OSI: Royal Yarashiel

For ; Yarashiel from

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As the life drained from Yarashiel's body, it was not the feeling of death, but the absence of sensation that consumed her. First she did not feel her legs, then her fingertips, and then the heavy pressure in her chest slipped away. The line of blood trickling down her forehead went unnoticed. The shards of helmet embedded in her skull were completely unknown to her. There was no pain in her broken leg, no discomfort from the twisted position in which she had fallen, and no sensation that the bone of her rib was jutting from the flesh of her chest.

The sight of the sky above her dimmed. It was such a bright day. She registered the change in light when the shadow of her opponent fell over her, but her eyes did not focus on the face of her killer. They stayed transfixed on the distant, cheery sky. She wanted to do something, wanted to say something, but even the concept of insult failed to form in her mind. Her lips moved more from automatic response than conscious thought. As the last of the air escaped her lungs, her view of the sky slowly slipped away, though her eyes were wide open.

There was no single moment when all the life could be said to have conclusively left Yarashiel. She faded from life to death like a wilting flower fades over the course of many weeks. So profound was the trace of life upon Yarashiel that it seemed, like a flower, she might be placed in a glass of water and revive soon after, even after her last breath and last heartbeat were several minutes past.

A cloud passed overhead, eclipsing the sun for the briefest of moments. There was a tiny glimmer from the center of Yarashiel's chest.

The golden clasp in the center of Yarashiel's front bow flashed to life. Rays of brilliant white light shot out in every direction, dappling the entire area with a kaleidoscope of light patterns flecked with bits of yellow and blue. The light seemed to wrap itself around Yarashiel, lifting her into the air and encompassing her until the shape of her entire body disappeared into the brightness.

The world went silent, as if holding its breath, and then the light burst away from what had once been Yarashiel's body with a low, concussive boom.

As the light faded, a figure appeared, suspended in midair. She wore a gown of long, flowing navy blue fabric that trailed well past her feet, with two large eyes upon the bodice and a matching eye in the middle of the choker around her neck. Cords of spun gold connected her bodice to her choker. Her short dark hair flowed away from her face, revealing an eye symbol upon her forehead that stared impassively out across the battlefield.

Sailor Yarashiel was dead. Nesikha Yarashiel had arrived.


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ARTIST NOTES

Oh, man, I freaked out when I saw the file hadn't uploaded correctly. XD;;; At least it's working now!

For the nobility round, I wanted to do something a bit different. (As per usual!) I decided to do a playing card design! Thus displaying the duality of Sailor Yarashiel and Princess Yarashiel in a single image. I was originally thinking Queen of Spades, but then I was like, "No! Jack of Spades!" Can you guess why? 8D

Yarashiel's princess dress ("nesikha" is Hebrew for "princess") is inspired by the flowy princess dresses of the inner senshi, and also partly by the design of Prizma's outfit! But it's also got details all my own, including some stuff inspired by her Ancient senshi design.

I originally wanted to do a more classic playing card effect with the colors, but I couldn't quite get it to work well, so I opted for a kind of faux-card effect instead.

I decided to have the Princess form appear after death because I wanted to pay homage to all the incredible senshi deaths of the original Sailormoon. XD

That's it!