Act III - Firebird
"What to do..." murmured Deimos. Her raven black wings silently beat against the heated air. Phobos massaged her temples. Crimson silk flowed around Kasei, like the flames that engulfed her invaded planet. Her senses ached with the knowledge of what must be done...for it was the only way. How she hated being Empress of Mars at times like these.
"Phobos and Deimos, come here." They flitted towards her, black hair rippling in the desolate wind. Kasei closed her eyes, thinking. She spoke, "Our last hope is to somehow incinerate this being. Her spirit matter has been strengthened, is much tougher than what we or even the Senshi are used to. That is why Sailor Mars failed. But I believe there is still hope for us yet..."
"We will not betray our future Queen of the Moon Empire." whispered Phobos. "While it gives my soul eternal pain to think of a Senshi's death, especially one of our own, we all will die before the Child of Light is lost to them."
Kasei's dark eyes hardened to cold jet flint. "I would sooner kill myself than betray the Moon's Royal Family and surrender Usagi. No...as Martians we are gifted with the power to control fire...and the passion that sears our souls. This, coupled with our unusually innate sense of foretelling, will be our strengths still. I can tell that Selah 8 is able to be destroyed...for nothing that lives can be kept immortal for long. However..." She held up a hand for silence.
"It will not be easy. It will take a cataclysmic force of incredible magnitude to incinerate this Tau Ceti being. Hatred, greed, fear...all spirits made of such matter are inevitably durable. But we must remember the one phase of spirit that is even stronger than hatred."
"Pure charity."
The fiery angels started, looking at one another with wide eyes.
Kasei sighed, years seemingly added to her face. "Do you two know of any spell concerning this pure love that is strong enough to overcome death?"
Phobos and Deimos blinked, then looked at each other in sudden recollection. "Ah...High Empress Kasei?" Deimos ventured timidly. Kasei nodded.
The raven girl nervously plucked at her wing pinions. "We hail from Coronis, as you fully know, since you took us in when...when that imposter took away our home planet and became a false senshi." Again the Fire Queen nodded and smiled.
Deimos continued. "On Coronis we called this...charity of yours 'Kharadhrah', or 'the Honor of Life'. I assume from our study of Martian and Lunarian culture that this 'charity' is synonymous with pure love."
Kneeling together, Phobos and Deimos bowed deeply to a started Kasei. Phobos looked up in perfect solemnity. "According to Coronis law and tradition, we are bound to serve the ones who have saved us from death, thus upholding the Honor of Life. We owe our lives to you, dear Queen. And to your daughter and the entire Moon Kingdom."
Deimos looked up from beneath her sheet of ebony hair. "There is a way to destroy her."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Her eyes opened reluctantly, ash griming the creases of her eyelids. Andreana's body felt...or did not feel...rather numb, but for her face and hands which overwhelmed her with pulsing waves of pain. Something cold slithered across her neck, lightly drawing welts of bloody tissue from her skin. Her body went completely stiff. For the last and final time, Sailor Mars. Either tell me where you're hiding Princess Usagi...the rapier tip lightly nicked off the lobe of her left ear. Guardian Mars convulsed, squeezing tears out of eyes shut against the horrible pain. ...Or you'll have one less Senshi for me to deal with.
"I don't know where Usagi Lady Serenity is." spoke Sailor Mars softly, raven hair billowing in the wind. "If I did, things would be much simpler in life. And even if I did know..." Her eyes grew turbid as fire danced incadescent within them. Her voice lowered to a menacing growl. "Mars would freeze over and my body would rot before I'd giver her to one such as you!"
Selah's ghostly breaths grew quicker with anger. Craning her head to look up at her captor's face, Guardian Mars smiled grimly. She thought of Crhys, turning the mental image of his face over and over in her mind, treasuring it in what she knew to be her last moments of life. Guardian Mars sighed, simply remembering the past. She sincerely hoped he would handle her death well.
They had known one another for a long time...meeting at the same academy, knowing of each other yet never going through with their interests. Eventually, he told her, he got up the nerve to ask her on a date, and now here they were. Their relationship had grown to the point where Crhys knew how she felt, even when she was silent. He knew everything about her, and what he couldn't guess she would tell him. There were no secrets.
Guardian Mars felt peace soothe her troubled soul. Though not completely fulfilled, she had felt her life meaningful. Her only regret was Crhys Fahim...
The sound of steel rang only an inch from her palpating heart. Above she could sense the power welling up in Selah's hand. Breathing heavily, the demon's eyes glittered with rage. Then, die!
In the split seconds that followed, something snapped in Guardian Mars's mind. It was as if time was running backwards. Memories flooded her conscious thoughts, past feelings, sensations and hungers. She felt Crhys's arms around her, the heat of his gaze, the touch of his mouth. It was as if something...or someone had lit a burning fire within her breast.
She croaked weakly, stirring her burnt limbs. Selah paused, her rapier tip almost piercing her flesh. It is too late to beg for your life, scum. Now, shinde! Guardian Mars smiled weakly and grabbed the rapier blade. The steel cut her hands, red blood running in rivulets, staining the unholy steel.
"Mars...Undine...Celestial!"
In one quick thrust she brought the rapier down, down into her skin, piercing her heart. She shuddered. "M-Mars?" gasped the Fire Senshi. Kasei turned to look at the twin ravens. Their faces were resolute. The Queen paused, then slowly nodded.
Selah 8 looked down, mildly surprised. Well...she chuckled darkly. At least you saved me the trouble of killing you. Her face split into a small smirk. It is your turn, Sailor Ma...
She broke off, unable to comprehend how her weapon had suddenly become welded to her hand. It glowed in a soft golden light. Very slowly, Guardian Mars opened her eyes, shuddered, and softly smiled.
Power shook the very foundations of the palace, a shock wave building as the Guardian let loose her attack. Selah's mouth widened in fear as she tried to pull out the rapier, to run, run away from the shining sword, the dead Senshi whose pierced heart emitted this holy light. Release me now! She cried, struggling.
Fire, golden and breathtakingly bright, gleamed with a thousand metallic undertones. Emerging from the dying Senshi's heart, it began coiling itself around the sword, slowly trailing upwards to the shocked demon's face. She screamed, and screamed yet again, covering her eyes with a ghostlike hand. Guardian Mars laughed roughly, then grimaced as the power swelled rapidly.
"Mars Fire Soul!" Gathering all her remaining energies, Sailor Mars let loose a potent stream of fire. It converged with the heartflames, searingly hot. Selah's high pitched scream shook Sailor Mercury's eardrums, scattering her thoughts. Gratefully clasping her Guardian's strong arms, she stood up shakily.
Joining Sailor Mars and Queen Kasei, they all walked over to the brilliant light playing in rippling shadows over their determined faces. Spirits from the other worlds tittered and wheezed as they glided noiselessly above them. Finally, in a final shower of shining flame, Selah 8 was torn apart. Her gaunt misty body imploded, shredded into invisible bits tossed on the smoky wind. Her scream lingered, carried by zephyr and eddy till it rang clear throughout all of Mars.
The Senshi of Heart took shallow painful breaths, still clasping the now golden rapier embedded in her chest. Its handle was still clenched in fragments of spidery weblike matter...the remains of what was once the being of Tau Ceti. Blood from both her severed ear and her punctured chest drenched the ghostly pommel, its light was dimmed.
Kasei leaned over and lightly touched the rapier. Minutes dragged on, seemingly forever, until at last she heavily pulled herself erect. "Of course." Kasei shook her head bitterly. "She is still...alive."
"Th-that's impossible!" Sailor Mercury gritted her teeth. "I saw those attacks...Guardian Mars poured all her power into that spell. Not even this demon should have been able to withstand the power of love. Love is the most potent force in the universe...it has to be!" She was almost beside herself with tears.
Kasei's mouth turned grim. "Well, she did. Selah is incredibly weak, however. Her matter is not even aware of itself as a lifeform yet...but it will regroup and gather itself soon enough. But the last thing I want is for Guardian Mars's sacrifice to be wasted. And then, there is also the rip between dimensions..." she looked up pointedly at the amassing, howling spirits that gathered around the pulsing light in the dark sky. "If we do not mend this, all the nightmares the world has ever known will be loose, will be reality."
Guardian Mars gasped, straining to keep her body from collapsing. Sailor Mars detransformed, panting with the effort it had taken her. Kimono flapping against the wind, she carefully lifted her friend into her arms. Looking very shaken, Rei lifted her head. Dark, tearless eyes gazed up sadly at her mother. "I will not let her die, do you understand?!? She has given her all! And so must we!"
Crouching down near Rei, Guardian Mercury pulled back her wheat gold hair with one hand. "I still believe that love is the strongest power, Sailor Mercury. It can do anything. All we need to do is to find some way of harnessing that power, channeling it to destroy evil. That's our goal...to protect our worlds from evil forces. We can't do it without help, though, and magic is probably the best form of assistance right now." Giving Rei a warm hug, she smiled at them, sadness apparent in her face. "But we don't have enough magic energy left to channel our love, to seal the underworld away AND to heal Guardian Mars. The only people I'd trust that have that power would be Empress Serenity and the Imperium Silver Crystal."
Two young voices laughed. "So you don't trust us?" A ring of embers flared up, creating a shimmering halo around the Senshi. Swiftly flying to the center of the ring, Phobos and Deimos looked up, up at the widening gap. Spirits leered and hissed at the girls, shouting expletives and throwing gobs of mist...yet those ghouls who were closer to them shrieked and turned away from the firelight. Phobos looked down and smiled in a sad, tired way. "Oh Rei...though you don't recognize me in this form, I am Phobos, one of your pet ravens. I remember when my wing was broken...you took me into your room and had your medical practitioner fix my wing. Thank you for a lifetime of friendship...and always remember my love for you! Never give up!"
Her black hair whipping wildly in the halo's fires, Deimos also looked down. "Princess Hino Rei, never forget who you are. Never abandon love, love is what holds us together, and keeps us whole. Always keep your spirit in balance, and my spirit with you. Only for you, your mother, and for Mars do we sacrifice our very lives...to uphold the Kharadhrah, the Honor of Life!"
Rei's head spun. Losing her balance, she fell on her back, suddenly dizzy.
Joining hands, the raven sisters smiled one last time, noting the stunned faces of Sailor Mercury and her Guardian. Trembling slightly, Empress Kasei lifted her hand in farewell. Tears sizzled in the corners of her eyes, her lips mouthing the words 'thank you.'
The shapeshifters from Coronis looked at each other, their smiles swiftly turning to expressions of hard determination. Closing their eyes, they entwined their fingers and wing pinions together. The halo of fire flared up, brighter than midday sun, blinding them. With one last final effort, they gasped. Their eyes snapped open, twin pits of fire. The flames that burned but did not consume began to swirl around the raven girls, spinning in a globe of starfire. In one massive explosion, their bodies caught afire. Flames licked at their wings, wildly waving hair, and skin. Phobos and Deimos, rapidly disintegrating, looked up, up at the rip between dimensions, up towards heaven. "Phoenix Heaven Kharad-hrah!"
Light. Dark heavy metallic gold, burning, dripping from their wings. A phoenix blazed from their dead bodies, its unearthly song tinging the air with heaven. Beating its lava wings higher and higher, the spirit bird ascended to the very core of the rip, the center of the howling departing spirits. Whipping its body around, it lifted its head in one last strange cry...and exploded in an inferno of flame.
In one giant sucking motion, all the spirits were dragged, screeching, back into the hole from whence they came. Back down on the palace ground, Guardian Mars looked up through dimmed eyes as the sword was torn abruptly from her chest; the remains of Selah 8 lifted and incinerated in the untold degrees of heat. She faintly felt Rei holding fiercely onto her body, preventing her from joining the debris floating up, up to the rip. Blood, pieces of rock and fire, spirits, all were whirled together in the vacuum of the black hole...and suddenly vanished as pure fire flared one last time. The sky cleared.
"Well." Someone chuckled softly. "Fancy seeing you all again."
Opening her eyes slowly, Hino Rei could make out a pale face, surrounded by clouds of rippling hair. Trying not to smile, Dr. Lessabeth Cerusi adjusted Rei's oxygen mask, reapplying extract of seakelp to her wounds under her bandaged limbs. "You are lying in an intensive care unit bed. If you're wondering where your friends are, they're right next to you. Oh...you also have visitors. I'll send them in."
Clearing her throat, Rei craned her neck to look around. Andreana lay asleep in the bed next to hers, completely swathed in compresses and bandages. An IV drip had been inserted into her arm, her heartrate monitored on a machine. Sleeping peacefully a few beds further up the hall was Bekka Li. The bed across from the Mercurian general rustled softly. Ami peeped out behind a note she was reading, her face lighting up at the sight of Rei. "Hey! You're awake! Good, I thought you were going to sleep forever!"
Rei managed a dry laugh, scratching her head. "Neh, I'm still here annoying you, aren't I? I guess our wounds were worse than we thought...hmph."
Folding what she was reading covertly into her hospital bag, Ami repositioned herself in bed. "Dr. Cerusi treated us on Mercury...do you remember her? Empress Tsukino Serenity assigned her to be our doctor; a wise move considering Andrea's state."
"Yeah, she looks like a mummy awaiting burial."
Someone knocked, creakily opening the door. "Er...may we come in?"
"Sure." Rei called, not bothering to see who it was. "We don't bite."
Ami gasped in shock. Grumpily rubbing sleep from her eyes, Rei pulled up her covers. " But if you came in to take blood, you had best turn right around. My arms have been mutilated enough in the past twenty-four hours, thank you."
A soft kiss on her cheek stopped Rei in her tracks. "The same feisty woman I knew on the Moon. You haven't changed one bit, you she-dragon." The man chuckled warmly, sitting down on the edge of her bed, making it squeak. His dark grey uniform dangled with medals and braid.
"Jadeite!" Her exclamation of surprise was cut off by another kiss, full on the lips. The young Earth general closed his deep bluish black eyes, strands of his blond hair mixed with Rei's dark tresses. Rebekka Li yawned, stretching her arms and looking at the entwined couple with rather a good deal of interest. "I must congratulate you, Jed. You're the only person I know who knows how to make Rei shut up, for once."
They laughed, lips still touching. "Andreana?" A well built, darkly hued man walked in with an expression of concern on his face. He carried a single long stemmed red rose in his hands. "Is she all right?" "She was in critical condition until 2:30 in the morning from her burns and abrasions, Crhys...but she's going to be just fine." Briskly trotting in, Dr. Cerusi rewrapped a bandage on Andrea's arm. Crhys sighed, visibly relaxing. "Ah, is that all?...um....thank you...doctor, er..."
"Lessabeth Cerusi." Her movements were deft and quick as she reapplyed a tincture of icewort to Andrea's back. "But you can call me Lessa or Less, if you like. I'll be hanging around for a while with you all. Later on, please tell me what all these shenanigans are about. I'm giving up precious time at my hospital on Neptune to bandage your boo- boos." Turning off a call light, she left the room.
Everyone present grinned. Crhys Fahim walked over to Andrea's bed, where he quietly sat down and arranged the rose in a slender vase on her nightstand. Finally lifting his head up, Jadeite laughed quietly and whispered something in Rei's ear, which made the taciturn princess blush. Ami and Bekka Li just lay back with big silly smiles on their faces, watching the two couples. Crhys leaned over and took Andrea's hand, slowly massaging it in his own, his worried face relaxing.
"Well..." Lady Mizuno Ami sighed, thinking of Ryo. "Next stop, Venus. With our luck, Princess Minako will end up being a Senshi...according to the seemingly endless line of royals as Sailor scouts. Who came up with this system, anyhow? A chambermaid will probably be a Guardian, who knows what could happen...for heaven's sake, a talking cat could be Sailor Sushi and I wouldn't bat an eye. Yet something tells me we'll find just a tad more opposition than usual, as Venus IS overrun with invaders...who were they again....."
"What do you mean by 'usual'?" Bekka squirmed under her coverlets. "Discovering that we are Senshi hasn't exactly been a walk in the park. Andreana could have died...and so could you...if it weren't for sheer dumb luck and Lessa's good treatment."
"Well, its not like I asked 'sheer dumb luck' politely 'ooh, can I be Sailor Mercury?'" grumbled Ami caustically. "I'm more than happy to be able to do something for my planet, but I also have a life. I've been wondering how in Selene's name I'm going to be able to balance being a princess heir, a senshi, and girlfriend in one go!"
Bekka's eyes became very catlike and slitted. "...Girlfriend?"
Ami blushed a deep rose pink.
"What to do..." murmured Deimos. Her raven black wings silently beat against the heated air. Phobos massaged her temples. Crimson silk flowed around Kasei, like the flames that engulfed her invaded planet. Her senses ached with the knowledge of what must be done...for it was the only way. How she hated being Empress of Mars at times like these.
"Phobos and Deimos, come here." They flitted towards her, black hair rippling in the desolate wind. Kasei closed her eyes, thinking. She spoke, "Our last hope is to somehow incinerate this being. Her spirit matter has been strengthened, is much tougher than what we or even the Senshi are used to. That is why Sailor Mars failed. But I believe there is still hope for us yet..."
"We will not betray our future Queen of the Moon Empire." whispered Phobos. "While it gives my soul eternal pain to think of a Senshi's death, especially one of our own, we all will die before the Child of Light is lost to them."
Kasei's dark eyes hardened to cold jet flint. "I would sooner kill myself than betray the Moon's Royal Family and surrender Usagi. No...as Martians we are gifted with the power to control fire...and the passion that sears our souls. This, coupled with our unusually innate sense of foretelling, will be our strengths still. I can tell that Selah 8 is able to be destroyed...for nothing that lives can be kept immortal for long. However..." She held up a hand for silence.
"It will not be easy. It will take a cataclysmic force of incredible magnitude to incinerate this Tau Ceti being. Hatred, greed, fear...all spirits made of such matter are inevitably durable. But we must remember the one phase of spirit that is even stronger than hatred."
"Pure charity."
The fiery angels started, looking at one another with wide eyes.
Kasei sighed, years seemingly added to her face. "Do you two know of any spell concerning this pure love that is strong enough to overcome death?"
Phobos and Deimos blinked, then looked at each other in sudden recollection. "Ah...High Empress Kasei?" Deimos ventured timidly. Kasei nodded.
The raven girl nervously plucked at her wing pinions. "We hail from Coronis, as you fully know, since you took us in when...when that imposter took away our home planet and became a false senshi." Again the Fire Queen nodded and smiled.
Deimos continued. "On Coronis we called this...charity of yours 'Kharadhrah', or 'the Honor of Life'. I assume from our study of Martian and Lunarian culture that this 'charity' is synonymous with pure love."
Kneeling together, Phobos and Deimos bowed deeply to a started Kasei. Phobos looked up in perfect solemnity. "According to Coronis law and tradition, we are bound to serve the ones who have saved us from death, thus upholding the Honor of Life. We owe our lives to you, dear Queen. And to your daughter and the entire Moon Kingdom."
Deimos looked up from beneath her sheet of ebony hair. "There is a way to destroy her."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Her eyes opened reluctantly, ash griming the creases of her eyelids. Andreana's body felt...or did not feel...rather numb, but for her face and hands which overwhelmed her with pulsing waves of pain. Something cold slithered across her neck, lightly drawing welts of bloody tissue from her skin. Her body went completely stiff. For the last and final time, Sailor Mars. Either tell me where you're hiding Princess Usagi...the rapier tip lightly nicked off the lobe of her left ear. Guardian Mars convulsed, squeezing tears out of eyes shut against the horrible pain. ...Or you'll have one less Senshi for me to deal with.
"I don't know where Usagi Lady Serenity is." spoke Sailor Mars softly, raven hair billowing in the wind. "If I did, things would be much simpler in life. And even if I did know..." Her eyes grew turbid as fire danced incadescent within them. Her voice lowered to a menacing growl. "Mars would freeze over and my body would rot before I'd giver her to one such as you!"
Selah's ghostly breaths grew quicker with anger. Craning her head to look up at her captor's face, Guardian Mars smiled grimly. She thought of Crhys, turning the mental image of his face over and over in her mind, treasuring it in what she knew to be her last moments of life. Guardian Mars sighed, simply remembering the past. She sincerely hoped he would handle her death well.
They had known one another for a long time...meeting at the same academy, knowing of each other yet never going through with their interests. Eventually, he told her, he got up the nerve to ask her on a date, and now here they were. Their relationship had grown to the point where Crhys knew how she felt, even when she was silent. He knew everything about her, and what he couldn't guess she would tell him. There were no secrets.
Guardian Mars felt peace soothe her troubled soul. Though not completely fulfilled, she had felt her life meaningful. Her only regret was Crhys Fahim...
The sound of steel rang only an inch from her palpating heart. Above she could sense the power welling up in Selah's hand. Breathing heavily, the demon's eyes glittered with rage. Then, die!
In the split seconds that followed, something snapped in Guardian Mars's mind. It was as if time was running backwards. Memories flooded her conscious thoughts, past feelings, sensations and hungers. She felt Crhys's arms around her, the heat of his gaze, the touch of his mouth. It was as if something...or someone had lit a burning fire within her breast.
She croaked weakly, stirring her burnt limbs. Selah paused, her rapier tip almost piercing her flesh. It is too late to beg for your life, scum. Now, shinde! Guardian Mars smiled weakly and grabbed the rapier blade. The steel cut her hands, red blood running in rivulets, staining the unholy steel.
"Mars...Undine...Celestial!"
In one quick thrust she brought the rapier down, down into her skin, piercing her heart. She shuddered. "M-Mars?" gasped the Fire Senshi. Kasei turned to look at the twin ravens. Their faces were resolute. The Queen paused, then slowly nodded.
Selah 8 looked down, mildly surprised. Well...she chuckled darkly. At least you saved me the trouble of killing you. Her face split into a small smirk. It is your turn, Sailor Ma...
She broke off, unable to comprehend how her weapon had suddenly become welded to her hand. It glowed in a soft golden light. Very slowly, Guardian Mars opened her eyes, shuddered, and softly smiled.
Power shook the very foundations of the palace, a shock wave building as the Guardian let loose her attack. Selah's mouth widened in fear as she tried to pull out the rapier, to run, run away from the shining sword, the dead Senshi whose pierced heart emitted this holy light. Release me now! She cried, struggling.
Fire, golden and breathtakingly bright, gleamed with a thousand metallic undertones. Emerging from the dying Senshi's heart, it began coiling itself around the sword, slowly trailing upwards to the shocked demon's face. She screamed, and screamed yet again, covering her eyes with a ghostlike hand. Guardian Mars laughed roughly, then grimaced as the power swelled rapidly.
"Mars Fire Soul!" Gathering all her remaining energies, Sailor Mars let loose a potent stream of fire. It converged with the heartflames, searingly hot. Selah's high pitched scream shook Sailor Mercury's eardrums, scattering her thoughts. Gratefully clasping her Guardian's strong arms, she stood up shakily.
Joining Sailor Mars and Queen Kasei, they all walked over to the brilliant light playing in rippling shadows over their determined faces. Spirits from the other worlds tittered and wheezed as they glided noiselessly above them. Finally, in a final shower of shining flame, Selah 8 was torn apart. Her gaunt misty body imploded, shredded into invisible bits tossed on the smoky wind. Her scream lingered, carried by zephyr and eddy till it rang clear throughout all of Mars.
The Senshi of Heart took shallow painful breaths, still clasping the now golden rapier embedded in her chest. Its handle was still clenched in fragments of spidery weblike matter...the remains of what was once the being of Tau Ceti. Blood from both her severed ear and her punctured chest drenched the ghostly pommel, its light was dimmed.
Kasei leaned over and lightly touched the rapier. Minutes dragged on, seemingly forever, until at last she heavily pulled herself erect. "Of course." Kasei shook her head bitterly. "She is still...alive."
"Th-that's impossible!" Sailor Mercury gritted her teeth. "I saw those attacks...Guardian Mars poured all her power into that spell. Not even this demon should have been able to withstand the power of love. Love is the most potent force in the universe...it has to be!" She was almost beside herself with tears.
Kasei's mouth turned grim. "Well, she did. Selah is incredibly weak, however. Her matter is not even aware of itself as a lifeform yet...but it will regroup and gather itself soon enough. But the last thing I want is for Guardian Mars's sacrifice to be wasted. And then, there is also the rip between dimensions..." she looked up pointedly at the amassing, howling spirits that gathered around the pulsing light in the dark sky. "If we do not mend this, all the nightmares the world has ever known will be loose, will be reality."
Guardian Mars gasped, straining to keep her body from collapsing. Sailor Mars detransformed, panting with the effort it had taken her. Kimono flapping against the wind, she carefully lifted her friend into her arms. Looking very shaken, Rei lifted her head. Dark, tearless eyes gazed up sadly at her mother. "I will not let her die, do you understand?!? She has given her all! And so must we!"
Crouching down near Rei, Guardian Mercury pulled back her wheat gold hair with one hand. "I still believe that love is the strongest power, Sailor Mercury. It can do anything. All we need to do is to find some way of harnessing that power, channeling it to destroy evil. That's our goal...to protect our worlds from evil forces. We can't do it without help, though, and magic is probably the best form of assistance right now." Giving Rei a warm hug, she smiled at them, sadness apparent in her face. "But we don't have enough magic energy left to channel our love, to seal the underworld away AND to heal Guardian Mars. The only people I'd trust that have that power would be Empress Serenity and the Imperium Silver Crystal."
Two young voices laughed. "So you don't trust us?" A ring of embers flared up, creating a shimmering halo around the Senshi. Swiftly flying to the center of the ring, Phobos and Deimos looked up, up at the widening gap. Spirits leered and hissed at the girls, shouting expletives and throwing gobs of mist...yet those ghouls who were closer to them shrieked and turned away from the firelight. Phobos looked down and smiled in a sad, tired way. "Oh Rei...though you don't recognize me in this form, I am Phobos, one of your pet ravens. I remember when my wing was broken...you took me into your room and had your medical practitioner fix my wing. Thank you for a lifetime of friendship...and always remember my love for you! Never give up!"
Her black hair whipping wildly in the halo's fires, Deimos also looked down. "Princess Hino Rei, never forget who you are. Never abandon love, love is what holds us together, and keeps us whole. Always keep your spirit in balance, and my spirit with you. Only for you, your mother, and for Mars do we sacrifice our very lives...to uphold the Kharadhrah, the Honor of Life!"
Rei's head spun. Losing her balance, she fell on her back, suddenly dizzy.
Joining hands, the raven sisters smiled one last time, noting the stunned faces of Sailor Mercury and her Guardian. Trembling slightly, Empress Kasei lifted her hand in farewell. Tears sizzled in the corners of her eyes, her lips mouthing the words 'thank you.'
The shapeshifters from Coronis looked at each other, their smiles swiftly turning to expressions of hard determination. Closing their eyes, they entwined their fingers and wing pinions together. The halo of fire flared up, brighter than midday sun, blinding them. With one last final effort, they gasped. Their eyes snapped open, twin pits of fire. The flames that burned but did not consume began to swirl around the raven girls, spinning in a globe of starfire. In one massive explosion, their bodies caught afire. Flames licked at their wings, wildly waving hair, and skin. Phobos and Deimos, rapidly disintegrating, looked up, up at the rip between dimensions, up towards heaven. "Phoenix Heaven Kharad-hrah!"
Light. Dark heavy metallic gold, burning, dripping from their wings. A phoenix blazed from their dead bodies, its unearthly song tinging the air with heaven. Beating its lava wings higher and higher, the spirit bird ascended to the very core of the rip, the center of the howling departing spirits. Whipping its body around, it lifted its head in one last strange cry...and exploded in an inferno of flame.
In one giant sucking motion, all the spirits were dragged, screeching, back into the hole from whence they came. Back down on the palace ground, Guardian Mars looked up through dimmed eyes as the sword was torn abruptly from her chest; the remains of Selah 8 lifted and incinerated in the untold degrees of heat. She faintly felt Rei holding fiercely onto her body, preventing her from joining the debris floating up, up to the rip. Blood, pieces of rock and fire, spirits, all were whirled together in the vacuum of the black hole...and suddenly vanished as pure fire flared one last time. The sky cleared.
"Well." Someone chuckled softly. "Fancy seeing you all again."
Opening her eyes slowly, Hino Rei could make out a pale face, surrounded by clouds of rippling hair. Trying not to smile, Dr. Lessabeth Cerusi adjusted Rei's oxygen mask, reapplying extract of seakelp to her wounds under her bandaged limbs. "You are lying in an intensive care unit bed. If you're wondering where your friends are, they're right next to you. Oh...you also have visitors. I'll send them in."
Clearing her throat, Rei craned her neck to look around. Andreana lay asleep in the bed next to hers, completely swathed in compresses and bandages. An IV drip had been inserted into her arm, her heartrate monitored on a machine. Sleeping peacefully a few beds further up the hall was Bekka Li. The bed across from the Mercurian general rustled softly. Ami peeped out behind a note she was reading, her face lighting up at the sight of Rei. "Hey! You're awake! Good, I thought you were going to sleep forever!"
Rei managed a dry laugh, scratching her head. "Neh, I'm still here annoying you, aren't I? I guess our wounds were worse than we thought...hmph."
Folding what she was reading covertly into her hospital bag, Ami repositioned herself in bed. "Dr. Cerusi treated us on Mercury...do you remember her? Empress Tsukino Serenity assigned her to be our doctor; a wise move considering Andrea's state."
"Yeah, she looks like a mummy awaiting burial."
Someone knocked, creakily opening the door. "Er...may we come in?"
"Sure." Rei called, not bothering to see who it was. "We don't bite."
Ami gasped in shock. Grumpily rubbing sleep from her eyes, Rei pulled up her covers. " But if you came in to take blood, you had best turn right around. My arms have been mutilated enough in the past twenty-four hours, thank you."
A soft kiss on her cheek stopped Rei in her tracks. "The same feisty woman I knew on the Moon. You haven't changed one bit, you she-dragon." The man chuckled warmly, sitting down on the edge of her bed, making it squeak. His dark grey uniform dangled with medals and braid.
"Jadeite!" Her exclamation of surprise was cut off by another kiss, full on the lips. The young Earth general closed his deep bluish black eyes, strands of his blond hair mixed with Rei's dark tresses. Rebekka Li yawned, stretching her arms and looking at the entwined couple with rather a good deal of interest. "I must congratulate you, Jed. You're the only person I know who knows how to make Rei shut up, for once."
They laughed, lips still touching. "Andreana?" A well built, darkly hued man walked in with an expression of concern on his face. He carried a single long stemmed red rose in his hands. "Is she all right?" "She was in critical condition until 2:30 in the morning from her burns and abrasions, Crhys...but she's going to be just fine." Briskly trotting in, Dr. Cerusi rewrapped a bandage on Andrea's arm. Crhys sighed, visibly relaxing. "Ah, is that all?...um....thank you...doctor, er..."
"Lessabeth Cerusi." Her movements were deft and quick as she reapplyed a tincture of icewort to Andrea's back. "But you can call me Lessa or Less, if you like. I'll be hanging around for a while with you all. Later on, please tell me what all these shenanigans are about. I'm giving up precious time at my hospital on Neptune to bandage your boo- boos." Turning off a call light, she left the room.
Everyone present grinned. Crhys Fahim walked over to Andrea's bed, where he quietly sat down and arranged the rose in a slender vase on her nightstand. Finally lifting his head up, Jadeite laughed quietly and whispered something in Rei's ear, which made the taciturn princess blush. Ami and Bekka Li just lay back with big silly smiles on their faces, watching the two couples. Crhys leaned over and took Andrea's hand, slowly massaging it in his own, his worried face relaxing.
"Well..." Lady Mizuno Ami sighed, thinking of Ryo. "Next stop, Venus. With our luck, Princess Minako will end up being a Senshi...according to the seemingly endless line of royals as Sailor scouts. Who came up with this system, anyhow? A chambermaid will probably be a Guardian, who knows what could happen...for heaven's sake, a talking cat could be Sailor Sushi and I wouldn't bat an eye. Yet something tells me we'll find just a tad more opposition than usual, as Venus IS overrun with invaders...who were they again....."
"What do you mean by 'usual'?" Bekka squirmed under her coverlets. "Discovering that we are Senshi hasn't exactly been a walk in the park. Andreana could have died...and so could you...if it weren't for sheer dumb luck and Lessa's good treatment."
"Well, its not like I asked 'sheer dumb luck' politely 'ooh, can I be Sailor Mercury?'" grumbled Ami caustically. "I'm more than happy to be able to do something for my planet, but I also have a life. I've been wondering how in Selene's name I'm going to be able to balance being a princess heir, a senshi, and girlfriend in one go!"
Bekka's eyes became very catlike and slitted. "...Girlfriend?"
Ami blushed a deep rose pink.
