Chapter 4 - Separation

"Who’s a pretty baby?" Princess Cynthia de Mau cooed to the baby in Isabel's arms. The child giggled, reaching for one of the girl's ringlets. Cynthia gently brushed the hand aside. "That's right, you are!"

"I think it's stupid the way you talk down to the child," Princess Morrigan de Coronis said as she and Galaxia walked into the room. "Consider who she's going to be, for once!"

"Well, she's still a baby now," Isabel said, smiling down at the child. "What brings you two to the nursery, anyway?"

"I'm sending Morrigan and Nereid to check up on the Dusk Millennium. Chaos is sure to fall upon them now that Quintessence has released her," Galaxia replied, sneering slightly at the mention of the leader of the Elemental senshi.

"I'll go!" Cynthia said. "Please, Lady Galaxia, let me go!"

Galaxia shook her head. "No, we can't risk discovery. If someone should discover your ties to the royal family..."

"Fine," Cynthia said, pouting. "I saw Nereid in the gardens, she's probably still there."

"Good," Galaxia said. "Morrigan will go with you to find her."

"I can find her myself, Lady Galaxia," Morrigan said, excusing herself.

"No, take Cynthia with you," Galaxia said. "Lady Astraea and I need to speak alone."

Isabel bit her lip to keep from correcting Galaxia, waiting for the two girls to leave before she spoke. "My name is Isabel, Galaxia."

"I don't understand why you hold on to that vulgar Sacred Star name," Galaxia replied. "That life is over, you have come into your true destiny. Be glad you had time for simple mortal happiness."

"Oh no, don't start playing the martyr again with me, Galaxia," Isabel said. "You have no idea how much pain I've gone through in having to leave my life behind."

"That was never your life. If it weren't for my sister's treachery, you wouldn't have had to gone through it! Your life is here, as a guardian of the Cauldron! Leave those mortal trifles behind!" Galaxia said.

"Mortal trifles?! I spent twenty years as a mortal, and another century as one before that, and those were the happiest times I've known. And each time it was ripped away because of you and your sister's feud! You have no idea how much I have suffered."

"Astraea," Galaxia began, but Isabel shot her an acid glance. "Pardon me, Isabel. I am sorry, truly, that you have endured so much on my behalf. But it is almost over! Surely you know that your love for that Judge King Star prince, great as it may be, pales in comparison to the saving of the universe? I know that you've longed for a child of your mingled blood, but you bust believe that the one you hold now is more important!"

"What would you know about it?" Isabel said, her eyes beginning to shimmer with tears. "You're too caught up in vengeance to know what love is anymore!"

Suddenly, the baby began to glow with a pale white light, and it reached up with a chubby little hand to touch Isabel's cheek.

You'll be with him soon..

"Did you hear that?" Isabel said, looking up from the baby to Galaxia, who nodded slowly.

"I'll go see how Cosmos is doing at once," the golden senshi replied, all but running out the door.

****

"Where's Mother?" Izumi asked her father as the parents of the soon to be awakened Inners arrived at Serenatis Castle.

"She's taken a turn for the worse," he replied. "She had to pass on her power before you were awakened, and it took a lot out of her."

Izumi's eyes widened. The last set of Star senshi to pass on their powers had died in the process. Her mother had been weak, mentally and physically, since the dissapearance of Chiharu Hades, and Izumi feared that this might be the last straw.

"She'sll be fine," Nathan Fukami said, seeing the sheer fear in his daughter's eyes.

****

"What the hell?" Anastasia said, looking out the window of her and Donovan's apartment as a streak of pink light fell from the sky... towards her.

"What's the matter?" Donovan said, joining her at the window, sighting another streak, maroon this time, coming from the direction of Star.

Amalia, sprawled out on the couch and deeply engrossed in her philosophy textbook, didn't bother to look up. Her mother had passed on her powers to Patricia this morning, she knew what was coming. She sighed, turning the page.

****

"Bloody goddamn!" Adair swore as a beam of orange light shot from her father's chest into her own.

"I do hope you don't speak like that in front of the Infanta," Miaka said, smiling weakly. It had taken a lot out of her lose the power of Autumnstar, but her wit hadn't suffered much. "How are you feeling, Alan dear?"

"Like the day you caught this one... exhausted," he said, winking at Miaka.

"Have you no shame in talking to your daughter like that?" Adair said. "Like bleeding teenagers, always talking about your shagfests!"

"I really hope you don't talk like that in front of Patricia," Alan said wryly, and Adair threw her hands up in exasperation.

"Well, at least this new assignment is loads better than kissing that snob of a princess's arse. I always did like Donovan and his friends. He got lucky, having to keep an eye on Princess Amalia. She's not full of herself," Adair said.

"Who said Princess Amalia was the next Winterstar?" Alan asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, Queen Sofia has more sense than that..." Adair began, but the looks on her parent's faces told her otherwise. "Oh, bloody hell!"

****

"Good, you're awake," Daniella said, opening the curtains of Daniel's room to let the golden Venusian light in. "Feeling better?"

He nodded, wincing at the sudden light. "I had another one of those dreams again, didn't I?"

"Princess Eleanor took care of it. She said that she'd be here to see how you were doing, if it weren't for that big fuss off a ceremony on the Moon."

"Ceremony?" he said, sitting up in bed.

"Some silly thing with the Inner senshi and Princess Eos," Patricia said. "Eleanor told me to ask you if you know of anything that might have triggered the dream. You haven't had any for a while, and she's worried."

"You're hiding something from me, Daniella," he said, pulling himself out of bed.

"I'm under strict orders not to upset you, Daniel-san," Daniella said as Daniel went into his wardrobe to change.

"You're upsetting me by not telling me," he replied, stepping out again, dressed in his usual black.

"The dream first, and then I'll tell you," Daniella replied. She couldn't keep much from him anyway, and he did have a right to know.

"Give me that book on the desk over there," he said, taking a seat.

"Japanese-English dictionary? I know your Japanese is bad, but there are computer terminals for that sort of thing." Daniella said, bringing the book over and handing it to him.

"It's not mine," he said, motioning her to open it. "Isabel used to use it when she was writing her manga."

"Oh my," Daniella said. Some of the inside pages had been cut out, and a small velvet box was inside. She picked it up and opened it, revealing a purple diamond set in platinum. "You were going to marry her, weren't you?" she asked, feeling the slightest pang of jealousy. Daniel has been hers her whole life, it was hard for her to come to grips with how close the dead girl and Daniel had been.

"I wanted her to find it herself, she was always flipping through that thing. I put it there the day before we left for Star," he said, his voice shaking. "After she died, I couldn't go back to the beach house, so I let Tomoe and Kamiya stay there until they moved to Saturn. Their daughter lives there now, and she sent that to me the other day, thinking I'd want it."

"Daniel-san," Daniella said as he turned his head away, burying it in his hands.