Haruka awoke with a start, her heart already beating vigorously as if she had just finished a marathon. The singe of ash seemed to linger on her lips with its bitter tang, the memory on the edges of slipping away although the stark reality of the sheets and Michiru right beside her was already too prominent. Her hand crept on its own accord, crawling beneath the sheets with a distant heaviness as if detached, finally finding the soldier of the sea's limp hand. Icy to the touch, it seemed to radiate a chill from within her veins. Haruka released the hand, groggily propping herself up with a single elbow- glancing at the clock reading 1:49.
"I'm gonna go turn up the heater, it's damn cold in here." She intoned, stifling a yawn as she pried off the sticky sheets and glancing to the side. Michiru lay prone on her back, her visage peaceful as ever, however… On alert within a half a second, a trickle of ice running down her back as the befuddlement of sleep yanked loose. Michiru was now fully clothed in her sailor suit which consisted of a thigh-high cyan skirt, a white armour covering her upper body to meet a turquoise bow. Beneath the covers, the faint outline of ankle boots could be seen. In the opposite hand that wasn't laid across her chest was the talisman mirror- its surface shining like the void of space, glinting at tiny stars in the distance.
Haruka threw herself onto the bed, not even giving time to catch a breath before furiously bouncing on the springs of the bed.
"Mich-Neptune! What the-"
Neptune's eyes fluttered open completely devoid of emotion as if still asleep. As in the nightmare, the back of her head- red veins bulging through the glaze painted thickly over the sockets. A wisp of air escaped her sculpted lips, one almost opaque like the bloom of dye as they spiralled downward in water. With almost psychotic aspect, Haruka shook the seemingly hollow bones of her slender shoulders, muttering curses and apologies as the seemingly possessed Michiru Kaioh began to fade.
It started with the tips of her fingers and toes, ascending to the thinner sections of her body and working its way up. Still, she did not stir a single minor muscle. At this point, Haruka scooped up the girl's thin self and cradled the tiara donned head, voice straining curses until it was almost unintelligible. Neptune's form flickered out of sight like television static, at every twitch of opacity getting lighter and less visible. Even her skin was becoming frigid to the touch.
"No, no, no no! No! NO!" Shaking the frail body, Haruka fervently glanced around the room for wherever the transformation stick had ended up in this cluttered dorm. Although in Sailor Uranus form, there was nothing different to be done. "Wait, Neptune!" Her voice broke in desperation, breaths knotted in the back of her throat. Suddenly, the guardian's jaw began to creak open, possibly from the jolts back and forth in hope of awakening. Haruka stopped abruptly, searching frantically the deathly pale face for any sign of life- still as white as an egg shell and eyes lacking awareness, yet somehow Michiru was still within.
"Haru-" She began, words stunted as if her inner mouth was swollen. "Ka?"
"Michiru, oh God..." Her wild eyes locked on her partner's delicate features, palms kneading into the back of her head and neck. "What the hell…." The room was eerily silent for a couple horrifying seconds- clouded eyes seeming to take up the entire room with its dead stare.
"It hurts, it hurts so bad. Haruka, don't go. No, no-" She seemed to be seeing some hallucination or dream of sorts, her face screwing up in antagonising pain and body stiffening. With a rapid glance behind, Haruka huddled closer, sandwiching Neptune's head between her hands and giving a single fearful gaze.
"Tell me, tell me. You need to keep speaking. Tell me!" Twisting the dark locks between two fingers, she tried to calm the both of them, although Neptune seemed beyond any sort of repair. Her gaping mouth began to hiss and an otherworldly voice emerged, nearly causing Haruka to fumble at her already teetering grip.
"The Holy Grail, you need to find the Crystal Carillon and the pegasus." At intervals between words, fragments of Michiru's lovely cadence could be heard. She gasped for air like a dying fish, eyes roaming beneath half closed lids. Kicking the pillow aside, Haruka frenetically made space on the tiny bed, laying the wheezing body onto the cleared spot where every inch of the fading body could be seen.
"Tell me more, more."
"Let yourself out and… The pegasus…" Beneath glazed eyes, there was a spark of Michiru- one pure her. It ignited Haruka with blinding rage although this was not the time for anger. Snatching Neptune's fading hand, Haruka's trembling fingers found the meshy skin and dug her fingers with a bit more force than necessary. There, that's where the pulse should be- that is where it should be- that's where it should be.
"Haruka…" Her heart beat like a hummingbird, too fast to even feel. In fact, maybe both of their pulses had stopped. Sailor Neptune's voice was now laced with tenderness, the spark of blue no longer remaining visible as her body dwindled, the solidity in her hand now evanescing away. Haruka brushed a kiss against the back of her hand, lips nearly passing through the translucent skin. The mirror slipped from the limp fingers to clatter on the floor- stars continuing to blink merrily above. Just as Michiru melted away, a crazed grin stretched like putty from her sculpted lips, a mixture of bird crowing and her withering elegance combining to form the seven dreaded words. "This is The End Of The World."
