PRETTY SOLDIER SAILOR MOON: FUTURE

Chapter 57: Lucid War's Denouement

Haruka, Michiru and Setsuna finally arrived at the hospital after hearing Hikaru's story and hurried to Midori's room. There they found him standing over the unconscious Chibi-Usa, Hotaru and Midori as their sigils glowed bright on their foreheads.

"Hotaru! Hey, hang in there!" Haruka urged, shaking the girl's shoulders.

"Small Lady!" Setsuna stayed by Chibi-Usa's side, with Hikaru joining her.

Michiru was left to stare at the symbol on Midori's head in bewilderment, thinking, That's the same one Rei told me about before…

An aqua-colored aura spontaneously shone in her hand, and the Deep Aqua Mirror materialized even though she didn't will it to appear. She could sense that it wanted to show her something, so she held it before the ailing girl and concentrated on finding out the truth that she wasn't able to before. The dark visage appeared again, but then brightened up and revealed her to be Midori in her Sailor Soldier uniform.

"I knew it," Michiru narrowed her eyes. "Midori was Sailor Arsenic Hyena. But that name… There seems to be another one forming in my mind…"

"Wasn't 'Arsenic Hyena' just a pseudonym she used to hide the name of her guardian planet?" Haruka asked. "It could be her real name that you're discerning."

Hikaru added, "She has shown the princess the truth that she's been hiding. You should be able to see who she is now."

"You're right. It's as clear as untainted water… It's… It is Sailor… Zar… nik…?"

"Zarnik," Setsuna affirmed. "I only vaguely remember hearing it as a world steeped in darkness that was not supposed to have been given life. But if there is a Sailor Soldier to protect it, it means that someone defied that world's nature and gave it enough life that needed protecting."

"A world steeped in darkness… So that would explain why she is a Sailor Soldier who wields the forces of darkness, rather than one who is on the side of light," Haruka said. "It isn't that she's evil. It's that the power she uses to protect those she cares for is vastly different from ours."

"But she is in serious trouble," Michiru warned them. "Eris has invaded her soul with a Black Apple in an attempt to take over her body. Chibi-Usa and Hotaru are in her dream world fighting Eris as we speak. The dark energy that Midori was born with must have been too tempting for Eris to ignore, so she's trying to corrode her mind into an Erisian's so she can be the dominant personality."

"I could bring all of you into Midori's world, if that's possible," Hikaru offered.

Setsuna summoned the Time Staff into her hands. "It would be too dangerous for all of us to enter Midori's dream all at once. Her mind would collapse if we tried to intervene any further."

"Then what are we supposed to do!?" Haruka exclaimed. "If all three of them lose this battle, who knows what Eris could do to their minds!"

"We must send our power to Small Lady. Concentrate your energies upon the Garnet Orb, and I shall send it to aid Small Lady."

Setsuna held her staff over the sleeping trio, and the Pluto symbol shone a magenta hue on her forehead. Haruka and Michiru nodded and closed their eyes in concentration, with the blue Uranus and aqua Neptune sigils shining on their foreheads respectively. Then all three symbols shot into the Garnet Orb and split into three rays of light that went into Chibi-Usa, Hotaru and Midori's sigils, giving them their power.

As Eris continued to torture the three Sailor Soldiers in the dream battle, she noticed three colored lights glinting in the dark skies. To her shock, they turned out to be a trio of deadly attacks being aimed straight for her; World Shaking, Deep Submerge, and Dead Scream. The three orbs coagulated into a multicolored ball of pure energy, and the goddess had no time to react before she was overwhelmed with raw, violent agony. She was engulfed in a powerful explosion, freeing the Soldiers from the effects of the reverse pentagram.

"That was…" Saturn murmured.

"Miss Haruka! Miss Michiru! Puu!" Chibi-Moon exclaimed happily. "They're giving their energy to us!"

Zarnik didn't say anything. Now that she had revealed the truth to Chibi-Moon and Saturn, she had no doubt that Michiru would be able to see it as well with the Deep Aqua Mirror. She knew that when she woke up, she was going to be doing a lot of explaining to the skeptical Outer Soldiers. For now though, she turned her attention to Eris, who was looking as equally torn and bloody as the three Soldiers were.

"Haah… Haah… Damn you… Sailor Soldiers… Always getting in… my way…" Eris seethed.

"How ironic, considering the source of that statement," Zarnik muttered.

"All right!" Chibi-Moon stood up and wielded the Pink Lady's Regalia. "Let's get her while she's weakened!"

"Don't forget that our only objective is to purge the Black Apple from my soul. All Eris is doing is projecting her consciousness through it."

"I know that!" the pink-haired Soldier pouted.

"Then I suggest you save that kind of bravado for the true battle against her. For now, removing this disgusting witch from my subconscious will have to suffice."

"But what can we do? We can't tell the difference between your darkness and hers!" Saturn exclaimed.

"Hmph. A trivial matter, at best."

Just then, the sky flickered with hundreds of dark arrows, all pointed at the Black Apple. Eris screamed, "It's useless, Sailor Zarnik!"

"I'll be the judge of that."

The arrows simultaneously converged upon Eris, impaling her with thousands and thousands of sharp pin pricks. Right when she was about to mock her opponent again, the goddess realized that she couldn't move anymore. She felt the entire tree she resided within pulling out of the ground with tremendous force, then figured out what was actually going on.

"I… I can't move-!"

"What's happening?" Saturn asked.

"It's rather simple, actually," Zarnik explained. "Since this is my dream world, it means I have full control over what happens within it. The darkness within my lineage can respond to my subconscious will and attack any foreign invaders that threaten me, though I didn't realize this until Hikaru confirmed for me that I was lucid dreaming to begin with."

Saturn and Chibi-Moon figured out what she was talking about when they saw that the countless arrows weren't just simple projectiles. They were actually harpoons connected to the greater darkness surrounding them, and all of these lodged into the Black Apple's spiritual flesh and lifted it up as if it were a speared fish. It was fully exposed and rendered immobile, meaning that the warriors were free to destroy the apple without harming Zarnik's inherent darkness.

Zarnik faced Chibi-Moon and simply asked, "Shall we?"

"Of course!"

"You're wasting your time!" Eris shouted and tried to summon another reverse pentagram.

"Silent Wall!" Saturn called out and raised the Silence Glaive before her, generating an invisible barrier that prevented the evil magic circle from attacking them again. Zarnik drew her bow and Chibi-Moon extended her rod into a full-sized staff.

"Sweet Cupid Straight Shoot!"

After Zarnik fired her shot, Chibi-Moon sent ribbons of holy energy into the arrow and transformed it into a glittering pink projectile. It pierced through the dark tree's midsection and purified its presence until nothing was left but ash. Apparently Eris had abandoned the Black Apple in time once she realized she had lost the battle because she didn't feel any ill effects from the shot.

"Fuh. It seems I have to give up on turning you into my slave, Sailor Zarnik. A shame, really, considering that we both come from the same darkness," the goddess addressed the stoic archer.

"If you're going to make some pithy parting line, make it snappy. I'm tired of listening to your voice," Zarnik glowered.

"Then I've got one for you - it's not like you've got anyone to save anymore! WAH HAH HAH HAH HAH!"

With that, the Goddess of Discord finally retreated out of Zarnik's dream. She brushed her shirt off and scoffed, "Good riddance."

She faced Chibi-Moon and Saturn, whom she could tell had a lot of questions for her. She walked over to the town's central fountain, sat upon it, gently folded her arms, crossed her legs, and demanded, "Might as well lay it on me while Her Malevolence has granted us this respite."

"Midori… Y-You don't have to sound so resentful…" Chibi-Moon frowned.

"Pardon me. I'm just in a foul mood after she ruined all of my efforts to hide my identity from you all."

"I guess so. But there's so much she said that I don't even know where to begin. I guess I should start by asking why you kept your identity from us for so long. We've become friends in our civilian lives, so why keep your distance from us as a Sailor Soldier?"

"You should understand the answer to that by now. If not, then I'll spell it out plainly; I did it to protect Earth's warriors from the shadows while investigating both sides for more information about the Animus Syndicate. The more I found out, the more reluctant I became to tell anyone… Especially when it came to my fellow teammates from Alkima Galaxy."

"Now that you mention it," Saturn said, "Eris said something about how your 'former teammates' wanted you to 'become a fellow Camarilla'. What did she mean by that?"

"I think that should be obvious by now," Zarnik muttered. "Like I said, I was part of the Toxicum Sailor Soldiers, a group of five warriors who hailed from undesirable planets. However, I alone was sent to Earth for a mission while they remained in Alkima to defend our worlds. Unfortunately, they had no choice but to become the Camarilla, the four women whom we have fought throughout the last half year, if they wanted to survive such a bloody civil war. In essence, they had to join the enemy."

Chibi-Moon exclaimed, "This can't be! Why is this happening!?"

Zarnik paused, obviously wanting to not say anything. Telling them that she had to fight her friends was one thing, but revealing that all of Alkima Galaxy was eradicated, thus forcing the four to take such desperate measures, was something much worse. Of course, even if she didn't want to say anything, Eris' parting words could act as a hint for the others to go on.

Saturn pleaded, "You can tell us. We're very worried for you, having to fight your friends all by yourself. If there's anything we can do to help-"

"Funny. You were very accusing of me earlier," Zarnik snapped.

"I'm sorry. I was just really surprised and said what came to mind. But if the Camarilla are supposed to be your friends, then that might explain why you wanted to keep your distance. You didn't want us to know that you're helping us protect Earth from your own comrades."

"I guess there's no denying that…"

"There's no question that the Syndicate is after the Silver Crystal. And yet, from what Michiru-mama told me when she fought Naja, she seemed to have her own motives in mind. I wonder if there's some kind of discord happening in the enemy's ranks."

"My reconnaissance has confirmed that there is a conflict of interest between them," Zarnik said. "It's pretty clear that Eris wants to destroy Earth out of revenge against Selene, while Upala wants to use the Silver Crystal's power to rule Alkima. The Camarilla, however, have their own goal in mind…"

Saturn and Chibi-Moon tensed up, and the former asked firmly, "What are they after?"

This was the question that Zarnik feared answering. It was what kept her locked in her room ever since the battle at Hikawa Shrine. Apis' pained confession kept ringing in her head like a terrible tone. She had to be brave and tell them everything.

"The truth is…"

With that, the story about Alkima's complete destruction was revealed to Earth's princess and her best friend. She explained in detail how her former comrades were seeking to destroy Eris and revive the galaxy by using the Silver Crystal, which meant having to sully their hands with evil and trying to convince Zarnik to join their cause as a Sailor Soldier of Alkima.

"How… horrible…!" Chibi-Moon gasped, covering her lips in shock. What else was she supposed to say? This had to be one of the worst stories she had ever heard. To think that Midori had been shouldering so much while keeping it all hidden so well was incomprehensible to the earnest girl.

"So Alkima has returned to zero…" Saturn murmured. As the Sailor Soldier of Death and Rebirth, she knew what it was like to wield such immense power. But her power of destruction was for the greater good; her duty was to destroy everything and 'return it to zero' in order for new life to begin. This kind of destruction was on par with what Sailor Galaxia wielded so long ago – to destroy for the sake of ruining lives and basking in a twisted sense of schadenfraude.

In effect, Sailor Upala was little more than a second Sailor Galaxia. Much like how Galaxia was Chaos' pawn, Upala too was Eris'.

Now Chibi-Moon and Saturn were beginning to understand the real scale of the Syndicate's threat. This wasn't just a battle to determine Earth's – nay, the Milky Way Galaxy's future. It was to also decide what would happen with Alkima Galaxy's future. Now that begged another question from the stunned Soldiers.

"Midori," Chibi-Moon leaned in and held Zarnik's hand. "I just have to ask… What is it that you want to do?"

"What I want to do?" the green-haired warrior stared in puzzlement.

"There are many different sides to this battle, much like the many factions in Alkima that you've told me about. We all have different beliefs and ideas about how to win this war. Of course, I have to protect Earth from the Syndicate. But where does your heart lie, Midori? Does it still belong with Alkima and the Camarilla, or with us?"

"I… I don't know…" Zarnik bit her lower lip.

"Why don't you know?"

"Well… If Alkima really has been reduced to nothing, then even if I side with my Toxicum Soldier comrades, that would mean having to fight you all to obtain the Silver Crystal in order to revive my home. But that would sacrifice this world in the process. If I do the opposite, then it'll just be the same with Alkima."

"You're right," Saturn affirmed. "It's like what Gyps said to you. You've been backed into a corner and need to choose a side."

"I know. It's just that both sides have become very important to me. At the very least, I want to talk to the Camarilla and let them know that I feel this way. But I know they'll refuse to listen to me. They hate Selene for sending Eris to Alkima, so they have no interest in joining Earth's forces."

"I see…"

"That's why I wanted to talk to them by myself. And if they refused to listen to reason… Then I would have had no choice but to kill them by my own hand."

Chibi-Moon was absolutely appalled. "You can't! There has to be a-!"

"This is war!" Zarnik shouted, smacking her fist against the concrete fountain and startling Chibi-Moon. "This is no time for empty idealism! The only thing left to do is to kill the enemy and win! I just… can't figure out how to act that will be in everyone's best interests!"

"Midori…"

Saturn nodded solemnly. "So that explains why you kept your identity secret. If you couldn't talk with your comrades in a rational manner, then you would kill them to protect the Silver Crystal. You didn't want to expose Chibi-Moon to such a cruel outcome."

"Yes," Zarnik said. "From what I've seen of this planet's Sailor Soldiers, you're all painfully optimistic and always see the good in others. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but it clouds your judgment when reality comes knocking on your door. I lived in a world where it was easy to see the faults in others, and we had to fight to survive, not to protect. Enemies would become friends, and vice versa in the blink of an eye. With us hailing from such vastly different societies, I knew our alliance would be in trouble if you found out the truth earlier. I had no choice but to keep silent about this matter."

"But that's not fair to you at all!" Chibi-Moon implored. "You wanted to do all of that by yourself this whole time!? You could have talked with Mama and Papa right from the start! They would have understood!"

Zarnik shot her a sharp glare. "How was I supposed to know that?"

"Wha-?"

"At the time, the only things I knew about Earth's people are that the goddess Selene banished Eris to Alkima, and that her progeny Sailor Moon protected the Galaxy Cauldron from Sailor Galaxia. Two different actions from two different people within the same family. Can you see how I was wary to approach your mother right away? I needed to make sure that Neo Queen Serenity wouldn't see me as an enemy and exile me the same way her mother expelled Eris. There was also the fear of her guardians becoming victims of Eris' evil power – much like what happened with Sailor Uranus and Yoshiwara Jouji - which would have made cooperating with your mother potentially impossible."

"Oh… I guess so…"

"Well in your benefit, that was right from the beginning," Zarnik suddenly assured. "The time I've spent observing and protecting you all as 'Inuken Midori' and 'Sailor Arsenic Hyena' while scouring for information hasn't been fruitless. At least you're all proving your fortitude against Eris, very much the total opposite of those easily manipulable Alkiman Sailor Soldiers. My trust has grown exponentially because of that."

"That's the best thing I've heard! You're right; you have nothing to worry about!" Chibi-Moon smiled and tightly held Zarnik's hands. "Although there aren't as many of us as those in your galaxy, we stand strong together as warriors and friends! We'll get through this no matter what, Midori!"

"Chibi-Usa… You better not be saying that lightly…"