Sacrifice
Summary: Crystal Tokyo as we know it is gone. Not all of the Senshi survived the battle, and the ones that did have been forced into hiding. The Royal Family has long since disappeared and is thought to be dead. I thought that I had seen the end, but my daughter, the former Solider of Death, taught me to never give up without a fight.
Chapter Three - Setsuna
Looking back on it, it was probably a bad idea leaving Hotaru by herself. There's an eighty-five percent chance that she'll listen to me and take Small Lady back home (assuming she found her), but the remaining fifteen percent worries me more than it should. Even if Small Lady isn't there, Hotaru might start looking for me and try to help me. For now, she can't know that I am trying to help her. When we arrived at the shrine, I could feel Erebus's lackeys crawling about. The sun was setting as well, so the growing darkness was adding to their strength. In an attempt to confuse them, I split up from Hotaru and told her to find Small Lady and return home as soon as possible. I can only pray that she listened to me.
I stop running to scan the environment. I can still feel the overwhelming power of darkness surrounding me. Instead of calling out the evil in question, I simply stand and wait for them to appear. The shadows begin to shift until they make a huge blob taller than me. The darkness melts away and reveals a muscular man with ebony skin and a long robe that was so dark it almost seemed to be a part of him. His eyes are completely white but do nothing to hide the darkness within him. I summon my staff into my hand, ready for a fight.
"Sailor Pluto, so good to finally meet you."
"What do you want, Erebus?"
"Where is the princess?"
"If I knew, I wouldn't be looking for her."
Erebus sighs and walks around me, eyeing me with a bit of disappointment. "The Royal Family has been such a pest. Getting rid of them is harder than I thought it would be," he says. "No matter, I'm sure you'll do well to lead me to the princess."
"Why would I do that?" I ask, jumping away and pointing my staff at him. He laughs at me and charges toward me with great speed. I sidestep away from him and whisper, "Dead Scream." A ball of dead energy rushes toward him, but he narrowly evades it.
"I'm sure you don't want to end up like your fellow soldiers," Erebus smirks. "Which one of them screamed your name before I silenced her? Ah, yes! The one in the orange. Venus, was it?"
I grit my teeth and simply glare at the evil being, trying my hardest not to let my anger get the best of me. He's pushing the wrong buttons.
"Tell me where the princess is and I'll give you a simple, peaceful death. Like your dear friend, Neptune. I bet the darkness was comforting for her. She didn't have to see her friends die like the other one, Jupiter."
"Shut up!" I yell. "We Sailor Senshi will defeat you and restore peace to the world!"
"Oh yeah? You and what army? Last time I checked, that 'army' of yours was forced into hiding."
Every fiber in my being wants to end this man's life, but I alone don't have the strength. I doubt the Senshi can beat this guy, even with all of our powers combined. The king and queen might have the power to end him, but no one knows where they are. Throwing myself at him while consumed in rage isn't going to help matters at all, so I decide to relax. I figure this would be the time to retreat. I know when I've lost.
"Just like the other enemies the Senshi have fought, you are simply a form of Chaos. Every time we battle Chaos, we win. Don't be foolish and think that you will prevail."
"But I already have."
I open up a rift and feel the winds drawing me in. I stare at my enemy one more time before leaving his presence. With the Space-Time Door in mind, I walk against the strong air currents. I feel a migraine rearing its ugly head, but I press on. My heart sinks, and suddenly I feel sick to my stomach. The closer I get to my home, the more dread I feel. Passing through the light and finding myself back in the 30th Century, I take a look at the Door to see what I've missed.
The Crystal Palace is still standing erect like the strong fortress it's meant to be. Only the Royal Family and its protectors can go inside its walls at will, and that's the only reason why Erebus hasn't been able to completely dominate Crystal Tokyo. One major aesthetic difference is that there is something hanging from the top of the palace. A lifeless body swings gently in the breeze, coated with a layer of dust on top of a layer of dried blood. It's hard to tell who the person is based on appearance because the body is so mutilated. The only way to know who had been left hanging atop the palace was by the patch of orange fabric covering her face. Involuntarily, I gag. Seeing her, the love of my life, like that… I can't bear to look at what she's been reduced to. To think of anyone above the queen almost equates to treason, but when I get my hands on Erebus for what he's done, it'll be for Minako.
The city surrounding the palace is completely demolished. In fact, a cloud of darkness looms overhead. The remaining Senshi are very clever if they haven't been found yet. Finding them myself would be useless during this time because we're down three soldiers. Fighting them at our worst would only get the rest of us killed, and then all hope would truly be lost. The key to winning this war is going back to first day of the attack. Perhaps the best solution to this would be bringing in the soldiers from the past just to have extra manpower. Not only that, but we could probably use Sailor Moon's power to rid the world from Erebus and his darkness.
An odd sense of longing and sadness overtakes me, and I begin to cry for some reason. The migraine that's been building up in my head worsens with each passing moment. Despite my best efforts to wipe the tears away, more fall in their place. I sink to my knees and curl up into a ball, wishing this pain would go away. Not knowing how long the migraine will stay, I figure this isn't as bad as the other pains I've felt.
"I-I really like you… and I want to take you out. You know, like on a date… j-just the two of us!"
For a Venusian, Minako was rather inexperienced when it came to love. Granted, she's technically human in this life, so I guess I shouldn't have expect something less subtle and more flirtatious. Seeing her vulnerable, nervous, embarrassed, and shy was a treat though. Back in the Silver Millennium, Princess Venus was a force to be reckoned with. She oozed confidence and used her looks to her advantage. She could have anyone she wanted with just a flip of her hair. The lewd, sensual things she had been known to say had men groveling at her feet. Even when she fell in love with one of Endymion's guardians, Kunzite, she still had her wits about her. She was definitely enamored, but she wasn't left speechless. She knew the art of wooing and courting enough to know when to make her move. If only her human counterpart held the same knowledge.
"My, aren't you a bold one?" I teased with a grin. She blushed profusely and tensed up. That probably wasn't the response she was looking for. "Look, I'm the last person you want to be in a relationship with, sweetheart," I sighed.
"And why is that?" the blonde grumbled with her arms crossed.
"Because I have to go back to my post at the Space-Time Door soon."
Minako's eyes widened. "What? But the world is safe! Why do you have to go?"
"It's my job, Minako. We all have a role to play in protecting Usagi, and this is mine."
"I won't let you go. My heart chose you, so you're going to be mine. No exceptions."
"That's really selfish of you, Minako," I sighed.
Minako walked toward me and embraced me, saying, "You should try it out sometime."
Awkwardly, I stood in the middle of the living room, not knowing how I should react to that. Judging from the lack of noise inside of the house, I knew that Haruka and Michiru were eavesdropping. I would blame them for being nosy, but this was their house too. I suppose they had the right to do what they wanted if they were paying the bills. This made me thankful that Hotaru was still at school. If she caught wind of this, she would never shut up about it.
"You're going to be really disappointed."
"Then promise me you won't leave. I can't be disappointed if you're here with me," she responded coolly. Even if she didn't have the same tact as her part self and didn't use her dangerous, seductive powers to get what she wanted, I had to admit that she had the same determination.
I gave in. That was my first mistake.
"Setsuna-mama? Wake up! Are you okay? Please wake up!"
Hotaru's voice. Where is she?
"Mama, wake up! We have to go now! The world is depending on us!"
Everything is so damn dark. Where is my Hotaru? She needs me.
"Mama, open your eyes! Don't die on me now!"
As much as I want to open my eyes, they are too heavy. "Die? Why would you say something like that?" I murmur.
Hotaru grabs one of my hands, which was on my stomach, with one of her own. My hands weren't there the last time I checked. Hotaru smacks my cheeks, rousing me completely from my slumber. I blink a few times until I can clearly see Hotaru hovering over me. She's about to cry, I can tell, but I reach out to her face and cup her cheek.
"Don't be upset, little one. I'm fine," I smile.
Hotaru nods and helps me up to my feet. "What happened to you? You were passed out on the floor when I came back like you said to," she says. "You've been out for hours."
I rub my head, glad that the migraine finally disappeared. "My body was in pain before shutting down," I sigh. "I suspect something happened to the Royal Family." Hotaru looks down, confirming my suspicions. I dare to ask her what happened.
"The king and queen are both gone."
Well, we're doomed.
"If you passed out like that, I'm sure the other Senshi did as well," Hotaru continued.
"Did you?"
"No."
Hotaru looks offended and confused at the time, and it's then that I remember that Hotaru used to be the Soldier of Death. She obviously felt her link between the king and queen disappear, but she reacted to it differently – more accurately, she didn't react at all. While the rest of us felt extreme sadness, she probably wasn't fazed by it. Death had numbed her of feeling any grief that intense long before I took her under my wing.
"Anyway, we have to find the others. Wherever they are, the Sailor Quartet is sure to be there. If Small Lady hasn't returned on her own, I'm sure they'll know where to find her."
I raise my eyebrow at the younger soldier. First, she has us going on a wild goose chase for Small Lady, but now she wants us to stay here and forget about the search. If Small Lady were with the remaining Senshi, this would be all too convenient. Hotaru catches on to my skepticism quickly but stays quiet.
"If we make it out of this mess, you're going to wish Erebus had killed you by the time I'm through with you."
Hotaru simply smiles. "When we get out of this mess, I'll be looking forward to it."
-End Chapter Three-
Wait, does this mean Chibi-Usa is still alive? What's going on here? Guess you'll find out in Hotaru's scenario next chapter! Til next time
Serenity101