BISHOUJO SENSHI SAILORMOON
~MIRAI~
PART XXI: SURVIVOR OF THE VICTORY TEAM
by: Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)
http://www.geocities.com/komillia/index.html
Disclaimer: Sailormoon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko and Kodansha,
etcetera. Chie, Hikaru, Yasha and the other original characters belong
to me.
Note: I think that I'm a bit OOC with Sailorjupiter. This is another
short part. There are no Japanese words for you to memorize in this
part. ^_^ Also, the White Crescent Staff is the one Sailormoon used
in her attack at the last few paragraphs of part 10, in case you don't
remember. In case you don't remember the members of the Victory Team,
here's a reminder:
Sailorastarte - Sakura Miyako (Minako's daughter and Chie's mom)
Sailorharmonia - Ishida Yuri (Rei's daughter)
Sailormaia - Mizuno Masami (Ami's daughter)
Archangel - Arai Natsu (Haruka's daughter and Tomo's mom)
Sailorchronos - Yagami Fumiyo (Setsuna's daughter)
Sailoroceania - Aoyama Karin (Michiru's daughter)
Sailorcallisto - Hajime Sakurai (Makoto's daughter)
* * * *
"We're here," Hermes announced flatly as he and Lilith stood
right outside the throne hall. "The most central part of the Crystal
Palace."
"The others aren't here yet," Lilith stated. She looked over
her shoulder, hoping that the others would come running. But they
didn't. For once in her life Lilith grew worried. What if something
had happened to them too?
"Let's go," Hermes said, putting his hand on one of the doors
to the throne hall to open it. Lilith looked at the door first and
then at him.
"Why? Shouldn't we wait for the others?"
"We have no idea where they are," Hermes told. "We don't even
know if they have already been here and gone before us. Let's check
this room out before we decide on what to do."
Lilith was a little surprised that he referred to the throne hall as
"this room" but then shrugged and put her hand on the other door. They
both opened the door at the same time. Hermes didn't know what he
expected, or if he expected anything at all. But when he and Lilith
entered the room they were only greeted by darkness.
"Dark in here..." Lilith commented lightly. As she said it,
candles on the wall were suddenly lit and a dim light spread through
most of the parts of the throne hall. Startled, Hermes drew his sword,
ready for a fight.
The throne hall wasn't decorated the way Hermes had expected
it to be. The walls were dark purple along with the candles that had
been lit. Instead of a throne at the end of the throne hall, there
were long, black curtains hanging from the ceiling. Was it to hide
something? And on the ceiling was a strange paining, a black cross
with a white spot in the middle.
"Have you been here before?" Hermes asked. Lilith shook her
head, she was also looking at the cross in the ceiling.
"No... this place looks tacky," she said lightly.
"Let's see what's behind those curtains," Hermes decided. He
took one step towards the curtains, only to be struck by a blast.
* * * *
They were practically walking in a line. The Sailor Senshi entered the
teleportation chamber in silence. Their footsteps could hardly be
heard, for some reason they were all walking as quietly as they could.
Sailormercury immediately went to the control panel and turned on the
power. The others stepped up on the platform, waiting.
"It looks like the princess has been doing something with the
control panel," Sailormercury said, trying to lighten the mood. But
she soon grew a worried frown on her face.
"What's wrong?" Sailorjupiter asked. She stepped down from the
platform to look at the control panel.
"This can't be right..." Sailormercury began. "There hasn't
been a teleportation executed with the control panel since the time
when the Shin Senshi left."
"No one can teleport to Earth alone without help from the
teleportation device," Sailoruranus stated. "Are you sure?"
Sailormercury nodded. "I'd bet my life on it," she answered. "But a
teleportation was executed just a few hours ago, *without* help from
the teleportation device."
"How can this be?" Sailorjupiter questioned. "Not even
Serenity in her strongest form can do that on her own."
"Perhaps we have underestimated the princess," Sailorneptune
said.
"Or maybe she did not leave here alone."
A voice that belonged to none of the original Sailor Senshi.
Sailorjupiter recognized the voice and looked towards the doorway. A
Senshi stood there with a serious look on her face. Her hair was pink,
but more red than Sailormoon's. Her hair was almost shoulder length
with bangs that constantly needed to be pushed away from her eyes.
Her fuku was white like other Sailor fuku with a green collar and
skirt. Her bows were deep red. While the front bow looked normal, the
back bow was much longer and thinner. The Senshi's hair color gave the
impression that she was a childish person, but her pale blue eyes told
everyone that she had grown up a long time ago. Her age couldn't be
guessed, Sailor Senshi didn't age after reaching a certain age. This
Senshi looked like she was in her early twenties when the truth was
that she was almost in her late thirties.
"Sailorcallisto, what are you doing here?" Sailormars asked.
Sailorcallisto, also known as Hajime Sakurai, stepped into the room
and closed the door after herself. Then she turned to the Sailor
Senshi. She spoke to them all in a clear and formal voice.
"I wish to accompany you to the Earth."
[She wants to go because she wants to settle her vendetta...]
Sailorjupiter thought sadly and lowered her gaze. [My dear daughter...
is this the only way for you to move on?]
"Why is that?" Sailoruranus asked.
"I believe that the reason why I want to join you is very
much known to everyone in this room," Callisto replied. Sailorjupiter
sighed, Callisto had probably been prepared for that question. She
didn't like explaining herself.
One by one, the Sailor Senshi turned towards Sailorjupiter,
letting her decide if Callisto would come with them or not.
Sailorjupiter looked at her daughter. She could order Callisto to stay
but it wouldn't work. Callisto would normally take orders but if she
disagreed with them too strongly then she would do things her own way.
This was one of those times. If they teleported to Earth without her,
then she would just use the teleportation device and teleport to Earth
on her own.
And could she really deny her daughter this chance? Callisto
wasn't the only one who wanted to avenge the Victory Team, the other
Sailor Senshi wanted it as well no matter how calm and rational they
appeared to others. This was what Callisto had dedicated over twenty
years for. She had trained, trained and trained only because she one
day hoped to face the murderer of her friends.
Finally, Sailorjupiter nodded but didn't look at her daughter.
She didn't want to look at Callisto and think that perhaps this would
be the last time she saw her.
* * * *
When Lucius reached out his arm it was a sign that something was
coming. Ishtar, Medusa and Ares stopped walking and kept quiet. They
focused hard to listen for any kind of sound but it was only Ares and
Lucius who heard something.
"Footsteps," Ares told Medusa and Ishtar who both looked
puzzled.
"How did you hear that?" Medusa wondered. Ares just shrugged.
"I don't know. Better hearing?"
"Let's step back and wait," Ishtar decided, taking all the
three other Shin Senshi with her and went back around the corner where
they had come from. "It could be demons. Or maybe the others."
Pressed against the wall and eagerly waiting, they kept listening.
Eventually the footsteps could be heard by all four. Lucius raised his
hand so that everyone could see them and held up two fingers. The
others nodded silently, understanding what he meant. Eventually voices
could be heard as well.
"They're close now, I can feel their presence."
"Amelia?" Lucius said out loud. He would have been hushed by
the others or at least been given angry stares if they hadn't
recognized Circe's voice. Circe's voice wasn't the only one they
heard.
"I hope they're okay..." It was Usagi.
Not hesitating Ishtar stepped out in the corridor and saw both Circe
and Sailormoon walking towards her. Ishtar smiled, happy for the first
time in hours. Sailormoon gasped when she saw Ishtar, then ran and
gave her a hug.
"You're here!" she exclaimed as she hugged Ishtar tightly.
Lucius, Ares and Medusa also stepped out. From what Ishtar could see,
Circe lit up a hundred times when she saw Lucius.
"Lucius!" she said happily. She rushed over to him but didn't
give him a hug. Medusa and Ares only exchanged an amused look with
each other when they saw what looked like a blush on both Lucius' and
Circe's faces.
"Where's everyone else?" Sailormoon asked when she released
Ishtar from the choking hug. The happy expression on her face was
now gone.
"We split up," Ares answered, knowing that Ishtar still was
worried about if Nature was alive or not. "Nature, Hermes and Lilith
went one way and we went to other."
Sailormoon nodded slowly. She didn't ask about Archangel. The look
on Ishtar's face told her that now wasn't a good time to ask about it.
Convincing herself that Archangel would be alright on her own,
Sailormoon went on to her next question.
"Have you found anything?" Sailormoon wondered. Medusa shook
her head.
"Nothing," she replied. "This place seems to be dead. Until
we met up with you we have been walking around here for hours. Up
there..." Medusa pointed at a stair that they had been on their way
towards before. "...is the throne hall. We were on our way there when
we heard you coming."
Circe tore her eyes away from Lucius and looked towards the stairs.
She frowned, feeling an uneasy emotion in her heart. What it was, she
didn't know.
"There's something strange coming from there..." she said.
"The throne hall?" Sailormoon guessed. Circe only answered
with a short nod. For a moment, all of them looked at the stairs,
wondering what was up there. Circe wasn't the only one who felt
strange. It didn't take long for the others to pick up the strange
energy that came from the throne hall.
"Let's go and see what it is..." Ishtar said, sounding
unexpectingly calm. But inside she was scared to death. The strange
energy... she had a feeling that something bad was about to happen.
The others followed her in silence as she moved up the stairs, taking
one step at the time.
When they were finally upstairs, they found two of the doors
to the throne hall was already opened. Ishtar glanced at the others,
as if asking them if they were ready. She received no answer from them
but looked forth. She took a deep breath and began to walk towards the
doors. As usual, the others followed.
They were greeted by dim light when they entered the throne
hall. Sailormoon gasped, finding the throne hall different from when
she had last saw it. It had been decorated in light colors and with
real lamps. Now, the walls were dark purple and the only light in the
room came from thick candles with the same color.
She was surprised when Medusa and Ares suddenly darted past
her. Not until they bent down on the floor to inspect something
Sailormoon realized why. Ares was trying to help Lilith sit up. Lilith
seemed to be conscious, but either very tired or injured. The others
made their way to Lilith and for the first time Sailormoon saw a
huge, open gash at Lilith's right leg. She winced, not expecting to
see such injury on her comrade.
"Lilith, stay awake," Medusa urged. "What happened? Where's
Hermes and Nature?"
Lilith whispered something that no one heard, it looked more like she
was just moving her lips. Medusa held her ear closer to Lilith's face
and then understood what Lilith was saying. The dark haired Senshi
rose to her feet and then ran to another corner of the room, where
Hermes was lying, practically covered by his own coat.
Medusa rolled him over, examined him quickly and let out a
sigh of relief when he appeared to have no serious wounds like Lilith.
However she noticed something strange with his eyelids. They were
moving in a strange way that Medusa found familiar. It took a while
for her to recognize it but when she did, she looked over her
shoulder.
"Sailormoon, get over here!" she called. Responding to
Medusa's call, Sailormoon immediately ran to her.
"I think he's been forced into a dream world," Medusa told,
frowning. "Just like you were when you encounter Morpheus in that
park."
Sailormoon remember that time, although it seemed so distant. She had
believed that the "dream world" was the reality when it in fact
wasn't.
"We have to wake him up," Sailormoon said. "He can be trapped
in there for good if we don't wake up him."
"How *do* you wake him up?" Medusa questioned. "That's what I
want to know."
Before Sailormoon could say anything Medusa suddenly pushed her to
the ground. Sailormoon fell, her nose hitting the cold floor. Her fall
was followed by the sound of a blast striking something. As she was
about to stand up again, she noticed a hole in the wall that hadn't
been there before. The hole was the same size as a tree and Sailormoon
didn't want to think of what had happened to her if Medusa hadn't
pushed her down.
"Who's there?!" Ishtar demanded to know. She called forth a
golden sphere in her hands, ready to toss it away any moment. Ares
held out one hand and a burning flame appeared.
There was silence. Ishtar and Ares stood ready with their attacks,
Lucius was healing Lilith and the rest of them were just staring at
the black curtains that hung at the end of the throne hall, where the
thrones used to be.
"Show yourself!" Ishtar cried, tired from waiting and angry
because of what had happened to Lilith and Hermes. As her voice echoed
through the throne hall, the black curtains fell from the ceiling.
Their falls revealed someone standing behind them.
A woman dressed in black. She was tall and the long, tight
dress she wore made her look even taller and slimmer. Her bright
purple hair was put up in a thick bun and strands of hair had fallen
from the bun, including her long bangs that framed her face. Her eyes
were deep purple and bitter. This woman seemed to be a person fond of
purple, since her lips were also painted in that color. Her pale skin
contrasted against all the black and purple colors on her.
"You're here," the woman said, her voice somewhat husky. It
sounded like she had acknowledged their presence for the first time.
Without saying else, she slowly raised her arm. A blast headed right
for Circe but she dodged it quickly by throwing herself to her left
side.
Angry, Ishtar threw the sphere in her hands towards the woman.
She couldn't... wouldn't tolerate anyone hurting her friends. The
woman watched the sphere flying towards her with calm. When it was
close, she raised her both hands towards the sphere. The sphere
exploded into tiny pieces of light that backfired on Ishtar and Ares.
"Ares!" Medusa yelled, but couldn't pursue herself to leave
Hermes side. Although Ares and Ishtar had been struck by Ishtar's own
attack, they still seemed to be conscious. However they both found it
difficult to remain standing.
"Wha.. was that?" Ares asked, falling to his knees. Ishtar
winced, trying to not think of the pain in her leg where most of the
attack had hit her. She had never known how much her own attack pained
others. However her attacks usually had no affect on other Senshi or
herself... why had this time been different?
Sailormoon had been somewhat aware of what had happened to
Ares and Ishtar but she couldn't do anything but to stare at the
woman. The woman had made Ishtar's energy sphere explode, much like
Sailormoon accidentally made things explode. And the woman... there
was something familiar with her that Sailormoon couldn't put her
finger on.
[Could there be a connection?] she asked herself.
"You..." Medusa hissed angrily and got up quickly. She held
out both hands and two snakes grew from her palms. "Venom Serpent."
Before the snakes could leave Medusa's palm, the woman raised one hand
and both snakes exploded. The energy that had been contained inside
the snakes left inside a burning mark on Medusa. She cried in pain and
fell to her knees, finding the heat on body unbearable.
"Medusa," Circe whispered and began to run towards her. But
suddenly it was as if she had run out of air. She fell to her knees,
bringing her hands up to her throat as she struggled to get air. The
woman was still standing with one hand raised. But it looked like the
hand had grabbed on to something invincible. Sailormoon glanced at
the woman, than at Circe. The way the woman held her hand... it looked
like she was choking someone.
Noticing that something had happened to Circe, Lucius quickly
abandoned his sister's side and went to Circe. Lilith's leg had been
partially healed, but the wound was still open and bleeding. Lilith
had felt so much pain that she had fainted. Desperately Lucius tried
to help free Circe from whatever was choking her. The only thing that
happened was that his hands hurts whenever he tried to help her.
Ishtar pulled herself up and raised one arms to do a Crescent
Beam attack. Hel saw it in the corner of her eyes, held up her arm
and moved her fingers a little. The next second Ishtar was lifted up
in the air, slammed against the wall and then was left to fall.
Ares also stood up and held out his hand again.
"Blaze," he whispered and a flame appeared in his hand. He
threw it towards Hel, it flew towards her in a god-like speed. For a
moment Ares almost thought that he would succeed in hitting her. But
he should have known.
The flame stopped right in front of Hel and died out. Hel turned
her dark eyes towards Ares. Suddenly he flew into the wall on the
other side of the throne hall. He bounced against the wall and then
landed next to Medusa and Hermes.
"Have you had enough?" the woman asked without any emotion.
Sailormoon glared at her and then held up both her hands. Her white
Crescent Staff appeared, she hadn't used it in a long time.
"Who are you?" Sailormoon asked, her voice trembling a little.
The crescent on the top of her staff began to glow and the glow
increased as the anger inside Sailormoon did. The woman looked at
Sailormoon's weapon with no fear in her eyes. However she did sense
some kind of strange energy coming from it.
"Hel..." the woman answered. Sailormoon wasn't sure of what it
meant. She pointed her staff towards the woman... Hel.
"Shining Moonlight!"
* * * *
Sailorcallisto wasn't surprised that she had ended up at the Crystal
Palace. The teleportation device was a device that gave Sailor Senshi
energy to do a teleport. The destination was something that the Sailor
Senshi decided themselves and couldn't be done by a machine. While the
others had decided to teleport to outside the Crystal Palace, Callisto
had been dead set on going inside the Crystal Palace.
Now she was standing there in the hallway, alone and even with
all her powers she couldn't sense a thing. She wasn't someone who was
good at reading energies... however she wished that she was.
[I'm back... after so many years...] Callisto thoughts, her
blue eyes looking around at her surroundings. It was just like she had
remembered it. White, clear floors and walls. Every sound that was
made was followed by an echo. The first time Callisto had been in the
Crystal Palace was when she had been eleven years old, naive, happy,
excited. Everything that a child was.
She remembered smiles of her comrades, assuring her that there
was nothing to be afraid of as long as they were together. Callisto
had smiled back, but had thought to herself that Natsu was no longer
with them and that she didn't feel good about that. But the smiles had
disappeared once they had encountered her... Hel.
"Who are you?" Harmonia had asked. Those had been her last
words. After several dodges Harmonia had been struck by a blast that
pierced through her heart.
"How could you?!" Maia had lashed out. Harmonia... sweet and
kind Harmonia, had been killed just like that. Maia been way beyond
furious and she had ran to attack Hel. But Hel had barely lifted her
hand a little. Maia had been sent down the stairs, breaking her neck
at the fall.
"You will be punished..." Chronos had murmured. Chronos tried to
keep her calm face to show that she wasn't afraid. She hadn't been
afraid, but her heart had been wounded. Two of her friends, two
friends who were like sisters to her, had been killed just minutes
before. Chronos had charged up her most powerful attack, only to have
it explode and kill her.
"Take Callisto and run!" Astarte had shouted at Oceania.
Oceania had obeyed. She had taken Callisto with her and ran as fast as
she could. Callisto had heard Astarte's last words as she was carried
away by Oceania. "I won't allow you to hurt them!"
Oceania hadn't admitted being injured. But her blood was smeared over
Callisto's so she didn't try to hide it. Tired and sad, Callisto had
almost gone into unconsciousness. But Callisto had remembered what
Oceania had whispered to her while carrying her in her injured arms
and running at the same time.
"Don't worry... I'll take care of you."
Five of her best friends had been killed by Hel. Four had been killed
while trying to fight her. When Callisto had woken up she was at a
hospital at the Moon Kingdom. Oceania was dead. She had lost too much
blood and also used up to much of her energy to teleport herself and
Callisto into safety.
After that Callisto's life had changed. Her mother had tried to
make her go back to her normal life but after fighting against Hel
there was no way to Callisto could do that. At night she was haunted
by nightmares and at days she was constantly reminded of her lost
friends.
She had sworn to never forget, to remember them always. She had
been eleven at the time, but she had also sworn that one day she would
kill Hel. For them.
[I haven't forgotten...] Callisto thought bitterly as she
began to walk towards the throne hall. She remembered exactly which
way it was. [I will never forget... Miyako, Fumiyo, Masami, Yuri,
Natsu, Karin... I'll fight for all of you.]
* * * *
Akira didn't know if he was dreaming or if he was awake. He was moving
through the street at a fast pace, occasionally walking into someone's
shoulder and then moving on without apologized. He couldn't see his
own feet or any other body part. As he continued to move through the
crowded street, he glanced at a window and saw no proof of his
existence. He went on without even thinking about the fact that he was
complete invincible to himself and others.
Akira suddenly turned around and moved literally through a
door and into an apartment building. He quickly made his way up a few
stairs, not even knowing where he was going. When he was up on the
third floor, he made a sudden stop. He was standing before a door to
one of the apartments. Instantly he looked for the name of the
residents and found it.
Takenouchi Tsuyoshi & Misao
One name sent a shiver down his spine. Misao. Could it be her? There
had to be more than one Misao in Crystal Tokyo. Despite that he told
himself that he was foolish, he moved through the door like a ghost.
Once inside, he heard someone humming a melody. Curious, he moved
through the hallway and into the bedroom.
Misao sat there, on a chair, rocking a bundle slowly in her
arms. It didn't take long for Akira to understand that the bundle was
actually a baby and that she was trying to lull the baby into
sleeping.
The baby was already asleep and Misao rose to put the baby in
the cradle. Once the baby was put down, Misao remained standing and
looking at the baby. She smiled.
Like many other times, he was struck by her beauty. The way
she smiled so motherly at her child, the peace and serenity her eyes
held. The way the sunlight made it's way through the window and landed
on her. Akira wanted to reach out to her, to feel her silky, blue hair
against his fingers. He slowly took a few steps closer to her...
And heard the front door being opened and closed.
"Tadaima!" someone called. It was the voice of a male, one
who was probably the same age as Misao. Misao looked up and at Akira.
For a while he thought that she had noticed him. But it wasn't Akira
she was looking at, she was looking at the person who was standing
behind him.
Akira turned around and backed as Misao almost ran through
him. She ran into the arms of a man with blonde hair and green eyes.
Akira felt cold, like someone had encased his heart in ice.
[Why?] he asked himself. There was no answer. He searched his
mind and heart for it as he kept looking at Misao and the blonde man.
Each moment that passed made him feel colder and colder.
"Not so loud, dear," Misao whispered affectionately to the
blonde man. "I just put Akari-chan to sleep."
As Akira fell to his knees, he was shrouded in darkness. Everything
and everyone around him disappeared. As if a spotlight was turned on,
light shone on him from above. All Akira could do was to stare down
at the floor. He didn't pay any attention to that he no longer seemed
invincible and that his body could be seen. Another spotlight was
turned on. Akira looked to his side. The second spotlight had turned
to someone else, Misao. She stood about twenty feet away from him,
staring at him with her red eyes.
[What is she doing here?] Akira wondered. As much as he hated
it, he turned his head away, refusing to look at her. The sight of her
standing in the arms of the blonde man was still burnt into his eyes
and mind.
"For how long are you going to go on like this?" Misao asked.
Her voice... was she mocking him? "Ignoring me... pretending that I
don't exist?"
He didn't answer her. She went on.
"Are you scared?" Misao teased and began to walk towards him
with small and slow steps. The spotlight followed her as she walked.
"If you acknowledge my existence... if you start to care... what will
happen then?"
Misao stopped when she was close enough. She knelt down and reached
out her hand to touch his face. Before she could do that, Akira
brought his own hand up and grasped her wrist firmly, preventing her
from doing what she had intended.
"Don't... touch me..." he managed to whisper to her. Misao
smiled vaguely in satisfaction. She stretched her fingers and managed
to touch his face with her fingertips. The grip Akira had on her wrist
loosened a little.
"Are you afraid that if you don't ignore me... your precious
Triton will be forgotten?" Misao whispered, leaning her face closer to
his. Her lips brushed against his. He wanted desperately to pull her
close, to feel her lips upon his. But he couldn't. Instead of
accepting the kiss, Akira pushed Misao away with his free hand. He
was still holding her wrist, but at the same time doing as much as he
could to hide the fact that his hand was shaking a little.
Misao stared at him, a little startled.
"Why won't you let me in?" she asked. She brought up her other
hand to touch his face. To Akira's own surprise he didn't stop her.
Her touch was warm and teasing against his skin.
"... Why would you want to be let in?" Akira countered, not
looking at her.
"Because I have seen your pain," Misao answered quietly. "You
can't stay this way forever... something has to change, eventually.
You bring this pain... this unneccessary pain, onto yourself. And you
don't let anyone. You keep this pain to yourself. Why is it so hard
for you to let me see it? To share it with you?"
"I don't wish for you to see my weakness," Akira replied. It
sounded as if he was back to being his normal, cold self. "Go away. I
never want to see you again."
Was he really saying what he felt? Akira asked himself that question.
Before, the sight of seeing Misao in someone else's arms had made him
feel cold. Now that he really thought about it, it made him so angry
that he thought that he would explode.
"Don't push me away!" Misao cried out. "Don't push me away now
that I've seen you feel something!"
Sobbing, she buried her face in Akira's shoulder. He felt her body
tremble as she let herself cry. Shortly after, a third spotlight
appeared. Both Misao and Akira looked up to see who was standing
there. A woman with long white hair and wearing a blue dress. She was
recognized by both Akira and Misao.
"Triton..." Akira whispered.
Triton moved towards them, tears in her eyes and tears that ran down
her face. She was walking slowly, as if she was struggling to keep
herself on her feet. She kept her eyes mostely on Akira but
occasionally glanced at Misao.
"How could you leave me behind?" she asked. "How could you
forget about me?"
"I didn't..." Akira answered quietly. But Triton shook her
head and buried her face in her hands.
"You have let me become a memory of the past!" Triton cried
in a mixture of fury and sadness. "It doesn't matter how has my
powers... I am the one you love! We are the ones who are destined for
each other!"
Frowning, Misao got up on her feet. Akira released the grip he had on
her wrist. He could only be silent as Misao angrily turned to Triton.
"You have no right..." Misao began.
"...you are the one who made him forget about me!" Triton
cut off, every bit as aggressive as Misao.
"You bestowed your powers upon me and gave me memories that
weren't even mine!" Misao yelled back. "Everything that has happened
is your fault!"
"How dare you accuse me of such thing?!"
"I know your story, your memories!" Misao answered. "You never
wanted your powers in the first place! When you had the chance to
choose to keep them and live on or to get rid of them, what did you
choose? You expected Akira to give up on his powers and not be reborn
so that he could be with you! And you accuse me for making Akira move
on when you're the one who stayed in the past?!"
Ignoring all that Misao had said, Triton turned to Akira.
"Do you remember?" she asked. "A kiss in the rain..."
Of course he remembered. The first kiss he and Triton had shared in
the Silver Millennium. It was the third day after they had met and it
had been raining.
"Don't listen to her..." Misao said, kneeling down to Akira
again and cupped his face gently with her both hands.
"Hermes, you and I are destined to be..." Triton began. Misao
looked at Triton angrily over her shoulder.
"Shut up!" she screamed. "Just shut up and leave him alone for
once! You've been haunting him for six damn years, haven't you hurt
him enough?!"
"I love you," Triton went on, her eyes sincere. "I loved you in
our past lives, I love you now and I will always love you."
Once again, Misao released Akira and stood up to face Triton. Her eyes
were filled with anger and hate towards Triton. Triton's eyes looked
equally angry and hateful when she looked at Misao.
"Oh just, stop that!" Misao yelled, stepping forth in an
offensive way.
"You should be the one to stop!" Triton answered. "You don't
belong here, you don't belong with Hermes! Just go away! You don't
love him, you can't love him the way I do!"
"Oh really?" Misao taunted. "Your love is selfish, Triton. If
you really loved him, you'd leave him alone! You are responsible for
his pain, for messing up both his and my life!"
Not knowing how to answer this, Triton backed one step until she could
figure out what to say. Akira had listened to their conversation, not
being able to think or doing anything with those two louds voices
around him. Misao gave Triton a defying look before kneeling down to
Akira for the third time.
"Akira..." she whispered. "You know the difference between what
has been and what is now..."
[What is now?] Akira asked himself all of the sudden. Triton was
forgotten for the moment. But the image of Misao in the arms of the
blonde man still haunted him. Was that the present? Had Misao left the
Shin Senshi... him... and moved on? That couldn't be true.
"What is now?" Akira said out loud. Misao placed another kiss
on his lips.
"Now... is what you decide it to be."
* * * *
Sailormoon leaned on the White Crescent Staff, but it wasn't stable
enough. She fell to her knees, but still holding on tightly to her
staff and only weapon. She breathed hard, using her attack meant using
up a lot of energy. However, she was glad to see that she wasn't the
only one who had been affected.
Hel had also knelt down and seemed to be just as exhausted as
Sailormoon. Whatever grip she had had on Circe had now been released
and was sitting on the floor to regain her strength.
[The others are still too weak to fight...] Sailormoon
thought, looking at one side to another. [I need time to regain my
strength. Circe... could be our only hope.]
"Sailormoon..." Hel suddenly said. Sailormoon gasped when she
saw Hel slowly getting up.
[No way...] she thought to herself. [She looked just as tired
as I was a moment ago...]
"You impress me," Hel went on. "I hadn't expected such power
to come from you. However, I will not make that mistake again."
Before Sailormoon could react the White Crescent Staff was torn away
from her hands and thrown to the other side of the throne hall.
Sailormoon herself felt herself being lifted up in the air and an
invincible hand wrapped itself around her throat. She kicked her legs
and used her hands to struggle to break free but nothing worked.
Lucius got up and ran towards Hel to use some kind of attack. It was
rather strange however, since Lucius hadn't been seen using an
offensive attack.
Hel noticed him coming and with a simple motion of her hand
Lucius was tossed right back at Circe. Hel turned her attention back
to Sailormoon, who had nearly run out of breath. In a few seconds she
would be nothing but the corpse of a dead princess.
"Your life ends today, Hel."
In her surprise, Hel released her hold on Sailormoon who fell to the
hard floor. She started to cough as Hel turned her eyes to the doors
where someone was standing.
"Another Senshi..." Hel murmured. She sounded somewhat bored.
However this Senshi looked vaguely familiar to her.
"I will not let you get away with what you have done," the
Senshi said clearly as she walked into the throne hall and right
towards Hel. She didn't pay much attention to the other Sailor Senshi
in the room. Ishtar managed to sit up and when she saw the new Senshi
she immediately recognized her. Her grandmother had shown her a
photo of a little girl who bore resemblance to this grown up Senshi
that stood before Hel.
"Hajime Sakurai...?"
Another part that was written fast. Only two days. ^__^
Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)
http://www.geocities.com/komillia/index.html
18 April, 2002
Next:
Sailormoon Mirai Part XXII: Shanti
In their difficult battle against Hel, Sailormoon finally finds out
the real identity of the one who has helped her, Shanti.
~MIRAI~
PART XXI: SURVIVOR OF THE VICTORY TEAM
by: Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)
http://www.geocities.com/komillia/index.html
Disclaimer: Sailormoon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko and Kodansha,
etcetera. Chie, Hikaru, Yasha and the other original characters belong
to me.
Note: I think that I'm a bit OOC with Sailorjupiter. This is another
short part. There are no Japanese words for you to memorize in this
part. ^_^ Also, the White Crescent Staff is the one Sailormoon used
in her attack at the last few paragraphs of part 10, in case you don't
remember. In case you don't remember the members of the Victory Team,
here's a reminder:
Sailorastarte - Sakura Miyako (Minako's daughter and Chie's mom)
Sailorharmonia - Ishida Yuri (Rei's daughter)
Sailormaia - Mizuno Masami (Ami's daughter)
Archangel - Arai Natsu (Haruka's daughter and Tomo's mom)
Sailorchronos - Yagami Fumiyo (Setsuna's daughter)
Sailoroceania - Aoyama Karin (Michiru's daughter)
Sailorcallisto - Hajime Sakurai (Makoto's daughter)
* * * *
"We're here," Hermes announced flatly as he and Lilith stood
right outside the throne hall. "The most central part of the Crystal
Palace."
"The others aren't here yet," Lilith stated. She looked over
her shoulder, hoping that the others would come running. But they
didn't. For once in her life Lilith grew worried. What if something
had happened to them too?
"Let's go," Hermes said, putting his hand on one of the doors
to the throne hall to open it. Lilith looked at the door first and
then at him.
"Why? Shouldn't we wait for the others?"
"We have no idea where they are," Hermes told. "We don't even
know if they have already been here and gone before us. Let's check
this room out before we decide on what to do."
Lilith was a little surprised that he referred to the throne hall as
"this room" but then shrugged and put her hand on the other door. They
both opened the door at the same time. Hermes didn't know what he
expected, or if he expected anything at all. But when he and Lilith
entered the room they were only greeted by darkness.
"Dark in here..." Lilith commented lightly. As she said it,
candles on the wall were suddenly lit and a dim light spread through
most of the parts of the throne hall. Startled, Hermes drew his sword,
ready for a fight.
The throne hall wasn't decorated the way Hermes had expected
it to be. The walls were dark purple along with the candles that had
been lit. Instead of a throne at the end of the throne hall, there
were long, black curtains hanging from the ceiling. Was it to hide
something? And on the ceiling was a strange paining, a black cross
with a white spot in the middle.
"Have you been here before?" Hermes asked. Lilith shook her
head, she was also looking at the cross in the ceiling.
"No... this place looks tacky," she said lightly.
"Let's see what's behind those curtains," Hermes decided. He
took one step towards the curtains, only to be struck by a blast.
* * * *
They were practically walking in a line. The Sailor Senshi entered the
teleportation chamber in silence. Their footsteps could hardly be
heard, for some reason they were all walking as quietly as they could.
Sailormercury immediately went to the control panel and turned on the
power. The others stepped up on the platform, waiting.
"It looks like the princess has been doing something with the
control panel," Sailormercury said, trying to lighten the mood. But
she soon grew a worried frown on her face.
"What's wrong?" Sailorjupiter asked. She stepped down from the
platform to look at the control panel.
"This can't be right..." Sailormercury began. "There hasn't
been a teleportation executed with the control panel since the time
when the Shin Senshi left."
"No one can teleport to Earth alone without help from the
teleportation device," Sailoruranus stated. "Are you sure?"
Sailormercury nodded. "I'd bet my life on it," she answered. "But a
teleportation was executed just a few hours ago, *without* help from
the teleportation device."
"How can this be?" Sailorjupiter questioned. "Not even
Serenity in her strongest form can do that on her own."
"Perhaps we have underestimated the princess," Sailorneptune
said.
"Or maybe she did not leave here alone."
A voice that belonged to none of the original Sailor Senshi.
Sailorjupiter recognized the voice and looked towards the doorway. A
Senshi stood there with a serious look on her face. Her hair was pink,
but more red than Sailormoon's. Her hair was almost shoulder length
with bangs that constantly needed to be pushed away from her eyes.
Her fuku was white like other Sailor fuku with a green collar and
skirt. Her bows were deep red. While the front bow looked normal, the
back bow was much longer and thinner. The Senshi's hair color gave the
impression that she was a childish person, but her pale blue eyes told
everyone that she had grown up a long time ago. Her age couldn't be
guessed, Sailor Senshi didn't age after reaching a certain age. This
Senshi looked like she was in her early twenties when the truth was
that she was almost in her late thirties.
"Sailorcallisto, what are you doing here?" Sailormars asked.
Sailorcallisto, also known as Hajime Sakurai, stepped into the room
and closed the door after herself. Then she turned to the Sailor
Senshi. She spoke to them all in a clear and formal voice.
"I wish to accompany you to the Earth."
[She wants to go because she wants to settle her vendetta...]
Sailorjupiter thought sadly and lowered her gaze. [My dear daughter...
is this the only way for you to move on?]
"Why is that?" Sailoruranus asked.
"I believe that the reason why I want to join you is very
much known to everyone in this room," Callisto replied. Sailorjupiter
sighed, Callisto had probably been prepared for that question. She
didn't like explaining herself.
One by one, the Sailor Senshi turned towards Sailorjupiter,
letting her decide if Callisto would come with them or not.
Sailorjupiter looked at her daughter. She could order Callisto to stay
but it wouldn't work. Callisto would normally take orders but if she
disagreed with them too strongly then she would do things her own way.
This was one of those times. If they teleported to Earth without her,
then she would just use the teleportation device and teleport to Earth
on her own.
And could she really deny her daughter this chance? Callisto
wasn't the only one who wanted to avenge the Victory Team, the other
Sailor Senshi wanted it as well no matter how calm and rational they
appeared to others. This was what Callisto had dedicated over twenty
years for. She had trained, trained and trained only because she one
day hoped to face the murderer of her friends.
Finally, Sailorjupiter nodded but didn't look at her daughter.
She didn't want to look at Callisto and think that perhaps this would
be the last time she saw her.
* * * *
When Lucius reached out his arm it was a sign that something was
coming. Ishtar, Medusa and Ares stopped walking and kept quiet. They
focused hard to listen for any kind of sound but it was only Ares and
Lucius who heard something.
"Footsteps," Ares told Medusa and Ishtar who both looked
puzzled.
"How did you hear that?" Medusa wondered. Ares just shrugged.
"I don't know. Better hearing?"
"Let's step back and wait," Ishtar decided, taking all the
three other Shin Senshi with her and went back around the corner where
they had come from. "It could be demons. Or maybe the others."
Pressed against the wall and eagerly waiting, they kept listening.
Eventually the footsteps could be heard by all four. Lucius raised his
hand so that everyone could see them and held up two fingers. The
others nodded silently, understanding what he meant. Eventually voices
could be heard as well.
"They're close now, I can feel their presence."
"Amelia?" Lucius said out loud. He would have been hushed by
the others or at least been given angry stares if they hadn't
recognized Circe's voice. Circe's voice wasn't the only one they
heard.
"I hope they're okay..." It was Usagi.
Not hesitating Ishtar stepped out in the corridor and saw both Circe
and Sailormoon walking towards her. Ishtar smiled, happy for the first
time in hours. Sailormoon gasped when she saw Ishtar, then ran and
gave her a hug.
"You're here!" she exclaimed as she hugged Ishtar tightly.
Lucius, Ares and Medusa also stepped out. From what Ishtar could see,
Circe lit up a hundred times when she saw Lucius.
"Lucius!" she said happily. She rushed over to him but didn't
give him a hug. Medusa and Ares only exchanged an amused look with
each other when they saw what looked like a blush on both Lucius' and
Circe's faces.
"Where's everyone else?" Sailormoon asked when she released
Ishtar from the choking hug. The happy expression on her face was
now gone.
"We split up," Ares answered, knowing that Ishtar still was
worried about if Nature was alive or not. "Nature, Hermes and Lilith
went one way and we went to other."
Sailormoon nodded slowly. She didn't ask about Archangel. The look
on Ishtar's face told her that now wasn't a good time to ask about it.
Convincing herself that Archangel would be alright on her own,
Sailormoon went on to her next question.
"Have you found anything?" Sailormoon wondered. Medusa shook
her head.
"Nothing," she replied. "This place seems to be dead. Until
we met up with you we have been walking around here for hours. Up
there..." Medusa pointed at a stair that they had been on their way
towards before. "...is the throne hall. We were on our way there when
we heard you coming."
Circe tore her eyes away from Lucius and looked towards the stairs.
She frowned, feeling an uneasy emotion in her heart. What it was, she
didn't know.
"There's something strange coming from there..." she said.
"The throne hall?" Sailormoon guessed. Circe only answered
with a short nod. For a moment, all of them looked at the stairs,
wondering what was up there. Circe wasn't the only one who felt
strange. It didn't take long for the others to pick up the strange
energy that came from the throne hall.
"Let's go and see what it is..." Ishtar said, sounding
unexpectingly calm. But inside she was scared to death. The strange
energy... she had a feeling that something bad was about to happen.
The others followed her in silence as she moved up the stairs, taking
one step at the time.
When they were finally upstairs, they found two of the doors
to the throne hall was already opened. Ishtar glanced at the others,
as if asking them if they were ready. She received no answer from them
but looked forth. She took a deep breath and began to walk towards the
doors. As usual, the others followed.
They were greeted by dim light when they entered the throne
hall. Sailormoon gasped, finding the throne hall different from when
she had last saw it. It had been decorated in light colors and with
real lamps. Now, the walls were dark purple and the only light in the
room came from thick candles with the same color.
She was surprised when Medusa and Ares suddenly darted past
her. Not until they bent down on the floor to inspect something
Sailormoon realized why. Ares was trying to help Lilith sit up. Lilith
seemed to be conscious, but either very tired or injured. The others
made their way to Lilith and for the first time Sailormoon saw a
huge, open gash at Lilith's right leg. She winced, not expecting to
see such injury on her comrade.
"Lilith, stay awake," Medusa urged. "What happened? Where's
Hermes and Nature?"
Lilith whispered something that no one heard, it looked more like she
was just moving her lips. Medusa held her ear closer to Lilith's face
and then understood what Lilith was saying. The dark haired Senshi
rose to her feet and then ran to another corner of the room, where
Hermes was lying, practically covered by his own coat.
Medusa rolled him over, examined him quickly and let out a
sigh of relief when he appeared to have no serious wounds like Lilith.
However she noticed something strange with his eyelids. They were
moving in a strange way that Medusa found familiar. It took a while
for her to recognize it but when she did, she looked over her
shoulder.
"Sailormoon, get over here!" she called. Responding to
Medusa's call, Sailormoon immediately ran to her.
"I think he's been forced into a dream world," Medusa told,
frowning. "Just like you were when you encounter Morpheus in that
park."
Sailormoon remember that time, although it seemed so distant. She had
believed that the "dream world" was the reality when it in fact
wasn't.
"We have to wake him up," Sailormoon said. "He can be trapped
in there for good if we don't wake up him."
"How *do* you wake him up?" Medusa questioned. "That's what I
want to know."
Before Sailormoon could say anything Medusa suddenly pushed her to
the ground. Sailormoon fell, her nose hitting the cold floor. Her fall
was followed by the sound of a blast striking something. As she was
about to stand up again, she noticed a hole in the wall that hadn't
been there before. The hole was the same size as a tree and Sailormoon
didn't want to think of what had happened to her if Medusa hadn't
pushed her down.
"Who's there?!" Ishtar demanded to know. She called forth a
golden sphere in her hands, ready to toss it away any moment. Ares
held out one hand and a burning flame appeared.
There was silence. Ishtar and Ares stood ready with their attacks,
Lucius was healing Lilith and the rest of them were just staring at
the black curtains that hung at the end of the throne hall, where the
thrones used to be.
"Show yourself!" Ishtar cried, tired from waiting and angry
because of what had happened to Lilith and Hermes. As her voice echoed
through the throne hall, the black curtains fell from the ceiling.
Their falls revealed someone standing behind them.
A woman dressed in black. She was tall and the long, tight
dress she wore made her look even taller and slimmer. Her bright
purple hair was put up in a thick bun and strands of hair had fallen
from the bun, including her long bangs that framed her face. Her eyes
were deep purple and bitter. This woman seemed to be a person fond of
purple, since her lips were also painted in that color. Her pale skin
contrasted against all the black and purple colors on her.
"You're here," the woman said, her voice somewhat husky. It
sounded like she had acknowledged their presence for the first time.
Without saying else, she slowly raised her arm. A blast headed right
for Circe but she dodged it quickly by throwing herself to her left
side.
Angry, Ishtar threw the sphere in her hands towards the woman.
She couldn't... wouldn't tolerate anyone hurting her friends. The
woman watched the sphere flying towards her with calm. When it was
close, she raised her both hands towards the sphere. The sphere
exploded into tiny pieces of light that backfired on Ishtar and Ares.
"Ares!" Medusa yelled, but couldn't pursue herself to leave
Hermes side. Although Ares and Ishtar had been struck by Ishtar's own
attack, they still seemed to be conscious. However they both found it
difficult to remain standing.
"Wha.. was that?" Ares asked, falling to his knees. Ishtar
winced, trying to not think of the pain in her leg where most of the
attack had hit her. She had never known how much her own attack pained
others. However her attacks usually had no affect on other Senshi or
herself... why had this time been different?
Sailormoon had been somewhat aware of what had happened to
Ares and Ishtar but she couldn't do anything but to stare at the
woman. The woman had made Ishtar's energy sphere explode, much like
Sailormoon accidentally made things explode. And the woman... there
was something familiar with her that Sailormoon couldn't put her
finger on.
[Could there be a connection?] she asked herself.
"You..." Medusa hissed angrily and got up quickly. She held
out both hands and two snakes grew from her palms. "Venom Serpent."
Before the snakes could leave Medusa's palm, the woman raised one hand
and both snakes exploded. The energy that had been contained inside
the snakes left inside a burning mark on Medusa. She cried in pain and
fell to her knees, finding the heat on body unbearable.
"Medusa," Circe whispered and began to run towards her. But
suddenly it was as if she had run out of air. She fell to her knees,
bringing her hands up to her throat as she struggled to get air. The
woman was still standing with one hand raised. But it looked like the
hand had grabbed on to something invincible. Sailormoon glanced at
the woman, than at Circe. The way the woman held her hand... it looked
like she was choking someone.
Noticing that something had happened to Circe, Lucius quickly
abandoned his sister's side and went to Circe. Lilith's leg had been
partially healed, but the wound was still open and bleeding. Lilith
had felt so much pain that she had fainted. Desperately Lucius tried
to help free Circe from whatever was choking her. The only thing that
happened was that his hands hurts whenever he tried to help her.
Ishtar pulled herself up and raised one arms to do a Crescent
Beam attack. Hel saw it in the corner of her eyes, held up her arm
and moved her fingers a little. The next second Ishtar was lifted up
in the air, slammed against the wall and then was left to fall.
Ares also stood up and held out his hand again.
"Blaze," he whispered and a flame appeared in his hand. He
threw it towards Hel, it flew towards her in a god-like speed. For a
moment Ares almost thought that he would succeed in hitting her. But
he should have known.
The flame stopped right in front of Hel and died out. Hel turned
her dark eyes towards Ares. Suddenly he flew into the wall on the
other side of the throne hall. He bounced against the wall and then
landed next to Medusa and Hermes.
"Have you had enough?" the woman asked without any emotion.
Sailormoon glared at her and then held up both her hands. Her white
Crescent Staff appeared, she hadn't used it in a long time.
"Who are you?" Sailormoon asked, her voice trembling a little.
The crescent on the top of her staff began to glow and the glow
increased as the anger inside Sailormoon did. The woman looked at
Sailormoon's weapon with no fear in her eyes. However she did sense
some kind of strange energy coming from it.
"Hel..." the woman answered. Sailormoon wasn't sure of what it
meant. She pointed her staff towards the woman... Hel.
"Shining Moonlight!"
* * * *
Sailorcallisto wasn't surprised that she had ended up at the Crystal
Palace. The teleportation device was a device that gave Sailor Senshi
energy to do a teleport. The destination was something that the Sailor
Senshi decided themselves and couldn't be done by a machine. While the
others had decided to teleport to outside the Crystal Palace, Callisto
had been dead set on going inside the Crystal Palace.
Now she was standing there in the hallway, alone and even with
all her powers she couldn't sense a thing. She wasn't someone who was
good at reading energies... however she wished that she was.
[I'm back... after so many years...] Callisto thoughts, her
blue eyes looking around at her surroundings. It was just like she had
remembered it. White, clear floors and walls. Every sound that was
made was followed by an echo. The first time Callisto had been in the
Crystal Palace was when she had been eleven years old, naive, happy,
excited. Everything that a child was.
She remembered smiles of her comrades, assuring her that there
was nothing to be afraid of as long as they were together. Callisto
had smiled back, but had thought to herself that Natsu was no longer
with them and that she didn't feel good about that. But the smiles had
disappeared once they had encountered her... Hel.
"Who are you?" Harmonia had asked. Those had been her last
words. After several dodges Harmonia had been struck by a blast that
pierced through her heart.
"How could you?!" Maia had lashed out. Harmonia... sweet and
kind Harmonia, had been killed just like that. Maia been way beyond
furious and she had ran to attack Hel. But Hel had barely lifted her
hand a little. Maia had been sent down the stairs, breaking her neck
at the fall.
"You will be punished..." Chronos had murmured. Chronos tried to
keep her calm face to show that she wasn't afraid. She hadn't been
afraid, but her heart had been wounded. Two of her friends, two
friends who were like sisters to her, had been killed just minutes
before. Chronos had charged up her most powerful attack, only to have
it explode and kill her.
"Take Callisto and run!" Astarte had shouted at Oceania.
Oceania had obeyed. She had taken Callisto with her and ran as fast as
she could. Callisto had heard Astarte's last words as she was carried
away by Oceania. "I won't allow you to hurt them!"
Oceania hadn't admitted being injured. But her blood was smeared over
Callisto's so she didn't try to hide it. Tired and sad, Callisto had
almost gone into unconsciousness. But Callisto had remembered what
Oceania had whispered to her while carrying her in her injured arms
and running at the same time.
"Don't worry... I'll take care of you."
Five of her best friends had been killed by Hel. Four had been killed
while trying to fight her. When Callisto had woken up she was at a
hospital at the Moon Kingdom. Oceania was dead. She had lost too much
blood and also used up to much of her energy to teleport herself and
Callisto into safety.
After that Callisto's life had changed. Her mother had tried to
make her go back to her normal life but after fighting against Hel
there was no way to Callisto could do that. At night she was haunted
by nightmares and at days she was constantly reminded of her lost
friends.
She had sworn to never forget, to remember them always. She had
been eleven at the time, but she had also sworn that one day she would
kill Hel. For them.
[I haven't forgotten...] Callisto thought bitterly as she
began to walk towards the throne hall. She remembered exactly which
way it was. [I will never forget... Miyako, Fumiyo, Masami, Yuri,
Natsu, Karin... I'll fight for all of you.]
* * * *
Akira didn't know if he was dreaming or if he was awake. He was moving
through the street at a fast pace, occasionally walking into someone's
shoulder and then moving on without apologized. He couldn't see his
own feet or any other body part. As he continued to move through the
crowded street, he glanced at a window and saw no proof of his
existence. He went on without even thinking about the fact that he was
complete invincible to himself and others.
Akira suddenly turned around and moved literally through a
door and into an apartment building. He quickly made his way up a few
stairs, not even knowing where he was going. When he was up on the
third floor, he made a sudden stop. He was standing before a door to
one of the apartments. Instantly he looked for the name of the
residents and found it.
Takenouchi Tsuyoshi & Misao
One name sent a shiver down his spine. Misao. Could it be her? There
had to be more than one Misao in Crystal Tokyo. Despite that he told
himself that he was foolish, he moved through the door like a ghost.
Once inside, he heard someone humming a melody. Curious, he moved
through the hallway and into the bedroom.
Misao sat there, on a chair, rocking a bundle slowly in her
arms. It didn't take long for Akira to understand that the bundle was
actually a baby and that she was trying to lull the baby into
sleeping.
The baby was already asleep and Misao rose to put the baby in
the cradle. Once the baby was put down, Misao remained standing and
looking at the baby. She smiled.
Like many other times, he was struck by her beauty. The way
she smiled so motherly at her child, the peace and serenity her eyes
held. The way the sunlight made it's way through the window and landed
on her. Akira wanted to reach out to her, to feel her silky, blue hair
against his fingers. He slowly took a few steps closer to her...
And heard the front door being opened and closed.
"Tadaima!" someone called. It was the voice of a male, one
who was probably the same age as Misao. Misao looked up and at Akira.
For a while he thought that she had noticed him. But it wasn't Akira
she was looking at, she was looking at the person who was standing
behind him.
Akira turned around and backed as Misao almost ran through
him. She ran into the arms of a man with blonde hair and green eyes.
Akira felt cold, like someone had encased his heart in ice.
[Why?] he asked himself. There was no answer. He searched his
mind and heart for it as he kept looking at Misao and the blonde man.
Each moment that passed made him feel colder and colder.
"Not so loud, dear," Misao whispered affectionately to the
blonde man. "I just put Akari-chan to sleep."
As Akira fell to his knees, he was shrouded in darkness. Everything
and everyone around him disappeared. As if a spotlight was turned on,
light shone on him from above. All Akira could do was to stare down
at the floor. He didn't pay any attention to that he no longer seemed
invincible and that his body could be seen. Another spotlight was
turned on. Akira looked to his side. The second spotlight had turned
to someone else, Misao. She stood about twenty feet away from him,
staring at him with her red eyes.
[What is she doing here?] Akira wondered. As much as he hated
it, he turned his head away, refusing to look at her. The sight of her
standing in the arms of the blonde man was still burnt into his eyes
and mind.
"For how long are you going to go on like this?" Misao asked.
Her voice... was she mocking him? "Ignoring me... pretending that I
don't exist?"
He didn't answer her. She went on.
"Are you scared?" Misao teased and began to walk towards him
with small and slow steps. The spotlight followed her as she walked.
"If you acknowledge my existence... if you start to care... what will
happen then?"
Misao stopped when she was close enough. She knelt down and reached
out her hand to touch his face. Before she could do that, Akira
brought his own hand up and grasped her wrist firmly, preventing her
from doing what she had intended.
"Don't... touch me..." he managed to whisper to her. Misao
smiled vaguely in satisfaction. She stretched her fingers and managed
to touch his face with her fingertips. The grip Akira had on her wrist
loosened a little.
"Are you afraid that if you don't ignore me... your precious
Triton will be forgotten?" Misao whispered, leaning her face closer to
his. Her lips brushed against his. He wanted desperately to pull her
close, to feel her lips upon his. But he couldn't. Instead of
accepting the kiss, Akira pushed Misao away with his free hand. He
was still holding her wrist, but at the same time doing as much as he
could to hide the fact that his hand was shaking a little.
Misao stared at him, a little startled.
"Why won't you let me in?" she asked. She brought up her other
hand to touch his face. To Akira's own surprise he didn't stop her.
Her touch was warm and teasing against his skin.
"... Why would you want to be let in?" Akira countered, not
looking at her.
"Because I have seen your pain," Misao answered quietly. "You
can't stay this way forever... something has to change, eventually.
You bring this pain... this unneccessary pain, onto yourself. And you
don't let anyone. You keep this pain to yourself. Why is it so hard
for you to let me see it? To share it with you?"
"I don't wish for you to see my weakness," Akira replied. It
sounded as if he was back to being his normal, cold self. "Go away. I
never want to see you again."
Was he really saying what he felt? Akira asked himself that question.
Before, the sight of seeing Misao in someone else's arms had made him
feel cold. Now that he really thought about it, it made him so angry
that he thought that he would explode.
"Don't push me away!" Misao cried out. "Don't push me away now
that I've seen you feel something!"
Sobbing, she buried her face in Akira's shoulder. He felt her body
tremble as she let herself cry. Shortly after, a third spotlight
appeared. Both Misao and Akira looked up to see who was standing
there. A woman with long white hair and wearing a blue dress. She was
recognized by both Akira and Misao.
"Triton..." Akira whispered.
Triton moved towards them, tears in her eyes and tears that ran down
her face. She was walking slowly, as if she was struggling to keep
herself on her feet. She kept her eyes mostely on Akira but
occasionally glanced at Misao.
"How could you leave me behind?" she asked. "How could you
forget about me?"
"I didn't..." Akira answered quietly. But Triton shook her
head and buried her face in her hands.
"You have let me become a memory of the past!" Triton cried
in a mixture of fury and sadness. "It doesn't matter how has my
powers... I am the one you love! We are the ones who are destined for
each other!"
Frowning, Misao got up on her feet. Akira released the grip he had on
her wrist. He could only be silent as Misao angrily turned to Triton.
"You have no right..." Misao began.
"...you are the one who made him forget about me!" Triton
cut off, every bit as aggressive as Misao.
"You bestowed your powers upon me and gave me memories that
weren't even mine!" Misao yelled back. "Everything that has happened
is your fault!"
"How dare you accuse me of such thing?!"
"I know your story, your memories!" Misao answered. "You never
wanted your powers in the first place! When you had the chance to
choose to keep them and live on or to get rid of them, what did you
choose? You expected Akira to give up on his powers and not be reborn
so that he could be with you! And you accuse me for making Akira move
on when you're the one who stayed in the past?!"
Ignoring all that Misao had said, Triton turned to Akira.
"Do you remember?" she asked. "A kiss in the rain..."
Of course he remembered. The first kiss he and Triton had shared in
the Silver Millennium. It was the third day after they had met and it
had been raining.
"Don't listen to her..." Misao said, kneeling down to Akira
again and cupped his face gently with her both hands.
"Hermes, you and I are destined to be..." Triton began. Misao
looked at Triton angrily over her shoulder.
"Shut up!" she screamed. "Just shut up and leave him alone for
once! You've been haunting him for six damn years, haven't you hurt
him enough?!"
"I love you," Triton went on, her eyes sincere. "I loved you in
our past lives, I love you now and I will always love you."
Once again, Misao released Akira and stood up to face Triton. Her eyes
were filled with anger and hate towards Triton. Triton's eyes looked
equally angry and hateful when she looked at Misao.
"Oh just, stop that!" Misao yelled, stepping forth in an
offensive way.
"You should be the one to stop!" Triton answered. "You don't
belong here, you don't belong with Hermes! Just go away! You don't
love him, you can't love him the way I do!"
"Oh really?" Misao taunted. "Your love is selfish, Triton. If
you really loved him, you'd leave him alone! You are responsible for
his pain, for messing up both his and my life!"
Not knowing how to answer this, Triton backed one step until she could
figure out what to say. Akira had listened to their conversation, not
being able to think or doing anything with those two louds voices
around him. Misao gave Triton a defying look before kneeling down to
Akira for the third time.
"Akira..." she whispered. "You know the difference between what
has been and what is now..."
[What is now?] Akira asked himself all of the sudden. Triton was
forgotten for the moment. But the image of Misao in the arms of the
blonde man still haunted him. Was that the present? Had Misao left the
Shin Senshi... him... and moved on? That couldn't be true.
"What is now?" Akira said out loud. Misao placed another kiss
on his lips.
"Now... is what you decide it to be."
* * * *
Sailormoon leaned on the White Crescent Staff, but it wasn't stable
enough. She fell to her knees, but still holding on tightly to her
staff and only weapon. She breathed hard, using her attack meant using
up a lot of energy. However, she was glad to see that she wasn't the
only one who had been affected.
Hel had also knelt down and seemed to be just as exhausted as
Sailormoon. Whatever grip she had had on Circe had now been released
and was sitting on the floor to regain her strength.
[The others are still too weak to fight...] Sailormoon
thought, looking at one side to another. [I need time to regain my
strength. Circe... could be our only hope.]
"Sailormoon..." Hel suddenly said. Sailormoon gasped when she
saw Hel slowly getting up.
[No way...] she thought to herself. [She looked just as tired
as I was a moment ago...]
"You impress me," Hel went on. "I hadn't expected such power
to come from you. However, I will not make that mistake again."
Before Sailormoon could react the White Crescent Staff was torn away
from her hands and thrown to the other side of the throne hall.
Sailormoon herself felt herself being lifted up in the air and an
invincible hand wrapped itself around her throat. She kicked her legs
and used her hands to struggle to break free but nothing worked.
Lucius got up and ran towards Hel to use some kind of attack. It was
rather strange however, since Lucius hadn't been seen using an
offensive attack.
Hel noticed him coming and with a simple motion of her hand
Lucius was tossed right back at Circe. Hel turned her attention back
to Sailormoon, who had nearly run out of breath. In a few seconds she
would be nothing but the corpse of a dead princess.
"Your life ends today, Hel."
In her surprise, Hel released her hold on Sailormoon who fell to the
hard floor. She started to cough as Hel turned her eyes to the doors
where someone was standing.
"Another Senshi..." Hel murmured. She sounded somewhat bored.
However this Senshi looked vaguely familiar to her.
"I will not let you get away with what you have done," the
Senshi said clearly as she walked into the throne hall and right
towards Hel. She didn't pay much attention to the other Sailor Senshi
in the room. Ishtar managed to sit up and when she saw the new Senshi
she immediately recognized her. Her grandmother had shown her a
photo of a little girl who bore resemblance to this grown up Senshi
that stood before Hel.
"Hajime Sakurai...?"
Another part that was written fast. Only two days. ^__^
Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)
http://www.geocities.com/komillia/index.html
18 April, 2002
Next:
Sailormoon Mirai Part XXII: Shanti
In their difficult battle against Hel, Sailormoon finally finds out
the real identity of the one who has helped her, Shanti.