Disclaimer: I do not own Superior/Superior Cross nor Sailor Moon. Surprise there, it wasn't like I told you the past nine chapters as well.
Superior
chapter nine
- The Priestess part 2 -
Is it worth fighting for when it's not worth dying for?
''I'll kill you.'' a low, bestial voice echoed. Haruka looked so incredibly scary and powerful at the same time that the air around her felt heavy and hot as if one might melt by mere proximity. In spite of that her eyes were cool and calculating. If Minako didn't know better it would seem Haruka was possessed by something.
Minako's memory returned. She recalled her conversation with Hitomi and how she had told her the secret about Haruka Tenoh.
''She's like you.'' Hitomi's voice was nothing but a whisper but clear enough for Minako to hear.
''Like me?''
''Half human, half demon.'' Came the reply. ''My parents found her in the woods and decided to raise her as their own. Only Satoshi knows.''
''No way.''
''No way.'' Minako went wide eyed. For a moment it stayed quiet until the raven haired girl's laughter filled the air, breaking the silence. Then the raven haired demon charged forward into Haruka's direction. Before Minako could even do anything to change the situation Haruka dodged the demon's attack with ease, The priestess wanted to turn around and attack again but once more Haruka was faster and trusted her fist in the demon's stomach.
Coughing, the raven haired priestess fell to the ground holding her stomach in pain. Minako noticed now little drops of blood slid down the demon's lips. Haruka obviously had hit her good and hard but where had the blonde gotten all this power from all of a sudden. When she first met Haruka she was easily affected by Minako's powers and she never had shown any sign of being powerful before.
''Haruka!'' Minako yelled, hoping she could somehow reach the beserk blonde. If Haruka were to kill the priestess it would mean everything she'd fought for up until now had been in vain. Haruka had promised to never kill another living being except for the queen. And by now Minako was pretty sure she wouldn't go through with that either if she found out about Michiru.
Michiru!
If Michiru was dead then how was it possible the raven haired demon was still alive? How was it even possible she and Haruka were alive? Did this mean the whole 'kill the demon queen, kill them all' was a hoax or could it be Michiru had somehow survived the fire? ''Haruka stop it!''
''I told you!'' Screamed Haruka, frothing. She didn't acknowledge the other girl's words in any way. Her whole being was focussed on the priestess' throat, on her chest, on the beating heart inside that she was going to tear out.
''Rei, stop,'' Minako now tried. ''Please.'' The last part was nothing but an inaudible whisper but it seemed to have worked. The raven haired girl who was about to attack again stopped dead in her tracks and turned her head to face the blonde goddess-like demon. Her face showed surprise, anger and sadness at the same time. ''Please, just run.''
''How dare you?'' The raven haired girl yelled, feeling Haruka's eyes on her. She knew she had to be careful for the next attack. ''First you leave me to be a goddess to men. I could deal with that, you wanting more power because that was something I couldn't give you. But to find you traveling with a half breed and her demon bitch, that I can not deal with!''
''Rei please,'' Minako tried but the other girl wouldn't hear of it.
''You left me!'' Rei now yelled while tears streamed down her face. Even now it still surprised Minako that demons had the ability to cry. ''You bitch!''
''I'm sorry.'' The blonde tried again. This time the raven haired girl stayed quiet. ''I wanted to be the most powerful of them all. I wanted to show everyone my power, I fell in love with being strong and having people fear me but it got boring and I tried to go back to the temple to find you but you weren't there,'' She sincerely seemed to regret her past actions but Rei was too blinded by anger to notice. ''I should've looked for you, I should've just...''
The rush was sudden, violent and almost inescapable. Haruka had taken the knife she always carried out of her boot and attempted to trust it at Rei. The raven haired girl shut her eyes involuntarily, and then opened them an instant later when she heard a loud thud, presumably Haruka's body falling to the ground. When she finally realized what had happened she jumped up, flinching in pain, but making sure she had distanced herself from the two blondes.
''Forgive me.'' Minako whispered while dropping the rock she had just used to knock Haruka out. ''I couldn't let you do it.''
Minako lay in a big bed, red covers covering both her and her lover. Her head was buried deep within the pillow but she could clearly see the serene face of her sleeping lover next to her. Their legs were still entangled. Minako loved waking up like this, like the humans weren't there at all, trying to haunt them down and kill them.
It had only been a week of two since demons finally appeared on the surface of the earth and the humans had tried to fight them with all their might, all their power. In the first week most of them got killed and others slowly pulled back. Their weapons were mostly destroyed by now. Minako was greatful for that. Guns and other fire power could do some serious damage to even the strongest of them.
''Good morning,'' Suddenly a familiar voice spoke causing Minako to snap out of her thoughts. The raven haired girl beside her had opened her eyes as well and was staring right into Minako's blue ones. ''What time is it?''
''I don't know. The alarm kept going off so I threw it against the wall.'' The blonde girl blushed.
''I'll get a new one.'' It wasn't like it cost her anything anymore. Humans had deserted their stores and shops in fear, leaving everything to be taken by anyone who needed something.
''Rei,'' Minako whispered, moving even closer to her lover so that their noses were brushing. ''You know I love you, right?''
''I love you too.'' The other replied with a giggle and closed the gap between them with a kiss. Why did it sound like Minako was saying goodbye?
''You loved me?'' A bitter laugh escaped Rei's lips. ''Don't make me laugh. You only care about yourself. Don't think I'm going to forgive me just because you helped me.''
''I know. I wasn't expecting you to.'' The blonde dropped her gaze, breaking their eye contact. She couldn't face the other, she was too ashamed for what she had done. She loved Rei but she left anyway just because she was addicted to her own power. ''Just answer me one thing, did you kill that little girl in this town?''
''I killed a lot of little girls. Blonde girls just reminded me so much of you when you were a child. I still remember your annoying smile and how you were always so sickenly happy.'' Came the reply.
Minako sighed, trying to keep her emotions under control. ''We can try again, can't we?''
''Yes, we can.'' Rei smiled sadly. ''I would love to be together with you again even after all these years you still have this certain power over me.'' There was a slight pause. ''But then there's this hatred I have build up for you in the past few years.''
''I was afraid you'd say that.'' She knew she had to stop the raven haired demon. If she just let her go this time, and she was pretty sure Rei wouldn't just leave now, there was a big chance she would try and kill Minako later. But that wasn't the only thing bothering the blonde, letting Rei go would mean she would go right back to spreading terror amongst the humans. How many people had to suffer because of Minako's past mistake?
''I've become weak, that's your fault.'' Minako now looked down at Haruka's unconscious body. ''Traveling with you and Michiru has been fun. I wish it could've lasted longer.''
''What are you talking about?'' Rei demanded to know, annoyed by the fact that after all this time Minako still wasn't paying attention to her.
Minako's eyes met Rei's again and slowly the blonde started to walk into the other's direction. The raven haired girl warned the other not to come closer but Minako ignored her warning and just continued taking small steps closer. ''I warned you!'' Rei now yelled and created another flame which she fired at Minako. Her heart was breaking as she saw how the flames completely surrounded her blonde lover but at the same time she felt happy and enlightened.
The blonde goddess closed her eyes for a moment. She wanted to scream in pain, the flames were so hot. It was nothing compared to holy water or any suffering she'd felt before. Then she opened her eyes again, determined to make her way to the priestess she loved so much. After what seemed like the longest two metres in her life she finally reached Rei and put her arms around the other as tight as she could, making sure she couldn't escape.
''Let go!'' Rei yelled as the flames started to surround her as well. Minako's lock only tightened. ''I could've given you the world! You left! You left!'' Rei's anger was now replaced by sadness. Tears streamed down her face, vaporating in the flames.
''Who wants the world?'' Minako whispered in the raven haired demon's ear. ''When all I wanted was you.''
Finally Rei stopped struggling and dropped her hands to her side, closing her eyes. All she could feel was Minako's body pressed against her, her arms around her just like they used to hold. The pain of the flames long forgotten as Rei could feel herself disappearing. But she was happy for some reason, her mind was brought to ease.
Then with her last power she put her arms around the blonde girl as well, letting the flames swallow them up completely.
Michiru first stepped, and then ran to where Haruka lay. She didn't open her eyes at Michiru's approach; she seemed unconscious. The aqua haired girl knelt beside him, feeling a sort of horrible calm creep over her like someone who had been swimming in ice water and at last felt the first undeniable signs of hypothermia. Tears she couldn't hold back any longer finally made their way down her cheeks, landing on Haruka's face. This was bad. As bad as bad could be.
Then slowly, as if reacting to the tears Haruka gradually came to consciousness. Her eyes were all black, all pupil. That barely leashed violence, that sense of ferocious energy held back, was gone. The blonde blinked a couple of times and like they'd never been gone her eyes were back to normal again. Back to that beautiful green color Michiru loved so much.
''I thought you died.'' The aqua haired girl sobbed and buried her head in Haruka's chest, breaking down into fits of hysterical laughter.
Haruka wasn't sure whether Michiru thought the situation was funny or whether she was laughing because she was happy and unsure if she wanted to cry or not. ''I could say the same for you.''
Michiru put her arms around Haruka and helped her sit up a little, making the blonde rest against her. ''I managed to escape the flames just in time but I needed time to heal.'' She admitted shamefully. ''I wanted to stop her but I couldn't...''
''Stop who?'' Haruka wanted to get up but the aching pain in the back of her head made it impossible. ''Ouch.''
''Minako hit you with a rock. You have to admire her courage. You were pretty out of it.'' Michiru sobbed. She hated how she was unable to regain her cool composure.
''I don't remember, where's that demon and why did Minako hit me with a rock in the first place?'' She decided a couple of seconds after asking her questions that she had been asking the wrong things. ''Where is Minako?''
Knowing Haruka didn't remember was happened, hell, Michiru wasn't even sure what had happened, she decided it was better to keep silent about Haruka's demon half taking over. ''Minako saved you. She stopped the priestess but,'' She paused for a moment, biting her lip. How was she could to tell Haruka? Not only had she lost Hitomi and her family to demons but now also Minako was gone.
Then again, maybe Haruka didn't really care much for Minako seeing as she still believed Minako was a full blood demon as well. ''She died.'' She finally said, hoping Haruka would at least show some sign of remorse.
What came next was so much worse. Haruka's face went blank as if she'd just seen a ghost, her face looking terrifying young at that moment. ''Say something.'' The aqua haired queen begged. For some reason the other's reaction had scared her.
''I don't think I can kill the queen anymore.''
''Don't be stupid.''
''I'm weak. I can't protect anyone.''
''We'll do it together. Together we will,'' Michiru stopped herself. Shouldn't she be happy that Haruka had given up on killing the queen? Wasn't this what she wanted? Why was she even trying to convince Haruka to do otherwise. ''Don't let them have died in vain.'' Michiru finished, her heart breaking.
''Why do you care so much about human life?''
''I don't give a damn about their lives,'' She hated that immovable stubborness that was in the blonde's voice. ''I care about you.''
''Even after I raped you?'' Haruka looked away in shame. She hadn't thought of it until now.
''Raped me?'' Michiru sounded surprised, causing Haruka to look back with a curious look on her face. That was how it happened, wasn't it? A giggle escaped Michiru's lips. ''If anyone took advantage of anyone it was me.''
Haruka couldn't be more clueless than she was right now. ''Huh?''
''Haruka listen, Luxuria's power only works on humans,'' She decided to leave out the part that it also had affect on half breeds. ''She touched me but I wasn't affected. I kissed you because I wanted to, I shouldn't have but I just didn't want it to end.''
''You weren't...'' Haruka's mouth dropped. She hadn't been expecting that outcome. ''Why?''
''I don't know. It's the first time I've felt like this and I've been around a long, long time.'' The queen admitted, blushing even more inspire of herself. ''We'll talk about it later. Right now we have to worry about six other demons. Luxuria was posing as one of the deadly sins, last time I heard they travel in a group.''
''So we have six more to worry about?''
''Yes,'' Michiru finally let go of Haruka and got up again. ''Too bad Luxuria is gone now. She actually had the least annoying power. Don't you agree?''
The blonde tomboy swallowed away the lump that had formed in her throat. Not only Michiru's remark made it hard to regain her composure but until now she hadn't noticed how little there was left of Michiru's chinese dress. A big part of it was burned away, revealing a lot of skin. Haruka thanked every god in the sky for making sure small pieces of clothing still covered Michiru's breasts and more private parts.
She quickly looked the other way, focussing on the burned spot on the ground where she had watched Michiru burn. There was another spot like that close to the hole in wall caused by Michiru and the demon earlier. 'Minako,' She closed her eyes for a moment, feeling the wind blow softly on her skin. It almost made the world sound peaceful as long as you didn't open you eyes.
'Thank you.'
To Be Continued...
Oh my god, when I finished with this chapter I just realized it. I killed Minako! I'm sorry people, I didn't mean to it just happened. And I'm also sorry for making Rei such a screwed up person but I just wanted to give both of them a little more background. Let me know what you think of it so far? Next senshi up is probably going to be...