To Sleep; To Dream
By Ms. Moonstar
A/N: This is another story told on a whim. It describes the Starlights thoughts and feelings as they are drifting in and out of consciousness during the battle with Galaxia from episode 196 to 199 and will be split up by each episode. With that said SPOILERS EPISODES 196-199 of the Stars season. Please remember to read and Review. Thanks Enjoy!
To Sleep, To Dream
To be or not to be, that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life.
Hamlet; Act IV William Shakespeare
I. Episode 196
How they wished this were a dream. How they yearned for their eyes to open and to have their princess kneeling in front of them with her crimson lips set in a sweet smile. Still, as Sailor Star Fighter's eyes opened, she knew that it would never be so. She took several gulps of air and willed herself to lift her head. Galaxia sat on her golden throne, a wicked taunting grin appearing on her face. She seemed enthusiastic for them to attack her again, so that she could have the pleasure of casting them away as if they were nothing at all. Slowly moving her head, Fighter could see that her two companions were starting to become aware, though Healer looked like she had been defeated. Her usually tidy ponytail was coming loose, her neat bangs fell into her eyes, obscuring them as she lay still on the glass floor. Maker too, looked equally exhausted, her indigo eyes narrowed yet dimmer than she'd ever seen them.
Fighter put her arm under Healer, lifting her up to a sitting position as the silver-haired light regained consciousness. Her face was drawn, her mouth drawn into a grimace and her eyes were slits, though when the raven-haired light could see as she peered into Healer's face, that they were empty, and void of emotion. The leader of the Starlights grimaced as Galaxia roared with laughter again.
"Is that all you senshi can do? How pathetic!" the Golden senshi hissed. "You are nothing but dirt at my feet!"
Fighter put her hand on the smallest senshi's shoulder as she began to rise from the ground into a half sitting position. Maker did the same, as if willing her to continue fighting.
"To come this far only to be killed... "Healer whispered.
"We will never be able to avenge or princess's death now, " Maker agreed quietly, biting her lip.
The raven haired light straightened "Don't give up you two!" she shouted, though it caused her so much pain that she doubled over slightly and winced. She continued in a softer tone of voice "We...still...have a chance."
"You will die miserably and wish that I had killed you right away!" Galaxia roared as she lifted her bracelet so that it was facing the Star Senshi.
"Dame!" Healer eked, her jade eyes going wide once more.
"If we're hit again..." Maker muttered, glancing to her two friends.
"As I said, you're nothing but dust in the wind to me, and to this galaxy… "The evil senshi said triumphantly, smiling wickedly.
The Starlights braced themselves, their hearts pounding in their chests. So many regrets raced through the minds of each of them. They wished that there princess was still alive, they hadn't even said goodbye to her properly. If she were, they could have found the Light of Hope by now, and have killed Galaxia and banish Chaos. Now they closed their eyes and waited; waited for that moment of insurmountable pain, only then to fade away and join there beloved Kakyuu in death. But it never came. A ball of luminescent pink light shot out of nowhere, hovering for a few minutes. When it had faded, the Starlights were stricken by the sight of the four Inner Sol Senshi standing in front of them, along with Chibi Chibi, who had on fuku very much like Sailor Moon.
"Where are we?" Mars, Venus, and Sailor Moon murmured, as the five glanced around. After a moment, Sailor Mercury took note of who they were facing, "Galaxia!" she exclaimed, and the five senshi took fighting stances.
Not very observant of Mercury, Maker thought. Usually she would have noticed the foe first, and then worry about surrounding.
"How clever of you to reach this Realm," Galaxia said, smoothly "I commend you for your intelligence. However, none of you will get out of here alive. I will pick you all off one by one, just as soon as I finish off those other three." she nodded to glance behind them.
"Three?" the Sol Senshi chorused and then spun around to face them.
"What are you doing here?" Healer scowled. Fighter would have imagined that her friend was glad to see them. But then she reminded herself that this had originaly been their mission, their retribution for killing their princess.
"We won't forgive you for this," Maker sneered vehemently.
"It was an accident!" Mars shouted, "We don't know how we got to this place!"
"Fighter," The Moon senshi stepped in front of the other four and addressed her, her face clouded with worry. Were the Inner senshi there to rescue them ? Was Sailor Moon about to sacrifice her life in order to save the universe? Then the Moon senshi smiled gently, kneeling before her, "I thought we'd never see you three again." The raven-haired light felt a grin cross her face. Perhaps, they wouldn't die; they might have a chance to defeat the evil that clung to this side of the galaxy. But something in Fighter's heart told her, that if they couldn't defeat the Golden Senshi, the Sol senshi didn't stand a chance.
Galaxia laughed cruelly. "What a sweet little reunion. How pitiable! All eight of you may die together. "
"Galaxia," Sailor Moon said firmly as she stood and faced the evil senshi, "Stop this! Leave this planet at once!"
The golden senshi continued to grin and rested her head on her fist. "So long as you surrender your Star Seeds. "
"Your kidding!" Fighter shouted, "I won't allow you to do that!"
Angered now, Galaxia stood up, "Just who do you think you're talking to?" she sneered. The Inner Senshi stood in front of them and their leader, trying to shield them from whatever attack Galaxia would throw at them. With one movement of her hand, the four Sol guardians were tossed aside.
Sailor Moon shouted to them, and then yelled, "Galaxia, Stop it now! I'm ordering you to get off this planet!"
"You have no idea what I am capable of, little girl." The golden senshi hissed as her garnet eyes narrowed. "I think I'll take your Star Seeds now, to quiet those rebellious minds that have tainted MY galaxy." She powered up and threw five blasts towards them, Sailor Moon, and Chibi Chibi.
NO! They were about to loose their lives! Odango's shine was about to go out. They would never see each other again. They would never have the chance to destroy Chaos. The Inner senshi were most likely going to die..." all these thoughts ran through her head as the yellow blasts raced toward them.
And then it was over. Oh the blast did hit, but not who they expected. From in front of them there were four blood-curdling screams as the Star Seeds of Mars, Mercury, Venus and Jupiter were extracted horribly from their bodies. There bodies hung mid-air for a few moments, before they fell to the ground with a loud 'thump'.
It took a moment to sink in. The girls gave their lives to save ours screamed the mind of Sailor Star Healer. Getting up and ignoring the stabbing pain that ran through herentire being, knelt beside Sailor Mercury.
"Why? Why loose your lives to keep us alive?" she hadn't even realized until the last syllable that her voice was cracking. Moist tears blurred her vision and threatened to tumble down her face.
"To protect...important...people..." Mercury whispered with a small smile.
"Important…people?" Maker said weakly. They had spent all this time hating the Sol Senshi, wishing the battle would lie on the shoulders of Sol Senshi, hated their carefree nature despite the upcoming war for the galaxy. But now those girls lay dying before their eyes. These four women were willing to give up the connection to the living world in order for more to survive and defeat Galaxia.
"Please, protect Usagi-chan…and this world..."murmured Kino Makoto, Sailor Jupiter, and then faded away into golden orbs of light as did Venus and Mercury. The only one who seemed to remain was Sailor Mars, who was being held in the arms of Sailor Moon like a child. The Starlights could hear her the Moon senshi, pleading with her best friend not to die, but it was for a naught; soon her body faded and joined the sparkling orbs above their heads.
"No..." Fighter Maker and Healer heard Sailor Moon mutter, and then jumped as she screamed the word even louder. Before the three Star Senshi could move, The moon princess had stood and was screaming at the top of her lungs.
"RETURN THEM! RETURN THEM TO ME!" she bellowed and started toward Galaxia before Fighter could get up and stop her. Galaxia just raised her wrist and blasted the blond haired woman as if she were a mere trifle.
The corrupt golden senshi looked gleefully at the four Star Seeds she had acquired. "Gorgeous! I'll show what other Star Seeds I've added to my already large collection!"
Many glittering Star Seed shone around the throne, moving aside so that a golden one could be seen.
"Mamo-chan..." whimpered Sailor Moon, and in an instant, the raven-haired Light knew who she was talking about.
"Ah, you have a excellent eye to catch the golden Star Seed, the one that belongs to this planet." sneered Galaxia.
No. That meant...
TBC...