This is a long time coming. Life got away, but I am here to continue where I left off.
Chapter 25
Awaken Her
The red-haired girl looked down at the ground, avoiding eye contact. She had been doing so well, so she thought. Always felt that she were one step ahead. Not this time.
"Say it. Who am I to you?"
The girl's red eyes met with her captor's amethyst eyes. They gazed at each other for a moment. Hatred and uncertainty filled the air.
"You're the Sovereign of Silence. Guardian of Silence."
A slight smiled followed by a twinge of sadness showed on the Sovereign of Silence's face. "You are correct," she said. In one swift moment, she moved the pitchfork so the fork end was no longer pointing towards the girl. The girl sighed in relief as in another movement, she was hit in the side of the head with the handle of the pitchfork.
Hotaru stood and looked at the two girls laying on the ground before her. There was so much to be done to move forward and so little time. She walked over to who used to be her best friend. She looked down in admiration at the disguise Rini had made for herself. She looked so much like her mother. She knelt and ran her fingers through the long blonde hair of the disguise. She smiled. Hotaru wished everything could go back to what it was before the destruction had happened. She knew what was done was right. She just hated the consequences, the aftermath.
She touched the center of Rini's forehead. "Awaken," she whispered.
Rini's eyes fluttered open. The world was blurry for a moment. A shadowy figure loomed in front of her. She did not have the energy to move, she stayed still while she regained her vision.
She gasped as she recognized the face she was looking at. "Hotaru?"
Rini and Hotaru sat on a nearby fallen-down log and kept an eye on the girl with the red hair.
"I need some sort of explanation." Rini stated, almost begging Hotaru.
Hotaru looked down at the ground a couple feet in front of her. She couldn't look at Rini with the amount of sadness she had. "That," she started, "I cannot give you."
"Why not?"
Hotaru sighed, "There is something beyond me going on here. I know that I am part of the reason why we are here. But I don't know the specifics."
"But you also know who she is?" Rini asked, pointing to the girl.
"Yes, she is something, among others, that I remember and you do not."
Rini grew agitated. Before she was able to say anything, Hotaru clarified,
"She is something that I can, sort of, explain." She said quickly, trying to diffuse Rini's anger.
Rini sighed and followed it with a smile. "Thank you."
Instead of words, Hotaru pulled out a red orb and held it out towards Rini.
"What is it?" she asked.
"It is her Amazon stone. I need you to awake her Sailor Senshi."