Sorry this took so
long. I've lost my muse a bit, looks like I owe my readers some
chapters. I have about five weeks left to finish this story, or at
least that's what I'm aiming for, hopefully it works out.
Otherwise you guys won't be getting any updates from June 1st
til about August 22nd. I'll be working in Yellowstone
with little internet access.
I really do appreciate
the reviews I've been getting, keep it up guys. Few answers:
1)
It was just an enchanted crystal, I don't plan to be involving the
Star Seeds or really anything of that nature, not in this fic at
least.
2)
As for the marks before each paragraph, has yet to
leave my punctuation where it belongs and refuses to keep my indents,
so I was putting those to help make it clear where a new paragraph
starts. I'll try something else out if that's problematic.
3)
I mark flashbacks, memories and dreams all the same to illustrate how
the characters might experience them. If the character is aware that
it is one or the other, usually I state what it is somewhere around
when it happens.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The rhythmic beat of hooves on the dirt road, coupled with the steady drum of raindrops had lulled Michiru to sleep with ease. The past week she'd been utterly exhausted and felt as though she'd been waking in a daze, never entirely able to grasp what was reality and what was a product of her now chaotic psyche. There was no firm ground to stand on.
Chapter 29: Turbulent Waves
The aqua haired girl
was coaxed back into consciousness by the sound of the carriage door
being opened and a kind hand's light touch on her cheek. She
shivered at the contact, squeezing her eyes shut against the surge of
images, sounds and thoughts that sprung forth in her head.
"Michiru-san?"
She
drew in a deep, slow breath and her eyes opened despite a momentary
protest to the gray yet uncharitably bright light of outside. A
worried looking Seiya was leaning close, the cool skin of the back of
his hand pressed lightly against her forehead.
'Wait?
His? Seiya-san is a girl…' Michiru's mind threw out helpfully
and the aqua haired girl squinted at the boy, feeling somewhat
nauseous.
"Seiya-san…"
she muttered, closing her eyes and slowly shaking her head in an
attempt to clear it. "I thought… aren't you …?"
The
dark haired boy looked troubled. He glanced out the open carriage
door, checking to see if anyone was around and his hand slid into his
pocket, retrieving something he kept caged in a secretive grip.
"I'm
like you… sort of." Seiya began, raising the object as he leaned
in.
"I
wouldn't, if I were you."
A
familiar female voice made the dark haired boy freeze and pull away
from the disoriented Michiru. Framed by the gray light stood a woman,
ornate staff in hand, her features hidden in shadow. But Michiru knew
her, knew that uniform, knew that voice, knew that Key; part of her
did, anyways.
"Sailor
Pluto…" she murmured, reaching up to hold her head. Seiya eyed
the new arrival, somewhat taken a back.
"It
would only confuse her more." Sailor Pluto explained kindly. "Right
now, we need to make things as clear cut as possible for her and your
situation is a little complex. Seiya nodded, agreeing a little
unwillingly and stepped out of the carriage to allow the tall Senshi
access to Michiru.
"Will
she be ok?" he asked quietly.
"She
usually is," The green haired woman replied in a sad tone. "And
she's dealt with a lot. She can get through this too… where did
Kaori-san and the others get to?
Seiya
shook his head.
"No
clue. They disappeared the morning after they used the spell. Running
scared I guess."
"Or
after Sailor Uranus." Pluto noted under her breath. The Magus had
always had a little more information on the Moon Kingdom Senshi then
she was truly comfortable with.
"Uranus…"
The two turned back to
Michiru, her voice barely a whisper as she repeated the name, her
head sinking into her hands. She fell silent under their worried
gaze, light catching in the lonely tear that escaped to trail down
her cheek as she was pulled back into memories. Seiya looked away
angrily.
"They'll pay for
this…" he snarled darkly in hushed tones, gripping the star
shaped object that ferried him from this form to his true self.
"This is not your
battle." Sailor Pluto informed, equally quiet, eyes locked on the
unmoving form of Michiru. "We will deal with our own." The Senshi
of Time leaned into the carriage, gathering the aqua haired girl in
her arms. Lifting her easily with the strength granted to the Senshi,
she cradled her sleeping sister-in-arms almost tenderly, with the
sense of one trying to stave off inevitable pain from a loved one,
even for a brief moment.
"We're the same,
you know…" Seiya called after her as she carried Michiru to the
waiting, unmarked coach. Above, the gray skies loosed the beginnings
of another torrent, renewed from their intermission just as the girl
was secured, Pluto climbing in after her. The green haired Senshi
looked back once more at the dark haired boy through the closing
door, her sorrowful expression void of hope for his words, with only
a hint of wistfulness.
"We do not face the
same devils, Fighter."
Seiya watched the door
close and the carriage lurch to a start, rolling away through the
mud.
"No… but we know
the same hell…" The dark haired boy turned to return to his own
side, lost in his own thoughts and memories.
# Haruka tucked a stray
lock of dusty blond hair behind her ear, looking out over the
surrounding sea. The motion of the relatively small vessel beneath
her was soothing enough and there was little else to do other then
sit and wait.
Koamara Tenoh was ever
present at the helm; his daughter had yet to see him move from his
post. The crescent moon shone down gently, shimmering over the gentle
waves. And while she couldn't see land anywhere near, she knew they
were close now, to whatever lay at the end of this journey.#
The dreams had been
like this, of late, calm and repetitive. They seemed to flow in
order, picking up where they'd left off or further along, as though
Haruka was passing from this present to the one in her dreams and
back. And despite all the questions she thought up for her father in
her waking hours, she found little motivation to inquire about
anything at all when she returned to her sea bound state.
So the younger Tenoh
and her father traveled to their destination in comfortable silence,
the language of two people who both lived far from the world their
body resided in and understood each other in that same distance.
As though her nautical
journey in her dreams was indeed carrying her away, Haruka found
herself pulling away from the townspeople more and more, reverting to
her long since established loner persona that had been somewhat
altered under the influence of Tower Dorm. When not asleep or eating,
she immersed herself in magic, almost obsessively, driven by some
unknown compulsion, as though she was searching for something hidden
just out of sight.
This particular
afternoon had presented a rare peace and a strange heat that made the
air thick and sticky. After completion her various duties, Haruka
hadn't been able to keep her eyes open as she poured over her notes
and her head had sunk to the wooden table and those green orbs slid
shut.
# "Snow…?" She
murmured, lifting a hand to shield her gaze from the sun as she
squinted at the clouds ahead, and the white sheets descending from
their lofty perch.
"Our destination
lies just beyond that." Koamara informed, as the first chill wind
swept across the deck, sending a shiver down their spines. He
gestured to a compartment under the wheel and Haruka moved to pull
out a pair of thick coats, tossing one to her father.
"Time doesn't move
here…" he noted quietly as the first flakes drifted around them.
"This freeze preserves the past just as it happened."
Haruka shivered again,
but it wasn't from the cold this time. She could only look up into
the clouds as a white flake landed on her cheek, the chill burning
her skin… #
Thump! Thump!
"Tenoh-sama!
Tenoh-sama! Are you in there?! Come quickly!"
"Coming, coming!"
Haruka called rubbing her eyes to clear them of sleep. She still felt
the sting on her cheek and brushed at the spot with her index finger,
only to pull her hand away at the discovery that something was there.
Ash.
The blonde sniffed and
caught the stench of smoke and calls from the town below, coupled
with the frantic cries of the priest outside her door and reached the
conclusion: the town was burning.
Out of her chair in a
heartbeat, she flung the door to her room open and barreled out,
running the poor man over as he flattened against the wall to try and
save himself. A plan was forming in her mind as she ran, different
things she could use to put out the blaze, of which she could already
feel the scorching heat, an orange glow on the horizon in place of
the sun that had already set.
Her feet slid in the
dust as she stopped suddenly, staring at the scene before her. The
fire had spread farther then she could have guessed, engulfing the
whole of the town beneath the fever line.
'Why didn't they
call for me earlier?!' The blonde stared at the blaze in shock and
only now noticed the townspeople huddled together, watching the
figures ringing the fire.
"It's been too
long, Haruka-kun."
That cold hand was on
her shoulder, thin white fingers curling down over her collar bone
before Haruka had even sensed the woman's presence. As such, she
had no time to prepare herself and suppress the jolt that ran through
her, and scowled at the thin, triumphant smile on Kaori's lips at
the reaction.
"What are you doing
here?" she snapped, leaning forward to pull out of the Magus'
hold, but Kaori kept her grip firm, her meticulously maintained nails
digging in as a warning against further resistance.
Reckless as she could
be sometimes, Haruka did not like her odds in this situation at all,
outnumbered by the witches and with the townspeople as innocent
bystanders. A bitter smile tugged at the corners of her mouth at the
thought of actually having come as far as to care whether or not
these people got hurt.
'I've gone soft…'
"We're here to
help, Haruka-kun." The Magus purred innocently into the blonde's
ear as she gestured to the flames, where the witches where working
their magic, for whatever purpose. "We heard you'd been sent here
on a sort of 'missionary' assignment to help these peasants
battle the plague and wanted to lend a hand. This fire will cleanse
this town of the disease and we've already begun working on sealing
it in the hosts it's already infested."
Haruka felt the blood
drain from her face, the sense of utter dread that filled her at
those words, and that sinister tone that whispered past Kaori's
lips. The faces of the few plague carriers that seemed on the mend
sprang to mind.
"What did you do?"
she murmured. The wind was already whistling in her ears, as though
to let her know it was there for her. Kaori seemed to hesitate. The
Magus released her hold, almost grudgingly, with a sense of conceding
the high ground.
"They've been
separated from the others and placed in a containment circle. Viluy
is working on them as we speak."
There was a pause, a
silence between them filled only by low chanting and the sounds of
the fire and Haruka made her decision. Kaori saw this in those
brilliant green eyes and changed her own plans accordingly.
"I'll take you
there." She informed before Haruka could make the demand. Haruka
closed her mouth, scowling and following the red haired woman as the
town continued to burn in the night.
"Well,
Naru-san, you're free to return to your own dorm. Take it easy the
rest of today and you can return to your classes tomorrow. Don't
forget your medicine and you'll be better in no time. We have a
check up scheduled for you next week."
"Arigato,
Mizuno-san." The brown haired girl smiled as she dipped her head to
the blue-haired doctor-to-be of Tower Dorm, taking the package
containing her medication and hurried down the hall.
"Thanks
again for your help, Mizuno-san." Came the muffled voice of the
hospital wing administrator, an elderly man, normally clean-cut and
neatly groomed but looking slightly disheveled today as he held a
piece of cloth over his nose and mouth. He kept his distance from
Ami, eyeing the copy of Naru's file that he'd made. "We've
sent so much of our staff out into the field, and then this cold
that's going around the teachers' quarters…" he shook his
head and coughed into the cloth.
Ami
meet his eyes then looked away. Neither would admit the suspicion
that it was no cold affecting the teachers. The administrator coughed
again.
"Have
you made any progress…?" he queried hopefully.
"I'll
go see to it now." Ami murmured, bowing and muttering a good-bye as
she practically fled the hospital wing. More then anything right now,
she wanted to see Makoto, slip into her dear friend's arms and
pretend, even for a moment, that that cough was just a regular cough
from a common cold. But there was no time for that, there hadn't
been for the past week.
'And
if this keeps up…' the blue haired girl though miserably,
secreting herself away into her room, knowing Makoto wouldn't
invade the privacy of her work. 'I'll have no time for anything
else. I need to figure this out, for everyone's sake.'
--------------
Against better judgment, I'm ending this chapter here, to get an update in. I'm truly sorry it took this long to update and I'll be doing what I can to get more chapters up. The reviews really help and to those of you that are still around, thanks for the support.
R&R
