Standing outside the crater of the explosion, a man in his middle ages looked across the new chasm in disbelief. As a doctor, this was too much for even him. Never before had this much carnage been thought possible. What had happened here?
There were bodies scattered everywhere, and so far, none of them had been living, even those who had seemed unharmed by the blast were unresponsive and limp, as though all of their energy had been taken away. It was eerie how quiet this part of the city was now. Almost as though it had been cut off from everything else. Nothing was moving in the area. It was hopeless, and a place that a doctor shouldn't be at, it was so depressing to see so many beyond the help of modern medicine.
Police had warned him to keep out of the blast area while he searched, but some instinct told him that he had to venture to the center of the blast. He had to know what lay in the center of the crater, was there any clue as to what had done this? A new bio-weapon? Youma? Or was it something far more sinister?
As he climbed down, he heard the faint noise of movement, someone was still alive down here! He quickly rushed toward the center hoping against hope that he had found a survivor. To the left of him a small pile of rubble twitched with movement, dropping to his knees he began digging. "I've found someone! Get the stretcher!" He furiously pulled at the dirt and quickly found a hand. Others had joined him in digging out the survivor, and she was soon free of her prison. She was burned and badly injured, but at least she was alive.
"Let's get moving. We need her on an operating table ten minutes ago people!" He quickly got up and raced alongside the stretcher toward the ambulance. Time was not on her side. Please, let there be at least one person to survive after all this.
* * *
The doctor stood outside in the hallway, checking the charts of the patient inside the room he was about to enter. His excuse was that he was just pausing to take a breath. In reality he was preparing himself to step inside and confront his patient. She had been placed in critical care only a few hours before, and yet now . . . It was impossible for someone to heal that quickly, and yet, she had. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he never would have guessed that this young girl, barely out of high school, was one of the Sailor Scouts. But they couldn't be sure which one she was, her uniform had been burned badly and after she had transformed back there was no way to tell while she lay unconscious.
He gathered his courage, and plunged through the entryway. He stopped for a moment and stared at her. She didn't look the same as before, her features were more disguised and blurred now that she was 'de-powered'. But it was quite obvious to him that she was far too young for this sort of thing. This young lady, younger than his own son, was out there fighting monsters and risking her life to protect the city. She could have been my little girl, he thought with deep fear and apprehension. So young, how was it possible that her parents still had no idea of what has occurred, surely the nurse had managed to find someone who knew who she was. Why hadn't anyone arrived to be here?
"Is something the matter Doctor?" he jumped back, slightly startled as she spoke to him. He hadn't expected her to be awake so soon. Realizing he was being rude he bowed quickly and shuffled forward to check the instruments attached to her. "I'm sorry. Nothing is wrong, Miss Scout. I was just trying to catch my breath between patients."
He tried to ignore her stares as he went over the diagnostics, she was getting healthier by the second, in fact she would be ready to leave by morning if this rate of healing extended much longer. Damn. With the number of people being admitted every hour she will be able to leave before we get any answers.
She chuckled and turned her head toward the window, her dark hair fluttering about her face as she stared out at the curtains, with her dark brown eyes, trying to catch a glimpse of the city lights behind them. "Liar. You didn't want to come in here did you? You are afraid of- No, that's not it. You are afraid for me. Aren't you?" When he didn't answer, she turned to him, sat up and tapped him on the back. "Quit trying to ignore me."
The doctor winced and turned around. "You are quite the strange girl, Miss Scout. But it's best if you don't move around just yet. You have been out for three days." He gently forced her to lie back down on the bed and picked up a small chair from the side of the room. "Since you seem to be feeling great after such an explosion, perhaps you would like to tell me who your parents are? Or if you have any friends? Or at least your name?"
The girl turned her head toward the window again. "Ask the others, they will explain to your satisfaction." This was the part the doctor had feared. He took a sharp breath and calmly started to speak. "There aren't any others, you were the only survivor we could find after the blast three days ago, No one has seen or heard from any of the other Sailor Scouts since then. The Youma have been rampaging through parts of the city without anyone to stop them."
Her eyes widened in shock as she tried to sit up, only to have the doctor hold her down as she tried to reach out for the curtains. She fought hard, but she was no match for his size and strength while she was in her weakened state. She held still for a few moments, and then started laughing uncontrollably. He could only stare at her face as he continued to hold her down, reaching for the bed straps to hold her in. "It's not possible, it's not possible. We can't die like that, we have a destiny to hold. I can't be the only one left. I can't do it alone! It's not my duty, I can't-"
She shoved the doctor back with a hidden surge of strength pulling herself upright only to grasp his medic coat and bury her face into it. He held her there, trying to soothe her with quiet whispers. "I wasn't supposed to be there. The others would have survived if I hadn't- I've doomed everything now-."
"It's not your fault, don't blame yourself for what happened. It's only survivor's guilt talking." He hadn't expected the words to comfort her, but he still wasn't expecting her to shove him away with such force, knocking him to the floor. "Survivor's Guilt? This isn't guilt talking you, bastard!" She yelled at him. "I've survived more than you could know. I've waited millennia to prove myself, and I've killed everyone because I'm not supposed to be here. You don't know what happened there so just shut the hell up." Her eyes gleamed a dark red as her anger fumed. He knew he had to take control and calm her down quickly before something bad happened. "Then tell me what happened. Let me understand what's going on so I can help you."
She glared at him for a moment, the anger seeming to recede for the moment. The moment had passed and now it was calm again. She took a deep breath and sighed. I don't have much time before they come for me, why not?" He made a call to the nurses' station to let them know that he was on break unless there was an emergency.
Before he could ask who she was talking about earlier, the girl took a deep breath and started. "My story begins many millennia before this world, when there was a place called the Moon Kingdom and the Sailor Scouts were it's protectors . . . "