Theme: Seven - Lyrical ("Ashes" by Embrace)
Genre: Angst/Dark
Version: AU
Rating: R
Don't make a sound/ Shh and listen/ Keep your head down/ We're not safe yet/ Don't make a sound/ And be good for me/ 'Cause I know they're waiting somewhere out here - "Shh" by Frou Frou
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Drops of Jupiter
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Mercury wasn't aware she had been the one screaming until Venus's hand was pressed over her mouth. There was something sticky and warm on her glove, leaving a dark, metallic taste smeared over Mercury's teeth every time a deep, shuddering gasp tried to work its way into her shrieking. In the background, Mars was lunging forward. Her gloveless hands were like dry ice, so hot they felt bone cold, as she helped Venus drag Mercury back through the sandy ground.
They almost trampled over Sailor Moon, with her head pressed face down onto the wasteland. Mars had to step over her to use all of her force on Mercury as Venus struggled to keep the hysterical senshi under control. It seemed wrong: the quiet one howling at the top of her voice, and the bubbly, trouble maker as still and silent as someone praying in a churchyard.
But maybe that's how Moon saw it, puffing sand with each breath as her forehead ground into the soft earth. Her body was compacted, hands clasped to her chest, as she rocked side to side in her worship. She bowed towards the fading image that still guttered heavily in the darkness behind her eyelids.
Jupiter had been right there. Her hands outstretched, she made for a very beautiful human shield. Her body had crackled and sparked with the ferocity of her element as the sky thundered…
And then she was gone.
Her remaining glow was being snuffed out like a candle that had reached the end of its wick. This alien world didn't tolerate light or passion. It swallowed it in one, greedy gobble like a crocodile, gouging it back into its underbelly ferociously. Where light touched, the ground almost seemed to hiss.
Venus tried to gather Mercury as close to her as she possibly could. "Shh," she breathed. Her teeth chattered painfully every time she opened her mouth, but the sound of her own voice had always made her feel better, stronger. "You have to be quiet now. Don't cry. Don't cry."
The other senshi seemed to be dissolving in her arms and choking on her grief. Or maybe Venus was choking her. She loosened her grip, and unclenched her aching hand from around Mercury's mouth. How long had she been bleeding? She couldn't remember. Her head pounded from the effort of trying to swallow down the little shriek of fear that was working its way up past her white lips.
It vocalized through Sailor Moon instead. She cast her head back, and a tiny moan escaped from somewhere deep within her soul as her face was kissed by the delicate, grey and green ash that slowly began to fall from the sky. It clung like spider webs to her eyelashes, and collected on her cheeks before it broke apart in her tears. Dirty, shattered streaks cut down her face.
Venus held out a hand to catch some of the scattering. It flaked easily against the tough fabric of her gloves, and left the smell of burnt hair.
Then, there was a tiny splatter. It created a little, red hole in the ash, almost indistinguishable. And then came another, and another, and another until it was misting a heavy haze.
Mars pushed her princess's forehead back onto the stained earth, covering her with her own body. Her lips moved to comfort, but nothing seemed to come out. Venus masked her nose and mouth, muffling the great, greedy gasps she was taking from the red storm that slowly clotted the sand.
In the back of Venus's mind, as the sky crackled feebly above, she couldn't help but find it all bitterly reminiscent of Jupiter. Her hand fell from her mouth. A dark, gory stain stared back at her, peppered by the falling crimson drizzle.
She suddenly hoped it was just been her own blood she tasted.