"Do you hate this world, little girl? Do you resent your hellish destiny that you have been forced to bear from birth?" the voice rasped enticingly. The girl turned, a mix of confusion and curiosity inscribed on her face.
"It isn't fair, is it?" the voice continued. The girl felt herself nodding in agreement at these words. It was true. Why should pain and suffering be the only things she would ever know?
"Then come with me. Let me change your bitter fate, let me alter this world you despise so, let me give you a chance to become something else," the voice said compellingly. "Open your mind to me, child, and I will show you the way." The girl's eyes flickered with interest.
"Can you give me vengeance?" She could almost feel the unknown speaker smile.
"Oh, yes, I can give your revenge." The girl hesitated, then extended her hand. Darkness enclosed her small fingers and world. She cried out, and saw no more.
* * * * *
Adularia pressed herself against the stone corridor, waiting for the soft thudding of footsteps to fade into the distance. When finally the person was clearly gone, she let out a long held sigh of relief. It would certainly be a shock to most people if they saw their hated but respected figure of authority like this.
With utmost caution, she crept through the nearly silent corridors. When she had finally reached her destination she typed her access code into a small panel on the wall. The rock before her slid open noiselessly, revealing a door where before there had been a flawless wall. She stepped into her haven, closing the door behind her.
The place was one of the better kept secrets on Nemesis. It had been made by the nearly legendary artisan Saphir. It had been his cherished secret for many years. He had only told his brother, the prince. Only a little while before his death at the hands of the sailor senshi had he told her about the place. She had occasionally wondered why he had bothered to inform her of its existence. He had no reason to trust her, no one had at that point. Perhaps he had some idea of his fate and had shown it to her with the hope that she would take care of it. Or perhaps he had taken pity on the poor, nearly mindless puppet she had still been pretending to be at that point. It made little difference, the outcome was the identical.
What mattered was that this place-she had come to call it The Garden-was there for her. The place was a as different from the rest of Nemesis as night was from day. While the passages of their underground cities were entirely carved out of stone with only a few pieces of vegetation and failing attempts at agriculture breaking the monotony, this place was filled with various plants beneath cheerful sunlight.
It was an illusion naturally. The sunshine was really an artificial life as was the hologram of the sky surrounding the small place. A few of the plants were even fake. The place looked realistic enough though and in its own way was beautiful, even if it was a replica.
Her lips curved into a smile and she sat down on a large outcropping of rock hanging over a pond. This was her sanctuary, the one tiny place of safety where she was not a princess, not a leader of any kind. Here, she was simply a adolescent in no rush to grow up or go anywhere.
I'm so selfish, she thought accusingly, guilt stinging her even then. So horribly, unbelievably selfish, but still...
A slight grinding resounded through the enclosed space, startling her out of her rest. She sat up abruptly, watching the door slide open warily. She relaxed when she saw who stood on the threshold. Her alarm had been without cause as it was only Fluorite.
The little girl was the other keeper of this secret. Adularia had wanted to keep it to herself once, to have something no one else could. Fluorite needed more than she did though. The strangely innocent child had suffered terribly. Anything that could ease her pain should be given to her.
"Adularia-sama?" Fluorite asked nervously. It was strange, the princess reflected. Fluorite did not look as though she belonged on that planet. Standing there clad in a well-worn nightgown-a present the princess had once given to her for her birthday-with her lavender curls falling down her shoulders and her eyes wide, she was a stark contrast to the other children her age. Many had learned hate by then. Their naivety had already hardened into bitterness. This girl seemed different somehow.
"What is it?" the princess inquired, carefully keeping her voice soft. She had become so accustomed to snapping at whomever spoke to her that it was difficult to show a little kindness. She didn't wish to frighten the poor child.
"Can I come in?"
"Of course," Adularia assured her. Even she sounds anxious around me, the princess thought sadly. She's seen me use my powers too many times, like everyone. At least she isn't completely terrified of me yet.
Relief washed across Fluorite's small face and she entered, sealing the entrance behind her.
* * * * *
The loud shriek of the school bell disrupted the teacher in mid-sentence. A look of annoyance flashed across her face briefly at the rather untimely interruption. Before she could finish her thought, one particular student seated in the middle of the classroom had already leapt from her chair, books and papers clutched in her arms in a precarious balance. The blonde girl winced a little, trying desperately to keep her supplies from toppling over and rushed towards the door a few strides ahead of the rest of the class.
The teacher grimaced at the girl's eagerness to leave. If anything, this student should be considering spending a little time after school with her to improve her fairly poor grades. The frown soon changed to an expression of wistful amusement. It had been an awfully long time since she had possessed that kind of energy or enthusiasm. Though she might not be the best of students, it was hard to dislike her. Her cheerful disposition was just too infectious.
The girl sprinted through the hallways, dodging her peers in a frantic attempt to get out of the building. Under normal circumstances, she would have enjoyed spending some time with her friends before they went to their separate clubs. They rarely seemed to have enough time to spend together lately.
Today was different though. For once, the spunky adolescent had somewhere of importance to be. She ran with more urgency than usual, her long legs covering ground rapidly and her golden pigtails streaming out behind her. She careened through the hallways and down the streets, narrowly avoiding half a dozen collisions. Her mind was entirely focused on her destination. The people and scenery around her were merely a blur.
She halted finally at the nearest bus-stop, panting slightly from her exertion. The yellow bus screeched to a halt and she entered without a word. The other passengers looked with vague interest at the exhausted girl on the verge of panic as she reached for the nearest handhold.
One woman took pity on her and vacated her seat with a warm smile. Usagi smiled back out of relief and gratitude as she took her place on the bench. She sagged a little, her seemingly boundless energy finally running out. The woman sitting next to her eyed her curiously.
"You certainly seem to be in a hurry," the woman commented absently. The girl nodded and after a moment to catch her breath replied.
"I'm seeing someone off. I really want to be there in time." The woman's face began to show a twinge of genuine interest.
"Oh, if I'm not prying, might I ask who it is?" The girl hesitated slightly, a little unsure of what to say. There was no way that this person could truly understand just how important this was. Even if she explained the whole story, no one would believe her.
"The love of my life," she said finally. "He's leaving for a while to go to school in America. He was supposed to go a while ago but...he was sort of delayed." The woman nodded a bit, smiling internally at the girl's devotion. It was odd that she spoke of this person as though he were more than just a boyfriend or crush. At that age, most teenagers did not have someone whom cared for as deeply as she seemed to.
"The love of your life?" the woman asked, unable to resist the desire to find out a little more about this. For the first time, the girl's nervous expression was replaced by a grin. It faded quickly, but gave the woman some idea of just how important this was.
"Oh, yes," the girl answered. She giggled at the phrase. "He's the best man in the whole world. We've been together for almost four years now, though we've known each other for even longer. He's..." her eyes grew slightly misty as she searched for words to describe him. "He's always there for me when I'm in trouble. When we're together everything just seems right, like nothing bad could ever happen to separate us or tear us apart. I can't really explain it but it's like..." her voice trailed off and the woman nodded understandingly. Everyone must have felt that way at one point in their life. It seemed that far too often hearts filled with love like this one were shattered. There weren't very many that were left like this.
"And he is leaving?" the woman questioned. She couldn't help but feel a pang of sorrow for the girl. It seemed like a story that had been told a hundred times. She was too innocent, too naïve to suffer that kind of loss.
The girl's hands trembled ever so slightly. She willed them to stop, preventing all visible signs of her worries to cease.
"Yes," she said. "But it will be okay. He'll only be gone for a little over a year. Reika-san will be gone for eight more years and she and Motoki-san still write each other all the time. A year isn't too bad. I-it really is nothing. I mean, what could happen in such a short time, especially now when it's so peaceful? Besides, it's what he wants and I want him to be happy. I know he'd stay if I really wanted him to. If I begged him to stay he'd give up everything and be with me. But, I don't want him to suffer because of my selfishness. I'll be just fine on my own."
The woman cringed as she heard the girl struggle to convince herself of this. It was far too obvious to the older listener that this child was far from okay with her boyfriends decision. The woman was almost tempted to tell her to make him stay. She didn't deserve the hardships of a long distance relationship. Only her better judgment prevented her from saying anything.
They made the rest of the trip in silence, each locked in their own thoughts. After what seemed like an eternity to the quivering blonde, the bus slowed to a stop in front of the airport. The girl sprung from her seat almost instantly, her possessions already clasped tightly within her hands.
The woman shook her head a little as she watched her disappear through the door. There was something about that girl, something not quite right, the woman mused. She seemed almost too naïve, and yet more mature than most people. She obviously felt sick inside, but she managed to project an aura of strength courage. She woman shook her head, amused at her thoughts and dismissed the matter from her mind. It really wasn't her concern.
* * * * *
"The Gates of Time are open," Peridot said smugly. She swept the folds of her revealing skirt behind her and bent into a low, exaggerated bow. Adularia watched her minion carefully. One of the things she had never liked about the other woman-she was really only about two or three years older than Adularia-was her unpredictability. She was erratic in both her thoughts and actions. She was always manipulative and cunning, but her behavior patterns could change drastically over the course of a few hours.
"Did you bring me the guardian?" the princess inquired, her voice biting despite its low volume. Peridot's emerald eyes widened slightly in poorly concealed shock.
"No, she escaped into the fourth dimension," she said. "She really isn't terribly important though, is she?" Adularia turned her head slightly to hide her expression. Peridot had rare moments where she was surprisingly perceptive and the slightest hint of emotion could give away the princess's position.
"Are you saying you failed?" Adularia asked in icy tones. "Are you saying that you could not carry out this simple assignment? The guardian was already terribly weakened and should have been incapable of putting up much of a fight. I practically finished the job for you myself." Though Adularia could not see the woman's expression, she could feel the fury radiating from her quite clearly. Peridot, her pride injured, was fuming, her temper rising dangerously.
"There was nothing I could have done, Hime-sama," she snapped defensively. "Besides, it isn't like she can do anything now. She could barely open the Door of Time and-" As soon as the words had left her mouth, Peridot realized her mistake. Adularia's eyes widened in genuine shock.
"You let the other passengers on the ship go through the door?!" she demanded. "You let our worst enemies enter an unknown period in time? Do you have any idea what you have done?! They could wipe our entire clan out with ease. They have the power to alter history and our future!" The princess quickly regained her lost composure, struggling to contain the fear and anger that was rising within her.
"You are finished," the princess said, her voice reverting to its perilously low state. "I doubted your competency from the beginning, but never expected this. Get back to whatever the hell you were doing before you were promoted and forget about this mission." Peridot inhaled sharply, unable to speak for several seconds.
"Hime-sama, I can repair the damage done quickly," she said, her voice flat with restrained emotion. "With the guardian gone, time travel is possible for anyone, even with Nemesis in its weakened state. I will find the senshi and eliminate them. Please let me correct my error!"
"Who went through the door?" Adularia demanded, struck with sudden inspiration.
"I wasn't quite sure, they were practically gone by the time I got there..."
"Was there a small, pink haired child?" Peridot desperately wracked her memory. It had been almost impossible to see in that fog, but she now that she thought about it, she had seen a flash of pink. It could have been a girl's hair.
"Yes," she said slowly.
"The sole heir to the throne and the only child the queen will ever be able to bear," Adularia smiled. "If we can capture her as a hostage, Serenity will have to lower the barrier. And with access to the city..."
"Then allow me to capture her for you," Peridot begged, seizing the chance. Adularia shook her head.
"No, I will assign this task to someone more competent such as Tanzanite. You are dismissed."
Peridot opened her mouth to object but stopped herself quickly.
"As you wish," she hissed through clenched teeth. Trembling with rage, the emerald haired woman left the room. **This is not the end of this, Hime-sama. Oh, no. I'll make you regret that.**
* * * * *
"Mamo-chan," Usagi whispered. She felt tears threatening to break free. It had been months since that fateful day when her beloved had boarded a plane for America. She remembered everything perfectly, his smiling face, his kind eyes, the look of indecision and love written across his face, everything. Every day after he had left, she'd played the scene over in her mind, wondering what she could have done differently if she had known what was going to happen to him.
Her eyes scanned the airport anxiously. It made her heart ache to see the place, even now. For a moment, she thought he might have already boarded the plane. Before her tears broke free, she spotted him. He was sitting down, eyes focused on his wristwatch.
Usagi almost broke out into sobs at the very sight of him. The idea that he might have left without ever seeing her, that she would never be able to tell him all of those things that she had not told him on that day was unbearable. She stopped herself from rushing foreword into his arms though. She was no longer a little girl and she could not let him see her so close to hysterics. She loved him and would not worry him.
She closed her eyes and willed the tears to go away and for her heart to cease its frantic beating. When she had calmed down sufficiently, she walked quickly to him. She paused once she had reached him, her nervousness returning despite her intentions. The words she had planned to say fled her mind and her voice caught in her throat.
It took him a few seconds to look up and see her. She forced her lips into a smile for his benefit.
"Usako! You're late! You almost missed me completely," he scolded. Once his words would have sounded cold and heartless to Usagi, especially at a time like this. She knew differently though. There was no malice or anger behind Mamoru's accusation, only exhaustion and worry. She smiled again.
"Mamo-chan," she whined. "You sound just like my sensei!" He chuckled halfheartedly at her attempt at a rebuttal. This pattern of conversation was all too familiar to both of them. Their teasing seemed strained today, but still they tried to conceal their grief over the situation.
Both stood awkwardly for a few moments, uncertain of what to say. Mamoru shifted uncomfortably, watching the planes outside from the corner of his eye. Usagi looked down to her hands and noticed to her chagrin that they were beginning to shake again. She cringed as she noticed the clock. He would have to leave in only a few minutes.
She wanted to tell him everything, to explain how she felt but didn't even know where to begin. The tears at the corners of her eyes began to push foreword despite her efforts. All at once, unsure of what she was doing, she rushed foreword and wrapped her arms around him.
"Ai shiteru!" she cried. "I don't want you to go!" She felt Mamoru tense subtly. She shut her eyes tightly but could still see his stunned expression in her mind. A part of her realized with grim satisfaction that if she pleaded, he might very well not go. He would want to, and he would resent her selfishness, but if he knew how much it meant to her, he might not go. The other part of her cringed at her words. She was taking advantage of him, of his love.
"Usako..." he whispered.
"Gomen nasai! Gomen nasai...It's so horrible for me to ask you this but...I can't...I don't want you to be hurt like last time..." Her words sounded weak and foolish even to her ears. "I can't bear to...to think of you dying. I was so lonely before, so desperate. I didn't know what to do and came so close to making a lot of mistakes...I can't...I'm not strong enough...to endure..." Her words faded into silence.
Usagi shuddered and drew herself away from Mamoru's embrace. He looked just as she had imagined he would, horrified, guilty and slightly hurt. She had just asked him to give up his dreams, his future, all for her sake. It was unfair and immature, she realized.
"Is...is that was you really want?" he asked. Usagi hesitated, realizing that her next words would haunt her forever, no matter what she said. She straightened, not allowing him to give her any support which she did not deserve just then.
"No," she said softly. Her own words shocked her almost as much as him. "I do want that, but not entirely. More than that, I want you to be happy. You won't be happy if you stay here, so you have to go, for my sake too."
"If you don't want me to go I won't."
"I-I just realized something. I'm being kind of stupid, ne? I always talk about dreams, and how important they are, but just a moment ago I almost tried to take away your happiness just for my sake. If I really wanted to do something like that, then I wouldn't love you as much as I do. So, you must go. I don't mind." She smiled bravely. Chiba Mamoru smiled back and without another word, walked toward his plane.
Usagi's last thread of control dissolved the instant he was out of sight. She sank into the nearest seat and wept, unaware of everything except her own anguish.
* * * * *
Peridot shuddered and dropped to a ground she could not see, her body veiled by layers of thick mist. Her lips parted in an attempt to speak, but only a painful gasp emerged. She tried again, this time with some success.
"Damn...you..." she hissed. She repeated the words, screaming them this time so that they echoed throughout the oblivion that formed the fourth dimension. Not one soul answered. The barren world was absolutely devoid of life with the exception of its guardian that lurked within its depths. Yet the woman clearly heard a response in her mind.
Peridot pressed her hands against what must have been something solid in attempt to lift herself up. Her efforts were only rewarded with another painful fall though. This time, she did not even get up, she simply lay there staring into the endless expanse concealed by mist. It seemed almost like too much trouble to continue on her journey, to keep fighting with herself.
She felt the senshi within her smile grimly. Mercury's determination was almost inhuman, Peridot reflected. She knew that she had already lost, that she could not hope to really fight, but still she struggled to hinder her enemy even in such tiny ways as these.
**I doubted your competency from the beginning, but never expected this. Get back to whatever the hell you were doing before you were promoted and forget about this mission.** Peridot focused her exhausted mind on the princess insult and felt her anger grow tremendously. She channeled that rage as she had taught herself to do and forced her body to stand.
**How ironic that you would help me in the end, Hime-sama,** Peridot thought to herself. She continued to walk, now with more confidence, toward her hidden destination.
After a while, Peridot encountered what she had been searching for. The Door of Time loomed out of the mists, strangely out of place in the abyss. She stepped onto its threshold, trying to determine what lay beyond. Few had ever actually seen what was beyond that ornate door. For all she knew, it could be an elaborate trap for those who tried to violate the taboo against time travel.
"The last sacred territory, huh?" she muttered. She felt a twinge of fear as she prepared to enter the place. There was a world beyond her comprehension in there. Humans were never supposed to set foot in it. It seemed wrong somehow. She suppressed these thoughts as soon as they entered her mind. Caution had never been her strong point, and now was a horrible time to change.
With a reckless laugh, she jumped through, plunging herself into that world.
* * * * *
"Hime-sama, are you sure that was wise?" Tanzanite asked. The princess turned her head to look at the scarlet haired woman.
"What?" she questioned, feigning ignorance.
"You know exactly what I mean. You deliberately angered Peridot then. There is no telling what she will do if provoked. Besides, that demon still thinks she's useful and doesn't want her dying this way."
"She failed miserably. We'll have to clean up whatever mess she may make, but in this kind of rage, there's no way Crystal Tokyo's princess will get out alive. If nothing else, it will get rid of her for a little while."
The older woman frowned slightly, but gave no comment.
* * * * *
Peridot's eyes widened slightly at the sight of several figures up ahead. For a moment, she thought her eyes were playing tricks with her. The pastel colors of a sailor fuku and glistening blacks of foreign uniforms did not fade into the distance though. She had thought she had seen them several times before, but they had always turned out to shadows, ghosts of humans in a dimension beyond her reach. These were real.
A grin split her face and her eyes lit up with a wicked gleam. She was sick of this alien world, this empty dimension of both future and past. She wanted to escape more than anything else now. If she didn't find a way out, she was sure she would lose her sanity.
A single thought entered her head and dominated her mind: this was their fault and she had to make them pay. Images flashed in her subconscious, the princess shadowed features sneering at her, the contempt of her peers, an ethereal image of a senshi, that horrible darkness that filled her pathetic home and above all, the image of one person dissolving into flames rising in a pillar from the planet's surface. These were the reasons she was in pain, alone in a place she could not begin to understand.
The more she thought of these, the more her rage built until it was an uncontrollable fury eliminating everything but her hatred and desire to kill until there was no one left. Her throat muscles clenched, cutting off her breath and her hands tightened into fists, blood streaming from the fingernails embedded in her skin.
With a strangled shriek, she lunged foreword, self-control instantly forgotten. She sped foreword, closing the distance between her and her prey. She saw the child's head turn towards her, pink locks flying out behind her. The little girl's crimson eyes widened with visible terror. **Too late!** Peridot thought in elation.
Without hesitation, she raked her sharpened fingernails over the child's shoulder. Blood sprayed across her face and long, ugly gashes appeared on the girl's now exposed skin. Peridot's expression altered to one of pure ecstasy and she lifted her hand to strike again. Her clawed fingers lunged immediately for a small golden chain around the girl's neck. Her expression quickly changing to panic, the little senshi grabbed at her hands in a desperate attempt to stop her. Peridot smirked and ripped the Time Key from the senshi's trembling fingers. Once more, she went through the deadly routine of raising her hand to attack. This time her palm swept across the girl's cheek sending her reeling backwards along with her guardians.
The three older senshi surrounding the little princess prepared for battle, but had a difficult time maintaining position against the flow of time. Peridot smirked at their futile efforts. She had the advantage and knew it all too well. With time's inexorable tide pressing against them, their attacks could not hope to strike her as long as she remained in the right position. She held up one hand and conjured four glistening crystals of ice that narrowed down to a razor sharp point. With a burst of laughter, she let the crystals fly foreword, propelled by the very current that kept them moving.
Her crude weapons missed their marks, but all had some lasting effect. Several deep cuts were left in the older senshi that had not been their before. Their guard was down. Seizing the opportunity, she launched herself at the little girl and grabbed her with both hands. She lifted one hand drenched in scarlet fluid above her head and summoned the power now residing within her. Frost laced her palm as an enormous spear of ice emerged. She turned the weapon to point it at the helpless child, to cut her beating heart out of her chest.
Suddenly, her hand faltered. Deep inside, Mercury was still struggling with all of her soul. Peridot swore violently but could not force her hand to move through the motion that would end the princess's life. Before she could stop her, the little girl had recovered some of her courage. She lifted a small pink wand and aimed it directly at her enemies face. Words never emerged from her lips, only a desperate battle cry. Peridot shrieked in anger and pain as a blinding light struck her. Fire raced through every vein in her body and sent her reeling back. Without thinking, she flung the source of her agony out into the time stream.
Mercury, seemingly impervious to the pain, reacted instantly. She sent all of her strength into the arm that still held the icicle. The deadly shard changed its course at the senshi's will and swept across the right side of Peridot's face, severing the skin just above her eye.
Peridot continued to scream with a mixture of blind wrath and anguish. Her howls drifted through the dimension with no one to hear them.
* * * * *
Tsukino Usagi's sapphire eyes snapped open instantly. Those eyes still bore evidence of her tears but were now alert with a hint of fear in them. Some hidden instinct screamed at her that something was terribly wrong. The details of the situation eluded her mind completely, but she was able to create plenty of possible scenarios on her own.
She cringed as images of Mamoru's death flew through her head despite her attempts to suppress them. She told herself firmly that it was quite possible that nothing had happened, or that it was only something small. She didn't believe even her own lies.
The cloudless sky suddenly darkened, causing citizens all over town to pause and stare upward. Bolts of lightning split the heavens followed by deafening thunder. Usagi listened to the shrieks of her fellow citizens with a strange aura of calmness. Once, she might have tried to flee out of blind fear. Now, after seeing all hell break loose and ravage her world time and time again, this did not startle her at all.
Suddenly, one very familiar person dashed past her. Her auburn hair had lengthened and was no longer adorned by its customary bow, but it was undeniably Osaka Naru. Her childhood friend turned to her in confusion, eyes wide.
"Usagi-chan! Why aren't you running? Hurry and get out of here!" she asked, her voice feverish as ominous storm clouds glowing an unearthly magenta began to gather. Usagi looked at her as if seeing a ghost. **Why aren't I running?** she thought abruptly. The Tsukino Usagi Naru had known would have been panic-stricken by then. Usagi tried to examine her emotions and found that known of them were fear. She felt grief for what could have happened to her Mamo-chan and sick with the realization that a battle could be coming, but all of that was drowned out by one dominant emotion, a kind of grim determination. It wasn't exactly like courage, more like a simple realization that it was time to perform her duty. It was almost a void in her emotions, as though all feelings had drained away and left her with this sense of purpose.
Naru shot one last desperate glance at her old friend before succumbing to her own fear and sprinting away. **What is this feeling inside me? It's been there before but...why...? When did I become like this?** Usagi wondered, her thoughts shifting from the chaotic scene before her. **Strange...I always called myself a senshi, but I never was one. I don't want to kill. I never wanted to hurt anyone. Being like this was supposed to be a game. I'm not really a warrior, am I?** Usagi forcibly focused disorderly her thoughts on the situation, but her doubts did not dissapear. There was something very different about her, something she wasn't sure she liked.
She watched the receding form of the girl who had once been her best friend in the world, the one who had understood her better than she had ever understood herself, the one who had never left her side. Naru was a stranger. While they had once been similar, they were now almost opposites. **Goodbye, Naru-chan,** Guilt and a sense of loss washed over her, but the time for that had passed. Tsukino Usagi was no longer needed, Sailormoon was.
She lifted her golden broach from her blouse. The words she had chanted a thousand times before sprang readily to her lips and she transformed with a flurry of feathers. Within seconds, her school uniform was replaced with a short skirted ensemble complemented by angelic wings sprouting from her back. She braced herself warely for whatever would occur, trying not to think about how natural her fighting stance felt or how quick she was to consider violence.
The clouds began to rotate around a fairly large hole in the center. Jagged bolts of lightning crackled as the energy concentrated in that void began to build. With surprising abruptness, the hole regurgitated on one small body. Pink hair streamed mingled with scarlet blood and a tangle of ribbons that streaked upward into the sky. The person was in a fetal position, knees bent as if to protect her from more pain. Sailormoon was unable to see the face clearly, but instantly recognized the figure.
"Chibi-Usa!" she cried out. She rushed foreward to intercept the child and save her from certain death. Her movements seemed painfully slow as she watched her own daughter fall to the earth with devastating speed. Again she felt the same emptiness inside, as though catching the small girl was not so much of an act of kindness or love as an act of duty.
She reached Chibi-Usa just as the small senshi was about to strike the surface of the pavement. She crumpled to the ground, but didn't hurt herself. She sat there for several minutes cradling the unconsious girl, blood soaking her garments.
A kind of numbness settled over her senses, extinguishes all rational thoughts. Seeing her daughter in her arms, her face pallid and body limp was just too much. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew that this meant the beginning of more battles, of more loss and hatred and fighting. She couldn't believe it though. Her body and mind had reacted without delay when faced with a situation like that, but a part of her still refused to accept it.
Again, her thoughts came back to dwell on that complete lack of emotion she had felt. It was as though she were a machine. The more she thought about it, the more that was what it seemed like she had become. She destroyed. She had let her enemies die without a second thought, never stopping to consider what she was elliminating. Every time, every single time she had felt that emptiness as she killed. Occasionally, she had felt triumphant, ecstatic or proud, but most of the time she just felt a hollow.
She shivered suddenly, thought the air was not cold. She hugged Chibi-Usa's body close to her, ignoring the blood that was penetrating her fuku and drenching her hair. Mechanically, she began to walk in the direction of her house. Feathers covered in the blood of an innocent fell from her crimson stained wings.
* * * * *
Scarlet liquid dripped from a jagged slash down the woman's face, winding its way through the curves in her contorted expression and dripping onto her outstretched hand. Her viridian curls covered half of her soiled face, hiding one hate-filled eye from view completely. Barely feeling the pain, she ran her delicate fingers over the cut.
"Are you happy?" she whispered. "Is this what you want?" She looked around the darkened void surrounding her as if someone might respond. She traced the length of the cut once again, letting the excess blood drip down her fingers to rest in her palm like a tiny lake. Seeing the substance only sickened her.
Her eyes futiley searched the scenery for the hundredth time. The utter hopelessness of the situation had finally managed to overcome even her denial. In afterthought, her actions seemed foolish and impulsive. She would never have a chance to alter her fate though.
Illusions flickered in the corner of her eye, a bitter reminder of what she had left behind. Now that the adreniline and rage had drained away from her body, she merely felt exhausted. Even fighting with the senshi seemed too require too much effort. She constantly battled Mercury and had grown tired of it.
"You go to hell, you little bitch," she muttered. There was no genuine anger in her words. It was simply a repetition of a phrase, a meaningless way of passing time. There was no sense in trying to hide her growing dispair from the senshi. Her opponent already knew.
All of a sudden, Peridot's eyes caught a twinkle of light in the distance. She blinked but the beacon remained. A triumphant smile creased her face. **The little brat must have gotten out there.** With all strength, she willed herself to turn slightly and break through that gap that breached the dimensions. She plunged through, not knowing what lay beyond.
Peridot surveyed the landcape with her one good eye, trying to figure out where and when she had exited at. The landscape seemed vaguely familiar. She had never seen it herself as there was no city like this on Nemesis, but she couldn't help but feel that she knew this place.
Recognition flashed over her features as she looked at a single, red tower buried in the heart of the metropolis. She had seen that tower many, many times in textbooks.
"Tokyo Tower," she whispered with reverence. "This is the Crystal Tokyo of the past, before the great frost. Which is...where that little girl-they used to call her "rabbit"-fled last time. Which means..."
Shedding her dispair almost effortlessly, she began to walk down the deserted streets of the ancient city. She walked with no particular hurriedness. After all, she had all of the time in the world.
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