I do not own Sailor Moon. CastellaStar owns any characters that Naoko Takeuchi does not.

Chapter 13

Ariya opened her eyes. Looking around, she could see that it was still night. Sitting up, she began to wonder what had woken her up. Was it a dream? Ariya was barely holding on to the edges of her dream. It had been strange.

In the dream, she remembered seeing blood on her own hands. She was kneeling by Cambertin whose eyes were closed. Ariya remembered trying to wake her friend up, but she wouldn't. Then, there was a flash of light. Cambertin was gone, but in her place was a baby. Ariya remembered standing up and seeing her friends.they had all grown so tall. It had been so strange..

Was that what had woken her up? No. The sound of feet rushing by and worried voices reached her ears. Pulling off the covers, Ariya put her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. Walking carefully over to where the door was, she felt around for the handle. When she found it, she slowly opened the door and peeked out. Somebody had their back facing her, and was blocking her view. There was pain..Ariya could sense that someone had been hurt. That was when Ariya knew what had awoken her.

Reaching behind her ear, Ariya felt around. When she found what she was looking for, she pulled it out: a silvery-white feather. Cambertin had called her. Opening the door all the way, Ariya stepped around the person in front of her. What met her eyes next caused her heart to skip a beat, and drove the dream from her mind.

Sailor Saturn had been laid on several cushions. Her body was covered in cuts, bruises, and dried blood. She was unconscious at the moment. Ariya rushed over to the wounded senshi and knelt down beside her.

"What happened?!" demanded Ariya, looking at the trio who had brought her in.

"It's the Shadow Stars' doing," explained Cambertin, kneeling down next to Ariya.

Pausing long enough to glance back and forth at Cambertin, Helios, and Chibi-usa, Ariya nodded. Like a doctor, Ariya began feeling around Hotaru's body, searching for internal injuries and broken bones. Cambertin let out a sigh, looked at Ariya, and then back up to Helios and Chibi-usa.

"Cammy." started Ariya, watching her friend carefully.

Ignoring Ariya, Cambertin stood up. "I must request that you leave the area temporarily, my Lady."

"It's Chibi-usa!" corrected the Princess quickly. "But.why?"

Cambertin smiled and replied, "I have to make sure that Hotaru is completely okay."

Chibi-usa got a confused look on her face. ".and I have to leave?"

"My technique isn't safe for others to be around me. Including Ariya."

Sighing, Ariya stood up. She gave an unreadable glance to Cambertin, but then smiled at the confused Chibi-usa and Helios. "Please.let's go!" she said, gently guiding them along.

Chibi-usa gave one last backward glance at Cambertin who waved and winked. Before closing the door, Ariya looked at Cambertin, worry written all over her face. Cambertin gave her a thumbs-up sign, and Ariya closed the door.

When the door closed, the happy smile completely dropped from Cambertin's face. Her eyes darkened from their usual bright purple to almost black. Turning, Cambertin began to stare at Hotaru, who lay on the ground, knowing nothing of the nightmare that would take place next.

The room began to dim, and the lights flickered. A wind began to pick up, but no windows were open to let it in. Cambertin's normally-white wings grew from her back, but were pitch black. The room continued to darken and the wind was picking up.

Cambertin began to speak, but in a voice that did not seem her own. "Along with the gift You bestowed upon me, Lord, came a curse. The Devil uses corruption to bend things to his will..eternal death. Yet even then, You bend it back to Your will. Fear of death is for those who do not know what follows. Thus, I embrace death as my own.and give life."

The wind was howling in the now-pitch black room. As she had spoken, the lights had shattered. A purple light began to envelop both Cambertin and Hotaru until they were a glowing sphere of light. Cambertin folded her arms across her chest and closed her eyes, tilting her head up, as the winds howled around her.

* * * * * *

It was silent. The silence of death was always peaceful. Cambertin slowly opened her eyes and smiled. She looked at herself.clothed in her sailor fuku.but it was slightly altered. The colors had darkened, and her wings were still pitch black. Strange markings, similar to tribal ones, covered her arms and legs. A few also marked her face. Looking up, Cambertin could see the figure floating before her in the darkness.

"Death will not come for you," whispered Cambertin, drawing the figure close.

The scarred figure of Hotaru lay limp in Cambertin's arms. Cambertin's hand gently stroked the face of Sailor Saturn, in a motherly way. "Ah..blessed senshi of the solar system..you fight for what is pure and good, never looking back. We are similar in a way..feared for the gift that the Lord bestowed upon us. Yet, I am merely a shadow compared to you, and thus, I am hidden from people's knowledge. Awaken..awaken.."

Tears had begun to fall from Cambertin's face. They fell onto Hotaru's face, and glittered in the darkness. The scars and blood that covered Hotaru slowly began to disappear as the tears continued to fall from Cambertin's eyes. Hotaru's eyes slowly fluttered open.

"Rain?" she muttered.

Hotaru looked up into an unfamiliar face. Tears were falling from the person's face and onto her own. "Who.?" wondered Hotaru, as she reached up to touch the stranger's face. She could not see the person's face clearly through the falling tears, but she could see that the person had wings. "An angel.?" she muttered.

* * * * * *

The noise was too much for Chibi-usa to bear any longer. "What is going on?!" she yelled at Ariya, covering her ears with her hands to block out the terrible noise.

"It is okay," replied Ariya, smiling gently. "It's all okay."

"Okay?!" exclaimed Chibi-usa. "It sounds like a tornado in there!"

They were silent for a few minutes longer. As the minutes passed though, a worried look began to grow on Ariya's face. Without stopping long enough to think of the consequences, Chibi-usa dashed towards the closed door and shoved them as hard as she could. The doors flew open, and were forced all of the way around only to slam into the walls of the room. Chibi-usa's eyes widened from shock as the powerful winds began to push her back. Debris flew at her from all directions, and Chibi-usa had to shield her face with her arms. Peeking through the crack between her arms, Chibi-usa could see what looked like something straight out of a nightmare.

"Demon.?!" started Chibi-usa, fighting against the wind with all of her might.

A creature, completely black, was holding Hotaru. A purple glow surrounded both of them.the creature and Hotaru. Suddenly, the creature looked up at Chibi-usa, slanted eyes glowing the same purple as the light surrounding it. It's figure was distorted, but it almost seemed like a person. The creature, still holding onto Hotaru, held up a hand..was that a hand?......towards Chibi-usa, palm facing her. Words of an unfamiliar language were spoken, but they sounded terrible.like nails scraping against a chalkboard. Something had formed in the creature's hand.

Chibi-usa couldn't move. She was too frightened. When the creature threw the object in hand, she just stood there, frozen. Chibi-usa looked away and held her arms up in defense as the object hurtled towards her. Chibi-usa could hear someone screaming.was that her?...was she screaming?...

A grunt. Something wet dripped on Chibi-usa's arms and head. Peeking carefully, Chibi-usa could see blood.but there was no pain. Chibi-usa looked up and gasped. Ariya stood in front of her, arms spread out, and smiling weakly down at the young princess. Blood was running down her arms and legs, and her hair had gone wild. Tears of pain were running down her face, but she kept smiling anyways.

"A-Ariya.," started Chibi-usa, too shocked to move.

"Don't worry, Princess," whispered Ariya, as she fell to her knees. Ariya looked back towards the howling creature that was now standing. Hotaru lay on the floor next to it. Ariya held up her hand as a glowing ball of energy formed in it.

The creature stepped closer to Ariya and Chibi-usa, a wicked smile on its face. Ariya forced herself to stand back up.it hurt, but this was nothing compared to last time. Ariya smiled slightly at the memory. "It seems that we will duel again...neh, Cammy?"

"Cammy.you mean that.that thing is Cambertin?!" screeched Chibi-usa, her eyes wide with fright.

Ariya wasn't listening anymore. She couldn't. A sound began to fill her ears.it whistled, rising up and down, like a flute. The glowing sphere of energy that she held in her hands began to reach out like snakes and wrapped itself around Ariya. "Dragon Magic." she heard herself say, but it was distant. She had closed her eyes, but now they snapped back open, a strange light in them. The wounds that had covered her arms and legs were gone.as well as her sailor fuku. Her body was covered in a blinding light that began to take shape.

The creature that was Cambertin lashed out at Ariya, ignoring the light. But the creature's arm was blocked. When it tried to pull away, it couldn't. Ariya held onto its arm with a grip of death. The light faded, but did not go completely away. Her wings had become a silver-white color, and seemed to glow on their own. A pure white dress covered her body, and a tiara of diamonds circled across her forehead. She held a piece of paper, strange writing all over it, which had several ribbons attached to it.

The creature fought harder and managed to free itself of Ariya's grip. It swung it's arm back and lashed at Ariya's face. Scratches appeared and blood began to drip, but both faded in a sparkling light. "Release Cambertin!" roared Ariya, her voice loud and stern. "I demand you, under the name of God, leave this body!" Ariya reached out and grabbed the creature around the neck, and slapped the piece of paper onto its forehead, similar to an ofuda scroll. "Demon! Be transformed!"

The creature, while one hand held onto Ariya's arm, tried to pull the paper off of its forehead. The paper began to glow with a radiant silver light, and the creature let out a terrible howl. The purple light began to disappear into the paper. Ariya let go of the creature, which collapsed to the floor. It curled up, howling and cursing in a strange tongue. The light of the paper began to spread over the creature, until it completely covered it. When the light faded, Cambertin lay on the floor, her braids undone and burnt slightly. A black mark on her forehead faded away, and her body suddenly looked as though she had been slashed to ribbons, blood trailing down her legs, face, and arms.

Ariya knelt down, smiling sadly, and lifted Cambertin in her arms. Not looking back at Chibi-usa, Helios, or Hotaru, she carried Cambertin down the hallway. Chibi-usa stared after them, but didn't dare budge. Suddenly, a movement caught her attention, and she looked over to see Hotaru trying to get up.

"Hotaru!" she cried. Running over to her friend, Chibi-usa helped her up and held her in a tight hug. "I'm so glad...so glad." she whispered, tears streaming down her face.

Hotaru smiled weakly down at her friend, holding her in a hug. "It was thanks to an angel." she sighed.