Chapter 25: Capture
"Can we go destroy them now?" asked an annoyed Mistress
9. She stood before a window to Earth, looking through different cities and
countries to cause small disasters to pass the time.
"No. I'm having fun toying with her mind. A normal person
would have cracked by now. I wonder how much duress she can take." A deep voice
echoed around the area she stood.
"Fine, but if you don't end this soon enough, then I'm
going out to have some fun." And with that, Mistress 9 dispersed into the air.
"Now, where are you, firefly?" The voice asked,
and the origin, Master 45 appeared. He waved his hand to create a window, but
as it materialized, he saw two crystals hovering beside one another, and as
soon as he realized what was about to happen, the link, and the window,
shattered into hundreds of pieces.
"Damn her! How did she know there even was a link?" He
roared to the darkness around him. "No matter. She's getting stronger, it's
almost time to test that strength."
*****
Setsuna, Michiru and I sat in the bleachers, watching as
the final heat of the 100m settled themselves into the starting blocks. Setsuna
and Michiru cheered Haruka on, but I just watched silently. What's going on? I
know something's going to happen, but for bleeping sake, what? I could barely
concentrate on the race; all I could do was look around the arena. I saw
hundreds of people around, but… the people didn't feel, well… perfect.
Something was terribly off. Two to one odds it's not good, too.
I closed my eyes, trying to access some of my Senshi
powers to help ascertain what was happening. I shut out everything, the people
cheering, the announcer saying preparations to the crews, the bang of the
starting gun, I shut it all out, and for a second, I was alone in the universe.
I could see every star, every planet, and every particle. I focused on things around me, and time
seemed to slow. I could shift in on everything around me, every person, even
the other Senshi, who must have come down to watch Haruka, too, but I could go
even deeper that that. I heard voices, distant, eerie voices, but ones that
sounded familiar. The Dead.
Something was
terribly off. The dead were screaming that they had been defied, something had
been revived, and their psyche changed.
I got up out of the seat as time returned to normal. As I
was running down the steps towards the re-dead, I heard the fans scream as the
race ended. But I shut them out, not caring about anything but my target.
For some reason, I felt violated. Wronged, immensely.
Once the dead are dead, that's it. No one but myself has the right to raise
them. Not that I would, but I desperately wanted to know who had done it. I was pissed; whoever was planning
the attacks sure knew how to piss me off. Infringing on my personal powers was
a big no-no.
*****
Michiru,
Setsuna, and the other inner Senshi were in the middle of congratulating Haruka
in her dressing room when they felt it. Michiru stopped mid-sentence,
horrified, and barely managed to whisper in a strong, yet powerful voice; "The
Sea is quaking in fear, the stability has been broken."
Haruka,
also mid-conversation, spoke up "The Wind has become violent, the order has
turned into chaos."
"Um…
where's Hotaru?" Setsuna said slowly, looking around for the young adult.
Within seconds, a small yet commanding voice filled their heads, and a vision
of Sailor Saturn spoke to them.
"Someone
has been raised from the dead. We must stop them before they attack. Come." As
the Senshi pulled out their henshin wands and transformed, they could see fury
within her purple eyes. "They have gone too far this time."
*****
I
stared in rage at the beings that have defiled the realm of the living. The
souls were those of warriors from millennia ago that died in battle and were
left restless. The re-dead were corrupted, evil emanated from their very
existence. There were 5 of them, and had appeared normal until they had seen me
approach as Sailor Saturn. As they turned to me, they shifted back to their
appearances: They were dressed in the armour that the soldiers of Saturn wore
until the kingdom's demise, but you could tell that time had not been kind to
them. They smelt of rotting corpses, which wasn't surprising, considering that
was partially what they were.
"Ah! A
soldier dares to challenge us?" One spoke in a rusty, disembodied voice. I
called my glaive to hand, and could barely keep it steady in my hand as I
pointed it towards them, infuriated.
"How dare
you! Let what I do to you be a message to you Master that I do not tolerate the
disturbance of the dead! You shall feel my wrath!" With that, I swung my glaive down and sent a burst of purple
energy towards them, and when the flash of pure power faded, there was nothing
left of 2 of the creatures, save a few ashes.
"Who
are you to be so certain of this?" The living dead smirked.
"I am
the soldier of death and destruction, Saturn. Your Master has invaded upon my
realm, so I'm bloody well pissed. It is an imbalance that you have been brought
here and twisted so." I prepared to attack as I saw out of the corner of my eye
the other Senshi running up behind me. Good, they got my message.
"You
know, that's very touching and all, but we have completed our task in bringing
you here. Have a good look, this will be the last time you'll ever see them
alive!" The first one cried out, as the zombies turned to ashes and the sky
turned dark. As large, black clouds enclosed the sky, I tried to figure out
what they had meant by their last words.
As I
turned around, I saw black lightning encircle my friends, sending them to the
ground in pain. A I ran up to them, trying to aid them, a large balloon
surrounded them, and as I banged on the surface, trying to get to them, I saw
one after another disappear, until the last one vanished and the force field
collapsed. I looked around for any sign of them, then cursed myself as I looked
up to the sky, which was clearing. A single tear rolled down my cheek, "Oh god…
I've failed them…"
"NO!" I
screamed out to them, and as I blinked, I saw that I was still in the
bleachers, beside Setsuna and Michiru as we heard the telecaster announce the
approach of the race. If I concentrated, I could still hear the voices yelling
at me, saying that the dead had been defamed. It was… no, it's going to
happen! I turned to Setsuna, who was watching the race.
"Setsuna,
what ever happens, no matter what you see, no matter how desperate things may
get, I want you to make me a promise." I asked her, hoping she would comply
before the start of the race. There wasn't much time.
"Why?
What's wrong?" She asked in a worried voice. She looked at me, and I could see
her try to figure out what I was thinking.
"Just
promise me, that you won't transform, and that you'll make sure that you take
the scouts and get away from here, right away." I looked at her, hoping that
she might realise the danger that would arise if she didn't comply.
"Hotaru,
what's wrong? Why-" She pleaded, before I cut her off.
"Please!
It's extremely important! Please… promise me!" I said a growing urgency in my
voice. "As soon as the race is over, get Michiru, Haruka, and the others." I
pointed out the location of the Inner scouts. "Split them into groups, and get
them out of here!" I said. I looked down to the starting blocks; the runners
were getting ready to start, not much time at all. I looked back to Setsuna,
with panic starting to attack. If only she would believe me, maybe I can stop
them from getting abducted. Setsuna stared at me with a concerned look on her
face, but she slowly nodded.
"I
promise," She said sadly. I looked up at her with gratitude as the starting gun
went off, and I got up and jumped over the railing to the ground. I had to put
an end to this menace before they got the others.
*****
Chibi-Usa blinked repeatedly as her eyes readjusted to
the dimmed light of the Moon kingdom's main throne room. As soon as she got her wits about her, she
ran off in search of Setsuna. She looked in her room, only to find it empty,
save a dull red glow that emanated from underneath a side door. Chibi-Usa ran
up to the door and slowly turned the knob, hoping that Setsuna had left the
portal open to the time gates.
Chibi-Usa entered the door, narrowing her eyes to let
less of the dull glow in. She looked around through the many doors, mirrors and
vast expanses of area for any sign of Setsuna or Hotaru, who should still be
protected by Pluto's power over time.
"Setsuna? Pluto, where are you?" Chibi-Usa yelled out, as
she continued to wander through the gates.
"Chibi-Usa? What are you doing back?" said Sailor Pluto
as she peeked her head out of a door, somewhat surprised at her early arrival.
Chibi-Usa saw her and ran towards her, eagerly telling her story to the older
Senshi.
