Dance of Curse
"You've been staring into that mirror for a long time now, are you really that vain?" A woman with a very deep voice asked.
"What can I say? I like to look my best for someone…" The other woman in the room replied. She tossed her aquamarine hair behind her shoulder and winked at the first woman. None of them were smiling in spite of the light-hearted conversation they were having.
"I wouldn't worry too much about that then, otherwise all that frowning will get you nothing but wrinkles." The tall woman with sandy hair shot back, a faint smirk on her face. "But seriously, what is so interesting?"
"I don't know how to describe it… I noticed something strange a few days ago. Something showed up in my mirror; it seemed like a silhouette but it was too blurry to be certain." Her aquamarine eyes darted between her companion and the mirror. She bit her lip as she waited for feedback.
"Do you think another battle is approaching? We have led such peaceful lives ever since the battle against Sailor Galaxia ended…"
"I don't know, Haruka, but-"
"Don't stress yourself over this, Michiru. We shall know soon enough if a new evil is coming." She interrupted, placing a hand on her shoulder and giving it a little squeeze to comfort her.
"As long as we are together…" Michiru sighed, putting one of her hands over Haruka's.
"We will always be."
Haruka leaned forward so that her face was directly above Michiru's. They looked at each other in silence, letting their eyes say everything they couldn't put into words.
"Don't mind me!"
Makoto's head poked out of the room, transformation stick in hand. She scanned the darkness in front of her, but all she could see were the silhouettes of the trees and bushes scattered all around the shrine. She allowed herself to breathe once she felt safe enough to do so.
"There's nothing out here."
The moonlight fought her way through the thick clouds, casting a weak light onto the surrounding area. The temperature wasn't dropping anymore, but it was still unusually cold for an otherwise warm spring season.
"Hey, Rei, maybe we should light up the Sacred Fire again!" Usagi shivered violently, as she walked to the back of the room. "It might warm us up a bit!"
None of her friends made a move. Their faces were all a mix of relief and concern. On one side, they felt more at ease now that Makoto had confirmed they were not in immediate danger. On the other hand, they could not explain the dreadful sensation that had taken a hold in their hearts.
Makoto was just about to go back inside when something caught her eye. The bushes and flowers in the area right across the divination room had withered. Were they like this when we came in? She shrugged and closed the door behind her.
"That's it! Let's warm up and have some cake!" Minako said after Usagi and her failed miserably at reigniting the Sacred Fire.
"No, girls, we've had enough of a break, we need to go back to studying now." Ami knew she wouldn't convince them, but it was in her nature to try anyway.
"No, Ami, after this jumpscare, we need some cake!" Usagi giggled as she opened the door and started walking toward Rei's room.
"Wait." Rei pulled her by the sleeve. Something's not right here.
Another dark cloud covered the moonlight once again. The temperature dropped even further and every light in the shrine went out. The girls looked around in shock as the bushes, flowers, and trees withered in a matter of seconds. The city sounds faded away leaving them in total darkness and silence.
The girls instinctively walked towards each other, until their backs were against one another. That dreadful feeling had once again taken over them, this time so heavy in their hearts that even breathing seemed like an impossible task.
"What is that?" Hissed Makoto pointing to her left.
Something shapeless, bodiless, and darker than the darkness in which they were, swayed towards them at a great speed. It stuck to the floor like a shadow would, and dragged itself until it was only a few meters away from them. Suddenly, that shadow started expanding all around the shrine, every inch of surface was promptly claimed by it.
For a few seconds no one, and nothing, moved. The girls didn't dare transform in fear of triggering whatever that unknown entity was. Then, the shadow started rising up, slowly gaining consistency and morphing into something.
"Girls…" Usagi whispered nervously, her sweaty hand squeezing her brooch tightly against her chest.
"Hotaru, it's past your bedtime." Haruka admonished, although no one in the room took her seriously.
Hotaru looked at her briefly, then took a quick glance at her wristwatch. "I won't be sleeping much tonight." She said matter-of-factly, before turning her attention back to the TV show she was watching. She had a bowl of crunchy cereal on her lap which she ate very loudly.
Haruka sighed, wondering what had happened to the obedient girl they had once raised. She looked at the teenager switching from one channel to the other until she settled for a sitcom.
"Come on, Haruka, it's not fair. No one says anything when we are up past our bedtime!" Michiru winked at her in a flirty way.
The tall blonde blushed as more than a couple of images crossed her mind. She shook her head violently to chase them away before trying one more time. "Hotaru, you know very well it's a school night. Aren't you having exams this week? I won't accept anything less than a perfec-"
The front door slammed itself open, startling the three women in the room. They all ran immediately to the foyer. Haruka pushed her way through until she was in front of the other two women, ready to protect them from whomever had broken in.
"What the hell?!"
A familiar silhouette was standing under the main door frame. In fact, rather than just standing under the frame, she was leaning all of her weight against it. Her outfit was torn in multiple places, a bright red spot under her ribcage increased in size ever so slowly.
"Sailor Pluto?!"
"Hello ladies." Sailor Pluto greeted in spite of her struggle to catch her breath. "Apologies for the late night visit..."
THe newcomer took a deep breath seconds before her knees crumbled under her weight. Her whole body hit the ground with a thud, her clothes reverting to those of her human alter ego.
"Setsuna!"
Hotaru, who had brought her cereal bowl with her, took a spoonful while Michiru and Haruka both ran towards their fallen comrade. Her purple eyes glinted in the dark as she nodded to herself. Her precognition powers had been accurate once again. Her expression sombered as she recalled all the dreams she had had in the previous days. Are we heading into our most dangerous battle yet?
"Mercury Crystal Power..."
"Mars Crystal Power..."
"Jupiter Crystal Power..."
"Venus Crystal Power..."
"Moon Eternal..."
"Make up!"
The Sailor Guardians stood next to each other, surrounded by hundreds of human-shaped shadows. All of a sudden, every shadow started moving at once, as if they were governed by a single mind, and all of them moved towards them.
"Venus Love and Beauty Shock!"
The attack hit the shadows, but instead of causing any damage, it went through them as if they were made out of thin air. The Guardians gasped half in disbelief, half in frustration at this turn of events. Their enemies didn't waste time and countered with an attack of their own. Dark energy rose itself from the ground up, along their body, and flowed through their arms, expelling it in one coordinated attack against the Sailors.
All five of them hit the ground violently, the pavement underneath them cracked under the pressure. The shadows threw a follow-up attack at them, which the Sailors barely dodged.
"I don't think we're hurting them!" Sailor Jupiter cried out as her electric attack went through her target, hitting a tree behind them.
"Mercury, we need to find their weak spot now!" Sailor Mars yelled as she jumped away skillfully, just as rays of dark energy hit the ground where she had just stood.
There are no corporeal properties, it's as if they are made of pure energy... How are we going to defeat them? Sailor Mercury was hitting the keys of her mini computer with more strength than necessary. She bit her lip in frustration as every analysis she ran to find a clue to their power came back unsuccessful. With her undivided attention on the screen, she failed to see the huge amount of dark energy flying towards her.
"Ami, watch out!" Sailor Moon called out afraid of what was about to happen to her friend. As if on cue, her brooch opened up to reveal the crystal inside. The crystal shone brightly, its light reaching behind every object and around every corner of Hikawa Shrine. The shadows shrank at its brightness, as if they were afraid of it.
"Finally!" Sailor Venus snapped her fingers, feeling their luck changing for the better. "This is working, girls!"
The radiance only lasted for a few seconds, but that was enough to weaken the shadows. They backed away, visibly frightened of the source of that power. Moments later, they started disintegrating in the air, as if they had been made out of smoke.
Sailor Moon let out a big sigh and dropped to the ground completely drained by the power of the crystal. The dark clouds that had been covering the moon faded away, slowly allowing the moon to cast its light on Tokyo. The temperature increased as the moonlight gained ground to the darkness around Hikawa Shrine.
"It seems like we were late." One voice said, the owner shrouded in darkness.
Three other silhouettes nodded. They turned their heads left and right, communicating with each other in silence and they left the scene with one final nod.
30th Century
"It appears that I have underestimated them." A woman hidden in the shadows paced around. "But they don't stand a chance. They're mere mortals after all."
A white spark lit up the room. A crystal ball, the source of the light, appeared in the woman's hand. It floated slowly away from her until it reached the center of the room. The brightness increased until it was almost blinding. A few seconds later, the white light faded away to display an image in full color inside of the crystal sphere.
"But no, not me. Once this is over, I will be more than flesh. More than blood. My name will be on everybody's lips... assuming I haven't torn them off."
The crystal ball cast its image onto the nearest wall. The woman saw the Sailor Guardians running toward Sailor Moon, who had passed out after using her power to fend off the shadows. The projection zoomed in on her pained expression as her friends lifted her off the ground.
"I can be patient. She's exactly where I want her to be." The woman walked to the wall with Sailor Moon's face on display and caressed it softly. "And soon enough, you'll be right where you belong, in the dark with me. Just like we were supposed to be, right from the beginning. And that's where we're going. Right back to the beginning. Not the Bang, not the Word. The true beginning."
The image cast on the wall changed to that of Neo Queen Serenity's room. The Queen's dead body was lying on the floor in a puddle of her own blood. Her daughter entered the room and knelt next to her mother's body, shaking it gently at first and then violently, still in denial, once she realized nothing would ever wake her up.
"They never understood it. None of them, not the King, not that stupid Queen." The woman walked to the back of the room where her throne rested. "This was never about doing right. Not about doing wrong…"
The colors inside the crystal ball started spinning once again. The image on the wall showed an unknown galaxy full of bright and shiny celestial bodies. The view zoomed in on the shiniest of them all: a minuscule planet that seemed to be made of light itself. A small silhouette stood on its surface, gazing into the horizon. Suddenly, the silhouette turned its head around knowingly, staring back at the woman in the throne room.
"... it's about power."
The woman let out a demonic laugh, then a second, deeper, menacing, and ominous laugh joined hers.
A cracking sound filled the room as a fissure formed on the crystal ball's surface. The image flickered for a few seconds before going dark, leaving the room in complete darkness once again.
TBC