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Thousands and thousands of starseeds were flying through space, returning home. If you looked above in the sky, they would look like shooting stars. A beautiful sight for anyone who didn't know what those truly were: the souls of departed sailor senshi, being reborn where they died- where they belonged.
But it wasn't a beautiful sight for Sailor Chi and Sailor Phi. All the Sailor Crystals they had gathered meticulously in their Crystal Garden were leaving one by one, being freed by an unknown force. All their hard work was being suddenly undone.
“What is happening!?” Chi exclaimed. “Is this Galaxia-sama’s doing? Have we reached the final stage already?”
“No, I don't think so,” Phi replied. “She isn't using those starseeds. Someone set them free.”
“But how!? Only our mistress would have the power to do such a thing!”
“I don't know… Galaxia-sama wouldn't do such a thing… unless she had been-”
“Don't say it! There's no way she could have been vanquished. Not her. She's too powerful for that. There must be a reason…”
“Let's focus on retrieving the crystals before she comes back then.”
“How do you hope to accomplish that?”
A soft smirk appeared on Phi’s face. “These are souls. Who's better to catch them than the Soul Hunter herself?”
It has been a while since Phi and Chi went into this area of the Shadow Galactica’s hideout. Why would they? This place was morbid- too morbid even for them.
“I knew you'd come. Oh, how the table has turned…”
The silhouette of a woman creeped out from the shadows. A beautiful woman with butterfly wings on her back and a somber expression. The sinister twins looked at her with disdain.
“How can you be so calm? Don't you know what is happening?” Chi spat. “The starseeds are-”
“Yes, I know,” Papillon replied nonchalantly. “That's why I'm so calm.”
“...huh?”
“We were hoping you could retrieve them before Galaxia-sama comes back,” Phi said.
“Why? Because I'm the Soul Hunter?”
“As you know, our garden and your cemetery are merely two sides of the same coin. Starseeds come through here first, you allow the fragments of their souls to rest and only leave their pure, raw crystals to come to the garden where they can reach their final, beautiful form… Now that the crystals are being set free, they must pass by here in order to get the essence of their souls back. That's how you can catch them.”
Papillon cocked her head. “But what if I don't want to?”
“Don't speak such nonsense! Do you want Galaxia-sama to punish you!?” Chi exclaimed. “You're only alive because we begged her to spare you after you fumbled so badly!”
Papillon didn't seem impressed by that threat. “You really don't get it, do you? I shouldn't be surprised. You never truly cared about their souls. All you saw were objects for you to toyed with and experiment. You wouldn't understand how desperate they are to go home. How much in pain their souls were, being unable to return to their bodies, to their homes…”
“What are you talking about-”
“They were always screaming in agony. But without their bodies, you couldn't hear them. They had no mouth yet they needed to scream so desperately, they needed to be heard… and I could hear them. And they knew that. They would constantly scream to me. I could feel the pain in their voices. They desperately wanted to be whole again…”
“... Okay? How is that relevant?” Phi asked, unmoved.
Papillon let out a bitter laugh. “Of course you wouldn't get it. You really think Galaxia ‘spared’ me, huh? That it's thanks to you that I'm still alive? No. She knew about my powers over souls, she knew confining me to this cemetery would be a fate worse than death for me. She wanted me to suffer… but it's over now. The screams are gone. Galaxia is no more.”
“You better watch your tongue while talking about our master! And how dare you imply such a thing about her!” Chi let out. “Now you better get those souls back before Galaxia-sama-
“Didn’t you listen? She's gone,” Papillon interrupted. “Or at least, the Galaxia we knew is gone. It's the only explanation for what is currently happening. It's over. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a funeral to finish.”
“What are you even talking about, you madwoman!?” Chi yelled.
“A funeral… for who? Galaxia-sama?” Phi asked, starting to feel apprehensive.
Papillon didn't answer. She simply smiled ominously then pointed at something behind Phi and Chi. Instinctively, the twins turned back to look at what she was pointing at.
Two tombstones. There was no name written on them. Instead, a face was engraved in both of them- two faces they were personally familiar with.
“That’s… us?” Phi reacted.
“What’s the meaning of this!? What kind of sick joke is this!?” Chi let out.
“Oh, don’t be mistaken. This is far from being a joke. Today will be both of your funerals!”
Chi lifted her staff. “As if we will die that easily at the hand of a mere Animamate!”
“Galactica Plants- uh!?” Phi began.
The twins discovered in shock that they couldn't move their bodies. Papillon let out a sinister chuckle.
“What… What have you done!?” Phi exclaimed. “H-how…!?”
Papillon raised her clenched fist and opened it, revealing what she was holding: two green-ish starseeds.
“But that's…” Chi began.
“Our starseeds!?” Phi finished.
“You were right about one thing,” Papillon said. “As the Soul Hunter, catching your two starseeds among all of them was quite easy. And in between my hands, souls allow me to control the body of their host…”
Vines came out from the ground, tying Phi and Chi to two crosses that had appeared behind them.
“This is my domain. You shouldn't have underestimated me. Not here of all places,” Papillon added.
“Ugh, let us go! You need us!” Phi exclaimed. “We're the only ones who can give you back what you've lost!”
Papillon shook her head then pointed at the Sailor Crystals leaving this place. “Tsk-tsk. You no longer hold anything above my head. You lost all those crystals already, which means… you no longer possess the one I'm looking for. You are useless to me now.”
Papillon then sighed. “I hold your souls between my hands. I could make it quick, show some mercy, but…”
A cruel grin appeared on her face. “I've come to grow accustomed to the sound of screaming. I admit I do miss it. It was a great distraction from my own pain. But rather than the screams of the innocents, I'd rather hear those of the guilty.”
Phi and Chi had a bad feeling about this.
“W-wait…! You can't…!” Chi tried to protest
“You still need us! Without us, you will never get back your-” Phi tried to say.
“Silence!” Papillon “No more words! You should be grateful I will give you the most beautiful death! Burning at the stake! This is the perfect way to celebrate your funerals!”
A butterfly flew above her before lying on her finger. “Galactica Scales!”
The butterfly turned into a flame that Papillon cast at the twins. The flame grew bigger and when it reached Phi and Chi, it engulfed their entire bodies.
The screaming didn’t last nearly long enough for Papillon’s taste. Her flames burned them to a crisp quite quickly. Nothing was left of them. Only ashes remained from their bodies, which fell down the crosses.
With two pairs of golden bracelets, completely unscatted.
The crosses also collapsed, burned to ashes too.
Papillon noticed four familiar starseeds. Four different colors. Lilac, blue, red and yellow. All heading to the same place.
They weren’t going home, as these four didn’t share the same planet. Starseeds weren’t going to their birthplace but to their deathplace. Most Sailor Senshi died on their own planet, but not these four. And Papillon knew why.
“My old companions. I see you have met an untimely demise. Wherever you are going, I hope you find peace. As for me…”
She truly did wish them the best. She had no reason not to. They were her old comrades, also victims of Galaxia and taken advantage of by a mad tyrant. She held no grudges against any of them. And yet…
A voice suddenly whispered into her ear. “ Go after them. Wherever they are going, what you seek so desperately will be there. ”
It was as if darkness had invaded her mind. She looked back at the ashes, with the two intact pairs of bracelets. She crouched down to retrieve them.
“It would be a waste to leave those here,” Papillon said. “And I know just the two perfect people who deserve these more than these two piles of ashes.”
Papillon then glared at the four starseeds as they started to disappear from her sight, with a sinister smile on her lips
“See you soon, my dear fallen comrades.”