PRETTY SOLDIER SAILOR MOON: FUTURE
Chapter 33: Duties and Intentions
The resounding sound of a hand smacking against skin reverberated throughout the halls of Upala Acropolis. It came from the Camarilla's chambers, where a furious Sailor Upala had once again slapped Naja for her failure. This strike was far more vicious than usual though as the stricken woman lost her balance and collapsed to the ground, almost hitting her head against the bed post. It also exacerbated her existing injuries, and Naja squealed in agony. Varan crouched next to her and gave her support.
"Why did you bother coming back?" Upala demanded harshly. "Hearing that you died in battle would have satisfied me more than having to deal with your excuses."
"I'm so sorry, Your Highness," Naja apologized. "E-Even with the Black Apple and the Erisian, I couldn't-"
"Such a waste of precious resources. You'll be doing everyone a favor if you just shut up and die. At least then you could be used as fertilizer for Lady Eris' tree."
"…"
"Ah, speaking of which, how did a lowly subject like yourself got your hands on one of the Goddess' legendary Black Apples when she doesn't even let me use them?" Upala scratched her chin and glared at her subordinate accusingly. "Don't tell me you've been sneaking into the orchard to pilfer them when I'm not looking."
"Of course I wouldn't! Lady Eris would have noticed if I tried to steal from her tree! It's because she gave it to me herself and-"
Upala suddenly kicked Naja's chin, causing some blood to fly onto the sheets. The angry Soldier stared at her pristine high heels and glowered, "Ugh, now I've got my feet filthy. It truly is a dirty job having to remind you how much I don't appreciate lies."
"I-I'm not… lying…" Naja gasped.
"Hah! So says the snake in the Garden of Eden! Maybe I should demote you to the royal foot rest and have someone else take leadership of your little team."
"Your Highness, please reconsider…"
"Oh really? Then perhaps you should be the royal whipping target. I've been getting out of practice lately. Oh yes, I can see it now – you're tied to Lady Eris' tree, and you squeal as hard as you can while I whip you so many times that you bleed to death from all of the welts! That would be absolutely delightful! Perhaps I should summon the boys to get that ready for-"
Suddenly, Upala jerked her head back and snarled, stopping in mid-sentence. The angry Varan had pointed her lance directly at the queen's throat, just millimeters away from piercing her skin.
"Even if you are our master, I shall not permit such unwarranted mistreatment," the Camarilla snapped.
Upala's eye twitched, then she smirked confidently and said, "So that's how fragile our alliance is."
"So says the sovereign of betrayal herself."
"Please spare me the liturgy. You four also abandoned the Peripheral Planets Alliance to join my side. I'm sure even you understand the necessity of culling hundreds of barbaric, unsophisticated Sailor Soldiers and keeping them beneath the heel of someone deemed almighty. In the end, we're all in the same situation here, so don't go pointing that thing at me while being some self-absorbed hypocrite."
"We Camarilla are so 'unsophisticated' that we must also be 'culled' beneath your 'almighty foot'? I assumed that only applied to Sailor Soldiers who refused to be your conscripts."
"If you keep failing to get the Silver Crystal for me like this, then yes, I have every right to enact justice for enduring your incompetence. That is my duty as queen; to ensure my subjects work to their fullest to achieve a common goal. If you four have a problem with that, then I have no issue with replacing you lot. There are plenty of other lesser Soldiers begging to be worthwhile Camarilla just to escape the hell that is their insignificant lives."
Varan lowered her weapon and stared at Upala. She had trouble arguing against Upala's need for punishing those who didn't fulfill what they promised, and the Toxicum Soldiers did vow to her to turn Alkima Galaxy into a new world where only a select few Soldiers protected it in harmony. They just didn't agree with Upala being the supreme leader of this new Alkima. But as long as Eris provided her with the power to ruin entire worlds with chaos and discord, they could do nothing about it. If they kept failing like this, they could potentially lose their status as Camarilla and be sent to the guillotine without accomplishing their dream.
Regardless of the method or the outcome, that was the one thing keeping Sailor Upala and the Camarilla together; the wish for everlasting peace that mirrored the Milky Way's. But that wish would only distort into something terrible as long as Eris lurked within the darkness. How could Alkima's Sailor Soldiers coexist in the new world if they were sowing the seeds for new discord right now? It was a perplexing conundrum that Varan needed to contend with while preparing for her upcoming attack.
"I will put my very existence in peril for this," she finally said. "I either return with Earth's treasure, or die trying."
"Hmm… Glad to see someone is finally taking this seriously," Upala nodded.
"However, I have but one request; to not bring gratuitous physical or verbal harm upon my comrades for their mistakes, whether they be real or assumed."
"You still consider my duty as queen to be unnecessary violence?"
"I believe there is a difference between your duty and wanton abuse. If my comrades do not meet your expectations after a mission, then I shall not argue against you fulfilling your obligation. I would take issue if you seek to torment my friends for your own amusement. We Camarilla are your noble warriors, not court jesters to belittle at every opportunity. If you seek entertainment, I'm sure there are more suitable 'lesser Soldiers' to fill that role. I beseech you to consider this, should I not return alive."
For the rarest moment, Upala actually frowned in contemplation. She didn't like being told what to do, but she wouldn't deny one of her subjects such a humble request if they were going to risk themselves on the battlefield. As a Sailor Soldier, she knew exactly what it was like to put her life on the line to achieve a favorable outcome (especially for someone as self-centered as her who had no concept of friendship), so she could relate with the overly-proud Varan in a way. In times like this, a true queen would listen to the plea and then take the time to ponder it.
Whether or not the notoriously flighty Upala would follow through with it was a different matter…
The ruler's usual smirk returned as she replied, "It all depends on your performance."
"As a combatant, or as a comedian?"
"Let your skills decide that."
After a few minutes of patiently waiting in the room she retreated into, Midori heard the door knock a few times and she opened it to find Chibi-Usa, Setsuna, Haruka and Michiru.
"There you are, Midori!" Chibi-Usa exclaimed and hugged her, which caught the stoic girl by surprise. "Are you okay!?"
"I heard a lot of commotion outside, and you clearly appear flustered. Was it another attack by the enemy?"
"Yeah, but don't worry. Everything's fine now."
"That's what I assumed once things quieted down. I didn't want to expose myself to danger like last time, so I remained in here."
"That's good. Let's get some fresh air for a bit."
The women returned downstairs, and Midori gazed upon the destruction that the battle had caused. She noticed the few drops of Naja's blood on the marble floor and sighed lightly. She didn't have any regrets about attacking her former friend, but she knew it only contributed to Eris' demented scheme to spread chaos and discord across the universe. Another thing that bothered her was how Naja obtained a Black Apple in the first place.
According to my research, only Eris could use those herself, and Sailor Upala was never in command of one even during her militant advances on Alkiman territories. For Naja to have used one on Sailor Uranus must mean only one thing…
Midori didn't want to imagine it, but it was the only possibility; Eris and Naja had worked together for this battle. Whether it was behind Upala's back or not, she couldn't be certain. She could envision the selfish queen getting angry about it if she found out, however. Midori knew the strategy they used was a surprise triple pincer attack against Sailor Chibi-Moon, hoping to destroy the princess and snatch the Silver Crystal using overwhelming force. It was an effective tactic, but certainly not one that Naja would have thought of herself – normally, she was too genteel to be so inhumane. But with Eris' influence in such close proximity to her, perhaps it was only a matter of time.
Midori looked away and thought, Well, they say that the cruelest of evil was once borne out of good intentions.
Once they were outside, Chibi-Usa gasped as she remembered something and said to Midori, "By the way, there's something I wanted to ask you, but I didn't get a chance to because of that fight."
"What is it?"
"Why were you talking with one of the Camarilla earlier?"
Midori stopped. That's right… There was the high possibility of Chibi-Usa witnessing her talking with Naja during the party. She had failed to take that conversation somewhere much more private on account of her shock from seeing her friend again.
I got careless. I was so focused on worrying about the Outer Soldiers observing me that I forgot about Chibi-Usa watching me…
"I didn't know she was your enemy," she struggled to get herself out of this situation.
"But Naja introduced herself after the previous attack on the pageant, and you were there to hear it."
"Ah…"
Chibi-Usa grabbed the anxious girl's hand and implored, "Why are you lying to me? Is there something you're not telling me?"
"Of course I have nothing to hide from you." Midori felt like the filthiest hypocrite from saying such a blatant lie to someone so innocent.
"That's not true! You ran away from Naja crying!"
"That was because…" Midori trailed, struggling to think of something to say.
"Is our friendship not enough for you to talk to me about what's troubling you?"
A bee could have driven its stinger directly into Midori's heart and it wouldn't have been much different. Her friendships were being tested everywhere. She felt betrayed by her Toxicum Soldier comrades, but she didn't have the confidence yet to tell her Earth friends that she was Sailor Arsenic Hyena. She wanted to resolve her differences with her Alkiman friends without involving her new friends from Earth. It would be a nightmare for her if both sides wound up fighting each other. But if she kept accidentally dropping her defenses like this, she didn't think she could keep up the charade for much longer.
Nevertheless, she needed to come up with an excuse pronto!
"Okay, I'll tell you what happened. I left because… Naja threatened me."
"What!?" Chibi-Usa gasped.
"It's true that she introduced herself while I was present at Gyps' attack. She felt that since I was the only civilian at the pageant attack, she could use her power to coerce me into getting the Silver Crystal from you while you weren't looking. Since I refused to cooperate, she decided to use the Erisians to obtain it instead."
"So that's what it was. You refused to go along with her plan and ran away in fear."
"That's right. I'm sorry for causing you to distrust me."
"No, I've always trusted you. I was just bothered that you couldn't trust me enough to tell me about anything going on in your life. Maybe I'm nowhere near as smart, practical, or calm as you, but I do want to help you shoulder your burdens in any way I can. That's what friends are for, right?"
The irony of this whole damn thing caused more tension to flare within Midori's chest. She gripped her elbows and pressed her arms against her upper abdomen to keep the anxiety under control.
"Yeah…"
"Don't be upset anymore. I'm not angry with you. In fact, I'm really happy that you ran away from Naja despite being threatened. It means I can trust you to not use our friendship to snatch the Silver Crystal from us."
Midori raised an eyebrow. Chibi-Usa had an unexpectedly auspicious point. Regardless if she was Midori or Hyena, she would never ever allow the Silver Crystal to fall into Eris' hands. In her point of view, that wretched witch had caused enough damage to her home, friends, and life. She was determined to return the favor by acting as an unshakeable obstacle towards securing Earth's ultimate treasure. Her conversation with Naja proved one thing for sure; she couldn't trust any of Alkima's Sailor Soldiers to join her cause, not even her Toxicum friends.
Although the dynamics of her mission were changing ever so rapidly, the two cores of it remained the same; secure Earth's help against Eris, and protect the Silver Crystal. Once she sorted out those facts in her head, Midori started to feel a lot calmer.
Chibi-Usa asked, "Are you feeling better?"
"I am. I'm just really tired though."
"I understand. Let's head back home and rest for the weekend. Monday will be our first day of school."
During this conversation, Michiru quietly used the Deep Aqua Mirror to see into Midori's heart without her noticing. After a few moments of analyzing, the mirror's glass returned with an image. What Michiru saw made her go pale, and she anxiously put the mirror away to remove that sight from her eyes. Unfortunately, it was etched into her sharp memory, causing her immense duress for a short while. She silently followed Haruka and Setsuna outside to the former's car and sat in the front passenger seat, and Haruka drove back to Ginza to drop Chibi-Usa and Midori off at their apartment.
Setsuna and Chibi-Usa talked with each other, Haruka was focused on driving, and Midori tried to get some sleep in her confined quarters. Michiru gazed at Midori's reflection in the rear view mirror the whole time, her eyes stressed with solemness. She didn't want to say anything until she was alone with Haruka, so she struggled to keep her worries concealed from the others.
They reached Ginza and bid the two younger girls bonsoir, then returned to their mansion outside Tokyo. Setsuna decided to turn in for the evening, but Michiru wanted to sit outside and feel the late summer breeze, hoping it would calm her down. Haruka made some oolong tea for her, then went back inside to change into a simple t-shirt and shorts. When she returned to Michiru's side, she noticed that her partner hadn't even budged an inch.
"Are you okay? You haven't had any of your tea yet," Haruka asked.
"Haruka…" Michiru finally murmured in a forlorn tone. "I used the mirror to examine Midori."
"Hey, hey. You really weren't joking about that before, were you? You really wanted to see the truth behind her that badly?"
"Don't make it sound like it's some distasteful hobby of mine. It's to protect the princess from any potential danger. But it was incredibly difficult for me to find an opening. That girl is sharp. She knew that we were watching her the whole time, and thus observed us in return. She absolutely refused to let her guard down, except when Chibi-Usa confronted her about talking with Naja."
"And that's when you used your mirror?"
"Yes. What I found was… most disturbing. I couldn't bring myself to tell Chibi-Usa nor confront Midori about it. At least, not yet anyway."
Haruka sat down next to her lover and whispered, "What did you see?"
Michiru's eyes met Haruka's and she tightly held her partner's hand, relived to finally feel her strong-willed partner's touch.
"That girl, Inuken Midori… has the same darkness in her soul as Sailor Arsenic Hyena."