Xellos Metallium was not exactly the screaming type, but in the situation, he felt that a nice loud "Aaaaargh" was definitely called for.

Unfortunately, his mind was swirling with confusion, so what eventually escaped his throat was a very small "...buh...?"

He was certain that the gorgeous starscape stretching before him wasn't another one of Zelas-sama's illusions. And he was absolutely sure that the woman standing before him wasn't Zelas-sama... or one of her associates. He might have pegged her for a Golden Dragon, except that most dragons chose better wardrobes when they took human forms.

This woman wore an immaculate if remarkably tiny (and tight) white dress, which had no sleeves and precious little skirt and was augmented by two huge iridescent bows--one seated squarely between her breasts and the other half-visible in the small of her back. Her shapely arms were sheathed in white silk gloves, her legs in enormous, white patent-leather boots; her long white hair cascaded in elaborate braids over her neck and shoulders--in short, she radiated so much purity it made his eyes water.

He hefted the Silence Glaive in one hand; the woman gave him a dazzling smile.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

"Some call me Destiny; some call me Queen. On the whole I prefer Sailor Majesty." Her voice, sweet and perfect as crystal, rang through his mind. What was she, a sugar-spirit? "I already know you, Xellos Metallium."

"You sure know how to ruin a guy's introduction." He took a step back, keeping the glaive in front of him. "Listen, um, your Sailor-ness, I have somewhere to be right now, so if you wouldn't mind--"

"You're needed here, Xellos. This--" she gestured expansively-- "is the Moon Kingdom; I am its guardian goddess."

"Good for you. So why am I here?"

"I summoned you to aid us. I'm afraid we're in rather desperate need of some inventive thinking around here."

Oh, I get it, he thought. She was looking for someone cunning and she got a Trickster. Great. For a Goddess, this lady's pretty naive.

"You will, of course, be rewarded," she added.

Oh. Sure. A reward. Like that would make up for the considerable squint he was already developing from having set eyes on this woman. Gods, what was Zelas-sama going to say about this? And... what was this "we" she'd referred to?

Well, the least he could do was play for time...

"I'm going to need a little more information before I can be of any help to you," he said, giving her his most charming (if now slightly squinty) smile. "Could you start at the beginning?"

Sailor Majesty returned his smile--damn, his eyes were going to smart for a week--and then extended a gloved hand to him.

"Come," she said. "I'll show you the problem."