Chapter Two – Eaves of Hatred
Gloom possessed the night. Parchments of clouds wiped across the lazy moon in a failed attempt to cover the Earth in solitude, only to be broken apart by the few sparse clearings which granted paling moonlight onto the face of the Earth. This alternating spectrum of light and dark gave an unbalanced feeling to the cold winter night and sent the moods of the senshi into pits of doubt and caution. News so sweet from the tongue of Sailor Pluto fell bitterly onto the headlines of the times, giving dank warning of coincidence and destiny. A miraculous return of lovers lost came as news tainted by the perpetual loss of Tokyo's youth; its female youth. By no matter how much they wanted the time to pass quickly, time would only obey as far as to pass.
All of the senshi had come since all of the senshi had some personal desire to see their darker counterparts once more. The four soldiers of tragic dust had made an impact on all of them. Disregarding the method of their return, they only cared about the product.
Ami and Minako had been the most eager to arrive. Their counterparts held a viable bond to them and both had grown intimately bonded to the shade and shadow of their planets. For them, it was like a reunion long neglected. Makoto had a much less stable reason for being excited. Though she finally held some answers to her companion's brooding and agonizing past, she still had no foundation for her to begin with. However, with Haruka and Michiru here for the same reason as she, she felt supported and looked forward to sharing in some of her friends' wealth.
Rei was a very different story. None of the others had shared in the truth which she had seen brewing in the eyes of Yamito. No trivial differences could amount to the unreachable truth that circled him and penetrated him like a serpent of flame.
Not even she knew what he was exactly anymore.
Still, through time and patience, she was willing to find out. Her patient expression was glass and fire, but paled to Usagi's. A prince fell out of time, lost to the nothingness of anyone's mind. Until Sailor Pluto had confirmed it, she had no idea if Mamoru was alive or not. It ate at her like a great beast in her mind, draining the life from her dreams and smashing the shores into the oceans of her soul. There would be no solace until she was in the arms of her beloved once more. As she waited, she stared into a lingering puddle on the ground, snared by the subtle séance of wind over water. Her dreams had given no refute lately, but the icons within them stuck with her no matter where she was. Pulling her coat a little tighter over herself, she burdened her eyes with the puddle even more as silence left her with no conversation.
Water was like a dream. It shaped and molded to the wearing which bore it, always reflecting the surface but blurring what lay submerged. Steam and ice were the waking and falling of a dream. It would always begin as mist, ambiguous as vapor but drifting in ways defined by life. As mist came to dewdrop, things became clear and fluid, dragging meaning along in a current that was never seen but always felt. In the end, images and memories froze into blocks, perfectly and crisply vivid at the moment of arousal but all too quickly fracturing and melting back into mist; a mist which would drift away at the slightest breeze. Then, all at once, the water was gone.
Usagi had trouble separating what was real and what was not about the puddle of water she stared into. Shapes and lines seemed to meld together in an effort to confuse her and cast her into the realm of doubt. A tree hanging so close to the membrane of the water was perfectly reflected, but prone to shattering that image upon leave's first touch. Nothing about her dream still made sense, but at least she wouldn't see that terrifying face looking back at her through the puddle. At least that part was dream.
"It is happening."
Sailor Pluto, the only one of them who appeared as a senshi, twisted her garnet orb staff in her hand slightly, shifting her weight to face the eerily luminescent light of the frost on the grass. In the winter's first frost, the grass still lay underneath in a faded green, giving its last breath of life before sleep until spring. The park was, fortunately, empty due to the cold and the curfew now in place. Only eight figures lingered, anxiously awaiting the foretold arrival of lost allies.
Sailor Pluto had the curse of being the only one who knew what was about to happen. Even though Jikan had left much of it in the dark, she knew that the return of the Scion would not mark times of joy, but times of trial. Everything was about to change and the timeless senshi lifted her eyes to the pockmarked moon above. Hatred was not a thing that came easy to her, but she felt it towards the very force which she served. "Why must everything be so difficult for them?" She knew no answers would come and she knew that the trails would be more difficult for some than others, but she also knew that the power of her superior was not without justification and that had there been no hope, he would have not even gotten involved. Still, it was her place in the hierarchy which was defined by the things she felt; a great sympathy for her friends and her princess. She knew in no place at no time could she ever be what the mysterious and clairvoyant Jikan was.
The first indication that someone was coming was that an unsettling glow had marked the frost all around them, giving off a purple haze which flowed through the park like a poisonous viper stalking prey. It sent defenses up on all senshi, but Sailor Pluto was, oddly, the most at ease. She simply stared forward at the ominous shadow which came walking towards them from the night. None of the others fell across it, but the shadow moved like a whisper over the frost-bitten ground, bare feet treading so lightly across the frost that no mark was made. Shadow and night bonded until the figure had made a path all the way to the princess, stopping mere breaths away.
It was then that none of them could miss the blessed white gown which bathed the figure. The satins and silks did not cling to the lithe form, but rather caressed it. This woman, for no other creature as beautiful could be a man, simply radiated before Usagi. Usagi was frozen in her place. A face she saw reflected in water looked back at her through drifts of white silk. This elegant beauty did not lose its brilliance on her, but did send a rooted warning through her mind of rot which existed under great beauty. Nevertheless, she could not react to this woman. None of them could.
"We are finally able to meet, Tsukino Usagi...Sailor Moon...Princess Serenity," the woman said in a voice which could crack the heavens. Usagi felt no energy in her to react, but only to stare headlong into the depthless violet eyes which this woman possessed, a distinct contrast to the white robes and milky complexion she also bore.
The woman's smile was equally intoxicating as she looked around, her eyes falling conveniently short of Sailor Pluto. "I am pleased to meet you all. Each of the Sailor senshi has born a place in my heart, for you each are so dear to me that I can offer no words to express it." There was no method to her, just pure intent. A warm light bathed them all despite the lack of the moon behind clouds. The air scalded their skin with heat but their breaths still made vapor. It was a chilling repentance.
"Who...who are you?"
The woman looked back to Usagi with her timid smile, appearing to be very pleased at hearing her speak. "I am Eve. I am one born out of darkness and malice into beauty and truth. My existence was naught until the moment a great darkness was cast into defeat and reformed into purity, thus giving birth to a child made from human and soldier alike." Confusion was rampant on Usagi's face and this only further amused Eve. "My dearest friends, I am all that is left of Anubis. His power was born into me, nurtured by the essence of many of you and brought into being by a star above you all."
The rationalization of their ill feelings had been proved. They had all known that the events surrounding the defeat of Anubis had left them a bit empty, but things were now beginning to come together. Much to their surprise, the relevant information came from one of their own in the form of Sailor Pluto. "She is the offspring of Anubis, or the closest thing to it. He actually exists inside of her, yet cannot retain a form of his own in this realm. In desperation, he created a new being to protect all that he had left; an avatar to ensure something of him remained in this world. She is both his child and his mother, for she exists because of him and he because of her." Sailor Pluto's explanation lacked any passion, for she stared at the woman with a blatant contempt.
Eve's eyes had wandered to her as she spoke, also reserving a very bland expression for her. It was obvious that the affection which she harbored for the others would not be extended to Sailor Pluto. In any case, she continued to the amazement of the others. "Do not despair. I am not like my father. Many of you are a part of me, as my father touched you in your final battle and integrated that into me. I share many memories and many emotions that you have and it exists as part of me. I am goddess, but I am also human and senshi. So you see, I am but an ally to you all," she said with a warm gesture to them all.
All of the jewels and all of the satin in the world couldn't beat down the feeling which Usagi felt in her chest from Eve. As beautiful as she appeared, there was still a black aura around her which stemmed from the creation. Anubis created her and he was no angel; he was a malicious fallen god who devoured universes in an effort to commend his own existence. It was these reasons which forced Usagi to step back from Eve. "I don't believe you."
Eve was a bit put off by this, but could not lose her radiance. She simply tilted her head to the side and asked the obvious question. "Why?"
"Somehow...I know that these terrible things have been happening in Tokyo because of you. All of the girls who have been disappearing have been because of you! Tell me the truth! Are you the cause of this?"
"You are very perceptive. I am the one responsible for taking all of the girls from Tokyo. Does this bother you?" Usagi, along with the others, were taken back by the casual admittance Eve had just given. Though she held a beauty and presence which defied the very memory of Anubis, she had a semblance of his philosophy. "I am joining in your crusade to free the world of pain and suffering. I will bring an end to hate by destroying all those who advocate it. To do this, I have freed an entire army of enslaved girls from their stations. Our power alone is insufficient to bring about purity in the world." Eve's words would be accented by dozens of figures appearing from the night as well, all wearing glorious robes and swelling with a beauty all their own. The girls who had been taken were now changed – transcended.
Usagi and the others looked around in suspension, forced to consider this turn of events as a viable train of thought. Change never did come easily, but it could never be forced either. Philosophies crashed as the assumptions of the senshi were surmised by Ami, who found her voice to protest. "You can't abduct people because you think they want to help you change the world! How many of these girls willingly joined your crusade?"
Makoto felt the need to join in. "Yah! These girls were happy until you came along and took them from their lives! How can you say we're on the same side when you do things that are wrong!?"
A cloud of doubt formed across Eve's face as her arms leveled at her sides. This was quickly becoming something that she wasn't amused with and it showed with the slightly aggressive movements of her army. "Please, my friends, do not soil our glorious joining with petty concerns. Each of these girls was burdened by a life of sadness and despair. What I have given them is the power to defend themselves and even to make this world a place where everyone can be happy and safe. They all now know the true happiness of being part of my acolytes."
Like all great visionaries, Eve was bound by the single perspective which she subscribed. Everything else had become something less than the truth and easily swept away as false perception. With the secluded voice inside of her, she saw the disbelief in the eyes of her so called friends and frowned, her bare feet lifting from the frosty ground in a display of her powers. "If you will not join me, then I cannot permit you to be a burden on the new world order I bring. I will change this city into something beautiful; a gem to be admired from all across the globe. Then I will finish polishing this world. After that, there are galaxies of darkness to see the light!" It was the light coming from Eve which was hurting the senshi's eyes, but giving them an insight into just how much of Anubis's powers Eve had retained.
Usagi was purged with the affliction of yet another misled soul trying to invert the universe and she quickly broke Eve's glory by calling out in a voice which cut right through Eve's display. "We won't let you scorch the Earth to make everyone right! People have a choice! As much as I want the world to change, it will only happen when everyone wants it to! Until that day, they have the right to choose what they want and not be forced by anyone to live a certain way!"
"That's right!"
"Yah!"
By the end of Usagi's passionate speech, each of the girls was standing next to her with the reform to protect the world Usagi wished for. It was the creed of a Sailor senshi to protect not only love, but the freedom to express that love. A world of purity was a world washed of choices and none of them could imagine that world. They couldn't allow it.
Eve was aloft before them, staring down as her acolytes surrounded these soldiers. Though the voice inside of her was screaming at her to destroy them, there were parts of her which loved them just as dearly. It was a conflict inside without equal. "Very well. If the Sailor senshi will not strive to see a better world, then I shall create it without them. This will be made done by the hand of my general."
All eyes were forced upon the figure which stood to the right of Eve now, a tall figure obscured by her light until she fluttered to the ground next to it. As the shades of light were lifted from the eyes of all, each of the senshi was aghast as the identity of her general.
The ominous green eyes were not something easily forgotten. A skin of black fabric covered a proud form and completely assaulted his appearance, inflecting his poise with fitting curves and flowing out gracefully like a pair of hakama over his legs. Clasps around his wrists were attached to artful chains that joined together behind his back at a binding metal collar around his neck, fraught with symbols and designs of an ancient origin. His uniform had changed him, but the look of him had remained. Green hair could not attain the trademark spike it once had, but still held a semblance of the style though it slicked back more. There was no doubting who the person was. Everyone could see it without fail. Acrolyth Kage offered them no remorse as he stood defiantly next to Eve, who came to rest with her arms on her general in a very intimate gesture.
"My general will bring about the change I desire. Who better to weed out all of the hate and pain in the world than with someone so educated in both?"
Her general made no reaction to her, but stared at Usagi with the same fierce eyes that he had once bore. His new uniform left an eerie chime in the air, as chains didn't bind but remind. In his right hand was his sword, the catalyst for all of his power. Though he simply stood there, Usagi felt a renewed fear of him that she had nearly lost from before. The return of the first of the lost soldiers was within a moment of despair and heartbreak.
Makoto felt an intense hole opening inside of her. Never in her wildest nightmares could she imagine that her reunion with Kage would end up like this. Hope had rested with her that his life could have gotten better since his sister's murderer had been killed, but this new hatred which she saw in him rose above even that of before. Feeling weak in the knees, she could barely look at him as Eve held to him. Her hope had been washed away by more sorrow.
"This poor boy has been suffering for so many years. All of the tragic children from the other world have. To show to you that I am no monster, I shall return these to you," Eve said quietly and raised a hand from her general's chest, gesturing to a small area between them all. It was there that a sparkle of light exploded in a chromatic burst and then left two figures on the ground. Kurai and Suteki were unconscious but alive, proof that all of the Scion had returned. Upon seeing them, Ami and Minako rushed to them and fell upon them, both overwhelmed at their true presence but also eager to make sure they were okay.
There was no sign of Yamito. Both Usagi and Rei were looking around, but they both found a chilling void when nothing else appeared. Rei felt a surge of anger in her as she looked to Eve, as if the entire universe was playing a cruel joke on her by not giving back her lover. "Where is Yamito?"
It was not Eve, but the former Scion at her side who stepped forward and looked down upon them all, giving Rei an answer which settled no pain. "Yamito cannot come back. His sins as a Scion outweigh all of us and he was denied existence." That news hit Rei and Usagi both, but Eve also seemed a bit shocked as he spoke. She said nothing as he continued. He almost seemed amused at the fate of Yamito. "There will be no more Scion. He is beyond any of us now. These two humans are now the lucky ones out of us all," he continued and looked down to his friends, both unaware of anything that was going on, before opening his free hand to expose two rings which bore the planetary symbols of Venus and Mercury on them, "because they will no longer feel the pains and suffering of the name Scion." To the surprise to all that watched him, Kage tossed the two rings into the air before him, his body tightening into a very aggressive stance, then pulling the blade of his celestial sword through the air, severing the two rings entirely in half. At the moment of impact, both Suteki and Kurai flinched in their dreaming slumber, as if something was ripped from their very souls.
When in fact, that was exactly what happened.
The broken rings fell to the ground and dulled, turning to dust on the frost-bitten blades of grass. Though all watched them in pure splendor, Eve's general looked up from the rings to the shocked senshi. "They are soldiers no more. As the last Scion, I deny my guardian Jupiter. I have no duty but to my own ends. I am now only the general of Eve," he scowled and let a web of lightning arc across his body in a display of his intent to still pervert the power of Jupiter despite renouncing the name. There was no denying that Kage possessed one of the most lethal forms of power, one the cause of his great pain, but to renounce the force behind that power was almost unimaginable.
This was, perhaps, the thing which hit Makoto hardest. Watching him slip away from her once more, she bit her bottom lip, hopelessly trying to call out to him. She wouldn't have the chance.
Eve began to laugh softly as the army of her acolytes began to fade away into the night, soon leaving only her and her general. With parting words, she began to fade on a wind of sweet fragrance and warm touch. "Though you have forsaken me, I still regard you all as chosen. No harm shall come to you or your families. Please do not oppose me, friends. I cannot speak for the actions of my general all of the time."
Soon, there was only Kage. He stared at them all, totally immersed in his hate; a hate that was even stronger than when he had come before. Something had shackled him to it and would not let go. Though Haruka wished to beat some sense into him, Makoto to give him the warm touch of affection and Usagi to sway him from his path, no one dared to move on him. That seemed to appease him enough to end the night with nothing but a warning.
"Don't fool yourselves. You are my enemies...all of you. I will chase my revenge through hell's gates, down the devils back and into oblivion before I give up...and there isn't one of you I won't kill to get it. Stay out of my way or Senso's death will be poetic compared to the hell I bring down on you."
With that, a dark lightning took him from their sights and they were alone in their misery. Suteki and Kurai lay dormant, ignorant to the horrors of their reality. An intense sickness was trying to break Makoto's will, though she fought to keep a brave front in spite of her tragic fate. Usagi still had no word of Mamoru and Rei received the worst word of all. All Sailor Pluto could do was watch them all, knowing this was only the beginning.
"This can't be happening," Usagi gasped breathlessly as she fell to her knees, staring into the puddle once more with more on her mind than ever before. No answers, more questions and the ancient evil of conflict against affection. Staring headlong into the water, she closed her eyes and wished it all to just go away; to be normal once more.
Gloom possessed the night. Parchments of clouds wiped across the lazy moon in a failed attempt to cover the Earth in solitude, only to be broken apart by the few sparse clearings which granted paling moonlight onto the face of the Earth. This alternating spectrum of light and dark gave an unbalanced feeling to the cold winter night and sent the moods of the senshi into pits of doubt and caution. News so sweet from the tongue of Sailor Pluto fell bitterly onto the headlines of the times, giving dank warning of coincidence and destiny. A miraculous return of lovers lost came as news tainted by the perpetual loss of Tokyo's youth; its female youth. By no matter how much they wanted the time to pass quickly, time would only obey as far as to pass.
All of the senshi had come since all of the senshi had some personal desire to see their darker counterparts once more. The four soldiers of tragic dust had made an impact on all of them. Disregarding the method of their return, they only cared about the product.
Ami and Minako had been the most eager to arrive. Their counterparts held a viable bond to them and both had grown intimately bonded to the shade and shadow of their planets. For them, it was like a reunion long neglected. Makoto had a much less stable reason for being excited. Though she finally held some answers to her companion's brooding and agonizing past, she still had no foundation for her to begin with. However, with Haruka and Michiru here for the same reason as she, she felt supported and looked forward to sharing in some of her friends' wealth.
Rei was a very different story. None of the others had shared in the truth which she had seen brewing in the eyes of Yamito. No trivial differences could amount to the unreachable truth that circled him and penetrated him like a serpent of flame.
Not even she knew what he was exactly anymore.
Still, through time and patience, she was willing to find out. Her patient expression was glass and fire, but paled to Usagi's. A prince fell out of time, lost to the nothingness of anyone's mind. Until Sailor Pluto had confirmed it, she had no idea if Mamoru was alive or not. It ate at her like a great beast in her mind, draining the life from her dreams and smashing the shores into the oceans of her soul. There would be no solace until she was in the arms of her beloved once more. As she waited, she stared into a lingering puddle on the ground, snared by the subtle séance of wind over water. Her dreams had given no refute lately, but the icons within them stuck with her no matter where she was. Pulling her coat a little tighter over herself, she burdened her eyes with the puddle even more as silence left her with no conversation.
Water was like a dream. It shaped and molded to the wearing which bore it, always reflecting the surface but blurring what lay submerged. Steam and ice were the waking and falling of a dream. It would always begin as mist, ambiguous as vapor but drifting in ways defined by life. As mist came to dewdrop, things became clear and fluid, dragging meaning along in a current that was never seen but always felt. In the end, images and memories froze into blocks, perfectly and crisply vivid at the moment of arousal but all too quickly fracturing and melting back into mist; a mist which would drift away at the slightest breeze. Then, all at once, the water was gone.
Usagi had trouble separating what was real and what was not about the puddle of water she stared into. Shapes and lines seemed to meld together in an effort to confuse her and cast her into the realm of doubt. A tree hanging so close to the membrane of the water was perfectly reflected, but prone to shattering that image upon leave's first touch. Nothing about her dream still made sense, but at least she wouldn't see that terrifying face looking back at her through the puddle. At least that part was dream.
"It is happening."
Sailor Pluto, the only one of them who appeared as a senshi, twisted her garnet orb staff in her hand slightly, shifting her weight to face the eerily luminescent light of the frost on the grass. In the winter's first frost, the grass still lay underneath in a faded green, giving its last breath of life before sleep until spring. The park was, fortunately, empty due to the cold and the curfew now in place. Only eight figures lingered, anxiously awaiting the foretold arrival of lost allies.
Sailor Pluto had the curse of being the only one who knew what was about to happen. Even though Jikan had left much of it in the dark, she knew that the return of the Scion would not mark times of joy, but times of trial. Everything was about to change and the timeless senshi lifted her eyes to the pockmarked moon above. Hatred was not a thing that came easy to her, but she felt it towards the very force which she served. "Why must everything be so difficult for them?" She knew no answers would come and she knew that the trails would be more difficult for some than others, but she also knew that the power of her superior was not without justification and that had there been no hope, he would have not even gotten involved. Still, it was her place in the hierarchy which was defined by the things she felt; a great sympathy for her friends and her princess. She knew in no place at no time could she ever be what the mysterious and clairvoyant Jikan was.
The first indication that someone was coming was that an unsettling glow had marked the frost all around them, giving off a purple haze which flowed through the park like a poisonous viper stalking prey. It sent defenses up on all senshi, but Sailor Pluto was, oddly, the most at ease. She simply stared forward at the ominous shadow which came walking towards them from the night. None of the others fell across it, but the shadow moved like a whisper over the frost-bitten ground, bare feet treading so lightly across the frost that no mark was made. Shadow and night bonded until the figure had made a path all the way to the princess, stopping mere breaths away.
It was then that none of them could miss the blessed white gown which bathed the figure. The satins and silks did not cling to the lithe form, but rather caressed it. This woman, for no other creature as beautiful could be a man, simply radiated before Usagi. Usagi was frozen in her place. A face she saw reflected in water looked back at her through drifts of white silk. This elegant beauty did not lose its brilliance on her, but did send a rooted warning through her mind of rot which existed under great beauty. Nevertheless, she could not react to this woman. None of them could.
"We are finally able to meet, Tsukino Usagi...Sailor Moon...Princess Serenity," the woman said in a voice which could crack the heavens. Usagi felt no energy in her to react, but only to stare headlong into the depthless violet eyes which this woman possessed, a distinct contrast to the white robes and milky complexion she also bore.
The woman's smile was equally intoxicating as she looked around, her eyes falling conveniently short of Sailor Pluto. "I am pleased to meet you all. Each of the Sailor senshi has born a place in my heart, for you each are so dear to me that I can offer no words to express it." There was no method to her, just pure intent. A warm light bathed them all despite the lack of the moon behind clouds. The air scalded their skin with heat but their breaths still made vapor. It was a chilling repentance.
"Who...who are you?"
The woman looked back to Usagi with her timid smile, appearing to be very pleased at hearing her speak. "I am Eve. I am one born out of darkness and malice into beauty and truth. My existence was naught until the moment a great darkness was cast into defeat and reformed into purity, thus giving birth to a child made from human and soldier alike." Confusion was rampant on Usagi's face and this only further amused Eve. "My dearest friends, I am all that is left of Anubis. His power was born into me, nurtured by the essence of many of you and brought into being by a star above you all."
The rationalization of their ill feelings had been proved. They had all known that the events surrounding the defeat of Anubis had left them a bit empty, but things were now beginning to come together. Much to their surprise, the relevant information came from one of their own in the form of Sailor Pluto. "She is the offspring of Anubis, or the closest thing to it. He actually exists inside of her, yet cannot retain a form of his own in this realm. In desperation, he created a new being to protect all that he had left; an avatar to ensure something of him remained in this world. She is both his child and his mother, for she exists because of him and he because of her." Sailor Pluto's explanation lacked any passion, for she stared at the woman with a blatant contempt.
Eve's eyes had wandered to her as she spoke, also reserving a very bland expression for her. It was obvious that the affection which she harbored for the others would not be extended to Sailor Pluto. In any case, she continued to the amazement of the others. "Do not despair. I am not like my father. Many of you are a part of me, as my father touched you in your final battle and integrated that into me. I share many memories and many emotions that you have and it exists as part of me. I am goddess, but I am also human and senshi. So you see, I am but an ally to you all," she said with a warm gesture to them all.
All of the jewels and all of the satin in the world couldn't beat down the feeling which Usagi felt in her chest from Eve. As beautiful as she appeared, there was still a black aura around her which stemmed from the creation. Anubis created her and he was no angel; he was a malicious fallen god who devoured universes in an effort to commend his own existence. It was these reasons which forced Usagi to step back from Eve. "I don't believe you."
Eve was a bit put off by this, but could not lose her radiance. She simply tilted her head to the side and asked the obvious question. "Why?"
"Somehow...I know that these terrible things have been happening in Tokyo because of you. All of the girls who have been disappearing have been because of you! Tell me the truth! Are you the cause of this?"
"You are very perceptive. I am the one responsible for taking all of the girls from Tokyo. Does this bother you?" Usagi, along with the others, were taken back by the casual admittance Eve had just given. Though she held a beauty and presence which defied the very memory of Anubis, she had a semblance of his philosophy. "I am joining in your crusade to free the world of pain and suffering. I will bring an end to hate by destroying all those who advocate it. To do this, I have freed an entire army of enslaved girls from their stations. Our power alone is insufficient to bring about purity in the world." Eve's words would be accented by dozens of figures appearing from the night as well, all wearing glorious robes and swelling with a beauty all their own. The girls who had been taken were now changed – transcended.
Usagi and the others looked around in suspension, forced to consider this turn of events as a viable train of thought. Change never did come easily, but it could never be forced either. Philosophies crashed as the assumptions of the senshi were surmised by Ami, who found her voice to protest. "You can't abduct people because you think they want to help you change the world! How many of these girls willingly joined your crusade?"
Makoto felt the need to join in. "Yah! These girls were happy until you came along and took them from their lives! How can you say we're on the same side when you do things that are wrong!?"
A cloud of doubt formed across Eve's face as her arms leveled at her sides. This was quickly becoming something that she wasn't amused with and it showed with the slightly aggressive movements of her army. "Please, my friends, do not soil our glorious joining with petty concerns. Each of these girls was burdened by a life of sadness and despair. What I have given them is the power to defend themselves and even to make this world a place where everyone can be happy and safe. They all now know the true happiness of being part of my acolytes."
Like all great visionaries, Eve was bound by the single perspective which she subscribed. Everything else had become something less than the truth and easily swept away as false perception. With the secluded voice inside of her, she saw the disbelief in the eyes of her so called friends and frowned, her bare feet lifting from the frosty ground in a display of her powers. "If you will not join me, then I cannot permit you to be a burden on the new world order I bring. I will change this city into something beautiful; a gem to be admired from all across the globe. Then I will finish polishing this world. After that, there are galaxies of darkness to see the light!" It was the light coming from Eve which was hurting the senshi's eyes, but giving them an insight into just how much of Anubis's powers Eve had retained.
Usagi was purged with the affliction of yet another misled soul trying to invert the universe and she quickly broke Eve's glory by calling out in a voice which cut right through Eve's display. "We won't let you scorch the Earth to make everyone right! People have a choice! As much as I want the world to change, it will only happen when everyone wants it to! Until that day, they have the right to choose what they want and not be forced by anyone to live a certain way!"
"That's right!"
"Yah!"
By the end of Usagi's passionate speech, each of the girls was standing next to her with the reform to protect the world Usagi wished for. It was the creed of a Sailor senshi to protect not only love, but the freedom to express that love. A world of purity was a world washed of choices and none of them could imagine that world. They couldn't allow it.
Eve was aloft before them, staring down as her acolytes surrounded these soldiers. Though the voice inside of her was screaming at her to destroy them, there were parts of her which loved them just as dearly. It was a conflict inside without equal. "Very well. If the Sailor senshi will not strive to see a better world, then I shall create it without them. This will be made done by the hand of my general."
All eyes were forced upon the figure which stood to the right of Eve now, a tall figure obscured by her light until she fluttered to the ground next to it. As the shades of light were lifted from the eyes of all, each of the senshi was aghast as the identity of her general.
The ominous green eyes were not something easily forgotten. A skin of black fabric covered a proud form and completely assaulted his appearance, inflecting his poise with fitting curves and flowing out gracefully like a pair of hakama over his legs. Clasps around his wrists were attached to artful chains that joined together behind his back at a binding metal collar around his neck, fraught with symbols and designs of an ancient origin. His uniform had changed him, but the look of him had remained. Green hair could not attain the trademark spike it once had, but still held a semblance of the style though it slicked back more. There was no doubting who the person was. Everyone could see it without fail. Acrolyth Kage offered them no remorse as he stood defiantly next to Eve, who came to rest with her arms on her general in a very intimate gesture.
"My general will bring about the change I desire. Who better to weed out all of the hate and pain in the world than with someone so educated in both?"
Her general made no reaction to her, but stared at Usagi with the same fierce eyes that he had once bore. His new uniform left an eerie chime in the air, as chains didn't bind but remind. In his right hand was his sword, the catalyst for all of his power. Though he simply stood there, Usagi felt a renewed fear of him that she had nearly lost from before. The return of the first of the lost soldiers was within a moment of despair and heartbreak.
Makoto felt an intense hole opening inside of her. Never in her wildest nightmares could she imagine that her reunion with Kage would end up like this. Hope had rested with her that his life could have gotten better since his sister's murderer had been killed, but this new hatred which she saw in him rose above even that of before. Feeling weak in the knees, she could barely look at him as Eve held to him. Her hope had been washed away by more sorrow.
"This poor boy has been suffering for so many years. All of the tragic children from the other world have. To show to you that I am no monster, I shall return these to you," Eve said quietly and raised a hand from her general's chest, gesturing to a small area between them all. It was there that a sparkle of light exploded in a chromatic burst and then left two figures on the ground. Kurai and Suteki were unconscious but alive, proof that all of the Scion had returned. Upon seeing them, Ami and Minako rushed to them and fell upon them, both overwhelmed at their true presence but also eager to make sure they were okay.
There was no sign of Yamito. Both Usagi and Rei were looking around, but they both found a chilling void when nothing else appeared. Rei felt a surge of anger in her as she looked to Eve, as if the entire universe was playing a cruel joke on her by not giving back her lover. "Where is Yamito?"
It was not Eve, but the former Scion at her side who stepped forward and looked down upon them all, giving Rei an answer which settled no pain. "Yamito cannot come back. His sins as a Scion outweigh all of us and he was denied existence." That news hit Rei and Usagi both, but Eve also seemed a bit shocked as he spoke. She said nothing as he continued. He almost seemed amused at the fate of Yamito. "There will be no more Scion. He is beyond any of us now. These two humans are now the lucky ones out of us all," he continued and looked down to his friends, both unaware of anything that was going on, before opening his free hand to expose two rings which bore the planetary symbols of Venus and Mercury on them, "because they will no longer feel the pains and suffering of the name Scion." To the surprise to all that watched him, Kage tossed the two rings into the air before him, his body tightening into a very aggressive stance, then pulling the blade of his celestial sword through the air, severing the two rings entirely in half. At the moment of impact, both Suteki and Kurai flinched in their dreaming slumber, as if something was ripped from their very souls.
When in fact, that was exactly what happened.
The broken rings fell to the ground and dulled, turning to dust on the frost-bitten blades of grass. Though all watched them in pure splendor, Eve's general looked up from the rings to the shocked senshi. "They are soldiers no more. As the last Scion, I deny my guardian Jupiter. I have no duty but to my own ends. I am now only the general of Eve," he scowled and let a web of lightning arc across his body in a display of his intent to still pervert the power of Jupiter despite renouncing the name. There was no denying that Kage possessed one of the most lethal forms of power, one the cause of his great pain, but to renounce the force behind that power was almost unimaginable.
This was, perhaps, the thing which hit Makoto hardest. Watching him slip away from her once more, she bit her bottom lip, hopelessly trying to call out to him. She wouldn't have the chance.
Eve began to laugh softly as the army of her acolytes began to fade away into the night, soon leaving only her and her general. With parting words, she began to fade on a wind of sweet fragrance and warm touch. "Though you have forsaken me, I still regard you all as chosen. No harm shall come to you or your families. Please do not oppose me, friends. I cannot speak for the actions of my general all of the time."
Soon, there was only Kage. He stared at them all, totally immersed in his hate; a hate that was even stronger than when he had come before. Something had shackled him to it and would not let go. Though Haruka wished to beat some sense into him, Makoto to give him the warm touch of affection and Usagi to sway him from his path, no one dared to move on him. That seemed to appease him enough to end the night with nothing but a warning.
"Don't fool yourselves. You are my enemies...all of you. I will chase my revenge through hell's gates, down the devils back and into oblivion before I give up...and there isn't one of you I won't kill to get it. Stay out of my way or Senso's death will be poetic compared to the hell I bring down on you."
With that, a dark lightning took him from their sights and they were alone in their misery. Suteki and Kurai lay dormant, ignorant to the horrors of their reality. An intense sickness was trying to break Makoto's will, though she fought to keep a brave front in spite of her tragic fate. Usagi still had no word of Mamoru and Rei received the worst word of all. All Sailor Pluto could do was watch them all, knowing this was only the beginning.
"This can't be happening," Usagi gasped breathlessly as she fell to her knees, staring into the puddle once more with more on her mind than ever before. No answers, more questions and the ancient evil of conflict against affection. Staring headlong into the water, she closed her eyes and wished it all to just go away; to be normal once more.