PRETTY SOLDIER SAILOR MOON: FUTURE
Chapter 29: Alkima's Cowardice
Once Haruka had finished repairing her car, she managed to drive it to the mansion and get it safely parked. Michiru had spent the last while waiting outside for Haruka to return, and she greeted her at the door. She couldn't help but notice Haruka's strained expression and small beads of sweat running down her forehead, as if she was fighting a bad fever.
"Is everything okay?" Michiru asked.
"I'm fine. Where's Midori?" Haruka brusquely demanded.
"I last saw her with Setsuna and Chibi-Usa."
"What are you thinking, letting her out of your sight? Why did you agree to meet me in the parking lot when you know you should be observing her actions?"
"Haruka," Michiru's voice became firm. "I'll get right to the point. Chibi-Usa told me what happened."
"As in what?"
"You almost slapping her."
"I couldn't help it," Haruka tensed up while rubbing her temples. "She was being annoying."
"What's wrong with you? The Haruka I know would never go to such an extreme."
"Yeah, well, that Inuken kid gave me the cold shoulder, my car broke down, and I have the worst migraine imaginable. I was in no condition to put up with that spoiled brat's nosiness. Right now, I'm hardly the 'Haruka you know'."
Michiru stared at her partner for a long moment, then closed her eyes and coldly murmured, "I suppose you're right. It would be a mistake for me to rely on you for our job tonight. Setsuna and I can handle things from here. You should go upstairs and get some re-"
Before the aqua-haired woman knew it, she had collapsed on the floor with a reddened, swollen cheek. The astonished Michiru looked up and saw Haruka's eyes seething with fury. The angry woman scowled, "One after another after another! You're all useless! I will make Inuken Midori come clean myself!"
"Haruka!" Michiru furiously shot to her feet. Despite her rage, she could feel her keen senses stirring about like a rampaging whirlpool. In the back of her mind, she thought, Something's truly wrong with her! I can't let her run amok like this!
"Shut up and let me handle this! All you have to do is make sure she doesn't get away!"
"I refuse. You're in no condition to confront her rationally."
"I don't care about being rational! Now is the time to make her talk!"
Michiru scowled. "You're leaving me with no choice, Haruka…"
"What's your problem!?" Haruka exclaimed. "Damn, I don't care anymore! Get out of my way already!"
Haruka attempted to slap Michiru again, but this time she was prepared for it. She ducked a hair's breadth below the assault and jammed her elbow against Haruka's solar plexus, completely knocking the fight out of her. Haruka coughed and collapsed to her knees, but Michiru made no attempt to help her back up. She instead hailed an usher and asked him to guide Haruka to a spare room to rest, and to lock the door so she couldn't escape and cause more unwarranted violence.
While rubbing her cheek, Michiru stared intently at her partner with both anger and concern. She knew something was terribly wrong, but couldn't pinpoint it without the Deep Aqua Mirror. As if that wasn't enough, she could feel the distinct presence of evil stirring within the mansion, but it was too faint for her to accurately detect its location.
Midori stared at the full moon, allowing the pianist's melody to drift her mind to another world. The hustle and bustle of the wealthy folks dancing, talking and dining made her reminisce about the people of her home world. Since Midori was technically the princess of her planet, she likewise had a large villa similar to this one where she governed from. However, she didn't regard herself as a princess on Chibi-Usa's caliber. She felt more like the mayor of a small hamlet.
Midori's home village was the only civilized area on all of her world, which was no bigger than the planet Mercury. It was desolate and mountainous, uninhabitable due to the wildlife thriving on naturally poisoned waters and emitting toxic fumes that would kill if even inhaled once. Her village was situated on the tallest mountain far away from the deadly flora, sustained through the miracles of terraforming and sophisticated technology to keep the harsh mountain weather out.
She remembered going outside to run errands and the people greeting her with utmost familiarity. In a town populated by no more than 1000 people, everyone considered each other neighbors. The men would report to her about any issues, the women would chide her to get outside more often, and the children would ask her to play with them. Midori couldn't be truly happy anywhere else but here. They looked up to her, she likewise shared in their struggles, and no other nations or groups existed to threaten them. Sadly, she had to leave that behind to fulfill her mission as a Sailor Soldier.
I wonder how everyone is doing without me, she pondered. She propped her chin on her hands and thought, Well, it isn't like they needed me for every single thing. They know how to take care of themselves. I'm just worried about the war threatening them. Are my partners taking care of things?
As she continued wandering her thoughts to distant places, she heard someone whisper, "Inuken Midori, I presume?"
She quietly turned her head back to see who it was. It was a woman with long blue hair wearing a silky sea blue dress with a scandalous side slit up one leg, and an intricate blue mask with baubles to obscure her facial features. The woman brought her gloved hand forth in a welcoming gesture.
"May I have this dance?" she asked in a soft tone.
Midori wasn't sure how to react. She recognized that voice from when Gyps attacked the pageant, belonging to the Camarilla named Naja. The woman patiently kept her hand extended. The hesitant Midori slowly reached until their hands were interlocked, and Naja led the way to the dance floor. The small orchestra began playing a new melody that began with a light crescendo, then intensified into a tense and rapid sonata, as if perfectly replicating Midori's feelings though song. She was way too nervous to smile upon her partner's gaze, so she kept looking over Naja's shoulder to see how Chibi-Usa and the others were doing.
"Where are you looking?" the woman murmured in her ear. "This is a reunion of long-separated friends. Could you at least look me in the eye for a moment?"
"If… You give me your name… Then I might."
"Jakuchi Aoki."
Midori almost forgot to breathe. She knew of the many implications lurking behind that name.
"You're… Sailor Cyanide Cobra, aren't you?" she whispered. "You used that name when we would go on civilian infiltration missions together."
"Yes. It's been a long time, Hyena. Are you doing well?"
"Probably… But I have many, many questions that need answering."
"You look deathly pale. Let's sit down for a moment."
They found some chairs near another empty window pane and rested their feet. They removed their masks, and Midori's anxiety intensified when she saw Naja's face. The sight of that familiar long blue hair tied into a braid halfway down, along with the two large hair ornaments and ribbons attached to her hair to make it resemble a cobra's head, was almost more than Midori could take. The leader of the Toxicum Sailor Soldiers looked exactly the same as before. To her surprise, Naja looked more pained and nostalgia-ridden to Midori than vice versa. She even wiped a tear away.
"Thank goodness you made it to this world safely," Naja said with tremendous relief. "I wasn't sure if Apis' invention would work or not."
"By Apis, you mean Bee?"
"Yes."
They were referring to Sailor Cadmium Bee, the blonde-haired hyperactive genius inventor of their entourage. Naja added, "Likewise, Gyps is Sailor Cinnabar Vulture, and Varan is Sailor Manganese Dragon, as I'm sure you've suspected. I know you wouldn't want to hear this, but we are now Sailor Upala's servants."
"So it's true. You guys are sending those Erisians to threaten everyone on Earth at her behest." Midori tensed up and squeezed her eyes shut. She wanted to cry in disappointment, but she needed to stay firm in confronting her friend about this. She bitterly added, "I thought you were better than that."
"We didn't want to do any of this," Naja shook her head. "Believe me, selling ourselves to Upala was the last thing we wanted to do. But while you were gone, the war escalated to a point where none of our efforts would have done any good. The Opal Peacock Monarchy had dominated half of the galaxy after slaughtering all Soldiers who resisted her rule, and all of the remaining smaller factions refused to unite into one. It was like a cancer – we were running out of time faster than we realized. And just like cancer, you have to take drastic measures to fight it."
"By consorting with the enemy?"
"Yes. We decided to surrender and grovel before Upala's feet, becoming her handmaids within Upala Acropolis in exchange for her supporting our worlds."
Midori swallowed, fighting back the lump in her throat. "Couldn't you have told everyone the truth?"
"Who was going to listen to a representative for the Peripheral Planets Coalition, especially one of us 'traitorous' Toxicum Soldiers? You and I both know that faction only existed as a useless formality to represent every possible planet in Alkima's intergalactic government. Everyone was too busy covering their ears and shouting opinions without consideration for each other. You seriously think we had a voice in such a situation? We were just garbage to them."
Neither of them wanted to speak further. Midori understood how troublesome their world's political situation was. The Toxicum Soldiers knew, through their past espionage activities, that it was only a matter of time before the inevitable happened. It was impossible to continue governing the galaxy under this system, with hundreds of Soldiers vying for each other's planets and powers. Eris wasn't truly responsible for turning them against each other. Her arrival and false promises simply escalated those deeply seeded tensions, like throwing gasoline into a budding forest fire.
Midori had to understand Naja's predicament. Sure, it would have been easy to tell her, "You should have done the right thing and fought back! Even if you die, you will not have succumbed to evil!" But Alkima's warriors had long since lost that sense of pride and responsibility. Everyone had turned into cowards. That much she understood. She just couldn't imagine that her closest comrades would have also betrayed their sworn oaths as Sailor Soldiers. They once voiced great pride in their duty to her, which was why she warmed up to the four who asked her to join their team.
Were they lying back then? Or had things degenerated so badly that they had to even sacrifice their sacred covenant just to survive? Midori couldn't be sure. She didn't have the heart to ask Naja. Maybe them turning to Sailor Upala for help was the answer she needed.
Perhaps I was only fooling myself for believing they would remain steadfast against Eris' ways, Midori realized. Now I know it was not meant to be.
Having accepted this sad outcome, she turned her focus to something else of equal importance to her.
"You said that Upala would protect your worlds. That agreement happened after I was sent to Earth on my mission, am I correct?"
"You're right," Naja replied, wondering where her friend was taking this conversation.
"Then… what about my world?"
Silence befell them again. The Camarilla clasped her hands and murmured in a sorrowful tone, "We did not include it in the pact."
Midori felt like someone just sucker punched her in the gut.
"But it's not because we abandoned it! Upala doesn't know anything about you! If we asked her to include your planet in the treaty, she would have demanded us to bring its resident Soldier to her! We would have had no choice but to divulge the details of your assignment! Besides, we still held on to the hope that you would succeed!"
Somehow it made sense to Midori. She still had to ask, "How are the citizens of my planet doing? Have any of the factions come to claim it?"
"Don't worry," Naja gripped her stricken friend's hands. "We've created an invisibility barrier around it, with your people's permission of course. Plus with it being situated so far at the edge of the galaxy, no one should pose a threat to your home."
"That's a tremendous relief…" Midori sighed, relieving some of the tension.
"I can't say that with an absolute guarantee though."
The tension instantly returned. "What do you mean?"
"If you absolutely want your people to be safe, then Upala will-"
"No!" Midori shot to her feet and shivered, indignantly batting Naja's hands away and snarling, "Don't even suggest it!"
"Please calm down and listen to me! We have a plan, but we need your help to-!"
"I refuse! Get out of my sight already!"
The upset girl dashed out of the hall. Naja reached out to try and stop her, but she gave up halfway. Somehow, she knew she deserved Midori's refusal. It was so like her – always straightforward and dedicated. Deep within her soul, Naja felt a sense of pride for her friend. She was happy that Midori would not willingly give in to Upala like she did. But then again, Midori was ignorant of the true devastation that the war had caused. If only Naja could show her the reality of Alkima's situation rather than just talk about it, then Midori would have little choice but to forgo her all-important mission.
That would mean bringing her back to Upala Acropolis… with force.
Naja placed a hand on her pendant where she kept the Apple of Discord hidden. A faint golden glow shone within her grasp.
I'm sorry, Hyena. I have to do this for you, and for all of Alkima.