"It's all my fault! I should have held onto him!" Hotaru cried.
It was early in the morning after Adrian's kidnap. All of the senshi were over at the outer's house. Some of them were helping Ami do an analysis while the rest tried to comfort Hotaru.
"There, there, it'll be alright sweetie. It wasn't your fault. And we will get Adrian back." Adrian said to the sobbing girl.
"Anything yet?" Haruka said, walking over to Ami.
"I'm still gathering the data, but it looks like the portal led to the Negaverse."
"The Negaverse!" Luna exclaimed, "Are you sure Ami?"
"I'm positive." She answered. "I still have the readings I took from the last time we fought the Negaverse. Now all I have to do is pinpoint where the portal leads to."
Ami turned around and went back to her computer. The rest of the senshi continued to look around Hotaru's room for any more clues. Hotaru was a little more composed now, and went to the window and looked out.
"Adrian…" She thought sadly, "It's just not fair! After all this time, we finally find each other again only to be torn apart once more."
A single tear fell down her face. Hotaru closed her eyes tightly and her mind screamed:
"Adrian! Hang on! I'm coming to get you!"
"How's it coming Ami?" Usagi asked.
"Very close now." She replied, "The base seems to be located somewhere in the north quadrant. Wait! I'm picking up another huge energy burst coming from…from right here!"
"Hotaru-chan!" Chibi-Usa screamed, pointing to Hotaru.
Hotaru was still standing by the window, but no longer crying. Energy was all around her, and the Saturn symbol glowed fiercely on her forehead. Her eyes shot open.
"Adrian, I'm coming!" Hotaru yelled as the bright light completely surrounded her.
"Hotaru! NO!!" Haruka screamed.
Haruka ran to Hotaru and tried to catch her. But as soon as she got close, Hotaru disappeared with the light.
"What happened? Where did Hotaru go?" Chibi-Usa asked desperately.
"She's gone to save Adrian." Usagi answered, "We have to go after her. There is no way Hotaru can stand up to Metallia on her own."
"But how? We don't even know where she is."
"Oh yes we do." Ami said, "We have to go back to where it all ended the first time."
~
The wind blew uncontrollably around Hotaru as she trudged through the deep snow. She had transported herself somewhere near the North Pole. In front of her was a large, dark pit with smoke coming out from inside it. Hotaru knew that Adrian was in there, and so she went forward through the wind and snow. And she was being watched.
Metallia watched Hotaru closely through her crystal as she got nearer. She looked up at Adrian, who was suspended above by a bunch of chains. His eyes were firmly set on Hotaru.
"Well, well…" Metallia said, "Here comes the little mouse. Would you be so kind as to greet our little friend." She said eyeing the shadows.
"It would be our pleasure mistress." A cold voice answered her and then disappeared.
"Now." She looked to Adrian again, "While the mouse is busy with them, I will complete my little trap, then your princess will finally be caught!"
Adrian gave Metallia a look of distain, and then turned back to the crystal.
"Hotaru."
Hotaru could feel her legs beginning to stiffen. She wasn't exactly dressed for an artic trip. She ignored the numbness in her body and continued toward the pit. Suddenly, the wind around her ceased, and everything became calm. Hotaru stopped and looked around in wonderment. A noise from behind her made her jump, and a ball of energy came zooming at her. She quickly moved out of the way, and grabbing her transformation pen, shouted:
"Saturn Star Power, make up!"
"Now who are you?" Sailor Saturn said in the direction of her attackers.
The wind and snow twirled around, and stopped to reveal four figures. These beings were shaped like humans, but their bodies looked to be made entirely of ice.
"We are the Ice Furies of the Negaverse!" One shouted, "On behalf of Queen Metallia, we'd like to personally welcome you."
As if on cue, each of the four furies jumped into an attack aimed at Hotaru.
"Figures I'd get a welcome like this. Metallia really has to work on her social skills." Hotaru said as she braced for the attack.
The battle between Saturn and the furies began. Each let out a powerful attack on the other, and soon this wasteland became a deadly battlefield. Hotaru had been attacking and running toward the pit at the same time. She was concentrating on where she was going when one of the furies surprised her and cut her cheek with an attack. This made Hotaru very angry.
"Silence Glaive Surprise!" She yelled turning on her attacker.
The fury exploded in shards of ice as the attack hit. Hotaru then turned to the three remaining furies.
"Your turn." She smiled, "Silence Glaive Enhance!"
A huge burst of energy came from her weapon, completely destroying the enemies. The smoke cleared and Hotaru looked around the empty battlefield for any survivors, but found none. She turned to begin walking again, and encountered a problem. The force of the battle had weakened the ground, and as Hotaru turned the ground beneath her gave weigh. She fell down into darkness.
~
Hotaru became aware of something cold beneath her. It took a few minutes for her to wake up, and she opened her eyes to look at her surroundings. She was lying on a black marble floor, the hole from which she fell very high above her. She was inside the Negaverse.
As Hotaru looked around, she failed to notice the figure in the shadows. It emerged from the shadows and stopped behind Hotaru.
"Princess…"
Hotaru whipped her head around upon hearing the voice.
"Adrian!" She exclaimed and ran to embrace him, "Oh Adrian, you're all right! I was so scared!"
"It's alright Princess. Everything will be alright." He said putting his hand on her head, "But right now we have to get out of here. Follow me, I know a way."
They began running through the halls.
"Shouldn't we be going in the other direction?" Hotaru asked.
"They'd be expecting that from us. Besides, I found another way out that will be easier than going through the main entrance."
They continued on. As they were running, Hotaru began to sense something strange. Something did not feel right. She turned to Adrian.
"Adrian, I love you."
"So do I Princess."
Hotaru stopped running. He turned around and looked at her questioning.
"What's wrong Princess?"
"Who are you?!"
"What? What are you talking about?"
"I said I love you."
"I do too Princess."
Hotaru raised her glaive between them.
"You can't even say I love you. You're not Adrian!"
"But Princess…" He began.
"And another thing. My name is not Princess, it's Hotaru!" She yelled.
The Saturn symbol appeared on her forehead, and she let out a burst of energy. He screamed as the light hit him, and his form melted away to reveal nothing but a shadow.
"How DARE you try and impersonate my Adrian!!!" Hotaru screamed, releasing a final burst of energy that engulfed and vanquished the shadow.
Hotaru's energy subdued, and she turned and began to run in the opposite direction. After running for a while, she stopped in front of a pair of very large doors. Hotaru's heart told her that Adrian was behind those doors. Her feelings also knew that Metallia was too.
"Metallia, this ends here!" Hotaru said, and walked through the doors.