BLOOD OF THE IMMORTAL,
Chapter 7: "To Resist The Lure Of Evil"
By Bill K.
"Is she any better?" Pallas asked.
"She's no worse," Juno replied, checking Vesta as she lay. "Maybe
the root is helping."
"Did you hear that, Me?" Pallas said, searching for her rodent
companion. "Me? Where'd you go?"
"Maybe he had some grain to loot," Ceres commented. Pallas
ignored her, focusing on her search, but Juno gave Ceres a look of
disapproval. "What? It's just a mouse!"
"A mouse that may have saved Vesta's life," Juno cautioned. "A
little gratitude might be in order."
"OK, OK, I'm grateful," grumbled Ceres. "But this doesn't change
the fact that mice are icky!"
Pallas finally spotted Me with another rodent. She watched in
fascination as the pair seemed to communicate. The other rodent then
noticed Pallas watching and disappeared into the underbrush. Me turned
and walked back over to them.
"Is that your wife, Me?" Pallas asked.
"Wife?" Me asked. "My mate? No. She is of my litter. Another
of our litter has vanished. We fear The Evil One has taken him into the
tower."
"Pallas is sorry, Me," Pallas said. "But maybe he'll be all
right."
"No," the rodent replied gravely, shaking its head. "The Evil One
will see to that. We all live at The Evil One's whim, Great Pallas.
She controls the air and the earth. She nourishes that which pleases
her and destroys that which does not. Even the terrible moab live in
fear of her. She is the giver of pain and darkness. She has ever been
so." The rodent seemed to sigh. "If my litter-mate has been taken into
the towers, he is lost. None have ever gone into the towers and
returned."
"Pallas and her sisters did," Pallas said, trying to encourage
him. She heard Juno hiss to her and scrambled back to Vesta's side.
"It is different with you," Me mused. "You are gods."
"What is it? Is it Vesta? Is she . . .?" babbled Pallas.
"Who put this yucky root in my mouth?" groaned Vesta. "P-TUI!"
"VESTA, YOU'RE ALL RIGHT!" cried Pallas.
"Boy, nothing gets past you," Vesta muttered weakly.
"Hush!" Juno growled playfully, jamming the root back into Vesta's
mouth. Vesta tried to resist, but she was still too feeble. "Now chew
on that!"
"BLEGH! Taste's yucky!" Vesta mumbled around the root.
"Do it! It'll make you stronger!" Vesta made a face. "Do it or
I'll kick your ass!" Vesta glared, but she began to chew. "That root
saved your life, Vesta, and you have Pallas to thank for it."
"It's still tastes yucky!" Vesta fumed. Then she turned to Pallas
and softened. "Hey, thanks for the save, kid. I owe you."
"Don't forget about the rat," teased Ceres. "You owe him, too."
"ME'S A MOUSIE, NOT A RAT!" roared Pallas. Ceres waggled her
tongue at Pallas.
"What are they talking about?" Vesta asked Juno.
"When you're stronger," Juno grinned.
"And what exactly happened anyway? The last thing I remember is
being in the moat."
"Nothing much," Juno smiled, her eyes tearing. "We just came this
close to losing you for good." She sniffled. "We're still trying to
figure out if that's a good or a bad thing."
And Me stared curiously, unable to decipher the ways of gods.
* * * *
Evionne strained once more against the bars of her cage. Again
they held. She turned in silent frustration to Sailor Saturn in the
cage next to her. Saturn stared at the bars, trying to force them apart
with her budding mental powers. The only evidence of this was the
strain evident on her face, because the bars of the cage did not move.
Finally she sagged back against the cage.
"I can't move them at all," Saturn moaned. "I guess I'm just not
good enough yet with this ESP stuff."
"Mayhap the bars are enchanted, too," Evionne told her. "As much
as I've pulled, they should have budged a bit."
They both looked over to Sailor Moon.
"Helios?" Sailor Moon inquired to the still equine. She pulled
against her chains.
"I am here, Maiden," Helios replied. "Do not fret so. I am more
hale than I appear." He pulled his head up with some effort. "Forgive
me for not telling you this sooner. It is nice to see you again.
Though I wish the circumstances were different, any chance I have to be
with you only invigorates me."
Sailor Moon smiled timidly. Saturn noticed Evionne look away.
"Maybe you could slip that collar if you change back to your human
form," Sailor Moon suggested.
"I have tried," Helios said. "Ctesias needs me in my current
form, so by her spell I am trapped this way."
They all noticed Sailor Moon's expression crumble into anguish.
She began pulling uselessly at her fetters.
"Maiden?" Helios said. "I beg you, please do not lose hope."
"But," Sailor Moon sobbed, "I-I can't stand seeing you suffer like
this! And I can't do anything! Damn that woman! Damn that
evil . . .!"
"Maiden," Helios spoke sharply, yet gently. "Take heart. Do not
succumb to the malevolence of this realm."
"But it's not fair!" Sailor Moon cried. "You've never done
anything to anyone! You're the nicest, kindest person I've ever known!
And these people keep coming after you! I hate them!"
"Maiden, please," Helios persisted. "Do not give in to the evil
of this place. Do not stain your soul in such a manner. Your light is
our beacon - - our path to deliverance. Your shining light is our
warmth and our succor. Do not let it be dimmed by hatred and despair.
Do not let her dim it. It is your greatest weapon against her. Do not
throw it away in a fit of weakness."
"Mama could get us out of this," Sailor Moon mumbled.
"So can you," Saturn told her. "You're her daughter. You're just
as good as her."
"Cling to that brilliant light, Maiden," Helios advised her.
"Nurture it. Make it glow like a sun. Do not give in to the darkness."
Helios shifted weakly. "I may be lost regardless."
"Helios, no!" sobbed Sailor Moon.
"I do not embrace it, Maiden, but I accept its possibility. If it
comes to pass, know I will live free in you even if I am chained here
for a billion years. I am yours, Maiden, now and forever. If you
escape, I will be by your side, even if it is only in spirit. But if
you succumb to the hopelessness that surrounds you, then we are all lost
- - you, me, Evionne, your senshi - - all of us." Sailor Moon stared at
the floor. She could not look at him, fearing she would burst into
tears again.
"Perseverance, Princess," Evionne said, avoiding her eyes. "A
weak bride is not worthy of The Chosen One."
Before anyone could respond, the four sensed a presence in the
room. Emerging from the shadows as if materializing from nothingness,
Ctesias appeared. She seemed to float across the room, her white gown
wafting out and her long white hair flowing behind her. It was as if
her feet hovered an inch off the floor. Her mood was confident,
serenely pleased with herself. Helios eyed her cold beauty warily until
she passed by him. Even then, there was clearly concern on his face.
Ctesias stopped before Sailor Moon, towering over her. Sailor Moon said
nothing, but she didn't shy away.
"Forgive me for not attending to you sooner, Princess," Ctesias
smiled coldly. "I hope you didn't grow too bored while waiting."
"Let us go," Sailor Moon said.
"A request I must refuse," Ctesias said.
She gestured and Sailor Moon was pulled to her feet, pulled off
her feet into the air. The chains attached to her wrist and neck
shackles drew tight, painfully constricting her throat. Sailor Moon
tried to be bravely stoic, but began to gag and choke audibly after
several moments of this. It took her several more moments to regain her
breath. Her captor drank it all in, her face right up in Sailor Moon's,
so close that she could see every pore.
"Leave her alone!" cried Saturn. Ctesias ignored her.
"You and I have something to discuss, Princess," Ctesias said, her
hot breath scorching Sailor Moon's cheeks. "You possess power. This
interests me. Where do you come by this power?"
"Let Helios and my friends go first," Sailor Moon choked out. The
chains and Ctesias's power held her body rigid.
"You seek to bargain again?" smiled Ctesias. "Little Princess,
you are in no position to bargain now. You have trespassed against me
and now belong to me, as do your friends. As such, you will tell me
what I wish to know."
Sailor Moon remained defiantly silent.
"If you wish," Ctesias leered, "we can play that way as well."
And with a thought, Sailor Moon seemed to burst into flame.
"MAIDEN!" Helios gasped, horrified.
"Usa!" cried Saturn.
A terrified shriek ripped from Sailor Moon's mouth. It quickly
mutated into a deep, resonant howl of intense pain. Helios,
reinvigorated by desperation, thrashed in the grip of his fetters in a
futile attempt to reach his love. Evionne gripped the bars of her cage
and stared in abject horror. Saturn looked on helplessly as her friend
was immolated.
"Wait!" Saturn gasped. "Her skin's not burning! It's an
illusion!"
"True," smirked Ctesias. "I have need of her still. It would not
aid my cause to permanently damage her - - just yet. But though the
flames are not real, they are real in her mind. She feels every moment
as if she were actually burning." Ctesias peeked back joyously at the
other prisoners. "Can you not tell by her screams?"
"Monster!" spat Evionne. "Were I free . . .!"
"That," Ctesias said dismissively, "you shall never be."
Sailor Moon continued to shake in the grip of the chains,
shrieking from the intense pain she felt. Overcome with anguish, Helios
hid his eyes from the sight.
"This is the price of defiance, Little Princess," Ctesias
whispered to the thrashing girl. "It is a very heavy toll."
"Stop it!" pleaded Saturn.
"No doubt you are already prepared to talk," Ctesias said. "How
unfortunate for you that I am not yet ready to listen."
"You're killing her!"
"Fool!" sneered the sorceress. "Of what use would she be then? I
merely take her to the brink, the better to stamp out any thoughts of
defiance or deception."
"STOP IT!"
It sprang from Saturn's mind, lunging between the bars and flew
towards Ctesias before Saturn was even aware of it. Saturn's mental
blast pierced the sorceress's skull and she froze up as if shot. The
phantom flames died away and Sailor Moon crumpled limply to the floor,
shuddering with the painful sobs that wracked her body. Ctesias
followed, falling to her knees. Her eyes were wide and uncomprehending.
Her hands shook with a strange palsy.
Without thinking, Saturn let loose another blast at the bars of
her cage. They buckled like tin before the unseen force and snapped
apart. Saturn shoved her way out and sprinted across the room for her
glaive. She retrieved the weapon and looked up.
Ctesias was already up. She still shook from the effects of the
mental blast, but her face was twisted in rage.
I do not know what you did," fumed Ctesias, "but you will not do
it again!"
"SILENCE GLAIVE S. . .!" Saturn began, hoisting her glaive into
the air to deliver a killing stroke.
Ctesias thrust her hands out, as if to ward off the blow, but it
was more. A power seized Saturn, freezing her in mid-sentence. The
girl's body went rigid. Her eyes glazed over. The color of her skin
and of her uniform seemed to fade to a dull gray. Evionne dropped her
gaze in anger and frustration. Sailor Saturn was now a stone statue.
"You affected me more than I thought, girl," muttered Ctesias
venomously. "I meant to vaporize you where you stood." She turned back
to Sailor Moon. "No matter. I can always use another statue for my
halls. Now Princess . . ." and she levitated the shuddering girl into
the air once more.
"Leave her alone!" Helios demanded impotently.
"Quiet! I need you alive, but I do not need you in perfect
health!" A gesture materialized a lead weight into the air. It dropped
onto one of the equine's back legs, snapping the bone. Helios' face
twisted in agony, but he did not cry out.
"Chosen one!" wailed Evionne.
Sailor Moon opened her eyes as much as she could. The lids still
drooped over the red orbs, awash in tears of suffering. Though her body
still quivered from what it had endured, she forced herself to focus on
her tormentor and on the sight behind her of Sailor Saturn cast in
stone.
"Now, Princess," Ctesias glared, her mood no longer jaunty. "What
is your source of power?"
"Change her back," Sailor Moon whispered hoarsely.
"You still misunderstand," Ctesias frowned. "You are no longer in
any position to make demands, Little Princess. Your companion offended
me and so shall stay that way for all time." Ctesias leaned in until
she was nose to nose with the pink-haired girl. "Now speak while you
are still able."
Sailor Moon stared into those cold eyes and saw no pity in them.
She averted her gaze, looking away, and remained silent.
"I shall know what I want to know," Ctesias growled at her. "Your
resistance only allows me to indulge myself by torturing you."
And Sailor Moon vanished.
* * * *
Sailor Vesta tried to stand up. However, her legs wouldn't hold
her and she crumpled back to the ground.
"Don't rush yourself," admonished Juno. "You're still pretty
weak."
"Don't baby me," growled Vesta.
"Baby you?" gasped Ceres. "You nearly died!"
"Well, I'm," and Vesta paused as a wave of nausea swept over her,
"um, better now."
"Oh, right," sneered Ceres.
"Vesta, maybe you ought to sit this one out," Juno recommended.
"Sailor Moon probably needs us," countered Vesta. "How long has
she been in there? I don't like it!"
"I don't like it, either. But what good are we going to be if
we're looking for her with one eye on you?"
"I'll hold up my end," Vesta growled.
"You can't even stand up. Just wait out here for us."
"Oh, so those cats can get me?"
"She's got a point," Ceres offered.
"Maybe you can wait up in that tree?" Juno suggested.
"Maybe they can climb trees," Vesta countered. Juno huffed in
frustration. "Look, how about I just take a form that doesn't need me
to stand. Fauna assimilation - house fly!"
Vesta's body contracted in on itself until it was a little black
speck circling them. Juno and Ceres looked on with concern.
"Are you sure you're going to be all right?" Ceres asked. "Oh, I
don't even know if you can understand me now!" As if in response, the
fly headed straight for Ceres' nose, then veered off to avoid the girl's
hand trying to swat her away. "Vesta! Quit it!"
"OK, let's go," sighed Juno. "But you be careful, Vesta. Come
on, Pallas!"
Pallas leaned over and smiled at Me.
"Pallas has to go now, Me," Pallas chirped. "Pallas has to help
her sisters find the Princess."
"Please, Oh Great Pallas," begged the rodent. "Do not venture
into the towers, I beg you! Only death and evil await you there!"
"Pallas knows," Pallas said. "But Pallas has to find the
Princess. She has to protect the Princess - - even if it means going to
Heaven."
The rodent bowed its head. "I shall look for you to return, Oh
Great Pallas. If any can return from the towers, it is you. If any can
free us from the grip of The Evil One, I hope it is you. I hope to see
you return safely with your Princess."
"Thank you, Me," smiled Pallas. "Watch out for the nasty
kitties!" and Pallas scampered off to join her fellow senshi.
* * * *
One moment she was in the grip of heavy chains, held aloft by
Ctesias. The next moment she was spread-eagle on a lattice of gossamer
threads. She tried to rise up, but the threads proved deceptively
strong and possessed a substance that adhered to her. The girl thrashed
on the lattice in an attempt to pull free, but succeeded only in
jiggling the threads.
"It's not real," Sailor Moon told herself, her body still weak and
pained from her last ordeal. "It can't be. It's another one of her
illusions. She's just trying to scare you."
It was working. She was scared.
A tremor on the thread caught her attention. Sailor Moon turned
as much as the sticky substance entangled in her pink hair would allow.
A spasm of raw, fear-induced adrenaline shot through her body. At the
edge of the lattice, shaped like a spider's web, was a huge blob with
eight protruding legs. Sailor Moon forced her heart out of her throat.
It was as big as a jump-craft. It couldn't be real.
The blob nimbly skittered along one of the strands of the web,
edging closer, stalking Sailor Moon to determine if she was prey. As it
got closer, she could make out more features. It was a giant spider,
with a small head mounted on a giant black blob of an abdomen. Multiple
eyes decorated the head, along with a pair of menacing fangs in the
front. Fine black hair covered the monstrous arachnid. Sailor Moon
felt her throat constrict from fear and revulsion. Her body was on edge
with a terror she could only believe was primal, some long forgotten
race memory of some evolutionary ancestor's reaction to being prey. Her
mind struggled with her body, trying to gain control, trying to tell her
body that it was an illusion.
Desperate not to make a sudden move and spook the thing into
attacking, Sailor Moon tried to pull her arm free of the web. She
needed a means of defense or escape should the thing attack, for,
illusion or not, it meant her no good. She remembered the pain of the
illusionary fire and sensed she was in for more if that thing attacked.
If only she had the Crescent Wand - - but it was back in the dungeon,
trapped under the spell of Ctesias. Then it hit her. When her mother
had been Sailor Moon, she'd also used her tiara as a weapon. Sailor
Moon strained to pull her right arm free. If only she could reach the
tiara, she could have something to fight back with. But the web would
not release her. Mercilessly it kept her cemented in place.
And suddenly the spider moved for her. Despite its size, it was
upon her in an eye-blink. The great black beast stood over her,
engulfing her with its body, a body that felt all too real. Fangs
poised over her chest, prepared to plunge into her flesh and inject its
venom.
Sailor Moon screamed in terror.
Continued in Chapter 8
Chapter 7: "To Resist The Lure Of Evil"
By Bill K.
"Is she any better?" Pallas asked.
"She's no worse," Juno replied, checking Vesta as she lay. "Maybe
the root is helping."
"Did you hear that, Me?" Pallas said, searching for her rodent
companion. "Me? Where'd you go?"
"Maybe he had some grain to loot," Ceres commented. Pallas
ignored her, focusing on her search, but Juno gave Ceres a look of
disapproval. "What? It's just a mouse!"
"A mouse that may have saved Vesta's life," Juno cautioned. "A
little gratitude might be in order."
"OK, OK, I'm grateful," grumbled Ceres. "But this doesn't change
the fact that mice are icky!"
Pallas finally spotted Me with another rodent. She watched in
fascination as the pair seemed to communicate. The other rodent then
noticed Pallas watching and disappeared into the underbrush. Me turned
and walked back over to them.
"Is that your wife, Me?" Pallas asked.
"Wife?" Me asked. "My mate? No. She is of my litter. Another
of our litter has vanished. We fear The Evil One has taken him into the
tower."
"Pallas is sorry, Me," Pallas said. "But maybe he'll be all
right."
"No," the rodent replied gravely, shaking its head. "The Evil One
will see to that. We all live at The Evil One's whim, Great Pallas.
She controls the air and the earth. She nourishes that which pleases
her and destroys that which does not. Even the terrible moab live in
fear of her. She is the giver of pain and darkness. She has ever been
so." The rodent seemed to sigh. "If my litter-mate has been taken into
the towers, he is lost. None have ever gone into the towers and
returned."
"Pallas and her sisters did," Pallas said, trying to encourage
him. She heard Juno hiss to her and scrambled back to Vesta's side.
"It is different with you," Me mused. "You are gods."
"What is it? Is it Vesta? Is she . . .?" babbled Pallas.
"Who put this yucky root in my mouth?" groaned Vesta. "P-TUI!"
"VESTA, YOU'RE ALL RIGHT!" cried Pallas.
"Boy, nothing gets past you," Vesta muttered weakly.
"Hush!" Juno growled playfully, jamming the root back into Vesta's
mouth. Vesta tried to resist, but she was still too feeble. "Now chew
on that!"
"BLEGH! Taste's yucky!" Vesta mumbled around the root.
"Do it! It'll make you stronger!" Vesta made a face. "Do it or
I'll kick your ass!" Vesta glared, but she began to chew. "That root
saved your life, Vesta, and you have Pallas to thank for it."
"It's still tastes yucky!" Vesta fumed. Then she turned to Pallas
and softened. "Hey, thanks for the save, kid. I owe you."
"Don't forget about the rat," teased Ceres. "You owe him, too."
"ME'S A MOUSIE, NOT A RAT!" roared Pallas. Ceres waggled her
tongue at Pallas.
"What are they talking about?" Vesta asked Juno.
"When you're stronger," Juno grinned.
"And what exactly happened anyway? The last thing I remember is
being in the moat."
"Nothing much," Juno smiled, her eyes tearing. "We just came this
close to losing you for good." She sniffled. "We're still trying to
figure out if that's a good or a bad thing."
And Me stared curiously, unable to decipher the ways of gods.
* * * *
Evionne strained once more against the bars of her cage. Again
they held. She turned in silent frustration to Sailor Saturn in the
cage next to her. Saturn stared at the bars, trying to force them apart
with her budding mental powers. The only evidence of this was the
strain evident on her face, because the bars of the cage did not move.
Finally she sagged back against the cage.
"I can't move them at all," Saturn moaned. "I guess I'm just not
good enough yet with this ESP stuff."
"Mayhap the bars are enchanted, too," Evionne told her. "As much
as I've pulled, they should have budged a bit."
They both looked over to Sailor Moon.
"Helios?" Sailor Moon inquired to the still equine. She pulled
against her chains.
"I am here, Maiden," Helios replied. "Do not fret so. I am more
hale than I appear." He pulled his head up with some effort. "Forgive
me for not telling you this sooner. It is nice to see you again.
Though I wish the circumstances were different, any chance I have to be
with you only invigorates me."
Sailor Moon smiled timidly. Saturn noticed Evionne look away.
"Maybe you could slip that collar if you change back to your human
form," Sailor Moon suggested.
"I have tried," Helios said. "Ctesias needs me in my current
form, so by her spell I am trapped this way."
They all noticed Sailor Moon's expression crumble into anguish.
She began pulling uselessly at her fetters.
"Maiden?" Helios said. "I beg you, please do not lose hope."
"But," Sailor Moon sobbed, "I-I can't stand seeing you suffer like
this! And I can't do anything! Damn that woman! Damn that
evil . . .!"
"Maiden," Helios spoke sharply, yet gently. "Take heart. Do not
succumb to the malevolence of this realm."
"But it's not fair!" Sailor Moon cried. "You've never done
anything to anyone! You're the nicest, kindest person I've ever known!
And these people keep coming after you! I hate them!"
"Maiden, please," Helios persisted. "Do not give in to the evil
of this place. Do not stain your soul in such a manner. Your light is
our beacon - - our path to deliverance. Your shining light is our
warmth and our succor. Do not let it be dimmed by hatred and despair.
Do not let her dim it. It is your greatest weapon against her. Do not
throw it away in a fit of weakness."
"Mama could get us out of this," Sailor Moon mumbled.
"So can you," Saturn told her. "You're her daughter. You're just
as good as her."
"Cling to that brilliant light, Maiden," Helios advised her.
"Nurture it. Make it glow like a sun. Do not give in to the darkness."
Helios shifted weakly. "I may be lost regardless."
"Helios, no!" sobbed Sailor Moon.
"I do not embrace it, Maiden, but I accept its possibility. If it
comes to pass, know I will live free in you even if I am chained here
for a billion years. I am yours, Maiden, now and forever. If you
escape, I will be by your side, even if it is only in spirit. But if
you succumb to the hopelessness that surrounds you, then we are all lost
- - you, me, Evionne, your senshi - - all of us." Sailor Moon stared at
the floor. She could not look at him, fearing she would burst into
tears again.
"Perseverance, Princess," Evionne said, avoiding her eyes. "A
weak bride is not worthy of The Chosen One."
Before anyone could respond, the four sensed a presence in the
room. Emerging from the shadows as if materializing from nothingness,
Ctesias appeared. She seemed to float across the room, her white gown
wafting out and her long white hair flowing behind her. It was as if
her feet hovered an inch off the floor. Her mood was confident,
serenely pleased with herself. Helios eyed her cold beauty warily until
she passed by him. Even then, there was clearly concern on his face.
Ctesias stopped before Sailor Moon, towering over her. Sailor Moon said
nothing, but she didn't shy away.
"Forgive me for not attending to you sooner, Princess," Ctesias
smiled coldly. "I hope you didn't grow too bored while waiting."
"Let us go," Sailor Moon said.
"A request I must refuse," Ctesias said.
She gestured and Sailor Moon was pulled to her feet, pulled off
her feet into the air. The chains attached to her wrist and neck
shackles drew tight, painfully constricting her throat. Sailor Moon
tried to be bravely stoic, but began to gag and choke audibly after
several moments of this. It took her several more moments to regain her
breath. Her captor drank it all in, her face right up in Sailor Moon's,
so close that she could see every pore.
"Leave her alone!" cried Saturn. Ctesias ignored her.
"You and I have something to discuss, Princess," Ctesias said, her
hot breath scorching Sailor Moon's cheeks. "You possess power. This
interests me. Where do you come by this power?"
"Let Helios and my friends go first," Sailor Moon choked out. The
chains and Ctesias's power held her body rigid.
"You seek to bargain again?" smiled Ctesias. "Little Princess,
you are in no position to bargain now. You have trespassed against me
and now belong to me, as do your friends. As such, you will tell me
what I wish to know."
Sailor Moon remained defiantly silent.
"If you wish," Ctesias leered, "we can play that way as well."
And with a thought, Sailor Moon seemed to burst into flame.
"MAIDEN!" Helios gasped, horrified.
"Usa!" cried Saturn.
A terrified shriek ripped from Sailor Moon's mouth. It quickly
mutated into a deep, resonant howl of intense pain. Helios,
reinvigorated by desperation, thrashed in the grip of his fetters in a
futile attempt to reach his love. Evionne gripped the bars of her cage
and stared in abject horror. Saturn looked on helplessly as her friend
was immolated.
"Wait!" Saturn gasped. "Her skin's not burning! It's an
illusion!"
"True," smirked Ctesias. "I have need of her still. It would not
aid my cause to permanently damage her - - just yet. But though the
flames are not real, they are real in her mind. She feels every moment
as if she were actually burning." Ctesias peeked back joyously at the
other prisoners. "Can you not tell by her screams?"
"Monster!" spat Evionne. "Were I free . . .!"
"That," Ctesias said dismissively, "you shall never be."
Sailor Moon continued to shake in the grip of the chains,
shrieking from the intense pain she felt. Overcome with anguish, Helios
hid his eyes from the sight.
"This is the price of defiance, Little Princess," Ctesias
whispered to the thrashing girl. "It is a very heavy toll."
"Stop it!" pleaded Saturn.
"No doubt you are already prepared to talk," Ctesias said. "How
unfortunate for you that I am not yet ready to listen."
"You're killing her!"
"Fool!" sneered the sorceress. "Of what use would she be then? I
merely take her to the brink, the better to stamp out any thoughts of
defiance or deception."
"STOP IT!"
It sprang from Saturn's mind, lunging between the bars and flew
towards Ctesias before Saturn was even aware of it. Saturn's mental
blast pierced the sorceress's skull and she froze up as if shot. The
phantom flames died away and Sailor Moon crumpled limply to the floor,
shuddering with the painful sobs that wracked her body. Ctesias
followed, falling to her knees. Her eyes were wide and uncomprehending.
Her hands shook with a strange palsy.
Without thinking, Saturn let loose another blast at the bars of
her cage. They buckled like tin before the unseen force and snapped
apart. Saturn shoved her way out and sprinted across the room for her
glaive. She retrieved the weapon and looked up.
Ctesias was already up. She still shook from the effects of the
mental blast, but her face was twisted in rage.
I do not know what you did," fumed Ctesias, "but you will not do
it again!"
"SILENCE GLAIVE S. . .!" Saturn began, hoisting her glaive into
the air to deliver a killing stroke.
Ctesias thrust her hands out, as if to ward off the blow, but it
was more. A power seized Saturn, freezing her in mid-sentence. The
girl's body went rigid. Her eyes glazed over. The color of her skin
and of her uniform seemed to fade to a dull gray. Evionne dropped her
gaze in anger and frustration. Sailor Saturn was now a stone statue.
"You affected me more than I thought, girl," muttered Ctesias
venomously. "I meant to vaporize you where you stood." She turned back
to Sailor Moon. "No matter. I can always use another statue for my
halls. Now Princess . . ." and she levitated the shuddering girl into
the air once more.
"Leave her alone!" Helios demanded impotently.
"Quiet! I need you alive, but I do not need you in perfect
health!" A gesture materialized a lead weight into the air. It dropped
onto one of the equine's back legs, snapping the bone. Helios' face
twisted in agony, but he did not cry out.
"Chosen one!" wailed Evionne.
Sailor Moon opened her eyes as much as she could. The lids still
drooped over the red orbs, awash in tears of suffering. Though her body
still quivered from what it had endured, she forced herself to focus on
her tormentor and on the sight behind her of Sailor Saturn cast in
stone.
"Now, Princess," Ctesias glared, her mood no longer jaunty. "What
is your source of power?"
"Change her back," Sailor Moon whispered hoarsely.
"You still misunderstand," Ctesias frowned. "You are no longer in
any position to make demands, Little Princess. Your companion offended
me and so shall stay that way for all time." Ctesias leaned in until
she was nose to nose with the pink-haired girl. "Now speak while you
are still able."
Sailor Moon stared into those cold eyes and saw no pity in them.
She averted her gaze, looking away, and remained silent.
"I shall know what I want to know," Ctesias growled at her. "Your
resistance only allows me to indulge myself by torturing you."
And Sailor Moon vanished.
* * * *
Sailor Vesta tried to stand up. However, her legs wouldn't hold
her and she crumpled back to the ground.
"Don't rush yourself," admonished Juno. "You're still pretty
weak."
"Don't baby me," growled Vesta.
"Baby you?" gasped Ceres. "You nearly died!"
"Well, I'm," and Vesta paused as a wave of nausea swept over her,
"um, better now."
"Oh, right," sneered Ceres.
"Vesta, maybe you ought to sit this one out," Juno recommended.
"Sailor Moon probably needs us," countered Vesta. "How long has
she been in there? I don't like it!"
"I don't like it, either. But what good are we going to be if
we're looking for her with one eye on you?"
"I'll hold up my end," Vesta growled.
"You can't even stand up. Just wait out here for us."
"Oh, so those cats can get me?"
"She's got a point," Ceres offered.
"Maybe you can wait up in that tree?" Juno suggested.
"Maybe they can climb trees," Vesta countered. Juno huffed in
frustration. "Look, how about I just take a form that doesn't need me
to stand. Fauna assimilation - house fly!"
Vesta's body contracted in on itself until it was a little black
speck circling them. Juno and Ceres looked on with concern.
"Are you sure you're going to be all right?" Ceres asked. "Oh, I
don't even know if you can understand me now!" As if in response, the
fly headed straight for Ceres' nose, then veered off to avoid the girl's
hand trying to swat her away. "Vesta! Quit it!"
"OK, let's go," sighed Juno. "But you be careful, Vesta. Come
on, Pallas!"
Pallas leaned over and smiled at Me.
"Pallas has to go now, Me," Pallas chirped. "Pallas has to help
her sisters find the Princess."
"Please, Oh Great Pallas," begged the rodent. "Do not venture
into the towers, I beg you! Only death and evil await you there!"
"Pallas knows," Pallas said. "But Pallas has to find the
Princess. She has to protect the Princess - - even if it means going to
Heaven."
The rodent bowed its head. "I shall look for you to return, Oh
Great Pallas. If any can return from the towers, it is you. If any can
free us from the grip of The Evil One, I hope it is you. I hope to see
you return safely with your Princess."
"Thank you, Me," smiled Pallas. "Watch out for the nasty
kitties!" and Pallas scampered off to join her fellow senshi.
* * * *
One moment she was in the grip of heavy chains, held aloft by
Ctesias. The next moment she was spread-eagle on a lattice of gossamer
threads. She tried to rise up, but the threads proved deceptively
strong and possessed a substance that adhered to her. The girl thrashed
on the lattice in an attempt to pull free, but succeeded only in
jiggling the threads.
"It's not real," Sailor Moon told herself, her body still weak and
pained from her last ordeal. "It can't be. It's another one of her
illusions. She's just trying to scare you."
It was working. She was scared.
A tremor on the thread caught her attention. Sailor Moon turned
as much as the sticky substance entangled in her pink hair would allow.
A spasm of raw, fear-induced adrenaline shot through her body. At the
edge of the lattice, shaped like a spider's web, was a huge blob with
eight protruding legs. Sailor Moon forced her heart out of her throat.
It was as big as a jump-craft. It couldn't be real.
The blob nimbly skittered along one of the strands of the web,
edging closer, stalking Sailor Moon to determine if she was prey. As it
got closer, she could make out more features. It was a giant spider,
with a small head mounted on a giant black blob of an abdomen. Multiple
eyes decorated the head, along with a pair of menacing fangs in the
front. Fine black hair covered the monstrous arachnid. Sailor Moon
felt her throat constrict from fear and revulsion. Her body was on edge
with a terror she could only believe was primal, some long forgotten
race memory of some evolutionary ancestor's reaction to being prey. Her
mind struggled with her body, trying to gain control, trying to tell her
body that it was an illusion.
Desperate not to make a sudden move and spook the thing into
attacking, Sailor Moon tried to pull her arm free of the web. She
needed a means of defense or escape should the thing attack, for,
illusion or not, it meant her no good. She remembered the pain of the
illusionary fire and sensed she was in for more if that thing attacked.
If only she had the Crescent Wand - - but it was back in the dungeon,
trapped under the spell of Ctesias. Then it hit her. When her mother
had been Sailor Moon, she'd also used her tiara as a weapon. Sailor
Moon strained to pull her right arm free. If only she could reach the
tiara, she could have something to fight back with. But the web would
not release her. Mercilessly it kept her cemented in place.
And suddenly the spider moved for her. Despite its size, it was
upon her in an eye-blink. The great black beast stood over her,
engulfing her with its body, a body that felt all too real. Fangs
poised over her chest, prepared to plunge into her flesh and inject its
venom.
Sailor Moon screamed in terror.
Continued in Chapter 8