Chapter 19
Minako tried to ignore the disquiet she felt at their new positioning. While she was onboard to have Makoto surrounded by the rest of the Senshi, she still didn't like the idea of Seiji or the other Troopers standing between herself and the forces of darkness.
She knew they were warriors. Of course, she did. She'd seen them in action. And it made sense. They did at least have some extra protection. But they were still vulnerable. And her instinct to protect, to stand in front, to take the brunt of the damage, was still incredibly strong.
She cast Makoto another glance, firming her resolve. She imagined that Jupiter had felt those instincts even harder. Her friend slept fitfully on Touma's back, her face occasionally tensing in a grimace, and Minako just wanted to tuck her somewhere safe and quiet so she could recover.
So, she didn't like it, but the Troopers were right. And if she wasn't careful, she'd end up exactly like Mako-chan, unable to help anyone. Minako firmed her resolve and tuned herself back into her surroundings.
Ahead of her, Shin and Shuu led the way, Rei and Usagi behind them as they kept pace with the zombie that was hopefully leading them out of the palace. She and Ami walked on either side of Touma, who carried Makoto with a stoic, determined silence that Minako appreciated.
Behind her, Seiji and Ryo quietly brought up the rear. She couldn't help but continue to cast looks behind them, her hair still on end at having those dark, menacing shadows behind her back. Everything was too still, and too empty. It frightened her.
The idea of dying here was terrifying. She didn't like thinking of herself, trapped in the realm of the dead. Just knowing her corpse was here was upsetting enough. She didn't like to think of herself lying in an open hole in the ground in this place. What had her other self been through? How had she gotten here?
Minako shuddered in trepidation and forced herself to focus. Her fear didn't matter. If this enemy, whoever they were, got hold of Usagi, Minako didn't want to think about the damage they'd be able to do.
Never mind what kind of awful torment they'd put Usagi through.
Minako frowned again at the girl in question, not missing how close Rei stuck to their princess. She might put on a big show of having a temper with Usagi, but they all knew Rei would gladly jump to the head of the line in the slaughter if it kept Usagi safe. Underneath her attitude, Rei was incredibly passionate – and Usagi's well-being was at the top of her priorities.
The air began to feel…less dense. Minako inhaled deeply and realized it felt easier to breathe. She felt freer and a bit more energetic. As they continued silently, light began to drift through the shoji surrounding them.
At first it was only a dim, dull grey, but gradually things got brighter until they found themselves standing in a great entrance hall. Ryo and Ami blinked, and Rei and Shin straightened.
"Hey. This is where we came in." Ryo sounded enthusiastic as Ami bobbed her head.
"Us too," Shin agreed. Rei tossed her hair and shot their guide an expectant look. It was then that Minako became aware of the other…envoys surrounding them. Just standing there. Rotting. Staring silently. A few of them were literally nothing more than bones and rags.
Without thinking, she shrank next to Touma and Makoto.
The blue haired warrior narrowed his eyes, his face grim as he watched the guard. She felt unwholesomely grateful that he didn't laugh at her reaction. She knew it was stupid, that she'd faced – hell, she'd probably been devoured by worse -, but they were still zombies, and they were still creepy, and it was somehow worse to just be quietly stared at than openly attacked.
"Here, we must part ways. Take heed. In the open, you are more vulnerable to attack. But the poison of the Underworld will be weakened – break free from the hold the energy of the dead have cast upon you. Take care."
It was speaking to them without moving its mouth. Minako couldn't decide how to feel about that. All the guards in the room nodded their heads and then resumed staring. Their group all stood for a moment, unsure of what to do until Rei tossed her hair again, and head held high with a confidence Minako desperately admired, moved forward towards the door. Shin and Shuu were immediately in step with her, Shin managing to pull in front and give Rei a side-long glare as Shuu set a pace that the clinging Usagi could match.
Touma followed resolutely, and Minako and Ami kept in step with him, guarding his flank, as Seiji and Ryo stayed close behind. A round of the creepy crawlies marched up and down her limbs as the doors closed behind her, shutting out the staring eyes of the zombies.
The stairs were much, much easier going down. This place needed an escalator – and she'd thought the Hikawa shrine was bad. And then she realized they were back in the cemetery. Her skin started crawling for a new reason. This cemetery gave her a bad, bad feeling. The faster they got through it, the better.
"Watch out. Minako and I were here earlier, and some of these graves are open," Seiji said quietly. Minako watched everyone hunch their shoulders, looking around warily as they continued to move. They didn't manage to get far, unfortunately.
The strike came out of nowhere, and it hit her so hard she blacked out for a moment. She felt herself bounce twice before slamming into a stop against something hard. A rock? Then she seemed to fall for a lot longer than what made sense, but her landing was in something soft, that cradled her. Small victories, she supposed. She coughed as something began falling on her head. Not water. What?
"Minako!" Seiji sounded absolutely frantic, she thought distantly.
She flinched when a heavy thud landed right next to her and struggled to open her eyes. "Minako, can you hear me? Are you alright?!" Seiji was panting next to her. Man, he must have hustled.
With a groan, she planted her hands underneath her, struggling to get to her hands and knees. "Think I'm…ok," she managed to slur. She heard the Warrior of Korin curse beside her, but before she could wonder why, she was moving, and she groaned again as she felt herself lifted and dropped onto his shoulder. She felt him leap up once, and then again before they landed, and she opened her eyes to find herself staring into an empty grave from over his shoulder.
The adrenaline that bolted through her system brought her around immediately, and she slid down to her feet, gripping his waist with a vice-like strength. For a moment she was frozen, remembering the sight of old self, her Silver Millennium self, in a similar pit, and she couldn't get her limbs to unlock.
"That's…." she breathed, trying to process what had just happened.
"Minako. I've got you." Seiji said quietly. She found she rather liked him sticking with her first name. It felt comforting, to know he cared so much. They stood for a moment, his body tense and battle-ready beneath her as she buried her face into his subarmor, grateful despite the hard metal surface for a moment to collect her emotions.
Finally, she let out a breath, and her limbs slowly unlocked. She forced herself to straighten, posture confident and upright, despite the pain that was now prominent all along her right side. Whatever strike she'd taken, she'd taken it in the side of her gut, and her body was not pleased.
Shoving the discomfort aside, she turned to look for the battle.
And it was a battle.
Shuu had his arms crossed in front of his face, his feet planted, stance leaning into the strike he was blocking from coming at Usagi. Behind him, it appeared that the Moon Princess was barely able to contain the urge to launch a counterstrike, her fingers twitching and fluttering around the Silver Crystal that hung from the pendant around her neck with every move the ogre-sized demon made, even as Shuu seemed able to meet each strike with a block.
Shin and Ryo were taking turns getting hits in while Shuu met it blow for blow but Minako couldn't tell if they were doing any damage. Her side twinged and she wheezed, grabbing at it, putting her other hand on her knee, and taking a few deep breaths to steady herself. This was no time for her to be weak.
Man, it freaking hurt though. She figured at this point something had probably broken, but she forced herself to straighten again and bear it.
She turned to find Seiji studying her intently, concern in his expression. He opened his mouth, probably to tell her to stay where she was, or some other kind of nonsense, but Minako shot him a hard look, and he closed his mouth around whatever he'd been about to say. They both knew it was futile anyways. He might want her to stay put, but nothing in this world was going to keep her from the fight.
Instead, he scooped her up, making her jolt, and ran them back to the field, depositing her behind Touma and next to Makoto with a look that she was definitely going to ignore. The look Touma sent her, however, was entirely more difficult to ignore. She wasn't sure what sort of emotion she was seeing on his face, but….he looked almost scared.
"Stay with her, please. Don't let her try to…." He was cut off mid-sentence, raising his arms in time to block an attack coming their way. Minako winced as he took the brunt of the impact with a grunt. His feet, though firmly planted, slid back in the dirt several inches. Makoto began to stir beside her.
'Wh-what?" she croaked. Minako understood then. Touma had realized that Makoto was, inevitably, waking up. He was right to worry. If she gained enough consciousness, she'd definitely try to add her energy to the battle. The Senshi of Venus contemplated a conk on the head with a gravity it didn't deserve. She didn't really want to add concussion to the list of ailments Makoto was suffering, but she wasn't quite sure how to keep the Senshi down.
Rei whipped by then, the familiar sacred scrolls flying from her fingertips and latching onto the monster with unerring aim, freezing it momentarily so the Troopers could get a few good hits in. Ami appeared beside her suddenly, dragging Usagi with her.
"Stay with Minako." Mercury commanded Moon firmly.
Minako scowled. So what? She'd taken a hit and now she was a wayward Senshi babysitter?! Before she could really feel indignant about it, however, she sensed more than saw the oncoming attack and moved, leaping up to yank Usagi down next to Makoto before throwing herself bodily over both of them as the giant-sized weapon whizzed in the air over their heads.
"Shit!" she yelled, catching sight of the weapon as it swung in an arc. Well, if that had done the damage she was feeling in her side, she was maybe less…..disappointed in herself and a bit more impressed with how little damage that thing had done. Her side spazzed again at the movement, asking her if they could maybe go lie down for a bit now?
Minako winced but ignored it.
Her instincts kicked up when she realized that instead of blubbering, Usagi was quiet and focused. She pointed a finger at the crystal the Moon Princess was caressing in a very focused way. "Don't you dare touch that thing Usagi," she barked. Usagi jolted, shooting her a guilty look, letting the pendant drop to her chest.
"I'm sorry Mina-chan. I'm trying. But this is…hard," she rasped, watching as Shuu went sailing through the air and landed hard, plowing up dirt as he skidded to a halt. He popped out of the gash in the soil like a rabbit, and jumped back into the fray, looking only a little worse for the wear. Minako blinked. Huh. Definitely, something to be said for armor.
Maybe it was time to have a chat with Artemis when they got back.
Someone cursed then, and Minako saw the attack coming this time directly. The monster had aimed low, so ducking wouldn't be an option. And she was fast but getting Makoto and Usagi out of the way in time was a tall order, even for her.
So, Minako figured this was one of those times she'd need to use her powers, and dug deep, reaching past the block and ripping some of that energy out. She held up her hand, made the familiar fake gun gesture.
And obliterated the attack head-on.
It exploded halfway between the monster and their position, and while she was grateful they weren't hurt, she also was disappointed she hadn't been able to do more damage. Exhaustion pricked beneath her skin as she rose.
"Usagi, stay close to Mako-chan. I'm not going anywhere, but I want to have a better defensive position," she intoned as she rose. Instead of arguing, Usagi nodded, moving towards Makoto and gently taking the girl's head in her lap. Jupiter seemed to settle with Usagi near her and calm, and Minako nodded to herself as she turned her focus back to her surroundings, trying to be aware of all sides of their position.
Just in time.
The monster, apparently, had brought buddies to occupy the rest of the Troopers and Senshi while it tried to get through her and to Usagi. Nice try guys. Minako firmed her stance and kept a ready tap into her powers. She didn't care what anyone else wanted, right now, she was the only thing between that monster and Usagi and Mako-chan, and she'd be damned if it got past her.
The thing studied her for a moment, sizing her up, and she twitched at the sounds of the battles raging around her, absently hoping her friends would be ok as she returned the monster's unflinching stare. It charged then, kicking into motion and barreling down on them rapidly. Minako let loose with another beam of energy – pleased she was getting better at crafting her actual attacks instead of just throwing whatever she could get her hands on out into her enemies' path.
This time, her attack met the monster head-on, and it let out an angry roar, falling back. Minako studied it as it shook its head, seemingly not much worse for the wear, and she swallowed with trepidation. She was already feeling the effects of the last two attacks, but she reminded herself that Usagi and Mako-chan were counting on her, so she squared up, and went big.
Focusing, she pulled, and pulled, and pulled, coalescing the energy into something much larger and more focused. She couldn't get at her sword or her chain, but hopefully, the principle would be the same. She held the energy a moment longer, gathering what she could, and then waited, studying her opponent for the right moment.
It moved to charge, and Venus let loose.
Her attack hit with the detonation of a small bomb, sending glowing orange light in a shockwave out from its epicenter, knocking her off balance. Anxiously, she scrambled back onto her feet, already fighting a wave of exhaustion so overwhelming she nearly passed out. She fought hard, riding it, keeping her feet as she waited for the haze to clear.
Only to be shocked when another monster thundered in right behind the one she'd just destroyed. She dug down for something, anything, but came up empty – her power seemed too far out of reach suddenly. Clenching her hands into fists, she firmed her stance and braced. She didn't really have anything else, but that wasn't going to stop her from trying.
Except that just as the monster was on top of her, a pair of shoulders covered in undergear with dark blue trim blocked her view, the arms held at odd angles.
"SHIN KU HAAA!" an angry male voice yelled, and Minako watched as Touma no Tenku's arrow went sailing into their attacker, numb with shock. It exploded, and in the haze of destruction that followed, the silence was almost deafening.
Panting hard, Touma let go of his bow, and Minako watched the quiver disappear from his back along with it. She blinked, and since it bore repeating, blinked again, hope moving through her.
But he wasn't wearing his armor.
So what the hell had just happened?
"Minako, are you all right?" Touma placed his hands on her shoulders, and she stared at him, dazed. Man, his gaze was intense. She couldn't find it in her to reply, so she merely nodded, mute. He released her, however, and her legs gave out, the traitors. She dropped like a rock with a yelp.
Whoops.
Guess she was still a little sleepy.
"Whoa!" he was reaching forward to grab her, but her vision went wonky for a second and she was oblivious to what happened after. One thing was still sticking with her though.
Touma Hashiba had used his weapon, and his attack. Without his armor.
What did that mean?
Minako felt hope light up her heart.
