A/N: I AM SO SORRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT'S BEEN TAKING ME ENTIRELY TOO LONG TO UPTDATE!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA I'M SO BAD!!! Oh yeah, be warned, if you can't handle horror stories you might not want to continue. Some of this stuff is gonna start getting rather scary. DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU!!!
Journal entry: I just couldn't have fun on our trip to Hogsmede, can you blame me? I mean, I could smile and laugh like everything was alright, but it was just a mask, a shroud.
It's hard to have fun with the friend you just dreamed you had killed with sadistic pleasure. I know she dreamed that with me, she was the one screaming with her soul, and I could hear it. I wonder if anyone else could too.
We didn't go to Saturn's Eye though, it kind of slipped our minds. So we came back spending most of our money on edibles and jewelry items. Draco and Harry are actually getting along, for the most part at least.
When we got back it was lunch time, so we ate, and then did the usual. Lay around the basement. Though I imagine we'll be doing more than that. It's almost halfway through August, they'll be sending in our book orders and such. When it was time for Draco to go on home I retreated to my room in order to write this all down.
Now it's evening, and in only 2 more hours it'll be the supposed time in which we go on to sleep. But if I have another nightmare like the ones I've been having, I'll just stop sleeping.
Hotaru closed her book and looked over at her clock. 7:00, maybe I can delay sleep if I claim to be working on something. Hotaru thought, she opened her book again, only this time to the informative page instead of her journal. Turning lead into gold sounds like a time-consuming spell to accomplish, better try turning wood into platinum instead. Okay, she wasn't that desperate, and besides, her book would tell her how to do it anyway. Though it might take time just to learn the spell…Good enough. She thought, turning the page. Maybe if she worked on it long enough so she could do it kinetically, that would take a good amount of time and energy. Hotaru started reading.
*********
"Please! Spare me, Messiah!!!" They groveled, oh how their begging hurt her ears. Saturn was the planet of Silence, must they pollute it with such useless noise?
The shadowy figure flicked her hand, and upon the gesture a demon sprouted and began devouring the screaming knight. She watched as it ripped off his armor and began to feast on his flesh, eating him while he squirmed and screamed with agony.
Dark Saturn turned to another, already wounded, but still begging among the several others that were already dead. "If I didn't spare them, what makes you think I'll spare you?" She asked. "Take care of them!" Her voice, the voice that struck fear into the hearts of all mortals, commanded. Demons sprouted like a plague and began making chaos among the living.
The figure flew gracefully to the top of the lesser castle she was attacking and perched. She then waited, watching her demons, the one she could create with a mere flick of the wrist, and watching them kill off the members and servants of the house.
She could care less about attacking this particular house, there was no meaning in it whatsoever, however. Whenever she attacked something that…thorn seemed to sprout up to defy her. And for a good long while she'd done so quite irritatingly well. But now, oh now, the thorn would be plucked and burned to ashes, though not before it lead her to its rose.
In time, her objective appeared. Killing off her demons with her own glaive. It was not as great as the Silence Glaive that the shadowed figure held, but it was enough of a little sister to be trouble. The Key to Tarterus was nothing to sneeze at, and curse the gods for letting such a willful wench get a hold of it. Still, the Silence Glaive had powers not even she had figured out how to tap into, and was continually a far better weapon by a mile.
"You finally came," The figure said, rising and turning to meet her foe, "I overestimated you, I figured you'd be here by the time the 3rd person was killed, not the 13th." The figure said, using the sweet, innocent voice of the body she occupied.
"Shut up and fight." Tarterus snapped, positioning the black blade of her glaive threateningly. Strange though, why was the blade black?
"But, Kio-chan, do you really want to fight me?" Asked the innocent voice.
"Don't, call, me, that." The senshi hissed slowly and dangerously, leering at her from under the shade of her raven blue hair.
"But I always call you that, Kio-chan. Remember?" She asked, again with a sweet voice.
"No, you're not Hotaru. Hotaru has never killed before in her life, and she never would either!" Kioko exclaimed, pointing her gloved finger at the figure.
"Are you so sure about that?" She asked sweetly. "THIS WORLD KILLED MY LOVE, YOU ALL DESERVE TO DIE!!!" She shrieked with the frightening, echoing voice that seemed to carry for miles on end. Which was her intent. Let them know why, let them know what she intended, and they will fear her all the more. "Song of the Glaive!!!" She shrieked letting loose the attack.
When the song was done Kioko was left heaving, panting, and having to use her glaive for support. She didn't have a chance.
"Death Reborn, Revolution!!!" The figure cried, calling forth the ultimate powers of Silence and concentrating them into a single blast, of which she unleashed upon her enemy.
Though, this time she underestimated Sailor Tarterus. Kioko put the blade of her glaive in front of her and, somehow, she was able to split the concentration of destruction into two, lesser waves of energy around her.
"Hm, it seems you have some slight skill." The figure smirked, like that would matter in the end. "Okay then, take you're best shot." She opened herself up as a target.
Kioko took the opportunity and positioned her glaive in front of her. She then began reciting an odd chant, and only when she nearly finished did the dark form realize what she was up to.
"Oh no you don't." She whispered under her breath, disappearing just before the attack could hit her.
The walls of her stronghold gave off a bit of a metallic look as the dark colors gracefully changed and shifted themselves into other places and other colors. Black crystals floated in the air, some rooted in their position, others moved in their own circle. Some were big, some small, some in the middle. Around the edges of the walls there were shoots of this black crystal, acting as pillars for the ceiling. The floor was shrouded with mist, there was no telling what kind of creatures lived in it for the mist was so deep.
The room itself had items in it, placed with chaotic order. One of the larger floating crystals held an orb meant to record events and play them back. Another crystal that was rooted against the wall held her shelves of books, another shelves of potion items, and many more of the floating crystals carried items that were more or less useless to her.
As for the size of the room, it was as large, if not larger than, a Quittach field, allowing much room for production of the 'special' demons and creatures she made. And sometimes the cocoons needed to hatch these took up a lot of space and even power from the crystals themselves.
The black throne she sat upon hung in the air, accompanied by floating crystal slates of which she could put items upon so that she could have them out in the open. As she sat down upon the throne she called one of the smaller crystals to help her scurry. And Merlin said bigger crystals were better, she huffed. It was much more efficient to use smaller crystals. Though for weaklings like these mortals she hated so very, very much a bigger crystal might be better.
Ah, there she was. The figure watched her enemy in the crystal and in her mind. Mingling with those who were left of the house residence. The nobles had been more or less unharmed, and by that they weren't mortally wounded like all those who lay dead on the battlefield.
Come now, you must have more important things to do. She thought to her foe, Sailor Tarterus.
And there it was, at long last! Kioko had teleported to her guardian moon, showing the figure exactly where it was.
The next moment she was there, marveling over the black crystal casing of the entire planet with sadistic satisfaction. She took a few moments to do so and then she flew with her great black crystal wings to the temple that held the Gates of Tarterus.
The four paths, heading north, south, east, and west led from the circular temple which held the Gate within it's alabaster confining. The roman-like pillars that held up the circular roof were engraved with runes, which looked a bit gaudy to the shadow. I'd expect no less from the proud race of drow and their own temples, adorned in more runes than mortals would care to think existed. She thought with a smirk as she landed upon the southward path. The only ground that had not been encased with the curse of Black Crystal was the paths closest to the temple as well as the temple itself. Which was to be expected, of course.
And there was her foe, or at least her back as she faced the capricious deluge of colors that was the Gates to Tarterus. Of course it was the most magnificent sight to behold, the divine tended to get a bit flashy from time to time.
The Silent Messiah raised her hand in the air to call forth a concentration of black lightning. She then flung it at Kioko, causing the girl to scream in mid-prayer. "Thank you ever so much for leading me here, Kio-chan." Said the innocent, sweet voice of Saturn's princess.
The senshi of Tarterus clutched her glaive and used it to help her face the shrouded figure, who merely smirked at the attempt. "Don't. Call. Me. That." She hissed, panting as she did.
"Oh you're so threatening now that you're nearly dead." The figure chuckled as she stepped foreword. She stopped for an instant, and frowned at the senshi's smirk. Then she noticed the gates, and they were closing!!! "NO!!!" her hiss echoed throughout the temple. She flapped her great wings and flew towards the gate, tossing the senshi aside as she did.
But just before she entered the gates the statues with the lavender and gray jewels for eyes sent beams of white and gray light, not enough to hurt the shadow, no, but enough to send her out of the temple and to stun her long enough for the gate to finish closing.
"YOU!!!" the shadow snarled, stalking towards the one who had thwarted her entry into the gates.
"Me." Sailor Tarterus chuckled, holding herself up with her glaive and standing just outside the temple on one of the long steps. The shadow jumped and gracefully flipped in the air as she landed right in front of her. The entire temple shook with her furry. "Careful, that look doesn't become that face." Tarterus taunted, looking up at the shade without fear, bearing defiant eyes.
The shadow raised her glaive and slashed the girl from her right shoulder to her left hip. Tarterus was flung back, toppling off the steps, and screaming in pain as she lost her own glaive. Dark Saturn slowly walked over to the limp form of Sailor Tarterus, knowing she wasn't dead, yet. "You, you have been a thorn, no a dagger, in my side for far too long." She kicked the senshi over and grabbed her enemy by the collar, lifting her up to eye level.
"Well, then my life hasn't been in vain." She said, spitting out the words as she couched blood onto the shadow's gloved arm. Once she finished she merely smirked.
Then, the figure seemingly banished the shade that concealed her eyes, and opened them, as if she had them closed all this time. Kioko's expression changed into that of fear, terror. She wasn't even able to scream from her throat, but her expression was enough. the skin around her eyes began to rot, her mouth deformed itself into that screaming position, blotches of skin in other parts of her body decayed as well.
When the soul let out it's shrill, inhuman screech, indicating the death of this being, the figure was satisfied and she closed her eyes again. The shadow that covered them returned. "Obliviation." She whispered, pointing her glaive at the temple. The next moment it was in shambles, the three statues still stood, but that was to be expected. At least the temple itself was gone.
The shadow then turned to Kioko's, rather deformed, body. She lifted it up again, exchanging her glaive for a dagger, and carved a deep line into the neck. Symbolism is such fun. She thought maliciously.
Now, how to present to the counsel that their last defense was dead? Oh yes, they were having a meeting within the time period of 6 days, weren't they? The perfect opportunity to show Selenity exactly what she was dealing with.
The Silent Messiah smirked as she watched the counsel gather in her scurrying crystal. The beloved Sailor Tarterus had been reported missing, no doubt. And that would cause much suspicion upon the counsel members of the 9 planets (10 if you were counting the moon). Which would do well for her dramatic entrance. Of course it may take time to teleport, given that they were holding the meeting in the moon's castle, as usual.
She waited for a bit, let them get comfortable and otherwise relaxed for the meeting. After all, no one would dare attack the moon kingdom while Selenity held the Silver Crystal. The figure snorted, letting a mortal like Selenity get a hold of the Silver Crystal had to be the stupidest move the gods could have made. Mortals couldn't handle the jewel's power efficiently without getting themselves more or less killed, if not weakened.
The figure smirked as the subject inevitably came to Saturn as well as to the disappearance of Sailor Tarterus. Time to make my move. She thought, smirking. She smashed the crystal in her hand and sucked out all it's raw power. She'd need it to quicken the teleportation spell.
Grabbing the body of Sailor Tarterus (Which would have become a trophy had she not found a better use for it), she then teleported herself just before the doors to the counsel chamber. Flashy entrances were for the gods, merely walking in as though it were normal would give more fright to those who discovered exactly who she was. And it wouldn't alert her presence to everyone at once, unlike what creating a foreboding portal to step out of would do.
Unfortunately there were, of course, guards.
"Hey yo—" one tried, but within the blink of an eye the six guards were suddenly encased with black crystal, unable to move.
Dark Saturn calmly opened the doors and walked in, dragging along with her the body of Sailor Tarterus.
"It isn't our problem!" exclaimed a hot-headed noble.
"It will become your problem if—" Came in a Saturnarian.
"I believe you're missing someone." The figure's cold, frightening voice echoed throughout the room. She then threw Kioko's body onto the table, making sure that the face was visible to everyone.
Oh the screams they made, it was just the kind of scene she had wished for, chaos was being made as the cowardly nobles and royalty members closest to her jumped from their seats in order to be at a safer distance. As if it would matter if she decided to attack. But, given that the body wasn't use to harboring her power just yet, she only had 10 minutes, at most, and then she would be forced to use the rest of the power she could exert in order to teleport herself back to Saturn. A 10 minutes she intended to use pleasurably.
"That was your last defense, I think." Said the figure, jumping gracefully onto the table. Gaining the desired reaction from the nobles still sitting. "It's too bad, really." She said smirking, "Had you heeded her warnings this might not have happened." She said to Selenity. Who was holding her ground, looking defiant yet still having a little bit of fear, unlike the stubborn senshi, who's face was currently a deformed mask, showing nothing but complete and utter terror in its expression.
"What do you want?" Selenity asked, through clenched teeth.
"What do I want? What do I want? I want the death of the entire mortal race, of course. And, though the Guardian of Tarterus has been able to stop me from doing this all at once, I can still pick you all off one by one. Once I'm finished with Saturn, I'll move on the Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Whose guardians I have already killed, so they won't be much trouble. And then I will come on down to Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Venus, and finally to the earth and the moon. I never was just Saturn's problem, Your Highness, but you see, you're most powerful force against me resided in Saturn, so therefore it's been taking quite a while to eradicate the inhabitance. But don't worry, you'll get to deal with me soon enough." And with a round of malevolent laughter, the dark figure disappeared back to Saturn. Leaving Kioko's dead body for the nobles to scream over.
Dark Saturn collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily and watching her skin turn from pale blue to pale white instead. She trembled, unable to even hold herself up. So she fell flat onto the ground, powerless to stop from shaking as her form changed from that of the ominous shadow to a pale, raven haired princess, clothed in a violet and black dress.
Hotaru curled up into a ball and started crying helplessly. Her blood-like tears stained the knees of her dress, but she didn't care. It didn't matter anymore, nothing mattered anymore. Except stopping the demon who continued to kill her people through her. The princess pulled out the dagger her possessor had used to cut open Kioko's neck and slit the ligaments in her legs, making sure the cuts were deep. She then went to her wrists, crying as she cut her left, and then painfully did her right while causing her left wrist to bleed even more.
She laid back, exhausted, and waited.
"Your Highness!!!" Gasped a familiar voice. Hotaru turned her head to see Rune approaching her. "What—how—why—where…" the copper headed girl trailed off, unable to speak any more as she bent down. She lifted Hotaru up and supported her.
"Tell everyone I'm sorry, and tell Papa that I love him dearly." Hotaru chocked out.
"I-I will…Hotaru." She said, bloody tears of her own poured down her cheeks.
"I just wish…" But she said no more. The next moment Hotaru passed out because of all the blood-loss, soon to be dead.
"What?! What do you wish?!" Rune exclaimed, trying to shake her princess into telling her.
Hotaru sat straight up in her bed, sweat dripped from her entire body and she shook, unable to stop. There was blood, streaking down from her eyes and all over her cheeks. There was also blood coming from her forehead, in the shape of her symbol no doubt.
The entire room could have been made of glass and positioned right in the sunlight for how well she could see. And the waves of smoke didn't conceal much anyway. They moved away from the sound of her heaving breath, and when she pushed the covers off of her in order to get up. She now understood what that smoke was, it was silence. She was seeing the silence in the air. And it would disappear once there was enough noise in the room.
"What is going on?" She asked into the darkness. The silence curled away from her voice and made odd patterns all around the room. Hotaru used a simple spell to clean everything up, including herself, and got dressed. She'd forget about the nightmare, she could ask for books from Glandria, or Setsuna. She could keep herself busy learning more spells, and especially learning how to make a potion that would keep her from sleeping. There was no way she was going to risk another vision like that. How could Kioko stand it!? To be killed every night, but what was worse? Being killed, or being the killer.
"Mistress 9, leave me alone!" Hotaru whispered. But she was only greeted with faint laughter, though it was still there. However it subsided in another moment. There has to be a way out of this, there just has to be!!! She thought, adorning her normal black attire. She put on the dark amethyst cross Draco had given her and then started brushing out her hair, viewing herself in the mirror and doing so without light.
It took a bit longer to brush it all out than normal, probably because she'd been wreathing in her bed. The covers had been all tangled when she woke so that was a very likely possibility, however little it mattered.
"I just wish…" What had she wished? If only she could remember. Maybe that was a clue. Of course it could have been, "I just wish I had been stronger." Or "I just wish none of this ever happened." And others such as these.
Hotaru shook her head, Don't think about it. Don't think about it. She told herself firmly, banishing the thoughts from her mind. She set her brush down and turned away from the mirror. Just don't think about it. She closed her eyes tightly, then opened them again. Welcoming the darkness as her eyes switched back to normal sight.
The normal scene of seeing Mr. Dursley reading the paper, Mrs. Dursley spying out the window, and Dudley wolfing down his breakfast calmed Hotaru more than she thought it could. The familiarity of this image was an odd comfort, though Dudley normally wasn't up this early, but it was still a comfort.
Hotaru took a bagel from the pantry and ate it quickly. "I'll be outside." She said. By now the Dursleys were use to her silent entry and call when she exited so only Dudley was startled that she was suddenly there.
Hotaru walked on across the street and, as usual, Aushran was sitting on the steps to his porch drawing. "Ohayo." She greeted.
"Ohayo." He answered, getting up from his perch. He went on over to his easel, which was already set up, and Hotaru took her place on the swing.
She didn't much feel like talking, she wanted to think to herself for a bit. And Aushran wasn't the kind of person who started up the conversation, he didn't question her on why she seemed down either, of which Hotaru was very grateful.
Who did you love Mistress 9? Hotaru asked, remembering the part in her nightmare when the figure screamed her rage. Who did they kill? And who are they? She wondered. But, nothing, not even a taunting chuckle. What happened that made you want to kill the entire human race? Something Orpha had told her when she met her suggested that Mistress 9 wasn't always that way. What if the killing of this certain person had made Mistress 9 the way she is?
But one thing still bothered her, how did Mistress 9 get so powerful? There had to be more of a means other than Silence. Provided, she herself wasn't sure just how mighty a force Silence could be, not even Galaxia or Setsuna knew that. But, still. When Hotaru had been revived on earth, and Mistress 9 was inside of her, she wasn't so powerful that she could have accomplished such horrible things on her own. And didn't she have the power of silence with her then? It just didn't make sense!!!
Maybe she was still weak at the time, maybe Pharaoh 90 couldn't have controlled her if she was so strong and therefore kept her from awakening her full power. But still…it was plausible, yet there was something amiss with that theory, as though it were too cliché to be right. Or rather, too obvious in a way.
And what about her eyes? Why did looking into her eyes kill people? Hotaru asked herself. It didn't do that before. None of this seems to fit!
"Something's troubling you." Aushran said softly, still sketching on the canvas with his charcoal. It wasn't a question, more like a statement meant to bring out the subject.
Hotaru looked up, then looked back down at her hands. "Hai…" She said.
"I mean, you have a fairly large roll to play in all of this, dealing with You-Know-Who and the sudden realization of your Senshi. There are a lot of things to stress you. But it's more than that, isn't it?" He asked.
"How…" Hotaru trailed off, looking at him and wondering what he was thinking. But his face was like an impassive mask, and she certainly wasn't going to invade his mind with her own.
He relaxed, putting his charcoal up and sat back. "When I draw a person, I end up sketching what they're mood reveals. You're brooding on things that are causing me to make mistakes on the portrait I already began. That's how I know." He answered.
"You can really see what people's moods are like?" Hotaru asked. Kioko could hardly do that with her Silence. And if she was one of the stronger Saturnarians that had to mean that only the direct royal family could tap into emotions and thoughts. Meaning he could very well be her brother!
"In, a way. They come out when I sketch the person who is feeling them. If that makes any sense." He answered.
Hotaru nodded. "So if I think about other things you'll be able to continue the sketch?" She asked.
"Hai. Talk about something." He answered, picking up his charcoal again.
"Um, okay." Hotaru smiled.
*********
Hotaru yawned, but she shook her head and continued to read her book. No, tonight she was not going to sleep. On no account was she going to risk another nightmare like the one she had last night.
The day had passed like any other, and it didn't seem as though Kioko had had the same nightmare. But she could just as easily hide her thoughts as she could express them. They'd stopped having glaive practice lessons, but Kioko wanted to start up again so they had gone outside in the back yard to do so. However, a curious neighbor kid peeked over the fence and they had to stop, though right after they obliterated his memory.
Now Hotaru was researching that all-nighter potion she was going to use. It supposedly kept you awake all night without any side effects (though it made you grow hair if you currently had cancer). It did require a good many items she did not yet have, but one trip to Diagon Alley would fix that.
But her mind wondered back to last night, her previous nightmare. It had put more light, more life to some of the things they already knew, and added more questions as well. Who did you love Mistress 9? She asked. But there was no answer, silence, it was as if Mistress 9 was no longer listening, no longer there. But she was, Hotaru knew better. Mistress 9 saw, heard, and knew everything she did, said, and thought.
But what could Mistress 9 be thinking?
Again, Hotaru yawned and shook her head to clear out cobwebs. She watched the black smoky substance that was silence move about and away from her breathing. The room was pitched black, yet she could see as if it were alight with sunshine. She turned to look at the full sized mirror beside her bed. When I was in Voldemort's hidout, I used the mirrors to move from my room into the one Voldemort was about to kill Draco in. Could I do that again? She asked herself. She stood up, the sound of her movement made the black waves scatter and make odd patterns in the air. Her footsteps made no sound though, and she walked over to her mirror. She tapped its surface, the noise caused the silence to make odd patterns all around the room.
How did she do that, how had she gone through the mirror? She was panicking at the time, so it was hard to tell exactly how. Hotaru looked around the room, watching the waves of Silence, bend a bit as her hair made just a bit of noise in its movement. I can use these waves. She told herself, if I take them, if I force them around me, I won't make any sound whatsoever. She raised her hand to tap the mirror again, but this time she willed the black smoke around her and the mirror, and there was no sound.
She remembered the one attack she used unwillingly, the Silence Embryo Rupture, it had used these black waves to keep noise from being heard, but it had also frozen everything in its place. Maybe she could use little bits of that same attack, only concentrate it.
Hotaru walked over to her desk and, forcing the waves to muffle all sound, she opened the drawer and took out a hairbrush. She then closed it back. She then held the brush up and concentrated the silence waves around it. they engulfed the brush and began to turn a violet shade as they were bent to her will. She then let go of the brush and it stayed in place, as if it were frozen. She then let go of her hold on it, and it stayed in the air.
Hotaru closed her eyes, and then opened them again, banishing the spell she had wrapped around the brush. It fell to the floor, but made no sound. Though she was the one controlling the fact that there wasn't any sound, it made her shiver and feel as though she were in some sort of horror movie. Perhaps this is why people think Silence is evil. She thought to herself.
Hotaru walked back over to the mirror, could she use silence the same way on the mirror? Could she turn it into a portal. 'Show me another place' She whispered in the silent language. Then the smoke, as if obeying her command, turned violet around the mirror and began making ripples in it, as though dropping tiny things into a pond of still water. The image she saw changed from her own reflection, to that of something else. A shop it looked like, lit only by candles. It looked dark, as in ominously dark. The shop itself was open, though outside it was obviously night. Hotaru raised her hand and put her finger through the mirror, it felt as though she were passing through a line of cool, still water. She stepped into the mirror, and finally came out the other side.
Hotaru's eyes adjusted to the added light of the candles so they wouldn't blind her, and then she banished the spell on the mirror so that it returned to her reflection and not her room.
What am I looking for? She asked herself, walking quietly down the wall of shelves. Is there a reason I'm here? She asked herself. She peeked around the corner, hearing a little bit of movement, and saw a woman at the desk of the shop. She was bend over a book that she was reading by candle light and looked as though she were searching through it. Her hair was a bit passed her shoulders, raven purple, and her skin was pale white. The two major traits of Saturnarians, as Hotaru understood. Though that didn't really mean she was Saturnarian exactly.
Hotaru looked around, yes this was obviously a shop, she saw the outside of the glass window and it was on a street of shops. She could see the darkly cloaked people walking down it too, each seemed to be hiding their faces with hoods or dark hair.
What am I looking for? Hotaru asked again, turning back to the actual store. It had plenty of objects and nick-knacks, but it was mostly books. So she walked over to the shelves of books and started looking around. She emptied her mind and tried to focus on something that she might be here for.
But perhaps she wasn't here for a reason, perhaps she was here randomly and could just enjoy the silence of the night away from all her troubles.
Hotaru walked to the door of the shop, being sure to make no noise, and kept the bell above the door from ringing as she exited. She lowered her head down so as to go with the flow of the crowd and walked down the path silently.
It felt like a dream, an oddly…nice dream. It was nighttime and everything was dark, yet she could still make out details as if it were day. But there's a difference between walking down a street in the night, the air is different, the sky is different, and it's very quiet. It seemed very comforting, like she belonged. Perhaps it was the fact that darkness shrouded almost everything, no one knew her here because they couldn't make out her details in the dark.
Maybe she wasn't here to look for something, maybe she was just here to enjoy the night. She found herself walking into a place that reminded her of Rings and she sat down at one of the tables. Soon she started hearing them, she started hearing the people in the café talk in the silent language. It seemed as if everyone was in the same conversation though, different people spoke though it would be hard to tell who was saying what.
'Have you heard? The Dark Lord has found a new weapon.'
'I've heard. What is it?'
'No one really knows. You think he's found out how to tap into the power of Silence?'
'Ridiculous! Only the Messiah can do such a thing! It would be treachery if he tried to take her power.'
'He will try to get us all on his side.'
'Only the Messiah may rule us!'
'He will try, you know this.'
'He has tried to take the Messiah himself.'
'He wouldn't dare do anything against her wishes.'
'We do not know this! He may be a traitor to the Throne of Saturn!'
'Should we try to destroy him?'
'Our Messiah told us the story of her escape in the Daily Prophet.'
'She was hiding the truth! You know this, would you tell the Ministry of Magic that the most powerful of all Dark Wizards just showed you to the door? He wouldn't dare keep her against her wishes! He wouldn't be able to.'
'You're right. Long live the Messiah!'
Hotaru wished they'd stop talking about that. She wanted to forget about the entire thing. But…then again. What about that weapon they were talking about? 'Who knows of the Dark Lord's weapon?' She asked into the conversation.
'I do. I've overheard one of the Death Eater's talking about it. It's like a power, but I don't think it's Silence at all. I think the Dark Lord has finally found out how to gain immortality!' said a new voice.
There was a round of mental exclamations to take place of gasps, but some people physically took in breath. 'It doesn't matter, if he is a traitor to the Messiah we will destroy him. But we must wait until we've proven this as fact.'
'If he is immortal how will we destroy him?'
'We won't. We can't if he is as powerful as we've been told. But the Messiah could.'
'There's a lot we don't know.' Hotaru put in.
'There is, I agree. Who would be willing to share what they know?' Asked one of the more reasoning voices.
'I don't know much, but I have opinions. We are all Saturnarian, we are all like brothers and sisters. We all know a little of what the other planets did to Saturn, and we all are loyal to the Silent Messiah. This I know, soon the Silver Alliance will be born again, soon we will be back on our home planet of Silence. It has been in the recent generation that we've been reborn, something is going on. Something triggered our resurrections. Perhaps if we find out what this something is we'll be one step closer to knowing more.' Spoke someone else.
He's right, Hotaru thought, All these Saturnarians being reborn, something must have triggered it! But what? And how?…maybe…just maybe…there's something going on with the Silver Crystal! It was the very stone that sealed Saturn away after all, it could be connected to all of this. She thought. But why did all this only start after Chaos's "defeat"? Hotaru questioned. It didn't make much sense. Could it be connected to Mistress 9's rise? Could everything that's been happening be connected?!
'I know something a few of you might not.' Said another voice. 'Harry Potter, he's a Saturnarian as well.'
That brought about another round of mental exclamations as well as physical gasping. 'But then, the Dark Lord is a traitor! It's a well known fact that Harry Potter has the Messiah's approval, but being of Silence as well?'
'We are all suppose to be brothers and sisters, it is a high crime for a brother to kill a brother.'
'I say we establish a link to every Saturnarian! Become our own silent army and rise up against the rest of the planets!'
'The Messiah will not approve.' Hotaru dared to put in.
'Why wouldn't she? It is only right that the Messiah command this solar system.'
'She is friends with the other princesses, why should she want to rule over them?' Hotaru added.
'You are right, the Messiah is a compassionate being, and we shouldn't do anything to displease her.'
'But why? It is only Saturn's right!' Exclaimed another.
Hotaru looked over, catching her reflection in a nearby mirror. I think I've heard enough. She thought to herself. It'd be best to leave before I cause any trouble.
'What are your thoughts on the situation?' someone asked her.
'Mine?' she questioned.
'Yes.'
'I think that we should learn a good deal more before making any assumptions. Do any of us know exactly what happened on Saturn? No, we should wait and learn more. Pass knowledge between ourselves. We are ignorant of many things, and ignorance is dangerous when concerning such an immense subject.' She answered.
'Well put.'
'Why do I get the feeling that you know more than you let on?'
'Who cares! Why are we all just sitting here? We should be out gaining information from others!'
Hotaru took this time to get up out of her chair and walk to the mirror silently, hoping no one else had the kind of night vision she did. She wrapped the waves of silence around the mirror and told it to take her to her room. She saw her room from her own mirror and quickly walked through it, banishing the spell right after she went through, hoping no one saw her.
Hotaru took a deep breath and let it out. It seemed like the more things she found out the harder it was to deal with life in general. How would she explain to Kioko and Harry how she learned Voldemort had a new weapon? I could tell them I saw it in a dream…She thought. But hadn't she lied to them enough? She'd been keeping so much a secret, like Kioko. Eventually she'd have to tell Kioko about those nightmares. Who knows, maybe Kioko would be obliged to help her with that All-Nighter potion and they could stay up all night together.
Hotaru looked at her hands and fingered her Father's ring. "Whatever happens, whatever's going on. I promise I will continue to fight, Papa." She said to it. Too bad she didn't feel as confident as she sounded.