Well, this is my little...or not so little...project of the day. Or, however long it takes to finish this dang-blasted thingy. This is an all-Starlights mini-epic. Or maybe not so mini. There are references to Usagi n' friends, but that's all they are. And a few flashbacks, perhaps. The rest is STARLIGHTS, STARLIGHTS, and more STARLIGHTS.

And original characters galore. I own Rhys, Vail, and Lucas. And that's about all I own. So there. This story will take awhile to finish, but I hope you enjoy it!

PS: And before you ask, yes, I love Sailor Starmaker. If you don't, I suggest you approach with caution, for Taiki-justice aboundeth!

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Land of Confusion
by Angel Anne

Chapter One: Haunted By A Million Screams

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"Taiki, you have to tell me what's bothering you."

Maker closed her eyes. "I don't have to do anything." She ran her fingers absently through her hair.

Fighter looked away. Why wouldn't Taiki open up to her? "Is it because...you don't trust me, Taiki? Is that it?"

Maker nearly fell over out of shock. Not trust Seiya? That was preposterous! There wasn't anyone else she trusted more, save for the Princess.

"Of course I trust you! What kind of stupid question is that?"

Fighter grabbed Maker's shoulders with all of the force she had, pulling her down so they were both face-to-face. "Then tell me why you're so depressed. You don't have to suffer in silence, you know. Those days are over."

For a long moment, frosty violet eyes met glistening sapphire ones in a harsh stare. Finally, Fighter let go of Maker's shoulder, and she collapsed onto Fighter's bed with a resigned sob.

"Please, Taiki?" pleaded Fighter. She felt a worried knot worm its way into her stomach. Was it the Princess? Was Taiki sick? "I'm scared for you. You've never looked so sad before."

"Did you hate being alone?"

Outside, her face conveyed confusion. Inside, Fighter let out a sigh of relief. Perhaps this wasn't quite as serious as she thought. She plopped down on the bed, at Maker's side.

"Well, sure." Fighter put a reassuring hand on Maker's leg. "When you and Yaten were out together, and I was all alone in our apartment...I was so bloody scared. We were alone on a planet so far away from home, scared and cold and sick of the war."

For the first time that Fighter could remember, Maker had no words. She sat quietly, staring at the tips of her black boots.

"That's not what you meant," Fighter stated. It wasn't a question. "You meant..."

"I meant, do you hate the fact that you don't have someone to love? Like Usagi-chan has Mamoru-san?"

Fighter's muscles tightened at the sound of her Odango's name, and so did the grip on Maker's leg. She sucked in a deep breath that quivered with emotion. Usagi-chan...

"Er...Seiya?"

"Yeah?"

Maker removed the grasping hand from her thigh. "You're cutting off my circulation."

"Oh." Fighter scratched her head in embarrassment. "Sorry."

There was a moment of silence, where the only sounds you could hear were the screeching shuttles and the citizens in the capital below.

Maker broke the silence. "Did you think of him a lot?"

Fighter raised an eyebrow. "'Him'?"

Maker looked confused. "Yes, 'him'. Rhys."

Rhys...Why did that name sound incredibly familiar? "That name sounds familiar. Who was he?"

Maker gasped in shock. "No! You...He was..."

She inhaled quickly in realization. "You still don't remember him, do you?"

Fighter blinked. "Remember who, Taiki? Who should I be---"

Before the sentence was finished, memories rushed forward to her sight like someone had broken a dam. A tall man, sharp features and piercing green eyes. Long blue hair, the color of a clear summer day on Earth, pulled back in a long ponytail much like hers. Blue and white armor, befitting someone royal. Strong arms, holding her in a tight embrace. The smell of sea air...All of these things came to her at once, overwhelming her. All of the pieces to a forgotten puzzle fell together in one quick blast.
Then, more images. Something isn't right, he said. Do you feel the rumbling? She squeezed his arm, afraid of what would happen next. He held her close, and chaos errupted...

"Rhys!" cried Fighter, grasping her head in pain. All of those pictures, all of those feelings...

"Seiya!" Maker swiftly pulled Fighter into a tight, sisterly embrace. The only sounds now were Maker's light breathing and Fighter's hacking sobs.

"Rhys...Oh God, Taiki, he's dead! And I didn't tell him I loved him before...before...!"

Maker looked at her with a sorrowful gaze. "It's okay, Seiya. I bet he'd forgive you."

Fighter wiped the trail of tears away from her face. "How do you know?"

Maker looked at her shoes again. "He's not dead. I saw him. And I...I talked to him."

Fighter was speechless. "When were you going to tell me?!"

"I was going to tell you," said Maker.

"How long were you going to let me live in this innocent little daze?" Fighter asked heatedly. "How long were you going to let me sit in the dark? Forever?!"

Maker's back stiffened. "I was going to tell you! Don't you believe me?!"

Fighter's anger forced her to her feet. "How long ago did you see him?! Where did you see him?!"

Maker's face went hard again. "I saw him yesterday. I was going out to lunch downtown, in civilian clothes, my hair was down, and I had my sunglasses on. When I was leaving, I saw him outside at one of the little tables. I 'accidentally' bumped into him, and we started talking."

Fighter, still seething, said nothing. All she could do was glare.

"You have no idea how much he misses you." She grabbed Fighter's hand forcefully, and shoved a small piece of paper into it. "You're a lucky one, Seiya. You've got someone to go back to."

With that, Maker began to walk sadly out of the chamber and gave the door a hearty slam. Fighter opened the scrap of paper. It was Rhys' address! Maker had gotten it, from him, for her! In her rage, she hadn't thought to thank her for taking the time to stop and...

"Taiki!" she cried at the closed door. "Taiki, thank you!"

The only response she got was the sound of boots clicking down the hall.

~~~~~

Maker thought her name had been called, but she didn't stop walking. She hadn't meant to make Fighter angry, but all of that forgotten rage had finally spilled over. All of the rage from the day was the day everything they held dear was taken from them, and they were sent on a quest to bring their princess home safe and sound. Or whatever was left of their home.

She grabbed the handles to a large wooden door, and gave it a push away from her body. She was welcomed with a blast of frigid air and the smell of rain. A strong, heavy storm was coming, but that didn't bother her. She just needed to go somewhere.

Meandering through the palace gardens, Maker had already planned her destination as soon as the door had been shut on Fighter. Oh, how appropriate that analogy was. She was shutting the door on Fighter again, making sure that she had trapped all traces of emotion behind her icy violet eyes. No, those tears weren't going anywhere until she knew there was no one around.

The wind began to pick up, and it bit at Maker's skin with wintertime chill. She knew it was November back on Earth, and how appropriate it was that they would get the same kind of weather. The heavy gray clouds hung over her head, and a few drops of water splashed on her hard armor on her fuku. She took

Finally, she stopped walking and took a deep breath. She had come to her intended destination, the balcony that overlooked the garden maze out front. No, she wasn't thinking of jumping, however appealing it seemed. This was the place where everything had changed on that one day.

The rain began to fall harder now, and her hair became damp and clung to her neck. The wind picked up, howling against the side of the palace. She knew she was finally alone. As if on cue, one salty tear made a silvery streak down her face. She found a marble bench, and sat down, pulling her knees up to her chest and hugging them. The wind grabbed at her ponytail, yanking it in all directions, but she refused to move. More tears fell now, mixing with the rain water. The sound of the wind rang in her ears.

"Lucas!" she wailed. "Where are you when I need you?"

The wind had no answer. The rain was starting to fall in sheets. So were her tears

"Lucas!" she cried again. "I'm sorry I wasn't there!"

The force of the wind drowned out all of the other noises. She was soaked now, and her armor clung to her arms, her chest, her legs.

"LUCAS!"

Inside the palace, Healer stared out her window at the falling rain.

"One Hell of a storm out there," she mused to herself. "I feel sorry for all of the idiots who get themselves caught in this mess."

"Ya~ten!" Fighter came screeching into her room. She couldn't stop, and made a dignified face-plant into Healer's green carpet as the heel of her boot got caught.

Healer sweatdropped. "You never cease to amaze me. You're more like O--" She stopped. "You're more clumsy every day." She held out a hand, and Fighter used it to get up.

"Well, thank you," she said. "I try to make your day just that much more enjoyable."

Healer shook her head. "Sooooo....what was so urgent that you had to run here?"

Fighter's cheeky smile quickly gave way to a frightened expression. "Shit! Yaten, I can't find Taiki anywhere! After what happened earlier, I figured that she went--"

"Whoa now," Healer said, holding up her hands. "Back up. What happened earlier?"

Fighter shook her head, her ponytail twisting about like an angry snake. "Not now, there'll be plenty of time for that later. I looked everywhere in the palace; I even asked Kakyuu to help me look for her. Dammit, Yaten, she isn't anywhere around!"

Healer looked startled. "It isn't like her to disappear...Well, it would be, normally. But 'what happened earlier' doesn't sit well with me, so..."

They both looked out the window at the storm outside.

"Oh, you don't think..." began Fighter.

"Under normal circumstances, I'd take that a different way," muttered Healer. Grabbing Fighter's wrist with force, she turned to the exit and ran for the door to the garden.

"Healer! Slow down!" cried Fighter, being dragged along in Healer's wake.

Healer slammed her shoulder into the heavy door at the end of the hallway, and it flung open easily to show the garden. They both had to grip the doorframe as the wind nearly knocked them back into the palace.

"You head for the balcony!" cried Healer, over the wind. "I'll go to the front! If you find her, call me with your microphone!"

With a short nod, Fighter ran out into the storm, taking a sharp turn to the right. Out of the shelter of the palace, the wind felt ten times worse. Rocks and sharp twigs came flying at her, biting her skin and leaving little trails of blood. Immediately, she was soaked to the bone, and her fuku clung with force to her sensitive skin.

"Taiki!" she screamed. "Taiki! Dammit, where are you?" She was scared; she couldn't even hear her own voice over the wind. If Taiki was in trouble and was trying to get her attention, she'd never hear it.

"Shit! Of all of the times to do something self-indulgent!" she cursed to the wind. She kept running, trying as hard as she could to stay on-balance and not blow off the balcony. Wait! The balcony! Everything fit together now, and Fighter ran as fast as her legs would carry her.

Indeed, the balcony was where she found Maker, still hugging her legs at her chest on that marble bench. Fighter bit back the urge to curse again. What had she been thinking? She was sitting out in the worst storm they'd seen all season, with no concern about her own person. She had cuts and bruises everywhere, Fighter assumed from the same kind of debris that had been pelting her. Maker made a convulsive shudder, and Fighter knew she had caught herself a cold. She had probably been out here for hours.

Maker, with her eyes still clamped shut, was unaware that her companion was nearby. She couldn't hear anything over the wind, but the sound of her own voice crying still echoed in her ears. She felt so tired; she knew she should have gone back inside long ago, but she didn't want to face Fighter right now. She had every right to be angry with her. She coughed again.

How stupid I am, she thought. I've probably gotten myself sick!

She made an attempt to move, but her legs and arms would not obey. Scared and suddenly sick with fear, she wondered if the other girls had noticed she was missing.

Probably not, she thought ruefully. I bet they think I'm sulking in my room. I'll be out here all night. Serves me right. I've been stupid all day, and I shouldn't have been so blunt.

Before she could berate herself any further, she felt a strong pair of arms wrap around her waist, helping her to her feet.

Well, they aren't stupid, thought Maker. They would have found me sooner or later.

She thought she heard them talking to her, trying to wake her up, trying to get her to say something. Oh, if only her lips would move! She wanted to apologize for making them worry, but no muscles would cooperate. She just sat in silence, feeling herself being carried back into the palace. God, how she hated silence.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Angst is goooood...Why is it that the characters who are most fun to torture happen to be your favorites? It must be some sort of fanfiction paradox, or something. **shrugs**

Please, for my sake, limit throwing things to marshmellows and kittens? Flames will light my hair on fire, and I like my hair.