Rising Darkness

By Sillabub 429

Chapter Fourteen - Realizations

"Sometimes the deepest wounds are those that can't be seen by the human eye." - Mizuno Ami

A loud, beeping sound coming from her pocket caused Ami to bolt upright from her position on the couch, her eyes wide. Sleepily, the genius withdrew the blue communication device from her pocket and popped open the lid, frowning as her book slid from her lap onto the floor.

"Minako-chan . . ." she yawned, rubbing her neck; it was stiff from the uncomfortable position she had dozed off in. "Erm . . . something wrong? It's really late . . ."

A deep, shaking voice that wasn't Minako's urgently said, "Ami-chan . . ."

Ami's eyes popped open as she stared down at the screen of the wrist communicator, now fully awake.

"Haruka-san?!"

Taiki looked over from his place beside her, slightly startled at Ami's outburst.

"Minako-chan . . ." Haruka murmured, swallowing hard. "Yaten . . ."

"Haruka-san," said Ami, her voice trembling in alarm. She had never seen such a panicked look on Haruka's face before, and it frightened her. "What's wrong? What's happened?"

"Minako-chan . . . Yaten . . . They're . . . it's awful . . ."

Ami's heart leaped into her throat, and Taiki leaned forward, staring at the wrist communicator with large eyes.

"Haruka-san," Ami said, trying her hardest to keep her voice steady. "Are they alive?"

There was a slightly choked sound from the woman on the other end of the communicator before Haruka shakily answered, "I think so."

"Tell me what happened," Ami said.

"There isn't time, Ami-chan," Haruka snapped. "And I doubt I could tell you much anyways. I don't know what happened, I just found them, and they're both unconscious and covered in blood. I don't think they've been here that long. Listen, just hurry up and get to the hospital."

"The hospital? Where are you at?"

"The park, but I've got my car, I can drive them there."

"But Haruka-san, are . . ."

"Ami-chan, there isn't time! Just get to the hospital, now!"

"Taiki and I will be there in just a minute."

Haruka looked mildly surprised but didn't question why the two were together so late at night. "Hurry. And call Mamoru-san."

Ami nodded. "Hang in there, Haruka-san. We'll be there."

The phone rang.

Mumbling as the irritating sound roused him from his sleep, Mamoru turned over in bed and reached toward the phone on the nightstand. Beside him, Usagi rolled over, awake as well and, if her incoherent grumbles were any indication, not very happy about it. Mamoru smiled sleepily at his wife's cuteness as he put the phone to his ear.

"Hello, Chiba residence," he said. After a short pause, he sat upright in bed, now fully awake and clutching the receiver to his ear. "Ami-chan? Wait . . . wait . . . what happened?"

Beside him, Usagi had stopped grumbling and was now listening intently, a feeling of dread growing in the pit of her stomach.

"Are they . . . Ami-chan, slow down . . . Are they alive? . . . Right . . . I'll be right there."

He hung up the phone and got out of bed in one swift motion, leaving Usagi to stare at him with huge eyes as she sat up and clutched the covers in fear.

"Mamo-chan, what is it?" she asked worriedly as he pulled on a pair of pants.

Mamoru didn't respond immediately; he had just grabbed a sweater and was tugging it over his head. After pulling it on, he turned back to Usagi, and the look on his face made her heart drop. Something was very wrong.

Usagi scrambled out of bed. "Mamo-chan, what happened?" she asked, rushing to his side. "Is someone hurt? Is it . . ."

"It's Minako-chan," said Mamoru softly. "And Yaten-kun. Something's happened to them."

Usagi froze, the dread that had been growing in the pit of her stomach flooding through her entire body. "Are they . . . are they . . . ?" But she couldn't bring herself to ask the question screaming through her mind.

Mamoru shook his head, and Usagi was filled with relief. "They're still alive, but they're both seriously injured. Haruka-san's bringing them to the hospital."

"I'm coming too," said Usagi immediately.

Mamoru nodded, his expression grim. "We have to hurry."

But Usagi was already at the dresser, pulling out a pair of pants and a sweater and pulling them on over her nightclothes. Her long golden hair was still down, free of its customary odango style, but she didn't do anything to fix it as she rushed back to Mamoru's side, her heart pounding erratically in her chest.

"Let's go," she said.

Seiya sprinted down the hospital corridor, out of his mind with worry. Kakyuu was not far behind him as he skidded to a halt in front of room 313 and flung the door open, racing inside.

He froze where he stood.

Yaten was lying on a hospital bed, heavily bandaged and hooked up to dozens of machines. His face was ashen, his eyes were closed, and a loud beeping from the monitor beside him carried over the sound of the urgent voice of Mamoru, who was barking out orders to Taiki and Ami.

Another bed was in the room, not far away, and a pale, unconscious Minako was lying in it, the side of her face so swollen and covered in so many bloody bandages that, if not for her long blonde hair and red bow, she would have been unrecognizable. Usagi and Haruka were standing to the side, watching in stunned horror.

Kakyuu trembled and sank to her knees. "No . . ." she whispered. Seiya could only stare at Yaten, numb with shock.

Mamoru turned to Ami, who was checking Minako's vital signs. "We need to stabilize Yaten-kun first" he said sharply. "He needs blood, immediately."

"Yaten's type B," said Taiki.

"Minako-chan too," added Ami. "We need enough for both of them."

Haruka, her clothes bloodstained from Minako's and Yaten's wounds, stepped forward, looking grim. "I'm type B," she said. She noticed that Seiya had turned his stunned expression toward her, and she shot him a defiant look. "It would be safer to give him blood from another Sailor Senshi, right?" she asked bluntly.

"Right," said Mamoru abruptly. "Taiki-san, get Haruka-san ready for a transfusion."

"I . . . I'm type O!" said Usagi, darting forward. "Can't I help too?"

Mamoru's gaze softened slightly as it settled on her earnest, worried face. Ami, however, stepped toward Usagi, looking stern.

"You can't!" she said, knowing that Usagi couldn't give blood since she was pregnant.

Usagi turned toward her, eyes wide as she placed a hand subconsciously over her stomach, sensing the reason for Ami's response. She sent the blue-haired woman a pleading look, and Ami sighed in resignation, turning back to Mamoru.

"Usagi-chan is too light to give blood," she said simply. "I'll go get two more units."

Ami hurried from the room as Haruka sat down beside Yaten's bed, the catheter that was already in her arm drawing blood from a vein and feeding it into the bag between her and Yaten. Mamoru, looking pale and strained, had moved on to Minako. He peeled back the bandages on her face to survey the damage, and although he was a doctor and accustomed to gruesome wounds, he still couldn't suppress the sharp intake of breath that came with the sight of her swollen, bruised, torn skin, and, even odder, the five very deep, parallel wounds cut into her face.

"Hecate did this," he said after a moment.

The others looked up, and Haruka let out a sigh. "I thought so too."

Usagi shivered and hugged herself, looking at Yaten and Minako. "What could have happened? Why did she do this? I thought . . . I thought I was her target."

"Perhaps she's trying to make you suffer by hurting us," said Haruka tonelessly, staring at a clock on the wall. Her expression remained impassive as she glanced at the others. "It's not a foolish strategy."

"How can you say that so casually?" cried Usagi, looking at Haruka with tears in her eyes. "Don't you care at all that you might be a target?"

Haruka looked slightly surprised as she turned to Usagi, then she sighed. "Of course I care," she said. "But worrying about it won't change anything. Besides, I'm more concerned for the safety of everyone else." There was a look on Haruka's face that was almost a little too knowing as she added, "You know you are too, koneko-chan."

Usagi blinked as Ami reentered the room with two units of blood. "Any change?" she asked Mamoru, slightly out of breath.

He shook his head. "Minako-chan needs to be attended to. Her wounds aren't as severe as Yaten-kun's, but she's still lost a lot of blood."

Ami looked at Minako's still form, her blue eyes sad. "Sometimes the deepest wounds are the ones that can't be seen by the human eye," she said softly.

The others were silent for a long moment, still shocked and worried. After a small bit of silence, Kakyuu decided to speak up, her voice weak.

"Will . . . will they survive, Mamoru-san?" she asked, addressing Mamoru but staring at Yaten.

He sighed. "It's a little soon to say, but I think so." He seemed to think better of his explanation and, opting for a more optimistic one, smiled slightly over at them. "I'm sure of it, actually. They're both strong, right?"

The others nodded, and Seiya added, "Yaten's too stubborn to die."

Mamoru nodded, then checked the screen of Yaten's monitor. After a moment, he turned back to them and smiled. "As I thought, he's stable now. It'll be a while before he's out and about, but at least we know he'll survive."

"He has to," said Seiya.

"Mamoru-san, what about Minako-chan's face?" asked Ami softly. "Do you think . . . will she recover?"

Mamoru went silent for a moment, looking at the unconscious Minako for a long moment. "She may need a skin graft," he said quietly. "No matter how you look at it, she's going to have severe scarring and will probably never look exactly the same."

There was a moment of strained silence before Usagi shivered, hugging herself. "I'm glad they're unconscious," she said. "I can't imagine what kind of pain they would be in if they were awake."

Haruka groaned and sat back in her chair, looking warily down at her arm as blood flowed from it. "I'm glad too," she said, glancing at Yaten's pale face. "I don't want that brat to know I'm keeping him alive."

"Haruka-san, really," said Ami, smiling slightly.

But Haruka had suddenly remembered something she was curious about, and she turned to look at Taiki and Ami. "It's good you were able to make it here so quickly," she said. "It's pretty lucky you two were . . . together . . . when this happened."

They both turned to her, eyes wide. "Er, yeah," said Taiki, frowning. "Lucky."

Kakyuu blinked. "What were you two doing together so late at night?"

Ami and Taiki both went red and began stammering.

". . . not what you think . . ."

". . . research . . ."

". . . we only fell asleep . . ."

". . . dozed off, really . . ."

"Okay, okay," chuckled Seiya, "We get it."

"No, you don't," said Ami, scandalized. "It's not what you think."

"Hey, what you two do together is none of our business," Haruka grinned.

"We weren't doing anything!" shouted Ami and Taiki together.

"And what about you, Tenou-san?" asked Taiki quickly, narrowing his eyes. "What were you doing strolling around Tokyo at eleven o'clock at night in the snow?"

This time it was Haruka's turn to redden. She turned away from the two geniuses and looked at the tops of her shoes, muttering incoherently.

"What was that?" asked Seiya.

"Taking a walk," mumbled Haruka.

"Why, whatever for?" said Ami innocently.

Haruka muttered again, looking quite uncomfortable.

"Does it have to do with Kaioh-san?" Taiki asked, smirking.

Haruka stared at him with huge eyes, opening and closing her mouth and stammering.

"Did you two have a fight?" asked Usagi, eyes wide.

Haruka could only glare at them. "This conversation is now over."

"It may be over, but we're not forgetting it happened," said Seiya.

Mamoru moved to Haruka's side. "I think you're okay for now, Haruka-san," he said quietly. He removed the catheter from her arm and placed a ball of cotton over the puncture wound. Haruka's eyes went to Yaten's face as Mamoru handed her a bottle of juice and wrapped gauze around her arm. "You'll need to replenish your fluids," he said. "We may need to take more blood in a little while."

Everyone else went silent for a few moments as the full weight of the evening's events began to sink in. Suddenly, their teasing from moments ago seemed highly inappropriate for such a serious time, and they sat in uneasy, awkward silence for quite a while. Seiya in particular was tight-lipped and somberly watching the pale-faced Yaten lying in the bed.

"Do the others know yet?" asked Usagi softly.

Ami nodded. "Mako-chan knows, and so does . . ."

"Haruka!" a voice cried from the door.

". . . Michiru-san," Ami finished quietly.

Haruka looked up, and she suddenly received a face full of soft, aqua curls as Michiru rushed to her and threw her arms around Haruka's neck.

"Michiru . . ." Haruka started in surprise, her eyes widening.

"I'm sorry," Michiru was murmuring, her voice choked. "Oh, Haruka, I shouldn't have said those awful things earlier. I was being foolish, I know, but I was just worried that no one would accept this . . . But I don't care, Haruka, I only care about you, and . . . and . . . the answer is yes."

Eyes wide, Haruka swallowed hard. "Are you sure? Is this what you want?"

Michiru nodded into the tall woman's neck. "I love you, Haruka, and . . . of course, I'll marry you."

A loud clatter that sounded as if something had been dropped suddenly reminded Haruka of the other people who were in the room. She turned to look at the wide-eyed and shocked senshi (Ami had dropped an empty tray in surprise), and, reddening, Haruka threw defiant looks at them, daring them to say something funny about the situation. They only stared back at her in shock.

"Michiru-san," said Mamoru calmly, although he was suppressing a smile, "Haruka-san needs to sit down for a while in a quiet place. Would you accompany her to the waiting room? Make sure she has plenty of fluids."

Michiru turned to him and, tossing him a look that suggested nothing unusual had happened, replied daintily, "Oh? Of course. Come on, Haruka."

And she grabbed Haruka by the sleeve and tugged the taller woman after her. Before she disappeared from sight completely, Haruka managed to throw a deadly glare over her shoulder at the rest of them.

The others chuckled, all but Usagi, who was staring out the dark window with a haunted expression on her pale face. Her eyes stared unseeingly out into the darkness and, noticing her odd behavior, Mamoru moved to her side.

"Usako?" he asked softly. "What is it?"

Her dazed expression didn't change, but it shifted from the window to Mamoru as Usagi turned toward her husband. "If . . . if everyone's a target," she whispered, "what if . . . what if Hecate's going to attack someone else?"

A beeping sound coming from her bedside table roused Rei from her sleep and, groggily, she turned over and reached a hand toward the source of the sound. She blindly fumbled for a moment before her hand closed around her wrist communicator, but then she realized that if one of the others was trying to contact her it might have meant that something had happened. Now fully awake, Rei sat up in bed and flipped the communicator on.

"What happened?" she asked immediately, her face alert.

When Makoto's worried face appeared on the screen, Rei's heart dropped. "It's not Usagi-chan," said Makoto at once. "Minako-chan and Yaten-kun were attacked."

Rei noticed Yuuichirou had rolled over in bed and was now watching her worriedly, but she was too concerned with the situation to pay him much mind. "Are they alright?" she asked. "What happened? Where are they?"

"They'll live, if that's what you're worried about," replied Makoto grimly. "Their injuries are pretty severe, though . . . Haruka-san found them in the park earlier, and they were both in pretty bad shape. Mamoru-san is taking care of them at the hospital."

Rei sat back, relaxing slightly but still concerned. "Are you going there too?"

"I'm on my way, with Chibi-Usa-chan and Hotaru-chan."

"I'm coming too," said Rei, getting out of bed as she spoke. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

Makoto nodded, and with that, her face flickered off the tiny screen of the communicator. Yuuichirou sat up as Rei darted to the closet to grab a change of clothes, his brow furrowed beneath his bangs.

"Do you want me to come?" he asked.

Rei shook her head. "You should stay and rest," she replied, smiling slightly at him. "I won't be too long, I just . . . I have to be there, you know?"

"I know."

Rei's expression softened, and it looked as if she was about to say something else when, suddenly, the room seemed to explode.

Rei's eyes widened as a burst of black energy broke apart the ceiling, and chunks of debris collapsed around them as a thick cloud of dust filled the room, clogging their throats and making it hard to breathe. A strong arm grabbed Rei around the waist just as a large chunk of ceiling directly above her began to fall, and Yuuichirou swiftly tackled her to the ground, shielding her head with his body as they hit the floor together. Rei didn't have to say anything; Yuuichirou knew they were in danger and, as dust billowed around them, he grabbed her hand and dragged Rei toward the window.

Rei's eyes, wide with panic, swiveled toward the hole in the ceiling as she and her fiancé exited through the window and crawled through the snow, and as the dust cleared, she could dimly make out the shape of a figure with wings floating in the air.

Their hearts beating erratically in their chests, Rei and Yuuichirou reached the bushes, out of breath and gasping for air. Rei could feel Yuuichirou's arm shaking as he pulled her close to him, but they didn't speak as they crouched down low and, using the foliage for cover, they peered out at Hecate.

Her narrow red eyes scanning the premises, Hecate flapped her wings briefly before throwing out a clawed hand and hurling another ball of crackling black energy at the Hikawa Jinja. Rei covered her mouth to muffle a scream as the power connected, blowing apart the roof of the temple and destroying the place she had called home for most of her life. She and Yuuichirou both had to suppress a gasp when a cloud of smoke began to billow upward from the hole, followed shortly by flames.

The Hikawa Jinja was on fire, and smoke and ash rose up to join the cloud of dust that was beginning to obscure their vision. Hecate looked around once more, and, upon finding no one had come out of the ruins, she snarled, "Princess Mars! Come out!"

Rei's eyes widened with the realization that Hecate was after her, and Yuuichirou's grip tightened around her as if he were telling her to stay put. At that point, Rei had no intention of moving, but that was about to change.

A small, aged form stumbled out of the fiery ruins of the Hikawa Jinja, coughing weakly and clutching a kunai, and Hecate looked wickedly down at Rei's grandpa. Rei suddenly found herself struggling against Yuuichirou as he held her tightly, her wide eyes staring in horror at the old man standing before Hecate.

'Ojii-chan!' Rei thought desperately, fighting to get out of Yuuichirou's arms even though she knew there was nothing she could do to help.

Rei's grandfather's voice was weak when he spoke, but there was still fire in his eyes as he swung his kunai toward Hecate and took a battle stance. "I don't know who you are or why you're here, but you must leave this place," he said.

"An old man?" remarked Hecate in amusement. "To think there would be such a fighting spirit at such a ripe age."

"This isn't a place of violence, but of peace and meditation," he said, and sweat glistened on his bald head as he glared up at her. "An evil spirit like you has no place here."

"'Evil spirit' . . . ?" repeated Hecate, looking pleased as she flapped her wings and lowered herself toward him. "I suppose that description suits me as well as any." She glared down at the old man and threw out her arms, glaring wickedly down at him. "I'm the spirit of revenge!"

With a flap of her wings, Hecate soared toward him, cackling maliciously, and he ran toward her with his kunai prepared to strike, and when they were close enough he swung the kunai skillfully toward her, and the bamboo sword struck her hard across the face.

The hard look on the old man's face didn't change as Hecate looked at him in slight surprise, murmuring quietly, "My, my." A thin stream of blood trickled down from the corner of her mouth.

"Leave this place," he said evenly.

A glare crossed Hecate's face for a brief moment before, suddenly (and Rei had to suppress a scream), she reached out a bony, clawed hand and grabbed the old man around the throat. "I take orders from no one," she hissed, and there was a faint crunching sound as she sunk her fingers into his neck and twisted it.

Yuuichirou's hand over Rei's mouth muffled most of her scream, but nothing could suppress her agony at the feeling of her world crashing down around her. Trembling with silent sobs, Rei allowed Yuuichirou to pull her against him so she could hide her eyes as, with a disdainful look, Hecate tossed the old man aside.

He fell to the ground, limp as a rag doll.

Rei's entire body shook with sobs as Yuuichirou held her close to him, watching Hecate warily as she eyed the old man at her feet and the burning ruins of the Hikawa Jinja. Then, as if she was suddenly bored of the situation, Hecate looked disgustedly around her, flapped her large, leathery wings, and took off into the sky, red hair swirling around her like the fire that was rising from the shrine.

"Rei . . ." whispered Yuuichirou, squeezing her to him. "Rei . . . we have to get away from here."

"Is . . . is she gone?" hiccupped Rei from within his arms.

He nodded. "There's nothing we can do," he said, but he stopped when Rei fought her way from his arms and ran, sobbing, toward the fallen body of her grandpa.

"Ojii-chan!" she cried, falling to her knees beside him. Her violet eyes were full of tears as she trembled, staring almost unseeingly at him. There were five bloody gouges in his throat where Hecate's fingers had dug in, and his neck was twisted at an odd angle. She knew he couldn't be alive.

Rei let out a wail of despair as she collapsed into the snow, hugging herself with trembling arms and crying hysterically as she listened to the sounds of the fire consuming the Hikawa Jinja. After a moment, she felt a warm hand cover her shoulder and, her body shaking with convulsive sobs, Rei threw herself into Yuuichirou's arms.

They sat together like that for a long time, alone in the snow as their home burned down around them, with nothing in the world left but each other.

The hospital room was silent.

The senshi knew it was still night because a glance outside the window showed darkness outside. But for all they knew, they'd been sitting there watching Yaten and Minako for days. Time had truly lost meaning to them.

"They . . . they will wake up, won't they, Mamo-chan?" asked Chibi-Usa quietly, her face pale as she sat between Hotaru and Usagi, holding their hands in hers.

Mamoru sighed heavily. "Minako-chan woke up once earlier," he replied, looking away.

"She did?" asked Makoto, looking around at them. "No one said anything."

Usagi trembled. "It was . . . it was scary," she whispered. "Minako-chan was acting crazy, like she was in the middle of a nightmare."

"She immediately went hysterical," murmured Ami, looking remorseful. "She was delirious, and she kept on calling out for Yaten-kun and saying such strange things . . . It didn't make any sense. Taiki-san and Mamoru-san had to hold her down so I could give her a sedative."

There was a long moment of silence as the group of senshi sat and stared numbly at Minako and Yaten. Everything that could be done to help at that moment had already been done, so from then on the others simply had to wait until they woke up. The problem was, no one knew when that would be.

"We're living day after day in fear," growled Haruka, looking out the window with narrowed eyes. "I hate this."

"We all do, Haruka-san," said Kakyuu tiredly. "But what can we do?"

Hotaru's brow furrowed, and she chewed a thumbnail as she thought of Yaten and Minako. "We're targets now, too," she murmured. "We just saw how a fight against Hecate ends when her opponent has no powers to fight back with . . ."

Her voice trailed off as the door cracked open, and Rei walked in. Her clothes were singed and had a few bloodstains, and on her pale face was one of the most lost and helpless looks any of them had ever seen.

"Rei-chan!" cried Usagi, rushing to her side and grabbing her hands. Rei stared numbly at her through eyes that were red and puffy from crying. "Rei-chan, what happened?"

Rei opened her mouth to speak, but she seemed unable to make any words come out. Makoto had also moved to her side, looking worried as she put a strong arm around Rei to support her trembling body.

"You were supposed to have been here hours ago," she said, her green eyes wide with worry. "And you . . . you smell like smoke! What happened, Rei-chan?"

There was a long moment of silence, and when Rei spoke her voice was small and distant and filled with the weight of the world.

"The Hikawa Jinja burned down. Ojii-chan is dead."

Then Rei's knees buckled and she passed out, and if Makoto hadn't been there holding her up she would have fallen to the floor.

Usagi was trembling, her blue eyes huge and swimming with tears as she stared at Rei, and the others cried out in alarm as they moved to help.

"No . . ." she whispered, feeling herself growing nauseous.

The others were swarming around Rei, lifting her up and moving her limp body toward one of the chairs. Their voices sounded to Usagi like a faint buzzing sound, and she shook her head, dazedly.

"This can't be happening," she breathed, and she backed up towards the door, a trembling hand resting over her stomach.

Rei's face was still pale as her eyes slid open, and she managed to sit up, looking dizzily around. Her eyes rested on Usagi, and the hopelessness in them made Usagi feel worse than any morning sickness could.

"Usagi . . ." whispered Rei.

"NO!" screamed Usagi suddenly, her small body taught and trembling with fear. Everyone stared at her as she stumbled toward the door and vomited, clutching her stomach and crying miserably.

"Usako!" cried Mamoru, starting toward her.

Usagi froze, and they stood there for a moment, staring at each other, and no one else dared speak a word. Usagi was pale, trembling, and wiping her mouth with the back of one hand while the other rested on top of her stomach. Mamoru stared at her for a long, tense moment, and then it was as if the truth finally dawned on him. He didn't move, not even an inch, but the pupils in those wide blue eyes began to dilate as if his mind was suddenly assaulted with more information than it was prepared to take in.

"Usako . . . you're . . ." Mamoru started, but Usagi clapped a hand over her mouth, let out a strangled sob, and ran from the room.

"USAKO!"

Gah, sorry this took so long getting out, but life (a.k.a. final exams) has been taking up a lot of my time. I hate excuses, so that's all I'm going to say about that, but I tried to make up for the lack of update by having a lot happen in this chapter. I hope everyone liked it, and I promise I'll get the next chapter out soon! Please review and let me know what you think!