Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon.
Chapter Fourteen
Seleine P.O.V.
"You mean this is going to get worse?" Healer asked me with a bite. The rest of the senshi came up behind Uranus and I.
I exhaled deeply already irritated with the situation. "Yes, it will get worse if we don't do something quickly," I said. Looking at my sister with this much darkness in her horrified me. "She isn't the only one being affected by this either."
All eyes moved to the Inners. They were flanking Serenity and watched us with blank eyes. They no longer had a soul. Their souls were trapped in a dark place that was out of their reach.
"What's happening to them?" Fighter asked me. Her eyes never left Serenity. There was worry in her eyes, but there was also intrigue.
"It's their bond," Kakyuu answered.
The senshi turned to look at Kakyuu. "What bond?" Pluto asked. Pluto saw all but was oblivious to the fact that she was bonded to Serenity unwillingly.
I sighed, not wanting to tell them everything. "When each member of a senshi is born, they are bonded to their princess. That's what I was doing with the dagger. This dagger can create and destroy bonds," I said staring at the dagger. Their eyes moved to the delicate knife in my hand. "Unfortunately, it is extremely painful to destroy a bond."
Maker snorted. "That's not possible."
Kakyuu turned toward him. "Really? You dare call me a liar? You think that you just became loyal to me?" She interrogated her. Maker looked shocked.
"Do you remember a time when you wouldn't jump in front of a blade for her?" I asked her. She was about to respond when she realized she couldn't. "Exactly."
"Wait, when Galaxia was here Neptune and I betrayed Serenity," Uranus said.
"You didn't betray Serenity. You betrayed Pluto and Saturn," Uranus and Neptune both flinched. "Everything you did was to protect Serenity and hopefully win. The bond was never broken," I explained.
Everyone turned their eyes back to the dark senshi in front of us. Their skin was getting paler. Their fukus were getting darker. I looked at Serenity and looked for my sister. I was only disappointed.
"Why did you break their bonds?" Fighter asked me.
"Because of the bond, when a princess switches sides, so do her senshi. That's why the Inners are dark."
"Why did you save the Outers and not the Inners?" Healer asked me.
"The Outers have a better chance at beating the Inners. The Inners wouldn't be able to fight the Outers, but the Outers have no problem doing so," I said. They all looked at the Inners. They all knew it was true. "Plus, everyone would die if the Outers were dark."
Everyone snapped their head toward me. They were so surprised at what I said. They were utterly petrified.
The tension only worsened when Serenity lifted her hand up and threw a surge of power at me. I flew across the entire field and crashed into a tree. I barely landed on the ground when Serenity was in front of me. She reached down and grabbed a hold of my neck. I gasped for breath.
"Seleine!" Pluto screamed. She started running toward me when Mars attacked her. Pluto scrambled to get back up and looked at the dark Sailor Mars. The anger in Pluto's eyes was like nothing I had ever seen before.
Jupiter jumped in front of Uranus when Uranus made a movement to help me. I realized that with Serenity's amplified power, she also amplified the Inners powers. This was not going to end well.
I locked my eyes with Serenity. A dark grin grew on her face. I've never wanted to slap my sister more than I did right now. Then I realized, this person is not my sister.
I reached my hand up and began sucking her energy from her. Soon I had enough energy to pry her hand from my throat. She screamed and tried to pull away. I shot my fist up and punched her in the face before she fell.
"Serenity!" Fighter screamed. She jumped to help Serenity when Kakyuu pushed her back. She looked at me and nodded at me, silently urging me to do my worst.
Mercury snapped her head to us when she heard Serenity scream. She was getting ready to interfere when Neptune used her Deep Submerge to stop her. Neptune jumped in the way so Mercury couldn't get to us.
I looked back to Serenity. She was breathing heavily and clutching her chest. I looked down at my own body and saw my wounds had completely healed. Serenity's energy healed me like no other energy did. The succubus in me craved more. She wanted to steal it. Somehow, I managed to contain the beast inside me.
I barely registered that Serenity had called her Princess sword until she drew a thick line in my arm. So this was a real fight. Instead of calling my sais, I called my sword to come forth. Serenity wasted no time launching at me. Thanks to Serenity's energy, I was faster than her. I jumped out of the way with ease and spun around. I was too cocky. Serenity was already waiting for me. She launched toward me and our swords clashed. We did a dance I have never experienced before. I was in awe of her strength. I never fought her before, but I never expected this. She kept up with me in a way that put Uranus to shame.
I heard a scream and turned my head. Sailor Venus had bitten Saturn. I cursed under my breath.
Serenity took her chance and plunged her sword into my stomach. I jumped back quickly, but not quick enough. Immediately, I began coughing up blood. I grasped my stomach as Serenity launched for me again. The look in her eyes made a crazy person look sane.
It dawned on me that the only way to beat her was to either kill her or steal more of her energy. Only one was an option. The only problem was that I had to get closer to her.
We danced for a few more minutes before I figured out exactly what I was going to do. I let Serenity kick me in the ribs. I flew a few feet back and crashed into a boulder that already had my blood soaked into it. Serenity jumped onto me and latched her teeth onto my neck. The pain wasn't so bad. What was bad was the depletion of my energy.
I grabbed my sword and plunged it into her stomach. She pulled back and screamed. I pulled my sword back and kicked her hard in the spot I just stabbed.
She flew back and landed on the ground. She barely crashed into the ground when I struck my sai into her thigh. I then grabbed her hand and broke it. The sword wouldn't hold her long.
I struck my hand into her chest and grabbed her heart. I squeezed her heart. She let out a scream that a banshee would envy. I will probably never hear a scream this loud in my life again. She swatted at me with her broken hand. I knew if I let her go I would never have this chance again.
I held on tighter and heard other screams begin to accompany hers. I looked around and saw the Inners had stopped fighting and were now convulsing on the ground. I looked for Saturn and saw she was on the ground. She wasn't moving. The remaining Outers were looking at them for a moment but then looked back up at me. The Outer's eyes grew wide and sprinted toward me.
With my free hand, I managed to gather enough energy to call on Saturn's Silent Wall. I threw my hand out and summoned the wall. My vision began to blur. I don't know how long I managed to maintain it. After a few moments, Serenity stopped moving and so did the Inners. I pulled my hand out of her chest.
I held her hand and gave her some of the little energy I had left. Serenity managed to start breathing properly. I then collapsed.
Haruka P.O.V.
The Inners stopped moving. I looked up and saw Seleine had her hand in Serenity's heart. Fear struck me. I ran toward her, but she put Saturn's Silent Wall up. I crashed into the side of the wall. I fell back and got back up. I had waited for her to take her hand out of Serenity's heart before I jumped in. She took her hand out of Serenity's chest and held her hand. She held her hand for a moment. Then the wall came down. I jumped in just in time before she fell. She did it. Seleine stopped Serenity from wreaking havoc.
I felt the warmth start draining from her body. How many times am I going to feel her dying in my arms before I really get to see her?
I grab ahold of her hand and kiss her. I didn't care that everyone was watching. I didn't care that Neptune was watching. All I cared about was seeing those beautiful royal blue eyes again.
I pulled away when I realized she was waking up. Her eyes slowly opened. She looked up at me and let a glimpse of a smile cross her face. I just barely moved my hand up to caress her cheek. She grabbed my hand and brought it closer to her cheek. Even though she nearly died, she was already so warm.
Then her face changed. "Saturn." She said.
I looked back into the field and saw Neptune was carrying Saturn up here. Seleine sat up and reached for Saturn. I moved out of the way and let Seleine get ahold of Saturn. She pulled Saturn into her lap. Seleine leaned down and kissed her forehead. She kissed her for a minute, then Saturn started breathing again.
Seleine pulled back and nearly fell backward again. She's already so weak, but she can't help saving people. I move fast enough to catch her and let her fall against me. She started breathing slowly. I grab her hand and hold it in mine. I know she doesn't get energy as fast this way but it's the best I can muster at the moment.
When I realized Fighter was holding Serenity in front of us, I pulled away from Seleine just enough to make it less romantic. Tears began to stream down Fighter's face. Serenity reached up and wiped them away. Fighter opened her eyes and pulled Serenity to her. They hugged for so long, I thought Fighter was never going to let her go.
I turned my head back to the goddess in my arms. She had been watching me the whole time. Everyone but Pluto and Kakyuu went to see Serenity. Pluto came up to Seleine and me. She grabbed a hold of Seleine and hugged her tightly.
"I thought you were really going to die this time," Pluto sobbed. Seleine began to brush Pluto's hair back.
"What happened to all the evil essence?" Neptune asked Seleine.
Seleine looked up at Neptune and let Pluto go. "Where do you think it went?" Seleine asked. "It all has to go somewhere."
Neptune narrowed her eyes. "So the Heart of Darkness has more darkness in her, that's just great."
"Neptune," I said with a warning glare.
"No. She has a right to be concerned. After all, everyone that's evil still partially considers her an ally. Why shouldn't she be concerned?" Maker asked.
"That's enough, Maker," Kakyuu said sternly. "After all, she did just save our lives. Again."
Maker looked at her princess then looked away. She silently apologized to Seleine.
"They do have a right to be a little concerned," Seleine said standing up. Everyone watched her in amazement. Just moments ago she had a broken wrist, a stab wound in her stomach, a stab wound in her thigh, a bite on her shoulder, and she was able to stand? "I am-" and she fell back into me. I caught her and stood her up next to me. She began clutching her head as I searched her for injuries that haven't healed.
"She's still too weak to do much of anything," Kakyuu said.
Seleine nodded. I turned to start walking away.
"Seleine," Serenity squeaked. Seleine turned back to her sister. "Thank you."
Seleine's shoulders slumped. "You're welcome." I could see the sadness in their eyes. They would never look at each other the same way. Things between them will probably never be the same either.
Author's Note: Sorry it's taken me so long to update. I've switched colleges, got a new job, and moved my first apartment since I last updated. Things should be getting slower for me now so I'll be updating more often. -J
