12 - Charon's Struggle.
The darkness was impenetrable. A very roughly estimated half an hour after Charon had been thrown into her cell someone had come along and switched off the light, removing the only comfort the Scout had. She was now sat with her back against the wall opposite the door, her legs pulled up and her arms wrapped around them. She wondered what time it was; whether it was day or night; how long she'd actually been there…until finally she came to the conclusion that it didn't really matter - in here there was no night or day, she was stuck in a black void where the only thing that existed was her. The exhausted Sailor Scout was trying desperately to keep her heavy eyes open - so far she had managed to avoid sleep, but it was getting harder by the minute. Her stomach was growling, fiercely demanding that it be fed.
She sighed.
At that moment she felt as if her life was over.
Lucilius had deprived her of the things she needed most - food, sleep, light and more importantly - friendship and love.
She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on Rei's face.
"Rei, please can you hear me?" she whispered, almost pleadingly. She opened her eyes again; for some reason her telepathy hadn't been working since she'd arrived on the ship and so she couldn't get in touch with her best friend at all. Suddenly she slammed a fist against the cold, hard floor. She was going to go insane if she didn't get out of there! She was thinking about shouting and banging on the door when she heard a faint click, and much to her delight (although at the same time it brought a feeling of great apprehension) the light returned. She held her breath when she heard footsteps followed by a metallic clunk - someone had unlocked the door! She stared as it swung open to reveal one of the huge guards, stood with a bowl and a glass of water. He walked in and handed them to the girl. In the bowl was a red apple and various other fruit.
She eyed it suspiciously. The shiny red apple reminded her of one thing - Snow White. If she took a bite would she fall into an everlasting sleep?
"You should thank your lucky stars that Lucilius is in a generous mood. He doesn't wish you to starve." the guard muttered gruffly. She turned her nose up at the bowl. "Not hungry? Oh well I guess I'll just take this back." he moved to pick it up again, but before he could Charon used her quick reflexes to grab it again. "I knew you'd see sense. Bon appetit, as they say on Earth." The guard smirked hideously, then turned and left, locking the door behind him. As the light was yet again switched out, Charon sighed and carefully turned the apple over and over in her hands, feeling its well-polished peel. Her stomach was growling more viciously than ever. At last she couldn't stand it - she closed her eyes tightly (rather unnecessarily, since she couldn't even so much as see her hand before her face) and bit into it - at first impressions it seemed safe enough; she hadn't fallen asleep, or worse…she sighed, and continued to eat, at the same time wondering just how long it took for a person to go crazy.
x x x x x
While Charon was sat in her cell pondering this, Lucilius was sat on his throne; the ridiculous grin, which had appeared as soon as Charon had given herself up, still on his face. He was feeling very pleased with himself, however not totally content. There was still the fact that the other Scouts and Caliban were still on Earth, not to mention that damn double-crosser Nerissa and the vile, self-righteous rat known as Florizel. They were probably planning to rescue their ally right at that moment. He shook his head - he wasn't prepared to let that happen. Anyway, it would take them a while to locate them in the vastness of outer space. His thoughts were broken by the appearance of a young man; it was his head engineer.
"My lord," he said graciously "I have come to inform you that we are on target to complete our project in a few Earth hours." By some kind of strange miracle Lucilius's grin somehow managed to get even wider.
"Good," he replied. "Very good indeed. Thank you for letting me know." the engineer bowed and left again. As the throne room door closed Lucilius found his thoughts going back towards his enemies. "I cannot believe I allowed myself to be taken in by a prattling female." he muttered darkly to himself, his hands clenching into a tight fists as he slammed them down on his armrests. "I should have known better than to trust her - she and Florizel must have been planning this for months…Florizel, oh, how I shall enjoy making you pay for everything you have ever done to me!" thinking about his bitter rival ruined his good mood completely. I think it's time for some fun…he thought to himself, before yelling: "Guards! Take Charon to the White Room…"
x x x x x
Sailor Charon was on her back, attempting to see the ceiling through the thick blackness. She was unbelievably bored out of her mind, so much so that at that moment she could've even put up with one of Luna's lectures.
"I wish something would happen." she muttered to herself.
Her wish was answered instantly.
She sat up sharply as light once again filtered through the small hole in the door, the lock was opened and the door thrown open to reveal four of Lucilius's enormous guards. Two marched in and grabbed her arms.
"Lucilius wishes to see you." One of them growled and they pulled her roughly to her feet and marched her out. The Scout's legs were weak from exhaustion, making it difficult for her to charge along at the same speed as the guards. Every time she slowed down one of them would hit her across the back with a whip, causing her to cringe slightly and move faster. When the whip hit her for a third time she bit down on her lip, reopening the wound she'd made earlier. Blood once again trickled from it. At last they reached a huge silver door, which opened automatically as they reached it…
It was a white hell - the walls, floors, everything, was pure white and Charon's eyes, weak from light deprivation immediately began to ache and water. She was dragged to two poles, to which massive chains were attached. As she tried desperately to shield her eyes from the glare of the room the guards grabbed her arms and pulled them up so they were out from her sides, then shackled them with the chains. She wondered why they hadn't fastened her ankles up, but suddenly found out when a huge staff was hit straight at the back on her knees, causing her to fall to the floor. Her arms were now above her, and they manacled her ankles together.
"Awww, look at the little lost Sailor Scout, don't she look so cute all chained up like that?" one of them remarked in a sarcastic manner, causing the others to guffaw loudly as they marched out. Charon grimaced; her skinned knees were stinging as she was forced to rest all her weight on them and her shoulders and top of her back were already starting to ache from having to hold her arms up. She had been alone for about a minute when the door swung open again and Lucilius swept in. He stood over the restrained Charon grinning maniacally, his eyes flashing wildly. The Scout just looked up at him with defiance.
"Poor, poor Charon," Lucilius sneered sarcastically. "Not looking so pretty now are we?" unfortunately this was the truth - her usually neat plait of hair was bedraggled and in the bright light of the room it was easy to notice the slight bruises and scratches on her legs and arms, the result of being thrown into her cell so roughly. Due to her lack of sleep she had dark patches under her eyes and blood was trickling down her chin from her cut lip. She continued to glare icily as Lucilius laughed cruelly.
"What do you want with me?" she demanded hotly.
"An excellent question, Princess." He remarked as he continued to smile wickedly. "Two things really - number one, revenge for this." he gestured to his child-like form. "Although it is a shame that Princess Universe is no longer around; I'd like you to realise that it is not just you whom I have a vendetta against…"
"What the hell do you mean?" Charon, who wasn't in the mood for cryptics, snapped. "What's Princess Universe got to do with all of this?"
"Oh, I forget! You can't remember, can you?. You and Universe were partners for quite some time, I must say you were quite the formidable crime-fighting duo. She helped you capture me, so you see it's her fault too." Lucilius explained. "So don't feel that you're totally to blame…"
"What's the other thing you want me for?" she continued. He leant closer to the Charonian Scout, and she felt a shudder shoot down her spine as he whispered:
"Simple - the Plutonian Sphere."
"Never!" she declared loudly and angrily, the words echoing off the white walls. "I will never hand it over to you!" his eyes narrowed as he lifted his hand and hit her across the face; the ring on one of his fingers caught her and cut her cheek.
"You dare to defy me?" he yelled angrily.
Wow, talk about mood swings, Charon couldn't help thinking, as Lucilius paced around the room for a moment before yelling: "Quintus!"
The old man hobbled in, looking as terrified as usual. This room always filled him with a strange kind of awe - he had heard that it had been, before Lucilius's 'transformation', used regularly for the torture of captured spies and other 'useful' people. The few guards, who had remained faithful to Lucilius after his punishment, had regaled Quintus with the tales of how screams and desperate pleas had once filled the corridors of the ship, as well as the maniacal laughter of Lucilius himself.
This was the first time since then that the room had been used, and Quintus wasn't sure just how prepared he was to hear the screams of a young girl…
"Yes, my lord?" the elderly man inquired with a trembling voice, unable to take his eyes off the seemingly defenceless Sailor Scout.
"I think it's time we introduced our guest to Electra!" his boy master announced, his voice rising with every word. Quintus nodded, and hobbled away again; finally returning with a long black stick which he passed to Lucilius before limping out of the room. The insane 'boy' pressed a button on the end of the stick and it immediately began to crackle with an electric charge. "My, it has been a long time, hasn't it?" he murmured almost lovingly to the stick he called 'Electra'. He then turned to sneer at Charon. "So, Princess - dare you defy me now?!" Charon averted her gaze, and he struck her in the middle of her back. She couldn't help but scream and arch as she felt the sharp, sickening pain of the charged stick, which felt even worse than the light-torture she'd been subjected to before giving herself up. When he removed it again she gasped for breath and kept her eyes firmly closed, determined she wouldn't cry. She pictured her friends one by one - Lita, Mina, Serena, Amy, Rei, Estrella and then…Caliban. She recalled the looks on their faces as she had sacrificed herself for her true love's safety, and how Estrella, her beloved cat, had ran away from her. As Rei's shocked face filled her mind once again Charon hoped with all her heart that her best friend had received her final telepathic message. Finally she remembered her heart skipping a beat as Caliban had told her that he loved her…I love you too Caliban, I only hope that I'll be able to tell you that personally one day, she thought as she doubled over as 'Electra' was driven into her stomach. Her eyes flew open. No, wait - I shall tell you that, I promise. Lucilius will never break me, if he wants the Plutonian Sphere so much he'll have to pry it from my dead hands, and I won't let that happen…She screamed as she was yet again shocked.
No, she wouldn't give up easily - not while the fate of the Earth, galaxy…perhaps the universe - lay in her hands…
x x x x x
Half an hour later-Lucilius was beginning to grow tired. Charon had stopped squirming and yelling out almost fifteen minutes ago. He sighed as he yet again prodded her with the stick.
"I thought this would be more enjoyable." he said sulkily, switching off the electric charge. "Guards, take her back to her cell, I need to think of some better way to make her suffer." he stalked out, and the emotionally and physically drained Charon let go of her breath. The guards unfastened the chains, causing the girl to collapse in a heap.
"Come on then, get moving!" one of them exclaimed, giving her a sharp kick in the side. Her ribs now aching along with the rest of her, Charon crawled along the ground, which caused her knees to hurt even more however she was unable to pull herself up onto her feet. The guards laughed as if it were some hilarious joke every time her arms, still feeling dead from lack of circulation to them, gave out and caused her to collapse totally.
"I can see right up her skirt from here." One of them commented sleazily as they walked along with her, two in front and two behind.
"Hey, she's only a kid! What are ya? Some kinda sick pervert?" one of the guards in front of her, in fact the same guard who had brought her food earlier, exclaimed. "Ya know, I think I'll pick her up, or else we could be here forever!" Charon was too weak to fight as the guard grabbed her by the waist and tossed her over his shoulder. They quickly marched the rest of the way to her cell and the guard walked in and dropped her hard, knocking the air out of her. "Oops, guess my hands slipped." he commented jokingly to his colleagues. They slammed the door and marched off again, laughing. The broken Sailor Scout of Charon lay on her side, feeling the blood starting to pulse rather painfully through her arms again. She decided that it would be best for her to continue to remain in the position she was in at the moment, as she was worried that the kick she'd received from the guard plus the way she had been dropped into her cell had broken her ribs and so she didn't want to risk puncturing a lung. The pitch blackness seemed to spin before her, her eyelids feeling like lead weights as she fought to keep them open. I can't go on…she thought to herself sadly. I just know that if he tortures me again like that I'll pass out…and maybe I'll die. She couldn't help but feel that death would be the best way out right now, at least it would mean she wouldn't have to experience another session in the White Room…
But no, she couldn't die now, it was just too complicated. How the heck would the others be able to explain what had happened to my parents without telling them absolutely everything? Was the main thought running through her mind.
Then suddenly it occurred to her.
"I am so stupid!" she exclaimed quietly, using the very little mental strength she had left to summon the Plutonian Sphere. It was so simple! She would just contact Sailor Pluto and ask her to teleport her out of there! She simply couldn't refuse to help her niece at her hour of need!
But the plea for help would never come.
Summoning the Sphere had taken more of what very little energy the Scout had remaining than she had expected. Her mind suddenly going as black as the room, Charon's eyes rolled back and her eyelids dropped as exhaustion took her over.
…"Alexia… Alexia?" Rei's voice was gentle and soothing. Alexia opened her eyes, and found she was no longer alone in her cell.
"Rei…" she found her voice quickly. "Are you really here?" Her head was on Rei's lap and the black-haired Scout softly stroked her friend's fringe out of her eyes. Alexia managed to smile, and realised she was in her normal clothes again.
"No, I'm sorry, I'm not. I've been trying to contact you since you left, and I'm so glad now that I finally have." Rei told her.
"I've been trying too, and I'm also glad." Alexia told her honestly. Her friend's presence was comforting. There was so much she wanted to tell her, however she knew that due to her weakened state of mind time was against them.
"How are you?" Rei inquired. "I'm so worried about you, this place frightens me - I can sense pain and suffering here." Alexia nodded, and was no longer able to hold back her feelings.
"Rei, I'm scared." she whispered, her voice trembling as she grabbed hold of Rei's hand tightly, as if the girl could take her with her, away from Lucilius's hell, when they woke up.
"What of?" Rei inquired calmly, and Alexia felt panic take hold of her as she answered.
"Of never seeing any of you again; of what Lucilius might do to you all…" her voice fell to a mere whisper. "But most of all I fear that I am going to go insane…"
"No!" Rei said sharply. "Do not speak like that!"
"I'm sorry, it's just it's so difficult…Lucilius isn't being exactly nice to me…" her best friend placed a finger to her lips.
"Shhh, listen. We're coming for you, so don't be afraid." she said quietly.
"We? All you Scouts?" Alexia said anxiously; Rei nodded. "No, I don't want you guys in any danger. Leave me."
"Never Alexia, you're part of the team." Rei said firmly. "I'm not going to let you go, neither are the others…especially Caliban."
"Caliban is coming too?" Alexia murmured, and Rei nodded again. "You guys…you're just too good to me." the Charonian sighed. "I guess I have no say in this, so I have all my faith in you."
"Thank you, Alexia, just hold on for a little while longer." Alexia sat up and they hugged. "Be strong, we love and trust you - all of us."
"Thank you, Rei." she whispered, and then remembered something. "Did you get my other message, the one before I got on the ship?"
"Yes, I did. I wanted to tell you how sorry I was before, but…" her voice was starting to fade, and Alexia clung on desperately as her friend started to disappear into the darkness.
No, please don't leave me again! Alexia begged in her mind, before falling back into her pit of unconsciousness.
x x x x x
Lucilius was in his private quarters, lounging comfortably on a navy blue couch as he contemplated the many painful and degrading ways in which he could drag out the rest of Charon's life. I am going to make her wish she had never been reborn, he smiled to himself, content that he had come up with enough methods for at least the next year - Plutonian year, that was. He was just about to get up from his seat in order to pay a visit to his 'guest' when someone cautiously knocked on his door.
"What is it, Quintus?" Lucilius muttered, recognising the rap. The old man shuffled in, bowed, then knelt before his master.
"My lord, I have received word from one of your spies that the Sailor Scouts and Caliban will be leaving Earth very soon." he announced nervously.
"What? Why is this?" Lucilius demanded to know, feeling his good mood once again slip. "They cannot possibly have located us so quickly!" Quintus swallowed hard before continuing, and prepared himself for the hard kick in the ribs that usually came when he delivered bad news.
"It seems Nerissa planted a tracking device somewhere on our ship, master." he cowered as the crimson-haired 'boy' let out a furious yell, leapt to his feet and, much to Quintus's relief, chose to kick the leg of a small wooden table that stood next to the couch, the leg instantly snapped and the table collapsed, sending a small carafe of wine smashing to the hard floor; its red contents spreading out like blood along the white tiles.
"Damn, damn, damn!" he cursed. "I'll destroy them, I'll destroy them all!" he stood still for a moment, taking the time to regain his composure. "Well, I suppose we ought to cause a little distraction on Earth so we can find this tracking device, destroy it, and move on." he walked over to a shelf, which held a number of Aathean Bottles identical to those that Florizel and Nerissa used. "It is good job that I decided to save a couple of these for myself…"he grabbed one and threw it at Quintus. "Here, make sure that none of them get away."
"Yes, my lord." Quintus hurried towards the door, thankful that his ribs were safe for at least the moment.
"No, no…wait a moment…" the old man turned back towards Lucilius, who had a thoughtful expression on his face. "I have a special task for you." Walking over to the wall which faced the couch he took his favourite painting (which was a hideous portrayal of the final battle between the Moon and Dark Kingdom) down to reveal a small safe. After quickly entering the code Lucilius removed a small brown bag, which he threw to his elderly 'partner'. "Whilst the Sailor Scouts are fighting I want you to do something very, very important…"
As Lucilius sent Quintus off on his mission, Sailor Charon was still out-cold on the floor of her cell; trapped in a deep and dreamless slumber. A few minutes after Quintus left, and she was still so overcome by unconsciousness that she failed to see the tiny stream of light which hit her cheek as the corridor light was once again switched on. The familiar metal clang of the lock being opened fell on deaf ears, and Lucilius's entrance was witnessed by no one. The sight of the comatose Scout sprawled on the ground would have been more than enough to make Lucilius's toothy grin reappear, however it was the sight of something else in the cell that had immediately brought the disgusting smile back.
The Plutonian Sphere.
After gingerly lifting the round object from the ground next to Charon, he couldn't help but chuckle to himself as he crept out again…