Chapter 11
The Darkness Aflame! Akumu's Resolve
Hodur lounged sideways on the throne in Asgard, indulging in a rare moment of relaxation. He had one leg tossed over the arm of the chair, his head resting on his fist, supported by the other arm of the chair. His dark eyes were captivated by a small diamond that hovered over his open palm, spinning slowly and shedding a soft white light. A smile spread across Hodur's grim face, the glow of the Seed in his hand giving him a more sinister appearance. Cocking his head to one side, he extended his arm and released the Seed into the darkness of the hall.
The Seed flew into the blackness and came to rest in front of the chest of its previous owner, each keeping the other alive until Hodur decided otherwise. The light of the Star Seed expanded as it drew energy from its host, illuminating the pale face of Sailorelysion. Hodur lowered his arm as the other Seeds in the hall shone more brightly in response to Elysion's Seed. The hall that had once feasted the senshi of Parallel Earth was now as cold and silent as a morgue, with hundreds of senshi hanging as if crucified from the walls with their stolen Seeds spinning before them. A laugh escaped Hodur's lips as he surveyed his collection. So many had fallen, some more powerful than others. Only a few more were needed to complete his task. Only a few more and the galaxy would be his.
Akumu lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Her sister had wisely chosen to leave her alone, and so the room was dark and empty. Akumu tried to sleep, hoping to lose herself in a world of dreams where she could be with Jun again, but she had already been to the world of dreams and she knew Jun was not there. The dreams would quickly turn to nightmares once Hodur discovered Elysium was unprotected and ripe for the taking. There was nothing she could do to help the land Jun had loved, the land that had had a strange familiarity to her as well. All she could do was wait with helpless impatience for her sister to weaken Hodur enough for the other senshi to save the day.
Akumu sighed and flipped onto her side, listening to Eitai bustling in the kitchen. Kiki had vanished without a trace after Vali's cruel attack and Kami had gone out earlier that morning, closing the door softly behind her. Eitai remained, rarely venturing outdoors as if she enjoyed the confinement of the small apartment her double had once owned. After the solitude of the Void, Akumu wondered why the silver haired senshi did not go out more often and see the world, not that it mattered anymore. The world would soon be Hodur's and Ragnarok would destroy everything they loved. Rolling off the bed and to her feet, Akumu left the bedroom to see the quiet comfort of Eitai's presence.
"Are you hungry?" Eitai asked when she saw Akumu lingering in the hallway.
Akumu shook her head and slid onto a chair at the kitchen table, watching the older woman with her large brown eyes. Eitai sighed and continued washing the dishes, humming to herself as she did so.
"Eitai," Akumu said finally, breaking the long silence.
The woman turned to face the girl. Akumu lowered her eyes and absently drew circles on the table with her finger.
"Am I the same darkness as Hodur?" she asked.
Eitai's expression softened and she sat down across the table from the girl. "You are the same, but not completely. Lucis told me you drew the darkness from Vali to make him weaker to save your friends. Would Hodur have done that?"
Akumu shrugged. "Probably."
"Not to save his friends, if he had any," Eitai insisted. "There is much about yourself you don't know, Akumu, and it frightens you. Trust us. If you were evil, would we let you stay here?"
"Maybe you want to keep track of me," Akumu muttered.
Eitai took Akumu by the chin and lifted her head. The surprised brown eyes stared into the crystal ones. Eitai smiled and released the girl, but Akumu didn't lower her gaze.
"You are the darkness, but I heard you tell Kiki before that not all darkness is evil. Do you believe that?"
Akumu nodded slowly. "I suppose. But if I'm not evil, what am I?"
Eitai rose to her feet and winked at the younger girl. "That you have to find on your own."
Kami met Tansei at the lake where they had first exchanged glances, during a time that seemed an eternity ago. He greeted her casually with a peck on the cheek, but kept his eyes firmly on the water and his hands on the railing. Kami stood next to him, not as close as she would have liked out of respect for the obvious tension between them. They were silent for quite some time.
"I have terrible news," Kami said at last.
"Nothing you say could hurt me more," Tansei replied shortly.
Kami took a deep breath. "Jun was taken by Hodur."
Tansei didn't move or reply. He stared out at the lake, his skin drained of colour, his face without expression. Kami raised her hand to place on his shoulder to comfort him, but hesitated. He was angry, she knew, and hurting more than he would admit. Besides Akumu, Tansei had been Jun's closest friend, and Kami wondered with a stab of jealousy how far that friendship had gone.
"And you?" Tansei asked finally. "When will you be gone?"
Kami dropped her hand, stung by the words that were spoken with uncharacteristic hostility. She bit her lip and fought the tears in her eyes as Tansei moved his head slightly to look at her. A flicker of regret for his harsh words passed across his eyes, but he did not apologize or try to explain.
"No, don't answer," he said. "You're already gone, aren't you? You never were, were you? Just here to play and flirt and then you disappear without a trace."
"Tansei – " Kami began.
He turned away from her again. The obituary remained firmly in his memory, the affirmation from Jun that the woman he loved was dead. This person beside him was not Kami. He had fallen in love with a ghost.
He heard her walk away without another word, and he thought of going after her, but stopped himself. He sighed and dropped his head so it rested against the cool metal of the railing, his hands gripping the hair on the back of his head. Try as he might, he could not turn off his heart, and whenever he saw Kami, he wanted nothing more than to hold her in his arms and bury his face in her brown hair.
"Sukaino Tansei," a voice said behind him.
Tansei raised his head to see the girl he had met yesterday standing a little ways away from him, regarding him oddly. She was dressed in black pants and an olive green blouse, but her silver hair and purple eyes pulled his gaze away from what she was wearing.
"Shikyono Yume, wasn't it?" Tansei replied. "I'm sorry, but this isn't a good time."
The silver haired girl came closer. "It is the only time. Come with me."
She reached out to take him by the arm, but he jerked away suddenly. Yume looked at him calmly as he backed up a few paces.
"Go with you? Where? I don't even know you!" Tansei exclaimed.
As Yume advanced, Tansei wondered if she was another of Hodur's minions. Wishing he had not been so quick to dismiss Kami, he move backwards until he was against the railing and unable to avoid Yume any longer.
"It is for your safety," Yume told him. "Come."
She grabbed hold of his arm and he was surprised at how powerful her grip was. Suddenly, he felt very light headed, as if he had been holding his breath for a long time. Placidly, he followed behind the silver haired girl as she led him out of the park.
Akumu walked down the streets, humming to herself. She was doing all she could to force the lingering depressing thoughts from her mind, how one by one her friends were dying and there was little she could do to save them. After their conversation, Eitai practically forced Akumu out of the apartment, telling her that fresh air and exercise will make her feel much better. Absently, Akumu started to wander, hoping to run into her sister or Tansei during her travels. Thinking of Tansei made her remember Jun and she wondered if anyone had told him what had happened. They had been a strange pair, the pale beautiful girl from the land of dreams, and the tall handsome man of the sun.
Akumu paused for a moment to look into a store window. There was a huge display of sweets arranged artfully to look like a castle and garden. Her gaze rested on the liquorice garden, and she thought back to the palace in Elysium and Elios' invitation for her to stay, how she had foolishly told him she would return. She exhaled sharply and rested her forehead on the glass, her breath making small moisture patterns. How could she stay in Elysium, when her soul was as black as Hodur's? Eitai had said as much – they were the same darkness, which meant she could be just like Hodur. Akumu knew in her heart that if she went to Elysium, she would be a pollution to the beautiful world Jun loved so much. A silent sob shuddered through her body as she pushed herself away from the candy castle and continued her walk. She no longer felt like humming, but felt lost and confused as to who she really was. She had been a thief, a warrior, a demon, and a goddess, but which was her true form?
She stood at the base of the shrine where Rei served as priestess, and stared up its length. Without fully knowing why, she began to climb.
At the top she paused for a moment to enjoy the serenity of the shrine. It was nearly devoid of people, except a few small groups here and there, and the bustle of the city seemed to melt away as she stood in the quietness. She began to forget her troubles momentary as she walked up to the shrine building. A girl dressed in the robes of a priestess was sweeping leaves, and she looked up as Akumu approached, pushing her black hair out of her eyes.
"Akumu-chan!" Rei said with a smile.
Akumu bowed politely. "Rei-san, it's nice to see you."
Rei put down her broom and looked more closely at the girl's face. She could see at once that something was bothering the blue haired girl. "What's wrong?"
Unable to hold it in, Akumu burst into tears and told Rei the entire story, how Jun had died because of her, how she was helping Hodur even though she didn't want to, and how Elysium was going to be destroyed because of her.
Rei listened without speaking, holding Akumu and stroking her hair. She didn't know what Elysium was, or why it would be destroyed, but it obviously meant a great deal to Akumu. When the girl was done crying, Rei held her at arms length and smiled at her.
"I don't know a lot about you, Akumu-chan," Rei admitted, "but I have seen you fight and I know you're not going to be one of Hodur's minions."
Akumu remained doubtful.
"About you supplying Hodur with power," Rei shrugged. "If you are the darkness, I suppose it's possible. Have you talk to Kami about it?"
Before Akumu could answer, there was a scream from behind the shrine. Rei was moving in an instant and Akumu found she was following, one hand going to her pocket where her transformation pen rested. The shadowy form of Vali was standing over the unconscious body of a girl. Akumu recognized her – she had been in one of the groups of visitors to the shrine. Vali was waiting patiently for the senshi to arrive, his lower torso wrapped in shadow which curled around him like a blanket so only his chest and head were visible.
"Mars Immortal Power, Make-Up!" Rei said without hesitation.
"Darkness of Night, Transform!" Akumu said almost reluctantly.
Vali smiled cruelly as the two senshi stood before him. He drifted over the already forgotten girl and hovered before them, his eyes darting from one to the other.
"I knew you wouldn't be long," he hissed.
"Leave her alone," Sailor Mars ordered.
Vali looked surprised. "Who? The girl? Merely a distraction to get you here. You can see she's unharmed, just asleep."
As Mars moved to check the girl, he turned his eyes to Sailor Nyx and gave her a mocking bow. "My Lady, you're looking well."
Nyx narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm not your lady. I'm not Hodur's kindred spirit."
Vali raised an eyebrow. "Really? You who drained my darkness and made it your own? How are you not like Hodur?"
Nyx hesitated, thinking back to what Eitai said. You are the same darkness. Even Rei had told her it was possible she was feeding Hodur energy. Vali smiled again, this time more welcoming and bowed deeply.
"You are my Lady," he whispered as Mars returned.
"So your distraction worked," Mars snapped. "What do you want with us?"
"My Master desires your company," Vali told her.
He snapped his fingers and the shadows around him expanded, engulfing the back of the shrine in darkness. As it moved, it left Vali exposed so his entire body was visible. He held out one hand and a sword appeared. He saluted Nyx with it and charged at Sailor Mars.
The black haired senshi yelped in surprise and dodged the attack, spinning away and facing her adversary again. He swung again, the blade lengthening mid-swing so it would be impossible to avoid. It caught Mars in the shoulder and bit deeply into her skin. Red blood pooled on her white uniform, but she seemed to ignore the wound as she stared at Vali with malice in her eyes.
Nyx watched the fight with growing horror. There was nothing she could do to save Mars, no powers of hers that would fight the darkness of Vali. She rubbed her gloved hands together and tried to think. She had to save Sailor Mars. She would not be the cause of another death.
Vali had cornered Mars against the wall of the shrine, the blade at her throat. The fire senshi was defiant to the last, staring into his dark eyes as the tip of the sword pressed against her skin. Nyx couldn't stand it anymore.
"Stop!" she called. "I accept your master's invitation."
Both Vali and Mars froze and turned to face her. A terrified expression passed over Sailor Mars' face while, at the same time, a look of triumph rose on Vali's.
"I have your promise that you will not try to escape?" Vali asked.
"If I have yours that you will stop hunting senshi."
"Nyx, are you crazy?" Sailor Mars hissed. "He'll kill you!"
Nyx ignored Mars and stared hard at Vali. The minion pretended to consider the offer before smiling brightly.
"Done!" he agreed, and his sword vanished.
Mars moved from the wall to try and reach Nyx, but the darkness that had hidden the back of the shrine merged on top of her and wrapped her in a black cocoon. As Mars tried to reach her, it shot into the air and the fire senshi landed on the ground where Nyx had been. Vali laughed and disappeared, leaving Mars alone.
Rising to her feet and wincing as she put pressure on her injured shoulder, Mars stared into the sky as if by sheer willpower she could force Nyx to return. A minute later, she sighed in defeat and turned back to her home, so she could bandage her arm and tell the bad news to the others. Hodur had got himself another Seed.
Sailor Nyx was deposited gently at the bottom of a long flight of stairs. She blinked a few times, wondering if her eyesight had been damaged by the strange method of transportation Vali had used to bring her here. Finally she realized that it wasn't her eyes, but the atmosphere itself. The city in which she stood was perpetually bathed in darkness and shadow, with just enough light for her to navigate by. She turned around slowly, noticing the ruined buildings devoid of life. From the corner of her eye, she thought she saw a large black monster disappearing down a street. When she faced the stairs again, Vali was seated there, watching her.
"What is this place?"
"Asgard," Vali replied. "The home of my Master, once the home of the senshi."
Nyx could remember Eitai talking about this place, when they had been trapped in Sailor Neptune's mirror. Eitai had told her how the city of Asgard was made as a mirror image of Tokyo, complete with people and senshi. A paradise for the old gods that no one believed in anymore. Rather than have them fade into nothingness, Parallel Earth was created, governed by the god of light. Nyx shuddered as a chill passed through her body. Eitai and Kiki would hate to see what had happened to this place in their absence.
"Come," Vali instructed, starting up the stairs.
Nyx followed as she had promised, surprised that the stairs she now climbed were identical to the ones leading up to Rei's shrine. She thought of the black haired priestess and hoped she would be forgiven. Still, if she was here in Asgard, she could not give Hodur any more of her power on Earth. The senshi would be able to win without her there.
At the top of the stairs was Rei's shrine. Vali motioned for her to enter the building and she did so, conscious of the fact that Vali was not following her. She pushed open the large wooden doors and found herself in a room of total darkness. As she stepped inside, the doors closed behind her with a loud thud and she was unable to see. Taking a hesitant step forward, her boots clicked on the stone floor, and a hum began from the darkness. The hum grew louder, as if being joined by other voices, until a choir of humming threatened to deafen her. Nyx pressed her hands over her ears, but as she did so the room began to grow lighter. The sound all but forgotten, Nyx's arms dropped limply to her side as the lights of hundreds of Star Seeds illuminated the hall.
It was like a cathedral in its eerie beauty. Hundreds of half-dead senshi, floating in colourful spheres with their diamond shaped Star Seeds twirling before them. Each Seed emitted a hum and a glow, which encouraged the Seeds around it to do the same. Tears flowed freely down Nyx's face as she walked towards the senshi, searching for familiar faces. It was not long before she found Sailor Moon, the adult Chibiusa who was Queen of Crystal Tokyo and he dearest friend. Close to her was Sailor Jupiter, whom she had not had the chance to meet in this era, and Sailor Mercury who had died to save her. There were many senshi she didn't recognize, ones from far off galaxies and planets without names on Earth. Hodur had been thorough in his collection.
"Wonderful, isn't it, my Lady?" a deep voice asked.
Sailor Nyx turned to face Hodur, who was seated on his throne. Next to him, suspended in a white sphere, was Sailorelysion. Nyx felt her legs going numb and she nearly fell to the ground, but she managed to keep herself upright.
"They're so beautiful, I can barely take my eyes off them," Hodur continued, holding out his hand so Jun's Seed would dance on his palm.
"You're a monster," Nyx managed to say.
Hodur raised an eyebrow. "Am I? I am what you made me, my Lady. I admit I didn't recognize you at first, but now I know who you are and what you are. We are more alike that you realize."
Hodur rose from the throne and walked towards Nyx, allowing Elysion's Seed to return to its host as he moved. He stopped in front of her and knelt on one knee before her.
"You are my Mistress," Hodur told her quietly, taking her hand in his and kissing it. "I have always served you, and done your bidding."
"My bidding?" Nyx repeated. "This is not my bidding."
"But it is!" Hodur replied, rising to his feet in a swift motion. "This was all your plan, and you instructed me to carry it out. Naturally you wouldn't recall, but I assure you, my Lady, I have done nothing against your will."
Nyx stared at the floating senshi, feeling faint. Her will? Her instructions? Her plan? It was worse than she thought. She wasn't feeding Hodur energy to make him stronger, she was the evil that would destroy the world.
Hodur smiled at her. "Now, my Lady, would you like some dinner?"
Tansei awoke to find himself securely tied to a chair. He was in a strange apartment with very little furniture, only the chair on which he sat and a small table in the kitchen. He looked around to get some bearings on where he was, but the window revealed only the blue sky and no landmarks at all. He heard some movement from a nearby room and turned his head in time to see Yume coming out. She blinked at him in surprise.
"Oh, you're awake," she said.
"What's going on?" Tansei demanded. "Why are you holding me here?"
"I need to check something," Yume replied vaguely, moving towards the table. "It will only take a moment."
"What do you need to check?"
Yume turned to face him, holding a black pen in her hand. "Your soul."
She held the pen over her head. "Hypnos Power, Awaken!"
A wind picked up beneath her, blowing her hair and clothes around as she held up the pen and kept her gaze firmly on it. Tansei stared in amazement as two gates appeared behind her, one of ivory and one of iron. The gates opened and white cloud blew out of them, wrapping Yume so only her hand and wand were visible. As the gates closed and vanished, taking the white clouds with them, Yume was gone and in her place stood a senshi.
She wore a white leotard, with a black skirt and sailor's scarf. The bows on her uniform were blue, with a green centre at the front, and green pads around her elbows. Her arms were covered in white gloves, and a green choker was around her neck. There was a silver tiara across her forehead, and a green gem glowed between her purple eyes. She stared at Tansei with cold determination.
"You're – " Tansei began.
"Sailor Hypnos," the girl replied.
"But you're a –" Tansei tried again.
Sailor Hypnos closed her eyes and held a finger in front of her face. Curious as to what she was doing, Tansei grew silent. A red light seem to materialize around her finger as she concentrated.
"Hypnos Soul Reveal!" she called.
She pointed to Tansei and a red light shot from her finger and into his chest. His head rocked back in pain as it felt like he was being torn in two. He felt himself losing consciousness, but before he passed out, he thought he saw a silvery shadow of himself separating from his body to stand before the black senshi.
The phone rang. Eitai looked up from the book she was reading with mild annoyance. Kami had still not returned, and she had sent Akumu out for a walk a few hours ago. The disappearance of Kiki troubled her, especially after what Vali had done to her, but she was sure the mischievous girl could handle herself. Eitai had decided to read a few books during her time free of exile, and was not entirely pleased when the phone rang, interrupting a dramatic part.
She rose from her place on the couch and picked up the receiver. "Hello?"
"Eitai-san?" the caller asked. "It's Hino Rei."
"Rei-san," Eitai greeted her, immediately forgiving the disturbance. "What can I do for you?"
"It's Akumu-chan," Rei said. There was a pause. "She's gone."
Eitai sat down heavily on the couch as Rei told her what had happened only a few hours ago. She waited patiently until Rei was done apologizing for not saving the girl, then asked her question.
"Did you see Akumu's Seed?" Eitai asked.
There was a pause. "No, Vali took her alive. She volunteered."
Eitai smiled in relief. "Then she is alive. Don't worry, out of any of us, she has the least to fear from Hodur."
Sailor Nyx sat at the far end of a long table made of polished wood. A candelabra shone in the centre, causing shadows to dance along the sparse walls of the strange room. At the far end of the table sat Hodur, watching her with a smile on his face. They were being served a sumptuous meal by a few ragged and terrified looking humans, who kept their eyes firmly down and tried in vain to control their trembling hands. Nyx felt badly for them, wondering what kind of life they had led before the darkness had extinguished the light of Asgard.
Hodur raised a crystal goblet full of red wine at Nyx and drank deeply. She glared at him, her hand firmly on her lap, not touching the food the servants placed before her. Hodur raised and eyebrow at her.
"Is the food not to your liking, my Lady?" he asked politely.
"I'm not hungry," Nyx replied shortly.
Hodur shrugged. "Very well. I would like to discuss the next step of your plan, Mistress. I'm afraid I don't have enough Star Seeds to fulfil your desire."
Nyx stiffened. "It's not my plan. It's your plan. I don't want any of this!"
"But you do," Hodur purred, sipping his wine again. "You may not remember, but it was your explicit wish that this happen."
Nyx said nothing. Hodur rose from his seat and walked swiftly down the length of the table to stand behind her. He wrapped his gloved hands around her shoulders in an almost tender embrace and rested his cheek on the top of her head.
"My poor Mistress," he whispered. "So lost, so confused. Let me tell you what you are. Let me set you free."
Against her will, a tear slid down Nyx's face. She missed her sister, and wondered what she should do against this terrible creature. She was the darkness, she knew, just as her sister was the light. Eitai had said so, Rei had said so, and then they had left her alone. She was lost and confused, just as Hodur said. She was tired of it. She wanted to know the truth.
"Tell me," she said softly. "Tell me the truth the others have hidden from me."
Hodur smiled in her hair and tightened his grip on her shoulders, not enough to hurt her, but enough for her to feel the pressure. Gently, he raised her to her feet and drew her away from the feast. Turning her to face him, he smiled almost kindly, and told her the truth.
Kami sat in the park, lost in thought. She had not expected Tansei to react so strongly against her. She thought perhaps he was mourning the death of Jun – Akumu had told her they had grown close during her absence. He had also discovered her secret, although she had not tried to hide it. She had told him from the beginning that this was a doomed romance, but he had been insistent and she had allowed herself to indulge in a selfish moment of humanity.
She pulled her legs up to her chin and rested her arms on her knees. She should never have allowed it to go this far. It wasn't fair to Tansei, to deny him a normal life with a normal girl, but she could not go back now. Her mind lingered for a moment on the idea of letting him stay angry, in the hopes that he would forget her and move on, but she knew she would carry the guilt for a long time. No, she would have to tell him the truth, make him understand, and maybe then they could part as friends.
Suddenly, she felt a strange presence close by. It had not been too long since she had left Tansei, a few hours at the most, but the sensation was coming from the direction of the lake. She rose to her feet, gazing into the distance like a dog that just caught a scent, but did not move. She knew it wasn't Hodur, or any of his minions. She thought perhaps it was another senshi, but whoever the unknown warrior was, they would be better off not associating with Kami and her companions. There would be a better chance of the senshi staying hidden that way.
Ignoring the feeling, she headed back the way she had come, towards the apartment she shared with the other lonely souls who were trapped by destiny. She had a final thought of Tansei, wishing for him to understand, and left the park.
"No, I was mistaken ... Yes, I'll take care of it."
Tansei woke up feeling as if his body had been ripped in two and roughly squashed back together again. His head throbbed and every muscle in his body felt as if he had just undergone rigorous exercise without stretching first. He moaned in pain as the light from the room sliced through his skull, and he lay back against the cushions.
A second thought entered his fragile mind. He was lying in a bed, or more correctly a cot, in a room that was otherwise unfurnished. The walls and ceiling were painted an off white and the only light was coming from a bulb hanging from a wire in the ceiling. He heard faint talking in the other room that cut off when he moaned again, and a head poked through the open doorway. It was Yume, the girl from the park.
"What did you do to me?" Tansei croaked, his voice sounding thick.
"I did nothing," Yume replied, entering the room to stand next to the bed. "I saw you in the park and you fainted. I brought you here to recover."
Tansei blinked slowly. "Fainted?"
Yume nodded, her face expressionless as always. "Are you feeling better?"
"Worse, actually," Tansei answered.
He suddenly remembered what had happened. The girl, Yume, was a senshi. She had torn something from him using her strange magical powers. Did she work for Hodur? What she gathering those mysterious Seeds too? Tansei struggled into a sitting position, in spite of protesting muscles, and stared hard at Yume.
"You're a senshi," he said bluntly.
"Don't be absurd," Yume replied a little too quickly.
"Sailor Hypnos. What did you do to me?"
Yume hesitated for a moment, obviously torn between continuing the lie that neither of them believed, or telling her deepest secret to a complete stranger. Tansei waited impatiently, wanting to know the truth about what had happened to him. Yume raised her eyes to meet his and gave him a slight smile.
"Yes, I am Sailor Hypnos," she told him. "How do you know about senshi?"
Tansei shrugged painfully. "I know a lot of things. What did you do?"
"I examined your soul," Yume replied quietly.
Tansei blinked in surprise and shock. "My soul?"
"It's my job. I seek out the souls of those about to die and bring them to the Underworld. I sensed a presence about you, and thought … well, I was mistaken."
"So I'm not going to die?"
Yume's smile broadened. "Not yet."
Tansei's anger lessened slightly in light of the fact that he was alive, and that this girl was not about to kill him. He laughed to relieve the stress and tension he had been under, and the sound surprised Yume.
"So you're a senshi who collects souls?" Tansei asked. "Are you with Hodur?"
Yume frowned. "I don't know that name. Now you answer my question."
"I know a few senshi, myself," Tansei said. "They don't gather souls, though."
"Upper world senshi?" Yume questioned. "What is their purpose?"
"Protecting the Earth, I guess."
Yume thought about the answer for a moment, her lips pursed and her brow furrowed in thought. Tansei was stretching his sore limbs, and was happy to discover the pain was lessening. His headache was just a dull pounding and he found he had use of his arms and legs again.
"Not that this hasn't been fun," Tansei observed, "but can I go now?"
Yume shook her head. "No, I'm afraid you cannot."
"Why?"
"You know my secret, and I cannot have you telling anyone about us."
"If there's one thing I can do, it's keep a secret," Tansei insisted. "Remember? Friends who are senshi?"
Yume shook her head again. "I cannot let you leave. You must stay here until I can decide what is to be done with you. You will be safe, for now. It is not your time to die yet."
Before Tansei could object, Yume pressed a finger to his forehead and he found his eyelids dropping shut. No matter how hard he tried to fight it, he was sinking into a deep slumber. The last thing he saw before his eyes firmly closed was Yume watching him, without a twinge of regret in her deep purple eyes.
Akumu sat on the throne that had once belonged to Baldur, dressed in a gown of the deepest black. The whispered words of Hodur still rang in her ears, and she knew them to be true. She looked at each of the floating senshi in turn, her heart tearing at their imprisonment, but at least she knew they were not dead. Chibiusa, Jun, and all the others might some day return to the living world, if things followed her plan.
She was the Mistress of Night. She had know that before. Hodur, a god of night, had been her disciple long ago, as Baldur had been taught by Lucis. She had given him his power, was its source, and he claimed to continue to serve her. If she was the darkness that strengthened him, she could think of only one way to stop him. She had to destroy the source.
Without her powers, Hodur would be unable to gather more Seeds, and would be unable to bring about Ragnarok. Without her, the light would be able to defeat the dark, and the remaining senshi and her sister would drive Hodur away to wherever he had come from. Without her, order would be restored to both worlds.
Hodur swept into the hall, with Vali trailing behind him like a shadow. He bowed to Akumu, his minion echoing his movements, and walked up the few steps to stand before the throne. Akumu looked at him with dull eyes, no longer afraid or surprised by anything he said or did. Hodur smiled and took her hand, kissing it gently.
"My Lady, have you thought about it?"
Akumu nodded. "You require my Seed to fulfil my plans."
"Had you not returned to me as a senshi, I might have managed without you, but you have my solemn promise that you shall be returned to your true self once Ragnarok has begun."
The greed in Hodur's eyes was apparent as he waited for Akumu's decision. Vali hovered nearby, like an anxious servant. Hodur still held Akumu's hand in his own, lingering for longer than Akumu liked.
"You will not have my Star Seed," Akumu told him firmly, "or the Seeds of any other senshi. This is not my will."
Hodur's face turned instantly menacing, and he gripped Akumu's hand tightly. She gasped in pain as she felt her knuckles cracking under the pressure. He pulled her off the throne and into his arms, crushing her against his chest.
"I will have your Seed, my Lady," he sneered. "You don't understand how important your Seed is."
Akumu struggled away, placing the throne between herself and the enraged god. She kept calm, however, and drew herself up to her full height. "I do understand. I am the source of your powers, like you said. We are the same, but different. You control too much of the night, my former disciple, and it is time for me to show you who the true mistress is!"
The black gown faded into one of purest silver, shining in the dim light of the Star Seeds. The Seeds glowed in response, as if cheering Akumu's decision. She stared at Hodur long and hard, her eyes growing white in her rage, but she did not transform into the Fury. Instead, she began to hover above the ground, drawing the darkness to her. Hodur watched in stunned silence, and Vali slipped away into the shadows and out of sight.
"You displease me, Hodur of Asgard," Noctis said. "You have strayed too far for redemption this time."
Hodur, far from being frightened, raised his hands and shot a beam of black energy at the floating girl. Noctis didn't even flinch as the beam was absorbed into the swirling darkness around her.
"You cannot harm me with my own element," Noctis told him.
She raised and arm almost negligently and flicked her wrist in Hodur's direction. The lightning that struck where Hodur had been standing left a deep crater in the floor that smoked for several minutes. Hodur had darted quickly to one side upon seeing the attack, and for the first time, his eyes showed fear. Gathering all his energy, he unleashed a large ball at Noctis, that struck the swirling energy around her and was instantly fired back at him. It hit him full force, and he yelled out in pain and anger before disappearing through a hastily erected portal. From the corner, a snaky shadow followed and they were gone.
Akumu fell to the ground, exhausted. The powers of her true form of Noctis had left as quickly as it had arrived, leaving her completely drained. She reached up to grab hold of the throne and hoisted herself to her feet. Her legs shook dangerously, but she managed to stumble down the hall towards the large doors. As she drew nearer, her mind balked at how she would open the massive wooden gates, but they swung open on their own accord and Akumu found herself standing in the courtyard. The sky was still hazy and dark, like a thunderstorm that would not blow over, and she could still feel Hodur's presence blanketing the land. The battle was not over yet.
The last of her strength gone, Akumu toppled forward only to be caught by a pair of strong arms. Blinking to clear her fading vision, Akumu looked up and into the gently smiling face of Sailor Aion.
"But how?" Akumu murmured.
"Rei told me what happened," Sailor Aion replied, "so I came in case I was needed. Clearly, I was not."
She held Akumu close, hugging her as if she were a child. "I'm proud of you."
Akumu smiled and relaxed in the embrace, relishing the warmth of the person next to her and trying to forget the horrible things she had seen in the hall. Suddenly, her eyes flew open and she pushed away from Aion, stumbling towards the wooden doors again. Aion was a few steps behind her, looking at her curiously.
"The senshi!" Akumu gasped. "We have to free them, all of them!"
She threw open the door and her jaw dropped in shock. The hall was deserted, except for a few long dusty tables and discarded bowls. Torn and dirty tapestries hung on the walls, and turned over chairs littered the floor. Akumu sank to her knees, tears welling up in her eyes. She frantically looked around for a sign of the senshi, the slightest glow of a Star Seed, but found nothing. She hung her head and clenched her hands into fists on the cold stone ground.
"Jun," she whispered. "I failed you again."
Sailor Aion knelt next to the girl and put Akumu's arm around her neck. She lifted the girl to her feet and gently led her out of the Hall of the Immortal Senshi and into the ruined city of Asgard.
Akumu woke up to find herself snug in her own bed. Kami was sitting next to her, a worried expression on her face. As Akumu yawned and sat up, Kami smiled brightly and threw her arms around her sister's neck.
"You're okay!" Kami exclaimed. "How are you feeling?"
Akumu paused for a second. "I feel terrific! I haven't felt this good since Crystal Tokyo, before Hodur."
"Well, you did sleep for two days," Kami informed her.
"Really? Two whole days?"
"What happened?" Kami asked, her voice full of concern again.
Akumu told her everything; how she had intended to sacrifice herself to save Sailor Mars, how she had seen hundreds of senshi hanging in suspended animation with a galaxy of Star Seeds around them, and how she had heard the truth from Hodur. Kami pursed her lips thoughtfully at the last part of the story and nodded.
"He told me about my past," Akumu said. "My very distant past. Was he lying?"
Kami shook her head. "No. Long ago, when the Earth was new, even before Parallel Earth was created, you and I had several pupils whom we taught about the galaxy. The ones who followed me became the gods and goddesses of the light and the sun, while the ones who followed you were the gods and goddesses of the night and the moon."
"So I did teach Hodur everything he knew," Akumu said somewhat sadly.
"A few of our disciples broke away from our teachings," Kami continued. "They used the powers we had taught them for their own purposes. Hodur was one of them, Akumu. How he abuses your teachings is not your fault."
Akumu smiled and hugged her sister, reaching across the bed to grab her around the wait, and laying her head on her sister's lap. Kami stroked the girl's blue hair gently as Akumu drifted back to sleep.
"I'm happy you found yourself," Kami murmured to the sleeping girl, "but you have a way to go still."
Hodur paced around the room impatiently, cursing himself and Akumu and anyone else he could think of. The two shadowy forms of his remaining minions wisely kept their distance, not wanting his anger to be taken out on them. Hodur could not believe how badly things had gone. It should have been easy to seduce the girl – she had already been contaminated by Vali's poisonous mist, so her mind should have been fragile and easily bendable. He had told her the truth, had promised to make her a goddess once more, and she had thrown it all in his face. Worst of all, she was no longer the timid girl who was afraid of her powers. She had realized her true form and was now a greater threat to him than Lucis.
He shot a burst of dark energy at the wall, watching it smoulder. The sudden outburst did nothing to tame his rage, however, and he threw another energy bolt at a mirror that was hanging on the wall. It shattered, but in the cracked glass an image appeared. Blinking and breathing heavily, Hodur walked to the mirror and stared at its fragmented image. A slow smile spread across his face as the garden scene before him wavered and vanished. He had forgotten about the worlds of the dead, the gardens of Elysium where he dared not travel, and the shadowy world of Erebus. He glanced at his most recent acquisition, the form of Sailorelysion, and suddenly it dawned on him that the Underworld was left without its guardian. She had failed to keep it safe.
"Baldur was a fool to keep such close ties with the dead," Hodur laughed. "But with the souls of the damned at my command, the senshi will be overwhelmed!"
He spun around in a twirl of cape and walked through a portal that had materialized at his command. Vali followed meekly after him. Alone in the hall, a tear fell down Sailorelysion's cold cheek.
Akumu stood in the gardens of Elysium with a bag at her feet, feeling very much like a child sent away to summer camp. Kami had brought her here to rest and recuperate after her battle with Hodur, and Eitai had insisted she go. Remembering her promise to Elios, Akumu had reluctantly agreed, although she still felt badly that she had allowed his sister to die.
Once Kami had left, Akumu stood hesitantly in the courtyard of the temple, kicking at a loose stone with the toe of her shoe. There were no signs of human life around her, only the birds and animals of the lush garden that regarded her without fear. Holding out her hand, she waited quietly as a small red canary landed on her finger. It sang her a song and flew off, leaving Akumu standing like a statue with a smile on her face.
"Akumu," Elios said, descending from the temple.
Abandoning her pose, Akumu bowed deeply to the Priest of Elysium. As she straightened, she was engulfed in a warm embrace. She returned the hug and noticed that Elios had the same fragrance as Jun, the sweet scent of jasmine. He released her and smiled warmly.
"I'm so glad you could come," he told her.
A white robed girl came from the temple and picked up Akumu's bag. Without a word, she walked off with it, leaving Elios and Akumu alone. Gesturing, Elios led Akumu to the area where they had had tea before, and surprised her with a small lunch already set out for them.
"I'll give you a tour when you're rested," Elios promised. "I hope you find some things you recognize here. Lucis tells me that you battled Hodur yourself? Have you gained some control of your abilities?"
Akumu swallowed the sandwich she had been eating and nodded. "I transformed into Noctis instead of the Fury, but I'm not sure if I can do it on my own yet. The power left me completely drained, too. I slept for days!"
Elios laughed, the sound reminding her of Jun. She was surprised to notice the pain wasn't as great anymore. She remembered Jun with affection, but the stabbing feeling she felt when she realized Jun was gone was not as intense. Perhaps it was because she knew Jun was not dead, but captive.
Something Elios had said before suddenly registered in her mind. "Wait a minute. Why would I recognize things here? This is only the second time I've ever been to Elysium."
Elios smiled knowingly. "I'm afraid you're mistaken. You spent a good portion of your infancy and childhood here in these gardens. Your sister brought you to us when you were very small, and asked us to care for you."
Akumu sat back in shock. The familiar smell, the feelings she had around Jun. It was all making sense in one wave of emotions and memories. "Mother," she whispered.
Elios nodded. "That's what you called her. Jun was the mother you never had, and cared for you like you were her own child."
Kami reappeared in the park, satisfied that Akumu would be safe and well with Elios. She also hoped her sister would learn of her past, complete the picture that Hodur had started to tell her, until she realized the full truth of her life. It would be a shock, Kami knew, but a necessary one. It had taken her own death for Kami to realize the nature of her soul, and that realization still brought her many regrets.
Taking a deep breath, she began to walk slowly back to the apartment, relishing the cool afternoon breeze. Hodur would not be so quick to attack after the thrashing Akumu had given him, and Kami was hoping to use the time to relax a bit. They had all deserved it, after all.
As Kami passed between the park gates and disappeared into the crowd of people, a pair of purple eyes was watching her. The presence of a dead soul was strong on that one. This time, Yume thought, there would be no mistakes.