*~*Dark Nightmares*~*
*~*Dark Nightmares*~*

"One must have nothing to realize how special 'something' really is."

-ME

Rainy day… nothing will Go-MY-WAY!! On my way to where I'll be left ALONE! Can you tell me how to get? How to get OUT-OF-THIS-HELL-HOLE?

Chapter 13:     Questions

"How did you do that?" Michiru asked, unable to believe what she had seen, and that all that power came from Hotaru, and she hadn't even transformed.

"Um… I dunno... it just sorta happened… sorry 'bout tackling you earlier too." Hotaru said casually. She brought her hand up to her neck, where a fine cut ran along it. "And ouch that's gonna leave a mark…"

"Where did you get that power?" Haruka asked, mouth agape. Hotaru looked really unsure.

"Like I said, I don't know. I just suddenly … never mind." Hotaru stopped and turned back to the blast in the wall." Man… how am I gonna fix this up?"

"Hotaru, stop changing the subject!  How did you do that? You have to tell us!" Setsuna said, raising her voice slightly. Hotaru spun around to face her. She had never heard Setsuna raise her voice, even when Usagi and Chibi-Usa were going at it. It stung her hard  to withhold everything, but she couldn't tell them, she barely knew herself. She knew that it had something to do with the crystal, like it had some hidden power. Every time she looked at it, it held her eyes with its mysteries… 'Like I have time to think about this now' Hotaru thought, as she looked into 3 stern adult's eyes. She thought back to her original dilemma. Michiru crossed her arms, and Haruka started tapping her foot. What could she tell them?

She opened her mouth, searching for words to make up some lame excuse when…

…suddenly everything faded into black. She called out Michiru and Haruka's name, looking around. She couldn't see anything, nothing but black. She looked down to see a thin mist seeping out from below her. Soon, the thick fog covered everything. All around her, the mist swirled around, like people were running by her. "Who's there?" she called out. She heard children's voices as they giggled, and kept running by her.

"She doesn't know who we are…"

"Should we tell her…"

"No, let her guess…"

"But if she doesn't…"

"All the better for us…"

Voices all around her kept up this pointless debate, making her head spin. Small voices kept running by her, tapping her shoulders and taunting her. When she turned around to see who it was, the being had vanished.

"She's not playing out game…"

"The master said she might not…"

"Maybe we're not playing enough…"

"Or the right game…"

"Lets take it up a notch..."

"Oh this'll be fun…"

"I hope she like's it…"

Hotaru glanced around the thick mist, becoming scared.  "Who are you? What do you want?" she cried out to anyone who could hear.

"Who are we…"

"Only the Master knows…"

"We just want to play…"

"She's making me angry…"

"Why… won't… you… play!"   - One voice said angrily as a sharp pain grazed her arm.  She brought her hand to her arm and felt something warm and sticky stick to her hand. She looked at her hand… blood.

"Now you've done it…"

"The Master's coming…"

"We're not supposed to hurt her yet…"

"That's his job…"

Then, all the mist and the voices disappeared as quickly as they came. Hotaru was back in the darkness. She felt a cold breeze blow past her, and turned to where the wind came from…

"I've been waiting for you…" A cold voice said in her ear, She turned around, but no one was there… Wait. She knew that voice… at least… Sailor Saturn did… but that was… and she had…

A sharp pain on her cheek brought her back to the world.

*****

Setsuna looked at Hotaru, slightly annoyed at the girl for withholding the information she knew. She saw Hotaru open her mouth, as if debating whether to tell or not, when suddenly her eyes opened in shock and her eyes coated over.

"Hotaru?" Setsuna asked, but got no response. Michiru walked up to her and shook her gently, but Hotaru continued to stare off into space. Haruka and Setsuna ran up beside her.

 "Hotaru? Answer me!" Michiru asked. She placed her hand on the girl's forehead, and the sigil of Saturn appeared. Michiru tried to probe her mind, but felt herself blocked out. Not by Hotaru, though. It was as if someone… else, had taken hold of her mind. The sigil, which glowed with a purple light, turned darker and darker, becoming black. Haruka gently pushed Michiru aside and slapped Hotaru with all her might.

Turning her face slightly upon impact, Hotaru's eyes cleared up and she blinked a couple times. She looked up at them, confused, then her eyes widened in horror. She looked down at her arm, finding a long gash going right down her upper arm. 'But… that only happened in my dream… it couldn't have…' she thought, as the dull throb and the blood still dripping confirmed that it was real.

"What happened, Hotaru?" Setsuna asked, and looked to where Hotaru was staring, her arm.

"And where did you get that cut?" Haruka asked, as she took out a handkerchief and held it against the wound.

"… he's back… to get me…" Hotaru said quietly, still wondering what he could do, if he could haunt her in waking hours as well as in dreams.

"What?!?" The trio yelled, taken aback at the mention of their last powerful enemy.

"He came to me… in a vision… just now… before you slapped me." She whispered.

Haruka placed her hand on the cheek where she had slapped her, leaving a big red mark. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to, but you wouldn't wake up… and you wouldn't answer."

"I'm sorry." Hotaru replied sheepishly.

"Come on, we'll go get those cuts cleaned up, and you can tell us all that happened…" Michiru said, and continued when she saw an angered look on Hotaru's face. "Or all that you want to, if you prefer…" Hotaru smiled and nodded as she let the three women usher her downstairs to the kitchen.