Queen Serenity's Arc

Chapter 2 of 4

The pendant still burned warm at her throat as Serenity climbed into the glass chamber above the rite. From inside its panoramic walls she could see everything — the bright arch of starlight planted in the rock below, and the slow spiral of color where her daughter and the court hung suspended between worlds. The binding was not finished. She had to hold it until the last thread tied. Her hands shook on the rail. Her knees buckled once, then again. The silver crystal tower at the arch's base pulsed in time with her heartbeat, and her heartbeat was slowing. Sailor Pluto stepped into the chamber without sound. Her staff tapped the floor once. "You will not last the rite," she said. "I have measured it. You are short by minutes." Serenity did not turn. "Then give me the minutes." Pluto considered her a long moment. "I cannot give you life. But I can hold the tether while you cast. My post is patience. Lend me the thread." She lifted the pendant from Serenity's neck and pressed it into the crystal tower. The swirl inside it bloomed outward, and the spiral of souls steadied. Serenity poured the last of her strength into the binding. The arch flared white. The tether held. The souls locked into their new lives on Earth, bound and safe — for now. Serenity sank to the chamber floor, hollow and breathing. The rite was done. But Pluto's hand still rested on the tower, and her eyes were fixed on a horizon Serenity could not see. "Something noticed," Pluto said quietly. "The light we made was bright."