The Masters of Death
December, 1995
Severus looked up from the "D" he was writing on this latest excuse of an essay as the door of the potions classroom opened. "You're five minutes late, Miss Lovegood," he said. "Five points from Ravenclaw for tardiness and your detention will go ten minutes longer."
"That's okay Professor, more of the cauldrons will get cleaned that way."
He scowled and looked back at his papers. She was here because she'd tried a homemade spell on her cauldron and wound up setting her brewing partner on fire. But she was not one of the smart-mouthed brats he usually had in detention. In fact - he heard her humming as she began scrubbing the dirty cauldrons - Lovegood seemed to enjoy the task. He shook his head and stood. "I'll be in my office - be sure to stack the cauldrons neatly on the appropriate shelves when you've finished.
He was reaching for the office doorknob when he heard a clang - a cauldron hitting the floor - behind him. Snape whirled around. "Miss Lovegood!"
A chill ran up his spine as Luna Lovegood turned just her head towards him. Her eyes had rolled back in her head and her body was stiff as a board. He'd only seen this once before.
She began to speak, in a voice timeless and deep:
~" As the Sun sets on the Elder Steward, the Chosen One becomes a Pair..."~
Present Day
The sounds of a restless army just beyond the Hogwarts grounds echoed loudly through the open windows of Professor Meioh's study, disrupting the silent contemplation of the room's three occupants. Sailor Saturn stood guard over the diadem, with Luna Lovegood and the ghost of Helena Ravenclaw, the Grey Lady for company.
As the sounds of the army drew nearer, Luna Lovegood watched a change come over Sailor Saturn. For most of the night, Saturn had loomed over the diadem and the Nephrite stone. With the Grey Lady, Nephrite's sister as witness, Saturn had stood watch with her glaive poised, steeling herself for the roll of executioner.
When a loud bout of roars and snapping tree trunks shook the chandelier and made Luna jump, Saturn bowed her head to the glaive. The frightful sounds appeared to strengthen her resolve. She took a deep breath. "When they get into the castle I will be needed in battle," she told Luna. "The horcrux cannot be left vulnerable; it cannot be allowed to fall back into Voldemort's hands."
"It is an abomination," the Grey Lady agreed. "At least when I cheated death I did it with all of me." She sighed, wrapping her arms around herself, a resigned frown on her face. "Cyrus would not wish to perpetuate evil."
Saturn took another breath and raised the glaive. It would be simple. The horcrux was such a small thing, it would require hardly any effort from her.
That fleeting thought made her falter. Luna could see the conflict gleaming in her dark eyes.
When it had been the Tau and the Silver Millennium, the scale had been so great, the power too much, Saturn had paid for the act with her own life. The price had, in a way, been a comfort; the act both justified and absolved. But in this case, to destroy this horcrux… to destroy Nephrite's soul, and perhaps his unaware reincarnation in the process, would barely tire her.
Saturn lowered the glaive. "I don't want to," she whispered. "They trust me to do it, but I don't want to."
"They trust you to keep the horcrux safe," Luna reasoned. The whole time she had stood just at Saturn's shoulder. "You can do that and leave this for when we find a better solution."
"What solution?" Saturn asked. "We've been researching all year. There's no way to separate a horcrux from its host, except to destroy it. Every way to do that destroys the host too."
She bit her lip. "And most of that is dark magic." She sniffed. "I don't want to be like dark magic."
"I think the wrack-spurts have got to you," Luna declared. "That's a ridiculous notion. Even leaving aside where your magic comes from. Your powers are completely different from the dark arts. You banish evil. You shield others. You heal." She put her hands over Saturn's on the glaive. "Dark magic cannot do that. The ones who create it would not want to."
Saturn nodded. "I know, and yet… whatever my reasons, isn't the result the same?" She broke away from Luna, returning to her study of the diadem. "The death eaters are coming here for this. We can make sure they don't get it." She closed her eyes. "It's the only way. I must." She breathed another deep breath and straightened her stance, raising the glaive in a smooth arc over her head. " Death… Rebirth… Revo- "
"What if you don't have to!" Luna blurted out.
"This is my duty," Saturn said evenly, having locked her emotions away behind a mask of calm indifference. But looking into her eyes, Luna could see the cracks in the facade. "This is what my power's for."
"Is it, truly?" Luna pressed. "I've seen you heal, when you're Hotaru!"
Saturn shook her head. "In this form, I am the Guardian of Death. It is why I was created. I am the Light's last resort."
"That's not all you are." Luna pressed. "Ami says before she knew you, you were called the goddess of death and destruction. But when you came into your powers? They call you the guardian of death and rebirth."
"Destruction cleans the slate," Saturn rationalized. "It leaves space for rebirth to occur. But I play no part in the rebirth itself. That is my role. It is necessary sometimes to destroy. Like now."
"What if it means something else!" Luna persisted. An idea was becoming clear as a beacon in her head, something she wondered if her friend had missed. She stepped between the diadem and the poised, gleaming glaive. "Have you ever tried to heal as Saturn?"
Saturn's dark eyes flicked from the diadem to Luna. "No."
"I… I just listen to all Ami's stories about you all. About your powers. Your friends… They've all been senshi longer than you. Didn't they discover new powers when they needed them? What's to say you can't too? Your healing comes from Saturn too. That must mean something. And…." She looked around the office. "Magic, the way we teach it, is all about intent… if you don't want to kill Nephrite, can't you make your magic listen?"
Saturn looked at her with an unreadable expression. Her glaive slid down until the blunt end tapped harmlessly on the floor. "I've never thought of it," Saturn whispered. "I don't know if I'm like the others… I've always had one purpose." She worried her lip. "But so did Mamas and Papa before… and they have a new mission now."
"Maybe you do as well," Luna said in earnest.
Something boomed a few floors above, drawing their attention. They heard screams, then rattling and rumbling, like stones cleaving free of the walls and floor.
"They're here," the girls murmured.
"Don't let them take him!" the Grey Lady fretted. "Do what you need to do! I won't have my brother used for that horrible man's designs."
"Just give it one try," Luna whispered. "Please… I believe in you, Hotaru."
Saturn cracked a smile before her expression turned once more serious. "Okay." She twirled the glaive. "Stand back."
Luna and the Grey Lady both moved back as Saturn closed her eyes. The tiara on her forehead began to glow bright, bright lavender.
"I call on the power of the silent guardian, the great planet Saturn," she intoned. "Heed my will." A white light, like that which filled Hotaru's hands when she healed, filled the glaive, making it shine from tip to handle. "Cleave the corruption from the ancient soul sleeping in this talisman - help me restore what once was pure, and excise that which leeches off it." She let the glaive spin, end over end, lighting up the entire room. "Make this right! Death… Rebirth… REVOLUTION!"
The glowing blade sliced like lightning through the air, the curved edge chiming as it tapped against the nephrite stone in the center of the diadem.
White light exploded out from the glaive. Luna shut her eyes as it reached her. She felt a sudden stillness pass through her, as if moving through the eye of a storm. When the spots began to fade from behind her eyelids. Luna blinked them open.
Saturn stood hunched over the desk. Luna approached, laying a gentle hand on her back and peering around her at the diadem...
The glaive had cleaved the horcrux clean in half, scorch marks marred the bronze of the diadem and the desk around it. The nephrite stone lay intact, but dull amid the destruction.
Luna saw a dark spot appear on the wood, then another, splashing down from the rivulets on Saturn's cheeks.
"I don't feel him in there any more," Saturn whispered. She sniffed. "For a second… I really thought I had done it."
Luna swallowed the lump in her throat. "I'm sorry." She reached around Saturn. It would be best for her not to look at the stone anymore. As soon as this was over, she would speak to the Grey Lady about where her brother would want to be laid to rest.
Luna's hand closed around the nephrite stone.
As soon as she touched it, a bright green light filled the gemstone, rushing forth from Luna's hand. Saturn jumped, staring wide-eyed as the stone and her friend both began to glow bright green.
Luna lifted it up, lips parted as her blond hair began to flutter around her. "Of course," she whispered. She brought the gemstone to her chest and her eyes closed. The green light grew to blinding intensity.
When it faded, Saturn stared at the knight. Luna's pajamas had been replaced by gleaming white boots, breeches, and a long tunic. Bronze buttons and epaulets adorned the tunic front and shoulders. A blue belt matched the trim on their boots and the gloves on their hands. A long blue cape fell across their shoulders, held together by a bronze broach, shaped like a set of eagle's wings. The green nephrite gem was nestled neatly into it.
"I am Nephrite," they declared. "Knight of Navigation and Wisdom."
" Cyrus !"
Nephrite turned and beamed at the Grey Lady. "Helena… it's so good to see you… funny how you found me here all over again."
"I should have known." The Grey Lady sniffed and scrubbed her tearless face with a translucent handkerchief. "I always thought you played the flute just the same as him."
Nephrite grinned and was about to say more, when Saturn launched herself forwards, arms cinching tight around their neck. "I'm sorry!" she croaked. "I almost destroyed you."
"Hey," Nephrite held Saturn close. "I understood - if my death meant one less piece of Voldemort alive, I would gladly give it, no matter what." They met Saturn's eyes as the senshi pulled away. "I knew you had it in you, didn't I - look at that. You are the master of your powers."
Saturn let a nervous laugh free, looking down at her hands. "I didn't know I could do that."
"You haven't had the chance to before," Nephrite said, reading truths about Saturn's past with their powers as easily as they could see wrack-spurts and thestrals. "I can't wait to see what else you learn to do."
They both looked up as the ceiling rumbled, suggesting an explosion upstairs.
"We need to go," Saturn said. "We need to help them."
"Here," Nephrite snapped their fingers, producing a spark that stretched and grew into the form of a lion. Each line of its body was linked by glittering stars, a living constellation. "Bring us to our friends," they ordered the lion. It roared silently, and took off.
Nephrite then conjured a constellation shaped like a scimitar and grasped it tight in their wand hand. Saturn and the knight raced after the lion, following it's star-light trail up the stairs, into the sounds of battle.
As they left Setsuna's chambers, the Time Doors shimmered into existence. White boots snicked against the floor of the office as the outer senshi stepped out.
The time was 1:15.
~"Created for the Dark Ones' lives, they wield the keys to their destruction…"~
Up in Dumbledore's office, Harry left Jadeite standing guard and, filled with trepidation, fell into the pensieve. It was glowing an unnerving green from the color of his own memory of Halloween, 1981. At first the world spun as Harry tumbled into the memory. Then he landed softly on the floor of a nursery.
This was hazier than most pensieve memories. But he could clearly see his mother with her bright red hair. She was standing in front of his crib, blocking it with her body.
A black-cloaked figure stepped over the flames that were consuming the nursery door. His cold eyes narrowed like a snake that had set upon its prey.
Harry Potter heard the crying of his baby self from the crib and clenched his fists as he heard his mother begin to beg: "Please not Harry!"
"Foolish girl," the memory of Voldemort chuckled. "Stand aside."
Lily Potter raised her quivering chin and, lacking a wand, braced her hands on the crib. "You won't kill my son."
"Such a shame," Voldemort mocked her. "I did promise to spare you if I could..." He lazily raised his wand. "Avada Kedavra."
Harry was nearly sick as he heard her begin to scream and then the abrupt silence and quiet thud of her dead body crumpling to the floor. Voldemort stepped over her and Harry forced himself to move closer to the crib too.
There was his one-year-old self, unblemished forehead scrunched and red as he bawled mightily, tiny fists clutching a red blanket covered in brooms and snitches.
Voldemort scowled and leveled his wand at the infant's forehead. " Silencio ."
Harry frowned. He'd expected a killing curse. He looked away from the crib as he watched Voldemort pull something from the pocket of his robe: a small vial of black potion. Voldemort knocked it back like a shot - it made runes drawn on his head and hands glow bright red.
"A pity I could not complete my collection with the sword," he murmured. "But your arrival hastened my plans." He sneered at the now silently screaming baby. "They said you have the power to defeat me - but instead, I'm going to use your death to perfect my immortality."
Voldemort tossed the empty vial on the floor and it rolled up to Harry's feet. He read the label in the light from the rising flames: Elixir Horcruxis.
A chill ran up Harry's spine - had Voldemort intended his death to make one of his horcruxes?
He saw Voldemort raise his wand again, pointing it at baby Harry - finally he would see why he had survived.
" Avada Kedavra! " The green curse shot towards the crib, aimed right for little Harry, but as it hit his forehead, a burst of white magic surged up out of the baby. The killing curse slammed into it with a mighty screech and a magical shock-wave exploded outwards, blasting apart all the furniture in the room. The killing curse itself was deflected back, towards its castor. It hit a shocked Voldemort in the chest as he stumbled back from the shock-wave. When the spell hit him, the runes on his hands flared up. A horrible tearing sound wrended through the air.
Then the memory grew hazier. Harry saw the blurred form of Voldemort's body fall back into the fire consuming the doorway. Something bright shot out of the Dark Lord's mouth. It looked like a shard of glass - glowing the same blood-red as the runes drawn on his body. It began to screech, like the diary horcrux had, as it spiraled into the air.
Harry watched the screaming piece of Voldemort sail first towards Lily Potter's body, lying close to where Voldemort had fallen. It began to shriek louder as it bounced off of her and shot up, hitting the ceiling. The screeching intensified enough to shake the roof overhead. Then the piece of Voldemort flew down into the crib, smashing into the open wound on Harry Potter's head. The baby flinched, reaching up to rub his forehead as the wound began to glow the same red color as the thing that had hit it. The cut stopped bleeding, sealing up into an angry, red scar. The baby hiccuped and continued crying as the room became even hazier. The details of the memory blurred away. Harry felt himself moving upwards. Abruptly, he was thrown backwards out of the pensieve and stumbled onto the floor of Dumbledore's office. Harry promptly bent double, throwing up on the floor.
"Harry!" Jadeite's hand squeezed his shoulder as he clutched his burning forehead. "Are you alright?"
"I know why I can kill him," Harry choked. "When.. when the curse backfired. He was… he was preparing to make another… and then it hit him and it made the…the..." He gasped, hand going up to clutch his head.
"Harry." Jadeite cupped his face and looked sternly at him. "What did the curse do?"
Harry gulped. "I think," he rasped. "I think I'm a horcrux."
Jadeite's eyes widened and they stood up. "No." the knight began to pace the office. "No that - that isn't possible! Horcruxes aren't people. That… that can't be."
"I think they can," Harry rubbed his forehead. "I think that's why I remember it… it's not my memory , Jadeite. It's his. That's why it came out the color of the curse."
Jadeite looked at him, shaking their head. "We can fix this," they insisted. "The-the Queen will find a way to help you."
Just then, the red gemstone in Jadeite's sword began to flicker. A voice emanated from it: " Nephrite to Jadeite,"
Both of them jumped. Jadeite clutched the gem. " Luna?" they rasped.
"So it would seem - I don't have time to explain. Look outside."
Jadeite and Harry did and their blood chilled. A group of trolls and giants was crashing through the trees at the edge of the grounds, ripping whole trunks up by the roots and waving them like swords. Behind them, they could also see other creatures and a group of wizards making their way out of the trees.
"Saturn's just heard there's fighting on the seventh floor. Death eaters have gotten into the castle. They're going to use the trolls outside to divide our attention so a second group can come through the front door."
"You're headed outside?" Jadeite asked.
" Yes - you need to come with me. Your sword will do better fighting the creatures. If we don't hurry, they could smash through the protections on the walls.
"Y-yes, I'll be right there." Jadeite gaped.
"I thought Nephrite was a horcrux," Harry rasped.
"I… Saturn must have found a way to separate them!" Jadeite realized. They gripped Harry's shoulders. "You need to find her! She can help you! I'm sure!"
Just then, the fireplace lit up floo-powder green. Hamish Stebbins stepped out, turning to grab Rigel Fawcett's arm as he stumbled through behind him. "Mcgonagall called the Order," Hamish said. "What's the situation?"
"Two pronged attack," Jadeite told him. "Trolls and giants leading a force outside, and a group of death eaters infiltrating the seventh floor." They eyed Hamish's sword. "That blade is magic isn't it - we may need you outside."
"What about Pluto?" Rigel asked. He looked nervous and pale, Jadeite frowned. But there was no time to ask if the young man was ill. "H-has she returned with Zoisite's locket yet?"
"I don't know," Jadeite said.
The group of them jumped as they heard an explosion from up stairs, and then felt the room shake as something from outside impacted the wall a floor above them.
"Harry," Jadeite looked at him. "You need to get upstairs to the senshi."
"I'll help him," Rigel said, brandishing his wand.
"Rigel," Hamish worried. "Your haven't been feeling well…"
"I'm fine," he said and smiled at Hamish. "You know I was always terrible in magical creature studies, I'll be more useful in here. Go with Jadeite," he insisted.
Hamish sighed. "Okay." He cupped Rigel's cheek and kissed him. "Be careful."
"Of course."
The group of them left the office, making their way to the main stairs. They split when they reached the landing. Jadeite and Hamish headed down, swords drawn. Harry and Rigel went upwards to find the senshi.
As they neared the seventh floor landing, they found an impenetrable fog of black dust in the air.
"Peruvian instant darkness powder," Rigel realized. He muttered a spell, pointing his wand towards his eyes, then Harry's. "That should help some."
It did, at least enough to see the floor in front of them. Harry and Rigel moved forwards, along the seventh floor corridor. They could hear the sounds of curses and senshi attacks clashing further down.
"I have to find Pluto," Rigel muttered, something was off in his voice but Harry was too caught up in his own thoughts to wonder why.
As the attacks grew louder, the darkness abruptly thinned. Harry could see the bright colors of senshi uniforms clearer and clearer. The darkness powder around this part of the corridor seemed to have frozen and fallen onto the ground. His feet crunched against shards of ice as Harry and Rigel neared the cleared section of the corridor.
Three of the senshi were here: Moon, Mars, and Mercury, grouped together as they dueled with a gang of eight death eaters.
Mars saw them first. "Harry!" she called as he and Rigel joined their huddle, sending their own attacks out towards the Death Eaters.
"Where are the others?" Rigel asked.
"Half the death eaters escaped down the stairs back there." Mercury reported. "Venus and Jupiter went after them."
A volley of curses came their way and Sailor Moon put up a bright shield. At the same time, Mercury lobbed an "Aqua Rhapsody" that knocked four death eaters off their feet. The others dodged out of the way.
"I just need a clean shot at their wands and they'll be out of commission," Mars said. She launched a flaming arrow that incinerated two of the death eaters' wands and set a third's robes on fire.
"Nice one!" Sailor Moon cheered.
Harry disarmed one of the death eaters on the ground and snapped their wand. "Where's Saturn?"
"And Pluto?" Rigel added. "Did they find the locket?"
"They did," Mars said. "Pluto brought it up, but she's following someone. Saturn's gone to find her."
Mars and Mercury set off another two attacks, disarming three more death eaters. the two who still had their wands retreated, running off into the darkness powder.
"Mars, let's follow them," Sailor Moon said. "Mercury, you destroy the cabinet before more come through."
"Right," she nodded, and ran into the room of requirement.
"Do you have a way to find Saturn?" Harry asked Mars, "Please - I need her help."
Mars closed her eyes and nodded. "She's on her way up to the astronomy tower. Pluto's already there"
"Thanks!" Harry said and dashed off, Rigel following close behind.
The time was 1:30.
~"Vow of Brothers keepith must…"~
Saturn stumbled right over Bill Weasley on her way up the astronomy tower stairs and gasped at the teeth marks bloodying his face and neck. "Oh dear."
She looked around, checking for enemies, then knelt over him, her hands glowing white. She cupped his injury, watching closely as the torn flesh and teeth marks knitted together and smoothed. Bill's ashen coloring improved and the pained lines on his brow faded.
She was maneuvering his body against the wall when two sets of running footsteps came from the bottom of the stairs. She stood, raising the glaive as her tiara illuminated the stairway, revealing a pale Harry Potter and equally pale Rigel Fawcett.
"Harry!" Saturn lowered her weapon. "Rigel?"
"Where's the locket?" Rigel demanded.
"It's safe, Pluto has it," Saturn said. She looked up the spiraling stairs of the astronomy tower. "She followed Malfoy and Snape up there. I can destroy the horcrux once we reach her."
"Malfoy and Snape?" Harry frowned.
Just then, they heard a crack like lightning and a flash of green. Saturn gasped. "What was that?" she asked. "Come on." She turned and charged up the steps, Rigel and Harry right on her heels.
They reached the top of the stairs.
The tower was lit by the eerie light of the dark mark, branding the sky above the castle. Draco stood directly under it, wand raised, facing a lone broomstick racing fast towards the castle.
He seemed not to have noticed Pluto, who stood tucked into the shadowy doorway, next to Snape.
As Harry, Saturn, and Rigel neared the top of the stairs, Sailor Pluto waved for them to stay hidden.
"You can't go through with this," they heard her whisper to Snape. "Severus: too much has changed from how it ought to be. Lestrange complicates everything. The Light needs a leader."
Snape's response was barely audible. "This has to happen, I'm afraid…" he reached into his pocket, passing a vial into Pluto's hand. Harry and Saturn traded a look as they realized it was a pensieve memory. "This will explain everything."
The time was 1:49
~" And Heart and Snath turn dark to dust..."~
Rigel's eyes flicked away from the long-bearded figure flying fast towards the astronomy tower. His gaze zeroed in on the locket - on a chain around Sailor Pluto's waist, he could almost feel it calling to him, a voice in his head, much his own, insistent that he needed it. Rigel's fists clenched.
The White Moon would catch him in its thrall, the voice threatened, as it had captured Jadeite and Nephrite before they had known to fight back. If he did not choose his moment soon, they would get him too. They would get Kunzite…
Memories danced in his head… of the temptress moon princess goading his own prince to take Kunzite's life. Of the vicious blonde senshi who had blocked his path to Kunzite as the battle raged on that ancient moon kingdom…of how they had brought about his end again in this life, for rejecting their rule.
His head throbbed, pain making him grip his wand tighter. The details were indistinct, confusing. Moreover. he did not know where Kunzite was. I have to find him , Rigel thought.
The locket with its Zoisite stone gleamed, mesmerizing Rigel. He shuffled closer to Harry and Saturn, seeking a way to pass them on the stairs, but could not breach their guard. He gulped nervously.
I could just ask for the locket , he reasoned.
But his headache intensified, as did the panic in his gut.
Don't trust them , the voice overwhelmed his thoughts as fear gripped him. She won't give it to you.
As his instincts warred with each other. The broomstick rider alighted on the roof of the tower, and Draco leveled a wand at his chest.
"Good Evening, Mr. Malfoy," Headmaster Dumbledore said.
The Time was 1:51.
~"Both must die at the hand of the other. For neither can live if the darkness survives."~
The grandfather clock in Dumbledore's office ticked over to 1:53. Fawkes perched over the pensive, feathers ruffling anxiously as his charcoal eyes stared up at the astronomy tower. He watched the flash of green - then lavender - then yet more cursed green light, flash like lightning atop the tower. As a second green bolt struck, a scream rended the air. A limp body toppled over the tower's turrets.
A hush then fell over the castle, as within its walls and on its grounds, legions of fighting forces went still. They all stared at the body tumbling head over feet down the tower's face, before it landed with a thud on the ground.
The office candles snuffed out. Fawkes gives a mournful cry over the killing-curse-green pensive. And up on the tower, a wicked laugh echoed over the castle. and another scream, and a burst of lavender power, lit up the night.
The time was 1:54.
~"The Chosen Two, and Vow of Brothers shall be forged as the Steward dies." -L.L. to S.P.~
It all happened as if in the blink of an eye. Malfoy disarmed Dumbledore, and Harry swiftly disarmed him.
"Severus, please," Dumbledore whispered.
"Please don't," Pluto murmured.
But Severus had done too much in the name of this plan to back out. He raised his wand on the Headmaster, resolute. " Avada Kedavra," he whispered.
The first green light streaked fast across the Astronomy tower.
Saturn was faster, her lithe form bounding across the tower and deflecting the killing curse from its target, lighting up the whole sky with the resulting lavender light of her power.
Dumbledore looked momentarily stunned.
"Please," Pluto said, stepping out into the middle of the tower roof. "Severus has fulfilled his unbreakable vow by casting that curse. Now we can get you to safety without Lestrange or Voldemort any the wiser." She waved her hand out at the raging battle on the grounds below. "They're stronger than they should be now, because of our enemy's interference. Lestrange has made her own horcruxes. She has tipped the balance. Your life would be more valuable to this cause now than your death."
Dumbledore surveyed the battlefield. "But…" he looked at Severus. "But the second prophecy?"
Severus eyes betrayed nothing, but all eyes around the tower turned to him.
"Prophecy?" Draco squeaked.
"You know it!" Harry, Saturn, and Pluto all realized.
Harry, shaking from what he'd just witnessed, clutched Draco and Dumbledore's wands close and pointed his own at Snape. "Who's side are you on!" he demanded.
Snape turned and focused a dark, haunted gaze on Harry. "Sailor Pluto has the answer to that… Mr. Potter."
Pluto reached out for Dumbledore, as if to usher him off the tower. But before she could, a shadow shot up over the tower's side, silhouetted by the dark mark. They saw a flash of wild hair, and dark green robes.
" Avada Kedavra!" Bellatrix Lestrange giggled. The second bolt of green lit up the sky as the curse hit Dumbledore in the back. It jerked his body up into the air and then, as the curse did its work, left it to tumble towards the ground, cold and lifeless as stone.
"No!" Harry shouted. Saturn and Pluto both whirled towards Lestrange.
In the chaos, no one looked at Snape.
He pointed his wand towards the senshi, hitting both with a paralyzing spell that stuck them in place. It glanced off of Harry as well. His shoes stuck fast to the stone roof.
"Let's go!" Snape ordered. He grabbed Draco by the arm and bolted for the stairs, not seeing Rigel still lurking in the shadows.
As Snape left the tower, Lestrange cackled again, and raised a vial of black potion to her lips. Symbols began to glow on her arms and face as she pointed her wand at her chest, giving it a sharp twist. She gasped as a glowing pink shard tore free of her chest - a horcrux!
It dashed down towards the three figures paralyzed on the tower, zeroing in on the smallest.
Pluto's scream was muffled by the paralysis as Lestrange's newest horcrux sailed into Saturn's chest.
A lavender shock-wave burst forth from the youngest senshi, disrupting Snape's paralysis spell. Saturn's sailor symbol flickered as she crashed to her knees, body shaking as it fought the dark magic. Her sailor uniform faded into her school robes as she clutched at her chest hand stretching out towards the paralyzed Pluto and Harry.
Pluto's garnet rod began to glow, but a surprise spell from the entrance to the tower stairs tore it from her grip.
Lestrange looked towards the source and grinned. "Who are you?" she demanded as she shot Hotaru with a stunning spell.
Rigel Fawcett stepped out of the shadows, looking pale as a ghost. His eyes dark and unfocused. He walked up to Pluto, and plucked the locket horcrux with the zoisite stone off her belt.
He cupped it in both hands as the gem began to glow bright blue.
When he transformed, the dark magic in the horcrux left its mark. Before them stood not the Knight of Purification and Healing, but the form of General Zoisite - Metalia's dark general.
Zoisite faced Lestrange, positively rippling with restored power. His blue cape snapped against his charcoal uniform. "I'm Savario Slytherin, and General Zoisite of the Dark Army," he said. "I serve the interests of Earth's magical people… in the fight against the White Moon. I was… awakened by a wizard… and trapped in that boy's head." His confused eyes flickered over Bellatrix. "Your power emulates that of Queen Metalia."
"Does it now?" She smirked. With a wave of her hand, the cleansweep Dumbledore had arrived on flew off the stone floor and into Rigel's hands. "I think the Dark Lord will be very interested in you," she grinned. Then, with her own broom, she rose up into the air. With a flick of her wand, Hotaru's stunned body and glaive began to rise up with her.
No! Harry fought the paralysis still sticking him to the deck. No No No! He tried with all his will power to cast a silent finite incantatem .
As he concentrated on the spell, Dumbledore's wand shivered in his hand and he was suddenly free. He bolted to the edge of the tower. "Hotaru!" he shouted, reaching her as she levitated up past his shoulders. His hand grasped tight to her stunned, limp wrist. He tugged with all his might against the force pulling her.
"By all means, Potter," Lestrange giggled. "You survived a killing curse... Can you survive falling off this great tall tower too?"
Harry's heels scraped and slid on the smooth stone as Hotaru's stiff hand slipped in his grip.
"No!" He tugged in vain on her arm all the way until he was bending over the tower's precipice.
The ring with the resurrection stone on Hotaru's finger flashed and twisted, sliding into Harry's palm. Then, in one heart stopping instant, Hotaru's hand slipped through his fingers. Harry fell back onto the astronomy tower, holding the ring, as he stared up at Lestrange and General Zoisite. They rose, with Hotaru, higher and higher into the air and, the moment they passed Hogwarts protective wards, apparated away.
"Hotaru!" Harry cried, tears streaming down his cheeks. " HOTARU! "
I Solemnly Swear That I'm Up To No Good~
