Alone
She felt the purple heads eat away at her, tearing through her uniform, her suit of venarian alloy. One of the toughest substances on their side of the cosmos.
It hurt so much, the tiny teeth wedging into her flesh. The sharp canines shredding her skin, swallowing her blood eagerly. She could only feel the pain. The terrible undying agony that brimmed about her.
She felt like giving in. But she could not. She was a warrior. She could never give in. she would fight to the end. Remain to the end.
It was their way. Their law.
Their duty.
A blast of lightening flashed from the sky, ricocheting to the ground and tearing through her.
All pain ceased, replaced by a numb sensation, and the sounds of screams. Screams of soldiers being burned alive.
Sounds of the dying.
Strangely, she found them coming from within.
An image swam through the darkness. A bright light, more beautiful than she'd ever imagined. It shone softly against the darkness, battling it away with sullen strokes of love. Such love.
Turning towards it, she saw an image pass by her.
Hotaru-chan! Smiled the light. Come play Hotaru-chan!
The soft giggles lulled her, but they were cut off. Something terrible was breaking through the light. Something terrible and strong.
She felt fear tear through her.
Usagi-chan...
Something was hurting Usagi-chan...
She looked around her, scared. She was so scared, and it was so dark. Even with the blinding light. She was so alone, so scared...
Her father's voice broke through. Soft and solemn. Full of sorrow.
He begged her to come back. To come back to him. He was so sorry... He promised to never leave her again. Never again...
Her father's screams echoed afterwards, and she felt something warm touch her. Fill her. Light the darkness. The echoes of pleas from her loved ones. They needed her.
They needed her...
Opening her eyes, she made saw their faces flash by. Love echoing through them all.
No...
She wouldn't loose them.
No...
She couldn't, not after all they'd done...
No...
But what could she do?
A spark of darkness within her, more brilliant in light than she'd ever felt, rose up. She grasped it tightly. Feeling it pulsate through her.
The darkness gave her life. Gave her breath. And she breathed deeply. Words spurring from her mouth as the cocoon of shadows enveloped her. Words of power. Words of hope.
"Saturn Planet Power, Make-Up!"
Purple eyes opened with wisdom, with life.
The Senshi of destruction had awoken at last, and with her, awoke hope.
Sailor Moon hit the ground heard, in her arms the limp form of Hotaru. Her little Hotaru...
Another blast sent her flying, and she winced at the impact.
But she refused to let the now ordinary girl in her arms be hurt. She wouldn't let her be hurt. She refused...
Shutting her eyes, she tried to call upon her powers to fight back. But she couldn't do it. The demon had ripped her of most of her energy. She could hardly even remain conscious now. Not after the severe blows she'd managed to overcome.
However, her thoughts were cut short when the tiny girl in her arms began flickering, fading slowly into oblivion.
Tears racked her eyes as she looked down at the dying child. At the small creature who should never have had to be involved.
She screamed as the figure became lighter, the flesh replaced by the frozen wind beating around her.
"Hotaru-chan..."
"Please, no, Hotaru-chan..."
But it was no use, the girl was almost gone. Almost having disappeared entirely. Lost to her in the realm of death. She shook with sorrow. With anger...
"Hotaru-chan! No!"
And then, then she was gone.
Lost to the darkness.
The scream that followed tore through the hearts of all battle participants. The mournful cry of a mother watching the life fade from her only child. The wretched tears of a broken soul, as dull eyes stared upon a suddenly empty world.
Mamoru held the hand of the mother of his would-be-wife. His smile soft and silent. He hoped everything would be okay. He hoped that Usagi would be well. That the other girls would be as well.
That his many efforts to save them were not useless attempts to delay the inevitable.
But he knew the worries and fears that burned his heart were silly fears. Like a child's terror of the dark. Sailor Moon would win. Like she always did.
She always pulled through in the end, didn't she?
An image of the moon kingdom flashed through his mind, but he ignored it. One time did not condemn a person... Did they?
Sighing, he looked down at the older woman in his lap.
He was so bored.
He wanted to go help, not sit around keeping some old woman alive. Wasn't he worth more than that? Didn't he mean more to his princess than that?
An image of the ugly, short haired woman flashed through his mind.
No, he didn't. He though with anger. He meant no more to her than he did to a stranger. His princess had betrayed him. Had left him to be with another. A girl at that!
He squeezed the hand tightly, eyes cold ice.
He didn't mean anything to any of them. After all he'd done for them. After all he'd given up for them! He'd given up a good college and hundreds of girls for his Usako, and what did she do? Dropped him for the first pretty face she saw.
How humiliating.
"Tsukino-san..." whispered the wind. He looked up, and felt his eyes widen in shock. Was that... How though... Had they...
"Thank you..." from a small form, a tiny heart crystal appeared, shimmering with purity. With light.
He stared in shock as she smiled softly, before fading off into the shadows. The young girl whose eyes held such sadness, such wisdom.
Ageless.
He looked downwards, at the shallow breath. His own hitching.
"Impossible..."
"Are you satisfied now?" screamed the hysterical Princess of Uranus. Her body marred by the scars of defeat. By the scratches of death. "Are happy now? Now that you"
The proud warrior fell to her knee. Eyes shut and tearing.
"Answer me damn it!"
"Answer me..."
Sailor Moon shook with tears, when Sailor Saturn appeared. Purple eyes that echoed the darkness around them.
"Thank you Sailor Moon, for protecting my body."
"Wha... Hotaru-chan... but..."
The Senshi of destruction smiled softly, her head high, the purple skirt swishing silently in the terrible winds.
"I am Sailor Saturn, the Senshi of silence."
"Your alive..."
Racing forward, she prepared to clutch the tiny girl. To hold her tightly in her arms forever and ever more.
A sharp glaive appeared, pointing in the middle of her head. She held the lunar princess in her spot.
"To defeat Pharaoh 90, I must go within the core. I will destroy it from within. And I will go alone."
Sailor Moon stared, slowly coming to her feet.
"And when you've destroyed it..."
"I will die within."
Blue eyes widened painfully, but the Senshi was already prepared. Her eyes defiant.
"Only Super Sailor Moon can enter. The chalice is destroyed."
Pulling the staff back to her, she held it to her body, like a favorite blanket to a young child. She smiled sadly at the woman before her.
"Goodbye, Usagi-san."
Back flipping, the youngest Senshi fell into the giant mass. Where sounds of war raged steadily.
Falling to the ground, Sailor Moon clutched her broach tightly. Begging for strength. For power.
"Crisis, Make-Up!"
Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
"Crisis, Make-Up!"
Her fist punched the ground and she screamed harshly. Willing herself. Hoping. Believing.
Nothing.
"Crisis, Make-Up!"
"Crisis, Make-Up!"
"Crisis, Make-Up!"
Tears fell from her eyes as the sounds of war grew violent. And amongst them, Sailor Saturn- Hotaru fought valiantly. A suicide mission.
She would not allow sacrifices. She would not! There had to be another way. There had to be!
"Crisis, Make-Up!"
Why was she so weak? Why could she never protect her friends? Why was she so useless! Why was she always so useless!
Slamming her hand to the ground, she felt the tears stop falling. She stood silently. Determined.
She would not be weak.
She would not.
Never again...
Never again...
Sailor Mercury's eyes opened slightly. She struggled through the numbness, darkness cooling her blazing agony.
"Sailor Moon"
The whispered words echoed through eternity.
Sailor Mar's mouth twitched slightly, the words that echoed through her falling from her lips. Like sparks from a dying flame.
"Sailor Moon"
Sailor Jupiter's eyes stared dully open, her veins screaming the word that pumped through her. Wildly giving her strength she did not feel. She felt nothing.
"Sailor Moon"
Sailor Venus's eyes opened. And she spoke the words she knew she must. She said them passionately, hope filling the nothing with. Her princess would not doom them. Their princess would not forsake them.
"Sailor Moon"
The crystal on her forehead lit with golden light. Light that pierced the black night. The silence.
The two outer Senshi looked forward, their minds united as they stood. The bright light that stole from their tiara's bubbling forth.
"Sailor Moon"
Sailor Moon...
"Crisis..."
"Make..."
"-Up!"
Crumpled wings shot from her back, and she slowly took flight. Leaping forward. A river of tears streaming down her face.
Before her, her heart crystal lit the way.
And like a shooting star, she broke through the darkness. She forced through the gaping whole swallowing her little Hotaru.
She would not be weak.
Never again...
And just as she entered, it disappeared. Like a dying flame, it snuffed out of existence. And with it, left Sailor Moon...
