Chapter 14 - Glimmer of Hope; Neptune's Theme
As their city is being slowly destroyed by the dark princess. The remaining scouts, together with Yaten and Taiki, fight off the monstrous drones. One by one they were able to defeat them but the more they fight, the more their power's drained. Yaten and Taiki found Seiya's body and dragged him to safety.
"We shouldn't have come." Yaten said.
"We had no choice. We thought that we'd be able to prevent this. But now..." Taiki couldn't finish his sentence. His best friend is dead, and no matter how much they try, they cannot transform.
"Taiki...Look!" Yaten exclaimed. Seiya's body was glowing. He slowly opened his eys and smiled.
"Don't give up...There's always hope." Seiya uttered and fade away.
Yaten and Taiki couldn't believe what had happend. Their best friend faded in their arms and like a warm light, they felt him inside themselves. In the darkness of things that are happening, they found hope inside their hearts. Realizing this, they tried one more time to transform.
Sailor Venus turned to them and smiled. "Starlights!"
The others looked at the two figures behind them. Yaten and Taiki have finally transformed. The two smiled at them, thanking Seiya in their hearts. The two joined the Sailor scouts in battle.
Meanwhile, in a small, dark room. Uranus began to stir. She tried to move her arms only to find them trapped under dark crystals. She looked down and sees the prince lying on a table. She gathers all her strength and tries to break free but to no avail. Then, she noticed a small white light across the room. It was faintly glowing, like it was trying to emit its energy.
"Uranus." a faint voice called out. Uranus frowned in curiousity. She felt like being drawn to the light. As the light began to grow, a minute late, it consumed her.
oo00oo
Haruka finds herself lying on the beach. Sand everywhere and the waves violently crash on some rocks nearby. The smell of the sea overwhelmed her senses.
"Where am I?" she asked herself.
She stood up and brushed the sand off her shirt. She's no longer in her sailor form and everything seemed to fine. She looked around to see if there are any people around. Then, she hears a familiar sound playing near the deck. She ran towards it and stopped dead on her tracks. Her mouth dropped in shock. There, standing at the end of the dock, is her green-haired goddess - playing her violin.
She slowly walked right to her. She tried to convince herself that this was just a dream. A play that the dark princess is doing to her. But as she comes closer, she felt that same warmth in the light she saw earlier.
"Michiru?" she asked soflty.
The girl turned around and smiled at her, "Haruka." she replied lovingly.
Haruka is stunned to see her lover. She tries to hold her but her hand just went through Michiru's body. She was nothing more than a spirit.
"You've lost hope." Michiru commented.
"I lost you." Haruka replied.
"Haruka.." Michiru looked concernly at her lover. "You never lost me. I'm always here...no matter what happens, I will always right by your side."
Haruka slightly smiled but what happened and still happening bothered her so much that she fall on her knee.
"Everything we fought for, everything we hold dear...it's slowly slipping away...and there's nothing we can do." Haruka stared at the waves as it crashed viloently into the rocks. It reminded her of what was really happening.
"Have faith...in this world...our world. Have faith in the power of love. When the time comes, it will be the only thing powerful to save the world...to save her." Michiru assured.
Haruka looked at her lovers' eyes. Those green eyes that she have been staring at all her life. Those eyes that have seen her in her worst. She had nothing but love and she found it a bit funny that she felt so calm eventhough she knew that this was just a dream and that when she wakes up, she'll be back at the cold, dark world.
"Will I ever see you again?" Haruka asked.
"You once told me to look for you in this life. You told me that you'll be the one running away. Now, I say to you, my love...I'll be waiting for you to find me." Michiru replied. Her hair danced as the wind blows.
"I love you." was all Haruka could say before a bright light blinded her again.
Uranus opens her eyes and sees herself off the dark crystal cross and on the floor. Somehow, Michiru was able to rescue her. She was back in her sailor transformation. She walked towards where the prince is lying, unconscious. She frowned as she studied him carefully. He had a certain glow to him, unlike anything that she had ever seen. Uranus gasped in realization. She knew what she had to do.
oo00oo
At the battlefield, the other scouts and the two starlights are now on their knees. Little by little they're being drained of their energy. They were losing hope.
The dark princess laughed at them. "You call yourselves protector of this pitiful world. You can't even protect the ones you love." she taunted.
"What happened to you? You were full of love than anyone else in this world!" Sailor Mars exclaimed.
"Usagi-chan! Please...there must be something besides darkness in your heart. I know you've been hurt...we all have. But it's not a reason to take it out on the world. We can help you." Sailor Mercury pleaded.
"I woke up. I finally realized the cruelness of this world. Nothing you say would ever change my perspective. But I do appreciate that you beg for your life." the dark princess evily smiled at them and prepared herself for her final blow on the scouts.
Suddenly, a large amount of energy blasted right through the floor and hits the dark princess so hard that she was lifted off and thrown to the ground. They all looked behind them and sees Sailor Uranus in her stance.
"Miss me?" she smirked at the princess.
"Uranus!" the scouts exclaimed joyfully.
"You're supposed to be dead!" the dark princess shouted.
"It will take more than that to kill me." Uranus pointed out.
"Fine...I won't make that mistake again!" the princess fired out her energy wave towards the scout. As the wave of dark energy rushed towards her, Uranus jumped out of the blast's way and into safety.
"I always knew that you're aim was to shifty." Uranus implied.
The dark princess gritted her teeth in anger and prepared to fire off another blast when a red rose sliced in front of her, leaving a small cut on her hand.
"Tuxedo mask!" Sailor Jupiter exclaimed.
"No...Prince Endymion." Uranus corrected her as the prince emerged from the shadows.
"You!" the dark princess called out with seething hatred in her voice.
"Your rampage on this world will stop now! Your fight is with me!" Prince Endymion commanded.
"I have no use for you. Who do you think you are? Telling me what to do." she replied.
"I am the man who loves you...no matter what." he retorted. Hearing those words, the dark princess blasted him and he took it.
"No! Prince Endymion!" Sailor Saturn cried out.
"Listen to me...we must give out all our energy to him." Uranus instructed.
"But..." Sailor Pluto started.
"No buts. We have to. He's the only one who could save this world and the princess. Listen, I know it'll be dangerous and there's a chance that the dark crystal is too powerful to be stopped but we have to have faith...we have to have hope. Right now, the only thing more powerful than the dark crystal is that man's love, not just for this world but for her. We have no other choice." Uranus explained. The scouts finally agreed.
"We'll fend off her horde as you power up. But do it fast, I'm not sure if we would be able to hold them long." Sailor Star Maker said.
"Thank you." Sailor Uranus replied. The two starlights nodded and ran off to attack and hold off the horde of monsters.
One by one, the scouts closed their eyes and concentrated. Each one of them began to glow and their energy began to leave their bodies and settle into the prince. After that, they all lose their transformation but Prince Endymion stands in between them and the dark princess, seemingly unharmed by the blast. The transfer of their energy worked. Now, the fight is no longer between them and the dark crystal. The fight is now between Prince Endymion and the dark princess.