedication.  I like to see that in young 
people.  It makes it more fun to kill them."

	Then she raised her spear, and from it a beam of energy 
emerged.  It lacked the grandiose pyrotechnics of Teru's, but it 
hurled the swordsgirl through the air, across the room.  She was 
sailing so fast that she knew that when she hit whatever it was 
she ended up hitting, the impact would shatter every bone in her 
body, including her neck.

	Unless, of course, she ended up hitting the single most 
plush object on the planet.  Which, by a stroke of incredible 
good luck, happened to be in the room and directly behind her.

	Before Teru could even register that she was still alive, 
she found herself sitting on Wintergreen's throne.  It really 
was as comfortable as it looked.

	"I don't suppose the two of you would like to surrender?  I 
can be merciful," Wintergreen was saying.  Akie and Mia were 
both standing a few feet in front of her, and apparently the 
Dark Queen thought that they were the only ones remaining.

	Teru couldn't hear the reply, but she felt something.  The 
crystal on her forehead felt like it was getting hotter, but the 
sensation was not unpleasant.  It was glowing, a soft blue.  She 
couldn't see it, but she knew it was happening all the same.

	Up ahead, the same thing was happening to her two 
companions.  One of them, Akie most likely, had begun the 
process of creating the Starburst Crystal.

	Teru felt the crystal on her forehead start to draw power 
out of her, and she let it, willed her energy to flow in it and 
through it, to join with her friends'.

	"What's this?" Wintergreen sneered.

	"The end," Mia replied.

	In front of the two girls, the Starburst Crystal had 
started to flicker into existence.  It glowed with an unearthly 
light, colours passing in and out of view.  Teru thought that 
she had never seen anything quite as beautiful.

	"What... what are you doing?"  Wintergreen's voice was a 
low hiss.  "My strength... it's being..."

	There was a flash and Wintergreen's spear had split into 
two, one in each of her hands.  "Foolish girls.  Your deaths 
will be most unpleasant now."

	The Starburst Crystal was glowing brighter, and streams of 
light were radiating from it.  But it was still partially 
transparent, phasing in and out of existence.

	Wintergreen hurled both spears forward, one aimed toward 
each of the two girls.

	Teru watched in horror.  Neither of her friends would have 
time to react.  She knew that.  They were fast, superhumanly so, 
but the speed the spears were moving at was incredible.

	And Teru wasn't sure that either of them could survive 
being hit.

	The Starburst Crystal was almost stable.  Even if one of 
them was incapacitated, the other could finish it.  Teru was too 
far away, but either Akie or Mia were near enough to do so.  It 
would only take another few seconds.

	Teru could lend her power to one of her friends, as Akie 
had leant her healing powers to the swordsgirl earlier.  With 
Teru's enhanced speed and endurance added to her own, another of 
the Warrior Priestesses would be able to dodge the attack, or at 
least minimize the damage.

	She could choose one to survive and complete the Crystal.

	The other one... would have to take her chances on her own.

	All this was apparent to Teru in the split second the 
spears were in flight.  It wasn't a coherent thought; it was 
sudden knowledge.

	Which one?

	Which one to save?

	Which one to let die?

	Which one did she love?

	Akie?

	Mia?

	Teru tried to focus, tried to decide-

	The two spears slammed home.  Both girls fell back, blood 
arcing through the air.

	The Starburst Crystal faded from view.

	Wintergreen reached out, and the two spears leapt into the 
air, merging into one as they returned to her hand.

	Teru's heart pounded.  She pulled herself off the throne, 
racing forward.  "You murderous bit-"

	The swordsgirl skidded to a stop.  She had pulled alongside 
her friends, and they were both standing up.

	"I guess the Crystal really did suck some of her energy," 
Akie said.

	"Yeah.  I barely felt that," Mia added.  The groan she made 
as she tried to straighten up belied her words.

	"Perhaps.  But you took me by surprise that time.  You 
won't get another opportunity," Wintergreen said.  She 
punctuated her declaration with a barrage of blasts from her 
spear that forced the girls to retreat towards the throne.

	Teru knew that this could have been over already.  If she 
hadn't hesitated, had chosen one of them, they'd have had the 
happy ending Akie was so certain awaited them.  But she hadn't.

	All three Warrior Priestesses' auras were glowing, though 
only Akie was bothering to return Wintergreen's blasts with 
attacks of her own.  Even in her weakened condition, the Dark 
Queen barely seemed to notice the girl's offensive.

	Teru dove to the left to avoid one of Wintergreen's shots.  
It hit the floor where she had been, vaporizing the rug and 
sending chunks of the stone beneath flying in all directions.  
One clipped Teru's side, tearing through her clothing but not 
drawing blood.

	She jumped again as another blast from the Spear of Mint 
reduced a marble bust to rubble, and found herself landing by 
the corpse of Turkish Delight, the erstwhile lieutenant.  
Looking at what remained of Del, Teru shuddered.  If she was too 
slow, the same fate could easily befall her.

	Across the room, she saw Mia also dodging Wintergreen's 
wild attacks.  One blast hit the girl's bare leg, and the 
Warrior Priestess fell to the ground.  Fortunately, 
Wintergreen's attention was divided, and she didn't appear to 
notice Mia's moment of vulnerability, instead sending tendrils 
of raw power arcing toward Akie.  The blonde countered with 
equally bright lances of pink energy, blocking Wintergreen's 
offensive, but from the sweat pouring down the girl's brow it 
was obvious that it was taking all of her abilities to do so.

	For now, though, Akie appeared to be holding her own, so 
Teru turned back to Mia.  The green-clad Priestess still hadn't 
gotten up.  Concerned for her downed friend, the swordsgirl 
dashed across the throne room, heading through a three 
dimensional minefield of airborne energy beams.

	It occurred to her that moving closer together would make 
it easier for Wintergreen to attack them, but she had to know if 
Mia was alright.

	"How's your leg?" the swordsgirl asked as she slid across 
the last few feet.  The smell of burnt meat coming from the 
wound made her stomach churn.

	"It's not as bad as it looks.  The heat cauterized it.  
I'll live," Mia grunted.  She stood up without apparent effort.  
"But not for long if we don't get that Crystal back in the 
game."

	"Can you form it again?" Teru asked.

	She was somewhat surprised when Mia's response was to 
tackle her to the ground, but then a wave of power flew over 
them, and the swordsgirl understood that they had become 
Wintergreen's current target again.

	"It was a bit easier," Mia finally replied, "when we 
weren't under heavy fire."  She rolled away from Teru, passing 
under another volley, then stood back up.  "I'm going to try to 
get my mallet back."

	"I'm not sure if that's such a great idea.  Wintergreen's 
practically standing on top of it."  Teru hopped back up onto 
her own feet as a bolt of energy hit the ground where she had 
been laying.

	"Yeah, well, I don't really care what you think.  You and 
Akie are always telling me I'm too headstrong and angry.  Well, 
maybe I am.  But you'll pardon me for saying that a duel to the 
death is not the time for meditation and reflection."  Mia 
sidestepped as a particularly large surge of power flew towards 
them.  It missed her, and hit the wall behind them, melting a 
tapestry of the Aero Mountains into goo.

	"No.  I suppose not.  Besides, you're not going to be 
talked out of this.  We have mentioned that you're stubborn as 
Hell too, right?"

	"It might have come up once or twice.  So, can I trust you 
to cover me or not?"

	"I'll try.  Let's go."  Teru leapt high into the air, 
somersaulting as she did so, to plunge down toward Wintergreen 
with sword extended and crackling with blue energy.

	The Dark Queen looked up at her attacker, and aimed the 
spear toward the girl.  But she didn't have time to get off a 
shot, and had to be satisfied with batting Teru aside.

	Mia, meanwhile, had retrieved her mallet, and was swinging 
it toward the Dark Queen.  Green energy pulsed off her in waves, 
and the hammer seemed to grow into a giant weapon composed 
entirely of magical power.  It might have seemed a ludicrous 
image, the seemingly slight girl wielding a warhammer as big as 
she was, but the determined grimace on Mia's face leant it 
gravity.

	The projection dissolved into wisps of green smoke upon 
contact with Wintergreen, leaving Mia holding her normal hammer.  
But the Dark Queen reeled a bit.

	Akie's quick succession of shots ceased, and her wand began 
to glow brighter.  The jewel embedded in it seemed to expand 
until it was the size of a soccer ball, radiating pink.  
Finally, the energy surged out of it, and for a second that 
dainty little wand became a bazooka, blasting into the face of 
the Dark Queen.  Wintergreen grunted and took a step back.

	Teru had just regained her footing, but she saw the 
opportunity that had presented itself.  She swung her sword 
toward their foe, and the steel blade seemed to fade away, 
replaced by a counterpart, a glowing blue blade shaped like the 
sword's normal one but with an infinite sharpness that mere 
matter could never achieve.  It was an edge that could have cut 
open a subatomic particle.  It drove straight into Wintergreen's 
stomach.  And she actually staggered.

	Teru withdrew quickly before the Dark Queen could 
retaliate.  Her sword had returned to its normal appearance as 
soon as the blow had been struck.
   
	The three Warrior Priestesses circled into an attack 
position.  Wintergreen's power had been partially leeched by the 
Starburst Crystal, and she had not had time to recover.  The 
quick succession of attacks had capitalized on that weakness, 
wounding her far more deeply than they ever would have under 
other circumstances.  The Dark Queen was clearly on the 
defensive now.

	Teru could feel her forehead crystal coming to life once 
more.  The Warrior Priestess wished every ounce of power she had 
into it.  She felt herself being drained, and gave her energy 
gladly.  The swordsgirl knew from their earlier attempt that it 
was imperative they form the Starburst Crystal as quickly as 
possible.  She concentrated, forcing every iota of energy she 
had out of herself and into the nascent Crystal.

	Akie pointed toward Wintergreen.  "This has gone on long 
enough.  I used to think that everyone had some good in them.  
But not you.  You're nothing but a blight.  You're pure evil, 
unredeemable.  And now we're going to kill you."

	Wintergreen just smiled.

	The Starburst Crystal was once more in view, solidifying 
more quickly this time.  It was radiating light, every colour 
there was and some that might not have been.

	This time, Wintergreen did nothing to prevent its 
solidifying.  Perhaps it was the increased speed of its 
creation, or perhaps she was just too exhausted.

	Teru was gazing in rapture at it.  Through her peripheral 
vision, she could see her friends doing the same.  It was 
pulsating now, and the crystals on the foreheads of the three 
girls were pulsating in synch with it, as more and more energy 
was absorbed into it, drawn from them-

	Too late, Teru understood.

	The Starburst Crystal was weakening Wintergreen, but it was 
weakening them as well.  Their powers were being focussed into 
it, leaving them little more than ordinary teenage girls.

	Teru tried to turn toward Wintergreen, but she seemed 
trapped in molasses.  Her superhuman speed was gone.

	She tried to summon an energy blast, but it was totally 
beyond her.

	The sword in her hand felt heavy, almost too heavy to 
wield, let alone throw.

	Teru opened her mouth to cry a warning, but it was too 
late.

	A blast of energy enveloped Mia.

	The Warrior Priestess had time for one strangled scream as 
the flesh was flayed from her bones.  As the energy dissipated, 
she slumped forward, blood running from her mouth and eyes to 
splatter at her feet.  Her green uniform had caught fire, and it 
was still burning, so that as her body collapsed forward onto 
the throne room's floor it spread to her hair.  The mallet she 
had dropped onto the ground faded from view, as if it had never 
been, and that more than anything convinced the blue-clad 
Priestess that Mia was dead.

	Teru looked in horror at the corpse that seconds ago had 
been a girl she had cared about- had loved.  She thought of all 
the things that Mia had deserved but never gotten.  She thought 
of everything she should have said and would never get the 
chance to.  She thought of Mia's laughter, and she thought of 
Mia's tears.

	Teru wished that she had told Mia how much she had meant to 
her.

	Then the Warrior Priestess noticed that Wintergreen had 
turned toward her.  The swordsgirl held up her weapon in a 
futile attempt at a defense, one last show of defiance.

	She had known she might die that day.

	But it was still a bit of a surprise.

	Teru glanced over at the Starburst Crystal.  It was 
continuing to pulsate, faster and faster.  That was a relief.  
Mia's death had come after its formation was complete, and it 
would still trap Wintergreen within moments.  Nothing the Dark 
Queen could do would prevent that.  From all that they had 
learned from Patty and elsewhere, the Starburst Crystal, once 
formed, could not be shattered... or, at least, it would take 
incredible time and effort to do so, something like constant 
force applied for a thousand years.

	"We've beaten you," Teru said to Wintergreen.

	Wintergreen's spear began to glow as she prepared to fire.  
The building energy was different than what had been used on 
Mia.  It appeared more focussed somehow, but Teru knew it would 
be no less deadly.

	The Warrior Priestess turned her head to the side, not 
wanting to see the shot that would kill her.

	Teru saw Akie, gazing in horror at their fallen comrade.  
Looking at her friend next to the Starburst Crystal, Teru was 
tempted to amend her earlier opinion that the latter was the 
most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

	Then she felt pain.  Sudden, intense.  It consumed her.  
Every nerve, every cell.  All of them hurt.

	She couldn't see anything; she couldn't hear anything, not 
even her own final cries of agony.  There was nothing but the 
pain...

	The pain and one other thing...

	Through her mind passed one last thought.  It was just one 
word, one name, one regret.

	Then Teru died.

>o< >o< >o<


	"So that's it," Kyouji said.

	"Yep.  The sad and bloody tale of my demise."

	Kyouji found looking at Teru disconcerting, since he had 
experienced her death mere seconds before.  So he turned away 
from her, facing the vending machine once more.  "You look 
pretty good for a corpse."

	"Well, I live on through the crystal on your forehead."  
She reached over as if to tap it, but he pushed her arm away 
before she could do so.  "It's not much, but I suppose it's 
better than nothing."

	"Wait a second.  I thought we were in my mind.  Isn't that 
what you said that time you tried to seduce me?"

	"We are in your mind.  The crystal is where my essence is 
preserved, but I exist inside of you."

	"Sorry.  I failed metaphysics 101.  Could you put that into 
a language I can actually understand?"

	Teru sighed.  "Think of the forehead crystal as like a 
battery.  I live in your mind, but it's my power source.  That 
simple enough for you?"

	"Okay."

	"Now, can we please get back to the moral of the story?"

	"Was it that you suck?" Kyouji replied.  "I mean, you're 
always nagging me, but it looks like you did pretty badly 
yourself."

	"Of course I did badly!" Teru shouted.  "That's why it's so 
important that you decide!  That's why I went to the trouble of 
showing you all that!  So that you would understand!  I don't 
want you making the same mistakes I did!"

	"Well."  Kyouji's voice was utterly calm.  "Here's a 
newsflash.  I'm not you!  I think that's pretty obvious from 
even a casual observation.  Just because you screwed up, it 
doesn't mean I will."

	"Then you'll decide?" Teru asked.  "It's the only way to 
avoid ending up like we did."

	"I'll tell you what I've decided," Kyouji said.  Then, 
without warning, he made a roundhouse kick.  His shoe connected 
with the transparent display window of the vending machine, 
somehow shattering it.  The glass shards melted away into 
nothingness as they fell.  He reached inside and pulled out both 
of the dolls.  "I've decided that I don't have to play by any 
rules but my own."

	Teru chuckled.  "It's a start."

	Kyouji turned and walked away from the machine.  He headed 
once more to a window, and gazed out.  This time the view was of 
an endless field of poppies.  He turned his back on it to face 
Teru, who had followed him over.

	"By the way, which one was it?" Kyouji asked.

	"Which one?"

	"At the end.  When you were dying, you thought of one of 
them.  You chose.  Who was it whose name passed through your 
mind?  Who did you regret not confessing your love to?"

	Teru looked away.  "Does it really matter?  You should 
choose who you want, not who I did."

	"I guess you're right."  Kyouji tossed the two dolls at 
her, and she caught one in each hand.  "Here.  You can have 
both."

	Teru smiled.  "I always wanted these when I was a little 
girl."

	"You don't seem the type to have played with dolls."

	"Hey, we've all got hidden sides."

>o< >o< >o<


	"Good morning, Kyouji," Yumi said as he walked out of the 
guest bedroom and into the main room of the hut.  She was 
sitting at the table in the centre of the room, eating some sort 
of pastry.  Across from her was another plate, also containing 
food.

	"Hello.  Where's Tsugiko?"

	"I'm not sure.  I don't think she came in last night.  Say, 
is something the matter?"

	Kyouji ran a hand through his uncombed hair.  "I had a bad 
dream.  I saw...  I dreamt about the other three Crystal 
Warriors.  The ones we're reincarnated from."

	"Oh?"

	"I saw them die."

	Yumi shuddered.  "I saw that too.  Right before we came to 
Mars."

	Kyouji circled over and sat down opposite her.  He took a 
bite of the food, but found that it wasn't to his taste.  He 
didn't feel like something sweet at the moment.  "It was...  
They were incredible.  I mean, we're getting good, but they were 
amazing.  And they still weren't good enough.  Wintergreen 
killed them."

	Yumi finished off her own pastry.  "Hey, she's not so 
tough.  I mean, we beat her once already."

	Kyouji shook his head.  "No.  I've sort of been going back 
and forth on this, but now I'm sure she was an impostor.  The 
Wintergreen in my vision took a full power blast without even 
getting a hair out of place, at least before the Starburst 
Crystal started to drain her power.  We'd never have beaten her 
as easily as we did."

	"That was them, though.  Things will be different this 
time, Kyouji.  You'll see.  We can win, and we will."

	"Yeah.  We just have to change the rules."

	They broke off their conversation as Carob entered the hut.  
"The great hero is about to arrive!  Please come out and greet 
him with me."  Carob rubbed his hands together.  "Oh, this is so 
exciting."

	The two Crystal Warriors followed him outside, and found 
Tsugiko already waiting.

	"Are you okay?" Kyouji asked.  "You didn't come back last 
night."

	"Yeah.  I just found out that the Skittles may have been 
cute, but they make one mean drink.  Of course, by the time I 
found out skittlebrau was alcoholic, I'd already had four.  Man, 
if my mother and step-father knew I'd been drinking, I'd be so 
dead."

	Mia's features being melted away passed through Kyouji's 
mind.  "So what happened?"

	"I passed out at the restaurant.  Make any jokes and I'll 
murder you."  Tsugiko groaned and rubbed her forehead.  "So this 
is what a hangover feels like.  I can't say I'm thrilled by the 
experience."

	"Look!" Carob shouted.  "He's here!"

	Down the street was coming a man.  He was huge, and at his 
side hung a gigantic sword.  His massive strides allowed him to 
reach them within seconds of first being spotted.

	When he did so, the Crystal Warriors were still staring at 
him incredulously.  None of them had any trouble whatsoever 
recognizing their fellow guest of honour.

	"May I present the legendary hero Krackel," Carob said.

>o< >o< >o<

Author's Notes:


	"Never finished, only abandoned."

	Yeah, this one I wish I had another couple of days to fix 
up.  It's been a busy week or so, and I had less time than I'd 
have liked to write this.

	My thanks to the only pre-reader who got back to me, 
Nathan.  Also, I'd like to thank Kenji and Stranger for 
reviewing my last part on the old MB (I think that's who did so, 
but I can't check); if anyone else did so in the final hours of 
that board's existence, I never saw it, but thanks anyway.  I 
always appreciate any feedback.

	The main criticism Nathan had that I didn't address was 
that the flashback sequence is just too blamed long.  It's 
probably true.  Certainly, I have about 4000 words featuring the 
actual current protagonists of SC, so no one should feel 
cheated, but it was self-indulgent to dedicate so much space to 
the dead guys.  I have no defense against this charge.  It was 
just so much fun to write all that lesbian angst and sweet 
grisly death.

	A source is a source, of course, of course...

	Okay, main sources were parts 1, 15, 16, 30, 36, and 37.  
Akie's upset because of what happened in 37, and boy is she 
wrong about what Kyouji and Tsugiko are doing.  Kyouji's 
complaints are mostly about his conversation with Tsugiko in 37, 
when she gave him the deadline.  He "dreamt" that he was going 
insane because he had broken destiny's cycle in 32.  He lost his 
sword in the swamp in 34 and mysteriously had it again in 37, 
hence his ramblings to Carob.  The Tokyo Tower sequence is 
heavily influenced by part 1, and the opening two paragraphs are 
a verbatim quote.  Skipping ahead a bit, Teru's exposition about 
her existence as a ghost reconciles Mia's comment in 36 about 
living on in the crystal with earlier explanations in 15 (the 
attempted seduction referred to) and 30.  We haven't seen the 
Skittles since part 1.  Tsugiko's mention of a step-father is to 
rectify my own error; I said her father was dead in 30 but she 
thought of her parentS in the plural in 14; I'll try to be more 
careful in the future.  Krackel's reputation as a hero has come 
up before, most recently in 34.

	The flashback sequence has a lot of sources, many of them 
subtle.  There have been a lot of references to the three dead 
characters throughout the series, and while they haven't exactly 
been contradictory, they certainly haven't been cohesive.  I did 
the best that I could, and I hope everyone is okay with this.

	Teru is still plagued by her questions from the previous 
night, shown in part 16, and quoted verbatim.  Part 16 also said 
that Mia was upset by how close Teru and Akie had grown, and 
Akie in 30 felt that she turned Teru down because she thought 
her feelings were "wrong".  Those, combined with the multiple 
references to Teru having been indecisive (part 15 et al) 
combined into the complex situation shown here.  Likewise, I 
interpreted literally the references to Teru's indecisiveness as 
having doomed them.  Akie's claustrophobia is a reference to 
Yumi's, which has been seen in 22 and 24.  Part 12 revealed that 
Wintergreen killed her last lieutenant mere moments before the 
final battle.  The dead Priestesses' friend Patty was seen circa 
parts 6&7.  Akie makes an indirect reference to a previous 
warning that she would fail and die, as she said she had 
received when she appeared in part 30.  The final bits of the 
final battle follow Yumi's vision in part 1 very closely.  We 
know from part 1 that Akie was the last to die, and from part 15 
that Teru saw Mia die before she did.  By the way, I do know 
that Akie's face wasn't melted off like I said Mia's was, but I 
did say that the blast Wintergreen prepared for Teru looked 
different, so she didn't kill them all the same way.

	Right then, I think that was all of them.

	Kerrs make toffees and caramels and such.  Turtles are 
chocolate things.  Turkish delight is a British candy that I've 
never had but couldn't resist the name of.  "An Empty Wrapper" 
is what you get when you take the candy out of the package.  I 
created a new convention for oceans with Orange Soda, which is a 
soft drink.  Hey, I figured that a land that sprung from Ard's 
sweet tooth just HAD to have an Orange Soda Ocean.  Skittlebrau 
is a Simpsons reference.

Nicolas

Seven Impro parts, no skips, and counting