I'll be away at a camp next week, so the update for that will be delayed for a week. Sorry for having you all wait!

Enjoy the story.


Jupiter's gloved hands stretched out into the chillingly cold abyss of darkness as Venus leapt off the glowing shield Cosmos had summoned, reaching out to snatch the blonde as her jump faltered from something. What it was, the brunette didn't know just yet, and she doubted that she could tell. The soldier of lightning and thunder hefted the slender blonde up into the stone corridor, wrapping a strong arm around small shoulders as her friend suppressed a shake. "Hey, it's gonna be fine," the green-eyed Sailor Senshi softly assured her friends and leader, but even she knew that without a clear explanation of what was going on, her assurances were empty.

Her eyes locked onto the empty expanse outside the corridor and the brunette suppressed a shiver that was steadily creeping down her spine. She swallowed uneasily — something about that place managed to scare her. The Amazonian Senshi narrowed her green eyes, mentally scolding herself as she steeled her nerves, turning away from glancing at the imposing sight. A grunt of effort informed her that Cosmos too had gotten up with a forceful leap, though unlike Venus, she had done so without any lift whatsoever as she was the only one down in the opened abyss, which was dark, and endless... Jupiter needed to stop thinking about that.

Even as the tall and athletic Senshi turned away, she swore she could hear whispers from the broken open wall, hissing and murmuring to her in a language — or was it multiple languages? — that she couldn't understand, not even in the slightest. "Let's get away from this place," she suggested anxiously. The longer she listened to those voices, the more she swore she was starting to hear decipherable words, calling to her to come and join them, to leave her current path and go into the darkness. She swallowed, looking away into the still-dark corridor, which had been cleared when the dragon suddenly vanished, presumably when Neith had died.

Maybe that was why Venus was so jumpy?

Jupiter watched as Cosmos walked past her, leaning heavily on her staff from exhaustion — or at least, that was what Jupiter presumed — as she pushed past the other Senshi to get to the other end of the corridor. She heard the silver-haired girl confirm the others' health, and once everyone had affirmed the lack of injury and lack of a threat, Cosmos prepared to walk again. As she made her way past the end of the torn down wall, she stumbled on her heels, staggering forward until Uranus' firm hand reached out to grab her firmly, pulling her back before she hit the ground.

"Thanks," Cosmos gasped quietly, wincing as she tested her footing and gently brushing off Mercury, who had walked forward to examine her foot for a sprain.

Personally, Jupiter wondered if it was wise to have all of the Senshi wearing sharp-heeled boots in a physical fight, even if they used magical abilities most of the time.

Despite everyone's features being drawn into mildly worried expressions, Jupiter blurted out their shared concerns first, taking a step forward as she gently let Venus lean against Mars instead. "Cosmos, you alright?" she asked, brow furrowed together in concern. "You've been acting a little off since we arrived — do you need a moment to get some rest or just catch your breath?" The brunette didn't want to have to delay their duty any longer, but they couldn't continue if Cosmos wasn't alright. As the brunette walked towards Cosmos, she reached out a hand and laid it on the smaller girl's shoulder, giving her a light squeeze.

The smile on the silver-haired Senshi's lips looked so fake Jupiter was finding it hard to tell if she was even trying to reassure the others at this point. "I'm fine," Cosmos dismissed stiffly, inhaling sharply as she leaned her back against a part of the solid stone wall that hadn't collapsed when Neith pulled out his dragon trump card. "I'm— I'm perfectly fine..." She inhaled deeply, leaning her head back with an audible thump, which got her a few concerned looks, but once more, just like she had been doing, the Senshi pulled on a false smile and dismissed their concerns with as few words as was possible.

Jupiter narrowed her eyes with a visible frown tugging at the corners of her lips. Cosmos was as easy to read as Usagi was, though maybe she was wrong on that front too. Usagi always had the same smile on her face, even when she was really hurt inside, because she didn't want them to worry. Cosmos was doing the same, but the Senshi of Harmony was doing an even worse job of hiding it than the overemotional Usagi did. "Look, we can stop and take a breather if you really need it—," she tried, but Cosmos instantly cut her off.

"No!" the Senshi hissed. "I'm fine, Makoto-chan. We can't afford to stop — every single time we have, and even when we haven't, we're losing time to find Chibiusa and stop all this madness.

Jupiter's heart stopped, as did most of the others. Oh gods, Chibiusa! The brunette couldn't even process how she had managed to forget about the bubbly pink-haired child when it was her kidnapping that started all of this in the first place!

"Let's get moving," Cosmos hissed, and though she was leaning heavily on her staff to move, no one stopped her.

Jupiter glanced back at Mars as she took a tentative step forward, catching sight of the Senshi of Fire shaking her head silently, and the brunette held back a curse. She walked past the two, giving Venus a soft pat on the back as the priestess held up Neith's mirror to light up the back of the group of Senshi. The brunette inhaled sharply as she made her way after Cosmos, but even looking at the girl's retreating back made a pang of worry spring up inside her — Cosmos was not okay.

So how could she help her?


When Mars let Jupiter slip the blonde over to her, the priestess had known that something was wrong with Venus. The trembling of her body said as much, but the dishevelled hair and glassy eyes said what needed not be explained. The Shinto priestess gently reached around to wrap her slender arm around Venus' form, giving her friend a light squeeze — because as much as they had their disagreements, their scuffles and their rows, that was what the blonde was to the soldier of fire. A friend. A good one.

Venus was still trembling, and the soldier of love and beauty didn't seem to be stopping anytime soon.

The violet-eyed priestess muttered a soft curse under her breath as she watched Cosmos continue walking forward again, her path lit only by the light of Uranus' barrette and Pluto's key, warding off the unusual darkness. A shiver ran down her spine as she passed the broken wall, the chill of the place radiating dark intentions. It felt just like any force she had ever come across, malicious, evil and utterly irredeemable. It wasn't like the darkness that had tainted many others she had fought against before, controlling them and twisting their thoughts, no, this darkness was just... that. It wasn't something that had been dyed in that shade of black, it was purely that dark, malicious evil.

They were falling behind, Mars finally realized when Mercury turned back and called to her in a quiet voice, her attention focused on her computer instead of where they were going. In any other situation, it would have been amusing to see how dedicated her genius friend was to her work, but this wasn't the time for it. The Shinto priestess pried the bejewelled handmirror from Venus' trembling hands, noticing how it radiated a murky sort of light — not the bright, unfiltered light of the golden barrette, nor the earnestly glowing light of the key in Pluto's hands, just a dark, almost muddled kind of light — that warded away the shadows around them nonetheless.

"Come on, Minako," Mars mumbled, dropping all honorifics as she started to trudge forward — despite what she looked like, Venus was surprisingly heavy, but she didn't need to know that. "We're going to fall behind." With the soft whisper, the Senshi of Mars urged her friend forward, and the blonde's incoherent mumbles finally falling silent, the group of Sailor Senshi progressed through dark corridors and down narrow pathways, for one reason or another not meeting any resistance as the minutes ticked by. Their steps loudly echoed through the empty hallways, the Senshi of Mars growing increasingly antsy as they walked.

"Hold, I swear we've been around this hallway already," Uranus grumbled after the umpteenth time they had turned a corner. All of the walls looked the exact same, though, with the odd, unlit torch hanging on the walls by metal racks seen only once in a while. "All of these walkways look the exact same. Can't they have a little more sense and actually make them different? Damn it, I swear we're lost."

Cosmos winced, at the head of the group when Uranus had voiced her concerns. Even in the darkness, Mars could see her bare hands tighten around her staff. "No," the silver-haired girl finally said as she glanced up ahead. "You're right, Haruka. We're walking in circles. Up ahead, that's where the wall caved in." She held a hand up and squinted, leaning into the darkness, then snapped back, growling with a frown. "They know," she mumbled weakly, slumping against the other wall with a sigh of frustration, her hands covering her face. "How could I not have noticed?" She sounded scolding, angry in a way that Usagi's voice had never truly been. It only made it worse to hear from someone who still looked so similar to the blonde ditz.

A pang of hurt hit Mars, and she grimaced.

A sob reached her ears, and as the Senshi of fire glanced over, she realized that Venus had finally broken down after holding the tears back for a good while. Near instantly, the black-haired girl shifted to wrap her arms around the girl, giving her a soothing pat on the back as everyone else either came to her or went over to Cosmos. She could see Mercury's blue hair beyond Venus' bright red hairbow as the genius girl just looked over, sympathy in her eyes as she continued to furiously type at her computer, seeming to think she could find a way out of the maze for them if she worked hard enough.

Jupiter joined her by her side, her green eyes going over to where the trio of Outer Solar System Senshi was speaking with Cosmos. "Hey, Minako-chan," the Amazonian girl cooed softly, the maternal side of the boisterous Senshi surfacing as she spoke with the sobbing girl, "I know you're upset right now, but you have to hold on, alright?" Jupiter gently patted Venus' head, straightening the askew bow. "I know it's a lot to ask, but whatever happened, I know you did the right thing. It doesn't matter what he told you, you're a Sailor Senshi, a guardian of justice. You know what's best, and you always do what's right for everyone." The strong girl pulled both Venus and Mars into a tight hug. "I know you did."

Mars hadn't thought it would have worked, but eventually, the sobs faded, and Venus shakily pulled back, wiping at her bloodshot blue eyes. The Shinto priestess reached out to gently lay a hand on the blonde's shoulder as their leader spoke up in a shaking voice.

"I'm sorry, girls," Venus muttered, "I overreacted to all that." Bowing her head, the blonde rubbed her eyes and gave them all — Mercury included — a shaky smile. "Thanks for all that... you girls always know what to do for me, huh?" She laughed quietly, still a little shaky and her voice was still trembling, but the light in her eyes was there. She was a little cheered up, which Mars couldn't be more thankful for.

Jupiter beamed at her, a wide, warm smile as she hugged Venus alone again. "Never forget we're always here and supporting you," she chimed with a smile.

Venus nodded. "Thanks."

"I found it!" Mercury suddenly called out, her eyes lighting up behind the visor. "I found the path, everyone!" She rushed over to Cosmos immediately, and as soon as the silver-haired girl got to her feet, a renewed sense of determination seemed to flood the entire group.

Mars' violet eyes locked with Jupiter's green ones, and after a shared nod, Mars was once more reminded that no matter what happened, the Senshi would always pull through for each other.


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