BISHOUJO SENSHI SAILORMOON
~MIRAI~
PART XIII: BATTLE RAGE
by: Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)
http://komillia.tripod.co
Disclaimer: Sailormoon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko and Kodansha, etcera.
Chie, Hikaru, Yasha and the other original characters that belong to
me.
Some Japanese words I use:
fuku = uniform
hime-sama = princess
onii-san = brother
domo arigatou = thank you very much
* * * *
[I know there we have some problems in the group right now,
but we have to put them aside for the time being. Innocent lives are
at stake as well as Yasha's. Please keep that in mind... and do your
best.]
When Ares had gotten up in the morning he hadn't expected that at the
end of the day he would be carried by Archangel and would fly over
Crystal Tokyo in some crazy attempt to find Yasha. If he had known
that, he wouldn't have gotten up and stayed in bed instead.
"Ange'. Drop me off here."
"Hai."
Archangel changed the course and, more or less, dived for the ground.
If Ares didn't have confidence in Archangel's flying skills, he would
have panicked. On the other hand, who wouldn't? Despite that he
couldn't see anything of Archangel except for her arms he knew that
her eyes were full of worry. Maybe that was the reason why she flied
to recklessly. Finally they approached the ground and Archangel let go
of Ares when reaching an acceptable distance between the ground and
herself. Ares managed to land on the ground in one piece.
"I have to catch up with Nature and Moon," Archangel told him
with the most serious look on her face. "Are you gonna be okay?"
"I'll be alright," Ares answered. "You should be careful."
Archangel just nodded but then the last remark didn't have the same
impact on her as it usually did. Usually she would be happy to know
that Ares, or anyone else for that matter, cared for her. But now it
seemed like she took it as an insult. As surprised as Ares was, he
didn't have time to question her.
"I can take care of myself," Archangel replied calmly and was
careful to not make her frown to visible. "You just make sure that you
get Yasha back. For all of us."
With that her wings started to flat and she ascended higher. In a
matter of a few seconds she didn't look any different from a bird that
was flying off. Ares turned around and carefully looked around the
corner. The Crystal Palace. It was magnificent.
The Crystal Palace had been one of the first things that Ares
had seen when he had first arrived in Crystal Tokyo. He had been
amazed at it's beauty, it was far more breathtaking when he saw it
with his own eyes. To think that once the queen and Usagi had lived
there with her Sailor Senshi.
But there was no time to admire the palace. Yasha was
somewhere in there, somehow the enemy had taken her in there. Ares
moved a few steps forwards and it allowed him to get a better look on
the guards' positions. The problem was, of course, that there were no
guards. The Crystal Palace had the most tight security in entire
Crystal Tokyo. So why were there no guards?
[Either it's the sudden demon attack... or it's the enemy's
doing,] Ares thought as he moved forwards. [Either way... I have to go
in there.]
* * * *
"He's coming for you... Just like the knight in shining armour
comes for the damsel in distress."
Tiamat turned away from the window and to her prisoner. Yasha was tied
up to the wall, with special kinds of chains and shackles. There was
no way that she could break free, even if Yasha was transformed.
Tiamat had put Yasha's transformation pen on the floor just in front
of Yasha, either it was to mock her or it was that Tiamat was overly
confident.
"Why are you doing this?!" Yasha hissed. If her powers had
been controlled by how angry she was, she would have the power to
destroy the world in a moment. Tiamat walked closer to Yasha and
actually took the time to look at her.
Yasha was young, compared to the age that other Senshi used to
be in. But despite her age she had managed to do something that no one
had accomplished before. She had taken someone dear away from Tiamat.
It wasn't that Yasha was the most powerful Senshi, it was that Yasha
was the Senshi of poison. The poison had slowly made it's way through
Morpheus' entire body and had killed him in only a few seconds. In
anger, Tiamat reached out her hand and violently slapped Yasha across
her face. Even though it didn't hurt much, it seemed to make Yasha
even angrier. Tiamat smiled mockingly.
"Does it hurt?" she wondered. "Not much, does it? But you'll
hurt much later. A lot. You hurt Morpheus and you hurt me. Now it's my
turn to make you and your... friend hurt."
"You're pathetic!" Yasha countered. "It was over two months
ago, get over it. You know that my friends are coming for me and that
they will destroy you. Why don't you just take what's left of you and
get on with whatever life you live?"
"This... this is my life," Tiamat replied. "Morpheus was my
life. And trust me, I will get on with it. As soon as I have killed
your friend and then you."
She waved her hand and a dark spell was cast over Yasha. At first
Yasha struggled to keep her eyes open, but only after a few seconds
her arms and legs went numb. Soon the rest of her body was being
drained out of energy but the last thing Yasha thought was that
someone was going to pay dearly for this.
* * * *
"Odin, duck!"
There was no time to question Ishtar's order. Despite all the demons
that were surrounding him, Odin threw himself to the ground and
remained there until he saw some kind of golden light in the corner of
his eyes.
"Crescent Beam!!" he heard Ishtar call and the moment after a
golden beam came, hardly three inches above him. But it did was it was
supposed to do. The beam took out the most of the demons surrounding
him and when it had passed Odin he immediately jumped to his feet to
continue the battle. The remaints of the demons, dust, was covering
his armor but he couldn't care less. With his shining sword he slashed
the demons as fast as he could. Because more could be coming.
As soon there weren't ten demons around him waiting to have a
piece of him, Odin backed from the battle and held up his sword. The
already grey sky roared with thunder as he whispered the magical
words.
"Sword of lightning..."
Three demons jumped for him. One of them had it's claw out and was
ready to savagely kill him anytime. Lightning struck all three of them
just in time. It also took care of the group surrounding Ishtar, when
they were taken care of both Odin and Ishtar looked around with a
puzzled look. There were no more. The ground was covered with dust
that the demons had turned into, but there appeared to be no more in
sight.
"Odin... are you alright?" Ishtar asked as she started to walk
towards him.
"I'm okay..." Odin answered and started to breathe rapidly.
"But this is getting really exhausting, you know."
Ishtar nodded. "Yeah..." she agreed but she scanned the area
suspiciously as if she was waiting for something to jump up. "I don't
want to sound overly confident but this looks... too easy."
Ishtar took a deep breath and took the time to brush the dust off her
Sailor fuku. She hated the dust more than anything. But during a fight
there was no time to worry about getting her clothes dirty. There was
a nagging feeling in Ishtar that keep worrying about the others. What
if Ares got caught by the enemy? Or if the demons in central Juuban
were too much, even with Nature's powers? Akira and Misao... what if
they would start some kind of fight and get distracted right during a
combat?
[I have to stop worrying...] Ishtar thought as she cleared
away the last of the dust.
"Ishtar..." Odin suddenly began. "I hate to say this, but I
think that you were right."
Ishtar looked forwards and standing just a few meters from her and
Odin were at least a hundred demons surrounding them in a circle.
Ishtar bit her bottom lip and frowned.
"Damn..." she cursed with hidden anger. "They're too many for
us."
"I know that you are the spontanious type, but... you don't
happen to have a great, extra plan or strategy to get us out of here?"
Odin asked lightly.
"Sorry."
"I guess that we just have to bust through."
Ishtar and Odin stood back to back, watching the demons. The demons
were doing the same thing, as if waiting for them to attack. Both
sides stood eagerly waiting for the other to attack. Then finally,
Ishtar glanced at Odin and then turned her gaze back to the demons.
"Odin. I'll count to three."
Odin nodded.
"One... two... thr..."
Ishtar's countdown was interrupted by a spear suddenly flying towards
the ground and striking it. Odin stared at the spear, than he turned
his gaze upwards. It was too dark for him to see clearly but he could
see the silhouette of a woman floating very high.
"Oh, lord of the sacred dragon... grant me the power to
vanquish this foe... Holy Lance!"
The spear that had stroke the ground started glowing with white light.
Odin recognized the spear more than well. Someone had pointed it at
him once. The demons seemed to be scared by the light coming from the
spear and backed off. The woman descended to the ground gracefully in
front of the spear. It was then Odin saw who it was, even though he
could guess.
"You got nice timing, Valkyrie."
"Not as good as yours is usually," Valkyrie replied. "I
thought that you could use some help."
* * * *
"I don't understand why you are letting Tiamat do this,
Hel-sama," Hecate said as she watched what was going on through a
large mirror that had magically appeared every time Hel-sama had
requested it. Hel-sama sat on her throne behind her thin curtains as
usual and Hecate stood on the other side.
"She's just wasting time," Hecate continued. "You should have
let me go and take care of the Shin Senshi. Tiamat will just fail as
usual."
"You do not need to question my," Hel answered softly. "The
answer will come to you in time."
"The Shin Senshi and Tiamat aren't the only ones that I have a
problem with," Hecate told. "There has been an addition to the Shin
Senshi, a Senshi called Nature. She can be very powerful when she is
in the right place. And there is another one who has twice showed up
to help the Shin Senshi. Her name is..."
"Shanti."
Hecate turned around and looked at Hel with a surprised look. But she
had learned long ago to not question Hel's knowledge and where it came
from, because it was always accurate and right.
"Shanti could be a problem. Have you had any luck trying to
find her, Hecate?"
Hecate shook her head and seemed more disappointed than Hecate. "No,
she has mysteriously disappeared. Shall I continue to look for her?"
"It will not be needed. I shall do it myself."
* * * *
[This is weird... where are all the guards?]
Ares was walking through the hallways with quiet steps, even though he
could probably walk through the place casually and unnoticed. There
were no guards to hide from, there weren't any people at all. Ares
continued down the hallway. He sighed as he saw that it led to another
three hallways and those hallways led to several doors.
[This palace is endless...]
He was about to turn left when he suddenly saw a door that was open.
Ares stopped for a while and looked at it. The other doors were
closed, but this one was open. He couldn't see what kind of room it
was from where he was standing, but if he got a little closer...
As usual, Ares tiptoed towards the door. It didn't hurt being
extra careful. He made his way to the door, but before he managed to
take a look he heard a female voice echoing through the room.
"This is actually getting boring."
It wasn't Yasha's voice. But Ares took another step and peeked into
the room. It turned out to be a hall, empty on everything except for
windows and walls. Centuries ago it had probably been a conferance
room or something but now it just served as an empty all. At the end
of the hall was Yasha, along with a woman with dark and red hair.
Seeing Yasha like that was making Ares angry. She had been tied to the
wall with chains and was unable to get out of them. It was one thing
seeing Yasha fighting and another to see her tied up. On the top of
that her eyes were closed and she seemed unconsious.
[Unconsious,] Ares convinced himself. [Not dead.]
But despite that she seemed to be unharmed and that was what mattered
the most. The woman, who had been standing and watching Yasha,
suddenly turned around. That was when Ares got a good look of her. She
looked a little like Hecate, the only who had deflected Yasha's arrow
once. But her hair was darker and the woman seemed a bit older than
Hecate.
"You are not very discreet, Ares Knight," the woman said. "Why
don't you come out where I can see you?"
[She has discovered me. I guess that there is no turning back
now.]
Ares stepped into the hall. A smile appeared on the woman's face and
she walked a few steps towards him.
"It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Ares Knight. I have
been expecting you."
* * * *
"Watch it, will you?!"
A push from behind made Triton fall flat to the ground. Only a moment
afterwards a demon, who had intended to attack her, leaped over her
instead and landed on her other side. Normally Triton would have been
thankful for whoever it was that saved her life. But not now. Now when
this person was called Hermes. Hermes got up on his knees after
shielding Triton and drew his sword. In a split second he stabbed the
demon, rose and then ran off to face the next foe. Triton frowned and
jumped up herself. In the corner of her eye she saw four demons
running after the family that owned the farm.
The family consisted of a mother with two children, hardly
grown enough to walk by themselves. The father was trying to prevent
the demons from laying their hands on his family with a simple tool
and it was going to cost him his life if he didn't help her. Triton's
trident was quickly raised and she called upon the power that resided
within her.
"Aqua Trident Smash!" she called. Waves of water rose behind
her and converted into blue colored beams. The beams took off,
travelled through the air and one by one they stopped the demons from
catching up with the running mother and her children. When Triton was
sure that they were no longer, pursued, she ran towards the farmer.
He was fighting against a demon with only a hammer to his help. As
foolish as it was Triton couldn't help admiring his courage and
determination to protect his family.
But the farmer was eventually going to be killed, a hammer
wasn't much of a weapon. Triton didn't know how to use the trident
that she was holding but she was standing behind the demon and he
wasn't noticing her. But it was cowardly to stab someone from behind.
On the other hand... it didn't really matter did it? The demon was
just some kind of dust bonded together with some kind of magic and she
was the good guy, wasn't she?
[Here goes nothing...]
Triton raised the trident, but not to use the attack she had used
before. Instead she quickly lowered the trident and used to it hit the
demon with it instead. The farmer backed as he saw what was going on
and noticed that the demon's grey eyes rolled to the back of it's
head. It was the last thing it did before falling to the ground and
turning into dust with a loud "poof".
"Well, that was easy," Triton murmured to herself and then
looked at the farmer. He looked a bit scared and didn't know if
someone had come to save him or hit him with a trident.
"Who are you?" the farmer asked nervously while backing away
from Triton. "What do you want with us?"
"Go to your family," Triton more or less commanded. "Get them
and yourself into safety. We'll take care of this mess here."
The farmer nodded eagerly and then somehow managed to make his way to
back to his family. Triton watched as they reunited and then ran to
find a safe place to hide. In the corner of her eye, she could see
Hermes running towards her, with his sword drawn out. A growing
feeling inside Triton told her that something was wrong. It wasn't
til Hermes was getting close to her that she realized that the sword
was aimed for her.
"What are you doing?!" Triton cried as she saw Hermes raising
the sword. She shut her eyes tightly and expected the cold blade to go
through her anytime. Suddenly she felt something cutting her cheek,
but that was all. Triton opened her eyes as she heard another "poof"
behind her. Hermes was standing close to her and was holding his sword
right past her cheek. The "poof" had come from a demon behind Triton
and the pain she had felt in her cheek came from an accidently cut
from Hermes' sword.
Triton stood breathing deeply, still in shock. Then finally
Hermes drew his sword back and looked at Triton with a strange kind of
look. Triton didn't know what it was. Anger or concern.
"You have to be on your guard!" Hermes yelled. "You would have
been killed if I hadn't saved you! Again..."
When hearing that last word anger flared inside Triton. She hadn't
forgotten what had happened earlier but after she had been forced out
with Hermes she had told herself to put her anger aside for the
moment. But now it was all coming back. The anger, so powerful that it
made her forget all about the situation they were in.
"I don't need you to save me every time something happens!"
Triton yelled back so forcefully that Hermes was startled and backed
a step. "I never asked for you protection! Who do you think you are?
You are always doing things... assuming that it's for the best! Who
made you my protector, Hermes?! Who?!"
Before she had time to express her anger further, the gem in her tiara
began to glow. The trident was dropped and Triton fell to the ground.
The demons, busy with wrecking the farm, didn't seem to notice
anything at all. Hermes catched her as she fell and slowly lowered her
to the ground.
"Triton? What's wrong with you?"
* * * *
Memories.
Images of people she didn't know flashed through her. Unknown faces,
voices, fragnances, touches... She saw them all. There was nothing
familiar, nothing she could relate to. No one who could hold her in
his arms and tell her that everything was going to be alright.
[No... get away from me! Those memories aren't mine! They're
Triton's! I'm not Triton! I'm just Izukawa Misao!]
Memories blinked through her, passed by, then reappeared again. It was
as if they kept passing by because they wanted to be remembered. But
she couldn't. She couldn't. There wasn't one person in those memories
that she recognized. No one. But then it came. It was a warm, fuzzy
feeling that Misao had waited for her entire life to feel.
Love.
In those memories she saw a handsome young man, dressed in a dark blue
armour. Slowly, she remembered how it felt to be held by him. To hear
him say her name with a gentleness that she hadn't experienced before.
To feel his lips against her own. It was only the most important
feelings that came back to her. No important memories or anything.
[But I remember him... Hermes.]
* * * *
One moment Triton looked like she was about to faint. The other moment
she was awake like nothing had happened. Hermes didn't know how to
explain it. And her eyes... There was something familiar about them.
Yes, they looked like the past Triton's eyes.
Silently, Izukawa Misao, known as Sailortriton, stood up with
the support from Hermes. He had expected her to start yell at him
again, but it didn't happen. Instead Triton looked at him seriously.
"Hermes... let's stop the demons. Together."
No matter how strange it sounded, Hermes couldn't do anything but to
nod. Triton looked so serene when she closed her eyes, still holding
both Hermes' hands. Hermes closed his eyes and started to focus his
energy on Triton. Somehow, he knew that Triton was doing the same
thing to him.
The demons paused in wrecking the house and turned around to
see what was going on. Before they could react light started to shine
from the two Senshi. The lights came from the pendant that was
attached to Triton's front bow and the other pendant that was attached
to Hermes' armour. Their eyes were still closed and their hands were
still holding. It was like they were transferring energy to each
other, somehow.
One of the demons backed, sensing that a strong wave of energy
was about to come from the couple. But it was too late for any of them
to run. They stood were they were, either fearing or being fascinated
of what they saw. Then finally, both Hermes and Triton opened their
eyes. Triton let go of Hermes' right hand and together they held their
hands out to the demons who were still stupidly standing there and
watching them.
"Freezing..." Hermes began.
"Casade," Triton finished.
When the last word was said, a wave of water rose behind the couple.
It seemed similiar to Triton's attack. But mixed with the water were
small crystals of ice. In a few moments the water turned into small
blue spheres, one for each demons. The spheres took off and the moment
they even touched the demons, ice covered them. There was no chance to
escape.
It only took a few seconds. Each time a sphere struck a demon
the demon was encased in ice. Then, when all demons were trapped and
unable to get out, the ice shattered. Along with their captives.
Triton and Hermes both lowered their hands and looked at the large
pile of dust near the destroyed house.
"We did it," Triton said quietly. Hermes nodded in agreement.
None of them seemed to notice or mind that they were still holding
hands.
* * * *
"There's no one here."
Sailormoon turned around, hoping that find anyone. Demon or human. But
there was nothing but an empty soda can that was blown away by the
wind. Nature closed her eyes and tried to listen as the wind blew
through the empty streets in center Juuban. But she couldn't hear
anything. Normally the wind would tell Nature about any foe that was
nearby but her contact with the wind was weakening now that she was so
far from the forrests.
"I can't hear anything," Nature told. "The wind isn't telling
me anything."
"Is this what I hurried back for?" Archangel asked impatiently
and curled a lock of hair around her finger. Sailormoon looked at
Archangel, not with dislike but with pure surprise. How different was
a Senshi supposed to be when he or she was transformed? Just a few
hours ago, Tomo had been as happy and giggly as usual. Now that she
was transformed into Archangel, she seemed a lot more adult,
pessimistic and dark. Sailormoon didn't know if Nature noticed it. She
probably assumed that this was what Archangel usually was like.
"This isn't good," Nature commented. "It could be a trap. Or
perhaps the enemy is just trying to lead us away from what they are
really after. The question is... what is it? Some other place in
Crystal Tokyo or is it something else?"
"Like Yasha..." Archangel murmured and her wings started to
flap. "I will go and assist Ares."
"Archangel, wait," Sailormoon said but either Archangel
ignored her or didn't hear her. Either way, not that soon after
Archangel had left the ground, it started to shake. At first it was
just a little, but as moments passed the tremors increased.
"An earthquake?!" Sailormoon explain and held on to a mail box
in order to keep her balance. Nature was still standing without
support, yet she seemed to have no problem with keeping her balance.
"No..." she whispered as she saw a crack on the ground where
Archangel had been standing. "This isn't a normal earthquake. I can't
hear the whispers of the wind... but something is coming for us."
Archangel, still flying, had stopped ascending when she noticed that
the ground was shaking. She looked around the streets with a frown on
her face. No demons... nothing suspicous. Then why...?
"Tomo, watch out!" she heard Sailormoon cry. But before she
could turn to Sailormoon she felt bony hands slip around her waist and
taking her higher up in the air. Sailormoon let go of the mailbox and
ran forth, looking upwards. Archangel was still in sight but it was
too far away for them to communicate.
"Hime-sama," Nature whispered. "Get away from there."
Despite that nothing had happened yet, Sailormoon backed away from the
spot where she was standing. She looked down on the ground and to her
surprise she saw a crack. It wasn't a normal crack, it seemed to be
glowing with some strange kind of energy.
"What's happening?" Sailormoon wondered. The same moment she
said those words, the crack widened and out came a new type of demons
that Sailormoon had never seen before. They were skeletons, armed
with small daggers, shields and had wings on their back. Despite that
the wings were made of bones, they somehow managed to fly.
"They were just waiting for the right moment to attack us..."
Nature explained as her eyes narrowed. How could she had been so
foolish, she blamed herself. "Hime-sama, we must fight back."
While the battle began on the ground, Archangel was struggling to get
the hands of the demon of her. But the demon had a tight grip and they
were ascending higher and higher up. She felt her body weakening at
the lack of oxygen but forced herself to stay strong and focused. The
demon however, remained unharmed.
[It's because I have lungs and he doesn't,] Archangel thought
with dark sarcasm. [What does he need lungs for? He doesn't have any
other organs anyway. Just a rottening skeleton and a whole lot of
strength.]
She desperately tried to wringle away from the demon but without
success. All other options to get away from the demons had already
been tried. Archangel closed her eyes. There was no way, she had tried
everything. Just when she was about to give up, she heard a familiar
voice in the corner of her mind. At first it seemed faint, but then it
became clear. The voice belonged to Aozora, her aunt and the first
Archangel. Aozora's voice reminded her of something that was
constantly in Archangel's mind. It was only because of the battle that
she had forgotten it.
The mission must be completed.
Archangel opened her eyes, suddenly filled with determination. She
couldn't die, she had to complete the mission. The power suddenly
returned to her, stronger, newer and better than ever. Without as much
as doubting she put her hands on the demons.
"Heaven Punishment," she barely whispered. Dark energy came
from her hands and were successfully transferred to the demon. Despite
that the demon wasn't capable of screaming, it screamed. It's hold
around Archangel weakened and she used her wings to slowly descend a
little. She stayed in mid-air and watched the demon scream. The dark
energy had wrapped itself around it like a poisonous snake. Finally
the scream ended and with a minor explosion the demon turned into pure
dust. Archangel stayed in the air for a little longer, then she looked
downwards and saw the battle there. Deciding to help her friends out,
she dove for the ground.
* * * *
Who said that Senshi were undefeatable?
As Ares struggled to get up he realized that for once he had to think
during the fight, not just run off and fight spontaneously. This
woman, Tiamat, wasn't like a dumb demon without a brain that Ares was
used to fighting. She was more powerful than the other foes and seemed
to have it all planned out. One, Ares had had no idea about that
invinsible forcefield around Yasha. Two, he had been deeply mistaken
when he thought that Tiamat could be easily distracted. Three, he
hadn't known that Tiamat had the power to absorb and deflect powers.
[I got to find a way to get rid of that forcefield,] he
thought with gritted teeth. [And take care of that witch at the same
time. Oh Yasha, why do you always have to get in these kinds of
situations?!]
"Have you had enough, Ares Knight?" Tiamat mocked. She didn't
seem to be waiting for an answer because the moment afterwards she
simply waved her hand and a fireball came from nowhere, preparing to
devour Ares. Luckily he managed to jump away just in time but all the
fire that had Tiamat had reflected had caused some damage on his skin,
not to mention his armour. Not that Tiamat cared. She just fired
another fireball and watched Ares flee from it with amusement.
It went on for quite a while. Tiamat kept using magic and Ares
kept dodging it. There seemed to be no time at all for Ares to attack
or even attempt to. Far away from all that was happening, Yasha began
to wake up. She blinked a few times for her eyes to get used to the
strong light that lit up the hall, then she tried to move her fingers.
It worked. She was relieved that she was alright, but that feeling of
relief disappeared once she looked forwards and saw what was going on.
At first Yasha's jaw dropped as if she couldn't believe what she was
seeing. But then the shocked look from her face turned to worry
instead.
[Hikaru... he's going to get himself killed.] She glanced
downwards and saw her transformation pen lying on the floor just right
under her. Yasha cursed, knowing that she could never reach the pen if
she was chained. Even though she knew that she wouldn't succeed, she
tried to free herself from the chains. Once she discovered that it was
impossible and that it only hurt her to try even more, she gave up.
Instead she watched the battle with a heart pounding fast with
anxiousness and worry.
"Hikaru..." Yasha whispered even though Ares was far out of
range. "I can't help you... You came to save me even though I yelled
at you before. And you're going to get killed trying to save me..."
With a quiet sob, Yasha looked down on the transformation pen. She
made desperate attempt to hold her tears back but she couldn't. Inside
she felt guilty because she had been so demanding towards Hikaru
before, but she also felt deep sadness. Sadness because Ares was going
to get killed by Tiamat. And all because of something Yasha had done.
She couldn't even pick up the transformation pen that was lying so
close to her.
[Hikaru...]
"If you truly wish to save this man, we will assist you."
Yasha looked up but couldn't see anyone standing before her. Had she
imagined the voice? No, it had been real. She remembered what it
sounded like. It was a male voice that brought a feeling of peace and
kindness. It was too real to just be something she had imagined.
"Miss, please look to your left side."
There was that voice again. Yasha looked to her left, to her relief
she saw a man and a woman in odd clothing standing there. They looked
very much alike, both had silvery eyes and white hair. The man was the
one who had spoken to Yasha. He had a very calm look in his eyes and
his white hair was so long that it reached to his waist. The man wore
a worn, white gi with a haori. The woman's hair was wavy and put into
two pigtails. She was dressed in a Chinese style, crimson shirt
without sleeves. She wore a short, black skirt along with a pair of
long, black leggings. On her hands she wore a pair of short gloves.
What caught Yasha's attention was the jewels that were on the
man's and the woman's foreheads. They seemed just like the jewels that
were usually in female Senshi's tiaras. The jewels were attached to
their foreheads without tiaras. Despite the woman's and the man's
strange clothing, Yasha got the impression that they were also Senshi.
"I am Lucius," the man introduced politely. "This is my twin
sister, Lilith. I can use my power to get rid of the forcefield and my
sister can use hers to free you from the chains."
"Please, do it quickly," Yasha begged. Lucius and Lilith
simply nodded. Lucius reached out his hand to touch the forcefield,
then put both his hands on it and started to concentrate. At the same
time Lilith raised her right hand and narrowed her eyes. She looked
like she was about to touch something, but when she in fact didn't.
But then Yasha felt the chains break and she fell to the floor.
Instead of checking on her sore wrists, she immediately reached for
her transformation pen. At the same time Lucius finished his work on
the forcefield and Yasha reached out her arm to touch it. It wasn't
there.
"Domo arigatou," Yasha thanked sincerely. "I own you
everything."
Lucius and Lilith just nodded silently, at the same time. Then Yasha
threw the transformation pen up in the air.
"Medusa Galactic Power! Make up!"
Tiamat turned around when she heard Medusa called that and noticed
what was going on. She grit her teeth in anger and cursed the ones
who had freed the now transformed Medusa. In anger she released a fire
ball towards Lucius and Lilith instead of Ares.
Lilith stepped forth and raised her hand just like she had
before. An invinsible shield appeared when the fireball approached
them. The shield was solid and strong and kept the fireball away until
it vanished. When the fireball was gone, Lilith lowered her hand with
a mocking smile on her face.
"What the hell was that?" Tiamat whispered.
"I am a telekinetic," Lilith answered with pride. "My powers
also include blocking powers and they can also toss you aside any
time. Like this."
With a simple movement Tiamat was suddenly lifted and slammed into the
wall. Medusa managed to make her way to Ares while Lucius softly
scolded his sister.
"Lilith, you shouldn't play with your powers like that," he
lectured. Lilith waved her hand lightly and smiled widely.
"Hey onii-san, let me have a happy moment, will you?" she
chirped. "Besides, that witch deserves it."
Meanwhile Medusa lifted Ares' head up in her lap and carefully stroke
his cheek.
"You're such an idiot," she said softly. "You should have been
more careful."
Lucius walked over to Ares and bent down to take a look on him. "He's
in pretty bad shape," Lucius commented. "But he'll be alright if he
gets help now."
"I'll contact my friend," Medusa suggested. "She has healing
powers and can get here quickly."
Lucius shook his head. "There's no need to," he told. "I have healing
powers of my own. Just set him down on the floor and I'll take care of
everything."
Medusa nodded and did as she was told to. She carefully put down Ares'
head on the floor and Lucius raised his hands above Ares' body. A
white aura surrounding both Lucius' and Ares' bodies appeared around
them. Medusa watched nervously as Lucius transferred energy to Ares
and prayed that it would work. She was suddenly distrubed when Lilith
carefully tapped her shoulder.
"Hey," she began. "The witch is getting up."
Medusa looked forwards and saw Tiamat slowly getting up. Her mind was
being filled with anger and desire for revenge as she raised her arms
and a green bow appeared with an arrow.
"Poison..." she began and was about to shoot the arrow and say
the final word. But Medusa paused when she saw that look on Tiamat's
face. Tiamat wasn't moving or trying to get away and her eyes... they
were so empty.
"What are you waiting for?" Tiamat asked with a low voice.
"Kill me."
Medusa lowered her bow, not really knowing why. She only knew that
despite what Tiamat had done, she couldn't end her life.
"You did all this because you loved Morpheus?" Medusa
questioned. And Tiamat laughed. She laughed so insanely that Medusa
felt sorry for her.
"I did it because I hated to all, envied you," Tiamat answered
when she had stopped laughing. "I hated you for killing Morpheus, I
envied you Shin Senshi because you could be with your loved ones and
I couldn't... I loathed you because you were able to form sisterly
bonds with strangers and my own sister had turned her back on me. So
go ahead... Kill me! I have nothing left in this world! You took away
the last person that cared about me! Kill me!"
With sorrowful eyes Medusa dropped the bow and the arrow. The moment
before they fell to the ground they vanished. Then she stood still and
Tiamat stared at her in shock.
"I can't kill you," Medusa told. "Call me weak, but I can't."
With that she whirled around and returned to Ares' side. Lilith knelt
down next to her brother, but still suspiciously kept an eye on
Tiamat. Tiamat stood still, staring into nothing. Her eyes were
getting teary, but she refused to let anyone see her cry. She raised
her hand and a dagger appeared in her hands. Lilith, believing that
Tiamat would attack them, stood up and was ready to fight back any
moment. But instead of using the dagger on her enemies, Tiamat held
the dagger underneath her chin.
[Morpheus... I pray that I will be reunited with you.]
It was her last though before using the dagger to end her life.
* * * *
The battle was over. Ishtar, Odin, Nature, Sailormoon, Archangel,
Hermes and Triton all gathered outside the Crystal Palace. The three
groups had arrived from different places and battles but they all
seemed to be alright. Ishtar and Odin had been fighting off demons
with help from Valkyrie, who had returned to look after the Zealots
when it had all been over. Nature, Sailormoon and Archangel had had
some problems with the skeleton demons, but it had all turned out good
in the end. Hermes and Triton were done with saving the farm and after
recieving thanks from the farmer and his family they had been on their
way to the Crystal Palace.
Now they all stood outside the palace, hoping that they had
arrived in time to help Ares saving Yasha.
"Let's go in," Ishtar decided. "I haven't seen any guards
around here but we have to be careful."
The others agreed. Ishtar was just about to push the door open when it
was opened from the inside. Most of the Shin Senshi prepared for a
battle, but when they saw two of their friends coming out they
couldn't help expressing their relief.
"You're alright!" Sailormoon exclaimed with joy. Ares walked
out with support from Medusa and behind them were a man and a woman
dressed in odd clothes.
"I'm just a little sore," Ares replied. "I'll be fine once I
get home."
"We got help from Lucius and Lilith," Medusa explained,
meaning the two other who had followed her and Ares out. She then
found a place for Ares to sit down and helped him. "I know what you're
thinking, but their Senshi too. We couldn't have done it without
them."
Ishtar turned to the two Senshi. "Thank you so much for helping our
friends," she thanked and bowed politely. "We owe you a lot."
Lucius bowed just as politely in return. "There is no need to thank
us," he answered. "We only did what anyone else would have done."
"Onii-san, you talk like you're some kind of saint," Lilith
complained. "They should really thank us."
Lucius turned to his sister, speaking with the same kind of gentle and
kind voice.
"Lilith, don't be so rude."
"I'm not being rude."
Away from the crowd of Senshi, Ares and Medusa sat alone trying to get
a little rest. Medusa stayed silent for a while, then figured that
this was probably her only chance to apologize.
"Look... I'm sorry," she began. "I know that I was acting a
bit strange this morning."
"I know, I know. PMS, right?"
Medusa gave Ares a careful slap on his arm. "Don't joke this around,
I'm trying to apologize the right way," she said seriously but Ares
could see that smile on her lips. "Anyway, thank you for trying to
save me. Even though you didn't really do anything."
"What?!" Ares exclaimed. "If it wasn't for me you would still
be hanging one the wall in there!"
"Not at all!" Medusa retorted. "It was thanks to Lilith and
Lucius that I got out. You merely distracted the enemy."
"Is this your way of apologizing?"
Okay, another part finished. I have now thrown in another two Senshi
with odd clothing. The reason why Lucius and Lilith have a very
different fuku from the others is that I was getting pretty tired of
throwing in knights. I already have three of them so why do I need
another one? So that's why Lucius is wearing a gi. And since I wasn't
going to make Lucius a knight, I decided to not give Lilith a Sailor
fuku. Let's face it, there are already seven women running around in
Sailor fuku in the fanfic and I wanted at least one to look different
(Archangel's wings doesn't count).
Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)
17 June 2001
Next:
Sailormoon Mirai Part XIV: A day in the life
Sachiko moves in, Misao wants to quit the Shin Senshi, Usagi is
officially declared dead, Chie and Tomo wants to know about their
mothers and Akira is being a cold bastard. A day in the life of the
Shin Senshi.
~MIRAI~
PART XIII: BATTLE RAGE
by: Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)
http://komillia.tripod.co
Disclaimer: Sailormoon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko and Kodansha, etcera.
Chie, Hikaru, Yasha and the other original characters that belong to
me.
Some Japanese words I use:
fuku = uniform
hime-sama = princess
onii-san = brother
domo arigatou = thank you very much
* * * *
[I know there we have some problems in the group right now,
but we have to put them aside for the time being. Innocent lives are
at stake as well as Yasha's. Please keep that in mind... and do your
best.]
When Ares had gotten up in the morning he hadn't expected that at the
end of the day he would be carried by Archangel and would fly over
Crystal Tokyo in some crazy attempt to find Yasha. If he had known
that, he wouldn't have gotten up and stayed in bed instead.
"Ange'. Drop me off here."
"Hai."
Archangel changed the course and, more or less, dived for the ground.
If Ares didn't have confidence in Archangel's flying skills, he would
have panicked. On the other hand, who wouldn't? Despite that he
couldn't see anything of Archangel except for her arms he knew that
her eyes were full of worry. Maybe that was the reason why she flied
to recklessly. Finally they approached the ground and Archangel let go
of Ares when reaching an acceptable distance between the ground and
herself. Ares managed to land on the ground in one piece.
"I have to catch up with Nature and Moon," Archangel told him
with the most serious look on her face. "Are you gonna be okay?"
"I'll be alright," Ares answered. "You should be careful."
Archangel just nodded but then the last remark didn't have the same
impact on her as it usually did. Usually she would be happy to know
that Ares, or anyone else for that matter, cared for her. But now it
seemed like she took it as an insult. As surprised as Ares was, he
didn't have time to question her.
"I can take care of myself," Archangel replied calmly and was
careful to not make her frown to visible. "You just make sure that you
get Yasha back. For all of us."
With that her wings started to flat and she ascended higher. In a
matter of a few seconds she didn't look any different from a bird that
was flying off. Ares turned around and carefully looked around the
corner. The Crystal Palace. It was magnificent.
The Crystal Palace had been one of the first things that Ares
had seen when he had first arrived in Crystal Tokyo. He had been
amazed at it's beauty, it was far more breathtaking when he saw it
with his own eyes. To think that once the queen and Usagi had lived
there with her Sailor Senshi.
But there was no time to admire the palace. Yasha was
somewhere in there, somehow the enemy had taken her in there. Ares
moved a few steps forwards and it allowed him to get a better look on
the guards' positions. The problem was, of course, that there were no
guards. The Crystal Palace had the most tight security in entire
Crystal Tokyo. So why were there no guards?
[Either it's the sudden demon attack... or it's the enemy's
doing,] Ares thought as he moved forwards. [Either way... I have to go
in there.]
* * * *
"He's coming for you... Just like the knight in shining armour
comes for the damsel in distress."
Tiamat turned away from the window and to her prisoner. Yasha was tied
up to the wall, with special kinds of chains and shackles. There was
no way that she could break free, even if Yasha was transformed.
Tiamat had put Yasha's transformation pen on the floor just in front
of Yasha, either it was to mock her or it was that Tiamat was overly
confident.
"Why are you doing this?!" Yasha hissed. If her powers had
been controlled by how angry she was, she would have the power to
destroy the world in a moment. Tiamat walked closer to Yasha and
actually took the time to look at her.
Yasha was young, compared to the age that other Senshi used to
be in. But despite her age she had managed to do something that no one
had accomplished before. She had taken someone dear away from Tiamat.
It wasn't that Yasha was the most powerful Senshi, it was that Yasha
was the Senshi of poison. The poison had slowly made it's way through
Morpheus' entire body and had killed him in only a few seconds. In
anger, Tiamat reached out her hand and violently slapped Yasha across
her face. Even though it didn't hurt much, it seemed to make Yasha
even angrier. Tiamat smiled mockingly.
"Does it hurt?" she wondered. "Not much, does it? But you'll
hurt much later. A lot. You hurt Morpheus and you hurt me. Now it's my
turn to make you and your... friend hurt."
"You're pathetic!" Yasha countered. "It was over two months
ago, get over it. You know that my friends are coming for me and that
they will destroy you. Why don't you just take what's left of you and
get on with whatever life you live?"
"This... this is my life," Tiamat replied. "Morpheus was my
life. And trust me, I will get on with it. As soon as I have killed
your friend and then you."
She waved her hand and a dark spell was cast over Yasha. At first
Yasha struggled to keep her eyes open, but only after a few seconds
her arms and legs went numb. Soon the rest of her body was being
drained out of energy but the last thing Yasha thought was that
someone was going to pay dearly for this.
* * * *
"Odin, duck!"
There was no time to question Ishtar's order. Despite all the demons
that were surrounding him, Odin threw himself to the ground and
remained there until he saw some kind of golden light in the corner of
his eyes.
"Crescent Beam!!" he heard Ishtar call and the moment after a
golden beam came, hardly three inches above him. But it did was it was
supposed to do. The beam took out the most of the demons surrounding
him and when it had passed Odin he immediately jumped to his feet to
continue the battle. The remaints of the demons, dust, was covering
his armor but he couldn't care less. With his shining sword he slashed
the demons as fast as he could. Because more could be coming.
As soon there weren't ten demons around him waiting to have a
piece of him, Odin backed from the battle and held up his sword. The
already grey sky roared with thunder as he whispered the magical
words.
"Sword of lightning..."
Three demons jumped for him. One of them had it's claw out and was
ready to savagely kill him anytime. Lightning struck all three of them
just in time. It also took care of the group surrounding Ishtar, when
they were taken care of both Odin and Ishtar looked around with a
puzzled look. There were no more. The ground was covered with dust
that the demons had turned into, but there appeared to be no more in
sight.
"Odin... are you alright?" Ishtar asked as she started to walk
towards him.
"I'm okay..." Odin answered and started to breathe rapidly.
"But this is getting really exhausting, you know."
Ishtar nodded. "Yeah..." she agreed but she scanned the area
suspiciously as if she was waiting for something to jump up. "I don't
want to sound overly confident but this looks... too easy."
Ishtar took a deep breath and took the time to brush the dust off her
Sailor fuku. She hated the dust more than anything. But during a fight
there was no time to worry about getting her clothes dirty. There was
a nagging feeling in Ishtar that keep worrying about the others. What
if Ares got caught by the enemy? Or if the demons in central Juuban
were too much, even with Nature's powers? Akira and Misao... what if
they would start some kind of fight and get distracted right during a
combat?
[I have to stop worrying...] Ishtar thought as she cleared
away the last of the dust.
"Ishtar..." Odin suddenly began. "I hate to say this, but I
think that you were right."
Ishtar looked forwards and standing just a few meters from her and
Odin were at least a hundred demons surrounding them in a circle.
Ishtar bit her bottom lip and frowned.
"Damn..." she cursed with hidden anger. "They're too many for
us."
"I know that you are the spontanious type, but... you don't
happen to have a great, extra plan or strategy to get us out of here?"
Odin asked lightly.
"Sorry."
"I guess that we just have to bust through."
Ishtar and Odin stood back to back, watching the demons. The demons
were doing the same thing, as if waiting for them to attack. Both
sides stood eagerly waiting for the other to attack. Then finally,
Ishtar glanced at Odin and then turned her gaze back to the demons.
"Odin. I'll count to three."
Odin nodded.
"One... two... thr..."
Ishtar's countdown was interrupted by a spear suddenly flying towards
the ground and striking it. Odin stared at the spear, than he turned
his gaze upwards. It was too dark for him to see clearly but he could
see the silhouette of a woman floating very high.
"Oh, lord of the sacred dragon... grant me the power to
vanquish this foe... Holy Lance!"
The spear that had stroke the ground started glowing with white light.
Odin recognized the spear more than well. Someone had pointed it at
him once. The demons seemed to be scared by the light coming from the
spear and backed off. The woman descended to the ground gracefully in
front of the spear. It was then Odin saw who it was, even though he
could guess.
"You got nice timing, Valkyrie."
"Not as good as yours is usually," Valkyrie replied. "I
thought that you could use some help."
* * * *
"I don't understand why you are letting Tiamat do this,
Hel-sama," Hecate said as she watched what was going on through a
large mirror that had magically appeared every time Hel-sama had
requested it. Hel-sama sat on her throne behind her thin curtains as
usual and Hecate stood on the other side.
"She's just wasting time," Hecate continued. "You should have
let me go and take care of the Shin Senshi. Tiamat will just fail as
usual."
"You do not need to question my," Hel answered softly. "The
answer will come to you in time."
"The Shin Senshi and Tiamat aren't the only ones that I have a
problem with," Hecate told. "There has been an addition to the Shin
Senshi, a Senshi called Nature. She can be very powerful when she is
in the right place. And there is another one who has twice showed up
to help the Shin Senshi. Her name is..."
"Shanti."
Hecate turned around and looked at Hel with a surprised look. But she
had learned long ago to not question Hel's knowledge and where it came
from, because it was always accurate and right.
"Shanti could be a problem. Have you had any luck trying to
find her, Hecate?"
Hecate shook her head and seemed more disappointed than Hecate. "No,
she has mysteriously disappeared. Shall I continue to look for her?"
"It will not be needed. I shall do it myself."
* * * *
[This is weird... where are all the guards?]
Ares was walking through the hallways with quiet steps, even though he
could probably walk through the place casually and unnoticed. There
were no guards to hide from, there weren't any people at all. Ares
continued down the hallway. He sighed as he saw that it led to another
three hallways and those hallways led to several doors.
[This palace is endless...]
He was about to turn left when he suddenly saw a door that was open.
Ares stopped for a while and looked at it. The other doors were
closed, but this one was open. He couldn't see what kind of room it
was from where he was standing, but if he got a little closer...
As usual, Ares tiptoed towards the door. It didn't hurt being
extra careful. He made his way to the door, but before he managed to
take a look he heard a female voice echoing through the room.
"This is actually getting boring."
It wasn't Yasha's voice. But Ares took another step and peeked into
the room. It turned out to be a hall, empty on everything except for
windows and walls. Centuries ago it had probably been a conferance
room or something but now it just served as an empty all. At the end
of the hall was Yasha, along with a woman with dark and red hair.
Seeing Yasha like that was making Ares angry. She had been tied to the
wall with chains and was unable to get out of them. It was one thing
seeing Yasha fighting and another to see her tied up. On the top of
that her eyes were closed and she seemed unconsious.
[Unconsious,] Ares convinced himself. [Not dead.]
But despite that she seemed to be unharmed and that was what mattered
the most. The woman, who had been standing and watching Yasha,
suddenly turned around. That was when Ares got a good look of her. She
looked a little like Hecate, the only who had deflected Yasha's arrow
once. But her hair was darker and the woman seemed a bit older than
Hecate.
"You are not very discreet, Ares Knight," the woman said. "Why
don't you come out where I can see you?"
[She has discovered me. I guess that there is no turning back
now.]
Ares stepped into the hall. A smile appeared on the woman's face and
she walked a few steps towards him.
"It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Ares Knight. I have
been expecting you."
* * * *
"Watch it, will you?!"
A push from behind made Triton fall flat to the ground. Only a moment
afterwards a demon, who had intended to attack her, leaped over her
instead and landed on her other side. Normally Triton would have been
thankful for whoever it was that saved her life. But not now. Now when
this person was called Hermes. Hermes got up on his knees after
shielding Triton and drew his sword. In a split second he stabbed the
demon, rose and then ran off to face the next foe. Triton frowned and
jumped up herself. In the corner of her eye she saw four demons
running after the family that owned the farm.
The family consisted of a mother with two children, hardly
grown enough to walk by themselves. The father was trying to prevent
the demons from laying their hands on his family with a simple tool
and it was going to cost him his life if he didn't help her. Triton's
trident was quickly raised and she called upon the power that resided
within her.
"Aqua Trident Smash!" she called. Waves of water rose behind
her and converted into blue colored beams. The beams took off,
travelled through the air and one by one they stopped the demons from
catching up with the running mother and her children. When Triton was
sure that they were no longer, pursued, she ran towards the farmer.
He was fighting against a demon with only a hammer to his help. As
foolish as it was Triton couldn't help admiring his courage and
determination to protect his family.
But the farmer was eventually going to be killed, a hammer
wasn't much of a weapon. Triton didn't know how to use the trident
that she was holding but she was standing behind the demon and he
wasn't noticing her. But it was cowardly to stab someone from behind.
On the other hand... it didn't really matter did it? The demon was
just some kind of dust bonded together with some kind of magic and she
was the good guy, wasn't she?
[Here goes nothing...]
Triton raised the trident, but not to use the attack she had used
before. Instead she quickly lowered the trident and used to it hit the
demon with it instead. The farmer backed as he saw what was going on
and noticed that the demon's grey eyes rolled to the back of it's
head. It was the last thing it did before falling to the ground and
turning into dust with a loud "poof".
"Well, that was easy," Triton murmured to herself and then
looked at the farmer. He looked a bit scared and didn't know if
someone had come to save him or hit him with a trident.
"Who are you?" the farmer asked nervously while backing away
from Triton. "What do you want with us?"
"Go to your family," Triton more or less commanded. "Get them
and yourself into safety. We'll take care of this mess here."
The farmer nodded eagerly and then somehow managed to make his way to
back to his family. Triton watched as they reunited and then ran to
find a safe place to hide. In the corner of her eye, she could see
Hermes running towards her, with his sword drawn out. A growing
feeling inside Triton told her that something was wrong. It wasn't
til Hermes was getting close to her that she realized that the sword
was aimed for her.
"What are you doing?!" Triton cried as she saw Hermes raising
the sword. She shut her eyes tightly and expected the cold blade to go
through her anytime. Suddenly she felt something cutting her cheek,
but that was all. Triton opened her eyes as she heard another "poof"
behind her. Hermes was standing close to her and was holding his sword
right past her cheek. The "poof" had come from a demon behind Triton
and the pain she had felt in her cheek came from an accidently cut
from Hermes' sword.
Triton stood breathing deeply, still in shock. Then finally
Hermes drew his sword back and looked at Triton with a strange kind of
look. Triton didn't know what it was. Anger or concern.
"You have to be on your guard!" Hermes yelled. "You would have
been killed if I hadn't saved you! Again..."
When hearing that last word anger flared inside Triton. She hadn't
forgotten what had happened earlier but after she had been forced out
with Hermes she had told herself to put her anger aside for the
moment. But now it was all coming back. The anger, so powerful that it
made her forget all about the situation they were in.
"I don't need you to save me every time something happens!"
Triton yelled back so forcefully that Hermes was startled and backed
a step. "I never asked for you protection! Who do you think you are?
You are always doing things... assuming that it's for the best! Who
made you my protector, Hermes?! Who?!"
Before she had time to express her anger further, the gem in her tiara
began to glow. The trident was dropped and Triton fell to the ground.
The demons, busy with wrecking the farm, didn't seem to notice
anything at all. Hermes catched her as she fell and slowly lowered her
to the ground.
"Triton? What's wrong with you?"
* * * *
Memories.
Images of people she didn't know flashed through her. Unknown faces,
voices, fragnances, touches... She saw them all. There was nothing
familiar, nothing she could relate to. No one who could hold her in
his arms and tell her that everything was going to be alright.
[No... get away from me! Those memories aren't mine! They're
Triton's! I'm not Triton! I'm just Izukawa Misao!]
Memories blinked through her, passed by, then reappeared again. It was
as if they kept passing by because they wanted to be remembered. But
she couldn't. She couldn't. There wasn't one person in those memories
that she recognized. No one. But then it came. It was a warm, fuzzy
feeling that Misao had waited for her entire life to feel.
Love.
In those memories she saw a handsome young man, dressed in a dark blue
armour. Slowly, she remembered how it felt to be held by him. To hear
him say her name with a gentleness that she hadn't experienced before.
To feel his lips against her own. It was only the most important
feelings that came back to her. No important memories or anything.
[But I remember him... Hermes.]
* * * *
One moment Triton looked like she was about to faint. The other moment
she was awake like nothing had happened. Hermes didn't know how to
explain it. And her eyes... There was something familiar about them.
Yes, they looked like the past Triton's eyes.
Silently, Izukawa Misao, known as Sailortriton, stood up with
the support from Hermes. He had expected her to start yell at him
again, but it didn't happen. Instead Triton looked at him seriously.
"Hermes... let's stop the demons. Together."
No matter how strange it sounded, Hermes couldn't do anything but to
nod. Triton looked so serene when she closed her eyes, still holding
both Hermes' hands. Hermes closed his eyes and started to focus his
energy on Triton. Somehow, he knew that Triton was doing the same
thing to him.
The demons paused in wrecking the house and turned around to
see what was going on. Before they could react light started to shine
from the two Senshi. The lights came from the pendant that was
attached to Triton's front bow and the other pendant that was attached
to Hermes' armour. Their eyes were still closed and their hands were
still holding. It was like they were transferring energy to each
other, somehow.
One of the demons backed, sensing that a strong wave of energy
was about to come from the couple. But it was too late for any of them
to run. They stood were they were, either fearing or being fascinated
of what they saw. Then finally, both Hermes and Triton opened their
eyes. Triton let go of Hermes' right hand and together they held their
hands out to the demons who were still stupidly standing there and
watching them.
"Freezing..." Hermes began.
"Casade," Triton finished.
When the last word was said, a wave of water rose behind the couple.
It seemed similiar to Triton's attack. But mixed with the water were
small crystals of ice. In a few moments the water turned into small
blue spheres, one for each demons. The spheres took off and the moment
they even touched the demons, ice covered them. There was no chance to
escape.
It only took a few seconds. Each time a sphere struck a demon
the demon was encased in ice. Then, when all demons were trapped and
unable to get out, the ice shattered. Along with their captives.
Triton and Hermes both lowered their hands and looked at the large
pile of dust near the destroyed house.
"We did it," Triton said quietly. Hermes nodded in agreement.
None of them seemed to notice or mind that they were still holding
hands.
* * * *
"There's no one here."
Sailormoon turned around, hoping that find anyone. Demon or human. But
there was nothing but an empty soda can that was blown away by the
wind. Nature closed her eyes and tried to listen as the wind blew
through the empty streets in center Juuban. But she couldn't hear
anything. Normally the wind would tell Nature about any foe that was
nearby but her contact with the wind was weakening now that she was so
far from the forrests.
"I can't hear anything," Nature told. "The wind isn't telling
me anything."
"Is this what I hurried back for?" Archangel asked impatiently
and curled a lock of hair around her finger. Sailormoon looked at
Archangel, not with dislike but with pure surprise. How different was
a Senshi supposed to be when he or she was transformed? Just a few
hours ago, Tomo had been as happy and giggly as usual. Now that she
was transformed into Archangel, she seemed a lot more adult,
pessimistic and dark. Sailormoon didn't know if Nature noticed it. She
probably assumed that this was what Archangel usually was like.
"This isn't good," Nature commented. "It could be a trap. Or
perhaps the enemy is just trying to lead us away from what they are
really after. The question is... what is it? Some other place in
Crystal Tokyo or is it something else?"
"Like Yasha..." Archangel murmured and her wings started to
flap. "I will go and assist Ares."
"Archangel, wait," Sailormoon said but either Archangel
ignored her or didn't hear her. Either way, not that soon after
Archangel had left the ground, it started to shake. At first it was
just a little, but as moments passed the tremors increased.
"An earthquake?!" Sailormoon explain and held on to a mail box
in order to keep her balance. Nature was still standing without
support, yet she seemed to have no problem with keeping her balance.
"No..." she whispered as she saw a crack on the ground where
Archangel had been standing. "This isn't a normal earthquake. I can't
hear the whispers of the wind... but something is coming for us."
Archangel, still flying, had stopped ascending when she noticed that
the ground was shaking. She looked around the streets with a frown on
her face. No demons... nothing suspicous. Then why...?
"Tomo, watch out!" she heard Sailormoon cry. But before she
could turn to Sailormoon she felt bony hands slip around her waist and
taking her higher up in the air. Sailormoon let go of the mailbox and
ran forth, looking upwards. Archangel was still in sight but it was
too far away for them to communicate.
"Hime-sama," Nature whispered. "Get away from there."
Despite that nothing had happened yet, Sailormoon backed away from the
spot where she was standing. She looked down on the ground and to her
surprise she saw a crack. It wasn't a normal crack, it seemed to be
glowing with some strange kind of energy.
"What's happening?" Sailormoon wondered. The same moment she
said those words, the crack widened and out came a new type of demons
that Sailormoon had never seen before. They were skeletons, armed
with small daggers, shields and had wings on their back. Despite that
the wings were made of bones, they somehow managed to fly.
"They were just waiting for the right moment to attack us..."
Nature explained as her eyes narrowed. How could she had been so
foolish, she blamed herself. "Hime-sama, we must fight back."
While the battle began on the ground, Archangel was struggling to get
the hands of the demon of her. But the demon had a tight grip and they
were ascending higher and higher up. She felt her body weakening at
the lack of oxygen but forced herself to stay strong and focused. The
demon however, remained unharmed.
[It's because I have lungs and he doesn't,] Archangel thought
with dark sarcasm. [What does he need lungs for? He doesn't have any
other organs anyway. Just a rottening skeleton and a whole lot of
strength.]
She desperately tried to wringle away from the demon but without
success. All other options to get away from the demons had already
been tried. Archangel closed her eyes. There was no way, she had tried
everything. Just when she was about to give up, she heard a familiar
voice in the corner of her mind. At first it seemed faint, but then it
became clear. The voice belonged to Aozora, her aunt and the first
Archangel. Aozora's voice reminded her of something that was
constantly in Archangel's mind. It was only because of the battle that
she had forgotten it.
The mission must be completed.
Archangel opened her eyes, suddenly filled with determination. She
couldn't die, she had to complete the mission. The power suddenly
returned to her, stronger, newer and better than ever. Without as much
as doubting she put her hands on the demons.
"Heaven Punishment," she barely whispered. Dark energy came
from her hands and were successfully transferred to the demon. Despite
that the demon wasn't capable of screaming, it screamed. It's hold
around Archangel weakened and she used her wings to slowly descend a
little. She stayed in mid-air and watched the demon scream. The dark
energy had wrapped itself around it like a poisonous snake. Finally
the scream ended and with a minor explosion the demon turned into pure
dust. Archangel stayed in the air for a little longer, then she looked
downwards and saw the battle there. Deciding to help her friends out,
she dove for the ground.
* * * *
Who said that Senshi were undefeatable?
As Ares struggled to get up he realized that for once he had to think
during the fight, not just run off and fight spontaneously. This
woman, Tiamat, wasn't like a dumb demon without a brain that Ares was
used to fighting. She was more powerful than the other foes and seemed
to have it all planned out. One, Ares had had no idea about that
invinsible forcefield around Yasha. Two, he had been deeply mistaken
when he thought that Tiamat could be easily distracted. Three, he
hadn't known that Tiamat had the power to absorb and deflect powers.
[I got to find a way to get rid of that forcefield,] he
thought with gritted teeth. [And take care of that witch at the same
time. Oh Yasha, why do you always have to get in these kinds of
situations?!]
"Have you had enough, Ares Knight?" Tiamat mocked. She didn't
seem to be waiting for an answer because the moment afterwards she
simply waved her hand and a fireball came from nowhere, preparing to
devour Ares. Luckily he managed to jump away just in time but all the
fire that had Tiamat had reflected had caused some damage on his skin,
not to mention his armour. Not that Tiamat cared. She just fired
another fireball and watched Ares flee from it with amusement.
It went on for quite a while. Tiamat kept using magic and Ares
kept dodging it. There seemed to be no time at all for Ares to attack
or even attempt to. Far away from all that was happening, Yasha began
to wake up. She blinked a few times for her eyes to get used to the
strong light that lit up the hall, then she tried to move her fingers.
It worked. She was relieved that she was alright, but that feeling of
relief disappeared once she looked forwards and saw what was going on.
At first Yasha's jaw dropped as if she couldn't believe what she was
seeing. But then the shocked look from her face turned to worry
instead.
[Hikaru... he's going to get himself killed.] She glanced
downwards and saw her transformation pen lying on the floor just right
under her. Yasha cursed, knowing that she could never reach the pen if
she was chained. Even though she knew that she wouldn't succeed, she
tried to free herself from the chains. Once she discovered that it was
impossible and that it only hurt her to try even more, she gave up.
Instead she watched the battle with a heart pounding fast with
anxiousness and worry.
"Hikaru..." Yasha whispered even though Ares was far out of
range. "I can't help you... You came to save me even though I yelled
at you before. And you're going to get killed trying to save me..."
With a quiet sob, Yasha looked down on the transformation pen. She
made desperate attempt to hold her tears back but she couldn't. Inside
she felt guilty because she had been so demanding towards Hikaru
before, but she also felt deep sadness. Sadness because Ares was going
to get killed by Tiamat. And all because of something Yasha had done.
She couldn't even pick up the transformation pen that was lying so
close to her.
[Hikaru...]
"If you truly wish to save this man, we will assist you."
Yasha looked up but couldn't see anyone standing before her. Had she
imagined the voice? No, it had been real. She remembered what it
sounded like. It was a male voice that brought a feeling of peace and
kindness. It was too real to just be something she had imagined.
"Miss, please look to your left side."
There was that voice again. Yasha looked to her left, to her relief
she saw a man and a woman in odd clothing standing there. They looked
very much alike, both had silvery eyes and white hair. The man was the
one who had spoken to Yasha. He had a very calm look in his eyes and
his white hair was so long that it reached to his waist. The man wore
a worn, white gi with a haori. The woman's hair was wavy and put into
two pigtails. She was dressed in a Chinese style, crimson shirt
without sleeves. She wore a short, black skirt along with a pair of
long, black leggings. On her hands she wore a pair of short gloves.
What caught Yasha's attention was the jewels that were on the
man's and the woman's foreheads. They seemed just like the jewels that
were usually in female Senshi's tiaras. The jewels were attached to
their foreheads without tiaras. Despite the woman's and the man's
strange clothing, Yasha got the impression that they were also Senshi.
"I am Lucius," the man introduced politely. "This is my twin
sister, Lilith. I can use my power to get rid of the forcefield and my
sister can use hers to free you from the chains."
"Please, do it quickly," Yasha begged. Lucius and Lilith
simply nodded. Lucius reached out his hand to touch the forcefield,
then put both his hands on it and started to concentrate. At the same
time Lilith raised her right hand and narrowed her eyes. She looked
like she was about to touch something, but when she in fact didn't.
But then Yasha felt the chains break and she fell to the floor.
Instead of checking on her sore wrists, she immediately reached for
her transformation pen. At the same time Lucius finished his work on
the forcefield and Yasha reached out her arm to touch it. It wasn't
there.
"Domo arigatou," Yasha thanked sincerely. "I own you
everything."
Lucius and Lilith just nodded silently, at the same time. Then Yasha
threw the transformation pen up in the air.
"Medusa Galactic Power! Make up!"
Tiamat turned around when she heard Medusa called that and noticed
what was going on. She grit her teeth in anger and cursed the ones
who had freed the now transformed Medusa. In anger she released a fire
ball towards Lucius and Lilith instead of Ares.
Lilith stepped forth and raised her hand just like she had
before. An invinsible shield appeared when the fireball approached
them. The shield was solid and strong and kept the fireball away until
it vanished. When the fireball was gone, Lilith lowered her hand with
a mocking smile on her face.
"What the hell was that?" Tiamat whispered.
"I am a telekinetic," Lilith answered with pride. "My powers
also include blocking powers and they can also toss you aside any
time. Like this."
With a simple movement Tiamat was suddenly lifted and slammed into the
wall. Medusa managed to make her way to Ares while Lucius softly
scolded his sister.
"Lilith, you shouldn't play with your powers like that," he
lectured. Lilith waved her hand lightly and smiled widely.
"Hey onii-san, let me have a happy moment, will you?" she
chirped. "Besides, that witch deserves it."
Meanwhile Medusa lifted Ares' head up in her lap and carefully stroke
his cheek.
"You're such an idiot," she said softly. "You should have been
more careful."
Lucius walked over to Ares and bent down to take a look on him. "He's
in pretty bad shape," Lucius commented. "But he'll be alright if he
gets help now."
"I'll contact my friend," Medusa suggested. "She has healing
powers and can get here quickly."
Lucius shook his head. "There's no need to," he told. "I have healing
powers of my own. Just set him down on the floor and I'll take care of
everything."
Medusa nodded and did as she was told to. She carefully put down Ares'
head on the floor and Lucius raised his hands above Ares' body. A
white aura surrounding both Lucius' and Ares' bodies appeared around
them. Medusa watched nervously as Lucius transferred energy to Ares
and prayed that it would work. She was suddenly distrubed when Lilith
carefully tapped her shoulder.
"Hey," she began. "The witch is getting up."
Medusa looked forwards and saw Tiamat slowly getting up. Her mind was
being filled with anger and desire for revenge as she raised her arms
and a green bow appeared with an arrow.
"Poison..." she began and was about to shoot the arrow and say
the final word. But Medusa paused when she saw that look on Tiamat's
face. Tiamat wasn't moving or trying to get away and her eyes... they
were so empty.
"What are you waiting for?" Tiamat asked with a low voice.
"Kill me."
Medusa lowered her bow, not really knowing why. She only knew that
despite what Tiamat had done, she couldn't end her life.
"You did all this because you loved Morpheus?" Medusa
questioned. And Tiamat laughed. She laughed so insanely that Medusa
felt sorry for her.
"I did it because I hated to all, envied you," Tiamat answered
when she had stopped laughing. "I hated you for killing Morpheus, I
envied you Shin Senshi because you could be with your loved ones and
I couldn't... I loathed you because you were able to form sisterly
bonds with strangers and my own sister had turned her back on me. So
go ahead... Kill me! I have nothing left in this world! You took away
the last person that cared about me! Kill me!"
With sorrowful eyes Medusa dropped the bow and the arrow. The moment
before they fell to the ground they vanished. Then she stood still and
Tiamat stared at her in shock.
"I can't kill you," Medusa told. "Call me weak, but I can't."
With that she whirled around and returned to Ares' side. Lilith knelt
down next to her brother, but still suspiciously kept an eye on
Tiamat. Tiamat stood still, staring into nothing. Her eyes were
getting teary, but she refused to let anyone see her cry. She raised
her hand and a dagger appeared in her hands. Lilith, believing that
Tiamat would attack them, stood up and was ready to fight back any
moment. But instead of using the dagger on her enemies, Tiamat held
the dagger underneath her chin.
[Morpheus... I pray that I will be reunited with you.]
It was her last though before using the dagger to end her life.
* * * *
The battle was over. Ishtar, Odin, Nature, Sailormoon, Archangel,
Hermes and Triton all gathered outside the Crystal Palace. The three
groups had arrived from different places and battles but they all
seemed to be alright. Ishtar and Odin had been fighting off demons
with help from Valkyrie, who had returned to look after the Zealots
when it had all been over. Nature, Sailormoon and Archangel had had
some problems with the skeleton demons, but it had all turned out good
in the end. Hermes and Triton were done with saving the farm and after
recieving thanks from the farmer and his family they had been on their
way to the Crystal Palace.
Now they all stood outside the palace, hoping that they had
arrived in time to help Ares saving Yasha.
"Let's go in," Ishtar decided. "I haven't seen any guards
around here but we have to be careful."
The others agreed. Ishtar was just about to push the door open when it
was opened from the inside. Most of the Shin Senshi prepared for a
battle, but when they saw two of their friends coming out they
couldn't help expressing their relief.
"You're alright!" Sailormoon exclaimed with joy. Ares walked
out with support from Medusa and behind them were a man and a woman
dressed in odd clothes.
"I'm just a little sore," Ares replied. "I'll be fine once I
get home."
"We got help from Lucius and Lilith," Medusa explained,
meaning the two other who had followed her and Ares out. She then
found a place for Ares to sit down and helped him. "I know what you're
thinking, but their Senshi too. We couldn't have done it without
them."
Ishtar turned to the two Senshi. "Thank you so much for helping our
friends," she thanked and bowed politely. "We owe you a lot."
Lucius bowed just as politely in return. "There is no need to thank
us," he answered. "We only did what anyone else would have done."
"Onii-san, you talk like you're some kind of saint," Lilith
complained. "They should really thank us."
Lucius turned to his sister, speaking with the same kind of gentle and
kind voice.
"Lilith, don't be so rude."
"I'm not being rude."
Away from the crowd of Senshi, Ares and Medusa sat alone trying to get
a little rest. Medusa stayed silent for a while, then figured that
this was probably her only chance to apologize.
"Look... I'm sorry," she began. "I know that I was acting a
bit strange this morning."
"I know, I know. PMS, right?"
Medusa gave Ares a careful slap on his arm. "Don't joke this around,
I'm trying to apologize the right way," she said seriously but Ares
could see that smile on her lips. "Anyway, thank you for trying to
save me. Even though you didn't really do anything."
"What?!" Ares exclaimed. "If it wasn't for me you would still
be hanging one the wall in there!"
"Not at all!" Medusa retorted. "It was thanks to Lilith and
Lucius that I got out. You merely distracted the enemy."
"Is this your way of apologizing?"
Okay, another part finished. I have now thrown in another two Senshi
with odd clothing. The reason why Lucius and Lilith have a very
different fuku from the others is that I was getting pretty tired of
throwing in knights. I already have three of them so why do I need
another one? So that's why Lucius is wearing a gi. And since I wasn't
going to make Lucius a knight, I decided to not give Lilith a Sailor
fuku. Let's face it, there are already seven women running around in
Sailor fuku in the fanfic and I wanted at least one to look different
(Archangel's wings doesn't count).
Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)
17 June 2001
Next:
Sailormoon Mirai Part XIV: A day in the life
Sachiko moves in, Misao wants to quit the Shin Senshi, Usagi is
officially declared dead, Chie and Tomo wants to know about their
mothers and Akira is being a cold bastard. A day in the life of the
Shin Senshi.