Disclaimer Standards apply. I don't own Sailor moon or Titanic.
A/N: Based on the events of the last chapter, You should know where I am in the story. But, it's the sinking. Don't know how much more I'm going to write after this, but I do know a sequel is in the works.
Warning: standard warnings apply. See chapter one for full warning disclaimers.
Chapter 12
Even though Kayla knew when the ice berg would strike, feeling it was another story entirely. She had just made it out of the hall and up on deck when the warnings had come. She knew to prepare for impact. But, despite finding a place to sit, the impact left her shaken up, and grasping onto something to keep from hitting her head. It had already been hit several times and she would be lucky to walk away with just a headache. But, luck was something Kayla learned not to count on. She planned for the worst, hoping for the best.
After impact, time seemed to stand still as the shock of what occurred sunk in to those who witnessed it. Passengers had come out of their rooms trying to figure out what was going on, but no one seemed to take the situation seriously. Stewards simply told the passengers that the ship was stopped for the night, or they had thrown a propeller blade. Nothing serious, and they would be back on their way. The fact the ship was in fact sinking, not quite suken in.
However, the scene on the bridge could easily be described as controlled chaos. William Murdoch, the ship's first officer was sweating as the realization dawned on him. The ship had taken damage, a good amount, and it was flooding fast. Even with the water tight doors closed, it wouldn't be enough. Captain Smith appeared on the bridge wondering, just like with everyone else what had happened. "What was that Mr. Murdoch?"
Will looked a bit shaken, but answered as calmly as his voice would allow. "An iceberg sir. Iput her hard to starboard, and ran the engines full a strn, . He began. "I tried to port around it, but it was too close and she hit."
"Close the water tight doors." Captain smith ordered looking around trying to see where the iceberg might have struck. "Full stop."
The engines stopped, and the ship was now floating in the middle of the north Atlantic. Officers started running around to complete orders given by the captain, and stwards started waking passengers. In first class it was a bit more relaxed, but in third class—which was the first to flood—it was all out chaos as stewards threw open doors shouting orders. This helped no one as passengers were confused beyond all forms of real reason blindly fallowing orders, while others mainly in first class were remaining fairly calm throughout the whole thing.
Usagi had only been stunned as she watched the officers blindly running about preparing for the disaster taking place. Life boats were being uncovered and cranked onto davits. While first class passengers were gathering in the common area between A-deck and the main dining area. When she had come back, Usagi hadn't made any plans on how to save the people. She couldn't go down to third class and drain the water. Even if she did, the water coming in would make it a never-ending task in a half despite her best efforts to provide aid. So far so good.
Kayla made her way to the bridge well aware passengers were not supposed to be there, but at this point she didn't care. She was transformed as Sailor Gwaten and would offer aid as best she could, but she needed to know exactly how bad it was and how fast it was sinking. If she remembered her history the ship struck ice at 11: 40 P.M. on the 14th, and the ship actually hit the ocean floor somewhere around 2:30 A.M. on April 15th, several hours before sunrise. Her blond pigtails whipped about her in the icy winds. Despite being in fuku the chilly air had the same effect on her as it did someone dressed as thinly as herself. She could even see her breath as she exhailed it was that bad. With her back pressed against a door she could hear the conversation taking place.
Bruce Ismay was one of the first to appear in the small office. "When can we get under way damn it?!" he growled not liking the idea that the ship would suffer a delay that would put them behind schedule instead of ahead like he wanted.
"Water fourteen feet above the keel in ten minutes, in the for peak and all three holds. And, in boiler room six." The nervus voice of Thomas Andrews floated out in to the open hallway his fingers grazing over a blueprint of the ship. "That's five compartments. She can stay afloat with the first four compartments breached, but not five… not five…" His voice started to quiver as he delivered the news not even he wanted to say.
"The pumps?" Captain Smith asked, pointing to a spot on the blueprint.
"The pumps buy you time, but minutes only. No matter what I do, Titanic will founder."
"This ship can't sink." Bruce Ismay was also in the small office, trying to keep the doomed ship a float with only his words. But, even with those words it didn't change the fact.
"She's made of iron, I assure you she can, and she will it's a mathematical certainty." Thomas countered the dismayed Ismay.
"How long?" Smith could hardly bring himself to ask the question, but it had to be asked.
"An hour, two at most."
And, how many souls aboard Mr. Murdoch?"
"Two thousand two hundred souls aboard sir." Will's voice was low, as the fear of the situation seemed to poor from him in waves. Even with the lifeboats launched, half the passengers were going to die. The reality of it made him sick to his stomach.
Captain smith turned his attention to Bruce, who stood clad only in his slippers, robe, and pajamas. "I believe you will get your headlines Mr. Ismay."
For a moment no one moved not even Kayla. The reality of the situation was too much to take in. The controlled chaos was starting to slip, as the crew worked feverishly to prepare lifeboats in order to save as many passengers as possible. But, not everyone knew what to expect or what to do. No one had prepared for this type of disaster, and not even Captain Smith knew what to tell his crew. Kayla was walking along the deck observing as best she could the situation, herself aside from Mr. Andrews scoping out what was being done. The deck was cluttered with crew running around like busy little ants shouting orders to one another. Passengers groing impaicent inside where it was warm.
"Mr. Wilde… Mr wilde!" Thomas shouted above the noise. "Where are the passengers?"
Chief officer Wilde looked to Mr. Andrews. "All still inside, too damn cold and noisy for them." Putting a whistle to his lips he shouted to two other crew men. "You two get down here and help with these lines!"
Harold was among the officers helping prepare and lower lifeboats. He had taken a quick scan of the deck, and could not see Kayla among the crowd. Was she alright? Was she even here? Was she able to go back amidst the chaos? Or, was she sound asleep in her state room unaware anything had occurred. But, the later didn't seem as likely. She had known about this disaster, and he didn't want to think of the possibility of her hiding out in her state room while the ship sunk from under her. He wanted to know where she was, unaware himself that she was right out in the open. Then again why would he know? He had nothing to tell him where she was, and she had become Sailor Gwaten, a form she hadn't shown to him.
Mr. Andrews… Have you seen Kayla?" his voice was frantic, but he had to know.
"No, I'm sorry. Maybe she's inside with the rest of the passengers. Don't worry I'll personally see to it she gets to a boat." Thomas answered knowing that Harold obviously cared a great deal for the woman and was looking out for her well-being, even if she herself didn't pay that much attention.
Kayla was making her rounds of the ship, staying as calm as possible, but she froze when Harold's voice reached her ears. She took a few steps back knowing she hadn't reveiled the whole truth to him about whom or what she was. He hadn't seen her in her transformed state as she was now. And, how would she explain it to him. She couldn't. With time not on her side she had to start thinking of ways to get to the time gate before the ship erupted into a sea of mass chaos. Right now it was a controld calm, passengers still having no reason to believe anything was really wrong. Most felt this was some drill, and that they would be back on board by morning.
Not knowing what to do, or what could be done was one of the worst feelings in the world. Usagi Tsukino had that feeling… a feeling she hadn't had since she fully accepted being Sailor Moon. And, now here she stood unable to do anything until passengers started being loaded in lifeboats. When she realized she could do so much more as Sailor Moon she began to embrace it. But, what would her powers get her now?
Usagi watched as passengers began to filter out onto the boat deck. Most wondering if the lifeboats were even safe. Others complaining about being drug out from their beds. And, some still in their rooms, mostly first and second class passengers. As passengers were being loaded, eternal sailor moon guided them to the boats. Some of the officers and crew were glad that she helped to ease some of the fears. Though people were being loaded with the boats only half full. It was times like this she wished her wings weren't for show, that she could actually use them, but the last time they actually worked, she was cosmos. But, problem was she didn't remember much of the battle after her friend's deaths. She wanting to die herself, but spared a fate by the "light of Hope". Though even that had scattered to the wind in the end. Could she even become cosmos without it? Usagi didn't know, but she just had to know. She just had to. Her body leaned against the wall as the deck started to fill with now-frantic passengers. The realization of the ship's fate sinking in.
Usagi could only watch helplessly as she tried not to get trampled by people trying to get to a lifeboat before they were all gone. Crew still looking for women and children, a majority of the frantic passengers being third-class or men. Even her sister would be a welcome sight to the distressed moon bunny. But, not even she was anywhere to be found. Had she found a way to go back? Not likely, Sailor moon had the only key the only means to her salvation. If she wanted to safety she would have to come looking for her to get that key back.
Kayla had lost track of anyone or anything as the deck quickly got flooded. She'd lept out of the way purtched on top of something, to what she didn' know. She could hear officers barking out orders trying to get the four remaining boats down and cranked in so they could be loaded. But, time was running out. The head of the ship was almost completely under water. The tilt was obvious and people were now starting to think of who would be saved, and who wouldn't. Third- class passengers were still trapped down below, unable to get to the boat deck, and the band who normally entertained during meals was playing a tune. The idea was to keep everyone calm if at all possible. Though even that seemed pointless at this point.
"Hey you get down from there!" Kayla could hear shouting, but was it directed at her? To this she couldn't tell. She froze waiting to see if those words would be repeated, perhaps with a little more detail. Everyone looked the same from this point, so if someone was trying to make eye contact with her, she sure couldn't tell. However, her attention was then directed to some officers trying to get one of the lifeboats on deck. They were struggling trying to use what ever they had to slide it on to the deck. Kayla, Still as Sailor Gwaten, decided to use her powers to offer a helping hand. The more passengers that could be saved the better. At this point, her actions could very well change history, but she didn't care. The facts would still be the same, and the chaos that was currently happening hadn't changed. Besides, with any luck she wouldn't be here for much longer. Maybe long enough to witness the ship go under, but after that she didn't know. Her fate rested in the hands of Usagi who was god knew where.
On the other side of the ship, the chaos had grown so much so that people decided they would be better off flopping around like fish in the icy North Atlantic. Anything to spare their lives just a little longer. Usagi remained hurtled in a corner trying not to get caught up, but when a gun had been pulled out, she couldn't cower any longer.
"Stay back!" Officers were shouting as men tried to push past them to get into the lifeboats. "Get back! Back I say, or I will shoot any man that tries to get past me." The voice belonged to none other than the first officer. He was starting to lose his cool, and at this point felt like he was running out of options.
"We had a deal" Cal growled.
"Your money can't save you anymore then it could save me." Will had thrown the money Cal had paid him back in his face. "Now get back!" To prove his seriousness he fired a few warning shots. "Get back!" he ordered the crowd gasping in stunned shock as the gun had actually been fired.
"Stop you can't do that!" Eternal Sailor Moon had leapt in front of the crowd as another shot had been fired, this one aimed for an Irish man who had been shoved. The bullet had missed him, but shot her in her brooch. The gold shattered the crystal within glowing brightly, her cloths vanishing red bands flowing behind her.
Will looked shaken up as he realized what he had done. He had shot the people he was supposed to protect, and now he felt he had one other choice left. Simply end it all. His eyes met that of Chief officer wiled before he put the gun to his temple. But, before he could pull the trigger, a slender female hand reached out and removed the object from his grasp only to toss the weapon overboard. "Don't do that you have a job to perform. You have a chance to save a lot more lives." A female's voice broke through, as Sailor cosmos stood there in all of her glory. White angel-like wings protruded from her back, and the ribbons that flew behind her had all but vanished. She was completely nude at this point, except for the wings behind her. Her brown eyes looked deep into those of Will Murdoch's. "I know what you may be thinking, but I'm perfectly fine. At her words, as difficult to understand they may have been, a complete calm seemed to spread over the ship. It was if people knew this woman could possibly save a lot more lives just by her simple words. "Now, forget everything you know, and start loading people of all genders into that lifeboat." With a mighty flap of her wings, Sailor Cosmos ascended into the air, picking up people and flying them into lifeboats that had the least amount of people. The only boat she didn't drop people into was boat 14. That would be the boat to go back looking for people who didn't get on a boat. But the number would be far few even with Usagi saving people one by one. And, quite frankly she didn't practically care about gender.
For what seemed like the next hour, Kayla and Usagi, still in their senshi forms found themselves busy trying to find each other amidst the Chaos. Usagi had saved as many people as she could, more jumping off the ship in the icy cold waters. The lights of the ship had gone out by now, and the only light came from the stars that blanketed the night sky. Even the glow from the crystal didn't seem much more than a flickering star to those in the lifeboats. The screams of those floundering around like fish seemed deafening as Sailor cosmos hovered over the people trying to keep from freezing in the chilly North Atlantic. But, her sister wasn't among them. What did she care anyway? Anger filled her as memories of the final battle raged on behind closed eyes. And, she felt a since of anger boil within her very being. It was at that moment she decided she cared not for her sister's well-being, but those still fighting to live. As far as she was concerned, if Kayla onei-sama wanted to die so badly she had just received her wish.
As the once great ship sunk beneath the waters of the North Atlantic, Sailor Cosmos realized there was nothing more that she could do. She wanted to believe she had saved as many lives as possible, and that some would freeze to death before morning came. She flew over some people, casting a warming light through their bodies to spare them if only enough for lifeboat fourteen to return, but she would end up killing herself should she use her power to the fullest. A great amount of power was already being used to keep her from freezing in mid air as it was. Just as she had decided she had done all she could do, her eyes landed on Rose and Jack, a man whom Rose had fallen for. Giving as much power as she possibly could, she poured it into Jack, knowing Rose would go on to survive. Or at least she hoped the red-head would. After she lie on a pice of what, Usagi couldn't tell, but she was out of the water as much as possible, while Jack clung onto rose his upper body barely above the water. He wore nothing but an undershirt and a pair of pants with suspenders. If he was going to make it out alive, he would need much more than that. But, Usagi had no cloths to provide, or even a life jacket. All she had to offer was some power. Giving all she felt she could possibly give, Usagi vanished back to the time gate, and back to her time.
October 2002
Usagi looked about the world from the fimular dock she had used for time travel several times. For the most part, nothing had changed, but she still couldn't help but think about all those people in the north Atlantic. All those bodies that would later be found and sorted by class. But, with luck she had managed to save at least two lives, maybe more provided those in the lifeboats survived the night. But, a fact that Usagi would have to get over, was she couldn't save everyone. And, as far as she was concerned she didn't have a sister.
The sun had begun to set, and Usagi needed to get home. She had been gone for four days, but with luck it would only seem like a few hours to her parents. Judging by the position of the sun maybe a day. But, a feeling of dread washed over her as she approached her house and tried the door. The key didn't work, forcing her to knock.
As the door swung open Usagi expected a scolding for not calling or forgetting her key, but what she heard instead chilled her to the bone. "Who are you?"
