Title:
The ghosts are rising
Author: Ree
Theme: Setsuna
(whisper)
Genre: General/Drama
Version: PGSM - no spoilers, I
think
Rating: G
Setsuna and her friends all belong to Takeuchi Naoko. I just asked them very nicely if they wanted to play. They agreed, and quietly snuck out without Takeuchi-sensei's knowledge.
The ghosts are rising
Setsuna swiveled her chair around and stared into all the corners of the office. She felt like someone was staring a hole through her, but there was no one there. After taking one last good look around, she went back to reading her e-mail. Picking up her pen, she jotted down the time and place of tomorrow's meeting. She knew it was already six o'clock in the evening, but she glanced at the clock out of habit. 'And I was supposed to be off at four. It's time to get out of here.' She shut down the computer, and checked to make sure she hadn't left anything she needed.
When she walked out the building, she felt a frisson of fear skitter up her spine. Using all the skills of a Tokyo native, she walked carefully toward the bus stop. As she crossed the courtyard, she tried not to stare as the spirits rose up out of the ground. They were not like the monsters Sailor Moon and her friends were fighting. At least, they were different from the ones in the news. They appeared to be more like ghosts or wraiths.
Taking care not to look at them, she kept walking. She had always been able to see spirits. That was why she avoided cemeteries and funerals. The ghosts for some reason seemed to seek her out, and she could not understand what they wanted from her. These, though, were different. They seemed to be summoned. Setsuna felt that if she listened hard enough she would hear the whisper of the summoning. Unconsciously, she started listening harder.
The screams broke her concentration. People were running every which way. 'They can see them, too?' She looked at the people, and then finally at the ghosts. The ghosts loomed near a group of children. As the children fell to the ground, the ghosts moved closer to them, and Setsuna found herself running to protect the children. When she was between the them and the monsters, she fell in into a fighting stance.
'What am I doing? I can't fight these things with the basic martial arts training I have.'
She watched as the group of monsters approached her en masse. Instinctively, she held her hands out in front of her in a defensive posture. In her right hand she felt a weight. Her hand felt as if it was closed around an invisible staff. Instincts took over and she swung the invisible staff in a low arc towards the ghosts. A trail of cold air followed it. As the cold air touched them, the ghosts vanished. Once they were gone, the staff vanished as well.
As she checked on the children, Setsuna could finally hear the summoning whispering quietly. It was the sound of someone trying not to cry, and a heart trying not to break.