Disclaimer: I could write a song about all the things I don't own, but I won't because, it would be too long.
Rei ran until she was breathless, which, one could imagine, was a long way away from the scene from which she had heartbrokenly wrenched herself away. The moment had been perfect – among all the violence, blood, confusion, Rei had finally found what she had looking for her entire life. Hiiro was everything Rei had once hoped to be: strong, silent, quick, passionate, but always in control; then there had to be that complication. Back, back in the darkness, she had opened her eyes happily, eager to see the physical manifestation, at least, of the power that lay deepest in his soul. To find that symbol that she had long resented, resented because it made Mamoru the one man in the world that she could absolutely not have, to see that beautiful flower clasped between Hiiro's unsuspecting fingers, that was unbearable.
Rei's broken heart was shattered like a pane of glass by Usagi's shrill scream. Ever mindful of her duties, Rei shook the lethargy and despair out of her limbs, and set out at a run for the surface, her best chance to find Usagi and the other senshi before it was too late. On the ground floor, she could hear the screams get louder, and perhaps by luck, found herself close enough that could even hear the sounds of a fight, and at that point, it was easy to pinpoint her princess's location.
As she entered the room, she found the attacker to be a creature that seemed to be an extraordinarily large human male, only dressed from the waist down. Rei gulped, as she summed up her opponent, over ten feet tall, he had huge muscles, but there was no intelligence in his eyes. She then looked to Mercury and Pluto, both recovering from being thrown against the wall, which now the creature was free to attack Usagi. In panic, Rei threw a hurried fireball, then running to intercept it. The magic merely distracted it, and before Rei even knew what was happening, she too felt a force against her stomach, followed by the impact of her back against the wall.
'Oh, god he's fast." She thought briefly before bringing herself back to her feet. Amy and Setsuna had already recovered and returned to aid their princess.
"Did your attacks work any better than mine?"
"No, I'm afraid not. I don't understand this thing, it can't be harmed by magic, and it's both strong and fast."
"Strong enough to throw us into walls, and fast enough for us not to be able to dodge."
"Let's try attacking all at once this time."
"Alright."
The three pulled themselves around to opposing sides of this almost untouchable opponent. Without a signal, they launched themselves at it, accelerating to their highest speeds, but it still wasn't enough, one by one, each was thrown back, smashing painfully into the next object in their path. This left the path to Usagi completely open. Beforehand, she had stopped screaming after the initial shock, but now as the monster/man approached her with the glint of death in its eyes, her shrieks started up again, louder and more insistent than earlier. Her three senshi rushed to get to her, but they each knew they would make it in time, seeing how they had all just finished sliding down the length of the wall. Suddenly, a figure flashed past all of them to the back of the room, and the other three women could tell his mission was to rescue Usagi from her plight. As Hiiro placed Usagi back down, nearer the doorway, with three warriors between her and the creature, Amy alone noticed the forlorn look in Rei's eyes which flashed there for less than a moment. The important thing now was to protect Serenity, as it always had been, and always would be. The five gathered near the doorway.
"Serenity, run, as fast as you can away from this place. You have a better chance, defending yourself from anything you meet outside this room, than you have in here."
Rei noticed a strength and determination straighten Usagi's spine as she asked, "Shouldn't I stay here, help you fight?"
"It's best not to risk you, princess. Go, please."
She nodded abruptly and set off at run, reminding Rei foolishly of the days gone by when a tardy school girl in a blue and white uniform used to run world record paces along the sidewalks of Tokyo, hoping not to anger her teacher too much.
As she left, the three senshi and Hiiro went at it again, hoping to stall, surprise or wear down the monster with constant attacks. As time wore on, each could feel deeper aches settle into their bones over which the pain of new wounds was piled. The lulls between the attacks began to get longer as it took longer and longer for the fighters to pull themselves off the ground. Rei noted, almost casually, that it wouldn't take much longer now until they couldn't get up at all, and hoped that by that time, Usagi would be far from here.
It was what seemed like had to be their last good round. A split-second after Rei, the last in the quick sequence of attacks, leapt to deal her blow, and as she was swept out of nowhere, a tall figure, clad in a dark green, seemed to fall from the ceiling, speed from where she pushed off adding to the acceleration due to gravity, making her total velocity incredible to behold. A second, somewhat smaller figure followed just behind her, in deep violet, and both scored devastation blows to the head of the evil thing. They quickly leapt away after they made contact, and on the ground, the three senshi could make out the shapes and faces of two very welcome comrades, in military uniforms the green of Jupiter, and the dark purple of Saturn. They paused only momentarily for smiles of greeting however. The creature's surprise and shock of actually being hit would not last long, and the humans meant to take advantage of it. Slowed by cloudy vision and a foggy head, it could only block 1 attack out of 2, and now that it was facing six warriors, it was quickly weakened.
"Moon Princess Halation!"
Rei, Amy, and Setsuna quickly turned to the doorway as they heard the familiar voice. Usagi stood there, face slightly tear-stained, but head held high and proud.
"I ran, but I found Jupiter and Saturn, and they gave me this scepter." She was smiling now, the presence of more senshi presenting her with almost full strength, certainly enough to function with. Rei almost cried at the return of Usagi's full smile, so magnetic that she couldn't help but smile back, as did everyone in the room. Another ordeal was finished.
sub-chapter: focus: Venus
Venus had shed the heavy black cloak, revealing a long yellow tunic-style dress, more comfortable in the bright sunshine. Her companion, deeper in depression than acknowledged by either, remained in the hot wool, hood drawn down. She sighed, stroking the head of her wolf, Artemis.
"I don't know. We've been here for awhile, but there's been no other sign other than the first two."
"Are you sure, Mina? Are you sure we can trust you instincts?"
"What else is there to trust, here?"
"Nothing. Nothing other than ourselves."
She stood up suddenly, too quickly, for the blood drained from her head and she stumbled, nearly fainting.
"There it is again, but stronger. I can almost see her. Oh, let's go, we have to go, now."
With that she drew her cloak back off and set out at a run, and her companion had no choice but to follow.
A/N: YAY! More characters! So…is Hiiro really some form of Endymion? If he is, what does this mean for him and Rei? And who is Mina's companion? hint, hint, hint
Wow! I updated really fast! amazing!