Disclaimer: Sailor Moon is copyright © 1992 Naoko Takeuchi / Kodansha, TOEI
Animation. English Language Adaptation © 1995 DiC Entertainment. I'm just
borrowing the characters and dialogue for a bit.
Narrated by the Senshi of Silence herself,
I Could Only Watch
By Ceila
Part 4 - Weakening
Rated PG, Just in case
****************************
If my sense of time was correct I've been trapped in this darkness now for almost 24 hours. That meant that Hotaru was unconscious and vulnerable. "It also means that I'm left clueless," I mumbled to myself. The endless waiting for her eyes to crack open and give me a glimpse of the outside world was getting old. Anything but the darkness would have been a welcomed change.
"Hey Messiah how about some light?" I hollered into the darkness where she appeared to me. Then, as if in answer, the darkness in front of me began to lighten and swirl forming what I now know to be one of Hotaru's dream windows. I settled down to watch.
"Reruns are better than nothing," I mumbled as the picture cleared up to reveal Professor Tomoe's lab at Mugen High. "Now what would bring this memory back to the surface?"
Professor Tomoe led a group of researchers through his lab at the prestigious Mugen high school genetic engineering lab. Everyone in the group was dressed in long white lab coats except for Hotaru; about eight years old, with innocent purple eyes and short black hair. She wore a purple dress with white lace trim and skipped along after her father.
"I remember this day," I said aloud as I watched the people moving in front of me. "This is the day we died."
"Yes," hissed a female voice from beside me.
I turned and saw the woman from the day before. Her dark hair was even longer now dusting the small of her back. The sailor fuku was gone, replaced with a low-cut black dress that puddled at her feet. Her black eyes looked to me as a smile twisted her face into a caricature of my own. The star on her forehead peeked from beneath her bangs.
"You wanted answers Senshi Saturn. This girls mind holds all of them. Watch."
"You'll notice this special space in the machine is for exchanging delicate DNA," said Professor Tomoe as he showed the complex machines to his fellow scientists.
Hotaru wandered over to the big machines and began to examine them. She moved up close to one of them and pressed her small hands to the protective plastic shield. She stood there as a black ball of energy began to pulse in the heart of the dome. It formed a ghostly shape and began growing larger.
"Papa what's that?" Hotaru asked breaking into the conversation.
Professor Tomoe didn't have time to reply as the black energy grew and filled the dome cracking the protective shield. In that split second it exploded throwing Hotaru across the room and killing all the scientists sparing only Professor Tomoe. The lab was on fire and the building shook around him as he crawled over to his daughter's limp form.
"Hotaru! Answer me, Hotaru! Hotaru! No, it can't be, Hotaru!" he cried as he shook his precious baby.
"What does this memory have to do with answering my questions?" I asked her.
She laughed in reply, "You are stupid Senshi that you do not know. This is a small example of the power that my master holds. It is I who will set him free into this world and this girl, her father, and everyone else will all perish in his wake."
"You're talking in riddles."
"You're listening in questions. You have watched this world for so long you have forgotten how to do anything else."
Now I watched as the dream played a scene I had not seen before. I watched as a black phantom emerged from the wreckage of our father's machine. It loomed before him as he cried over Hotaru's dead body. It slithered forward approaching Souichi.
"Do you want to save your daughter's life?" It asked in a voice similar to the messiah's.
"W... Who are you?" stammered Souichi as he sniffed back tears
"I will save both you and your daughter, but you'll have to accept my conditions."
"Help me save Hotaru! I don't care about myself but..."
"I see. Then I'll take your body!"
I gasped in horror as the darkness entered our father's body through his eye. I watched as his face twisted in pain and fear as his mind was bent to the purpose of evil. His scream filled my ears and tears made my vision waver as the man I had come to know as our father today suddenly smiled that twisted smile. A smaller tendril of darkness slipped into Hotaru's body through her mouth bringing life back to her body. Unlike her father her eyes remained the same.
"So that's how you got in here," I said as the Messiah turned to me again.
"Yes and I have been growing stronger as have you, Senshi," she spat the last word at me. "You have taught me much of how this human mind works."
"What do you mean?"
"You learned to control this mind with yours. I learned from you. Now this body will bring the silence upon the earth."
"I won't let you do that! The Senshi won't let you do that!"
"Senshi are nothing compared to my master's power," she laughed again and the star on her forehead pulsed as a star shaped clock appeared on the wall of my cell. "So you may count the minutes until your end."
"It's what I've always wanted," I bit back at her. I tried not to let the uneasiness I was feeling show. "Now what about Hotaru?"
"Ah the child." Her tone was amused. "She is resting. Others are preparing her body so that it may accept the full power of my master."
The Messiah faded from view once again leaving me alone. I had to find Hotaru and help her to fight against the evil that was taking control of her. I had no clue where Hotaru could hide in her own mind. Nor how I could look for her when I was trapped in my little cell. The only thing I did know was that I was running out of time.
* * *
After I learned the truth things started happening differently. Hotaru was missing and the Messiah was taking over our mind. What felt like an eternity later I noticed the outside world again as Hotaru's eyes opened. The difference was the thin black haze over the whole picture, like looking through a curtain, and that was a bad sign. The Messiah was in control now.
"Don't you have any pure hearts yet?" asked the Messiah in a voice I recognized as Hotaru's.
"Sorry, your highness. Please wait a little more," said Professor Tomoe as he nervously twisted his hands in front of us. From a corner of the darkness I heard a whisper.
"Poppa?"
"Hotaru? Is that you?" I asked in return but received no answer.
"Without pure hearts, not just one, but in mass quantity...I can't establish myself. Anyone who disturbs my rebirth won't be tolerated," the messiah drawled as she threw a stuffed animal at our father.
"Hotaru you need to fight!" I screamed as I concentrated on the faint echo of Hotaru's mind. A purple light blinked in the distance and I heard Hotaru shout across to me.
"Chibiusa..." the Messiah's voice was strained and I knew that Hotaru was fighting back. I watched as the purple light grew brighter and closer to me.
"Hotaru! Fight her!" I screamed. I watched as Hotaru's light began to fade back again as the darkness of the Messiah grabbed control of her.
"Messiah!" exclaimed Professor Tomoe as she leaned forward in her seat with a hand to her head.
"Don't worry. Collect...pure hearts..." she replied as the last of Hotaru's light faded into the blackness and the Messiah closed her eyes leaving me completely in the dark.
* * *
I was laying on the floor looking at the ceiling. If I looked at it with one eye crossed and blinking the other I could see animal shapes, and that was amusing, until it gave me a headache. Hotaru had made one effort to gain back the control of her mind. Would she make another? Sitting up I focused my attentions on the spot I had last seen her light from. Centering my aura around myself I reached out to Hotaru and surprisingly found her.
In my mind I saw her laying in a cell like mine. She was asleep on the floor dressed in her school uniform. Using my aural projection I touched her shoulder and let some of my energies flow into her. "Wake up Hotaru," I whispered. "Wake up and reclaim yourself."
Hotaru blinked her eyes and looked around bewildered. Then she was gone and I returned to my own version of reality. Then there was light again, dim light, but it was something, as Hotaru opened her own eyes and looked around the Messiah's home.
"Chibiusa..." whispered Hotaru as she shook her head. "What am I doing here? Chibiusa..." Hotaru rose from the throne and moved across the room to a staircase that, I hoped, led upstairs. After climbing the stairs we emerged into the brighter light of our home. Looking around it was the same but different. Everything was right where it belonged, daylight was filtering through the windows, but still something felt off. As Hotaru made her way upstairs to change I noticed the difference. A normal house creaked when you walked on the floors, or you could hear the muffled sounds of the city, today there was nothing but silence.
* * *
After Hotaru changed into comfortable clothes we left the house and headed in the direction of downtown Juban. As soon as we stepped outside the house I felt much better. Out here in the open we had a better chance of overcoming the evil influences that were trying to take over our body. It was also reassuring to hear the noises of a busy city around us. We were walking by a flower shop when a woman with green hair in ondongo stopped us.
"Oh, miss!" she called running forward with a small plant in her hands. "This flower is called "brings good fortune." She held it out for us to see.
"A flower called "brings good fortune..." Hotaru repeated after the woman.
"Would you like it? It's the last one, so I'll give it to you."
"This is perfect for Chibiusa. Thank you!"
Hotaru took the plant in her hands and started walking in the direction of Chibiusa's house. It would be great to see her again. I knew how much the pink haired girl's friendship meant to Hotaru. Maybe this visit would give her the confidence and courage she would need in the next few days.
* * *
Ringing the bell on Chibiusa's house I could feel Hotaru getting nervous. Did she know how long she had been gone? Trapped in the dark reality that was now our home. As the door opened and the girls exchanged excited hugs I felt all my worries melting away. Usagi came up behind Chibiusa who promptly shut the door in the older girls face. "It's nice to know some things stay the same," I giggled.
"This is for you," said Hotaru as she handed the plant to Chibiusa.
"Thank you!" squealed Chibiusa as she took the plant in her hands admiring the small pink bud.
"This flower's name is 'brings good fortune'. I thought it suited you."
"You, too."
"No, not me."
"Yes, it does," insisted Chibiusa as she sat the plant down next to her so she could take Hotaru's hands.
"It seems that I hurt my friends without knowing," Hotaru began. "And there's another part of me that I can't control. That is why I'm afraid of making friends. But Chibiusa, your kindness warms my heart, so I'm..." Hotaru collapsed to the ground clutching her chest as a seizure gripped her.
"Hotaru!" cried Chibiusa as she sat next to her friend.
"Hotaru!" exclaimed Usagi as she ran from the house to help us. She must have been spying on us from the front windows.
I watched as they both came closer to us. Both concerned and pouring out love. The darkness moved around in front of me and a curtain of transparent black was drawn over my window of Hotaru's vision. "Hotaru no!" I screamed as the Messiah took control.
"I want your pure heart!" she said in Hotaru's voice as the Messiah reached a hand for Chibiusa's chest.
"Hotaru? What's wrong?" asked Chibiusa as she leaned toward Hotaru.
"Chibiusa!" screamed Usagi as she noticed the dark aura surrounding us.
"No!" screamed Hotaru as a flash of purple light knocked me off my feet and cleared the darkness from Hotaru's vision. "What am I..." she began in a confused voice as she looked from Chibiusa to Usagi and back again. Her hands flew to her mouth as she stifled a gasp at what she had been about to do.
"Hotaru?"
"Help me Chibiusa, I'm scared."
"Don't worry Hotaru," said Chibiusa as she held our hand and squeezed it tight.
Just then a disturbance in the sky attracted our attention and I watched as Kaolinite materialized hovering above us. She was dressed in all black now with her red hair flying around her. Her eyes held the same contempt and evil that I remembered from home.
"Hotaru, I am here for you," said Kaolinite as she swooped down and lifted us up into the air with her.
"No!" yelled Chibiusa as she tried to come to our rescue still holding the plant Hotaru had given her.
"Don't get in my way," said Kaolinite as she raised her hand and blasted Chibiusa back into Usagi.
"Help me, Chibiusa!" cried Hotaru as Kaolinite lifted us higher and higher.
Before we could get another word out Chibiusa and Usagi had vanished from our sight as Kaolinite transported us back to our home. We reappeared back in Hotaru's room and Kaolinite was frowning at us. What did we do wrong? Hotaru never got the chance to ask as Kaolinite placed a hand on Hotaru's head causing her vision to fade as she fell into a dreamless sleep.
* * *
Hotaru had been put to sleep by Kaolinite several hours ago by now and she wasn't waking up. "Come on Hotaru I know you're a fighter. Wake up for me." I paced as I talked trying in vain to reach her sleeping mind.
"You both defy me with your resistance," the Messiah hissed as she once again appeared before me.
"I will always defy what is evil," I replied jumping to my feet and raising my glaive to attention.
"You can not deny what is inevitable. It will only cause you pain."
"Nothing is inevitable. We make our own destinies. Nothing is set in stone except the past."
"Ah but that is not true. The one you call father set your destiny for you by making the choice to work for my master. Now your choices are mine as well."
"That's not true!" I yelled as I lunged forward with my glaive trying to strike a blow against her only to meet the stinging resistance of the window in front of my cell.
Her laughter filled my small room as she watched me return to my feet. "For all your time watching Senshi you have learned nothing."
"I have learned that there are others in this world like me and they will not let you succeed."
"Naive you are Senshi that you do not know that every choice you and the girl have made has helped me and will eventually achieve my goal for me."
She laughed again as I stood there in silence. "You lie," I finally whispered to her.
Turning to me she raised one eyebrow as I had seen Pluto do so many times over the years. "Watch." The window of my cell lit up and I could see Neptune and Haruka standing in the doorway before us.
"The Messiah of Silence!" exclaimed Neptune as she stepped into the room.
"The ultimate root of evil," said Haruka as she started moving closer to us.
"Wait!" cried another voice from behind them. I looked up and gasped as Ami stepped forward. "Please don't hurt her."
"What? She'll cover the Earth with Silence. We must destroy her!"
"No, the Death Busters have been taking advantage of poor Hotaru."
"Don't be sympathetic. It'll lead our world to destruction."
"She isn't responsible!" pleaded Ami as she moved closer to the throne where we sat.
"Back off!" commanded Haruka. Her voice carried the threat of violence.
"Don't interfere!" echoed Neptune as she too moved to attack our protector.
With a wave of her hands the scene disappeared and she turned back to me with a twisted smile on her face. "You see. Thanks to the efforts this girl has made to become friends with your other Senshi they now protect me and fight against each other!"
The Messiah walked up to the clear window of my cell and placed a hand on it's surface. It flashed with electricity and she smiled at me. "They're right you know. I will cover this world with silence. You may try and stop me but your fellow Senshi will protect me until my goal has been reached."
With another wave of her hand a purple light appeared next to me and when it cleared Hotaru was laying there unconscious. I rushed to her side and cradled her head in my lap.
"If you both wish to defy me then you shall stay here, together," she hissed as her form melted into the background. "I have no use for either of you now."
As the last traces of the Messiah left us I reached down and placed both hands on Hotaru, one on each side of her head. I let my healing energies flow into her body and I felt her strength build until I was satisfied that Hotaru would be able to wake on her own. Those who are evil often fall prey to their own superiority. The Messiah had handed me my greatest asset in defeating her. Now I had only to watch and wait for Hotaru to open her eyes.
I didn't have to wait long. Hotaru started rolling back and forth on the floor. She was mumbling to herself too. Suddenly she sat straight up and her eyes flew open. She blinked her eyes a few times as she took in the dark room. Finally she turned her head and noticed me sitting across from her. As she studied me a look of confusion came into her eyes.
"Who are you?" she asked in a voice I had come to think of as my own.
I smiled as she blinked her wide purple eyes at me. "I am what you are destined to become."
* * *
Author's Note: Saturn loses a bit of ground to the mysterious Messiah. I'm sure you all know who she is by now, right? What happens when Hotaru meets Saturn? This is a reunion you don't want to miss. Come back for part 5, Sacrifice and Promises, available in April.
E-Mail the Author at k340029@excite.com
Catch sneak peeks of all my work, and other talented authors works, at Daydream - www.scribbles.0catch.com
Narrated by the Senshi of Silence herself,
I Could Only Watch
By Ceila
Part 4 - Weakening
Rated PG, Just in case
****************************
If my sense of time was correct I've been trapped in this darkness now for almost 24 hours. That meant that Hotaru was unconscious and vulnerable. "It also means that I'm left clueless," I mumbled to myself. The endless waiting for her eyes to crack open and give me a glimpse of the outside world was getting old. Anything but the darkness would have been a welcomed change.
"Hey Messiah how about some light?" I hollered into the darkness where she appeared to me. Then, as if in answer, the darkness in front of me began to lighten and swirl forming what I now know to be one of Hotaru's dream windows. I settled down to watch.
"Reruns are better than nothing," I mumbled as the picture cleared up to reveal Professor Tomoe's lab at Mugen High. "Now what would bring this memory back to the surface?"
Professor Tomoe led a group of researchers through his lab at the prestigious Mugen high school genetic engineering lab. Everyone in the group was dressed in long white lab coats except for Hotaru; about eight years old, with innocent purple eyes and short black hair. She wore a purple dress with white lace trim and skipped along after her father.
"I remember this day," I said aloud as I watched the people moving in front of me. "This is the day we died."
"Yes," hissed a female voice from beside me.
I turned and saw the woman from the day before. Her dark hair was even longer now dusting the small of her back. The sailor fuku was gone, replaced with a low-cut black dress that puddled at her feet. Her black eyes looked to me as a smile twisted her face into a caricature of my own. The star on her forehead peeked from beneath her bangs.
"You wanted answers Senshi Saturn. This girls mind holds all of them. Watch."
"You'll notice this special space in the machine is for exchanging delicate DNA," said Professor Tomoe as he showed the complex machines to his fellow scientists.
Hotaru wandered over to the big machines and began to examine them. She moved up close to one of them and pressed her small hands to the protective plastic shield. She stood there as a black ball of energy began to pulse in the heart of the dome. It formed a ghostly shape and began growing larger.
"Papa what's that?" Hotaru asked breaking into the conversation.
Professor Tomoe didn't have time to reply as the black energy grew and filled the dome cracking the protective shield. In that split second it exploded throwing Hotaru across the room and killing all the scientists sparing only Professor Tomoe. The lab was on fire and the building shook around him as he crawled over to his daughter's limp form.
"Hotaru! Answer me, Hotaru! Hotaru! No, it can't be, Hotaru!" he cried as he shook his precious baby.
"What does this memory have to do with answering my questions?" I asked her.
She laughed in reply, "You are stupid Senshi that you do not know. This is a small example of the power that my master holds. It is I who will set him free into this world and this girl, her father, and everyone else will all perish in his wake."
"You're talking in riddles."
"You're listening in questions. You have watched this world for so long you have forgotten how to do anything else."
Now I watched as the dream played a scene I had not seen before. I watched as a black phantom emerged from the wreckage of our father's machine. It loomed before him as he cried over Hotaru's dead body. It slithered forward approaching Souichi.
"Do you want to save your daughter's life?" It asked in a voice similar to the messiah's.
"W... Who are you?" stammered Souichi as he sniffed back tears
"I will save both you and your daughter, but you'll have to accept my conditions."
"Help me save Hotaru! I don't care about myself but..."
"I see. Then I'll take your body!"
I gasped in horror as the darkness entered our father's body through his eye. I watched as his face twisted in pain and fear as his mind was bent to the purpose of evil. His scream filled my ears and tears made my vision waver as the man I had come to know as our father today suddenly smiled that twisted smile. A smaller tendril of darkness slipped into Hotaru's body through her mouth bringing life back to her body. Unlike her father her eyes remained the same.
"So that's how you got in here," I said as the Messiah turned to me again.
"Yes and I have been growing stronger as have you, Senshi," she spat the last word at me. "You have taught me much of how this human mind works."
"What do you mean?"
"You learned to control this mind with yours. I learned from you. Now this body will bring the silence upon the earth."
"I won't let you do that! The Senshi won't let you do that!"
"Senshi are nothing compared to my master's power," she laughed again and the star on her forehead pulsed as a star shaped clock appeared on the wall of my cell. "So you may count the minutes until your end."
"It's what I've always wanted," I bit back at her. I tried not to let the uneasiness I was feeling show. "Now what about Hotaru?"
"Ah the child." Her tone was amused. "She is resting. Others are preparing her body so that it may accept the full power of my master."
The Messiah faded from view once again leaving me alone. I had to find Hotaru and help her to fight against the evil that was taking control of her. I had no clue where Hotaru could hide in her own mind. Nor how I could look for her when I was trapped in my little cell. The only thing I did know was that I was running out of time.
* * *
After I learned the truth things started happening differently. Hotaru was missing and the Messiah was taking over our mind. What felt like an eternity later I noticed the outside world again as Hotaru's eyes opened. The difference was the thin black haze over the whole picture, like looking through a curtain, and that was a bad sign. The Messiah was in control now.
"Don't you have any pure hearts yet?" asked the Messiah in a voice I recognized as Hotaru's.
"Sorry, your highness. Please wait a little more," said Professor Tomoe as he nervously twisted his hands in front of us. From a corner of the darkness I heard a whisper.
"Poppa?"
"Hotaru? Is that you?" I asked in return but received no answer.
"Without pure hearts, not just one, but in mass quantity...I can't establish myself. Anyone who disturbs my rebirth won't be tolerated," the messiah drawled as she threw a stuffed animal at our father.
"Hotaru you need to fight!" I screamed as I concentrated on the faint echo of Hotaru's mind. A purple light blinked in the distance and I heard Hotaru shout across to me.
"Chibiusa..." the Messiah's voice was strained and I knew that Hotaru was fighting back. I watched as the purple light grew brighter and closer to me.
"Hotaru! Fight her!" I screamed. I watched as Hotaru's light began to fade back again as the darkness of the Messiah grabbed control of her.
"Messiah!" exclaimed Professor Tomoe as she leaned forward in her seat with a hand to her head.
"Don't worry. Collect...pure hearts..." she replied as the last of Hotaru's light faded into the blackness and the Messiah closed her eyes leaving me completely in the dark.
* * *
I was laying on the floor looking at the ceiling. If I looked at it with one eye crossed and blinking the other I could see animal shapes, and that was amusing, until it gave me a headache. Hotaru had made one effort to gain back the control of her mind. Would she make another? Sitting up I focused my attentions on the spot I had last seen her light from. Centering my aura around myself I reached out to Hotaru and surprisingly found her.
In my mind I saw her laying in a cell like mine. She was asleep on the floor dressed in her school uniform. Using my aural projection I touched her shoulder and let some of my energies flow into her. "Wake up Hotaru," I whispered. "Wake up and reclaim yourself."
Hotaru blinked her eyes and looked around bewildered. Then she was gone and I returned to my own version of reality. Then there was light again, dim light, but it was something, as Hotaru opened her own eyes and looked around the Messiah's home.
"Chibiusa..." whispered Hotaru as she shook her head. "What am I doing here? Chibiusa..." Hotaru rose from the throne and moved across the room to a staircase that, I hoped, led upstairs. After climbing the stairs we emerged into the brighter light of our home. Looking around it was the same but different. Everything was right where it belonged, daylight was filtering through the windows, but still something felt off. As Hotaru made her way upstairs to change I noticed the difference. A normal house creaked when you walked on the floors, or you could hear the muffled sounds of the city, today there was nothing but silence.
* * *
After Hotaru changed into comfortable clothes we left the house and headed in the direction of downtown Juban. As soon as we stepped outside the house I felt much better. Out here in the open we had a better chance of overcoming the evil influences that were trying to take over our body. It was also reassuring to hear the noises of a busy city around us. We were walking by a flower shop when a woman with green hair in ondongo stopped us.
"Oh, miss!" she called running forward with a small plant in her hands. "This flower is called "brings good fortune." She held it out for us to see.
"A flower called "brings good fortune..." Hotaru repeated after the woman.
"Would you like it? It's the last one, so I'll give it to you."
"This is perfect for Chibiusa. Thank you!"
Hotaru took the plant in her hands and started walking in the direction of Chibiusa's house. It would be great to see her again. I knew how much the pink haired girl's friendship meant to Hotaru. Maybe this visit would give her the confidence and courage she would need in the next few days.
* * *
Ringing the bell on Chibiusa's house I could feel Hotaru getting nervous. Did she know how long she had been gone? Trapped in the dark reality that was now our home. As the door opened and the girls exchanged excited hugs I felt all my worries melting away. Usagi came up behind Chibiusa who promptly shut the door in the older girls face. "It's nice to know some things stay the same," I giggled.
"This is for you," said Hotaru as she handed the plant to Chibiusa.
"Thank you!" squealed Chibiusa as she took the plant in her hands admiring the small pink bud.
"This flower's name is 'brings good fortune'. I thought it suited you."
"You, too."
"No, not me."
"Yes, it does," insisted Chibiusa as she sat the plant down next to her so she could take Hotaru's hands.
"It seems that I hurt my friends without knowing," Hotaru began. "And there's another part of me that I can't control. That is why I'm afraid of making friends. But Chibiusa, your kindness warms my heart, so I'm..." Hotaru collapsed to the ground clutching her chest as a seizure gripped her.
"Hotaru!" cried Chibiusa as she sat next to her friend.
"Hotaru!" exclaimed Usagi as she ran from the house to help us. She must have been spying on us from the front windows.
I watched as they both came closer to us. Both concerned and pouring out love. The darkness moved around in front of me and a curtain of transparent black was drawn over my window of Hotaru's vision. "Hotaru no!" I screamed as the Messiah took control.
"I want your pure heart!" she said in Hotaru's voice as the Messiah reached a hand for Chibiusa's chest.
"Hotaru? What's wrong?" asked Chibiusa as she leaned toward Hotaru.
"Chibiusa!" screamed Usagi as she noticed the dark aura surrounding us.
"No!" screamed Hotaru as a flash of purple light knocked me off my feet and cleared the darkness from Hotaru's vision. "What am I..." she began in a confused voice as she looked from Chibiusa to Usagi and back again. Her hands flew to her mouth as she stifled a gasp at what she had been about to do.
"Hotaru?"
"Help me Chibiusa, I'm scared."
"Don't worry Hotaru," said Chibiusa as she held our hand and squeezed it tight.
Just then a disturbance in the sky attracted our attention and I watched as Kaolinite materialized hovering above us. She was dressed in all black now with her red hair flying around her. Her eyes held the same contempt and evil that I remembered from home.
"Hotaru, I am here for you," said Kaolinite as she swooped down and lifted us up into the air with her.
"No!" yelled Chibiusa as she tried to come to our rescue still holding the plant Hotaru had given her.
"Don't get in my way," said Kaolinite as she raised her hand and blasted Chibiusa back into Usagi.
"Help me, Chibiusa!" cried Hotaru as Kaolinite lifted us higher and higher.
Before we could get another word out Chibiusa and Usagi had vanished from our sight as Kaolinite transported us back to our home. We reappeared back in Hotaru's room and Kaolinite was frowning at us. What did we do wrong? Hotaru never got the chance to ask as Kaolinite placed a hand on Hotaru's head causing her vision to fade as she fell into a dreamless sleep.
* * *
Hotaru had been put to sleep by Kaolinite several hours ago by now and she wasn't waking up. "Come on Hotaru I know you're a fighter. Wake up for me." I paced as I talked trying in vain to reach her sleeping mind.
"You both defy me with your resistance," the Messiah hissed as she once again appeared before me.
"I will always defy what is evil," I replied jumping to my feet and raising my glaive to attention.
"You can not deny what is inevitable. It will only cause you pain."
"Nothing is inevitable. We make our own destinies. Nothing is set in stone except the past."
"Ah but that is not true. The one you call father set your destiny for you by making the choice to work for my master. Now your choices are mine as well."
"That's not true!" I yelled as I lunged forward with my glaive trying to strike a blow against her only to meet the stinging resistance of the window in front of my cell.
Her laughter filled my small room as she watched me return to my feet. "For all your time watching Senshi you have learned nothing."
"I have learned that there are others in this world like me and they will not let you succeed."
"Naive you are Senshi that you do not know that every choice you and the girl have made has helped me and will eventually achieve my goal for me."
She laughed again as I stood there in silence. "You lie," I finally whispered to her.
Turning to me she raised one eyebrow as I had seen Pluto do so many times over the years. "Watch." The window of my cell lit up and I could see Neptune and Haruka standing in the doorway before us.
"The Messiah of Silence!" exclaimed Neptune as she stepped into the room.
"The ultimate root of evil," said Haruka as she started moving closer to us.
"Wait!" cried another voice from behind them. I looked up and gasped as Ami stepped forward. "Please don't hurt her."
"What? She'll cover the Earth with Silence. We must destroy her!"
"No, the Death Busters have been taking advantage of poor Hotaru."
"Don't be sympathetic. It'll lead our world to destruction."
"She isn't responsible!" pleaded Ami as she moved closer to the throne where we sat.
"Back off!" commanded Haruka. Her voice carried the threat of violence.
"Don't interfere!" echoed Neptune as she too moved to attack our protector.
With a wave of her hands the scene disappeared and she turned back to me with a twisted smile on her face. "You see. Thanks to the efforts this girl has made to become friends with your other Senshi they now protect me and fight against each other!"
The Messiah walked up to the clear window of my cell and placed a hand on it's surface. It flashed with electricity and she smiled at me. "They're right you know. I will cover this world with silence. You may try and stop me but your fellow Senshi will protect me until my goal has been reached."
With another wave of her hand a purple light appeared next to me and when it cleared Hotaru was laying there unconscious. I rushed to her side and cradled her head in my lap.
"If you both wish to defy me then you shall stay here, together," she hissed as her form melted into the background. "I have no use for either of you now."
As the last traces of the Messiah left us I reached down and placed both hands on Hotaru, one on each side of her head. I let my healing energies flow into her body and I felt her strength build until I was satisfied that Hotaru would be able to wake on her own. Those who are evil often fall prey to their own superiority. The Messiah had handed me my greatest asset in defeating her. Now I had only to watch and wait for Hotaru to open her eyes.
I didn't have to wait long. Hotaru started rolling back and forth on the floor. She was mumbling to herself too. Suddenly she sat straight up and her eyes flew open. She blinked her eyes a few times as she took in the dark room. Finally she turned her head and noticed me sitting across from her. As she studied me a look of confusion came into her eyes.
"Who are you?" she asked in a voice I had come to think of as my own.
I smiled as she blinked her wide purple eyes at me. "I am what you are destined to become."
* * *
Author's Note: Saturn loses a bit of ground to the mysterious Messiah. I'm sure you all know who she is by now, right? What happens when Hotaru meets Saturn? This is a reunion you don't want to miss. Come back for part 5, Sacrifice and Promises, available in April.
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