Title: Shadows in the Mind
Author: Girl Who Writes
Prompt: August 25 - Memories are films about ghosts
Characters: Setsuna/Minako
Word Count: 342
Rating: PG
Summary: It is not her past that stalks her waking self.
Notes: Written for LJ's 31_days community. The longest of all the parts so far. I tried to cut it down, but I liked it like this. There is an epilogue to finish this which will be posted in a few days.
Disclaimer: The characters of Sailor Moon belong to Toei, Bandai and Naoko Takeuchi. I make no profit from this fan-based venture.
The shadows of her dreams always seemed shapeless in the morning light. She can never make out the faces, the patterns of the tiles or the flowers that framed the gardens once her eyes open. She tries to ask Artemis but the words dissolve before she speaks.
And then, the pieces suddenly come together. It's after a battle; her legs are streaked with blood and she aches all over. She manages to climb in her window and tumble into bed, not even bothering to take off her shoes. She knows there will be trouble in the morning, all the blood and dirt, but she can't make herself care.
Sleep comes easily and the answers are waiting for her.
Her entire body is heavy. Her mouth tastes of blood and the pain is burning, scalding her. Her head lolls to the side and she wants to vomit; there is sharp white bone sticking out of her leg, which is bent at an impossible angle.
And what she cannot see, she knows. There is nothing but death surrounding her – the deaths of people she knew and loved, people who tried to do the right thing. She is the only one left, and even that won't last very long. How long has she been here, in this terrible silence? One hour, maybe two?
Why isn't she dead?
She's waiting for someone.
Something is clutched in her good hand and she holds it up; a gold bracelet with an ornate key and a little gold heart hanging from it. Her vision is blurry, but she doesn't have to read it to know what is inscribed on the little gold heart.
When Minako's eyes open, morning light is only just spilling over the horizon. She stumbles to the bathroom, and begins to fill the bath. As steam fills her bathroom, Minako stares in the mirror and reaches up to write something in the foggy mirror.
And as she settles in the scalding bathroom, watching dirt and dried blood wash off her bruised skin, she begins to cry.