Chapter Thirteen: Hellfire Crescendo
The past compelled everything. As the present consumed and defined, the past explained and confirmed. Things that should have remained in the unspoken places of reality bubbled to the surface and contorted the world right before weary eyes. Darkness which had condemned a universe and shattered the bonds of love that should have lasted for eternity had suddenly rose from one who feared it, much to the mutual fear of all those who understood the consequences of it. Eyes far and away watched as a new terror awoke on Earth.
Existence seemed to ripple for Usagi. The wave of fire that was released from Yamito had nearly overwhelmed her to the point of losing herself in this web she had spun. Life and love blurred, creating a vague image of things she had once wanted and fought for. Justice was no longer her friend as she held hands with the fallen. All around her became black, a true testament for things to come. The fire was burning hot and she couldn't even see anything anymore; she only felt the heat. It had happened so quickly that she barely could believe it was real, this powerful fear that was slowly shaking her and pressing her eyes to the night. It was too hot to open her eyes and she was doing all she could just to keep from being incinerated by the flames. She didn't understand how she had survived the initial blast.
"Shit," growled a voice nearby – a voice that lingered in the same place as the fear in her mind.
It was a bizarre thing to hear after looking into the void, but Usagi's ears awoke her with a start. An arm was before her, protecting her from the flames that threatened to devour her. Her body was weak and her vision was too blurry to know who it was that had saved her and the voice she heard defied logic.
That person would not help her.
When she felt her legs become strong once more she grasped the soft fabric at her hands and her eyes fluttered to try and work out the stinging and burning that was prominent in them. When she saw him, her suspicions confirmed, she was shocked almost as much as she was burned.
Kage was her protector. His powerful arm was held out to shield her from the energy, though he didn't seem to acknowledge she was even there as he stood with his fierce eyes locked forward and his electric sword held tightly in the other hand. She never expected him to be the one to help her in dire times, but her true tragedy lay in their villain. For the moment, she couldn't remember who she was being protected from or why the park was suddenly glowing in rampant flame, but she could tell that whoever it was, Kage was also against it. Something caused him great frustration and he glared at it with envious eyes.
Then her mind came back like a storm, memories flowing back in a torrent of emotion and despair. The moments leading up to the blast were horrific and she could hardly believe the thing she saw, but the fire itself testified that she wasn't wrong.
Yamito and Rei – two souls born in a flame that now seemed so different. One she loved and the other she feared, though she lusted for them both in her life. The love they had found seemed to flicker in a breeze fraught with malcontent – like the orange-gold flames that were dancing all around them. However, she knew Rei was missing. That could only mean this power was Yamito's. It paled her. She had always known there was something within Yamito, something that caused her to feel sick whenever he was around. But she never imagined it would be this potent – this overwhelming. She could barely breathe and she hadn't even seen him yet.
At this rate, she didn't even want to.
Kage gave her something else to look at. "Let go or I'll cut your hands off," he suddenly snarled without looking away from his adversary. It was obvious that while she was deathly afraid to look, Kage's entire attention was locked on the source of the flames, his Acrolyth power and mighty sword held within an inch of action against this incredible force.
Realizing she was holding to his back like a frightened schoolgirl, she recoiled nervously and let go, trying not to incur the wrath of him when this was the nicest he had ever been to her. However, despite him saving her from a horrible burning death, it was obvious he still had no patience for her. "Maa! Sorry! I was just…" she started but couldn't finish. There wasn't much else that got out of her lips before she realized he wasn't paying attention to her. Something else enslaved his total attention.
It was that moment she realized she would have to look at him. The moment her mind cleared, the waves of darkness crashed against her once more. A raging squall of dark emotions pulsed against her body and soul, causing her eyes to slowly shift to the focal point of all the fire. There was no more Yamito as she knew him. He was lost within the being he had become, a being which still stood between every side and glowed with the fury and fire of Mars itself. All things around him were now scorched and charred, offering a glimpse into her fate if she were to neglect her position once more. Usagi's face seared with heat, but her eyes seared with tears. Her heart began to rebel against her and she felt sick, almost terminal. For a sound which had never terrified her so came from the form she once loved, a cruel and ominous sound which crawled up her neck and pulled at her chest.
It was the sound of laughter.
"Out of hellfire, I have been set free. The body entreats us to suckle the world and to embrace it. Our skin burns like fire and our flesh shudders at this world. So burns all," said the glowing ember in the center of the flames. The sensual tones of Yamito's voice were not gone, but layered with an echoing tone of something which was not human inside. Red stained his Acrolyth uniform like blood but unlike his dark-haired companions, his hair was now soaked with the same crimson color, freed and exploring in the sweltering breeze. But it was the two great wings of flame that truly made him ominous – a fiery angel of sorts.
For once in an endless cycle of chaos and order, a truly gray being was unleashed into a place where once it had destroyed – reborn into the essence of flame itself. Acrolyth Yamito looked down to his hand with an aroused expression on his face, defying every neutral glance Yamito had showed within the past atonement. "Yamito fears me, but I am only his shadow. Together we broke all taboos and reset the universe to our standard. And yet he forsakes me. But it's no matter. What we have become is truly," he whispered to the fates and closed his hand slowly. Once again a soft laughter chilled those around and his eyes rose past the stained strands of hair which informed all of his evolution as he finished, "marvelous."
Even with his back to her, Usagi could see the churning darkness inside of him. Unlike any being she had known before, he was fused with a darkness that had no purpose aside from what Yamito's greatest desire was. Even under the assumed protection of a powerful soldier like Kage, she shivered in fear and held a fist across her swelling chest. Her feelings were still pulling at her and she longed to be told it was all a lie. However, she could feel the essence of Yamito just beyond the burning rage of this new beast and it signaled to her that this was, in fact, not a dream. "Yamito…" she whispered breathlessly.
However, her longing did stir up her lethal protector and recorded a very violent response from the tense brawler. "Wake up, you stupid girl. That isn't Yamito anymore," he snapped as she started, though he seemed more engaged by Yamito than her own antics for the moment, "Now he's like nothing you've ever seen."
The words from Kage made her throat seize and her heart skip a beat. Seeing that he was finally looking at her again, Usagi could only bite her lip and plead with him for those words to be false. What got to her deepest was the fact that Kage was afraid; afraid of the power Yamito possessed. Knowing that the bold and barren Scion that was afraid of nothing feared Yamito made a powerful statement. As much as he reviled Yamito, mostly for this ability, he knew that nothing he could do would even bother the Acrolyth Scion of Mars. Deep down, each of the Scion knew Yamito had gone beyond them, even beyond Ryu. Yamito was something else now and this infuriated the Jupiter Scion to the point that his knuckles popped as he gripped his weapon in hand. His eyes were unforgiving – his voice sharp and to the point as he warned her, "If you go against him, you'll die."
The very idea made Usagi wince.
As if the warning was a signal, the darkest of all the Scion turned his head and found the source of his greatest contempt looming just beyond his licking flames and just within distance to speak. It caused an insidious grin to creep over his face. Even speaking over his shoulder, his voice boomed with authority, "Why so gloomy, Kage? Weren't you just taunting Yamito in hopes for a fight? We're ready now." There was a chilling tone on his tongue and Kage quickly looked back, his sword held ready to take the impact of Yamito's force head-on. Yet even with its incredible power, they both knew it wasn't enough to snuff the flare growing within him.
Kage's response only pleased him further. "Your memory is better than we thought," he quipped and turned fully to them, showing his grandeur to both rivals in the brightest contempt. A part of him wanted to quickly end their conflict now, using his flowering power to remind Kage why he feared this form. Yet there was a new element standing just beyond, taunting him with its own great power and making him forget the brawler, if only for a moment.
Even with the others nearby, Usagi was all that mattered. Yamito looked at her from the distance between them and his smile faded, as if some great pun had been played on him. He stared her down. "The Moon Princess. Such a bitter disappointment. Ryu is twice the martyr you are. Yet Yamito has great feelings for you," he said in his two-toned voice. When Usagi winced at the confession of Yamito's heart, the fiery creature smiled even wider. "We have a little secret to tell you, Usa. It's something we understand with our thin copy being so close. It involves your beloved Mamoru," he sneered as he shifted eyes towards the lingering Priests.
This pierced her. She had never known Yamito to speak about anything lightly and if Kiga was involved, it meant there was more at stake than life. The feeling that had been eroding her was suddenly brought to bear. Mamoru. She felt something terrible had happened to her millennium lover and that Yamito knew something about it. It made her push past Kage roughly and cry out for response, "What? Tell me what happened to Mamo-chan!"
This amused Acrolyth Yamito and he shifted his eyes back to her, revealing that the answer also had enough importance to please him in the silence of its wake. He knew she would love it. "Anubis has become desperate. Ryu didn't banish him completely. These shadows have been searching for a new body and now they have chosen your beloved Endymion as his new host, probably because of his attachment to you, Victor of the Cosmos. What a vicious development," he lulled but smiled deviously as his copy watching in frigid anger from afar.
Usagi pressed her eyes shut tightly at the news. Even hearing it from Yamito, she didn't accept it. Her eyes fell and her heart sank, but her teeth would not allow her mind to believe him. "No…that can't be. It's impossible," she said, mostly to reassure herself.
Yamito did not seek acceptance, but only her ears one last time and he spoke through his cruel smile, "What enigmatic lives we lead. The most formidable Sailor senshi that exists will be broken by the death of a man, though time and habit seem to settle the same story. What a pathetic life you lead, Sailor Moon. We see where our kind differs now. Your heart pretends to be a mighty weapon, but, in the end, it's merely a broken clock. Allow us give you a glimpse of true power." Suddenly, the two massive wings of flame extended once more, opening on an already charred park and causing the residual rainfall all around to steam away before allowing everything to burn. As flames cleansed, the park became a great baptismal grave – a thing for manipulation by this, the darkest of angels.
From high above, the park may have suddenly appeared to be the fourth level of hell, for fire and ash suddenly devoured the green land. Even the farthest reaches of the park felt the shockwave of heat and lamp posts around the boundaries wilted in pain. The only haven from fire, the great body of water which offered so much beauty and solace, became a plume of steam and boiled from the demonstration, for that's all it was; a petty demonstration to illustrate a point.
It was only Yamito stretching his flaming wings.
Usagi eyes were searing again, which only reflected the sensations wrenching her heart around in the wake of her betrayal. But again she wondered why the fire hadn't incinerated her as well – relinquishing her human body to the wind. As the reality of this heat hit her, she found enough strength to open her eyes and look upon a holocaust of flame and ash. Sailor Pluto stood before her, protecting the princess with her staff and trying to weather this blast of immense power. She always knew the others would be there to help her, but it didn't matter who it was – she didn't want to be saved from Yamito.
Usagi stared at her a moment, grateful that the senshi of time had been alert to the attack, but soon glanced around the park with a mouth opened by heresy. Her green, beautiful park was decimated; a smoldering field of glowing eyes and crying towers of smoke. Even the light rain, which had long since been persuaded by the dying storm, had little effect on the heat.
In the middle of this tragic cemetery stood a single tomb dedicated to a place inside everyone that defied desire or need. In the tomb stood Yamito. "Behold our gift to your world, Sailor senshi. Sailor Moon, your strongest and most passionate warrior, stands behind her protectors and can do little to save this place. Look at how different our kind is," he boomed proudly and gestured a hand to his three fellow Scion. All three were getting past the intense pain they had just experienced, but each was merely scorched from the power their leader had expelled.
However, each one stared at him with a fearful silence in their eyes. Yamito reveled in their reverence. "A Scion lives for himself, using his power to benefit those who deserve it and none who would abuse it. We need no protection. We need no comrades in arms. We are great. Even our fallen grow in power because of it. And now you know the power of our messiah," he preached disdainfully and basked in the product of his great power. "Now you know the malevolence of the Scion touched by the gods!" he cried as he held his hands high to the heavens, accepting the birthright given to him despite how fiercely Yamito had forsaken it. No matter how afraid are hateful, everyone watching had to accept that Yamito's true power was something beyond comprehension or reprieve.
Another blast of wind rippled across the flaming trees and ground, causing each Scion, senshi and Priest to wince. Sailor Neptune's back was seared and burned from protecting Sailor Uranus. Sailor Pluto's power had barely kept both she and the Moon Princess from becoming headstones in this graveyard of ash. The Scion, including the infuriated Kage, were reserved due to their intimate knowledge of how destructive Yamito could be. Even the Priests were only able to withstand the assault because of Kiga's categorical power of fire. This testament to Yamito's hidden darkness was a painful lesson to all and nearly came to a breaking point for Usagi.
She stared. Her eyes were full of fear and resentment and grace. Since the moment she met him, Yamito had always spoken of Ryu with such high regard and love, though the reality behind his death was now bitter for her. However, she also suspected that Yamito had surpassed him, even with the Ginzuishou of their world, as the most powerful of the Scion. Though this fact was being validated with just this sermon of fire, she had always known what he was and who he loved. Sadly, her throat was still seized in fear and no words came to save him. She desperately wanted to save him. But she had no words to save him.
It was, instead, the most unlikely person to dare speak. "Since the moment I was created, you've hidden something from me. The others are equal, but I somehow was denied my right to this power! Tell me the reason!" Kiga roared in the squall of fire around him, stepping away from the other Priests long enough to expose a small bit of the cove they had been protecting. All eyes moved to him, except the ones he demanded.
Yamito stared at Usagi a bit longer, as if entraced by her silence, then laughed in the face of his lesser half. Turning to Kiga slowly, the scene took his attention for a second before he spoke, but all he offered Kiga was an expression of great pleasure. "You silly, little spark. Just because you are some perverted copy of Yamito, don't assume that you could ever understand what we have become. You only have a shard of our true essence and you'll forever be the way you are, while we will advance until we are truly one. How pathetic are you," he lulled with a taunting laugh, but Kiga burned brighter with envy.
"Shut up! You're lying! If you don't tell me, I'll kill her!" he seethed and stepped to the side, revealing four figures standing motionlessly between the Priests.
Even being out of it, Usagi gasped and felt like her heart couldn't take it anymore. Her closest friends, the four Inner senshi, stood silently among the Priests as if entranced by something. Their eyes were dull and listless and not one of them seemed to understand they stood within the ranks of their enemy. The faces of needs and wants had taken them off guard, allowing these dull copies to kidnap them without a struggle. Not one of them had even transformed. They all stood helpless and at the whim of the fiends that stood in wicked conference around them.
Usagi could only press her hand against her chest and try to keep her heart from breaking. In one stroke from Anubis, her whole life was dissected with precision and cruelty. She couldn't even whisper their names or cry out for them. She was too drained by it all.
It was the altered tone from Yamito that tore her eyes away.
He looked at Rei with dead eyes, as if seeing her had broken something inside of him. His smile was gone, replaced with a pressed scowl that even made Kiga clench his teeth. The Scion was lost in a trance of his own, staring at her from a place which remained distant from everything. "Rei," he said to himself and looked upon her relaxed features with a surprising level of affection. Even his incredible power had the limit of love and for a small moment, he looked very much like the Yamito that Usagi remembered.
Then the situation pushed through his senses and he shifted his eyes to the guilty Priest. Kiga's impetuous doctrine proved to be distasteful to him, yet he merely shrugged off the task with casual tones and glances. "We can't allow that. That girl holds a secret that not even we know and she will not die until we have learned it. You will not have her," he said in a distinctly darker tone. To amplify the warning, a great burst of flames erupted from his massive wings and caused everyone to recoil once more.
Yet Kiga, wingless and alone, glared on angrily.
"Kiga! This isn't part of the Master's plan! We must take these senshi and release the Higekitai! Come to your senses!" Byoki howled over the gale of blistering wind as he grabbed Kiga's arm.
Kiga was lost for a moment in the beauty of his original, but soon sighed in frustration and stepped back around the senshi once more. Despite having an uncontrollable desire to be a true copy of Yamito, his underlying duty was to his master and that dwarfed even his own heart's greatest wish. "This isn't over! After the Higekitai has killed all of your friends, the Master will take pleasure in tearing you piece from piece, Scion! Not even you can stand before a god!" he cried. With none to watch, the Priests and their four prisoners disappeared in a flash of light, leaving the only antagonist with enemies on all sides.
Usagi didn't even have a chance to object.
With the departure, a small sparkle of light was left and Yamito' wings closed slightly, his face seeming focused. His eyes were fixed on the light and he turned to the others, signaling the heat to die down from around them. Once everyone was looking at him, he sighed lightly and brushed his hair back from his face. The others were also staring wide-eyed at the sparkle, but only the Scion truly knew the significance. Yamito sighed about the fact that Kiga was becoming a very inconvenient annoyance to him. "A jumpy flame that burns wherever there is oxygen," he said to himself, but soon looked to Usagi with a dismissive glance, "This Higekitai will hatch any second, but I will leave you to handle it, if you can. Die if you must, but realize that each soul it takes will increase its power. I must go to Anubis's temple now. I must ask Sailor Mars a question."
Usagi just stared on, her heart feeling pressed by the moment and her eyes almost unable to take the sight before her. Only moments before she had stood beside him, supporting him in his greatest moment of need and even holding him close to her to try and weather his fate together. He had rattled in pain and shook from the misery, but she had held him and told him that it would all be all right as long as they walked together. Her spiraling emotions coiled around him and protected him. But it was obvious that she hadn't been strong enough to save him from this fate.
Now everything was black. Her beloved was taken; her friends as well; the one she had held so closely was now far and away. She felt as if she couldn't take it anymore and she wanted to fall right then – fall to her knees and cry.
It was a lasting look to Yamito that let her remain standing. His eyes were on her, but they were betraying something inside. Despite his fiery shell, she could see that a small part of him was going after Rei for a different reason – a reason as powerful as the fire that danced around him blazing worship.
It gave her hope.
In a casket of flame, Yamito disappeared from the park, leaving all of the fires still burning to dim visibly. All that was left now was the wounded senshi, the jaded Scion and a frightened human. It was a pathetic scene that was only about to get worse.
The Higekitai began to hatch.
"This does not bode well for us. What shall we do, sempai?" Kurai asked loudly as he looked to Kage for some kind of leadership.
However, Kage would never embrace such a task. He had his own matters to attend to. However, being the most powerful of the remaining Scion, he clutched his sword tightly in hand while the Higekitai began to stir, lightning raging across the blade as it reflected his piercing eyes. "Fuck Yamito. It's good he ran away. Now I got this Higekitai all to myself," he responded, much to the dismay to the others. Unlike the Sailor senshi, who truly had no idea about the power of the Higekitai, the three Scion knew what task lay ahead of them and that even their Acrolyth forms would be taxed by it. But Kage still looked engaged and in his mind, he would simply cut through it before chasing both Senso and the power-drunk Yamito.
The Sailor senshi were decimated. Sailor Neptune still cradled a wounded Sailor Uranus in her arms and stared at the growing beast as well, her face slightly bruised and burned. Kage had hurt Sailor Uranus quite a bit, yet it seemed rather diluted compared to what he had promised to do. Her injuries would heal and nothing was too serious – a grand statement considering the lethal weapons at the bidding of her enemy. But Sailor Neptune still glared past the growing threat to the distant figure of Kage, her eyes burning with anger and her heart broken inside. It was all she could do to stay by her lover's side and keep her safe.
Sailor Pluto felt helpless as she stared at the growing form of the Higekitai. In her heart, she knew Usagi could defeat it, but as she turned and looked at her, she found her princess lacking in spirit. The time senshi could understand how she was feeling inside. Her closest hearts were taken and she had to endure watching others drown in their own power. With ageless eyes, she pitied the princess, yet there was no time to allow reprieve. She had to fulfill her duty.
Everything had come crashing down on Usagi at once and she felt crushed by the weight of it all. Mamoru was taken, as were her closest friends. Yamito had changed. Now a beast of great power was nearly matured in front of her and she didn't feel like she could handle this all. As she slowly slipped into the void of doubt, something flashed through her mind.
The faces of those she loved most came to her, as if giving her the reasons she needed to face this foe and win. On the outside, she was cold and trembling, but on the inside she was filled with a warmth and desire to win. At the forefront of her mind was Mamoru, smiling at her with all the love that he possessed. It only took a moment for her heart to overcome her fear. With a face complete with confidence, she called on her own power to set everything right. She realized that to sit and do nothing meant she would lose it all. Only by acting could she forge her own destiny.
She was, after all, Sailor Moon.
All eyes were shocked to see Usagi transform into Eternal Sailor Moon, her power filling the area with a light glow and her brilliance eclipsing even the potent Higekitai. She walked forward; past her protectors; past her fears and doubts; to the place where the sea met the shore. Despite all that had fallen from her happiness, she understood that she would have to fight to get it all back. Nothing would be taken from her without a fight.
And she would win. "I may not be as powerful as Yamito, but I can still win! After the Higekitai is defeated, I'm going to get my friends back!" she called and grasped her Eternal Tier in her hands.
Some looked on in awe – others in annoyance.
But all eyes were on Eternal Sailor Moon.
A great shadow finally stood formed in front of her; a great beast of pure energy with the outlined form of something so very cruel and dozens of great eyes that burned yellow. The amorphous figure began to sprout arms. These arms then grew ten sharp claws from ten sprawling fingers and they raked the ground into folds with their lethal edges. From its back, huge spiraling horns burst out and rose to the darkened sky. Then two legs formed. Hunched forward with its claws dug deep into the earth, the Higekitai looked about the scene with its many eyes, seeing an entirely new world to feed upon and only a few sparkling obstacles in its way. To that, it let out a horrendous shriek that echoed into the night.
Even as frightening as it was, Sailor Moon didn't back down.
The Scion were aghast that she would stand before it so fearless, striking aside their preconceptions about her and even making them feel weak in their fear. Her brilliance particularly annoyed Kage. "The hell you doing, meat brains? That thing will thrash you to pieces!" Kage howled and glared at her with impending disbelief. There was more concern in his eyes than she could acknowledge, but she still didn't move. There was a fierce determination in her paled eyes; a promise that she could not and would not give up until everything was given back to her again. Amidst the howling screams from the Higekitai, which was surely able to wrench Tokyo from its slumber, Kage was grappled with his own knowledge of this creature.
Finally, another of the dark warriors snapped from his trance and ran up beside her, his eyes flashing with cold logic and the truth of the situation. "This creature is composed of pure human energy! Our attacks are absorbed into it, making it stronger and more resilient. We must retreat!" Kurai said and pleaded with her as well.
She didn't move. Only Sailor Pluto stood still, watching the Moon Princess face this trial with amazing valor. Perhaps, within her ageless heart, she was the only one who knew just what Usagi was capable of. It made her smile.
The Higekitai stirred a bit, finding new mobility in its form and exploring this new place it had been summoned to. Then it was focused on Eternal Sailor Moon. It was a newborn's worst fear to be faced with such energy, so the creature wasn't slow in making its intent known. A great clawed hand was reached out to snare her, possibly to crush her into dust. Its clawed appendages were creaking through the air towards her, thirsting for her blood and tears.
Yet, she still did not move.
"I won't back away from this. I can hear the dozens of voices inside begging to be freed! I won't retreat!" she called out in defiance of the others. The two Scion were watching the claw coming straight for her but could not move. Their fear bound them, but the Moon Princess would not be taken. The might of a pure heart was shown as her Eternal Tier was held for defense. "Silver Moon Crystal Power Kiss!" she cried.
It was a burst of energy which a Higekitai had never encountered. Love was like no other power, offering hope to those in despair, so every soul within the Higekitai throbbed with hope and caused the beast to rear back in a lethal pain. It was the only kind of power that could truly defeat entrapped souls. The beam of energy coming from Sailor Moon encompassed the entire beast and bathed it in warm light. Her power cut to its very core.
The Scion were aghast. Even their own prince had never had such an affect on this creature and the sight was truly surreal. As the Higekitai's form began to smear across the sky, Kurai watched Sailor Moon with no less than admiration in his eyes. Deep inside, he wept for the one Scion who could have been saved by this sight. "Yamito, where have you gone when your answers lay right here?" he whispered.
However, the Higekitai didn't want to go down quietly. Even as it was being pressed by the brilliant beam of energy, the black core of the beast swirled and conjured a potent ball of hate and suffering. In a last effort to survive, the beast threw the part of its body towards Sailor Moon, a black ball of vicious energy meant to knock her from her place and give the beast time to regain its balance. The orb pierced her own beam and began to work its way towards her, coming closer and closer as she watched in dismay. As it was taking everything she had to keep her attack at full force, she could only watch as it neared her Eternal Tier, threatening to tarnish her holy power with a tar-like ball of negative energy. Pressing her eyes and trying as she might, she couldn't stop it.
Then, the orb was shattered into a rainfall of black sparkles before it could reach her, exiting her beam and leaving her to stare in awe. Suteki stood a bit behind Sailor Moon and pulled a long, orange blast of energy back to him, where it soon disappeared. In his face was belief, which was something the others had seemingly lost. But there was also Suteki grinning wildly for the brevity of his villainy and truth of his character. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. I think not, Tall Dark and Ugly. Don't you know that every princess has a few black nights?" he cheered from behind and flashed his thumb at the shocked Sailor Moon.
Sailor Moon smiled a bit at the aid she received from one of her fallen friends, but clenched her teeth afterwards as the drain on her power became evident to her. Since the creature's power was in stark contrast to her own, just its presence had the effect of weakening her. No creature had ever pulled this much from her before, but she was committed to the end. Her beam was strained by the tides of the dark emotions locked inside the beast and she wondered if she had enough to finish it.
But she would try. Again, the faces of the ones she was fighting to protect came flashing through her mind and she felt a surge of energy within her, making her beam brighten considerably and press harder into the beast. Finally, something inside the Higekitai fractured and it reeled. But at the same time, Sailor Moon fell to her knees limply and found much of her strength gone. But the beast teetered slightly and was beaten. With her pure power, Sailor Moon had done what none of the Scion thought was possible.
She had defeated sorrow with the force of her heart.
Sailor Pluto ran to Sailor Moon and held her still, looking upon her with pride and concern. She smiled in the knowledge that the Moon Princess was able to beat it and she paid her hand across her back lovingly, thankful that she was all right. Sailor Moon just rested her chin into her chest, feeling weak and dizzy but also knowing that she had shattered the beast's black heart.
There was a shriek from the beast which ripped her attention back. The lumbering figure began to thrash about, as if the dozen souls inside churned inside for their freedom. Charred trees were slivered as the great claws were thrown about and pulses of dark matter were thrown out with every shriek. The others looked on in terror as the pulses became more potent. It was Kurai that surmised what was going on, "There's a problem! Each of the trapped souls is struggling to get free! If they all burst out at the same time…"
"That thing'll explode and take us with it!" Kage suddenly finished and gripped his sword tight. In an effort to stop it, lightning erupted over his sword once more and he sent another powerful crescent slash towards the beast, hoping to dispel the energy it was generating and save all of them from a gruesome death. However, the beast merely sliced its claws through the attack and Kage's great attack was dispersed. It surprised none of them more than Kage. "What? Impossible!" he sneered in disbelief.
Sailor Moon was barely awake enough to look at the beast and wince, hoping her attempt to destroy it wouldn't take half of Tokyo with it. She desperately wanted to use her power to stop it, but she was drained. With none of them possessing attacks which would defeat the beast now, only one had an answer.
Sailor Pluto's lips pressed together and she looked down to Sailor Moon firmly, her intent laid out in her eyes like a book. The princess looked to her and her eyes widened. She knew what this meant for the time senshi and she couldn't bear to lose another person dear to her, but the aged senshi understood more of duty beyond life than anyone. Saving the many was priority over her own safety and she knew that she would also be saving the ones needed to defeat Anubis. In that, she didn't feel so bad about defying her taboo. She only nodded a farewell before pooling her powers to effect time itself.
Then, as if her powers somehow got ahead of her, time began to twist around them. Everything seemed to slow down, offering a deeper meaning to everything which transgressed. Only the two privy Sailor senshi seemed free from the change, still able to see all that was happening in a speed outside of time itself. The dying beast was barely moving, thrashing about almost as if it were practicing for a part in a play. The others stared, almost frozen to the world which they expected to be gone in a whisper.
Then, a figure appeared before the beast, walking slowly towards them but shaded by the twists of time itself. As if untouched by the change, it approached them. Sailor Pluto's eyes were wide in recognition. A celestial cloak flowed out from the figure, obscuring much of the true form underneath but giving it a majestic appearance as well. Long strands of lavender hair waved across a frozen wind as well. In one hand existed a great staff, housing a violet orb which floated untouched within a disc-like blade at the top. It resembled Pluto's Garnet Orb staff, but somehow was more distinguished and as Sailor Pluto watched, her heart became wild and her breathing became shallow. She hadn't expected it. She hadn't expected him.
"Jikan-sama?" she whispered breathlessly, fearing that his presence was a direct reaction to her decision to use a forbidden power.
Sailor Moon was lost. There was something in her mind which begged her to remember this man, but no memories came clear. He seemed familiar – intimate even. But it was a bur buried in her mind. All she could do was grip Sailor Pluto's fuku slightly and watch. There was something about him which she could not explain, something about the energy around him that told he was not like anything she knew. Also, if Sailor Pluto revered him, he was something that she could never truly understand.
The figure stopped directly in front of them, looking with extremely exotic eyes at the two of the most relevant beings to the cause. His eyes were not like anything even seen, for there were no pupils and the colors of turquoise and gold seemed to wash into one another – like the spiraling of a galaxy. Sailor Moon couldn't speak. She was just too stirred by him.
Then, calmly and with no pretense, he reached out his hand and touched her on her tiara. A warm sensation filled her mind and she felt the tiara vibrating on her forehead, causing her to look up and see a distinctly violet glow coming from the metal. She didn't know what it meant but what she did know was that it wasn't like her own power and that it seemed to fill her with a new strength.
"Use it," said the figure in a voice that as soft as it was soothing.
It was an attack that she had long deemed as her weakest, most basic attack, yet the glow coming from her forehead suddenly empowered her limbs with enough energy to rise, standing before the mysterious figure for a moment. She basked in the energy pulsing from the tiara, but soon realized that although time was stuttered for the moment, the danger remained. With unspoken confidence in this power, she pulled her tiara from her head and it glowed bright violet. Then she used it. "Moon Frisbee!" she called and hurled the tiara at the frozen Higekitai.
The beast, moving slowly like it was stuck in a tar pit, was struck by the attack and the violet glow soaked through its body. The light then changed into bright white. As the light coursed through it, countless voices were hear crying into the air as the souls that had been trapped inside escaped into the night, tearing away at the massive form until there was nothing left but a single dark crystal spinning in the air. The crystal then fell to the ground and shattered. It then turned to dust.
Sailor Moon caught her tiara and stared at the figure. A thousand questions surged up in her throat but something unknown kept her silent. Her throat was tight and her eyes wide.
Yet the figure continued to look at her, quietly and affectionately. "Well done," he said, though she could not respond and only Sailor Pluto had the mind to move. She came up along side Sailor Moon, eager to make a formal introduction but the tall man halted her, his eyes locked on the Moon Princess. "Say nothing, Sailor Pluto. The Moon Child is given this chance to save the ones she loves – if she so chooses," he said. His words were rolling and shook Sailor Moon like an earthquake, but she couldn't seem to say anything in front of him. A memory so vivid was clawing at her mind, yet she couldn't remember it. It was driving her to silence.
Sailor Pluto's face darkened a bit and she looked down to Sailor Moon, sadness dwelling in her eyes. Though she was eternally glad he had interfered after all, she was not happy with his decision. Yet she would abide by him, just as she always had. "And the Scion of Mars?" she asked, looking into Sailor Moon's face for the reaction she would give at the sentencing for Yamito. Sailor Moon had no idea the level of authority she was observing, but she just stared at the figure wither heart desperately trying to come to terms with her memory.
Jikan seemed amused by the senshi's concern, yet simply answered as if she should have known it through and through, "His fate is his own. He will do only what he has already done."
She sighed at that fact, but suddenly Sailor Moon came around enough to realize that the time distortion around them was beginning to warp, fading out Tokyo and taking all of them, even her still-immobilized companions, to another place. She began to panic and looked to Jikan for answers. "Wait! What's happening? Where are we going? Who are you?" she asked but the only reply was a smile. She knew that she had seen him before. She just knew it. But she couldn't quite grasp the exact moment she had seen him and it was driving her mad.
Yet, to all of her questions and to all of her demands, there was his smile. "All things at their proper time, young Serenity," he replied and the haze consumed them, setting all of them into place for the final resolution.