"What are you..." The Valkyrie surged back to coherence in Mars' arms, luckily not quite yet ready to struggle. She was a damnably heavy weight for such a small girl, all solid muscle and armor. One hand reached out blindly, grabbing for the crystal in Usagi's hand and missing wide as it drifted back towards her.

It touched her, passed into her as if she was made of air and dust, and vanished.

Meril curled in on herself as if she'd been struck a vicious blow to her gut. Which she had been; not a physical one, but a very real one nonetheless as thought and memory and clear duty all returned to her, along with the awareness of what she had become, what she had done. A strangled cry forced its way out of her throat as she wrapped her arms around herself, the weight suddenly too much to bear.