Of This World And Yesterday
Mikte hic at wille have,
Stedefast of love, loveli trewe,
Of me sorwe yhe may me saven;
Ioye and blisse were eere me newe.
(Might I have her at will,
Steadfast of love, lovely, true,
Of my sorrow she might save me;
Joy and bliss were ever to me new.)
-Medieval English Anon.
Chapter 24- Darkly
She thought she would fall forever.
The world was distant, a thing not around her or part of her, dizzying as she placed a thin hand onto the table beside her to steady herself as she reeled.
Papa.
Papa!
Papa?
Papa....
Such a small word brought so many different meanings with it.
Hotaru held memories of the far off past, when she was just an ordinary little girl with an ordinary little life, living in an ordinary house with an ordinary set of parents. She remembered going out on Sundays and sipping green tea and eating sandwiches in the park on a picnic, sitting under a broad leafed tree. One day they stayed so late, it became dark, and little points of light began to emerge into the twilight, blinking in the dim dusk of the sunset world. Hotaru. Fireflies. How pretty they were, how delicate. She reached out and one alighted on her hand, making the little girl in the lavender dress laugh and giggle with delight. A memory of being carried home remained with her sleepily, of being draped across her Papa's back and of her arms twined around his neck as they walked forward, her feet swaying where they dangled.
Her father, Tomoe Souichi, the man who saved her life so long ago by making a deal with the devil...so that she may live.
Her father, Tomoe Souichi who was gone after that, soul faded away as the demon he dealt with grew and strengthened, making him something else, something other. A puppet, a shell, a memory. Concepts like love and kindness were whittled away until all that was left was the driving force of his work; to create a superbeing, something beyond human, perhaps something like himself now. Inside him, Germatoid grew stronger, urging, feeding, corrupting.
Hotaru became a living doll. Pretty, elegant, poised, polite.
Bloodless.
Or so it seemed. After the accident in the lab that took her father from her, little by little, she was made into a machine. The burning and injuries delivered in the explosion had damaged her, and the remaining feelings her father held made him wish to heal his daughter; bits of metal replaced joints and bones, muscle tissue fused with mechanical systems.
The kind Papa Hotaru remembered so distantly would not do such a thing. He was dead. Gone. Gone for a long, long time. The words hummed in her mind, sing-songy and sugary sweet.
Gone away...far away....
Would it have been better for her to die then?
A graceful death did not come to her.
Her father was dead. No daydream of peace could bring him back.
...gone away...far away....
It had to be unreal.
The words fell from her lips hard, choking.
"Saturn Crystal Power! Make-up!"
Deep purple light glinted off the glass beakers and test tubes in the school's rudimentary science lab. In the room's center, a figure was cleansed in light, twirling in a corporeal form, a silhouette of her soul brought forward in reality. A smooth purple stone burned between her brows for a moment as a white gold tiara slipped its way from it, cool against her warm skin.
Something heavy formed in her hands, taller than she and weighted on its end with a double blade. To look closely would reveal a reflection on its surface, if only for a moment, of the man who stood across from her. In the instant of her transformation, he stood, watching, waiting, eyes widened as her aural light shone off the rims of his glasses.
Then the Glaive swung forward, braced in Sailor Saturn's hands as she prepared to strike. There was a paleness in her face, a thinness to it and a shadowing in her dark eyes that belied weariness and struggle. She looked at him, trying to find some distinguishing mark that would make him someone else, someone faceless or someone an enemy.
Someone she could kill.
Same face.
Papa who stood across from her, eyes tinted with a look of timid hope.
"Hotaru?"
Same voice.
The Glaive moved a fraction, tilted upwards sharply in warning.
"You are not my father." To even her own ears, the words sounded cold, hard, as icy as the rings of the planet Saturn. He had stepped forward slightly, hands uplifted and palms outward, peaceful. There was the faint sound of a footfall in the stillness as he eased back and away from her. "You're another kugutsu."
"Yes."
Her eyes narrowed marginally, trying to find what he was thinking, to chase after a course of thought.
"We all have some of her memories of us..." the man across from her was saying softly, voice sorrowful, mournful. Eyes that were gentle met hers, then looked down at the swept sepia tiles of the schoolroom floor. "I know who I am supposed to be. I carry the thoughts and actions of one called Tomoe Souichi. I am not human. I died a long time ago. And now I am an echo of that man."
The eyes lifted again, watchful of her from behind the shining round glasses.
That man.
Not an imitation of Germatoid.
Same face.
Same voice.
Same soul?
Papa?
Papa!
Papa....
No...no, not Papa. Papa was dead. Papa was dead. This was an imitation, a shell, a puppet that carried a handful of memories that a witch named Karasu witnessed.
...gone away...far away....
"I was sent here to attack you...same as with the others. She remembers how they attacked, makes us to look like enemies of your past," Souichi continued, stepping forward again, palms still outstretched and open. Saturn flinched slightly, drawing back and stiffening as though to strike. He hesitated again, though continued to speak. "But the memories she cast into them were all bad...ones of senshi and witch fighting each other. I remember...fireflies."
The Glaive weighed so heavily in her hands, the shaft so black against the immaculate whiteness of her gloves. Faintly, faintly, there was a tremor. Faintly, her grasp loosened.
The shock of it rippled through her mind. Drop the Glaive, and the Silence will come. Speak three words, and the Silence will come. Standing across from her was the figure of a man who had tried to usher in an era of Destruction.
...gone away...far away....
The death of a world, or the death of a memory?
Her fingers tightened on the black shaft of her weapon.
And she screamed.
Above, there was a single figure who watched as the back of the school building was blasted out. Slowly, shafts of deep purple light lanced out from the slats of the blinds. Then the glass broke. Then the wall crumbled under the words, "Silence Glaive...Surprise!"
Karasu did not smile.
On her shoulder, a black raven cawed once in triumph, only to be silenced by a harsh slap to his beak. "Do not take delight in needless death. Be ashamed of yourself."
The bird flapped ragged wings from where he perched on the roof's ledge, sniffing irritatedly at his mistress as she came to stand beside him. Chunks of brick, stone and glass lay scattered across the schoolyard, some thrown as far as the playground beyond, where swings idled in the breeze.
She held something in her hands, an intricately carved antique music box of obsidian and gold, a black diamond crescent moon decorating the top. A crooked handle jutted out the side, a glassy black handle ready to be turned. She drummed her fingernails on the top of it, and drew a slow, deep breath. All things came to this- other plans were secondary, things to fall back upon, to ensure that her plan would work once this small, brief moment was complete, or to ensure her safe escape should she fail. Inside this beautiful, dark box was a single little figure, once defiant. She wondered how it looked now. It would be only another moment before she saw her little poppet of Sailor Saturn again, after the nightmare-givers, the Lemures, were done with it.
Below her, the school was still. Even as her kugutsu did it's duty- dying- she had been wandering the halls, silencing the few students still left inside after the last bell. Crystalized Hoste floated in the air above them. The senshi would be breaking up by now, if they hadn't already. A simple display of dark, swirling clouds that would mark scattered locations across the city. She would win by losing. No need for the kugutsu to defeat anyone. All their purpose was was to separate, to instigate, to prepare. If good came out of their current actions, so much the better. But now...she was a breath away from not needing them at all.
Unseen, she leapt off the rooftop and landed lithely in the hole the energy blast had leveled in the side of the building, as Evermore took to wing, curiosity overcoming recent annoyance with her. He alighted on her shoulder and their twin sets of black eyes swept over the scene.
Saturn knelt just inside the arch of destruction, rubble pooling around her, lapping at her knees. Chemical solvents released an acrid odor into the air, though in the school lab, there was little there that could cause a dangerous mixture. Her fingers tightened on the edges of the box, and she let her gaze fall and remain on the little girl in the middle of the debris.
Bits of vine and root and dirt were scattered around her, most in her hands, cradled gently as Karasu saw what she held so delicately. The poppet she made so long ago now, one of the man called Tomoe Souichi, Professor and owner of Mugen Academy. White hands were dirtied now as they brushed away the grime of the kugutsu's body, the clean gloves sullied by the thing's making.
Precariously, Karasu stepped slowly forward, then set down her most prized possession and opened it. Chittering sounded from within the box's depths, and inside revealed a handful of small creatures, not much larger than a fist. There was nothing immediately threatening about the things; they resembled little dustballs, or maybe hairballs. Though on closer inspection, there in the darkness, slanted, vee-shaped eyes opened, faintly aglow in shades of crimson.
One, then two...then in a small swirl, all of the Lemures trickled out of the box as she stepped back, swarming to the living, breathing version of the wax doll they had clung to.
The girl's eyes became as void as an empty sky.
Karasu released a breath she had been holding. With days of being distantly manipulated through her poppet, killing an imitation of her father had been enough to tip the small senshi's mind into an ink black haze. It wouldn't last forever, she was sure. How long was hard to say. An hour? Two? A day? The Lemures were few and weak, and the other senshi would be sure to find the girl sooner or later. But as always, time. Play for time, plan for it, be ready, be prepared.
Shikon no Tama would be brought to her.
Her primary target now lay at her feet.
She picked it up, and marveled at the heaviness of the Silence Glaive.
Such power.
From beside her, there was a faint whisper.
"Papa...."
Usagi could hear her own footfalls, pounding against the pavement. Steady, they were muffled sounds that were slowly gaining in rapidity as she picked up her pace, the twin golden streams of her hair beginning to take to the air as she moved swiftly forward. Worry filled her blue eyes, though her brows were drawn down in an attempt to concentrate. The gloom of the clouds was increasing, the small, swirling centers in the sky becoming more defined. Usagi never had been one for deduction, but it didn't take a genius to know that something was up, and that whatever was below those specific spots would need to be investigated. The darker the sky became, the more overcast it seemed, the more she hurried. Even though running made her feel like she was doing something, it was slower than if she had a car to transport her.
People on the street were thinning, as expectations of rain began to increase, and pedestrians without umbrellas did not want to be caught unawares. Whatever was about to happen, the young girl running was glad they would be indoors. Safer, there. At least in theory. If there was a battle, when there was a battle, being out of the way would help. Without people around, the senshi would be able to fight more freely. Protecting people was foremost, but it could be hampering when there were magical attacks being hurled around. People could get in the crossfire and be hurt.
Chibiusa's school wasn't far now, the buildings and landmarks familiar. Hopefully the youngest senshi would still be there, and not already on her way home or to Hotaru's house. Dodging to one side, Usagi tucked herself into a side alley, cutting behind one of the buildings instead of in front of it. Water trickled into drains behind the narrow alley's dumpster, and the stink of rotten vegetables and garbage tinged the air. It was empty there, and few people were passing on either end of the alley. If she wanted to speed up at all, she would need to henshin.
She wrinkled her nose against the smell, then lifted her hands to the air, summoning her power.
"Silver Moon Crystal Power!"
Usagi was used to transformations by now. Still, each different level of power brought its own sensations and blossoming of energy, stronger and clearer than the previous one. The light felt soft, glowing divine as a crescent moon shimmered to life on her brows and a thousand white feathers fluttered their way around her, caressing her skin. In a moment's time, she was on her feet, stronger, steadier and faster. She opened her eyes and headed out again, her stride lengthened and swift.
Flicking open her communicator, Eternal Sailor Moon was promptly greeted by the face of Sailor Uranus.
Uranus, not Haruka.
The significance was not lost on her.
"Uranus? You okay? What's going on?"
"This isn't the time," came the sharp reply, Uranus sounding angry, though not necessarily at Sailor Moon. Her brows were drawn tensely, and her eyes continuously flicked away from the open channel. There was an unsteady movement of scenery behind her, evidence of Uranus's being in motion as she spoke. "We've met up with some problems here."
"I'm on my way to get Chibimoon. We're to meet at the old Mugen site as soon as possible. Do you need help?"
The communicator's small viewscreen conveyed Uranus's annoyed look. "We can handle it. Get the kid. She may be having problems too." Uranus' attention was suddenly drawn away and the connection was cut off abruptly.
"Uranus? Uranus!" Sailor Moon shouted, slowing her pace slightly in indecision, though continuing to head towards Chibiusa's school. Uranus and the others were fighting already. That confirmed that things were going down now. They would need her help to fight, wouldn't they? But at the same time, she had to get to Chibiusa. If things were bad for Uranus and the others, then what of Chibiusa? One of those tornado-like epicenters was precariously close overhead already. The youngest senshi couldn't fight alone. She sped up her pace again, continuing.
What kind of a queen would she be someday, if she couldn't trust her own guardians to fight for themselves?
Sailor Uranus wanted to fly forward and simply obliterate the figure standing across from her now. She knew though, that if she tried, she would end up getting a blast of magic full in the face, judging by the readiness of the opponent who had presented herself before them.
They'd been investigating the spiraling clouds of foreboding weather that afternoon. Herself, Michiru, Sango and Miroku as well as Kirara. Michiru had kept her mirror out on her lap, quietly running her fingertips along the rim and murmuring quietly the directions that would take them around Juuban. The cloud formations had worsened as the day passed, and eventually all of them had picked up on the evil energy being emitted from above. Until a few minutes ago, they had watched them without any kind of event. Speeding along in the car, they'd been forced to stop by a traffic jam. Movement wasn't just slowed at the intersection; it was dead. A few cars locked around and behind them began honking noisly, urging the people ahead to get a move on, but the stillness remained.
Then Michiru looked to her mirror, stood, and stepped out of the car.
Two figures stood amid a sparkling field of stolen Hoste crystals, cars rounded in a circle in the street from where they began their work. Two figures, familiar and already long gone.
"I, Viluy, at level 202 Death Busters...."
"And I, Mimete, at level 40 Death Busters...."
Another kugutsu of Viluy, and the new appearance of a Mimete. The two puppet figures smiled to see them come, looking the same as they had not so long ago, when they were real. Mimete still wore black and gold, her short wavy hair crowned with a glittering tiara. Viluy still wore blue and black, her hat slightly askew on her head, and the heavy bracelet that controlled her 'nano-robots' still rested on her wrist. Each held the thin golden staff of the Witches 5, the end tipped with a black star, twined inside the twisted symbol of infinity.
Nor were they alone. Two other creatures remained with them, the daimon-youkai hybrids that Karasu had been working on. Though these were not the familiar snake creatures. A large golden eagle glided overhead, keeping high and circling as it watched the people below. Beside Viluy stood a sleek feline, white and with tufted fur on its ears. A white lynx, growling low in its throat and baring sharp incisor teeth.
It was Mimete that Uranus watched across from her now, her staff upraised and ready to attack. Normally, Uranus didn't think much of the weakest of the Witches 5. One hit back at her 'concert,' and the creature had been destroyed. This Mimete was more restrained, watching as the four humans and one youkai cat had fanned themselves out around herself and Viluy. That, and the bird flapping around overhead had been continuously harassing them whenever either she or Neptune would get a clear shot of either kugutsu. The sharp talons had already shallowly scraped across her arm, which now sported two red gashes across the white flesh. Uranus was glad that Sailor Moon and the other Inners were out of school now, and free to find the other kugutsu; it could be assumed that if one was here, then there would be more underneath the other markers. At the same time, she wished they were all together. The dark energy and the cloud formations seemed like nothing more than giant, weather-driven neon signs to get them to separate. Together, they were strong. Apart....
The infinity staff Mimete held in her hand was lifted to the air as the Witch smiled. Caught on the communicator, the senshi wasn't able to pay full attention to her opponent, not able to power up an attack, and Mimete took advantage of that, preparing herself to wound or even remove the tallest of the Sailor Senshi.
"Charm Buster!"
"Submarine Reflection!"
Neptune materialized from the edges of Uranus' vision, mirror out and deflecting the energy pulse with dazzling liquid light. With Uranus watching her communicator, Neptune had turned her attentions from attacking the flying eagle youkai with Mimete to covering her partner, knowing that an opportunity would present itself eventually to their enemy. Mimete's expression had soured as her attack was turned aside, and then she had frantically leapt upward as Neptune's attack had continued to come, blowing apart her own.
Tilting her head upward, Neptune let a frown grace her features as Mimete caught ahold of the yellow feathers on the eagle's neck, slipping an arm around it and easing herself into place on its back. The bird itself was maybe twice the size of its rider, and seemed to be having no problems carrying her, winging its way higher into the sky. From behind, Neptune heard Uranus swear, and then the sound of footsteps as she gave chase, following the mocking laughter of the kugutsu.
Aquamarine eyes flicked from one scene to another, assimilating her choices. On one hand, Uranus was already running after the retreating form of Mimete, drawing out her Space Sword in hopes of taking it down. On the other hand, their new friends faced off against Viluy, who they had already fought, though had not defeated on their own. Sango was mounted on Kirara, the firecat making antagonized sounds towards the daimon-youkai at Viluy's heels. The houshi had brought his shakujyou out of the car as they had run forward, and had it poised for defense.
Sailor Neptune turned away from the battle scene, and saw the chaos that had formed out of the first few moments of their battle. Strewn cars and floating crystals, hovering idly in the air, unaware of the danger that was going on just beyond them. Who to go to? Who to help?
In the end, there really was no choice.
She turned and ran after Uranus.
As Kirara landed on padded feet, Sango saw that she and Miroku were alone in their battle. In the distance, she saw an aqua-colored form leap in and then out of her vision, disappearing into the wreck of backed up cars and the towers of tall buildings. Chaos had ensued when the battle began, people heading back up the street and abandoning their cars for the relative safety of distance. They were alone then, houshi-sama and herself, fighting off a kugutsu they had problems with before. Viluy remained the same as she remembered from the day before, though now a slender staff was in her fingers, twirled idly as the Witch smiled and played cheshire cat with the two time-displaced people. Another kugutsu. Just another kugutsu, dirt and roots around a doll in the center, a wax one in this era, shaped to look like one of these people the senshi had fought before. But they worked the same way as ones from her time. Cut through the doll within, and the puppet would be destroyed, falling apart on itself.
Sango had seen Mimete's attack, and wished it was the senshi fighting Viluy instead. They'd successfully killed her before, where she and Miroku had difficulty. The energy blast Sango witnessed the Mimete kugutsu use a moment ago could be mostly fended off by using hiraikotsu as a shield; the nano-robot imitations that Viluy wielded would chew straight through the youkai bone and hit her regardless.
She didn't blame Neptune for heading off after Uranus. In battle, things did not always go according to plan, particularly when there was no ability to prepare beforehand. Viluy's reappearance would be specifically aimed at them- Mimete's flight was a distraction to remove the two senshi from the equation, leaving Sango and Miroku open to an attack they couldn't fend off before. The space in the intersection was open, save for the stopped cars and the wires for the flashing traffic lights. In the open, all Viluy needed to do was keep them far enough away to continue shooting her attacks at them. Eventually, one would hit. With the lynx youkai at her side to round them together, it was only a matter of time before someone fell under the nano-robots.
The two of them had fought together long enough to know how the other would react, as Viluy first raised her hand and the feline youkai leapt forward at her bidding. Its eyes were strange, glowing red around the slit pupils, while the sharpened incisor teeth stretched down father than in a normal cat, rivaling Kirara's in size, though the other feline was more slender, lighter, single tailed.
Sango went right. Miroku went left.
Kirara transformed in a ball of flame, her rider slipping into her usual position on the firecat's back as the first of Viluy's blasts tore into the space they vacated. Miroku had his own problems; the lynx had followed him, leaping upward as he managed to bring up his shakujyou to keep the sharp paws off of him. In Miroku's case, he needed space. So long as the cat kept clawing at him from an armslength away, he could not pull off the rosary and release the kazaana.
So Sango tried to find a way to distract the cat from him. Though at the same time, Viluy kept her attention on the taiji-ya, and keeping her away from her fighting partner.
Though Miroku was stuck under the weight of the cat, he was, for the moment, managing to stay upright and away from the thing. At the same time, whenever Viluy would attempt to finish off Miroku from a distance, she would suddenly find Sango coming in far too close, and would have to turn aside.
Once again, they were in a stalemate.
This one, however, could not last for long.
Sango was aware of that fact, and so was Viluy. Each time Sango and Kirara leapt closer, dodging and leaping, Viluy was slowly working her way into an angle, pressing herself closer to Miroku and wedging herself between the front of a building and the parked cars across from it. Eventually, if Sango wanted to cover him from the kugutsu's attacks, she would have to land on one of the abandoned cars, with Viluy between her and Miroku.
Watching as the houshi managed to toss the cat off of him, Sango saw it swipe at his legs, then leap back up before he could get a hand on the rosary. Miroku was fairly strong, having been wandering and fighting for some time now. But the oversized cat attacking him was stronger, and his arms were weakening with the constant wrestling weight placed against him, trembling. Having played and practiced with Kirara before, she knew that eventually the sheer strength of the youkai would win out. Adrenaline, fear, and determination were lending him strength at the moment, though those would not last forever.
Her attention was drawn away from Miroku when she heard Viluy's shout: "Mosaic Buster!"
A spiral of nano-robots swarmed outward, and with subconscious habit, Sango tensed her legs and shifted, ordering Kirara into the air, telling her to go left, to go up. Hiraikotsu was heavy in her hand, balanced across her shoulder and readied for a throw, should the chance present itself.
"You keep dodging, taiji-ya-san," Viluy called to her lightly, her tone falsely pleasant. Sango was tired, but she could hear a touch of anger in the kugutsu's voice as well, hinting that the Witch was having problems of her own. These kugutsu seemed to show personality, reflecting on the temperaments of the original people they were modeled on. Hearing anger in her voice, Sango was glad; that meant she was having problems as well, though still the upper hand.
"You weren't able to defeat me before. You might as well stand still and let me finish you now."
Sango felt like telling her to go to hell.
The last attack had splattered into the cars and lamppost behind her, causing the light at the top to shatter and fall in small fragments of plastic and electric sparks. Metal was beginning to scorch, sending up an acrid, bitter odor of melting steel. With her free hand, Sango dug her fingers into the fur of Kirara's neck, holding on. They landed in the best place they could; opposite of Viluy, opposite of Miroku, still burdened with the oversized lynx.
Viluy smiled.
"Too bad, taiji-ya-san. I'll have to take out your friend first."
As the words fell from Viluy's lips, Sango had ordered Kirara into the air again, this time launching them at the outer wall of the building across from where they stood a moment ago.
Late that last night, Sango had lay awake, watching the white ceiling in the home of the Outer Senshi, wondering what could have been done in the last battle to change it. It was practice, mentally running through possibilities and modes of attack, considering and planning, since she had been unable to defeat her last opponent on her own.
Kirara hit the outside of the building, and Sango leapt forward from her back.
Falling.
Distraction would be needed to turn aside such an enemy's attention, since any strike on her part would have to be unseen. The kugutsu could then be taken out at will.
Viluy's hand was poised to fire.
However, in the more likely event of there not being a safe decoy, she would have to attack straight on. In that case, it became more dangerous.
"Mosaic Buster!"
Miroku's head lifted from wherehe stood, bracing himself against the curb behind him and locking his arms out to keep the cat from swiping him. Scratches already laced his hands, from slips and slides, and the center bar of the shakujyou was now dented with tooth marks. The last words he heard sounded different to his ears, aimed in a different direction.
His.
But something was moving between them.
Something Michiru asked Sango just that morning still echoed somewhere in the depths of her mind. It was a question she had answered simply, plainly and honestly.
"Would you die to protect someone you love?"
It was a complicated question with a simple answer.
Or was it a simple question with a complicated answer?
She felt herself falling, bringing back the heavy weapon with her and preparing for a throw. It would take fine timing, careful timing, to be sure that the plan she devised late last night would work. Though she hadn't expected herself to be falling into the middle of an attack at the time.
Hiraikotsu left her hand.
It was either Makoto or Minako who had said it on her first, full day there. She couldn't remember which. It was the day she smacked Miroku for acting oddly jealous when she talked to that young man at the arcade place.
"Oh god, she's in love with him...."
The boomerang skimmed over the surface of the attack, angling upward and beyond Viluy. An expression of shock wasn't hard to imitate. She was afraid, and how different were the two emotions? Sango was watching the nano-robots come closer, and in a moment, she knew she would be hit.
Viluy was laughing, watching the weapon miss, fly away...far away....
Somewhere behind her, Sango heard someone shout her name.
And, content, she fell.
Miroku screamed.
The effect of the Mosaic Buster tore into Sango, the tiny swarming creatures striking her down. At the last moment, he saw her raise her hands over her face in reflex, and there was a shattering sound and a spark as one of the nano-robots hit the bracelet on her left hand, breaking it and sending gleaming chips of shining opal stone into the air. Then she was on the ground, still, crumpled.
With his attention distracted, the youkai cat he had been fighting pressed forward, knocking him down just as he saw hiraikotsu begin to spin its way back. He felt a tiny whirl of pride in him before the wind was knocked from his lungs, knowing that Sango's throw was coming back at an even trajectory, slicing through the air cleanly.
As he fell, his shakujyou skittered out of his hand.
Then he heard Viluy's scream as she was cut down from behind.
Already he could feel blood beginning to form on his chest from its claws. Despite fighting so often, he had never really thought a youkai would be the end of him. The kazaana seemed like worry enough, a constant reminder of death and oblivion. He felt like he was in a haze, his vision narrowed. Several lengths away, he could see Sango's silhouette on the concrete. Her hair pooled out behind her head, and one arm was stretched upward, while her legs were tucked together, loosely stretched out from her skirt.
He felt hot breath on his face.
Above him, he heard another roar in his ears, different somehow from the snarl of the youkai-daimon on top of him.
Familiar....
The weight of the daimon was lifted suddenly as Kirara crashed into the other cat, sending it flying off him. Still stunned on the ground, he could only hear as the two cats snarled at each other in fight, until there was a high pitched scream from one of them, accompanied with a snapping sound.
Miroku wasn't sure how long it was before the battle was over, and he saw two red eyes appear over his face, then heard Kirara mewl questioningly down at him before turning away and disappearing.
He opened and closed his eyes several times to focus them, distantly aware that he was hurt. Kirara was standing over Sango, who lay unmoving on the ground.
Sango, who took the blow for him.
The shock of that fact woke him up, and he managed to stumble to his feet. It was his chest that was damaged, the deep blue shirt shredded across the front and tipped with blood. His skin stung; it would need to be treated soon. Still, whatever injuries he had sustained were topical compared to Sango's.
He tried to push Kirara out of the way so he could get a better look at her, slipping an arm around her neck and cradling her against him. It was the same as when Neptune had been hit only a day ago. She was pale, the imitation nano-robots standing in stark contrast to her skin. Miroku slipped a hand down her arm and held her thin wrist for a moment, before twining her hand with his. Hiraikotsu had embedded itself in the ground where Viluy had last stood, her remains scattered around the upright boomerang not far away.
Warm. She was still warm, though so very silent. He could see the fine, babylike eyelashes that rested on her cheeks, and the tiny traceries of veins on her eyelids, standing out against the blanched skin, dappled with black flecks.
No, ignore the pieces of the Mosaic.
Sango had flawless skin, white and smooth. It looked golden in the light of a campfire at night, darkening the hollows around her eyes and making her look shadowy and ethereal.
She wasn't supposed to be in danger in this time. This time presented no extraordinary threat to her. He was the one who had to return, he who had to find a way back through the destroyed well and kill Naraku to live. If anyone was supposed to meet their end in this time, it was him, not her. This was backwards. All backwards.
He sat still and held her, feeling the warmth of her cheek against his.
What had she done?
Why?
It was backwards, all backwards.
Neptune had survived, why not Sango? Why not? Uranus still had Neptune, so why couldn't he still have Sango? Why?
"Because," somewhere in his mind echoed, "the one with the power of death is also the one with the power of life...."
"Hotaru!"
Destroyer. Healer. Firefly.
So close to her, he realized that there was an ever-faint stirring of breath against his cheek.
Alive. Silent, but alive.
"Kirara! We're going back to Hotaru's school!"
Within moments, they were in the air.
In the Sailormoon manga, Tomoe Souichi was attempting to create what he called a 'superbeing'...basically a combination of daimon and something from this world, supposedly a human. Hotaru was, I guess you could say, a lab rat for him. After the arrival of Germatoid in this dimension, Hotaru was badly injured in the accident of his coming, and Prof. Tomoe used mechanical parts to keep her alive. In essence, Hotaru was a cyborg at that point in the manga.
dodges more tomatoes This isn't exactly a cliffhanger- and yet it is, in another sense. Like I've said, things are going very fast at this point. These chapters happening within the space of an hour or so. Many things are happening at once. Remember several chapters ago, way back towards the beginning, I asked if anyone could guess whose poppet Karasu put inside the box of mirrors?
It was Hotaru.
For this chapter, I was listening to Delerium's Karma cd, and to the soundtrack to Lord of the Rings.
Til next storytime.
~Queen
Coming up next, in Chapter 25: Spiral-
"My granddaughter?" Grandpa Hino asked, frowning at the ruby eyed woman, who was still making her way across the courtyard, the two canines tailing her distantly. "Who are you?"
"An old friend," came the coy reply, and Grandpa and Jii-chan exchanged a wary look. The woman was unsettling. "We met a few months ago, at Mugen Academy, before it closed. Are you her grandfather?"
"I am."
In the womans' hand was a staff, thin and of yellow gold, the tip twisted and holding a black star. She held it aloft with a venomous smile and said, "Then you'll do." Dark energy began to shimmer around the staff, setting it alight. "Fire Buster!"