Chapter Three: Crescent Tide

Hotaru woke up the next morning to find herself in a large white bed. She couldn't remember for a moment where she was but soon remembered landing on the planet where only children lived. She got out of bed to find herself dressed in the same clothes she had arrived in.
"I wish I could have a wardrobe change," Hotaru said. She felt dirty and unclean as she walked around her new room, cleaning up around the bed and making the bed as well. She then remembered the pendant, and her hand flew to her neck. It was still there.
Hotaru sighed with relief and then spoke to it. "I wish you could give me a change of clothes." With a flash of light, Hotaru was dressed in a tight black top and a pair of dark blue jeans with fit perfectly. Over the shirt she wore a white trenchcoat. She looked down at herself.
"Nice," she commented. She noticed that her school uniform was neatly folded on the bed, waiting for someone to wash them. She smiled and walked out of the room. She waited in front of what used to be the reception room until Nao came in to pick her up.
A young Yoochienko came up to her. The little girl looked at her with her finger inside of her mouth. The girl's curly black hair fell to her rear end and she looked frightened. Hotaru knelt down and began to speak calmly to the girl.
"Hello, what's your name?" the fifteen year old said.
"Yuriko Kitazen," the girl said shyly.
"That's a pretty name," Hotaru commented. She was about to say something else when a deeper voice came. It was masculine and loud, but Hotaru could not understand what it said at first.
"Yuriko! Yuri-chan, come back here!" the voice called. Suddenly the most handsome young man appeared around the corner. He was taller than most of the male children but he was not the tallest. He had a headful of black hair and the most beautiful brown eyes. Hotaru was immediately taken with him.
"Oh, hi!" he said when he noticed Yuriko was with Hotaru.
"Hi," the words dripped out of Hotaru's mouth. She was taken with the young man's figure. He was neither thin nor fat, but just perfect with a little more meat on his bones. His lips were slightly parted.
"You must be the girl everyone is talking about," the boy commented. Hotaru had trouble saying anything.
"I guess..."
"Ryo-chan! She's friendly. You should fall in love with her and get married and live happily ever after," Yuriko said.
"Yuriko-chan, you know that's not allowed," Ryo said. "I'm Ryo and this is my twin sister, Yuriko."
"Your tw... twin sister?" Hotaru was surprised. She had thought if they were siblings, Ryo was the older one.
"Yeah. Some of the only twins born on our planet. Nao had some important business to take care of so she sent Yuriko and me to pick you up. However Yuriko ran ahead of me..."
"I should be able to. I am sixteen, you know," Yuriko said with her hands on her hips.
"But you look like you're six. If you would just grow up, I wouldn't have to keep treating you like a six year old," Ryo said.
"I don't want to grow up, though. I want to stay a little kid forever," Yuriko said.
Ryo sighed and grabbed his sister by the hand, "So Hotaru, how old are you?"
"I celebrated my birthday a few days ago so I'm fifteen," Hotaru gave back.
"Really, you don't look a day over twelve," Ryo said.
"I guess that's a complement here, right?"
"Yeah, you're not supposed to look older than fifteen, but I guess that's to be expected," Ryo explained.
"Come on!" Yuriko said. "Nao is going to be angry if we don't hurry." Yuriko tugged at her brother's hand nearly pulling it off.
"Well, I think you're very handsome," Hotaru whispered to Ryo. Yuriko lead the way to where an Official building once stood. It was still intact, but it had been gutted out over a hundred years ago. The paint on it was old and was peeling back. Hotaru entered the building with Ryo and Yuriko behind her.
Nao was there talking to some other boys and girls. Some of them were Yoochienko while the others appeared to be anywhere from eight to fourteen. Hotaru approached Nao's desk.
"It's nice to see you today. Welcome to my city hall. It's not much, but it's the best we can do. I see you have met my friends, Ryo and Yuriko Kitazen. I would like to introduce you to the rest of my council. You already know my advisors Hanako and Ayame. These," she motioned to three boys all about thirteen, "are Kenji Maruito, Kazuo Iwahira, and Masahito Hanasha, my generals. The girl over there is my Seer, Miwa Ikari."
"Nice to meet you all," Hotaru bowed. They bowed back.
"And this is my chooser, Kyoko Sakayama," Nao introduced. "She is the one who chooses who will be sacrificed for Crescent Tide if we do not capture someone."
"What is all this about? Why do you sacrifice? Why do you live in such poverty?" Hotaru asked.
"That's what it was like yesterday and before that, and before that," Nao said.
"But what about before that?" Hotaru asked.
"You mean in the Long Ago? In Mukashino?" Nao asked. Hotaru nodded.
"Will you help us fight the Zettaishi?"
"I'm not a fighter," Hotaru said. "But I'll help in any other way I can if you tell me the story."
"All right, everyone gather around. The story of the Long Ago is going to be told again," Ayame said. For Hotaru, the realisation that almost everyone was here was a major shock to her.
Nao began, "Long Ago, in Mukashino, all the children lived by the law of the Ancient Elders, the Furuihito. They, however, were unfair. They abused us, raped us, and forced us to do their work. However, the Elders called upon the Child who's name must not be spoken. She was a Sailor Senshi and was adored by all. We requested that she rid our world of the Furuihito, and she agreed.
"The Senshi fought with the Furuihito for many years until they left the planet without us. Peace had come at last and the senshi ruled over us. But as the years went by, she did not age but the people of our planet did. We tried to keep from ageing. We did everything from keeping active to using anti-aging creams. Many of the elders passed the age of eighteen and began to rule over small communities of children. This upset the Senshi, and she banished them far away.
"But still the people of our world were unhappy so one day three girls from another world found the senshi and stabbed a sword through her. They used their powers to seal her away and ensure that the senshi's power to remain young was now apart of us. Then one day those three disappeared and have never returned," Nao took a drink of water. "However a few centuries later we began to age rapidly, but only at the half moon. So every night during the Crescent Tide, we sacrifice one person to keep the senshi asleep and to keep from ageing."
"That is my job," Kyoko said. "It is my duty to choose who will die for crescent tide. Usually we choose a birther or a Zettaishi we have captured. But if no one has been captured or has given birth, I must choose one of our own."
"You will get your first Crescent Tide experience tonight. We will be sacrificing a birther," Nao said. There was no mercy in her voice.
"A birther?" Hotaru asked, confused.
"Yes. Here, nine months after a female gives birth, they are to be sacrificed for Crescent Tide. It is a sin to give birth, just as it is a sin to grow older," Nao replied. "The girl's name is Sachiko Haragawa and in truth she's a second time birther."
"What right do you have to kill her?" Hotaru thought, but she didn't open her mouth.
"As I said, tonight is Crescent Tide. In your closet back at the Hotel is a ceremonial dress. It should fit but there are others if it does not," Nao said. "The ceremonies begin at ten. I suggest you get plenty of rest. I will call for you at six to be my guest for dinner."
"I will be there," Hotaru said. "I can find my way back to the hotel all right." Hotaru left the room and began to wander back to her hotel. She was nearly there when she heard something strange coming from an alleyway.
Going to investigate, Hotaru found nothing out of the ordinary, but as she turned around to leave something grabbed her mouth and body and pulled her back. She tried to scream, but the hand over her mouth wouldn't let her open it. Instead she tried to make sounds, but the moment she did the person who held her touched her throat, and Hotaru fell limp.
* * *
When Hotaru came to, she was in a strange room with twenty other people. Fear immediately gripped her as she realised these people were the Zettaishi. The one that sat on the head throne had long brown hair which had the strands in clumps. Her eyes were a silver-blue combination and looked very old.
"You!" Hotaru said softly. "It was you who told me to come here, through the sword."
"And you must be the young senshi the sword found," the girl said. She stood up. To Hotaru she appeared to be about 16, but Hotaru knew it wasn't true. "You are probably wondering why we brought you here. We are who the Eienko call the Zettaishi. We fight so that we will die and be united with those who gave us life. Many of the Eienko have forgotten the adults who raised us and gave birth to us. They are more concerned with keeping their eternal youth than the memories of their past."
"But why do you fight them?" Hotaru said. "Why do you not see eternal youth as a gift?"
"We used to. We used to believe it was a gift of immeasurable power, but the more children that were born, the more we realised we needed our adult providers," the lady said. "It's been over two-thousand years since the Senshi was put down. We do not want to die by their blades nor by their sacrificial rites. We want to grow up, raise a family and live as long as we can. But we would rather die by sword than by rite."
"What us your name?" Hotaru asked.
"My name, child, is Enzeru Kitazen. Kudasai, help this world," Enzeru said.
"You said that before. What do you mean?"
"Without the adults, our world cannot survive with just the children. You must find a way to end the killing. Kudasai..." Enzeru said. Then as if in a dream, everything faded out and Hotaru found herself in her bedroom with Ryo, staring at her.
"Did you say something?" Hotaru asked
"I said, 'It's time to go to the ceremony.' I can see you're already dressed, but you were so zoned out I was afraid I was going to have to call Nao. Are you ready to go?"
Hotaru nodded. Ryo took her to the celebration. It was, in truth, a wonderful time. There was dancing and rejoicing. Hotaru felt right at home here. There were all sorts of good foods and laughter.
Hotaru joined in the dancing when she saw Nao and Kyoko dressed up. Kyoko had on a ritual like gown and her hair was done so that it appeared to be standing straight up in the back. Kyoko also wore plenty of jewelry and beads. The headdress she wore was red and covered with jewels.
Nao watched over the ceremony with a watchful eye, making sure nothing was going wrong. Just then the clock struck midnight and all celebration stopped. The clouds began to roll in and bump against each other. Hotaru knew it meant a storm was brewing. The wind blew carrying a familiar scent.
A girl was brought out of where she was being held. She walked as though she was accepting her destiny. She didn't struggle against those who were holding her. She was dressed in a long blue dress with a train. A chain headband held up a single blue jewel.
The two young men holding her lead her up to a platform that Hotaru could tell would be where she would die. The girl kept her head held high. It was almost as though she was glad to die. Nao and Kyoko approached her
"Sachiko, you have given birth to two children," Nao began. "You have abused the meaning of being an Eienko. Do you understand?"
"Hai," Sachiko said, emotionlessly.
"Do you completely understand your punishment?"
"Hai," Sachiko again spoke.
"You understand your sacrifice will insure the youth of the rest of us?"
"Hai," Sachiko spoke.
"Then let Crescent Tide commence," Kyoko said. Sachiko's arms and legs were tied to a metal cross. She was then strung up into the sky. Kyoko and Nao looked to the sky and began to speak the ceremony's words.
"Kaminari, inabikari, kure. We are your master. Obey our words and strike the cross with all of your might," they said.
Hotaru, as the senshi of death and destruction, had seen death occur many times before and had even caused and committed thousands of murders. Yet never had she seen one as horrible as this one. The innocent girl who was strung up on the cross looking so emotionless made Hotaru think of every bad thing she had ever done.
The moment before lightning struck the cross, the girl looked at Hotaru and said something only Hotaru could hear.
"Shijosei, protect me." Hotaru could feel warmth emanating from the sword. Afraid it was going to grow, Hotaru put her hand on it. She turned as Sachiko was struck by lightning. Then she fainted.