Mistakes of the Great Beings

53. Eons of hurt

"So let me get this straight," Nightmare muttered as she and Minako approached the training ground. "I can't growl. I can't snap. I can't snort. I can't hiss. And I can't shout. Great Beings damn it, love twit, do you even WANT me to communicate at all?"

"It's called being polite." Minako replied cheerfully. "Being polite is always good. Oh, and no insulting them as well."

The Saurian of Fear gagged loudly. Polite? The mere thought of it made her ill and she shivered. Suddenly, it all didn't seem worth enduring it for anymore. It was just a stupid human game, why should she have to obey all those rules Minako laid out for her just so she could play it? She could easily find another way to pass time! One that didn't involve her bending to others' wishes. Again.

Minako, however, ignored Nightmare's condition and went straight towards a tall girl with long purple hair tied in a ponytail.

"Hey, Miyuki." She greeted the team captain.

"Ah, Minako-chan. So you came after all." Miyuki smiled. Then she looked at Nightmare and raised her eyebrow. "And you brought Kira, too?"

"Yeah, well, had a change of plans..." Minako said, then quickly got to the business: "I have a favour to ask of you."

"Oh? And what is that?" Miyuki inquired.

"You see, Kira-chan got a bit over her head. She's a bit overconfident in her volleyball skills and thinks she doesn't need teamwork to win. So I need six of you to have a match against her." Minako explained.

"Six of us against her?" Miyuki raised her eyebrow again. "Isn't that too much?"

Nightmare almost scoffed at that notion. Six against her? They'd have to bring an army of humans with them to stop her once she stopped holding back. "Why would it be?" the Saurian snapped. "You can't have too much if you want to last even a minute against me."

Miyuki looked at Nightmare. "I take my words back, she needs to be taught a lesson." Then she turned to her team. "Takako, Chiara, Reiko, Miku, Minako – come to the field. We're going to play against Kira."

"Um, sorry, I'm not playing this match." Minako said.

"What? Why?" Miyuki raised her eyebrow.

"Well, you see, I trained with Kira a lot, and I think it wouldn't be fair if someone who knew her moves took part in the match."

"Oh. Okay then." Miyuki agreed. "Rin, take Minako's place."

Nightmare merely smirked and cracked her neck, did a few stretches and moved to her side of the field. She'd show them. She'd show them all that being on your own could get you just as far as working with others. The world had denied her that chance, had forced her to be alone, taunted her about it in the face, but now she'd spit back. She was alone, and she was superior. Of that, she had no doubt.

"You're in for a beating," she hissed softly, a dangerous glint in her eyes. "Love twit made me promise to obey the rules of this stupid game and to be polite… She didn't say anything about holding back, so I won't. At all."

Minako suddenly shivered. Was it really a good idea?

"Remember what you promised me!" She shouted to Nightmare.

"Shut your trap and let me play, love dove!" 'Kira' shouted back with a glare.

"Alright, since it's your match, you serve first." Miyuki rolled the ball under the net to Nightmare.

"My pleasure," she said, smirking from ear to ear. Now despite what anybody might say about her, Nightmare wasn't stupid. She wasn't rash, like that no-good older brother of hers. No, she was very observant and cunning. Even now. The reptile disguised as a human observed the battlefield for a moment, taking in her enemies' positions and holes in their defences. Then, with her mind made up, Nightmare made her move. Using all the strength and speed her race granted her, she served the ball, making it hit the ground on the other side of the net before the opposing team could even react.

Nightmare looked positively smug.

The team looked at the ball, which had now rolled into the 'out', with their eyes wide.

"Uh... Okay, you caught us unprepared..." Miyuki said slowly. "Serve again."

One of the girls passed Nightmare the ball, who gladly accepted it. To be fair, she wanted to throw out a taunt or an insult, but she remembered her promise to Minako and kept her mouth shut. The young girl simply prepared herself for another serve, and then repeated the same process from before, serving the ball with all her might and strength. It had already worked once, why would it not work a second time?

This time, a girl with short dark-green hair tried to get into the ball's way and deflect it with a bump pass. She almost succeeded...

"AAAH!" The said girl cried in pain as the ball flew in a completely wrong direction. She put a hand over one of her forearms which hurt like hell.

The game was forgotten as girls rushed over to her. "Takako, are you alright?" They asked.

Minako looked at Nightmare angrily. "Kira, come here at once." She said.

"Why?" the disguised Saurian of Fear snarled.

"Someone needs to be reminded of something." Minako frowned at her.

Feeling her irritation rise faster than one could say "ouch", Nigthmare nonetheless went over to her host, with angry paces. "WHAT?" she practically shouted, nearly grabbing Minako by the collar. "I'm busy! I was winning!"

Minako couldn't take it anymore herself, so she came over to Nightmare and dragged her a few paces away from the field. "What did I tell you about injuring people?" She hissed angrily.

"It's part of the game, love twit! When you play, you risk injury! Deal with it! And besides, I didn't do it on purpose! How was I supposed to know you humans are so weak?" Nightmare hissed back just as angry, not wanting to be outdone.

"My example didn't show you anything? Remember our trainings." She shook her head. "You've got to keep your strength in check. If they can't counter your moves, how the heck are they supposed to play?"

"Why should I keep my strength in check? That's not fair! It was my naturally born advantage, so there's no reason why I shouldn't make use of it!" Minako's guest screamed.

"Can't you understand it defeats the whole purpose of why I suggested this match in the first place?" Minako replied angrily, albeit in a low tone. "It would have worked much better if you had to be up against a bunch of Saurians, but that's not possible, you play against humans, so you have to use human strength."

"It's not fair!" Nightmare insisted. "Some people are born stronger than others, that's the way it works! You don't ask a genius to not use all his brainpower when solving a riddle, now do you?"

"Even a genius needs to hold back when playing against children. 'Cause the difference is that big!" Minako said sternly, not willing to back up on it.

"You just want me to loose because you can't stand me being right about being better off all by myself!" Nightmare shouted, quite loudly this time.

"No you aren't!" Minako shouted as well. "Why can't you understand it? Nobody can stand alone against a team!"

"I can!" Nightmare snarled. "And you just won't let me prove it!"

"Because the way you prove it is unfair. They can't counter you, it's a situation where they can't do anything against you! What kind of proof is that?" Minako whispered angrily.

"The proof that my strength is superior to theirs, thus making it clear that they can't win! That's all the proof you need!" the other girl hissed angrily, becoming absolutely livid as the argument went on. "But if you keep finding excuses just to make it so that you're right, then I'm through with this stupid farce of a match, love shit!"

"Well, fine, back out of the challenge. You don't want to be proven wrong, that's why you're doing it!" Minako shouted.

"Are you calling me a coward?" Nightmare asked, so lowly it could almost not be heard. Had Minako known a little bit more about the Saurian of Fear, she'd know that at this point she had best of all back off and leave her be, because Nightmare was close to exploding with fury.

"No. I'm calling you a stubborn little girl who doesn't want to see the point of the lesson being taught to her!" Yes, that was harsh, but Minako was too absorbed by their argument to notice.

"Shut up," Ignika's youngest sister whispered icily. Then she turned and began to walk away. "I'm through with this."

"Fine! Go, if you want. You're too stubborn for dealing with, anyway." Minako crossed her arms, angry that her try to actually teach Nightmare something useful failed.

And that did it.

Nightmare snapped. All the frustration that had been building up inside of her, unseen but there, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, eon after eon, it finally became too much for her to bear. This argument, that seemed so banal compared to some of the others that she had had in the past, was the final drip. She had had it. She was sick of it. Through with it all.

Without a word the Saurian of Fear whirled around and stormed at her host. Then, without a warning and so fast the Senshi of Love couldn't react, Nightmare hit Minako on the cheek with all her might, nearly breaking the girl's jaw and knocking her to the hard ground.

"Shut. Up," Nightmare growled, her eyes filled with uncontrolled fury. She turned around again and stormed away, anger boiling up inside of her with every step.

"Minako-chan!" A couple of girls from the volleyball team ran up to her and helped her sit up.

Minako's gaze was fixed at the direction where Nightmare went. "I overdid it..." She realized, and immediately felt guilty. She got up from the ground and looked at her teammates:

"I'm sorry for what happened. I'd better go after her now, who knows what she might do in such a condition..." Without waiting for a reply, the Senshi of Venus ran away to catch up with her guest.

Miyuki shook her head. "Training's over."


Nightmare was storming down the streets, not caring where she went. She cared about nothing at that moment. She was steaming, boiling with anger, a volcano near eruption. It was unfair. All of it! She clenched her jaw and fought against the tears that threatened to spill. She refused to show that weakness, but it was hard in this moment. She had snapped. Finally been pushed over the edge after eons of build up.

"Why did I even promise?" she screamed, not caring that people could hear her. "It's always the same! Other people only get in your way. They never allow you to do what you want to do, or the way you want it. They only complain and hold you back. They call you names behind your back! They shun you and hate you for what you are born with! They give you no chances! In life you're on your own! That's how it is and always has been, even if I have a 'family'!"

One tear managed to break through her defences and ran down her cheek.

Minako ran through the streets, looking for Nightmare frantically. She knew people were probably smart enough not to get near her in such a condition, but she didn't want her to get lost, or be discovered by police, or... But then, as she turned around another corner, she spotted Nightmare further down the street. The Senshi of Love sighed, relieved, and followed her guest, but kept her distance.

Unfortunately, the Saurian of Fear caught Minako's scent, and her anger reached a new level. Without a minute of hesitation she summoned her Terror Katana, unsheathed it and attacked the Senshi of Love, holding nothing back and with the clear intent of hurting her.

The people around them immediately started screaming, many ran away, and Minako prayed they won't call the police.

"Damn you, not in public!" Minako shouted at her guest.

But said guest was beyond any form of reasoning now. "Do. I. Look. Like. I. CARE?" Nightmare shouted on top of her lungs, attacking Minako again, missing the Senshi only by a hair, to her great irritation.

"Of course you don't, but your brother definitely will when the police arrest us for fighting in the streets!" Minako shouted back, frantically looking around for a place to transform, because otherwise she won't last long against an enraged Saurian of Fear.

Nightmare merely snorted and set her hands aflame with the energies of Fear. A red glow engulfed her and she unleashed a blast of fear in the form of a dome around her that kept expanding and expanding, sending everyone inside of the dome in a frenzied panicky state.

"I dare ANYONE to come at me!" the Saurian girl screamed, and she unleashed blasts of fear of a deadly dose in random directions, not caring if she hit anyone and killed him or her.

Minako, who thankfully had developed some resistance during their trainings, saw her opportunity and transformed. She had to stop Nightmare, no matter the cost, she needed to prevent her from hurting anybody like that.

"I HATE YOU, LOVE TWIT!" Nightmare roared, anger of unseen proportions clouding any form of common sense or clear thought. "And I'm going to kill you."

"Couldn't you at least wait until we were home?" Sailor Venus shouted and summoned her Love Me Chain, then modified it into a kusarigama, like she had already done before on trainings. "Why do you want to kill me, anyway?"

"BECAUSE I'M SICK OF YOU!" the other girl snarled as an answer. "SICK OF YOUR RETARDED RULES, YOUR DISGUSTING BRIGHTNESS, YOUR CONSTANT HAMMERING ON TEAMWORK! SICK OF YOU COMING UP WITH RULE AFTER RULE TO HUMILIATE ME!" Nightmare followed up her outburst by sending a wave of fear strong enough to give a grown man a heart attack at the Senshi of Love, together with an incinerating glare of utmost hatred.

"Venus Love and Beauty Shock!" The Senshi of Love used this attack to break the wave, dispelling a part of it. The hole the attack made was just enough for the wave to pass the Senshi harmlessly. "You know that the whole purpose of the match would be lost in unequal circumstances!" She shouted at her guest.

"AS IF I STILL CARE ABOUT THAT IDIOTIC GAME OF YOURS!" Ignika's youngest sister shouted, going in for another attack. She lashed out with her Terror Katana, with every intent to draw blood.

"Well, apparently you do, because you're making this happen in the first place!" Sailor Venus tried to dodge the blow or at least block it with her kusarigama. She succeeded in catching Nightmare's sword with her own blade, then used the weight of her chain to knock her attacker in the head and throw her off balance. With the Saurian fazed for just a minute, Venus quickly increased the distance between the two of them.

"THAT…" Nightmare spat. "Was just the last drip you filthy whore!" Seething, the girl grabbed the nearest human she could find and held her katana to the man's throat, looking absolutely ready and capable of running him through. "Should I do it? HUH? Can you stop me without your mighty teamwork? HUH? CAN YOU?"

"Are you an idiot or just faking it?" The Senshi of Venus shouted at the Saurian of Fear. "Do you realize just what consequences you put us all in for if you kill a human? Your whole family will be in danger!"

"So. What?" was the only reply Nightmare gave her host. A gleam of madness caused by her anger was visible in her eyes, and it was an unsettling and frightening sight.

The gleam frightened Minako. She couldn't understand just what caused this outburst. Sure, Minako overdid it with the training, but it was clear she had unleashed something way more powerful than just irritation by the rules. Minako shook her head. It wasn't the time to think, she had to draw her attention away from killing the unfortunate man and try to make her realize what she's doing is madness, so she tried to appeal to her pride.

"You want me to call them here, huh? Want Gravitas to see you rage and lose your face? Want Ignika to see you risk the safety of your family in this world?"

The volcano that Nightmare had become erupted even worse, and she threw the man she was holding away carelessly, then she stormed towards Minako with all her strength and speed given to her by birth. She unleashed a beam of pure fear at the Senshi of Love, and though Minako did her best to dispel it like before, Nightmare was stronger this time around and overpowered her. Sailor Venus had the choice to either dodge or die from a heart attack, so she wisely dodged the blast, leaving herself open for a tiny second. But it was all Nightmare needed.

She homed in on her enemy like an eagle on his prey and lashed out with her Terror Katana, slicing open Minako's side and finally drawing the blood she had so craved to see and smell. As the Senshi cried out in pain, Nightmare hit her in the face with a punch that knocked her to the ground.

"What do YOU know of loosing your face? What do YOU know of ME raging?" the Saurian girl lividly demanded as she stomped Venus in the stomach, making the older girl gag. "What do YOU know of Gravitas?" Nightmare began to charge another overdose of fear to unleash upon her foe, fully intending to kill her right there and then.

"I know that you're acting stupid and putting us all in danger!" Minako cried as she slashed with the kusarigama's sickle at Nightmare's legs, making her lose balance, and rolled away from under her. She knew she was probably done for, but couldn't allow herself to go down easily.

If Nightmare felt the slash wound on her legs, she didn't show it. She merely let out a terrifying growl and leaped at the rolled away Minako before said girl had the time to get up. The Saurian of Fear landed on Minako's back cruelly, with all her weight, earning another cry of pain from the Senshi of Love.

"What do YOU know of MY safety?" Nightmare hissed coldly as she grabbed Minako harshly by the throat and lifted her up as if she weighed nothing. Her sharp nails dug into Sailor Venus' skin. Then Nightmare head butted her host directly in the face, almost breaking the blonde's nose. Not that the Saurian of Fear cared. She had flown into a blind rant of rage, where she wasn't aware – or didn't want to be – of anything anybody said to her.

"YOU KNOW NOTHING OF ME!" Nightmare raged on and she rammed her free hand as a fist in Sailor Venus' stomach. "Teamwork?" She dug her hand into the wound she had inflicted with her katana before and tore it open even further, staining her hand with blood. "Rely on others? WHY? WHY SHOULD I RELY ON OTHERS WHEN I'M ALL ALONE?" Suddenly the Terror Katana was back in Nightmare's hand and was used to mercilessly slash open the Senshi's right arm.

"RELY ON OTHERS? WHEN I HAD AN OLDER SISTER WHO I NEVER COULD RELY ON, EMOTIONLESS AND TOTALLY FREAKISH AS SHE WAS FOR THE MOST PART OF HER LIFE?" she roared as she drove her katana through one of Minako's legs. The tears she had so forcefully held back before were now being spilled freely, as eons of hurt were poured out of the unfortunate Saurian. Somewhere deep inside, Nightmare knew that what she was doing was horrible, and that Minako couldn't help it. But that side of Nightmare was buried deep under ages of pent up frustration, anger and sadness, and now it had to be expelled, and Minako just happened to be the unfortunate one on who she took it all out.

"RELY ON OTHERS? WHAT OTHERS? THE OTHERS WHO SHUN YOU, WHISPER 'IMMORAL ONE' BEHIND YOUR BACK BECAUSE YOU HAVE THE POWER OF FEAR FROM BIRTH?" Again she punched Minako harshly in the guts, her anger not diminishing in the least. "YOU MEAN THOSE OTHERS? RELY ON THAT LITTLE BROTHER OF MINE, WHO GOT IN MY LIFE BECAUSE THAT ASSHOLE OF MY NATURAL SISTER BROUGHT HIM IN AND MADE ME EVEN MORE HATED THAN I ALREADY WAS? YOU MEAN THAT BROTHER?"

Finally the grip on Minako's throat loosened and the Senshi fell to the ground, where she was immediately treated to more stomping of Nightmare. And every time the Saurian of Fear brought her foot down on the Senshi at her feet, tears fell down with it.

"YOU MEAN RELY ON THAT SO CALLED OLDEST SISTER OF ME, WHO ONLY CARES ABOUT THE SAFETY OF THAT ACCURSED CHILD OF LIFE, AND ALL THE REST CAN BE STOLEN FOR ALL SHE CARES? YOU MEAN RELY ON THAT SISTER?" With every word of bitterness she spoke, Nightmare stomped harder and harder on the now defenceless girl below her. But with every stomp, the flow of tears also increased, as Nightmare cried for the first time in eons.

"RELY ON THAT NO-GOOD CHAMELEON, WHO ONLY CAN MAKE YOU WORRY, ASSHOLE HE IS BY ALWAYS STORMING OF BEING INVISIBLE AND NO CLUE WHERE HE IS? YOU MEAN RELY ON HIM?" Nightmare shouted again, so loud Minako's eardrums threatened to pop. But her eardrums were the last thing on the Senshi's mind, as her guest had raised her katana above her head and then brought in down swiftly, running Sailor Venus straight through the stomach.

"WHO DO I HAVE TO RELY ON? I'VE ALWAYS BEEN ALONE, DAMN IT!" the unhappy Saurian of Fear finished with a shout, before her strength and resolve finally left her, and she fell to her knees, holding her face in her hands and crying. Nightmare broke down completely, weeping and sobbing like she hadn't done in ages. It was too much. It seemed so silly, that a simple argument about a stupid sport could have such terrible consequences, and yet it had happened. Sometimes, rage was like gravity: all it required was a little push. And Nightmare had had that push, that had been coming for a long time, today.

There she was then, the proud Saurian of Fear, broken and crying because of the unfairness of her life, of everything. She couldn't take it anymore. Crying was all there was left for her to do.

All Sailor Venus could do was stare at Nightmare in shock. "So that's what it is..." She thought. "That's why she... that's why she's so mean and moody and quick to anger... that's why she keeps insulting everybody. How could I not notice...?"

Nightmare wasn't aware of the Senshi's thoughts. Perhaps she wasn't even aware of Minako's presence anymore. She was trapped in her pain and sadness. "What did I ever do wrong... Sadistic, me? Violent, me? Spiteful, me? Insolent, me? Because others made me!" The memories of the first decades of her life, all on her own, flooded her and Nightmare cried harder.

Minako closed her eyes. Despite the tremendous pain her damaged body was in, watching Nightmare cry like that was unbearable. Then, she made a decision. The Senshi of Love took the katana that was still implanted in her stomach with her hands, clenched her teeth and with one swift movement pulled it out. This action made her cry out in pain again, but it didn't matter to her.

The broken Saurian of Fear didn't notice, too caught up in all the painful memories and talking to herself. "Having lived for hundred years, and then suddenly have this complete... thing show up with no emotion whatsoever and realize it's your natural sister, oh fantastic!" she screamed, banging the ground with her fists in wild, powerless frustration.

"I had to think for two, as that stupid cow couldn't even take care of a wound on her own! And don't think you'd get some thanks or affection from it in return, oh no! Just a blank stare, for THIRTY FUCKING YEARS!" A heart wrenching wail of pure sorrow escaped the youngest sister of Ignika, as she fell over and hit the ground with her head, still banging the road with her fists in anger as sob after sob wrecked her body.

Minako, meanwhile, had managed to turn over and lie on her stomach and now was ever-so-slowly making her way towards the hysterical girl. It was hard, it was painful, but she knew that whatever pain her body was feeling dwarfed the pain in Nightmare's soul.

"St... stop..." she managed to stutter.

"I can't take it anymore..." the other girl sobbed, in vain trying to sit up again and ignoring Sailor Venus' words. "Today was just too much..." She clenched her fist and punched the ground again and again until her knuckles were bleeding. "'Don't be insulting, rude, snide, sarcastic, Nightmare, or else! Think of the others!'" The blood on her hand was mixed with the tears that fell from her eyes. "'Don't use your strength, Nightmare, think of the others!'" She was visibly shaking, a clear indication that another outburst was coming. And indeed, Nightmare tipped back her head and roared at the heavens above: "WHY THE HELL CAN'T I JUST BE MYSELF? FUCK ALL OTHERS, WHAT ABOUT ME? JUST ONCE JUST ME, IS THAT TOO MUCH?"

Suddenly, Nightmare felt weight push her back to the ground. It was Minako, who managed to crawl over to Nightmare and throw herself at her. Now the Senshi of Love was tenderly, but firmly embracing the crying teenager, and whispering:

"Shhh... I'm sorry... I didn't know... I couldn't..."

Unaware of the identity of who held her, Nightmare leaned into the embrace and clutched to Sailor Venus like a child to its mother. Tears now mixed with the blood already staining Venus' sailor fuku, but Nightmare wasn't aware of that. She just clung to the person embracing her and cried, having longed her entire life for just this kind of comfort.

"Shhh... I'm sorry I didn't realize..." Minako whispered and began stroking her hair. "But, I didn't do that to harm you... I wanted to protect you from mistakes..."

The Saurian of Fear didn't immediately reply, just continued to cling to her host blindly, desperate for the warmth and comfort the embrace was giving her. "I'm so unhappy…" Nightmare finally managed to choke out. "Don't…" Her hands grabbed fistfuls of Venus' fuku. "Don't go… don't leave me alone… please…" More tears fell down to the ground below.

Minako smiled at that request and said as warmly as she could possibly manage: "I won't." She continued to stroke the girl's hair. "You could have told me... I would have listened... I was there for you when you got scared of the Death Note, no?" Minako closed her eyes as fatigue from the blood loss began to take over. "Silly girl..."

Nightmare's eyes snapped open in realization as she heard those words. "You were there…" she whispered in awe, memories of that morning when she had been scared of the TV playing again before her eyes. "For me…" The Saurian girl began to cry again, because of mixed feelings this time. Minako was right. She had been there for her. Somebody had been there for her, to help her confront and overcome one of her fears. Massive regret for how she had behaved in the Senshi's presence all this time suddenly welled up from deep inside the Saurian's heart.

"Minako…" she whispered quietly, her voice broken and interrupted by sobs. "I… I'm… sorry…"

And it was at that moment, when the two girls sat together like that, with each having come to an important realization about the other, that a warm golden light engulfed them both.


Next chapter: The true face of Nightmare!


Review replies:

BookLoverAF: This chapter wasn't really a volleyball match, so I hope it didn't disappoint. ^^" Thanks for the review!