Chapter 77

He couldn't get to Usagi.

She'd been placed out of his reach, and it was going to drive him mad.

Beside him, Seiji ran silently, face dark, as the two of them worked to get out of the miasma they'd ended up in and find Usagi and Minako. Time was running out. Shuu didn't know how he knew that, but he could feel it. He was hoping the other Troopers had had better luck than he and Korin.

Their attempt to follow the connection Helios had discovered hadn't turned out well.

While he was pretty sure they were fairly close to the world outside, they still hovered inside the unsurpassable edge of darkness. The world outside didn't look very promising either. A landscape of endless ice and snow sat heavily beneath a black sky devoid of stars. He couldn't feel it, but he could hear wind howling, buffeting against the barrier that kept he and Seiji separate from their target.

They'd been running for a while and nothing seemed to change that. And they still hadn't laid eyes on either Senshi. Shuu was just beginning to worry that this was some sort of illusion when a sudden light bathed the outside world in silver brilliance.

He and Seiji slid to a halt as they watched, and after only a moment, it became obvious to Shuu that the light belonged to Usagi.

She was using the Silver Crystal.

Of course she was. That was the most normal, natural assumption to make, but having it confirmed still felt like something out of his nightmares. He'd kept his feelings to himself, but he sort of hated that crystal. It held vast stores of power, but relied on one tiny woman for all of its strength. On five women to support that strength. And the Senshi were strong, but everyone had limits.

The Troopers still understood so little about how the Senshi worked. Just enough to know how tenuously everything hovered around them.

Determined, Shuu leapt into motion again, pushing forward. This story was going to have a happy ending, he wasn't going to accept any other option. Closing his eyes as he ran, he tried to quiet his mind, looking for the thread he'd followed out here to find his girl. Beside him, Seiji had gone quiet, but Shuu could feel his expectant gaze. This was new to him, thinking ahead, leading the way, but he wasn't going to let that slow him down. Usagi needed him, and he was going to be there for her.

He settled, and in the brief stillness, that same, gleaming glow of silver lit him up. Not a thread, but massive – like a river – and he realized that his connection was less to her and more to the Silver Crystal itself. The more she used it, the stronger and more obvious the connection between them became. The realization made him uncomfortable, but now wasn't the time. Shuu submerged himself in the energy and let it pull him toward her.

He started running again, changing their direction, following the current. Now that he was linked in, going in the right direction was easy, and he picked up speed, buoyed by the sight of the icy peaks and swirling snow getting closer instead of staying the same. The silver glow was constant and becoming all encompassing – almost like a sun on their horizon – but as they got closer, bursts of light in brilliant orange mingled with the silver glow.

The battle was well and truly underway, and the Senshi were probably fighting with everything they had. His heart thumped heavily against his ribs. How much time had been lost? How long had the Senshi been fighting? Were they ok?

He and Seiji burst unexpectedly through the dark fog and into a raging blizzard in what felt like an almost instant change. An angry wind shrieked against his ears, whipping snow that felt more like icy daggers against the shell of his armor. The sky was indeed black and devoid of stars, the only light coming from the reflection of the Silver Crystal's power against the snow.

He struggled to keep his forward momentum through snow that was up to his knees as they pushed against the wind. This wasn't going to slow him down. He'd fought his way out of the darkness – a little snow drift and a cold breeze weren't going to stand in his way.

But man, even in full armor, he was freezing.

Silently, they battled their way through the elements. Shuu called out his tetsubo, using it as a brace to help him get through the heavy blanket of white surrounding him. He kept his focus on the light. The glow was blinding now, consuming everything around him, making it difficult to make out smaller details.

The sounds of battle echoed across the landscape, bounding around them in the air as they moved, fueling the sense of urgency that had already taken up residence in his lungs. He squinted, holding a hand up to shield his eyes, able to make out several forms moving quickly and deliberately – shadows against the light. The clang of weapons rang out and then there was another orange explosion. Beside him, Seiji cursed, pushing forward.

They literally stumbled right onto the battlefield as the heavy drifts dispersed into hardly anything, and he had to right himself as the ease of movement came back to him too quickly. He looked up, righting himself. And had his worst fears confirmed.

Usagi, standing in full princess regalia, holding that familiar long pearlescent staff. He couldn't see the crystal at the top – probably because she was using it to aim crazy amounts of power into what appeared to be a black hole. Sailor Venus – face full of stony determination – whirled around Usagi, guarding her from multiple monsters at once.

As he watched, she used a sword she'd gotten from…somewhere in one hand to block a strike even as she used the Love Me Chain to yank another monster mid-attack and throw it into another shadow, launching them both somewhere outside the circle of battle with a crescent beam.

She was holding her own.

But probably wouldn't mind a little help.

With a grin, Shuu let out a battle yell and launched himself into the air. He dropped right next to her, beheading a shadow that had been approaching her flank with attempted stealth. Seiji dropped on her other side, silent, the Korin Ken already covered in ink-black ichor, his face a mask of rage. Venus let out a squeak of surprise as they boxed her behind them and near Usagi. Seiji snarled and swung the Korin Ken purposefully.

"RAIKOZAAAANNNNN!"

Shuu whirled his testsubo and swung it down, growling "GANTESSSAAIIII!"

The resulting explosion cleared a good deal of space around them all, and when Shuu turned to look, Venus had changed focus, dispersing her weapons and wrapping her arms around Usagi's delicate shoulders, extending her hands to bracket the princess'.

A thin halo of golden light surrounded her, her hair lifted in an unseen breeze that was impervious to the blizzard around them. Shuu realized as he stared at her that the golden halo was fading like mist into the light pouring out of the Sliver Crystal. Venus was giving Usagi her energy. Her Senshi energy.

It wasn't like this was unfamiliar territory for him. Hell, he'd given Ryo all of himself before, he knew how to do it and never hesitated. But it was a little uncanny to watch someone else do it instead. Especially when he had to stand by, unable to do more than keep the cannon fodder away.

But as he refocused on the immediate fight at hand, he couldn't help but wonder… what was stopping him and Seiji from lending their strength to the Senshi. Weren't they connected?

Something huge, dark, and ugly chose his moment of distraction to barrel into him, and Shuu growled, retaliating with his staff. The feeling of ribs cracking was viciously satisfying as the thing beside him cried out in rage and pain. Shuu ended its misery with a swift crack of its thick neck.

One down, a zillion to go, he thought in frustration as he and Seiji took up Venus' role in keeping monsters away from Usagi. But it felt overwhelming. The supply of them seemed endless, and he realized dimly that they probably were endless, until they beat this thing once and for all.

Right now, they didn't seem to be making a dent, and he was pretty sure they were hitting it with all they had. Well – at least Usagi and Sailor Venus had been doing that. Shuu turned again, risking distraction to look at the massive void of darkness swallowing up the light of the Silver Crystal.

He realized then that Usagi wasn't just dumping power into the black mass – she was actually keeping it at bay. A thin silver glow was surrounding it, pushing it back, fighting to keep it down, and Shuu felt his panic work up as he realized how much energy was going into just keeping this thing from coming in.

Dimly, he wondered where the rest of the Senshi were, and if this had been their plan.

He couldn't imagine them leaving Usagi to battle like this unless they'd been given no choice – a prospect he didn't want to think about – or they had a plan that called for them to be elsewhere – a thought that gave him hope.

A monster three times his size with fangs the length of his pointer finger came at him head on. Shuu snarled in answer to its roar and swung his weapon around. A gan-tessai and it was reduced to nothing. Another took its place, and then another behind that. Frustrated, Shuu let loose with a bigger show of power.

"CHODANDO GAN-TESSAIIII!"

There was a minor earthquake.

And by minor earthquake, he meant that a humongous portion of the earth just…..opened up and swallowed several hundred monsters. Possibly thousands. He couldn't tell. The entire area went silent and still for a moment – as if the enemy had not been anticipating losing so many minions at once and was still trying to figure out what had happened.

Handily, it had also obliterated most of the snow, and they were all standing on solid ground now.

"CHODANDO RAIIII KOOOO ZAAAANNNN!"

Seiji's battle cry echoed his own, casting them all in blinding light for a moment as the massive column of lightning writhed around the battlefield as if the gods themselves were casting their wrath down to the realm of mortals.

He felt more than saw Seiji still beside him, and the two of them stood, Venus and Usagi firmly behind them as they faced the next oncoming hordes of cannon fodder.

Except that nothing else came forward to greet them. The landscape beyond the light of the crystal had gone silent and dark. He locked eyes with an equally surprised Seiji before Korin turned his entire focus on the two women still locked in battle behind them. Shuu followed his lead, pulling in close but afraid to reach out – unsure of how to approach them or what else he could do to help.

They lapsed into silence then, a grim-faced Venus supporting a focused Usagi, and Shuu tried to beat back the feeling of uselessness. Venus started suddenly, peering into the depths of the vortex in front of them.

"It's them," she breathed, hope in her voice. "It's Kayura and Nasuti! The others are with them!" She and Usagi redoubled their efforts pushing despite their exhaustion as the glow in the blackness shone back at them.

He exchanged another glance with Seiji and they both pulled closer to the women, keeping a watch, bodies wary. They had to be cold, he thought. It was a stupid thought – there were way more important things happening right now – but it bothered him, and he couldn't shake it. He couldn't even lend his own heat – his armor was probably freezing.

They lapsed into a heavy silence then, he and Seiji unsure of what to do. How to help. The need to protect Usagi beat urgently through his blood. The longer she used the Silver Crystal, the more he was reminded of what she'd been like when they'd first found her again.

Shuu didn't know if he could handle comatose Usagi.

But he also didn't know what choice he had.

"It's working!" Minako breathed, a terrible hope in her voice.

Shuu spared her a glance, shocked when he noticed the rainbow tones of light that were now infusing with the light of the crystal.

The other Senshi.

They were giving Usagi their energy.

Shuu said a quick prayer that they all stayed safe. That they were all ok.

He didn't think he'd survive if they made it to the other side of this only to find that the Senshi had given more than their all, and had nothing left. The Troopers wouldn't survive that. He'd been a wreck when he'd forgotten Usagi existed. He couldn't imagine knowing her and not having her.

Seiji straightened beside him, face determined. Closing his eyes, Korin began to glow. Seiji furrowed his brow, concentrating. And then called his sure kill. Shuu wondered what the hell he was doing – until he realized that Seiji was sustaining the attack – holding it, keeping a steady flow of energy aimed at the monster.

Not about to be left out, Shuu closed his eyes, concentrated, and did the same. It was surprisingly easier to sustain the attack than he thought. He could feel the pull, but felt up to the task – his armor energized and ready. He and Korin poured their energy into the darkness. It was a little scary – it looked as if they were just dumping themselves into an endless void – but after a moment he realized that it was shrinking away from them.

There were battles raging inside it and out, and finally, finally that was taking its toll. Shuu held his attack, pushing as hard as he could.

They had this.

This thing didn't stand a chance.