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Part Eighteen: The Darkness within. Defeating the monster
The six Senshi stared in horrified
awe at the giant black creature looming over them. As its features firmed
and defined themselves, Sailor Moon felt her will beginning to falter a bit.
How was she supposed to lead the Senshi in battle against this thing? She
couldn't even save her own daughter from Narcissus how did she expect
to be able to help her friends against a monster that was the size of a large
house? What if they all were killed, while she just stood there frozen with
fear? Her mind recalled the image of Mamoru's face, so stricken with hurt
and betrayal as she'd thrown those horrible words at him. He probably hated
her now. That was a good thing. He ought to hate her. At least then she wouldn't
be putting him in any danger from her own cowardice and weakness. Sailor
Moon looked up at the massive jaki and glared. This was Narcissus'
fault, too. That wretched Negaverse admiral had been attacking her friends
and family long enough. She wanted him to die for what he'd done.
Her hands tightened into
fists as she glowered at the creature. It had finished its solidification,
and two large yellow eyes opened, each one the size of a basketball. They
blinked down at the six small humans in front of it, and then a grin spread
across its ugly, shiny face. "Human juice," it hissed, the yellow eyes lighting
up. One giant paw-like arm came down towards them as the jaki attempted
to grab Sailor Mercury.
"Hey, hands off my friends,
ugly," Sailor Jupiter bellowed. "We ain't making it that easy for you." She
lifted her arms above her head. "Sparkling Wide Pressure!" She sent her crackling
discus flying towards the creature's hand.
The jaki looked over
at her, and it caught the shimmering disc between its fingers. The hideous
head tilted to the side as it examined the positive energy sizzling in its
hand, and the Senshi watched in amazement as the monster raised the attack
to his nose to sniff it, and then tried biting down on it. It gave off an
electrical shock as the evil spirit's white teeth crunched down into it,
and the jaki hissed with annoyance. It flicked the disc of energy
back towards the Senshi.
"Look out!" Sailor Mars
yelled as all of the Sailor Soldiers were forced to dive away. Jupiter's
attack skidded into the ground in an explosion of sparks that melted the
snow away. The jaki frowned as its attention was caught by Sailor
Venus, who had ended up very near its foot. It reached down to pick her up
instead.
"Cut it out!" Venus protested
as the slick black hand closed around her, lifting her off the ground. "Let
me go oof!" Her face started to turn a little blue as the monster tightened
its grip to keep her from struggling.
"Venus!" Sailors Mercury
and Mars both exclaimed at the same time. Mars put her hands together in
front of her and powered up.
"Burning Mandala!" She
released the blazing fiery attack towards the jaki's hand.
"Ow, ow, ow!!" Sailor Venus
hollered as the flames surrounded her. Fortunately the energy was positive
and so it did not cause any real damage to the Senshi of Beauty, but Venus
glared down at Mars all the same. "Thanks a lot, Mars I really needed
that. Crazy pyro."
Sailor Mars stuck her tongue
out at Venus. "Well, excuse me for trying to be helpful."
"Helpful! You call singing
my eyebrows off being helpful? Hey hey, stop that! What on earth are
you doing?" Venus glared at the jaki as it turned her upside down,
making her long golden hair swing loose. It started to rub her hair on its
face like a makeup brush and began hissing happily.
"I think it likes you, Venus,"
Sailor Jupiter chuckled.
Sailor Venus glared again,
which was difficult to do while being held upside down. "Well, I don't care.
Okay, mister monster. I've had enough." Venus touched her finger to the
jaki's hand. "Crescent Beam!" she exclaimed, releasing her golden
power directly into the creature's skin. The evil spirit hissed again, this
time with surprise and pain, and released Venus in midair. Thanks to her
athletic skills, she managed to maneuver herself over to land on her feet
in the snow. Sailor Jupiter was chuckling again as she stood up.
"What's the matter, he's
not your type?" she teased.
Venus brushed her skirt
off but her reply was interrupted by Sailor Pluto. "No time for this, Senshi,"
the Revolutionary Soldier ordered as she took a defensive stance. "I don't
think it wants to play anymore."
Sailor Venus and Sailor
Jupiter looked up to see the Negaverse creature holding its hand and hissing
angrily. It glared down at Venus, and then lifted one enormous foot. "Look
out, Venus, it's going to crush you!" Sailor Mercury called out. "Shine Aqua
Illusion!" The blue-haired Sailor Soldier used her glittering watery attack
on the monster's other leg, encasing it in ice. Of course, it was not enough
to cause any real damage, but the sudden cold on its skin was enough of a
distraction to allow Sailor Venus to roll out of the way of the other foot
before it could descend on her.
The jaki turned
to look at its leg for a moment, confused. Once it figured out that the ice
was what was causing the cold, it picked its leg up and shook it. Small shards
of ice went flying in every direction. The creature looked down at Sailor
Mercury and opened its mouth, sending a blast of black power towards her.
Mercury ducked and leapt out of the way, and the bolt of energy was absorbed
into the ground where she'd been standing a moment before. As she moved,
she could hear Sailor Pluto attacking from the other side.
"Dead Scream." The terrifying,
cloudy attack swirled around the evil spirit, causing it to fall back a step.
Sailors Mars and Jupiter followed immediately with their attacks, both of
which slammed directly into the jaki's chest. It hissed again, but
didn't seem to be very effected by their powers. Pluto turned towards Sailor
Moon.
"Sailor Moon, our attacks
aren't damaging it. We need your purification powers in order for this to
work."
Sailor Moon nodded. "Okay.
Can you keep it busy while I power the attack up?"
"Sure," Jupiter answered
with a grin. "Piece of cake." She blasted at the creature with another lighting
attack, and then dodged as more black energy was fired at her.
Sailor Moon pulled out
her Spiral Heart Moon Rod, and began to concentrate. She had to do this
for the sake of her friends she had to make this work. Vaguely she found
herself wishing that she hadn't been so quick to give up the Sacred Cup to
Mistress Nine. She really could have used that extra transformation right
about now. She was sure that as Super Sailor Moon she would have been able
to take care of this thing in no time flat, but she wasn't so sure about
her ordinary powers. It was such a shame that the Cup had been destroyed
in the battle with Pharoah 90. But then, whose fault was that? She was the
one who had handed the Cup over like a ninny, hoping against hope that it
would save Hotaru. If it hadn't been for the sake of Sailor Saturn's love
for her father, Mistress Nine and Pharoah 90 probably would have succeeded
in taking over the world, and Chibiusa would have been dead. Sailor Moon's
eyes widened as she realized this why, she'd been an awful mother from
the very beginning! It was true. She'd left Chibiusa on her own, and Kaori
Night had kidnapped her away and stolen her pure heart for the Messiah of
Silence. That had been her fault.
But there was no time to
be dwelling on such things. The other Senshi needed her, and she didn't want
to let them all down. Holding the Rod in front of her, Sailor Moon tried
to concentrate on the Moon Kingdom, on the power of the Silver Crystal, on
the strength of soul that would lend her the power she needed. But thinking
about the Moon Kingdom only brought back more memories of past failures.
Queen Beryl had killed Prince Endymion in the last battle of the Silver
Millennium. The wicked queen had just reached down out of the sky and taken
his life, while she'd stood there whimpering like the spoiled little coward
that she was. And then, when Beryl returned, Mamoru had been taken once more
and brainwashed. Not just once, but twice in a row and she hadn't done
anything. Hadn't gone after Beryl. Hadn't actively pursued Mamoru to get
him back. Not only that, but when she finally did meet up with Mamoru in
Beryl's palace, she had actually used her Moon Tiara on him!! She tried to
kill him - her one true love, her soul-mate, the one person on earth who
loved her more than anything else - and she'd tried to kill him. Why? Because
she was scared. Sailor Moon winced as she finally admitted it to herself.
She'd been scared for her own life, and so she'd tried to take Mamoru's instead
of fighting to get him back.
And her cowardice had cost
her friends their lives, too. All the way to Beryl's palace, she'd hung back
and let the other four Senshi fight for her and die for her. All four
of them lost their lives because she wouldn't lift a finger herself to fight
back. She was supposed to be the most powerful one. Sailor Moon opened her
eyes to look at her friends, battling the jaki. Sailor Venus fired
off another Crescent Beam, while Mercury and Jupiter combined efforts to
attack from the other side. The creature roared and slapped at Venus, sending
her spinning across the ground, and Sailor Pluto stepped in to take her place
and continue the barrage of attacks. Mars sent a huge fireball towards the
jaki's face to distract it while she ran over to check on Venus. Sailor
Moon watched all of this as if it were occuring in slow motion. How she loved
her friends, her fellow Soldiers. She wasn't worthy of their love and devotion.
And here they were, putting all their energy and heart into the battle, and
once again, she was just standing there uselessly. Tears of frustration filled
her eyes, and the whole scene of the battle began to blur in front of her
as she lowered the Spiral Heart Rod. She WAS useless. Completely and utterly
useless.
Somewhere in the back of
her mind, she could hear Jupiter shouting at her, asking her to do
something oh, that's right, she was supposed to be powering up her
attack. Sailor Moon looked over at Jupiter, who was waving her arms at her.
There was a long bloody gash above Jupiter's left eye, and another on on
her leg. Sailor Moon wondered when her friend had received those. She met
Jupiter's eyes dully, helplessly. Didn't Jupiter understand that there wasn't
anything she could do? She was a coward, a wimp. She was nothing. She couldn't
help them. The tears spilled over onto her face, and as Jupiter stared at
her, the brunette's expression contracted into disgust? Worry? Fear?
Sailor Moon was too far away and too full of emotion herself to tell. The
Moon Rod dropped from her fingers and struck the snow.
Sailor Jupiter spun around.
What was taking Sailor Moon so long? They needed that attack, and they needed
it now. This ugly evil thing was sapping their energy reserves quickly. She
waved an arm at the Sailor Leader. "Sailor Moon! Now!" she called out. The
petite blond girl turned towards her slowly, lowering her Moon Rod, and Jupiter's
eyes widened. What on earth did Sailor Moon think she was doing? She hadn't
even powered up yet. "Come on, Sailor Moon, you've got to attack it now!"
Sailor Moon was just staring at her blankly. Something wasn't right. And
then, Sailor Jupiter saw several large tears roll down their leader's face,
and the Moon Rod fell to the ground. Jupiter's eyes widened. "Mars! Mars!
Something's wrong with Sailor Moon!!"
Sailor Mars turned to see
the tiny Sailor Leader, staring dully at the looming jaki, her hands
limp at her sides and tears running down her face. She snorted with disgust.
"Sailor Moon, snap out of it, now! We don't have time for your
bellyaching!!"
Sailor Jupiter sent another
electrical attack towards the jaki, and then turned to look again
at Sailor Moon. "Hold it, Mars, I don't think she's being dramatic this time!
Something's really wrong!!" She reached up to wipe the blood out of her eyes.
Of all the places for her to get cut, it had to be right over her eye. She
started to move towards Sailor Moon, when an unexpected bolt of the
jaki's lighting caused her to go flying in the opposite direction.
"Jupiter!!" This cry came
from Venus, who was struggling to her feet. Her left arm was hanging at an
awkward angle, probably broken from that harsh slap from the jaki,
but with her right arm she managed to release her golden chain towards the
monster. She cracked the chain like a whip, slashing across the hideous black
shoulders. "That's for blasting my friend, you nasty freak!"
The creature hissed and
turned towards Venus. It released another burst of negative power. "Look
out, Venus!" Sailor Mercury called, leaping towards her. The blue Senshi
grabbed the golden one around the waist to push her out of the way, but the
jaki's attack caught her square between the shoulder blades and she
fell on top of Venus, unconcious. Sailor Pluto was then kicked aside so that
she was slammed into the side of the Altar of Tears, and then the jaki
turned its yellow-eyed attention to the Senshi of Fire.
Mars glowered at the creature.
"Oh, you think you're such a big tough guy, don't you? Eat this!" She pointed
her fingers, gun-like, at it. "Fire Soul!" A stream of blazing energy struck
the jaki right in one of its yellow eyes, and the evil spirit gave
a shriek of pain. Mars grinned. "Gotcha," she crowed. But the very next moment
she found herself flying through the air as the monster's hand came down
around her, picked her up, and hurled her away. For a few seconds she was
suspended in midair, but the ground was rushing up to meet her very quickly.
"Oh, this is going to hurt," Mars muttered to herself, and then she hit the
snow and the world went dark.
Sailor Moon watched all
of this numbly. It was happening again. Her friends getting hurt, right in
front of her eyes, and she couldn't move. All she could do was stand and
watch. It was so disgusting she even revolted herself. The jaki turned
towards her, and began to take big steps, its enormous feet shaking the ground.
Sailor Moon sighed. Finally she would get what she deserved. The jaki
would kill her and then her friends could be rid of her once and for all.
It would be good riddance, too. She found herself thinking about Neptune
and Uranus, lost somewhere in the Doomsday Gate, and she knew that if Uranus
could see her right now she'd be furious. But Sailor Moon knew she wasn't
the Messiah, not really. How could she be when she was such a coward? Uranus
and Neptune had been right when they accused her of being too soft. She was
worse than soft. She was a chicken, plain and simple.
"Sailor Moon!! Sailor Moon,
move out of the way!" Sailor Moon could hear Jupiter and Venus screaming
at her, and she looked up to see Venus struggling to get out from underneath
Mercury, but her broken arm was making that difficult. Sailor Jupiter also
seemed to be trying to get up, but the paralyzing effects of the jaki's
negative power beam had rendered her legs immobile. Sailor Moon gazed back
up at the jaki. The eye that Mars had burned was scorched black now,
and the creature was glaring at her with its one good eye. The giant black
hand came down towards her, and Sailor Moon closed her eyes. It was better
this way.
She opened her eyes again,
however, as a loud swooshing sound and a howl of pain from the jaki
interrupted her reverie. The evil spirit was holding out its hand and stomping
about rather comically, and Sailor Moon could see a long neat row of roses
firmly embedded into the shiny, oily skin. Her eyes widened and she turned
to find Tuxedo Kamen running towards her, his long black cape flying.
"Sailor Moon! You have to
destroy that thing. You have to do it now," he ordered.
Sailor Moon stared at him
blankly. He was so handsome. Those incredible eyes, even behind that mask,
were enough to make her knees weak. He was saying something to her. She didn't
care what it was he was speaking! She had been so sure he'd never speak
to her again, after everything she'd said to him. Wait, why was he here?
She'd broken it off with him, hadn't she? And besides, he'd been pretty mad
at her when he kicked her out of his apartment. So he couldn't be here for
her sake. He was protector of Earth, she reminded herself. He was trying
to save Earth from Narcissus and the Negaverse and whatever else was behind
all this trouble. And she was supposed to be helping him. Well, maybe she'd
failed Chibiusa and her friends, and even Mamoru but she wouldn't fail
the Earth. She'd fight for that.
"My wand" Sailor Moon
looked around her confusedly. "Where's my wand?"
Tuxedo Kamen picked the
Spiral Heart Moon Rod up from the snow, and handed it to her, a look of worry
on his face. How could she not know where her Moon Rod was? She seemed awfully
disoriented. Sailor Moon took the Rod from his hands and held it up,
concentrating. The jaki was too busy trying to remove the stinging
roses sticking out of its hand to pay any attention to her. Sailor Moon called
upon her power as she always did, though it seemed a little sluggish in coming
and she had to concentrate harder than usual to make the power flow. She
frowned in confusion as she drew the wand up, mentally pulling on the strength
that she needed for the attack. With a laborious effort she swung the Rod
around in a circle, and began to spin around. Small beads of sweat formed
on her forehead. She couldn't ever remember it being this hard for her to
attack before, unless she'd been severely depleted or injured already
but she hadn't even moved in this battle yet, so that couldn't be the problem.
"Moon" The Rod began to pulse with power, and Sailor Moon hissed between
her teeth. It was taking almost all of her strength just to hold onto the
thing. "Healing" She bent her knees as she spun faster. It was getting
difficult to breathe. Just a little more "Escalation!" Sailor Moon
thrust the wand into the air, putting one leg out and using her free hand
to support herself on the ground. The waves of purifying energy exploded
from the heart of the Rod, swelling out to cover everyone and everything
around the Altar. The jaki looked up from its hand as the positive
power surrounded it, and it screeched with pain and disappointment as the
purity washed over it, cleansing the evil and reducing it to nothing more
than a lake of sticky black oil. Sailor Moon opened her eyes to see the creature
melting away, dissolving into the now-familiar dark liquid that slowly seeped
into the ground. The cleansing, healing energy was reviving her friends as
well, and as the Sailor Leader lowered the Moon Rod, she collapsed into Tuxedo
Kamen's arms.
"Damn!!" Sailor Uranus pounded her
fist on the brick wall of their cell. "I can't get us out of here. I've tried
everything I can think of. These bars are just too strong. And I can't figure
out the door there doesn't seem to BE a door, or a lock, or anything.
It's like that hole in the ceiling is the only way in and out of this place."
She glared up at the solid rock above them. "And now even that seems to be
gone."
"It's all right, Uranus,"
Neptune said soothingly, coming up behind her and laying a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry. We'll find a way. He can't keep us locked up here forever."
There was a mocking giggle
from the doorway. "On the contrary, my dear Neptune. Narcissus and I can
keep you here for the rest of eternity if we so choose. But never fear. We
don't intend to allow you to live that long." Lady Slipper stepped in front
of the bars, just out of Uranus's arm-reach.
Uranus noticed the careful
distance that the Negaverse woman was keeping from her, and she grinned.
"Well, if you're so eager to kill us, why don't you just come in here and
try it? I'll even let you tie one arm behind my back, so we're a little more
evenly matched." There was a wicked gleam in her eye.
Lady Slipper lifted one
rose-colored eyebrow. "My dear girl, if I were to fight you, you would be
needing both your hands, let me assure you. And they probably wouldn't do
you much good." She flipped one of her floor-length braids over one shoulder,
and then offered a slow, seductive smile. "However, I am going to come in
there. There's something else I need from you." Her brilliant sea-green eyes
narrowed, and Lady Slipper snapped her fingers. Suddenly, Uranus and Neptune
were both slammed backwards against opposite walls by some unseen, powerful
force. Uranus grunted as the wind was knocked out of her, and as she tried
to straighten, she felt something solid and cold clamping down around her
wrists and ankles.
"What the" She turned
to look at her wrists. They'd been encased in sturdy iron manacles that had
somehow miraculously appeared from the stone wall. Uranus looked across the
room to find her partner in similar constraints, and she growled at Lady
Slipper. "I don't know what you think you're going to do, but when I get
out of here"
"Hush now, Miss Uranus."
This was Narcissus' voice, and the lavender-haired admiral entered the room
as well. "No need to go making all this fuss. We're just going to take a
look at your blood."
Neptune frowned. "What?"
Lord Narcissus grinned.
"Oh, it's quite simple. You see, while Lady Slipper and I were setting up
some welcome mats, so to speak, for your little Senshi friends, I came
up with a rather ingenious idea."
"You mean I came up with
a rather ingenious idea," Lady Slipper corrected him with a raised eyebrow.
Narcissus cleared his throat.
"Ahem well, whatever.
The point is, we think maybe the Silver Dagger has been infused into the
blood of one of you despicable little Sailor brats. I mean, it would make
sense for an item of power like that to be drawn to a human possessing powers
as well. And so I-" he cast another look over at Lady Slipper, who was staring
at him pointedly, "-uh, that is, we we decided that since we happen
to have two of the Senshi sitting in the brig at this very moment, we might
as well make the most of the opportunity."
Uranus scowled at him. "I
see. And exactly how are you going to determine whether we're carrying this
Dagger around in our bloodstream?"
Lady Slipper smiled again,
condescendingly, and once more snapped her fingers. Sailor Neptune gasped
in astonishment as the bars of their cell dissolved away, disappearing into
thin air. Lady Slipper and Narcissus stepped forward into the cell, and there
was a glint in the woman's eye that Uranus did not like at all. Lady Slipper
walked towards Sailor Neptune, who was attached to the opposite wall, and
then she turned back towards Uranus. "Well, I'll tell you what, Uranus. Your
little partner here can go first, and you can watch and see exactly how it's
done. Don't worry, it's not going to hurt. Much."
Uranus' eyes widened as
she saw Narcissus reach beneath his long cape, and pull out a shiny silver
knife. Lord Narcissus grinned and took a step towards Neptune. "Wait," Uranus
commanded, struggling against the iron bands that held her to the wall. "Look,
do-whatever it is you're going to do-- to me first, okay? Just leave her
alone."
Lady Slipper giggled. "What
did I tell you, Narcissus? These Posiverse creatures are so predictable.
All this self-sacrifice and concern for one another. It's enough to make
one ill." She took the knife from Narcissus' hand, and lightly stroked the
tip of the blade across the soft skin at Neptune's throat. She didn't press
down hard enough to break the skin, she just traced its point beneath the
velvet band of Sailor Neptune's aquamarine choker. Neptune froze, scarcely
daring to breathe for fear that the slightest motion might cause the blade
to pierce into her neck. Uranus heaved against the constraints at her wrists,
jerking at them mightily, but to no avail.
"Stop it!!" The sandy-haired
Senshi demanded furiously. "Leave her alone, or I swear I'm going to
"
"Shut up. One more word
and I'll slit her throat from ear to ear. You got that?" Lady Slipper turned
to meet Uranus' steely gray eyes. Uranus stopped struggling, recognizing
the murderous expression in the Negaverse woman's eyes. She wasn't kidding.
Uranus stared at her for a minute, and then gave a sullen, silent nod. She
didn't dare answer out loud. Lady Slipper smiled again, alluringly. "That's
much better." She turned towards Narcissus. "Now, like I was saying, my dear
admiral sometimes the best way to get what you want from these humans
is not to threaten them with torture, but to threaten their loved ones with
it."
Narcissus frowned. "That
doesn't make any sense to me, Lady Slipper," he mused. "Why on earth would
they care what happens to someone else? If they're not the ones feeling the
pain, why would they want to give in to us?"
Lady Slipper shook her head.
"I know. Ridiculous, isn't it? But that's the way the Posiverse works
twists courage all into pieces and makes you weak. Love. Friendship. Compassion.
Mercy." She spit the words out as though they were despised diseases. "These
things are the weaknesses of the Posiverse. And these are the things that
will inevitably allow us to destroy it."
Sailor Neptune stared down
at Lady Slipper. "That's so sad," she said quietly. Uranus' eyes widened
as she stared across the cell at her partner. What on earth was Neptune doing?
But she didn't want to risk speaking up and getting her killed. Lady Slipper
looked up at Neptune, who was shaking her aqua curls. "How can you live without
knowing love and friendship? How can you be happy if you do not believe in
compassion and mercy?" She looked up, and Uranus' lips parted as her partner
met her eyes, with so many deep emotions playing there that it was making
her head spin. Neptune smiled, keeping her gaze on her best friend. "Without
those things, life can't possibly be worth living. Without someone to care
about, someone who cares about you there is no reason for life at all.
And when you do have someone, someone who means something to you, then death
is what becomes irrelevant. Mercy and compassion, friendship, love, these
are eternal. They are what keep us together in life, in death, and even beyond."
Uranus felt her eyes stinging as Neptune continued to look at her. At that
moment, Uranus had never been more proud to call the quiet, graceful girl
her friend. She closed her eyes with a tiny smile, and gave a small nod.
When she opened her eyes again, she could see a tear on Neptune's cheek.
Lady Slipper, however, remained
unmoved. She gave a little snort of amusement. "Pretty speech, Miss Neptune.
A shame that it's all a bunch of rot." She withdrew the knife. "Enough of
this. Watch closely now, Uranus." Lady Slipper ran a hand over the smooth
white flesh of Neptune's forearm, then brought the knife up and slowly drew
it along the skin. Sailor Neptune didn't make a sound, but she did close
her eyes, and her head lowered a bit. Uranus found herself wincing for the
sake of her friend. Lady Slipper was making the cut parallel to any major
veins, and she didn't seem to be interested in going very deep a long
scarlet line quickly welled up from the cut, and Lady Slipper turned to
Narcissus. "Now hand me that stone I gave you." Narcissus reached into his
cape and withdrew a small peach-colored rock, which he handed over to Lady
Slipper. Uranus wanted to ask what the stone was for, but remembered just
in time that she was not to speak. Lady Slipper turned towards Uranus, and
held the little rock up for her to see. "I suppose you're wondering what
this is. This is a fire opal from Betelgeuse." The name meant less than nothing
to Uranus, and Lady Slipper could apparently see the blank look on her face,
because she continued. "Betelgeuse is the main star in the Orion
constellation All the Sailor Constellations receive their power from
stars in their contstellations, and Sailor Orion's power comes from Betelgeuse.
All the fire opals from this star possess a sort of aura that Orion draws
from. Now, the Silver Dagger will only appear if it is in Orion's presence.
Since we don't exactly have her here at the moment -" Lady Slipper giggled,
"-I'm afraid we'll just have to improvise." She held the stone up towards
Neptune's bleeding arm, and waved it back and forth over the cut a few times.
Nothing happened, and Lady Slipper shrugged. "I suppose congratulations are
in order, Miss Neptune. You're not the carrier. If the Dagger was in you,
your blood would have appeared silver in the presence of this stone." Lady
Slipper turned towards Uranus. "Your turn."
Uranus gritted her teeth
as the evil woman and the Negaverse lord walked towards her. Like Neptune,
she made no sound as the knife was drawn along her own arm, and the opal
was waved over it. Lady Slipper sighed with exaggerated disappointment. "I
suppose you're not it, either."
Narcissus was scowling.
"Lady Slipper, why was I not informed about this fire opal thing? I've been
sending jaki out all this time to gather blood, and they didn't know
what they were looking for."
Lady Slipper giggled. "Well,
my dear admiral, I suppose that means you didn't do your homework very well,
hmm?" Narcissus glared at her as the two of them exited the cell. Lady Slipper
snapped her fingers again, and the bars materialized once more. At the same
time, the iron constraints around the Senshi's wrists also disappeared, and
both girls lunged forward a bit to catch their balance. As Narcissus and
Lady Slipper prepared to leave, Lady Slipper turned back towards the Soldiers
in the cell. "Oh, I almost forgot," she said, her tones saccharine. "I thought
you might like to observe your little friends as they travel on their way
here to save you." She pointed a finger towards the back wall of their cell,
where suddenly a smooth glass TV screen appeared. Uranus and Neptune could
see the enormous jaki, melting away with the power of Sailor Moon's
Healing Escalation. Lady Slipper giggled. "Isn't technology wonderful?" she
said. "Well, Narcissus, it looks like they're ready for the next little
challenge. You'd better get up there."
Narcissus nodded and swept
from the room. Lady Slipper turned back towards the captive Senshi. "Enjoy
the show, girls. Sorry I can't stay duty calls." The two Sailor Senshi
scarcely noticed as Lady Slipper left they were too busy staring with
horror at the screen as their beloved Princess collapsed into Tuxedo Kamen's
arms.
Sailor Moon felt a hand tapping
her cheek, and she struggled to open her eyes. Very slowly, the faces of
Tuxedo Kamen and the other Senshi came into focus, hovering over her.
"What what happened?" she asked, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.
"You did it, Sailor Moon.
You destroyed that super-jaki," Sailor Venus answered. She was swinging
her arm experimentally. The Healing Escalation had mended the broken bone,
though the muscles were still very tender. Sailor Mars shook her head.
"You've got some explaining
to do, Sailor Moon. What on earth were you doing out there? You could have
gotten us all killed!" The Senshi of Fire shook her head in disgust.
"Hey, take it easy, Mars,"
Jupiter interjected, putting a hand on Sailor Moon's shoulder. "She's been
through a lot in the last few days. Cut her some slack, will you?"
Sailor Moon shook her head
and shrugged Jupiter's hand away. "Mars is right, Sailor Jupiter," she said
quietly. "I nearly got all of you killed. Again." The other senshi looked
at one another with confusion, and Sailor Moon sighed as she rose to her
feet and met Sailor Venus' eyes. "Venus, I'm stepping down."
"I beg your pardon?" Sailor
Venus inquired with a perplexed expression.
"As leader. I'm stepping
down. You've been the leader of the others since we started all this
I want you to take my place." The girls stared at Venus in amazement, and
the golden Senshi's mouth dropped open.
"You- you can't be serious,
Sailor Moon."
"I'm very serious." Sailor
Moon reached down and pulled her transformation brooch from her fuku. Without
the power of the Silver Crystal, she was quickly de-transformed. She held
the brooch out towards Venus. "You'll make a much better leader than I ever
could."
Sailor Venus shook her head, stunned.
"Usagi, I can't take that. I can't use the Silver Crystal I don't know
how. You're the only one with that kind of power. You can't just resign from
the Senshi! We need you."
Tuxedo Kamen put his hand
out and took the brooch. "Usako, can I speak with you for a minute?"
Usagi turned to look up
at him, at his gorgeous face lined with concern, and she nodded resignedly.
"All right." Still holding the brooch, Tuxedo Kamen led her away from the
Altar, towards Haruka's yellow convertible which was still parked near the
side of the highway. Sailor Moon followed him to the car, and then leaned
up against the side and sighed heavily. For a moment, Tuxedo Kamen was silent,
staring at the transformation brooch in his hand. When he finally did speak,
his voice was sadder than she'd ever heard it before.
"Usako, I'm sorry. For what
I said to you at my apartment. I didn't mean it."
Usagi shook her head, her long ponytails brushing her face. "It doesn't
matter."
"Yes, it does!" Tuxedo Kamen
snapped suddenly, taking her chin in his hand and forcing her to meet his
eyes. "It matters. It matters a lot, because I love you, and I never should
have spoken to you like that." He dropped his hand and looked away. "Look,
Usako, I don't know what's going on with you right now, but it's pretty obvious
that something's wrong. I wish you wouldn't hold it all inside."
Usagi sighed again, tears
springing to her eyes for about the billionth time that day. "Mamo-chan,
this is just the way things have to be. It doesn't have anything to do with
you or the others. This is about me. Me and my stupid, wimpy, crybaby
personality. This is about keeping you and Chibiusa and the other Senshi
safe from my own weakheartedness."
Tuxedo Kamen raised an eyebrow.
"You? Weakhearted? Usako, what on earth are you talking about? You have the
one of the strongest, most loving, compassionate hearts I've ever known."
"Well, I guess you don't
know me as well as you think then." Usagi closed her eyes, and a tear rolled
down her face. "I'm a coward, Mamo-chan. Plain and simple. The rest of you
you're all soldiers. Not me. I'm a princess. A spoiled little lily-livered
princess who doesn't have the guts to protect her friends or even her family.
I put all the rest of you in danger. You're all fighting to protect me, and
I can't even lift a finger when my own daughter is being killed!" Usagi turned
and kicked the tire of the convertible with frustration.
Tuxedo Kamen's eyes widened
behind his mask as he stared down at her. "Is that what all of this is about?
You think what happened to Chibiusa was your fault?"
"It WAS my fault. But that's
not the only problem, Mamo-chan." Another tear followed the first. "I'm always
like this. I always just stand there and watch the others attacking. I let
them fight my battles for me because I don't have the courage to do it myself.
Even you I even depend on you to save me in tight spots, and that's
not fair to you or any of the others. I can't lead them, Mamo-chan. I can't
grow up and become the Neo-Queen and be a good wife and mother and queen
and soldier all at the same time. I can't do it because I'm not brave enough."
Usagi's eyes were now streaming. "So it's over between us, Mamo-chan. It
has to be. I can't be your wife, and I can't be Chibiusa's mother. I don't
deserve it."
The tall young man was quiet
for a moment. The next words he spoke completely astonished Usagi. "And I
thought I was the only one who felt like that."
Usagi stared up at him through
her tears. "What do you mean?"
Tuxedo Kamen looked at her
tenderly. "It scares me too, sometimes, you know. The idea of being Neo-King
of the Earth of being your husband and Chibiusa's father and the Protector
of Earth all at once. It's a lot of responsibility, and to be honest I'm
really not the most courageous person in the world either. Usako," and here
he leaned towards her, "you can't give up now. You're the one who keeps me
going, who gives me strength and encouragement. Every time I feel like it's
all getting to be too much, I find myself thinking about you and that incredible,
infinite love of yours and it gives me a reason to keep fighting. You
and Chibiusa both remind me what it is I'm fighting for. You just can't give
up what would I do without you?"
Usagi met his eyes, and
the hopelessness he saw there broke his heart. "Then I'm failing you in more
ways than one," she said quietly. She reached out and took her brooch from
his hand. "All right, Mamo-chan. For your sake and for the sake of the other
Senshi, I won't give up on being Sailor Moon just yet. But I'm sorry
I still think that you would be better off without me in your life. And I'm
certain that Chibiusa would." With that she straightened up and walked away,
back towards the Altar of Tears. As she went, she held out the brooch and
called out her transformation command.
Tuxedo Kamen shook his head
as he watched his beloved transform back into Sailor Moon. "Have you forgotten,
Usako?" he wondered softly under his breath. "Without you, Chibiusa has no
life." With another heavy sigh he also straightened and began to walk over
to the girls. He thought back on Shinzui's parting words. Everything will
be all right, you'll see. He really hoped that she was right.
Shinzui was restless. She'd been
restless all afternoon. If she'd had the strength she would have been pacing
back and forth around the carpet at the moment, but her muscles were still
too weak. The Neo-Moon Princess was sitting near her bedside, reading out
loud from Lousia May Alcott's Eight Cousins. It was one of Shinzui's favorite
stories, and she'd asked for it especially because she knew that Chibiusa
would probably enjoy it as well. But now she couldn't concentrate on the
words. There was a black feeling in the back of her mind. The battle was
not going well. Something was wrong, she just knew it. She wondered if it
was Usagi from what Mamoru had told her, Usagi was dealing with some
pretty intense feelings. The Princess had never been very good at handling
powerful negative emotions she was always so full of light and life
and love that darker feelings pulled at her in an awful way.
The things that Shinzui
had said to Chibiusa had been true. If Usagi used the full power of her pure
Soul, there was no way that Narcissus or Lady Slipper or the Avatar himself
for that matter could stand against her. But it was easy to dilute her power
by doing things to spark negative emotions, like hurting the other Senshi
or her friends or family. And once the negative feelings crept in, her power
was tainted and suddenly not as strong. Shinzui knew this. She'd taken advantage
of it many times before, in the past, and they were all times she would like
to forget. Shinzui sighed inwardly. She wanted to be there! She wanted to
be out there with the others, to know what was going on. But she was stuck
in this room, in this bed. Remarkable though her healing abilities were,
they were certainly not miraculous, and healing from an energy depletion
this complete was going to take time.
Suddenly Shinzui realized
that Chibiusa had stopped reading, and she tilted her head towards the child
with a smile. "What's the matter, Small Lady?"
"I I don't know. Suddenly
I feel very strange." The Neo-Moon Princess' voice was rather faint, and
Shinzui became alarmed.
"Here, give me your hand,"
she instructed the little girl. When the small fingers touched her own, Shinzui's
sightless eyes flew open. "What on earth" She was receiving the strangest
feeling. A sense of weakness, of fading away. And suddenly the child's hand
felt a little less than solid in her own.
"Shinzui-san what's
happening to me? I'm disappearing!! I I can see through my arm!!" Chibiusa
began to shriek with terror. "Stop it! Please make it stop!!" Shinzui felt
the little girl pull her hand away.
"Small Lady, wait, come
here" She tried to sit up again. Though the pain was still there, echoing
through every joint and muscle in her body, she found that she was able to
accomplish it. She stretched out her hand blindly toward the panicked princess.
But though she could hear the girl continuing to scream, she couldn't get
her to come back. Shinzui's head came up in relief as she heard her chamber
door open, and the welcome voice of Neophilus as he entered the room.
"What's going on in here
Oh, no." The ruby-eyed Guardian stared in trepidation at the Neo-Moon Princess,
standing in the center of the room with tears of fright running down her
face.
"She's fading! Something
must be happening out there to alter the course of time." This was Centauri's
voice, and Shinzui reached out for him. In a moment, she felt his silky head
pressing against her hand, and the familiar touch relieved her a bit.
"Oh, no what if it's
Sailor Moon? Or Tuxedo Kamen-sama? What if they're dying? Then I'll disappear.
Oh, noooo!!!" The future princess began to wail, as her body blinked in and
out of transparency. "I don't want my mommy to die! Guardian Father, you
have to do something, please!!"
"Small Lady!" The wailing
suddenly ceased at Shinzui's shout, and the frightened girl turned to stare
at the young blind woman sitting in the bed. Shinzui smiled as sweetly as
she could. "Now listen to me, Small Lady. The Prince and Princess are not
dead. If they were, I would know. But Centauri's right something is
going on out there that is altering the future. And that settles it. I'm
going to help them."
"You are not." This was
Guardian Brother's voice, and Shinzui tilted her head as she heard the other
two Guardians enter the room. She lifted an eyebrow.
"You cannot stop me, Demetrius.
If Narcissus is changing the timeline, there is no choice. I must go after
them."
"But Child, you are still
far too weak," Oberon protested in his customary whisper. "You cannot even
stand up on your own how do you expect to be able to fight in your
condition?"
A small smile appeared on
the blind girl's face, and she held up the arm which bore her golden bracelet.
The Orion Fire Opal, set into the bracelet, sparkled in the light. "Well,
there's one way I can think of and it would scare the pants off of
Narcissus, let me tell you."
Centauri nipped at her hand,
not hard, but enough to make a definite impression. "That's not funny, Shinzui,"
he declared firmly. "Don't even joke about that. You wouldn't dare."
"I would dare, if it was
the only way," Shinzui responded, her voice equally firm. "However, we may
not have to resort to that. I think I can gather sufficient strength from
you three Guardians to at least regain a portion of my energy. And then I'll
just have to be careful not to spend it all in one place."
Guardian Father was shaking
his head. "This is foolishness, Child. You will get yourself killed. We Guardians
do not want to have any part in that."
Shinzui tilted her head
to the side. "Neophilus, I am going out there. Now you can either help me,
or," and she held up the bracelet again, "I will do it myself. But I am
going."
Guardian Friend shook his
head, and sighed. He met the eyes of the other two, before turning back towards
Shinzui and nodding resignedly. "Very well, Child. We will help you."
Shinzui grinned. "That's
better. Now, I think I have enough energy to summon the Music Sphere
that will help." She closed her vacant eyes and concentrated, and after a
moment the Sphere appeared before her, humming softly. Shinzui let out a
deep breath. "All right," she said, doing her best not to let on how much
strength that small action had cost her, "are you ready?"
"Child, you realize that
we cannot completely restore your strength. To pour that much energy into
you all at once would cause irreparable damage to your human body." Shinzui
nodded at Guardian Father.
"I understand that, Neophilus,"
she responded quietly. "Just do what you can and I'll make do with
it." She held out the bracelet again, towards the hovering Music Sphere,
and sang softly. "Heavenly Symphony!" The sweet melody of the Sphere filled
the room, and after a moment Shinzui began to sing with it, keeping her sightless
eyes closed. As she sang, she concentrated on drawing power from her three
Guardians, on opening herself to the energy they were offering. Each one
of the Guardians extended a hand, and as the music played, three beams of
colored light shot from their fingertips: red, blue and purple. The light
converged at a point in the center of the room, where it became one single
beam of white power. This stream then flowed towards Shinzui's forehead,
where her Orion symbol began to glow.
"My soul was once darkness,
my soul she did save
And I have been rescued
from a living grave
All life that is in me belongs
to my friends
I will give it up freely
before theirs will end
Give me strength, give me power
Lend me what I need
I open my soul to be
filled
Here's my heart, here's
my spirit
Allow them to bleed
They will soon find that
I'm not so easy to kill
A reason for living, a reason
to die
The source of the heartbeat
that drives you and I
I don't think it's pointless
to want something more
For I have learned some things are
worth dying for
Give me strength, give me power
Lend me what I need
I open my soul to be
filled
Here's my heart, here's
my spirit
Allow them to bleed
They will soon find that
I'm not so easy to kill
They will soon find that
I'm not so easy to kill."
Shinzui opened her eyes as the song
ended, and blinked them a few times. She had her sight back, which meant-she
looked down-yes, she was in Senshi form now. She felt a new energy, a new
strength coursing through her veins as she rose to her feet. She was still
a little stiff and sore, but she finally had control over her own muscles
again, and she nodded with satisfaction. "Good," she declared.
Then her silvery eyes came
to rest on the small, scared face of the Neo-Moon Princess. Orion could see
now what had terrified the child so much. Her skin was indeed becoming
transparent, pulsing a bit as though it couldn't decide whether she still
existed or not. Sailor Orion smiled down at little girl. "Don't you worry,
Small Lady," she said to her. "I'm going to take care of this. I'll find
the Princess and the others, and make sure they're all safe. You stay here
with Guardian Father, all right?"
Normally the little girl
would have protested being left behind once again, but she was too worried
at this point to care. Her main concern right now was that she didn't just
go out like a candle and so she nodded anxiously. Orion moved over
to her, kneeled down, and gave the less-than-solid child a hug. "It's going
to be all right now," she assured her. The Sacrificial Soldier stood again,
and gave a nod of gratitude to the Guardians, and then with Centauri at her
heels she strode for the door.
"Child?" Orion turned back
to see Demetrius take a step forward, his brilliant sapphire eyes filled
with concern. "Be careful," he admonished softly.
Orion held his gaze for
a moment, and then with another nod and small smile, she spun on her heel
and was gone.
Back
to Part Seventeen
On
to Part Nineteen
Back
to the Library
Back
to the Refuge