Her heart was pounding in her chest as she stood at the entrance to the tent. Only the closed flap stood between her and what she was dreading. Swallowing hard, Makoto took a deep breath and called out, “Pyrope?”
There was a rustling sound inside the tent. “What do you want?”
“I… need to talk to you.”
There was a long pause. “Why?”
“Because I’m sorry about what we did, what we thought we had to do.”
An even longer pause followed and Makoto began to think that her attempt to reconcile with the youma was doomed. Suddenly Pyrope spoke up. “Enter.”
Taking one more deep breath, Makoto stepped inside. The contents of the tent were sparse, consisting of only one cot, a few odds and ends, and two simple chairs. Sitting in one of the chairs was Pyrope. The sunlight filtering in from the flaps on top of the tent accented her deep red skin and the white highlights in her hair. Her eyes glowed red, which unnerved Makoto at first until the youma shifted her head and the glow faded. It took the brunette a moment to realize that the glow was just like what cats’ eyes do when the light hits them just right.
For a long time, Makoto just stood in the entrance, fighting the need to bolt while Pyrope just stared at her, wrestling with her urge to kill the woman in front of her. Finally, Makoto broke the silence. “I’m sorry.”
Pyrope just kept staring.
“That doesn’t change the fact that many of your people are dead, but I truly am sorry. If we had only known the truth, we would have tried to find some other way. I swear we didn’t know that your people were anything other than evil spirits.”
Pyrope’s stare continued and Makoto’s anger began to build up some. ‘She could say something, d@#$it.’ She fought it down and continued. “Herb has helped me to understand that it was war… and with war comes casualties. But with peace can come healing. Can there be a peace between us?”
“And what good would this peace bring, hm?”
“What good did the war bring to either side? Two kingdoms destroyed? Genocide?”
Pyrope appeared to think that over for a short while. “What would the nature of this peace be?”
“Well, first off, no more killing. We wouldn’t hunt you, and you wouldn’t hunt us. Neither side would have to look over their shoulder, wondering if the other was going to attack. Second… when we were fighting you before you always seemed to be needing to feed off of others. Earlier, you said you were vampiric. We can try to find some form of alternate energy for you so you don’t have to kill people any more to survive.”
Pyrope waved a hand dismissively. “That problem has already been taken care of.” At Makoto’s confused look, she explained. “I was among the first to find the Musk after the battle in the Arctic and we were scattered to the winds. Their rich life-force called out to me and I fed on one of them. To my surprise, he lived. It turned out that the Musk, due to their somewhat dual nature, have an enormous amount of energy in their bodies.” A small smile began to show on her dark face. “To my further surprise, he actually didn’t mind. Apparently, as long as it isn’t lethal, the process is rather… enjoyable for humans. He invited me and the two sisters who were with me back to his village. There we met with Prince Herb and told him of our situation. He accepted us and gave me permission to invite any of the other survivors I could find.” The smile faded a bit. “When some of the Musk found out how enjoyable the draining could be, a few fights broke out. In the end, Prince Herb decided that all of us youma would have to find a suitable husband or else hold a lotto to see who our ‘victims’ would be.”
Makoto wasn’t certain, but she could have sworn that Pyrope’s skin tone changed to a brighter red. “Well, to be honest… we actually liked the idea of getting husbands who didn’t fear what we had become. And it didn’t hurt that we’d have a pretty constant and reliable ‘food source’ too. And the other… benefits.” The woman’s skin was now definitely brighter and Makoto realized that Pyrope was blushing.
“You mean…”
“Well, that is what husbands and wives do, you know.” It was Makoto’s turn to blush, which made Pyrope laugh lightly. The youma dropped a hand to her stomach and caressed it lightly.
Makoto’s eyes flew wide. “You mean?”
Pyrope nodded with a genuine smile. “A month ago, I found out I was pregnant. We still don’t know exactly what the child will be.”
“What’s the father like?”
“He’s like a horse.”
Makoto’s eyes went wide. “You mean…” She held her hands a just-short-of-obscene distance apart.
Pyrope stared at her for a moment before understanding. “Oh, no. Not that. I meant one of his ancestors was a horse.”
Makoto blushed and looked away. “Oh.”
“And it’s more like this,” the youma continued as she held up her hands. The space separating them went well beyond obscene.
“Wow…”
“You said it. Makes me glad I’m not human. A normal girl could get hurt by that thing.” The last was said with a smile.
Makoto smiled with her. “Well, I know what the kid will be.”
Pyrope gave her a confused look. “How?”
Makoto tapped her nose. “I have a sense for these things. The child is going to be… wonderful.”
Pyrope stared for a moment longer before a laugh escaped her. Makoto joined in and the two continued to giggle and laugh for a while. After a bit, however, Pyrope sobered up. “But like I said, the problem of energy has already been taken care of. Anything else to offer?”
Makoto cocked an eyebrow at that as she fought down a small flash of anger. “You do realize that this is both ways, right? I’m not a supplicant looking to curry favor. I’m trying to put an end to the fighting. As far as offers go, the only thing I’m willing to offer you is friendship. But it has to be both ways.”
The youma tilted her head as she looked at Makoto. It took her a while, but she finally decided that the brunette was being honest. “Friendship.” She paused for a second, as if examining the word from all angles. Finally her eyes focused on Makoto, a flicker of grudging hope flashing through them. “Would your princess be willing to abide by a truce? Would she be willing to become our ally instead of our enemy?”
“She’d want nothing less. Believe me, she’ll make friends with just about anybody. I had a reputation, undeserved mind you, as a bully and a troublemaker. She didn’t even blink an eye before asking if I wanted to be friends with her. She did the same thing to Ami, when she saw that no one wanted to hang around her because she was too smart. She’s done that sort of thing to so many others, I think she would have even tried befriending you guys if Metallia hadn’t been forcing you to try and kill her.”
Pyrope digested that for a while before speaking again. “It’s too soon to make a final decision, but I will admit it would be nice to not live in fear again. I’ll talk to the others and help them understand what happened.” A scowl came to her face. “Now if we can just get rid of that b@#$# Fauntleroy and get back to our homes.”
“Well, that’s what we’re here for.” Pyrope raised an eyebrow at her. “I thought you knew… Herb came to my father to ask for help.”
“YOUR father is the one who defeated Prince Herb all those years ago?”
“Yep.”
Pyrope shook her head a bit. “That, I was not expecting.” A thought occurred to her. “Are the rest of the Senshi going to come as well?”
Makoto shook her head slowly. “No. We thought it was just a family matter. Heck, I had to threaten to go on my own before my parents would let me come with them.”
“Why were you so determined? You obviously didn’t know we were here.”
Makoto sighed. “When I was a child, my parents went on a trip to China. For eight years, they were lost in another dimension and I thought they were dead. I only got them back recently, so I think you can understand that I wasn’t about to let them go alone on another trip to China.”
“Ah, I do understand.”
Scratching the back of her head, Makoto’s curiosity made itself known again. “Uhm, how long have you been awake? Er, around?” Seeing the look of total confusion on Pyrope’s face, she continued. “Have you been around since the Moon Kingdom fell?”
Understanding finally dawned. “No. At least, not that I know. I just remember that we were starting to celebrate our victory when there was a bright flash. We were awakened by Queen Beryl in the Arctic and she told us everything that happened. What about you? How long HAS it been since the Silver Millenium?”
“Errr, to be honest… we’re not sure. At least a thousand years.”
“You don’t know for sure? Did you lose track of time?”
“We were dead.”
Pyrope blinked in surprise. “Dead?”
Makoto nodded. “The princess, Endymion, the Senshi, everyone in the Moon Kingdom died that day. Before she passed, Queen Serenity used her power to send everyone’s souls to Earth so that, in time, they could be reborn and have another chance at peace.”
“She… sent everyone’s soul… to Earth?”
Makoto nodded. “I think she even sent your people so that they could be reborn. I think she hoped that over the years Metallia’s influence would leave you and everyone could be happy.”
“She… what happened to her? Has she been reborn?”
Makoto felt tears coming to her eyes as she shook her head. “No. She had to use her entire life force in order to send so many souls forward.”
“She died? She died helping you… and us…” Pyrope’s expression was of such utter shock that Makoto felt that she could knock her over with just a single finger. “She might have lived if she hadn’t sent us forward… and we spent so much time hating her, blaming her for everything.” Pyrope slowly shook her head back and forth.
“It’s okay. I think she would understand. She was special that way.”
“What of the princess?”
“She’s just like her… well, a bit clumsier, and not quite as regal… and a real ice cream freak… but her heart’s the same.”
Pyrope smiled softly. “You really like her, don’t you?”
Makoto nodded. “She’s the best friend I’ve ever had, as well as my princess.”
“I… think I would like her for a princess…”
Makoto smiled. “And I think she’d love to be your princess, and your friend.” Their conversation paused for a moment. “Another question, if you don’t mind? Are there any youma men?”
Pyrope cocked a crystalline eyebrow at her. “Are you looking for a mate?”
Makoto blushed and shook her head fiercely. “No! It’s not that, it’s just… we only ran into a couple of them when they attacked us, and you’ve only mentioned females…”
“Ahh… sadly, all of the men were either killed by you, or used by Queen Beryl to feed Metallia.”
“Oh… uhm, were you… well, youma… before or after you were reincarnated?”
“Just before. When it happened, Queen Beryl said it was part of the Moon Kingdom’s plan to control us, but that it wouldn’t work. She led us in the attack shortly after… I can’t believe she betrayed us like that… She… we thought she was a good queen.”
“She was. Mam- er… Endymion told us that she used to be good before Metallia managed to start twisting her mind and eventually took control of her, just like she had your people. Unfortunately, the spell Usagi used to free her also killed her. But she seemed to die happy, knowing she was free and Metallia was beaten.”
Pyrope was silent for a few moments. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For trying so hard to see past everything to help us.”
Makoto blushed a little. “It was the right thing to do.”
“Yes, but the right thing isn’t often the easy thing, and so many people take the easy route. I will do everything I can to help my people understand that we are no longer enemies.”
“Thank you. I’d much rather have friends than enemies.” She smiled. “Well, that’s a load off my chest. Thanks for understanding.”
There was a rustle at the tent opening behind Makoto and she turned around. Standing there was a Musk warrior with vaguely equine features. He wore a towel around his waist and in his hands he was carrying some bathing supplies. When he saw Makoto, he made a quick jump back, which caused the towel to fall. Makoto tried very hard, but she just couldn’t keep her eyes from wandering down.
“Dear…” She felt like her eyes were about to explode. “Lord…” The blush she felt forming threatened to go well into the supernova stage as her jaw nearly hit the floor. Tearing her eyes away, she turned back to Pyrope. “That’s real?!” Pyrope just nodded and laughed. “Well, I have to go. Talk to someone. Bye.” She rushed past the man and out of the tent, desperately looking anywhere but at him.
Makoto’s blush increased a few more shades as giggling sounds came from behind. Walking quickly, she moved to where her family, including Siofra, was standing with anxious looks on their faces.
“Is everything all right?”
Makoto nodded. “It looks that way. Pyrope says she’ll talk to the others and try to make them understand what happened. So… now what do we do about that jackass, Fauntleroy?”
Ranma glanced at Ukyou. “Well, she’s definitely your daughter.”
“Shut up, jackass.”
Herb was trying to decide whether to be entertained or annoyed. He settled for indifferent. “There is a problem. My original plan was to train with Ranma for a year and then return to challenge him.”
“Why a year? With your skill, I could probably have gotten you up to beating him in a few months.”
“By our laws, such a challenge may only be issued once a year. There are rulers in the past who used this to prevent any attempts to usurp their throne by having a weak warrior challenge them each year before anyone else could.”
Ranma frowned. “There goes the easy answer. So… any other laws we should know about?”
“None that would be of any use to us. The only other options are to either wage war on my own people and retake the fortress by force, or to hope for an assassin who is not of the Musk to kill Fauntleroy. The first is unacceptable, but the second is unlikely.”
Makoto held up her hand. A moment later she felt a bit foolish for doing so, she wasn’t in school after all. “Why can’t the assassin be Musk?”
“If they were Musk, then they and their entire family will be put to death, out to two generations.”
The Kinos’ eyes went wide. “Holy hell…”
Herb nodded. “It was designed to help enforce the ‘rightful challenge’ rule.”
“What if they’re an outsider?”
“If they’re caught, their punishment is left to the former ruler’s surviving family. As you can see, it’s not likely to happen. And that means that we either wait a year, keeping an eye on Fauntleroy to make sure he doesn’t start his plans to attack Jade, and then declare a challenge… or we go to war.”
“NO!”
Everyone was taken back by the sheer power of Makoto’s shout. “NO! Not again! No war!”
Herb nodded and felt a small smile come to him. “Agreed.” He stood there for a while, looking contemplative. “Ranma, Ukyou, Makoto, Siofra, do you have any ideas?”
Ranma spoke slowly. “I’ve got plenty of techniques that could probably do the job…” The tone in his voice suggested that Ranma did not want to really consider that aspect.
“No. For even if you succeeded, by Musk law I would have to hand you over to Fauntleroy’s family. If I didn’t, the Musk would no longer recognize me as their prince and would seek your death anyway.”
Ukyou spoke up then. “Well, that eliminates Konatsu as well… We do have some friends on Jade that we could call. They might be able to organize some kind of attack party to take care of Fauntleroy.”
Herb shook his head. “It would have to be a war party and that would involve the death of too many of my people to be acceptable. If it were anything less than an outright war, then the assassination rules would apply. And I doubt you want me hunting down your friends.”
Makoto sighed. “Well, there went my idea.”
Ukyou and Ranma blinked at her, as did Herb. “You would involve your Senshi friends?”
“Nah, I was thinking of Breeze.”
While Herb looked confused, Ranma and Ukyou shared a laugh. “True, I doubt that they have anything here that could hurt him, but there’s one thing you’re forgetting. They know about Jade, which means they could always import something that can hurt elementals. So in the long run, you have the same problem.”
Siofra started to say something, but stopped. When everyone looked at her, she tugged at her ear and tapped her teeth. The Kinos understood, but Herb was confused. Ranma explained, “It’s a long story, but we’ve run into a group of assassins who we’d have no problem setting up the take the fall… but there’s no safe way of tricking them into doing it, so they’re out.”
“Perhaps if I were to approach them?”
“No. Trust me on this. No one is supposed to know they even exist, and they have a real nasty way of making sure it stays that way.”
“And yet you know and still live.”
“Hey, we’re the best, ya know.”
“Careful dad,” Makoto deadpanned, “Your pride is showing.”
Something occurred to Ranma. “Hey, if you don’t have a plan any more, then why did you bring us here?”
“Technically, you invited yourself, remember?”
“Well, yeah… but you could have argued.”
“To be honest, I had hoped that you would come up with some angle that I had missed.”
“And now that we haven’t?”
“Since you had scheduled a week for this trip, would you spend that time training my warriors? They are already skilled fighters, but I’m afraid that the Musk do not have a strong grasp of non-lethal techniques… if you and your family could help them learn some, then should the need arise, we might be able to keep the losses to a minimum.”
All of the Kinos frowned at that. “I dunno,” Ranma commented slowly. “That doesn’t really sound like a good solution.”
“Not, it isn’t. But it is the only one we have right now. Perhaps we will find another solution before war becomes necessary. There is the possibility that it will take over a year for Fauntleroy to make his preparations. After all, if he truly wants to conquer any part of Jade, he will have to plan, prepare, and train.”
“Maybe… I don’t like it, though.”
Herb sighed softly. “Sadly, we do not always not get what we don’t want.”
Makoto slowly closed her eyes as she felt a dull throb form in her skull. “That… was confusing.”
“What I meant to say is that we can’t always choose our situations. And sometimes the only solutions are unacceptable. However, often no decision is worse than the wrong one, so you must choose the lesser of two evils. This is the burden of leadership.” Herb closed his eyes for a while before speaking again. “Will you help?”
All of the Kinos nodded.
“Very well. Tonight, we will celebrate our new alliance and the setting aside of past grudges. We will also hope for a peaceful end to the troubling times ahead. The training will begin tomorrow, if that is acceptable to you?” Again, the Kinos nodded.
Herb nodded his thanks and bowed low to the women of the Kino family before clasping arms with Ranma. “Your aid is greatly appreciated. The Musk will never forget the debt we owe your family.”
Ranma nodded and pulled Herb close enough to whisper so that only he could hear. “Then stay away from my daughter or I’ll rip both of your heads off.” Before Herb could respond, Ranma released his hand.
The party that night was extravagant. With Makoto and Ukyou helping cook, the bellies of everyone present were quite happily filled. Siofra, much to her surprise, had to fend off several advances from unattached Musk men. It turned out that her vaguely rodent appearance was a bonus in their eyes as it was an indication that she would be a good homemaker. Fortunately, Ukyou and Ranma were able to convince a few of the more persistent males that their advances were unwanted. Makoto was treated a bit warily by most of the men and women at first. Fortunately, after Pyrope spent some time with her in front of everyone, they relaxed and Makoto was able to enjoy herself. Herb spent quite a bit of time with Ranma and Ukyou, but he seemed to be around Makoto just a bit more than anyone else. This fact was not lost on any of the Kinos. When the celebration finally began to wind down, everyone returned to their tents.
It was almost four in the morning when Makoto finally felt it was safe. She didn’t mind the idea of waiting a year to have Herb challenge Fauntleroy, but she wasn’t willing to leave it up to luck that Fauntleroy wouldn’t begin his assault on Jade before that time was up. If he was knowledgeable enough about Musk law to know the rules of challenge, then he probably planned to begin the attack well before Herb could possibly issue his challenge. And she had a feeling that Herb knew it too. She suspected that as soon as they went home, he would prepare his people and go to war without telling her. She had a feeling he was trying to protect her, both from the actual fighting and dealing with the consequences. Knowing his probable motivations, she found that she couldn’t live with the consequences anyway. Especially when she thought of Pyrope and the child growing within her.
So it was that she began quietly sorting through her pack, taking out what she felt she would need and trying not to wake her sleeping sister. There was the outfit her uncle had given her. The throwing stars she still occasionally practiced with. She would leave the spatulas behind, since they would be too strong of an indicator as to who was responsible. The final object was the transformation pen. She considered leaving it behind so that there would be no way to link the Senshi to her if she got caught, but it occurred to her that if Fauntleroy was as good a fighter as Herb had told her, then she might just need the magic of Jupiter in order to…
“You’re going to kill him, aren’t you?”
Makoto’s throat suddenly felt three sizes to small as her heart shot up into it. Wheeling around, she saw Siofra sitting up staring at her, her eyes glowing slightly yellow in the dark.
“N-no… I…”
“Don’t lie, sis.”
Makoto’s shoulders drooped as her head dropped. “I don’t want to. I’m going to try not to. Maybe if I just beat him into submission, I can get him to resign. But I can’t let them go to war.”
“You’re right.”
Makoto’s head snapped up at that. “Huh?”
“But I don’t think beating him into submission is going to work.” Before Makoto could respond, Siofra continued. “But I’ve got something that just might work.”
Makoto watched as Siofra dug around in her backpack for a minute before pulling out a strangely designed dagger. It was made of a dark metal that didn’t reflect any light and seemed well balanced for throwing or stabbing. “This belonged to an assassin on Jade. It can’t be traced back to anyone. And this evening I took the liberty of using several local plants and a few non-native ones to create a zombie drug. It won’t kill him, but it will make everyone think he’s dead. His ki levels will be reduced to barely enough to sustain his life and no one but the most accomplished of ki adepts or healing mages will be able to tell the truth.”
Makoto could only stare in shock at her sister for the longest time. “How? When? Huh?”
Siofra sighed. “To be honest, I’m surprised that no one else figured out what you were up to. It was kind of obvious from the way you acted early this afternoon.” She giggled a little. “I told everyone that I wanted to study the local plants… and I did.”
Makoto could only stare down at the dagger in wonder. “But where did you get this? I mean, why would you have an assassins…” Suddenly it clicked into place and she looked into Siofra’s eyes with a mixture of amazement and concern. “This…”
Siofra nodded as a tear fell down her face. “Yes. I… picked it up afterwards… and now you can actually put it to good use.”
Makoto placed the dagger down carefully before pulling her sister into a tight hug. “I love you, sis.”
“I love you too.”
Makoto slowly pulled away and finished getting ready. When she was done, she was clothed in classic ninja garb. “I’ll be back soon. Try not to worry.”
Siofra waved as she watched Makoto slip away quietly. “I won’t…” Her body grew as she shifted to her hybrid form. “Because I’m going to be right behind you.”
Makoto was actually a bit surprised at just how easy it was to sneak into the fortress. When she had first gazed up at the imposing stone structure, she had been convinced that it was going to be just this side of impossible to get in. However, using the skills her uncle had taught her as well as the training her father had given made scaling the walls and coming in through the top far easier than she would have thought possible.
And now, it was time for the moment of truth. From the high alcove where she was hiding she could see Fauntleroy seated at an enormous banquet table. Standing on the far side of him was a dark skinned woman with short, brown hair. She was wearing an odd red and yellow suit and she was holding a pitcher of wine. Standing on the other side, closer to where Makoto was hiding, was a pale-skinned lady with long, dark hair. She was wearing a suit similar to the other woman’s, but it was purple and lilac instead. She was carrying a silver serving tray and had a rather bored expression on her face. From what Herb had told them back in Japan, she realized that they must be the pseudo-dragons. Oddly enough, they seemed to be serving Fauntleroy to the exclusion of the other women who were present. She noticed that almost all of the other women were obviously youma.
Fauntleroy was easy to pick out, not only from the way he looked, but also from his very presence. Everything about the brown-haired man screamed of arrogance and power. She was a bit surprised by the fact that though he was wearing a dark gray suit and long coat, he wasn’t wearing a shirt of any kind underneath it. She could see that his eyes were slitted, much like Herb’s, and they seemed to glow occasionally, though that could have been a trick of the light reflecting off of the glasses he wore.
Taking a few calming breaths, Makoto carefully slipped her hand inside of her outfit and drew Siofra’s dagger. Taking aim, she slowly pulled back her arm and hurled the dagger. Her eyes tracked its path as the weapon cut through the air towards Fauntleroy’s chest. A strangled cry escaped her throat when the raven-haired woman merely held up her serving tray like a shield and intercepted it.
“That was a nice try, my dear, but not good enough.” The amount of smugness in Fauntleroy’s voice was nearly tangible. “I’m afraid that you were spotted on the way in.” He made tsking sounds as he leaned over to pick up the dagger. “And despite the quality of your equipment, your skills were… less than amazing. I had hoped for a more interesting time from someone hired by the former princess, Herb. Now, come down.” He took a closer look at the weapon in his hand and his eyes narrowed. “A dwarven steel dagger? You’re from Jade, are you?”
Makoto cursed softly as she started to slip back the way she came. There was a grinding sound behind her and suddenly a metal grate slammed into place, sealing the doorway through which she had entered.
“Now now, you don’t want to make me come get you. That would be… most unpleasant. Just come down here, girl. I promise not to kill you until I’ve learned everything I want from you.”
Slipping her hand back inside her clothes, she thought to herself. ‘I’ll come down all right… and Jupiter’s wrath is coming with me.’ Making sure she was out of sight of the hall, she transformed.
“A light show? I thought ninjas preferred the dark. Oh well, you learn something new every day. Now, for the last time, come down, girl.”
Makoto stood up, clothed now in both her Senshi uniform and her mage-suit. “Here I come!” She noticed that most of the women had run for cover, but the youma had formed a loose, protective barrier around Fauntleroy. There was still a clear path to him though, with enough room to spare. “Supreme!” She crossed her arms and gathered as much energy as she could. She channeled more than she really should have, but she knew she’d only get one more shot and she had to make sure it was enough. “Thunder!” Throwing out both of her hands, she hurled the electricity towards Fauntleroy. She felt a small measure of satisfaction when she noticed his eyes going wide. “Dragon!” The lightning bolt shifted into the form of an Eastern dragon and its power output increased massively. Jupiter’s feeling of satisfaction quickly turned to horror as Fauntleroy grabbed one of the nearby youma and pulled her into the path of the attack, using the momentum to help push himself out of the way. The youma cried out in terror as her eyes locked onto Jupiter’s and recognition flashed across her face.
“NOOOOOO!!!” Jupiter’s scream echoed through the hall as she used every last ounce of her willpower and control to divert the spell and send it crashing into and through a wall inches before it would have burned through her victim. The strain of shifting targets for the overpowered spell nearly knocked her out. Falling to her knees on the balcony, she struggled to think through the stress in her mind. As she started to regain her feet, the two pseudo-dragons transformed. The drake took to the air while the wurm coiled protectively in front of Fauntleroy. Drained as she was, Jupiter was unable to defend herself as the drake landed against the wall and spring-boarded towards her, bringing its wing-arm around to impact on her face. The blow knocked her off the balcony and sent her crashing onto the banquet table, shattering it in a hail of splinters.
As Jupiter struggled through the pain to regain her feet, she never saw the purple-scaled tail of the wurm as it impacted on the back of her head and her consciousness fled.