Chapter 9: The Final Morning--Part I--Fighting off the Demon from Inside… Ed/Hotaru

It was a dark, yet quiet night here in the Cul-De-Sac. Everyone was now asleep and dreaming. Some of them were good; some of them bad. Most of them were just scary; but why so? Why, these were the dreams of some of the Sailor Senshi's past lives of the Silver Millennium. Even some of the kids of the Cul-De-Sac were dreaming of almost the same thing.

Some of their memories were being revived even more while they slept; hidden memories that were locked away from them for thousands of years. Most of their dreams were flashbacks to important days of their lives back then. Others were on the last day they ever lived; the day that the Dark Kingdom attacked the Moon Kingdom, on Princess Serenity's fourteenth birthday.

But who was having these dreams? (AN: Let me name a few here: Usagi, Mamoru, Hotaru, Makoto, Minako, and Eddy, Jimmy, Kevin, and Nazz. The others; Double D, Ed, Sarah, Rei, Johnny, Ami and even Rolf still need to know a few things…)

(Part I: Ed/Hotaru)

It was now a new Saturday morning here in the little community of Peach Creek as we come upon the Cul-De-Sac once again. We can see that a few houses are active and awake this early, six o'clock morning; Rolf was up early this morning to do a few chores around his miniature farm.

While Rolf did his farm work, Setsuna was cooking breakfast; but having a little trouble trying to find a meat that was edible for breakfast, "Rolf always did like his meat; strange or not," Setsuna sighed as she kept looking for a meat (AN: Like sausage… maybe?).

And finally, there was Hotaru, still sound asleep in her bed. But then she started to toss and turn in her sleep, groaning as he did. Suddenly, something started to show up on her forehead; a black star from long ago.

"No… g-get away… no…" muttered aloud Hotaru in her sleep, "Please; no… don't you hurt--"

Hotaru then jolted up from where she lied, wide awake with tears streaming down her face, "No… S-She's coming back!" She then ran out of the room, went straight to the front door and left Rolf's house, clutching her forehead in pain.

Of course, the opening of the door caught the attention of Setsuna from the kitchen, "Hello?" she questioned as she went the door to see no one there, "Hmm… I bet it was nothing."

Meanwhile, at Ed's house, Ed was currently putting his clothes on for another day of doing whatever anyone told him to do. But it was when he put his green jacket on that he decided what he was going to do today; he was going to follow the person who was walking on his fence.

The figure was walking on top of his backyard fence in a very slow pace, as if the figure were just taking their time. Making his usual, jovial laugh, Ed climbed out of his basement window and followed the mysterious, shadowy figure; just what the figure wanted…

After thirty seconds of laughing and following the shadowy figure later, Ed realized that he was in a clearing of the woods near the Cul-De-Sac. Suddenly, the figure stopped walking as the figure turns around to face him about ten feet away from where he was. Ed quits laughing his usual laugh and stopped in his tracks at who it was.

"Hotaru?" questioned Ed with confusion.

Indeed, it looked like Hotaru, though the sweet presence she once possessed was now gone from around her. It was replaced with a sinister-feeling aura. Plus there was the fact that she was now glowing dark purple and her eyes were now a glossy, marble black. And to give off the sinister look, there was the black star glowing on her forehead.

Ed felt a shiver run down his spine as he looked into her eyes; those were not Hotaru's eyes. She had become possessed by something or someone.

Ed narrowed his green-brown hazel orbs, "Who are you?" he asked with seriousness in his voice.

The person possessing Hotaru only made a malicious laugh at Ed, "My dear boy, I am an old friend of this Firefly of Death," it stated, revealing it to be a very malevolent, female voice, "I simply wanted to say hello to everyone here; starting with you."

Soon Hotaru's appearance changed drastically before his eyes. She was now about the same height as he was; very tall and very thin. Her hair had grown all the way down to her ankles. She was now wearing a long dress with a thick-strapped, sleeveless navy blue vest that went to the line of her waist, while the white skirt part of the dress went down to her ankles and flowed out into a dress train in the back. The dress also had three lines of beads that went across her chest and shoulders. (AN: Dang, that's pretty accurate! XD)

"I am Mistress 9; an alien that possessed Hotaru two years ago," the woman explained as she made a wicked smirk, "I have come back from my long slumber within her to take her over once more and kill all of those who she holds dear to her heart."

Ed made a glare at the alien called Mistress 9 as a sudden feeling washed over him; it was a feeling of hate and anger, something that he rarely feels at any time, "Let her go; right now!"

"And if I don't?" Mistress 9 started to ask, "What would a puny human like you do to someone superior like me; without even hurting this little--"

Suddenly, she stopped what she was saying as her eyes turned from black to violet. The black star started to disappear on her forehead; it was being replaced by a glowing, purple sigh of Saturn, "Please Ed, run away from here before she kills you!" she warned him, tears now coming from her eyes; it was Hotaru speaking this time through Mistress 9's body, "I-I don't want her to--"

She couldn't finish what she was saying before the black star appeared again. Hotaru screams in pain as she closed her eyes and clutches her forehead in pain once again. She opened her eyes, revealing glossy, marble black, "Don't you dare come back out like that, wretch!" this was the voice of Mistress 9 once again.

Ed had finally had had enough. He had to do something; anything to help Hotaru. Ed felt like he needed to do all he could to help her. It was a strange feeling for him to have… but what was this mysterious feeling creeping into his heart?

He then recalled the whispered conversation between Sarah and Jimmy; how Eddy was acting so different because of the girl he saved. They called that feeling Eddy had 'love'… or, that's what they implied, according to Ed.

Was he experiencing this 'love' feeling as well?

A feeling of warmth seemed to overwhelm him, his heart and his mind, as he started to pulse a bright violet. A sign suddenly flashed upon his forehead; the sign of the planet of death, Saturn. He was now wearing something similar to Eddy wore in his flashback, except that the inside of Ed's cape was a dark purple, not red like Eddy's. And like Eddy back then, he had a sword on his belt; but it didn't look like any other sword you've ever seen. Unlike Eddy's sword, this sword was bigger and the sword's blade was shaped like Sailor Saturn's Silent Glaive (AN: I think I'll try to draw a picture of it… I wouldn't think it would be to hard…).

Mistress 9 looked on with slight surprise showing on her face, "You were a part of the kingdom of Saturn?!"

"I was the son of the finest knight on the planet Saturn," Ed started to say, his memories flooding back to him, as he took the sword from his belt and held it in his right hand, pointing the tip of the curved blade to Mistress 9; it was light as a feather for his kind of strength he possessed, "And I'm not going to let an alien scum like you take Hotaru away!"

"How dare you call me that!" Mistress 9 growled with anger, darkness forming in her right hand, "You'll regret that day you've messed with me!"

Soon Mistress 9 sent a ball of dark energy flying at Ed, but Ed didn't move; he knew what to do next. He soon put up his sword like a baseball bat and when the ball of darkness came into range, he hit the ball of darkness with his sword as if the ball of darkness were a baseball. The ball of darkness turned into a spear-like shape as it was sent flying back to Mistress 9, hitting her straight in her chest. You could clearly see Mistress 9's screaming, dying spirit come out of Hotaru's body as Hotaru screamed in pain at it happened.

The Mistress 9 side of Hotaru was now gone for good, thanks to Ed.

You could then see the Mistress 9 was dying from Hotaru by seeing that Hotaru's features coming back to her. She has returned to normal. Ed made a smile as his Silver Millennium clothes and sword disappeared into thin air.

But his happiness was short-lived. Hotaru looked as if she were about to faint, the color draining away from her face. Ed widened his eyes as he came over to Hotaru, just as she collapsed straight into his arms, her breathing was very slow.

"… Hotaru?" Ed asked as he propped her back up against a nearby tree, "A-Are you okay, Hotaru?"

She did not reply to his question.

Ed started to get a knot in his stomach as he then grabbed her left hand; the feeling in her hand was ice cold. He started to tear up a little, "I remember… this has happened before… I-It was the day you did… your forbidden attack; long, long ago."

Ed then embraced her into a hug, crying as he did, "I'm sorry! I've failed my job as the knight who protects you from anything! I-I'm so sorry…"

"It's… not you fault, Ed…" stated a weak voice as Ed widened his eyes. Hotaru weakly pushed herself off of Ed to look at him, "I guess you can say that… it was slightly my father's fault; when I was only six…" Hotaru then started to sob a little, the memories of the fire coming back to her.

She soon felt a finger under her chin, making her to look up at Ed, "Chin up, missy," Ed started to say, "Whatever you're saying happened in the this past, right?" Hotaru nodded her head weakly, "Well, you can not live on past experiences like that. They all have to be happy; not sad!"

Hotaru smiled at him. He was trying to cheer her up; and it was working, "You're right."

They both soon got up from where they sat, "We better get back Ed, I be Setsuna is worried about where I am."

Ed made a smile; a smile that he'd never made before. It was a loving smile. They soon walked out of the clearing in the wood and back to the Cul-De-Sac, with Ed's right hands locked with Hotaru's left hand… (AN: Aww… I'm still a hopeless romantic! DX)

Dang, I've always figured that Mistress 9 was still in Hotaru, so I decided to go with that idea. I think it paid off in the end. What do you guys think?

Umm, I need to ask you (the reviewers) a question. Do you think I'm doing a few characters "OoC" (Meaning: Out of Character)? Kind of feels that way to me... tell me what you think, kay?