Chapter 31
Ryo bolted up the crumbling steps of the shrine, wondering why he always seemed to end up in the decaying ruins of religious temples where the Senshi were concerned. The scenery felt like all it was missing was a flock of crows cawing ominously to be complete. From what he could tell, any crows available for cawing were long dead and mostly on the ground. Trees were dead. Everything was grey and blanketed in a thick layer of ash. It looked like a bomb had detonated on the grounds and then the rest of the building had simply continued to disintegrate afterward.
It didn't come across as the sort of place where anyone would be living, but Kayura had assured them that there were faint energy signals coming from inside. He'd been skeptical at first, but simply exploring the grounds of the shrine had been enough to convince him that anything giving off energy was important. Everything was dead. Nothing made a sound. Nothing moved, save a light, mournful wind.
His heart rate kicked up as they moved as a group towards the main entrance, perimeter check completed. Touma made a noise, and they all turned to see him crouched on his haunches near the door, gesturing carefully at something in the ash. As Ryo approached, his heart pounded harder. There, in the ash - footprints. They were small - dainty - and light. Ryo would bet his life that was one of the Senshi.
Determined, he scowled, striding forward, reaching for the doors, and was stopped when Rajura shot him a nasty look, slapping a hand over the doors.
"Maybe you're not interested in self-preservation, but I thought you were at least smart enough not to charge into unknown enemy territory without even looking at what's in front of you first," the warlord growled. Ryo snarled at him, hands balling into fists, just as happy to take Rajura out to get him out of the way.
He wasn't happy Rajura was here, but he'd been willing to let it go in the name of getting to the Senshi. But if the masho thought he was going to get in their way, Ryo was just as happy to cut off their collaboration. Kayura shoved her way between the two of them, giving them both a side-eye before thumping the Ancient's staff down in front of the doors. The rings clanged musically for a moment but didn't move for long. She nodded.
"There's nothing around the entrance," she said. A disturbed look crossed her face as she added "Absolutely nothing." Ryo tried not to shudder.
Absolutely nothing.
He had no idea how absolutely nothing could feel like the most threatening enemy he'd ever faced. But the nothingness here felt like the threat itself. Almost as if it were watching them, waiting. He couldn't help the shiver that worked it's way through his shoulders.
Cautiously, he slid the doors aside and stepped in, Tenku and Suiko practically on top of him as he moved while Korin came up behind them. Kayura and Rajura brought up the rear as they moved into the eerie darkness of the shrine itself.
Inside, things looked much, much worse.
There had been a struggle in here. Possibly several struggles. The place had been wrecked – nothing was intact. He tried to envision Rei's family standing against whatever had come for them and shied away from the vision. He wondered stupidly what had happened when Rei had come home to this.
Home to destruction. To her life in ruin. Ryo firmed his jaw and blinked his eyes clear.
The silence was deafening. It fell heavily over everything, oppressive as stone, and hell, had the Senshi been living in a place like this? Kayura gestured with the staff from the rear of the group, and they moved in the direction she indicated, taking slow, careful steps. He felt himself trying to muffle the sound of his feet, and though he didn't quite understand the impulse, he gave in to it.
They moved quietly, working in a natural pattern as they scouted and then explored. Most of the rooms were empty, as wrecked as the main areas. The scale of loss was barely comprehendible to him. So much suffering, he thought. So much grief.
They hadn't had any hope at all, had they?
Firming his jaw, he pressed on, determined to find them. He'd sworn to keep them safe, keep them alive, and the Troopers had missed so much, but he was going to fulfill that vow now. Ryo cautiously rounded another corner and stopped in his tracks. There was a light, he realized. Faint and bluish, but it was there, seeping from the cracks of a shut door at the end of a long, dimly lit hall. It was an effort not to run for it. Somehow, he just knew Ami was in there.
"Looks like we found somebody," Touma said grimly.
"Hopefull they're friend and not foe. Though I wouldn't mind kicking some ass right now," Seiji added, uncharacteristically vicious.
"Let's hope if it's the Senshi they're in one piece," Shin agreed fervently.
"Be ready," Kayura said. Rajura remained silent, but Ryo could feel his censure from his position in the hall.
Too bad.
He didn't care what the warlord thought, Ami was in that room and it was gonna take a lot more than a disapproving Rajura to stop him from getting to her. He moved swiftly, no longer caring if his feet made noise. Without preamble, he gripped the door handle and snapped it open, sliding it aside with a bang.
And there, sitting on the floor, legs tucked beneath her, a battered, frightened-looking Ami squeaked as her eyes snapped open and she whirled, trying to stand up too quickly. She went down hard on a small table, breaking it beneath her.
Ryo didn't wait. He was there at her side in a heartbeat, reaching down to help her up. When she seemed too dazed to understand what was going on, he simply reached down and lifted her up. And once she was up, there was no sense in not pulling her close. And once she was there?
Ryo didn't plan on letting her go again.
Finally. Finally.
He was holding Ami Mizuno.
888888888888888888888888888888
It was getting more difficult to breathe, but Ami figured that was probably normal considering how little energy she truly had left.
With slow, careful steps, she plodded up the many, many stairs that lead up to the Hikawa shrine. Why were there so many stairs? It felt like the grocery bags hanging from her arms weighed a million kilograms.
Now she was sounding like Usagi.
Greif squeezed her chest so tightly for a moment that she had to stop climbing and wait for her breath to come back. Tears blurred her vision. Gods, she hoped Usagi was ok. Was safe, somewhere very far away.
Ami forced herself to simply focus on climbing each step, one at a time, until she reached the top. Once she arrived there, she simply continued the thought pattern. One foot in front of the other. Try not to let her mind wander. Almost there.
Winding through hallways left and right, Ami finally came to a stop at the small collection of rooms deep within the shrine that she and Rei had retreated to. A base of sorts. Of sorts.
She opened the door cautiously, satisfied when nothing seemed out of place.
The amalgamation of random computer parts she'd tricked into being a stand-in for the Mercury computer hummed noisily in the corner, a hungry little monster. Even being near it made her feel so weak, but Ami reminded herself that it continued to be a necessary evil. It was the only thing between the Guardian Senshi staying camouflaged or having massive targets on their backs.
Dropping the small bags loaded with non-perishable foodstuffs and water she'd managed to scrounge from nearby, Ami attempted to massage her aching back as she wandered towards the door at the back of the room, sliding it open a crack and peeking inside.
Rei was still sleeping, curled on her side, her breaths deep and even. Nodding to herself, Ami closed the door softly and let herself drop to the floor in front of her Frankenstein machine. Clicking a few keys, she brought up a display that reflected all of their energy signatures. Though weak now – much weaker than they'd been even last week, Minako and Makoto still blinked at her, in Makoto's apartment building across town.
They'd decided that splitting up made them smaller targets and hopefully less noticeable, but Ami missed them terribly now and wondered if it would be so bad to have them back at the shrine.
It might be nice to go out together.
Ami tried not to think about the experience of having her starseed stolen. Again. It had been awful under Galaxia, but she had good reason to believe that she probably wouldn't be turned against Usagi this time. She'd just have her essence in the hands of whatever dark and terrible evil had devoured everything in its path and left this hopeless destruction in its wake.
Helplessness overwhelmed her as she clicked through each screen, followed by despondence when she realized that she had no new leads or information.
Folding her arms on the desk, she thumped her forehead down on top of them, beyond exhausted.
She wasn't sure how much longer this could continue. Every part of her ached. She longed for rest, but sleeping didn't seem to help anymore. Now, it had become a necessity simply to function. Rei hadn't eaten anything in two days, claiming she didn't really have an appetite. And Ami just didn't know what to do anymore.
She missed Usagi.
She missed Makoto and Minako, and yes, even Rei. The priestess had been resting in the other room but to Ami it seemed like years since she'd last had Rei. Passionate, fiery, protective Rei. Once Usagi was gone, the wind seemed to drift out of the priestess' sails.
Ami didn't blame her at all. But it didn't change how alone she felt. How scared.
There would be no rebirth this time. No Usagi. No Silver Crystal to guide them back and revive them.
Tears filled her eyes, and Ami let them burn their way down her cheeks. She was completely alone, so there would be nobody here to mind her crying.
She didn't regret anything.
But that didn't seem to give her any peace now. If she could just know for sure that Usagi was safe, that she could keep the starseeds safe, that might have helped. But they'd used the Sailor Teleport without an alternate destination in mind – just someplace safe. And they had no confirmation it had worked.
Ami gave in to her emotions, simply laying her head on her arms and allowing herself to cry, alone, in the dark.
...She must have dozed off, because an indeterminate amount of time later, she snapped awake at the sound of distant male voices.
Hmm. That almost sounded like –
Ami mentally shook her head at herself and tried to drop back into sleep.
The voices got louder and were shortly accompanied by what sounded like footsteps. Multiple footsteps. She tried to rouse herself, fearing an ambush attack - fearing their enemies had finally found them.
But a different part of her brain assured her she was probably so exhausted she'd started having delusions, and that part of her brain made a lot of logical sense to the rest of her sleep-addled mind, so Ami endeavored to ignore the illusions and get some rest.
The door to the room snapped open.
Ami's eyes did the same, her heart rate rocketing from barely going to full speed. With a tiny shriek, she yelped, attempting to leap up to a standing position on legs that had fallen asleep beneath her. She staggered, flailed, and went down hard on a kotatsu with an oof.
Great.
The forces of darkness were finally here to finish her off, and it looked like she was already well on her way to dying with dignity. Rolling her eyes at herself, Ami shoved hard at the bent table frame in an attempt to yank herself from its wreckage. And froze when a metal-clad hand trimmed in scarlet appeared out of nowhere in front of her face. She blinked at it stupidly, but it didn't wait for her to accept the offer of assistance.
Instead, someone reached out, pulling her up gently – and up and up – and Ami found herself staring into the wild blue eyes of Ryo Sanada. A fully armored Ryo Sanada. The air immediately left her lungs, and she made a tiny, pathetic sound, like a deflating balloon.
Ryo. Sanada.
Ryo Sanada.
"Ami." Yep. That was his voice. If this was an illusion? She kind of didn't want to wake up. Gentle hands cupped her face.
"C'mon Ami, say something. You're scaring me here." The tone was trying to be light. But the face was full of fear and trepidation. Ami forced her lungs to start working, coughing a bit on the inhale.
"You're Ryo Sanada," she managed to whisper.
He gave her a winning smile that melted her knees, and she leaned into his touch.
"Yup. And you're coming with me, Ami Mizuno."
Ami blinked, her brain coming online. She wasn't dreaming. She wasn't dreaming? She furrowed her brow, alarm slowly working its way through her system, firing up her adrenaline. Why was Ryo here? How had he even gotten here?
"You…you shouldn't be here. What are you doing here? Ryo! You-you can't—"she tried to choke out, trying to warn him. Oh Gods, what was he doing here? Had the Troopers been here too, this whole time? How had she missed something like that?
She glanced over at her computer, but the screen was blocked from view by a familiar head of blue hair.
Oh, she thought dimly, there's Touma.
Touma was here. Ryo was here.
She turned her head again, and finally noticed Shin casting her a sad look from over Ryo's shoulder. Next to him, Sejii greeted her with a nod of his head, his expression full of somber empathy. Shin was here. Seiji was here.
The Troopers were here.
The Troopers were here.
Why on earth were the Troopers here?
Ami didn't understand.
Maybe she really was delusional.
Because Ryo Sanada was here. Somehow, he was here.
And he'd promised to take her home.
88888888888888888888888888888888
Ryo felt his heart pound as Ami stared at him blankly, leaning on him. She seemed to be having a difficult time understanding what was happening. She looked terrible. Her skin was pale and smudged, her eyes cradled by dark rings. She was bruised and ragged, had lost weight. Clearly, she'd been through something traumatic.
His rage flared dangerously, his body tensing with the need to exact vengeance. He didn't have an outlet right now, so he grabbed hold of his temper with two hands, and for Ami's sake, reigned it in.
At the giant thing Ryo guessed might be a computer, Touma jumped up, his expression dark, his body visibly tense with barely leashed energy. He muttered something to Seiji Ryo couldn't hear and then turned, leveling Ryo and Kayura with a grim look, gesturing towards the machine in the corner.
"Destroy that. I don't care how you do it. Just destroy it," he growled, and Ryo blinked, but Touma was already turning his full attention to Kayura. "There's a connection –" he began, and Kauyra cut him off, nodding.
"I can see it. I'll take care of it," she reassured him.
Satisfied, Touma gestured at Seiji and then the two of them were gone. Ryo tensed. "Where-?" he muttered.
Shin put a hand on his shoulder. "They've gone after Minako and Makoto," he murmured.
Ami's head dipped onto his chest, her eyelids drooping. She shook herself, snapping awake again, and he realized that she needed rest, and she needed it soon. Shin put a gentle hand on her shoulder, and smiled at her, leaning in.
"Ami, where is Rei?" he asked quietly.
Ami frowned at him, her confusion apparent. "Rei…?" she slurred. Her brow furrowed with thought. She was still staring at them all like she wasn't sure this was real. Man. He just wanted to get her the hell out of here now.
Ami gestured with an unsteady hand towards a door in the back of the room. And then Shin was gone, Rajura ghosting quietly behind him. Ryo definitely didn't like the idea of Shin alone with Rajura, but since Shuu had elected to stay behind and guard Usagi, they didn't have a lot of choices.
"Is this really happening?" Ami wondered, just as the Shakujo flew straight and true through the air, landing dead center in the computer screen with an awful crunch. That seemed to wake Ami up. Her eyes went wide and she straightened, spine rigid.
"What have you done?" she gasped at Kayura. She dropped to her knees in front of the destroyed machine, and Ryo scowled at Kayura as the Youjakai empress moved to stop Ami from touching anything, blocking her way with the shakujou. "You don't need it now. It was too dangerous to let it continue," she assured Ami, her voice firm and no-nonsense.
To his utter horror, Ami burst into tears. Tears?! Ami was…crying? He didn't really understand this Ami. Where was calm, logical Ami? Where was the woman who'd been his anchor, his center in the Underworld?
She seemed like a shadow of herself, and his heart squeezed, even as he dropped into a crouch beside her, putting a hand on her shoulder to comfort.
"But we need that. It was the only thing keeping us safe," she whispered, her face full of fear. Ryo didn't think, he simply pulled her close, and wrapped his arms around her, trying to give her the sense of safety she seemed to so desperately need. He needed her to understand that she was safe now, he was here, and he wasn't going to let anything happen to her. She didn't need whatever that machine was. She had him. She had the Troopers.
Holding her felt amazing. Something inside of him eased, simply at having her near. It was so right to have her there, tucked securely against him, safe and sound. He should have done it back in the Underworld, for both their sakes. Keeping himself distant from her, from the feelings she'd stirred inside him had been a mistake.
He was happy to correct it now.
"Ami. You don't need that thing, whatever it is. I've got you now. I'll keep you safe. We're getting out of here, ok? Just hang on a little longer for me," he murmured to her. Her shoulders trembled beneath his arm, but she moved closer to him instead of away, leaning into the comfort he provided. Part of him settled, knowing that she trusted him enough to look to him for reassurance.
"Ryo," she whispered, her voice sounding choked. "I don't know what's happening, but I can't do this anymore." Ryo blinked his eyes clear and swallowed around the lump in his throat.
"You don't have to," he murmured gently into her hair. It broke his heart thinking about what she'd been through. Ryo simply held her tightly as they waited quietly with Kayura, hoping his warmth and his strength would gradually convince her that he was here, she was safe with him, and everything would be ok.
But deep down inside, he couldn't seem to keep the doubt completely away.
