Sailor Moon is owned by Naoko Takeuchi-sensei and TOEI Animation. "Tied" is owned by me! I wrote it, so let me know if you want to use it! I'll post the whole thing, plus a list of other real songs that go with the story c:
Notes: Sorry if the part with Usagi and Mamoru and Seiya doesn't make much sense.
Things I wish: I wish I could illustrate Usagi and Mamoru the way Cockpit does (check out sailorscribble's tumblr for more on Cockpit). I wish Mamo-chan was real.
Hahaha I never told y'all what Haruko and Akira look like XD I'll post pictures on deviant soon :3
~T Minus 45.5 Hours~
Usagi bursts through Haruko and Akira's room, and, ignoring them, moves to the closet and starts pawing through, obviously looking for something important. Strange thing is, the only important thing in there is Akira's stash of guns left to her by Gramps.
"Aw, dammit, Blondie, what the hell?!"
Usagi ignores her, which annoys her.
Akira puts her shirt on and walks out of the room, and stops quickly when she sees her brother and Usagi's brother, Shingo, in the kitchen. "Gah!"
She's suddenly grateful that the only item of clothing that had been taken off was her shirt.
"H-Hello. Can I help you?"
"Hey Akira," Mamoru says. He looks really worn out, but not nearly as bad as Usagi had. Usagi had looked far past worn out to the point of a little crazed.
"I'm Shingo," Shingo says, holding out his hand to shake.
Akira takes it. "Yeah, I know. Your sister's my roommate. Chiba Akira."
Mamoru's eyebrows fly up. "Wow, I didn't know you could be so civilized. Who are you and what have you done with my sister?"
Akira glares at his grinning face. "Very cute. I locked her in the basement."
"But this is..." Shingo starts.
"Exactly. Anyway, what's got Blondie's panties in a knot this time?"
Mamoru rolls his eyes, but before he can speak, Shingo does. "Akira-san, have you ever danced with the Devil?"
To which she grins. "Kid, I'm lesbian. I'm a punk-rocker. I'm a do-what-I-want type of gal. Of course I have."
"The actual Devil?"
Akira narrows her eyes. "What're you gettin' at, boy?"
He opens his mouth to reply, but then Usagi walks in, Haruko following close behind. "Ey, girl! Why don't you tell me what the fuck's going on? You're holding an AK-47, you've stolen your brother, who's been acting really mysterious, you didn't even react when you walked into our room, even a simple 'hello' would've sufficed, and to top it all off, you're acting like the Americans at Pearl Harbor. So what's really going on?"
Usagi rolls her eyes. "We met the Devil. The literal Devil." As Usagi tells the story, Akira listens with uncharacteristic silence.
"You can't give him the Crystal. That'd be the most retarded thing you'll ever do, and you've done a lot of stupid things." She raises her eyebrows, remembering attempts at self-harm and suicide that were always trumped by her body's strange ability to recover quickly, not to mention Luna's additional healing support.
"We're never to speak of that!" Usagi says through her teeth, and glances at Mamoru. Akira smirks smugly. Usagi sighs. "Anyways, I can't just let the whole universe down for one stupid rock. What are my options?"
"Try fighting back."
Usagi rolls her eyes again. "Thanks, Captain Obvious. As if I could fight back against the Devil!"
Akira snorts. "Just doin' my job, Sidekick Duh. We're not talkin' just you. The rest of us are gonna be there with you!"
"No no no no no! It's too dangerous! I can't put you guys in danger like that! I... I just can't."
"Why? Do you need to prove yourself or something?"
"What? No!"
"Are you ashamed to have your friends helping you, just 'cause you're the 'strongest Sailor Soldier in the galaxy'?"
"Of course not!"
"Then what is it?!"
The room goes silent, and Usagi stares at her shoes. Nobody says anything.
Usagi sniffs. "The last time we all battled altogether... Every one of us..." The next part is so quiet Akira isn't sure she heard her right. "They all died."
That shuts Akira up pretty quickly. After what feels like eternity, she finally finds her voice. "But they're still..."
"They are now. When I healed the enemy, she led all the Star Seeds—basically life forces— she'd taken back to their owners which brought them back. That was more than I'd hoped for." She sighs, her breath quivering. "There's no way to heal the Devil. He's not a person, so I can't say if he's good at heart or not. He probably isn't, and there's no way to fix that. So if I don't do exactly as he says, he would have no problem killing off everyone in the universe and leaving me to suffer alone without feeling any remorse."
She sighs again. "That's why I can't just fight him off. We've only got about 40 hours now, so we have to call a meeting at the shrine. We can discuss this there. Haruko, I need you to help us especially."
"Right," Haruko says, nodding.
~T Minus 44 hours~
Usagi sighs. She's just finished telling her friends the story she'd been saving.
"I didn't want to tell it a bunch of times, that's why I didn't say anything in the car or at the house."
"Well, go figure. That musta been hella scary," Akira says. "Damn, Blondie, you can be pretty tough sometimes."
Usagi scoffs. "Thanks, Akira," she says, and clears her throat. "So, Haru-chan, you got any ideas?"
"This seems like a tight spot we've got ourselves into. We could try to fool him, maybe let him think he's won, but swoop in at the last second, defeat him, and take back the Crystal. Or we could swap it with a fake one."
"That's all you got?" Akira asks.
"I'm afraid so, for the moment."
Usagi buries her head in her arms and groans. "We're screwed!"
"Wait a minute," Ami says. "Haruko-san might be on to something there."
Usagi lifts her head up to scrutinize her. "Are you kidding? He'd see right through it."
"Unless we make the fake so that it produces the same or similar radiance and aura, but with significantly less power."
"But wouldn't he test it?"
"I'm not sure. That's why I said 'might'. In any case, we need to come up with something, quick."
~T Minus 40 Hours~
Usagi and Mamoru are sitting on his living room couch. Chibiusa is hanging out at the temple, and Jose moved back to the apartment he shares with the Celestial Trio, so they're alone. They're just talking about random things, getting some of the catch-up time they hardly ever have the time for.
They fall into a comfortable silence, him playing with her hair, her playing with his hand. He opens his mouth to say something, almost closes it, and then sighs, still debating.
"You know, while you were gone, I kind of turned into a jerk. One of the guys that just swaggers around thinking he's all cool and not giving a damn about the world. The others were gracious about it, but I knew it got on their nerves."
When Usagi doesn't respond, he continues. "You know Yukino or Hideaki?"
Usagi shakes her head. "I don't think so."
"That's good."
Usagi smiles, amused. "Why?"
"'Cause we used to be friends, back then. Hideaki and I were jerks. Well, he still is, but everything changed for me when you came back, and Yukino noticed. She had this… I don't wanna sound conceited, but she had a really big crush on me, and adjusted to be the kind of girl she thought I would like."
"I can't imagine you being a jerk."
"Well, now, I've kinda opened my eyes, and I've got you and the others, and Seiya."
Usagi's stomach jumps, and butterflies beat against the walls of it. Seiya.
"I was a big jerk. Well, I guess I wasn't that bad at first, but after a few months, I was really mean."
Usagi swallows. "I feel sick now, 'cause you mentioned him." Her stomach heaves. This isn't good.
She feels his body tense, and regrets what she said. She should have kept her mouth closed. He sits up, and so does she. "Usagi, he is just a person! Leave him alone. If he doesn't bother you, and you don't bother him, then everything is fine. Just stop, because I'm sick of it."
She grits her teeth. "I can't. You don't understand." Seiya may have fooled him into believing that he has no feelings like that left for her, but she's not young and stupid and naive anymore.
"He just creeps you out, that's all, right?"
"You don't understand."
"Maybe I don't. Why were you friends with him anyways, if you hate him so much?"
"Don't make judgements until you know everything, okay?" Then she scoffs. He probably never will know everything. It's a lot more complicated than he thinks.
"Then tell me."
She sighs shakily. She doesn't want to have to do this right now. Not when they have so many other things they could be doing, should be doing, like planning for their "meeting" with Lucifer in less than forty hours.
"Okay…" She takes another deep breath. This silence is a lot less comfortable than the last one. Why is persecuting her? Isn't she the victim? "I woke up one night covered in sweat a few years ago, and almost screamed. The dream I had was about him killing me. Because I had been kind of ignoring him, and he felt a lot of anger towards me. A few months ago, when he reappeared, I was happy to see him, but I had that dream again. I wrote a song about it. I'll sing it for you if you wanna hear."
"Okay."
"It's called 'Tied'." She sighs, and begins to sing.
"You circle my head
Surfacing always
I feel you watching me
Boring into the back
Of my head burning a
Hole in my back
You follow me
Even if you're not there
I feel you wanting me
Thinking, 'Why can't I too?
Why won't she let that be
Me along with them?'
Even though
I feel so guilty
Even still
Can't do anything—"
"Hey. He sent me a message he wants you to see. Here, read it," Mamoru says, handing her the phone.
Despite the thought in the back of her head that says, "How rude! I was singing!" she takes the phone.
"Really, Usagi? What did I ever do to make you hate me so much? And you really think your words affect me much anymore? Also, you can't even insult me directly, you have to talk to someone nearby and hope I get the message. Just because I'm not very friendly toward you doesn't mean it's going to affect the way I want to act. If you say something I agree with and I want to respond, I will. Just because you're hanging around my friends doesn't mean I'm going to avoid them. And if you hate me so much, why do you let me affect the way you talk to people and who you hang out with?"
Usagi just stares at the phone. She kind of read the message, but the words near the beginning caught her attention. "You really think your words affect me much?" "You can't even insult me directly". "Just because you're hanging around my friends doesn't mean I'm going to avoid them."
Those first two lines echoing in her head bring her to the conclusion that Mamoru somehow told him the song. She went through his phone once—he let her, it wasn't snooping—and saw their texts, and saw that they talked a lot. And even more about her. Mamoru seemed to report to him every time they were talking. But Usagi had had no idea that they were such great friends. So how was she to know that he hadn't sent him the song?
She hadn't even told Akira or Haruko about that song. She almost always tells them about her songs, and they do the same. But they don't even know the song.
Mamoru was the only soul she'd ever told. And he'd told Seiya, the person she wrote the song about. The reason she'd kept it a secret.
"Oh, my God," she says, her voice barely above a whisper. She stands, and looks back at him, her face struck with horror, his with puzzlement. "I trusted you. I never told anybody that song. Not even Akira. It's my most personal song, and you share it with the one reason I kept it secret."
"What? What are you talking about?" He stands and moves closer, but she backs up, suddenly intimidated by his height and build. "I didn't tell Seiya about the song, he just sent me that for some reason. He told me to send it to you. Look!" He thrusts his phone out, trying to display the previous messages, but Usagi looks down. She can feel the tears coming, and she doesn't want to look weak. "You can check the messages if you want to."
"St…" she starts, her lip quivering. "Stop talking to me. I hate you."
"What did I even do?! Look, Usako, you have to believe me!" He starts toward her again, and she backs up, shaking her head. She looks back up at him again, pursing her lips to keep them from shaking.
"You broke your promise! You said you'd never hurt me again!" She shakes her head again. "This time, you've gone too far." Tears slip down her cheeks, and he sighs heavily. She can tell what he's thinking; "Oh, great, now she's crying." "Every time I get too comfortable, it just comes around to bite me in the butt."
"I didn't do—"
"Don't lie to me! I'm sick of all these lies! How the hell did he see it if you don't know?!"
He looks taken aback. Usagi never swears, not even a little. "I didn't tell him anything. You can take my phone and see for yourself."
""I don't care. Shut up. JUST SHUT UP! Do you not see how serious this is to me?! This is it! It's the end of the line!"
"I didn't mean to hurt you, Usako—"
"Don't call me that!"
He sighs and rolls his eyes. "Why are you even mad?"
"Why am I mad?" she repeats. "Why am I mad?! Do you really have the balls to ask that?! I can't believe you have the balls."
He sighs again, and runs his hands through his hair. "What do I have to do for you to believe me?"
She shakes her head, and looks at the mirror hanging on the wall. The girl inside looks crazy. Her hair is disheveled and sticking out at all ends. She has mascara dripping down her face, the source a set of once-beautiful bloodshot eyes. Her eyebrows are crinkled in, forming frown lines that also appear underneath her eyes and at the corners of her lips. With a quivering lip and dimpled chin, she frowns, her bottom lip jutting in a small pout. "Wow. You're turning me into a monster."
"I didn't do anything. You're mad at me for something I didn't do."
"Oh, my God, I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR LIES. When will the male race see how fragile girls can be?!" She scoffs. "My mother once told me that the truth will always call you out, and liars just aren't worth it. She's right. You're not worth the trouble."
"Usagi, please, I didn't tell Seiya anything. Why are you mad if I didn't tell him anything?"
"We're done here."
"We're done here," she says, and turns around in one swift movement to walk away.
A rock hits hard in the pit of Mamoru's stomach, and he knows in his gut that something's not right. Amongst the sea of wrong, this one thing stands out.
Sailor Moon is in trouble.
"No, wait, Usagi—!" He starts after her, but then the door slams shut. "Ergh!" he shouts in frustration, and right as he says it, he hears a quick scream, followed by a BANG!-thud, and wrenches the door out of his way.
He sees a tall man standing there, wielding a glimmering capsule with something featherish and white-blue wriggling inside. He wears a black suit and tie, and a fedora. Long, greasy, black waves fall around his shoulders.
Just like the man Usagi had described.
Except the glasses that shielded his eyes from her at first are notably absent.
The black pits that are his eyes are quite visible, the red slivers so crimson it's almost as if they're glowing. Which, even as a man who has seen many, many things, frightens Mamoru.
The next thing he notices is Usagi laying on the floor in front of him, her eyes wide and completely white, as she described her grandmother's eyes to be.
That's the last straw. Mamoru can't take anymore. "You bastard!" he roars and lunges for Lucifer, but doesn't quite reach his throat before he disappears.
"Whoa!" Lucifer says, appearing again behind Mamoru who picks himself off the floor. He doesn't attack again, realizing it would be pointless.
"I came to make a slight… alteration to our previous agreement. I wanted to have a little more fun than just a simple agreement, and, as it turns out, two days is a long and boring wait. Arrive at the docks at seven and there will be a special someone there to escort you. And please, bring your friends! I'd be delighted to have an audience to entertain!" He cackles maniacally, and something about that laugh reminds him of Zoisite and Esmeraude. "See you then!" he says, and disappears once more.
Mamoru kicks the wall and cries out in anguish, about the whole situation and the new pain in his foot that came about because he forgot to put his shoes back on.
Instead of nursing his toes, which felt broken because he had kicked so hard, he falls to his knees and hugs the lifeless girl to his chest and cries.
Tuxedo Mask rubs his hands on his slacks nervously as they approach the docks, and he remembers the times he had been there before, mostly with Usagi. He also remembers taking Rei out here once, a lifetime ago.
He sighs. How had things turned out like this? Things were much simpler, even back then. That was before the Silver Crystal had come in to play. Before they knew anything about their shared pasts. Before things had gotten so serious. Back when they could stumble through life without having a care in the world.
They spot a man facing away, probably in his late thirties or early forties, facing away from them. He checks his watch anxiously, and as he does, she can see he wears glasses. The man wears a brown business suit, and his dark-brown hair is slicked back with gel. Tuxedo Mask senses something familiar about the man, but he can't tell what it is.
"Excuse me?" Sailor Mars calls to the man. "Do you work for Lucifer?"
The man turns around, and Shingo gasps, stumbling back. They can't believe their eyes.
His eyes widen. "S... Shingo? Is that... you?"
"P... Papa!"
The man is, indeed, Kenji Tsukino, but he hasn't aged a day. Without the luxury of stopping to talk and hug, they went straight to business, boarding a speedboat carefully.
"You don't really work for him... do you?" Shingo asks.
Kenji shakes his head. "Of course not. I was raised a Catholic, Shingo. I wouldn't dream of it."
Shingo looks down at his lap and plays with his hands. "So, uh, Dad…" he starts, feeling really weird, having not seen him for three years, after thinking he was dead. "Is there something… I don't know, supernatural going on here that we should know about? Because I'm pretty sure I deserve an explanation."
Kenji sighs. "You're right. You do. You see, your mother and I are in a… halfway point, if you will, between life and death. You could say that Lucifer's the Grim Reaper and just decided to save us at the last second. I guess now I know why."
"Did you have no way to escape?" Mars inquires.
Kenji nods. "We literally can't do anything against his will. The only things he can't control are our mouths—our voices, you know—and our thoughts." He sighs. "Where's Usagi?"
They all look around awkwardly, except for Tuxedo Mask, who just looks at his lap. "She's been… compromised," Mars says through tight lips. "Because someone couldn't take enough care to protect her like he should."
Tuxedo Mask's head snaps up, and he looks at Mars with anger and frustration. "You know what happened!"
"It's still your fault."
"Mars!" Mercury says. "I'm surprised at you! What happened could have been prevented, yes, but how were they to know what would happen?"
Tuxedo Mask looks away, over the water. Shingo looks at him, trying to figure out what could've happened.
"Well, this is where we go under," Kenji says, eying Tuxedo Mask as well. "Everyone take a tank." He hands out oxygen tanks, and they all hook them up to their faces. Then, suddenly, the boat drops underwater, so suddenly and quickly that Shingo fears he left his stomach up above. The boat transforms into a submarine, and the first thing Shingo thinks is that this is the coolest vehicle he's ever been on, despite the circumstances.
Tuxedo Mask realizes once they hit the water that Sailors Earth and Sun hadn't engaged in the conversation at all. Actually, they had been doing anything but that. For the whole time, they had been whispering to each other quietly, and what they were saying definitely weren't sweet-nothings, for the way the spoke was too serious for that.
Before he can wonder more on that topic, they land in a sort of port or garage for submarines. The garage door closes, and all the water drains out. Kenji gets out, and the Soldiers follow suit warily. They ready their weapons, preparing for anything.
A speaker crackles above, and they all look to find the source. "Good work, Kenji! That's all I need from you. Now, Soldiers, I'm sure you're wondering where I'm keeping your girl, and that's with me of course! I'll trade her life and the lives of everyone else who has lived, lives currently, or will ever live for the Crystal. I do hope you brought it; it would be such a shameif you'd forgotten it." The way he says "such a shame" sends chills down Tuxedo Mask's spine, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
"I suggest you split up," he continues, "so that you can find me quicker. I've arranged your teams already. Kenji, please read them aloud."
"Okay," Kenji says, and swallows, producing a folded-up sheet of paper from his inside jacket pocket. "Group One," he starts hoarsely, and clears his throat. "Sailor Mars and Sailor Venus. Group Two: Sailor Mercury and Sailor Jupiter. Group Three: Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Earth. And Group Four: Sailor Sun and Shingo. Best of luck to you." Kenji looks at everyone sincerely, his eyes screaming, "Please find her and bring her back safely!"
"Welp," Sailor Earth says, and stretches. "That girl ain't gon' find herself. Let's git, bro."
Searching with Sailor Earth may have been the noisiest path, but it was probably the most efficient. The first few doors they had tried had been locked, so they'd had to kick them open. After about five doors with this same pattern, they give up on checking the locks and just kick the doors. Behind each door are living quarters for the dead, which is kind of ironic. They don't pay attention to the people inside, or their reactions.
Tuxedo Mask kicks down another door, but this time, he's not joined by Earth. He turns to look at her, and she's standing in the last doorway, her jaw hanging slightly. "M… Mamoru… Look."
She's never called him by just his name before. Something has to be up. He walks over to see who or what she could be looking at, and when he finds out, he stops in his tracks.
Their parents.
"H-Hello…" their mother says, looking up from her knitting project. "May I help you?"
"M-Mother?!" Earth finally sputters out.
The woman, Hanako, drops her needles, and starts to stand. "Y-Yukio!" she calls. "We have guests!" She walks over to her children and touches them. Tuxedo Mask guesses it's to see if they're real or not.
"Who would visit a random pair of ghosts in hell?" The man appears in the entrance and understands immediately. "Is that…"
"Mamoru and Akira! Oh, my, how grown you are! Oh, Yukio look at this!"
"Well, would you look at that…" Yukio, their father, says. "You're a man, now, Mamoru." Yukio places a hand on Tuxedo Mask's shoulder, and he understands now where their height came from. Actually, they look almost exactly like their father, except for the sapphire blue eyes that belong only to their mother. "So what's with these get-ups?"
"Oh my God. Honey, the rumors might be true," Hanako says, a frightened look on her shoulders.
Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Earth look at each other, then back at their parents. "Rumors?" Earth inquires.
"The rumors of a heroine named Sailor Moon."
Tuxedo Mask looks away, letting Earth handle this. "Yeah, well, they're true. She's my best friend, and Mamoru's fiancee, as a matter of fact."
"Fiancee, huh?" Yukio says, and laughs. "Well, good luck! Marriage can be one hell of a—"
"Blessing!" Hanako interrupts, elbowing Yukio in the side. Yukio pretends to be hurt, still smiling.
"Well, we need to find the 'lucky girl' because Lucifer has her," Earth says, pulling Tuxedo Mask away. "When we do, and we beat him, we'll come back for you, I promise."
"Come back for us? Oh honey," Hanako says sadly. "We're dead. We can't leave here."
"No, I don't care. I refuse to let you stay here any longer than you have to."
Yukio sighs. "Love, we can't leave this room. Believe me, we've tried."
"No. I can— I will get you out of here. No matter what it takes. I need my parents. Your souls are still alive which means you're not dead yet, so—"
"Just give it a rest, Akira," Tuxedo Mask says, irate. "We need to go."
Earth purses her lips. "We're coming back. Whether you like it or not. We can't just leave them here."
Tuxedo Mask rolls his eyes. She can be so annoying sometimes. "Whatever. Let's go."
"So," Shingo says. "Sis. Can I call you that?"
Sailor Sun smiles. "Sure. We technically will be brother and sister in August, so why not?"
"Are you worried about Usagi?"
Sun thinks about it. Is she worried? "Not really. I know that she can take care of herself, and I know that everyone's strength put together is enough to conquer all. Plus, Akira and I have devised a plan." She raises an eyebrow and smiles.
"A plan, huh? Am I allowed to know?"
Her widens, and she winks. "Not yet. We don't—"
Before she can finish her sentence, a loud, blood-curdling scream comes from down the hall, which is quickly muffled and cut off.
"Usa-chan," Sun says with conviction, and starts sprinting towards where the scream came from.
Shingo doesn't understand what such a horrid, chilling, inhuman sound would have to do with his sister, but quickly follows after her anyway.
Then he looks at her face, which illustrates determination, fear, and… it looks like frustration.
And that's when he realizes.
The scream has to do with his sister because it belonged to his sister.
"Usa-chan!" Sun shouts, desperate. The fear in her voice scares Shingo.
Then they hear the scream again, which is again muffled and cut off, and they find a dark room. But as far as they can tell, there's nothing there.
The scream repeats itself, definitely from that room, and Sun and Shingo cover their ears. They find that the scream sounds just like the first. And the second.
There's a sinister laugh behind them and they flip around to see the man Usagi had described before, the man that had been in Maria's room when Shingo and Usagi had gone to see the body. Lucifer Hades.
Shingo drops to his knees. This can't be happening.
"No," he rasped. This can't be happening.
"I'm just going to use you as leverage, alright?" he says, pulling up a large gun with a clear glass barrel. The bullet inside is filled with a thick, shiny, black liquid with a long needle at the end.
He aims the artillery at Sun. "Ladies first."
It happens very fast after that.
He pulls the trigger, and there's a long blur of silver and gold and red in Sun's hands as she draws her sword and slices the bullet, all before it hits her, in a .005 second timespan.
Then, Sun has Lucifer pinned up against the wall, her Sword cutting into his throat, but he merely laughs. "Where is she?! Where are you holding her?!" Sun growls.
"Where's the fun in that?" Lucifer asks, and then disappears, causing her to fall onto the wall. He appears behind her and shoots her.
"AKIRA!" she screams as she falls, and Shingo's sure that even the British heard her.
Lucifer points his gun at Shingo, and without looking his way, says, "Any last words?"
"Sis… I'm sorry. I love you."
Lucifer grins, and shoots, Usagi and Sun's screams echoing inside Shingo's head.
I love you guys so much! :) 3