Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon.
Chapter Nine
Seleine's P.O.V.
Darkness. That's all I saw. I was screaming. I couldn't remember what I was saying. I was in pain. Not just the pain from a battle, but pain deep in my soul. I tried to understand what was happening, but everything was so confusing. I saw nothing and I heard nothing. I could only feel my emotions and the pain. My emotions were telling me that I wanted to die.
I woke up screaming. I jolted upright and cried in pain. I looked down and saw my torso was covered in bandages. I looked around the room and couldn't place where I was. My breathing was ragged and my heart was pounding.
It was just a nightmare. It's not real. It was just a nightmare. It's not real. It was just a nightmare. It's not real.
I repeated the mantra to myself that Setsuna taught me a long time ago to get the fear from the visions to cease. I pushed my hair back and found my face was wet. I was crying. I was crying in my sleep. I don't even know what was going on.
I took a deep breath and tried to remember everything that happened.
Beryl snuck up behind me as I was leaving my condo. She struck me with something hard. I hadn't sensed her coming. It was completely by surprise. I almost killed my senshi. I used the kiss of death on Uranus. I nearly killed her. I killed Saturn. Tears started pooling down my face again. The pain from that battle wasn't nearly as bad as what I had done to Saturn. I knew I had to make Beryl believe I was evil, but I wish I hadn't hurt her.
We killed Beryl. Beryl is dead. My mother is dead. The Shittenou are mine for now. I'm not dead.
"Damnit!" I shouted.
Serenity and I took back all of the wounds we had inflicted. I remember passing out. I remember seeing light. A bright light came to me and woke me up from the darkness I was drifting into. It was peaceful and easy to go into that light.
I remember waking up and seeing Uranus before me. She was pale and was looking down at me. She was holding me. Every fiber of my being was screaming at me. She was holding me. Uranus was holding me like it was an everyday thing. Her eyes were shining. I remembered when we would spend time in my garden at the Moon Kingdom. I remember seeing her start to smile, then nothing.
"Seleine?" a voice said.
I looked up and saw Setsuna creep into the room. Her eyes were red. She had been crying. Had I worried her? She should have known that I would wake up eventually. A small smile played at the corner of her lips. Her eyes brightened as she came toward the bed. She lunged at me and wrapped me in her arms. She held me tightly. The pain in my ribs came back, but I didn't care. Being in my best friends arms like this was all that mattered.
She pulled away and touched my ribs to make sure she didn't open the wounds again. I nodded telling her everything was fine. She held my hand and smiled at me.
"So. How long was I out this time?"I asked her.
Her face fell. "You were out for two weeks Seleine. You've never been out this long. I was worried about you. I thought that you might not come back to me," she said.
Tears started dripping down her face. I wiped her tears away and kissed her forehead.
"It's okay. I'm here," I said. I rubbed her cheek a little, trying to calm her down. I didn't like seeing her this way. I felt awful. I felt like I committed a crime against her. We stayed like that for a few minutes. Holding each other's hands and not wanting to let go or talk about any of the things that need to be discussed.
"I heard you screaming," she said abruptly.
I sighed remembering the dream.
"Yeah. I had a nightmare," I told her. I looked down at the sheets and contemplated what to say next. "I hoped I was dead."
"Seleine!" Setsuna cried.
"No. Not because I want to be dead but because of this battle."
"What?" She asked me with a questioning look in her eyes.
"I didn't tell you everything when I came back," I told her. She looked at me. Her eyes turned hostile but then softened. "The Queens of the past brought me back not just because they saw my heart was good, but because of the new threat. They saw in my heart that all I wanted was to protect the senshi. When they brought me back, they told me that I had to help you fight the new evil. They said that I would strike the last blow, and it would end everything. World peace would be the only thing left in the world. They told me that when that day comes, I will die and that I won't wake up."
Setsuna drew in a deep breath. She looked at the sheets and moved her eyes back and forth. She was trying to process what I had just said. She finally looked back up at me and wanted to say something but found no words.
"That's why I hoped I was dead. I want this to be over," I finished.
She began to cry again. Her body started shaking and the bed started moving. I leaned upwards and hugged her. She wrapped her arms around my waist and rested her head on my shoulder. I brushed her hair trying to soothe her. I knew that I couldn't soothe her.
She pulled back and looked me in the eyes. "I'm so sorry Seleine. I'm sorry that they are doing this to you. They are pushing you to the brink of death and putting the whole world on your shoulders," she said. She started gasping for breath. I rubbed her back telling her to continue with what she needed to say. She had to get everything out now, or she might not get the chance later. "You shouldn't have to carry that burden alone. Let us help you."
"No. No one else can know this. It will distract everyone else from doing what needs to be done," I told her. There was pain in her eyes, but I couldn't do anything to soothe that. No one else can help with this. It's my job alone. "You can't tell anyone about this Setsuna. Especially Usagi. She can never know. Promise me you won't tell her."
Her eyes were screaming at me, begging me not to make her do this. All I could do was plead with her and make sure she didn't utter a word to anyone. "I promise," she finally said.
I sighed with relief. We started to talk about other things that had happened while I was out. Nothing happened. No youma and no more evil. Everything was back to normal. Or so she thought until what I had just told her. She told me that the Shittenou stayed with me the whole entire time here. None of them wanted to leave me alone with Setsuna for fear she might kill me. She finally got them to leave yesterday after they all couldn't keep their eyes open. I laughed knowing that they were plenty loyal to their Queen.
She started to tell me something when there was a knock at the door. She looked puzzled for a moment then moved to get up.
"Are you expecting visitors Setsuna?" I asked.
"No. But Usagi has come by everyday begging to see you. I told her that you wouldn't want that. That you would want her to stay far away until you were safe to be around. I told her that she could see you when you woke up," she told me.
She left the room and opened the door. I couldn't hear the voices but knew that Setsuna was surprised by whoever was at the door. I was curious about who came knocking on Setsuna's door. I heard footsteps walk to my door and saw the turn. I was shocked when I saw aqua hair pop over the door.
"Michiru?" I asked.
She avoided making eye contact with me. She sat in the chair across the room and looked at the floor. She sat there like that for a moment.
"What are you doing here Michiru?" I finally asked.
Ultimately, she looked up at me and said, "I had a vision that you were waking up. I wanted to be the first to see you."
Setsuna walked through the door and sat next to me. She grabbed my hand and looked at Michiru.
"You wanted to make sure I wasn't a threat to anyone."
"I don't trust you Seleine. Everyone else might but I don't. I think your evil and will kill us all in the end. Last night just proved that you have no conscience," she ranted.
"Michiru! You have no right to-"
"Setsuna. It's quite alright that she expresses her feelings for me. Could you give us some privacy?" I asked. She looked at me as if I was insane. "Relax. I don't think she would be stupid enough to try and kill me here." I looked at Michiru challenging her to try and make a fool out of me.
Setsuna looked at both of us, then finally decided to leave us. She closed the door rather harshly. It was just Michiru and I now. We had a staring contest for about a minute when she finally looked away.
"So I guess I should expect more visitors later?" I wondered allowed.
"Rei has probably already had the vision as well. I just got here first," she stated.
We sat in silence again. It was extremely uncomfortable. Michiru and I didn't get along right away on the Moon Kingdom either, but later she warmed up to me and we fought side by side on the battlefield. I had hope that we would go back to that time.
"Haruka kissed you that night," she stated. I looked up and saw her staring at me. This time she didn't look away, I did. "You two have some connection that I can't quite figure out. I admit I'm a little jealous of it.
"It appears that you will be here for quite some time. Like I said, I don't trust you Seleine. I think it's a bad idea to involve you in our problems. They don't concern you. But you are the strongest out of all of us and we can't seem to even beat the youma anymore. So I propose a compromise," she finished.
I looked up at her. I beckoned for her to continue. My interest in this conversation has finally peaked.
"Train us. Make us better and stronger to the point we can defeat the youma without your help. If you can stand by and make sure we are perfectly safe but don't interfere unless we truly need it," she wagered.
"And what exactly do I get out of this?" I asked. I was really intrigued what she would offer me.
"You can stay, and I won't fight you anymore," she said.
I tilt my head back and laughed. "You really think that I care if you try to kick me out? I'm stronger than you Michiru! I'm not afraid of you, and I don't need your acceptance," I declared.
She started sputtering and was grasping at anything to get me to reconsider. "What is it that you want? I can't just give you anything that you desire! I have my pride as well," She yelled.
"Your such a narcissist! You think you hold all of the cards, but you don't Michiru. Bad things are coming, you would die right when a youma came if I weren't there," I stated.
"That's what I'm saying. We need your help and if you don't help us we will all die. Usagi will die! I thought some little part of you cared about her. Was I wrong about that?" She cried.
"Start thinking Michiru. I know that your not just a pretty little face. You have a brain in there start using it. Think Michiru. What do I want?" I pushed.
She started breathing heavily and stared down at the floor. Her eyes moved back and forth. Finally, they stopped. She opened her mouth. She stared at me with incredulous eyes and stormed out of the room. I heard the door slam shut.
Setsuna ran into the room and frantically searched the room. When she saw me, she looked at me so confused.
"What did you do?"
Usagi P.O.V.
"Seiya, where are we going? I'm hungry and I want to eat," I cried.
Seiya laughed. "Odango when aren't you hungry?" He asked me.
I scoffed and decided to forget that little comment. I still felt bad for killing him that night even though he told me over and over again that it was okay. He understood that we were only trying to convince Beryl that we were evil.
"Seiya, where are you taking me?" I whined.
"Ugh, Odango-"
"Well, well, well. What do we have here? The Three Lights star and his girlfriend. On a date I presume?" Someone with a rough voice asked.
I looked around Seiya and saw five huge grown men blocking our path. They looked tough, and I felt kind of scared. One of the guys was laughing and cracking his knuckles.
"What are you doing in a place like this?" The leader said.
"Just meeting friends in the club around the corner," Seiya said. He held out his arm and pushed me further behind him.
"Oh, a club I see." The guy said. The guys started moving in toward us. "Well, you see, we own this part of the town and we can't exactly let you leave with nothing. You see we have to uphold. So we can't just let you leave like that."
A guy came up behind me and grabbed me. I screamed at the top of my lungs. Seiya turned around and reached to pull me back. One of the guys turned Seiya around and punched him in the stomach. Seiya doubled over and groaned. The leader of the group grabbed Seiya's ponytail and pulled him up. He looked at his face for a second and then punched him.
Seiya dropped to the ground. The guy started putting his hands on my body. I started crying and screaming for Seiya to get up. Seiya tried to get up, but one of the guys kicked him in the ribs. Seiya was on the ground lying motionless. A blonde haired man started reaching into Seiya's pockets and pulled his wallet out. He opened his wallet and took all of the money he had.
"What should we do with her?" The guy holding me asked the leader. "Can I play with her for a little bit?"
"Have at it," the leader said. I started crying as he snaked his hands up my shirt.
"Get your filthy hands off of my baby sister." A feminine voice said.
I looked up and saw a woman standing on the road with us. The guys chuckled when they saw it was a pretty woman. She had red hair and blue eyes. I weirdly felt drawn to her. Wait, she called me her baby sister.
"Don't worry guys. I want this one," the leader said.
The woman quirked an eyebrow and let the guy stalk her. He came toward her and punched her in the stomach. She bent over-just slightly and looked back up. She grinned at the guy. The leader glowered and moved to hit her again. This time the woman caught his fist. She held his arm up and punched him in the ribs with her other hand. He fell and hit the wall.
The three other guys came up ready to attack her. She looked at all three of the guys and debated on which one to strike first. The brunette guy on the right of her swung to punch her. She moved out of the way just in time for the guy to hit the blonde mugger to the left of her. The brunette punched the guy in the jaw and then knocked the blonde haired mugger out.
The guy with dyed jet-black hair lunged at her. He went to take out her legs but she jumped before he got there. She jumped over him and quickly turned around to kick him in the back of the head. He fell to the ground, knocked out.
She turned and saw the brunette was still up and moving. He pulled out a knife and swiped at her side. She dodged the attack and grabbed his hand. She knocked the knife out of his hand and punched him hard in the nose. His nose started bleeding heavily. He brought his hands up to cover his nose.
The woman jumped up and grabbed a hold of a metal pipe connecting the water from one house to the other and kicked both of her legs out. She kicked the guy in the ribs and pushed him to a wall.
She stood back up and turned toward me. She was scrutinizing the guy that was still holding me. He let go of me and held up his hands. He ran the other way and didn't even bother to look back.
I turned back to the brilliant red head.
"Come to see me?" She asked.
Hey guys! So I'm my last semester of high school. I'm going to graduate high school in less than 80 days. I'm super nervous. I plan to go to college to become a writer. What do you think? Do I have a chance? I sure hope so. I hope you guys like this chapter. I worked really hard on it and thought some conflicts should end in this chapter. I have an idea for what is to come in the next chapter but I'm not sure how it will turn out. Thanks for reading!
