THE NIGHTMARE REALM,
CHAPTER 4: "Shadow's Tea Party"
By Bill K.
Fisheye sat in the silent hall beside the bed of Sailor Pallas. The Royal Mother Candide had been called away to attend to another stricken dweller of this former realm of peace and light. Not knowing anything else to do, since being a former fish he had no background in healing, Fisheye held the senshi's hand as the girl grimaced and occasionally moaned.
"Stop," Pallas moaned quietly, her delicate eyes closed against an invisible attacker. "Don't make Pallas listen. Please?"
"What do you hear?" Fisheye asked.
It wasn't the first time he'd asked. But all the other times Pallas had been too busy trying to resist the outside force assailing her to respond. His free hand, now soft and delicate where once it had been green, scaly and claw-like, reached over and gently massaged the temple of his former fellow performer in evil at the Dead Moon Circus.
"Bad thoughts," Pallas mumbled. "They don't make any sense. They tell Pallas that everything is a lie. They say you're not really here." Pallas opened her eyes ever so timidly and looked at Fisheye. "You are here, aren't you Miss Fisheye Sir?"
"I'm here, Palla-Palla," Fisheye said. He squeezed the girl's hand to prove it. "Don't you believe anything those voices tell you."
"But the voices say you're lying," Pallas said fearfully. Tears sprouted in her eyes. "Pallas doesn't know what to believe. She wishes Vesta was here."
"I'll prove to you I'm real," Fisheye told her. "Remember the time you created that puppet of an artist? And it snuck into the chamber where Zirconia talked to Queen Neherenia and painted that rude face on the back of her dress?"
Pallas nodded. "Granny Zirconia was so mad. She roared and strutted around like a big old chicken for hours. But Pallas thought no one knew she was the one who did that."
"I was able to figure it out. But I never told anyone. I hated Zirconia. She may have given me my human life, but she was cruel. She would have crushed me in a second if it benefited her. And for the longest time I was the same way. She made me in her image, but seeing her put in her place like that helped me to realize that her way was wrong. It took a while, but you were the first one who nudged me that way. Now let those voices say that's a lie."
Pallas calmed some.
"Thank you, Miss Fisheye Sir," Pallas smiled timidly. "Pallas is very glad you were able to become a nice person."
"Thank Sailor Moon and Lord Helios for that," Fisheye smiled. He seemed prettier when he smiled. "And thank you. They saved me, but you did your part, too."
"The Queen is a wonderful person," Pallas answered. "Pallas likes her a lot and thinks she's so pretty. And Mr. Helios Sir is very nice, too." Pallas almost managed a broad smile, but it was strained. "Pallas shouldn't say that too loud. The Princess gets very jealous when another girl talks about Mr. Helios Sir." Though evidence of her battle was still etched on her face, Pallas seemed more at ease. Fisheye still kept hold of her hand. "Pallas is glad you talked to her, Miss Fisheye Sir. It really helps her to not listen to the mean voices. You don't have to leave, do you?"
"I'll stay as long as you like, Palla-Palla," Fisheye replied, caressing the girl's temple.
"Thank you," Pallas squeaked, then snuggled down into the bed. After a few moments, she turned back to Fisheye. "Miss Fisheye Sir, Pallas remembers something the Queen told her. Pallas doesn't really understand it, but she thinks the Queen meant it for you as much as she meant it for Pallas."
"What's that?" Fisheye asked.
"She said," and the girl's brow knit with concentration, "'The credit for any successful re - - um, redemption starts with the, um, the one redeemed. Others can give the redeemed the op-opportunity, but the redeemed is the one who - - has to take it.'" Pallas nodded with triumph and looked up at Fisheye.
"That's," Fisheye said, his voice choked with emotion, "that's very wise." The temple maiden fiddled with his skirt while he kept hold of the senshi's hand.
"Sure you deserve it," Pallas replied out of nowhere. "Oopsie. Pallas is sorry. She forgot and heard your thoughts."
"That's all right," Fisheye whispered, holding back tears as he clutched Pallas' hand with both of his. "No harm done."
* * * *
As Sailor Moon and Helios soared over the darkening landscape, Sailor Moon kept casting furtive glances over at Sailor Vesta. In her falcon form, she flew about twenty feet from them, glancing backwards herself in order to keep them from being ambushed from behind.
"You seem tense, Maiden," Helios thought-casted to her.
"Well, feeling you under me always gets me a little tense, if you know what I mean." Sailor Moon flushed slightly at her innuendo. Helios merely smiled knowingly. "But seriously, don't you feel the bad vibes from this place?" Sailor Moon asked the Pegasus beneath her.
"They batter me constantly," Helios replied. "Visiting the nightmare realms is never pleasant for me, but it is more so when Echidna is disturbed or agitated."
Further conversation was cut off when Vesta flew across their path in her falcon form.
"Is that spooky place down there where we're going?" the falcon asked.
Below them lay a stone structure, square and about two stories high. Gothic gargoyles perched atop the roof and the windows and doors were arched and draped in looming shadows. Ancient runes were carved into the stone below where the gargoyles perched. Lifeless trees bracketed the building on both sides, their limbs gnarled and clutching. There was a sinister aura to the building, one of menace and fright.
"It reminds me of the place where Ctesias lived, a little," Sailor Moon commented.
"No doubt it is similar," Helios answered. "Ctesias did dream."
"So, do we knock?" Vesta asked.
"That will not be necessary," Helios replied. "Echidna is aware of our arrival."
No sooner had they heard Helios' statement then they saw the gargoyles come to life and begin to push off the roof. They were gray, bloated things with squat, thick bodies and taloned limbs. Their wings were scalloped and bat-like and their heads were huge bowling balls with pinched features and bony ridges over the brows. They hurled up at the travelers, gaining speeds that belied their bulk.
"Fauna Assimilation," Vesta began, then stopped. "What the Hell are those things?"
"They're gargoyles," Sailor Moon told her. "They're monsters used to scare away evil spirits in old times."
"Works for me. Fauna Assimilation - - Gargoyle!"
Vesta's body expanded out and took on a grayish tint. In seconds the pretty senshi disappeared into the huge winged monster hurling at the oncoming threat. She met the lead gargoyle head on and the pair locked in battle, the gargoyle screeching hideously in Vesta's face as they fought.
Others flew past them, homing in on Helios and Sailor Moon. With his wings furiously flapping to keep them aloft, Helios waited until one was within range, then dipped his head and drove his crystal horn into the beast's thick hide. It wasn't enough to pierce it, but it allowed Helios to fling the monster away from Sailor Moon. Riding an air current, Helios and Sailor Moon dived down below the other two attackers. Helios pivoted in mid-air, coming to face them again, Sailor Moon clutching his neck.
"Maybe I can do something, Helios," Sailor Moon said.
"Perhaps you can, Maiden," Helios responded. "Their hides are clearly too thick and their minds are clearly focused on a single thought."
Producing the Crescent Moon Wand, Sailor Moon held it aloft. Her mind cleared and she poured everything she had into linking with the pink crystal affixed in the wand's base.
"Moon Healing Escalation!" she called out.
Pink beams of energy radiated out from the wand, showering everyone and everything with its light. Vesta and Helios seemed invigorated by the touch of the energy. The gargoyles, however, recoiled. They screeched at her, trying to intimidate her into stopping. Sailor Moon's brow knit. Her jaw clenched and she focused more of herself into the crystal.
Vesta felt the gargoyle she was engaged with weaken. With a final surge of strength, she shoved it away, then raked it with her talons. The gargoyle went limp and plummeted to the ground. The other three were snarling at Sailor Moon, pained and enraged by her pink energy. Eyes narrowing, Vesta launched herself at the group and slammed her shoulder into another. The creature twisted in her arms, but Vesta's talons were out and plunged through the tough hide of her enemy. It fell away from her, disemboweled, and crashed to the ground below.
Enraged, one of the remaining gargoyles suddenly launched itself at Sailor Moon and Helios, even as its twin stiffened and fell to the ground. Ignoring the agony it felt, the gargoyle flew straight at Sailor Moon, its talons extended. Vesta saw this and instantly launched herself to intercept. The distance, though, was too great and she knew she wouldn't make it.
But within inches of the Princess, the gargoyle stiffened. Life seemed to leave it and it reverted back to a stone statue. Its momentum carried it toward them, but Helios easily evaded it and the statue eventually yielded to gravity. Sailor Moon expelled a huge sigh of fatigue and clutched her brow with her free hand.
"That was less than fun," she muttered.
"Are you injured, Maiden?" Helios asked.
"No, just winded. Those things just didn't want to die." Vesta flew up, still in her gargoyle form. "Thanks for taking those other two. Are you OK?"
"I've been hurt worse in self-defense practice," Vesta shrugged. "Maybe I better stay like this, though. If we're going to meet up with anymore surprises like that, we'll need my strength."
"I doubt we shall encounter any other opposition," Helios exclaimed.
"Are you sure?" Sailor Moon asked. "If she's got monster sentries around the place, logically she'd have other defenses, wouldn't she?"
"Maiden, logic is the last thing that operates in this realm."
With that, Helios dipped his shoulders and rode an air current down to the front door of Echidna's temple. Vesta followed, though she stayed in her gargoyle form.
* * * *
Sailor Ceres struggled with the tendrils that clutched and held her, struggled to get free, struggled just to breathe again.
"I'm your friend!" she thought, because she didn't have wind to speak with and she hoped the plant could sense her and heed her.
If anything, the plant's tendrils seemed to tighten around her. Ceres felt them pulling at her, trying to drag her along the ground. She looked over at the daffodil that held her and was horrified. The flower had grown inch long razor sharp teeth on its cupped petals. The newly formed maw opened hungrily, threatening to eat her. Ceres tried to resist the pull of the tendrils, tried to resist being drawn into that horrid maw, but lack of air was taking its toll. She felt weak, dizzy. The strength was slipping from her legs and with it her ability to resist.
Without warning, the tendrils released her. Ceres fell to the ground, disoriented. Her first thought was to scramble away from the predatory plant. Still weakened, her first few attempts were awkward and ineffectual. As she tumbled back to the ground, Ceres glanced in fright at the plant, praying it wasn't about to grab her again.
The daffodil was drooped over onto the ground, dead. The tendrils were gone. The gaping maw of teeth was gone. Sticking out of the flower was a single red rose, its stem buried like a dagger in the heart of the plant.
Strong hands seized her and Ceres felt a momentary swell of panic. They hauled her up to a sitting position and held her until she gained her balance. A voice was speaking to her. Struggling to calm down, Ceres searched for the voice and quickly found it. King Endymion had her. He held her erect with his strong hands and stared intently into her face with his dark, piercing eyes.
"Sailor Ceres?" she understood him to say for the first time. "Are you hurt?"
"Y-Your Majesty?" Ceres asked in confusion.
"Are you hurt, Ceres?" he asked again.
"No," she shook her head numbly. "That flower - - it grabbed me. It was going to eat me!"
Impulsively she lunged for Endymion, pressing her face into his chest. Almost immediately Ceres realized who they both were and quickly pulled back.
"Your Majesty, I-I'm sorry!" she whispered, mortified.
"It's all right," Endymion replied with an easy-going chuckle. "You had quite a scare there."
"How could something like that happen?" As she spoke, Ceres noticed Sailor Saturn for the first time behind Endymion.
"This is a nightmare realm," Endymion explained. "Just like in a nightmare, terrible things can happen. They don't even have to make sense. But they are just as dangerous as is they were real. We have to be careful here."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Ceres said, her eyes seeking the ground.
"Here," Endymion smiled. His hand disappeared into his cloak and returned with a single red rose. He handed it to Ceres. "Illusion can become deadly reality in this realm. This rose is connected to the power of the Golden Crystal. It will help protect you from the power this area exerts."
Ceres took the rose. She cupped it in her hands and looked up at the king. He was so strong and confident. Why hadn't she noticed before? Why hadn't she noticed how achingly handsome he was? Why hadn't she ever noticed how kind his eyes were? The girl felt the urge to swallow and for a moment couldn't.
Endymion stood up, towering over her for a moment, then extended his hand down to her. Ceres took it and was effortlessly pulled to her feet. She heard Saturn express some concern about her, but barely noticed.
"We need to find Sailor Juno," Endymion declared, surveying the thick jungle of plant life given more density by the low light. Ceres heard that loud and clear.
As he moved and they followed, Ceres threaded the stem of the rose into her hair over her right ear. For some reason, she suddenly felt the urge to look as pretty as possible.
* * * *
When the trio landed at the front step of Echidna's temple, Sailor Moon dismounted. Within moments, Helios surrendered his Pegasus form and became humanoid. Vesta remained in her gargoyle form until Helios glanced at her, an eyebrow raised. Reluctantly she transformed back to Sailor Vesta.
With Helios in the lead, the three crossed the threshold into the temple. As the two young senshi followed, they noticed the deep shadows and thick, cloaking darkness in the room. It took a moment for their eyes to adjust to the low light.
"What the Hell!" gasped Sailor Vesta.
"Helios!" Sailor Moon exclaimed, gripping his arm. "The walls are moving!"
Indeed, the shadows and darkness swirled around the three visitors like they were in the center of a whirlpool. The dark walls writhed around them, the very black itself insanely contorted. The ceiling pulsed with impossible life. Only the floor beneath them seemed solid. Even the air twisted with madness.
"Do not fear," Helios told them calmly. "You are in no danger."
"But there's something here!" hissed Vesta. "Something watching us - - stalking us!"
"It is the eyes of Echidna. They are everywhere and see everything. It is the thoughts of Echidna, too, manifested and taken life. They will not harm you, save to prey upon your own deep-seeded fears. They will use those fears to destroy you if you allow them." He turned to Sailor Moon, still clinging to his arm. "You have experienced their seduction once before, Maiden. Do not fall prey again."
"Don't worry," Sailor Moon said, summoning as much resolve as she could. "I don't make the same mistake twice."
The gloom cleared just enough for the visitors to see three figures ahead. Two figures stood on either side of a smaller figure curled up on a marble altar. The figure on the right was a burly man. His head was shaved clean and he was stripped to the waist, with clinging black pants and thick-soled boots below. He looked at them. His eyes were narrow and yellowish, a sickly yellow that spoke of age and impurity. A squat nose and a thick, scowling mouth completed the picture of anger and violence barely contained. His torso was thick with muscles and his hide was leathery.
The other figure was gaunt. His black hair lay unkempt atop his head. His staring black eyes were sunken into his skull, while sharp cheekbones curved down to a hideous slit of a mouth. His black robes hung on him and blended into the dark. Blotchy pale patches mottled his skin, skin that hinted it would burst apart should it be touched. He looked at the visitors and the two senshi feared contamination by his very gaze.
"Helios, what are they?" Sailor Moon whispered.
"Goth and Tiberious," he nodded first left then right. "They are the attendants . . ."
"They are my attendants," the figure on the altar said. Her body uncurled and she raised her head. "They are the products of my fevered brain - - or perhaps I am the product of theirs. I used to know."
Vesta grimaced. Her voice had a seductive feminine quality, but one that was distorted. The pitch was an octave too high, the tone jagged and abrupt. They watched her uncoil from the temple altar and slide to the floor. Her figure was small, yet very athletic. Her attire accentuated the curves of her body: a form-fitting pair of leggings that ended at the waist and a long sleeve midriff-baring top with an audacious plunging neckline. Her attire was colored in alternate sections of black and white, the seams running at sixty degree angles along her body, the color scheme mirror opposite on either side of her.
Echidna had snow-white hair combed back from her forehead in a widow's peak and falling loosely at her shoulders. Her face - - her face was divided. The right half was fair, but stared with a single serpent-like green eye and a ruby mouth pulled back in a madwoman's grin. The left half was cast in black no matter which way she turned, and a single white eye bereft of a pupil stared at them from the onyx of her skin.
"Echidna," Helios began. "You know why we are here."
"Then you need not speak it, my lovely," Echidna replied, staring off into the dark and turning her head as if listening to words only she heard. She grinned, then locked her gaze on Sailor Moon.
"You are known to us," Echidna said, easing toward Sailor Moon at a leisurely pace. "You are the girl who would be a lady before her time. You are the Queen in training, the bride to the dreaming and the hero in waiting. You are the fool who rages at others for denying the identity that she herself denies the most."
Echidna was within inches of Sailor Moon, who stood her ground. The strange woman turned her head up suddenly, her attention caught by something unseen. Then Echidna's head snapped back and she stared at Sailor Moon. Her mouth curled up into a child's grin while her eyes grew wide. Her hand covered her mouth inadequately.
"Ohhh," she gasped, looking straight into Sailor Moon's eyes. "What you're going to do!"
"Leave her alone!" snarled Vesta. She moved forward menacingly, but Helios barred her way.
"I know you, too, Sailor Vesta," Echidna said, smiling coyly and twisting her body like a smirking five year old. Then her entire demeanor changed, becoming withdrawn and timid. "You have so many demons haunting you. And Pallas knows them all and she still likes you. She thinks about you so much."
Echidna's eyes narrowed and the corners of her mouth curled.
"Do you want to know what she's thinking now?"
"YOU BITCH!" Vesta roared, lunging for her. With great effort, Helios and Sailor Moon shoved her back. Helios turned to Echidna.
"This is beneath you, Echidna," Helios said.
"Oh, poo," Echidna huffed, pouting. She whirled, presenting her back to Helios. "You know very well she brings it upon her own head. I do not inflict wounds. I only uncover them."
"Echidna," Helios persisted. "You are upsetting the balance."
"The balance is a lie," she replied, turning back to them. Her eye was unfocused, looking inward rather than at them. "The balance is an illusion created by pretty goats in a meadow of bluebells and violets."
"The balance is everything," Helios said, gripping Echidna by her arms. Her attendants and the senshi both tensed, daring the other to intercede. "You must stop this. You must stay in your own realm."
"Why?" Echidna asked, suddenly pitiful and forlorn. "Why must I be the only one who hears the voices, my once and only love?" Sailor Moon glanced in shock at Helios. "Why must I be the only one to see - - what they see? The cruelty - - the evil. Helios, sometimes it is too much to bear. Why can I not share this with everyone, so they may know the bliss of my agony?"
"I sympathize, Echidna," Helios replied kindly. "Were it within my power, I would relieve you of your terrible burden. No one enjoys seeing you suffer. But there is an order to things. . ."
"ORDER IS A LIE!" Echidna shrieked, yanking violently away from Helios. "Everything is a lie!"
Flinging her hands out, Echidna projected black energy at the trio. Sailor Moon tensed against its impact.
Continued in Chapter 5
CHAPTER 4: "Shadow's Tea Party"
By Bill K.
Fisheye sat in the silent hall beside the bed of Sailor Pallas. The Royal Mother Candide had been called away to attend to another stricken dweller of this former realm of peace and light. Not knowing anything else to do, since being a former fish he had no background in healing, Fisheye held the senshi's hand as the girl grimaced and occasionally moaned.
"Stop," Pallas moaned quietly, her delicate eyes closed against an invisible attacker. "Don't make Pallas listen. Please?"
"What do you hear?" Fisheye asked.
It wasn't the first time he'd asked. But all the other times Pallas had been too busy trying to resist the outside force assailing her to respond. His free hand, now soft and delicate where once it had been green, scaly and claw-like, reached over and gently massaged the temple of his former fellow performer in evil at the Dead Moon Circus.
"Bad thoughts," Pallas mumbled. "They don't make any sense. They tell Pallas that everything is a lie. They say you're not really here." Pallas opened her eyes ever so timidly and looked at Fisheye. "You are here, aren't you Miss Fisheye Sir?"
"I'm here, Palla-Palla," Fisheye said. He squeezed the girl's hand to prove it. "Don't you believe anything those voices tell you."
"But the voices say you're lying," Pallas said fearfully. Tears sprouted in her eyes. "Pallas doesn't know what to believe. She wishes Vesta was here."
"I'll prove to you I'm real," Fisheye told her. "Remember the time you created that puppet of an artist? And it snuck into the chamber where Zirconia talked to Queen Neherenia and painted that rude face on the back of her dress?"
Pallas nodded. "Granny Zirconia was so mad. She roared and strutted around like a big old chicken for hours. But Pallas thought no one knew she was the one who did that."
"I was able to figure it out. But I never told anyone. I hated Zirconia. She may have given me my human life, but she was cruel. She would have crushed me in a second if it benefited her. And for the longest time I was the same way. She made me in her image, but seeing her put in her place like that helped me to realize that her way was wrong. It took a while, but you were the first one who nudged me that way. Now let those voices say that's a lie."
Pallas calmed some.
"Thank you, Miss Fisheye Sir," Pallas smiled timidly. "Pallas is very glad you were able to become a nice person."
"Thank Sailor Moon and Lord Helios for that," Fisheye smiled. He seemed prettier when he smiled. "And thank you. They saved me, but you did your part, too."
"The Queen is a wonderful person," Pallas answered. "Pallas likes her a lot and thinks she's so pretty. And Mr. Helios Sir is very nice, too." Pallas almost managed a broad smile, but it was strained. "Pallas shouldn't say that too loud. The Princess gets very jealous when another girl talks about Mr. Helios Sir." Though evidence of her battle was still etched on her face, Pallas seemed more at ease. Fisheye still kept hold of her hand. "Pallas is glad you talked to her, Miss Fisheye Sir. It really helps her to not listen to the mean voices. You don't have to leave, do you?"
"I'll stay as long as you like, Palla-Palla," Fisheye replied, caressing the girl's temple.
"Thank you," Pallas squeaked, then snuggled down into the bed. After a few moments, she turned back to Fisheye. "Miss Fisheye Sir, Pallas remembers something the Queen told her. Pallas doesn't really understand it, but she thinks the Queen meant it for you as much as she meant it for Pallas."
"What's that?" Fisheye asked.
"She said," and the girl's brow knit with concentration, "'The credit for any successful re - - um, redemption starts with the, um, the one redeemed. Others can give the redeemed the op-opportunity, but the redeemed is the one who - - has to take it.'" Pallas nodded with triumph and looked up at Fisheye.
"That's," Fisheye said, his voice choked with emotion, "that's very wise." The temple maiden fiddled with his skirt while he kept hold of the senshi's hand.
"Sure you deserve it," Pallas replied out of nowhere. "Oopsie. Pallas is sorry. She forgot and heard your thoughts."
"That's all right," Fisheye whispered, holding back tears as he clutched Pallas' hand with both of his. "No harm done."
* * * *
As Sailor Moon and Helios soared over the darkening landscape, Sailor Moon kept casting furtive glances over at Sailor Vesta. In her falcon form, she flew about twenty feet from them, glancing backwards herself in order to keep them from being ambushed from behind.
"You seem tense, Maiden," Helios thought-casted to her.
"Well, feeling you under me always gets me a little tense, if you know what I mean." Sailor Moon flushed slightly at her innuendo. Helios merely smiled knowingly. "But seriously, don't you feel the bad vibes from this place?" Sailor Moon asked the Pegasus beneath her.
"They batter me constantly," Helios replied. "Visiting the nightmare realms is never pleasant for me, but it is more so when Echidna is disturbed or agitated."
Further conversation was cut off when Vesta flew across their path in her falcon form.
"Is that spooky place down there where we're going?" the falcon asked.
Below them lay a stone structure, square and about two stories high. Gothic gargoyles perched atop the roof and the windows and doors were arched and draped in looming shadows. Ancient runes were carved into the stone below where the gargoyles perched. Lifeless trees bracketed the building on both sides, their limbs gnarled and clutching. There was a sinister aura to the building, one of menace and fright.
"It reminds me of the place where Ctesias lived, a little," Sailor Moon commented.
"No doubt it is similar," Helios answered. "Ctesias did dream."
"So, do we knock?" Vesta asked.
"That will not be necessary," Helios replied. "Echidna is aware of our arrival."
No sooner had they heard Helios' statement then they saw the gargoyles come to life and begin to push off the roof. They were gray, bloated things with squat, thick bodies and taloned limbs. Their wings were scalloped and bat-like and their heads were huge bowling balls with pinched features and bony ridges over the brows. They hurled up at the travelers, gaining speeds that belied their bulk.
"Fauna Assimilation," Vesta began, then stopped. "What the Hell are those things?"
"They're gargoyles," Sailor Moon told her. "They're monsters used to scare away evil spirits in old times."
"Works for me. Fauna Assimilation - - Gargoyle!"
Vesta's body expanded out and took on a grayish tint. In seconds the pretty senshi disappeared into the huge winged monster hurling at the oncoming threat. She met the lead gargoyle head on and the pair locked in battle, the gargoyle screeching hideously in Vesta's face as they fought.
Others flew past them, homing in on Helios and Sailor Moon. With his wings furiously flapping to keep them aloft, Helios waited until one was within range, then dipped his head and drove his crystal horn into the beast's thick hide. It wasn't enough to pierce it, but it allowed Helios to fling the monster away from Sailor Moon. Riding an air current, Helios and Sailor Moon dived down below the other two attackers. Helios pivoted in mid-air, coming to face them again, Sailor Moon clutching his neck.
"Maybe I can do something, Helios," Sailor Moon said.
"Perhaps you can, Maiden," Helios responded. "Their hides are clearly too thick and their minds are clearly focused on a single thought."
Producing the Crescent Moon Wand, Sailor Moon held it aloft. Her mind cleared and she poured everything she had into linking with the pink crystal affixed in the wand's base.
"Moon Healing Escalation!" she called out.
Pink beams of energy radiated out from the wand, showering everyone and everything with its light. Vesta and Helios seemed invigorated by the touch of the energy. The gargoyles, however, recoiled. They screeched at her, trying to intimidate her into stopping. Sailor Moon's brow knit. Her jaw clenched and she focused more of herself into the crystal.
Vesta felt the gargoyle she was engaged with weaken. With a final surge of strength, she shoved it away, then raked it with her talons. The gargoyle went limp and plummeted to the ground. The other three were snarling at Sailor Moon, pained and enraged by her pink energy. Eyes narrowing, Vesta launched herself at the group and slammed her shoulder into another. The creature twisted in her arms, but Vesta's talons were out and plunged through the tough hide of her enemy. It fell away from her, disemboweled, and crashed to the ground below.
Enraged, one of the remaining gargoyles suddenly launched itself at Sailor Moon and Helios, even as its twin stiffened and fell to the ground. Ignoring the agony it felt, the gargoyle flew straight at Sailor Moon, its talons extended. Vesta saw this and instantly launched herself to intercept. The distance, though, was too great and she knew she wouldn't make it.
But within inches of the Princess, the gargoyle stiffened. Life seemed to leave it and it reverted back to a stone statue. Its momentum carried it toward them, but Helios easily evaded it and the statue eventually yielded to gravity. Sailor Moon expelled a huge sigh of fatigue and clutched her brow with her free hand.
"That was less than fun," she muttered.
"Are you injured, Maiden?" Helios asked.
"No, just winded. Those things just didn't want to die." Vesta flew up, still in her gargoyle form. "Thanks for taking those other two. Are you OK?"
"I've been hurt worse in self-defense practice," Vesta shrugged. "Maybe I better stay like this, though. If we're going to meet up with anymore surprises like that, we'll need my strength."
"I doubt we shall encounter any other opposition," Helios exclaimed.
"Are you sure?" Sailor Moon asked. "If she's got monster sentries around the place, logically she'd have other defenses, wouldn't she?"
"Maiden, logic is the last thing that operates in this realm."
With that, Helios dipped his shoulders and rode an air current down to the front door of Echidna's temple. Vesta followed, though she stayed in her gargoyle form.
* * * *
Sailor Ceres struggled with the tendrils that clutched and held her, struggled to get free, struggled just to breathe again.
"I'm your friend!" she thought, because she didn't have wind to speak with and she hoped the plant could sense her and heed her.
If anything, the plant's tendrils seemed to tighten around her. Ceres felt them pulling at her, trying to drag her along the ground. She looked over at the daffodil that held her and was horrified. The flower had grown inch long razor sharp teeth on its cupped petals. The newly formed maw opened hungrily, threatening to eat her. Ceres tried to resist the pull of the tendrils, tried to resist being drawn into that horrid maw, but lack of air was taking its toll. She felt weak, dizzy. The strength was slipping from her legs and with it her ability to resist.
Without warning, the tendrils released her. Ceres fell to the ground, disoriented. Her first thought was to scramble away from the predatory plant. Still weakened, her first few attempts were awkward and ineffectual. As she tumbled back to the ground, Ceres glanced in fright at the plant, praying it wasn't about to grab her again.
The daffodil was drooped over onto the ground, dead. The tendrils were gone. The gaping maw of teeth was gone. Sticking out of the flower was a single red rose, its stem buried like a dagger in the heart of the plant.
Strong hands seized her and Ceres felt a momentary swell of panic. They hauled her up to a sitting position and held her until she gained her balance. A voice was speaking to her. Struggling to calm down, Ceres searched for the voice and quickly found it. King Endymion had her. He held her erect with his strong hands and stared intently into her face with his dark, piercing eyes.
"Sailor Ceres?" she understood him to say for the first time. "Are you hurt?"
"Y-Your Majesty?" Ceres asked in confusion.
"Are you hurt, Ceres?" he asked again.
"No," she shook her head numbly. "That flower - - it grabbed me. It was going to eat me!"
Impulsively she lunged for Endymion, pressing her face into his chest. Almost immediately Ceres realized who they both were and quickly pulled back.
"Your Majesty, I-I'm sorry!" she whispered, mortified.
"It's all right," Endymion replied with an easy-going chuckle. "You had quite a scare there."
"How could something like that happen?" As she spoke, Ceres noticed Sailor Saturn for the first time behind Endymion.
"This is a nightmare realm," Endymion explained. "Just like in a nightmare, terrible things can happen. They don't even have to make sense. But they are just as dangerous as is they were real. We have to be careful here."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Ceres said, her eyes seeking the ground.
"Here," Endymion smiled. His hand disappeared into his cloak and returned with a single red rose. He handed it to Ceres. "Illusion can become deadly reality in this realm. This rose is connected to the power of the Golden Crystal. It will help protect you from the power this area exerts."
Ceres took the rose. She cupped it in her hands and looked up at the king. He was so strong and confident. Why hadn't she noticed before? Why hadn't she noticed how achingly handsome he was? Why hadn't she ever noticed how kind his eyes were? The girl felt the urge to swallow and for a moment couldn't.
Endymion stood up, towering over her for a moment, then extended his hand down to her. Ceres took it and was effortlessly pulled to her feet. She heard Saturn express some concern about her, but barely noticed.
"We need to find Sailor Juno," Endymion declared, surveying the thick jungle of plant life given more density by the low light. Ceres heard that loud and clear.
As he moved and they followed, Ceres threaded the stem of the rose into her hair over her right ear. For some reason, she suddenly felt the urge to look as pretty as possible.
* * * *
When the trio landed at the front step of Echidna's temple, Sailor Moon dismounted. Within moments, Helios surrendered his Pegasus form and became humanoid. Vesta remained in her gargoyle form until Helios glanced at her, an eyebrow raised. Reluctantly she transformed back to Sailor Vesta.
With Helios in the lead, the three crossed the threshold into the temple. As the two young senshi followed, they noticed the deep shadows and thick, cloaking darkness in the room. It took a moment for their eyes to adjust to the low light.
"What the Hell!" gasped Sailor Vesta.
"Helios!" Sailor Moon exclaimed, gripping his arm. "The walls are moving!"
Indeed, the shadows and darkness swirled around the three visitors like they were in the center of a whirlpool. The dark walls writhed around them, the very black itself insanely contorted. The ceiling pulsed with impossible life. Only the floor beneath them seemed solid. Even the air twisted with madness.
"Do not fear," Helios told them calmly. "You are in no danger."
"But there's something here!" hissed Vesta. "Something watching us - - stalking us!"
"It is the eyes of Echidna. They are everywhere and see everything. It is the thoughts of Echidna, too, manifested and taken life. They will not harm you, save to prey upon your own deep-seeded fears. They will use those fears to destroy you if you allow them." He turned to Sailor Moon, still clinging to his arm. "You have experienced their seduction once before, Maiden. Do not fall prey again."
"Don't worry," Sailor Moon said, summoning as much resolve as she could. "I don't make the same mistake twice."
The gloom cleared just enough for the visitors to see three figures ahead. Two figures stood on either side of a smaller figure curled up on a marble altar. The figure on the right was a burly man. His head was shaved clean and he was stripped to the waist, with clinging black pants and thick-soled boots below. He looked at them. His eyes were narrow and yellowish, a sickly yellow that spoke of age and impurity. A squat nose and a thick, scowling mouth completed the picture of anger and violence barely contained. His torso was thick with muscles and his hide was leathery.
The other figure was gaunt. His black hair lay unkempt atop his head. His staring black eyes were sunken into his skull, while sharp cheekbones curved down to a hideous slit of a mouth. His black robes hung on him and blended into the dark. Blotchy pale patches mottled his skin, skin that hinted it would burst apart should it be touched. He looked at the visitors and the two senshi feared contamination by his very gaze.
"Helios, what are they?" Sailor Moon whispered.
"Goth and Tiberious," he nodded first left then right. "They are the attendants . . ."
"They are my attendants," the figure on the altar said. Her body uncurled and she raised her head. "They are the products of my fevered brain - - or perhaps I am the product of theirs. I used to know."
Vesta grimaced. Her voice had a seductive feminine quality, but one that was distorted. The pitch was an octave too high, the tone jagged and abrupt. They watched her uncoil from the temple altar and slide to the floor. Her figure was small, yet very athletic. Her attire accentuated the curves of her body: a form-fitting pair of leggings that ended at the waist and a long sleeve midriff-baring top with an audacious plunging neckline. Her attire was colored in alternate sections of black and white, the seams running at sixty degree angles along her body, the color scheme mirror opposite on either side of her.
Echidna had snow-white hair combed back from her forehead in a widow's peak and falling loosely at her shoulders. Her face - - her face was divided. The right half was fair, but stared with a single serpent-like green eye and a ruby mouth pulled back in a madwoman's grin. The left half was cast in black no matter which way she turned, and a single white eye bereft of a pupil stared at them from the onyx of her skin.
"Echidna," Helios began. "You know why we are here."
"Then you need not speak it, my lovely," Echidna replied, staring off into the dark and turning her head as if listening to words only she heard. She grinned, then locked her gaze on Sailor Moon.
"You are known to us," Echidna said, easing toward Sailor Moon at a leisurely pace. "You are the girl who would be a lady before her time. You are the Queen in training, the bride to the dreaming and the hero in waiting. You are the fool who rages at others for denying the identity that she herself denies the most."
Echidna was within inches of Sailor Moon, who stood her ground. The strange woman turned her head up suddenly, her attention caught by something unseen. Then Echidna's head snapped back and she stared at Sailor Moon. Her mouth curled up into a child's grin while her eyes grew wide. Her hand covered her mouth inadequately.
"Ohhh," she gasped, looking straight into Sailor Moon's eyes. "What you're going to do!"
"Leave her alone!" snarled Vesta. She moved forward menacingly, but Helios barred her way.
"I know you, too, Sailor Vesta," Echidna said, smiling coyly and twisting her body like a smirking five year old. Then her entire demeanor changed, becoming withdrawn and timid. "You have so many demons haunting you. And Pallas knows them all and she still likes you. She thinks about you so much."
Echidna's eyes narrowed and the corners of her mouth curled.
"Do you want to know what she's thinking now?"
"YOU BITCH!" Vesta roared, lunging for her. With great effort, Helios and Sailor Moon shoved her back. Helios turned to Echidna.
"This is beneath you, Echidna," Helios said.
"Oh, poo," Echidna huffed, pouting. She whirled, presenting her back to Helios. "You know very well she brings it upon her own head. I do not inflict wounds. I only uncover them."
"Echidna," Helios persisted. "You are upsetting the balance."
"The balance is a lie," she replied, turning back to them. Her eye was unfocused, looking inward rather than at them. "The balance is an illusion created by pretty goats in a meadow of bluebells and violets."
"The balance is everything," Helios said, gripping Echidna by her arms. Her attendants and the senshi both tensed, daring the other to intercede. "You must stop this. You must stay in your own realm."
"Why?" Echidna asked, suddenly pitiful and forlorn. "Why must I be the only one who hears the voices, my once and only love?" Sailor Moon glanced in shock at Helios. "Why must I be the only one to see - - what they see? The cruelty - - the evil. Helios, sometimes it is too much to bear. Why can I not share this with everyone, so they may know the bliss of my agony?"
"I sympathize, Echidna," Helios replied kindly. "Were it within my power, I would relieve you of your terrible burden. No one enjoys seeing you suffer. But there is an order to things. . ."
"ORDER IS A LIE!" Echidna shrieked, yanking violently away from Helios. "Everything is a lie!"
Flinging her hands out, Echidna projected black energy at the trio. Sailor Moon tensed against its impact.
Continued in Chapter 5