BISHOUJO SENSHI SAILORMOON
~MIRAI~
PART XIX: CHOICES
by: Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)
http://www.geocities.com/komillia/index.html
Disclaimer: Sailormoon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko and Kodansha,
etcetera. Chie, Hikaru, Yasha and the other original characters belong
to me.
Some Japanese words I use:
obaa-sama = grandmother
onii-san = brother
minna-san = everyone
kaa-san = mother
tou-san = father
Ginzuishou = the Silver Crystal
* * * *
Chie looked at the sign in her hands. Tears formed in her eyes, again.
She couldn't count the times she had cried the last few days. It
seemed like whenever she tried to stop crying the tears would just
flow. But all the crying in the world wouldn't bring Kenji back.
Nothing could bring Kenji back.
"Chie..."
Chie looked over her shoulder and saw everyone. Akira, Yasha, Hikaru,
Tomo, Sachiko, Jun, Mai and Amelia. They all stood behind her, staring
at an empty spot on the wall. Usagi was the only one who wasn't there.
Chie didn't blame her for not being able to attend. After all, she was
the princess and had responsibilities. Chie turned back to the wall
again. The wall was huge, filled with name signs and pictures of
departed Senshi. In another room of the shrine were the names of the
Senshi of the Victory Team and there was a room dedicated to only one
Senshi, Sailorsaturn.
In the middle of the wall that everyone was staring at was
an empty spot, reserved for Kenji.
The grip Chie had on the name sign tightened as she recalled
conversations she had had the last few days. Rei had seen in the fire
what had happened to Kenji and there was no doubt. Kenji was dead. NSS
activists had shot him. There were witnesses, of course. But the NSS
would deny the whole thing and say that the activists hadn't done it
in the name of NSS and that NSS shouldn't be held responsible.
[Damn them...] Chie thought. [Damn them and the world we live
in. But I won't forget this. We won't forget this.]
With a new found determination Chie stepped forth to the wall. She
raised the name sign and hung it up on the wall. Then she backed two
steps so that everyone else could read the inscription on the sign.
Yamazaki Kenji - Odin Knight
4007 - 4031
Our beloved friend and comrade
Your dreams will never be forgotten
"We'll fight for you, Kenji-kun," Chie said. "Don't worry.
Your dream will come true... one day."
She then turned around and started to the leave the shrine. The others
stepped forth and paid their respects as well, whether it was by
leaving flowers, saying something or just thinking about Kenji.
Kenji's sign looked so small among with the other signs on the wall.
[You will never be forgotten, Kenji. Never.]
* * * *
"They're really taking his death hard."
Haruka nodded, agreeing with Michiru's words. She continued to watch
the Shin Senshi from a safe distance behind some trees. So did Michiru
and Makoto. The Shin Senshi exited the shrine and then began to make
their way back to the Moon Palace.
"The loss of a Sailor Senshi is always worse than the loss of
a normal human," Makoto pointed out. "You'd think that with all our
powers and long life span we would be close to immortal."
Haruka was silent. She had had that belief once, that she and the
others were practically immortal, unbeatable. But then came the day
when Hotaru had mysteriously died. And after that her eldest daughter
Aozora had died because she lacked control over her powers. Then there
was Natsu, who had ran away over twenty years ago and only recently
Haruka had been told that she had died in 4028, almost three years
ago. And the shrine the Shin Senshi had just been in... the shrine was
a painful reminder to everyone... that no one was immortal, not even
Sailor Senshi.
"The Shin Senshi are all young," Michiru said. "Except for
Sachiko, but she's not officially a part of them. They will overcome
their losses. I'm sure of that."
There was silence. All three original Sailor Senshi were thinking
about their loses. Hotaru, Karin, Aozora, Natsu, Sakurai and many
others. Sakurai wasn't dead but her childhood and innocence had been
lost the day her friends died.
Their thinking was interrupted by the sound of their
communicators beeping. Haruka was the first one who reacted. She
quickly pressed a button and Sailorvenus' face appeared on the small
screen.
"Haruka, Michiru, Makoto, get back to the Moon Palace right
away," Sailorvenus commanded without as much as a greeting for her
long time friends.
"What's going on?" Haruka asked.
"This is an emergency," Sailorvenus answered. "I'll tell you
everything as soon as you get back."
The small screen went blank. Haruka pressed a button on the
communicator and looked at Michiru and Makoto. They nodded, confirming
that they had heard everything.
"Let's go," Makoto said. The others agreed and they made their
way back to the Moon Palace as fast as they could.
* * * *
When they entered the throne hall they found that everyone was
already there. Usagi was sitting on her father's throne and
Sailorvenus, Sailormercury and Sailormars were standing in a small
circle talking to each other. The Shin Senshi were also there, looking
confused and wondering what was going on. Nature was there too but
her daughter was no where to be seen. A computer had been set up
behind Sailormercury and next to it was a big screen.
"Now that everyone is here," Usagi began, standing up and
turning to Sailorvenus. "Can you please tell us what's going on?"
There were no guards in the room, Usagi noticed. There had to be
something very secret going on.
"Everyone," Sailorvenus spoke, stepping forth. "We have
received news that demons have been terrorizing Crystal Tokyo these
last 72 hours non stop. We've received transmitted images and this
doesn't look good. They're everywhere. On the streets, in
buildings... It looks like they haven't come near the Crystal Palace
but there is no certain way of telling."
Usagi and everyone else in the throne hall except for Sailormercury
and Sailormars stared at Sailorvenus in shock. Sailormercury turned
to the computer, pressed a few buttons and images appeared on the
screen. Archangel gasped when she saw the images. Demons were
destroying buildings and everything they caught sight on. In one of
the images they saw at least fifty demons surrounding two defenseless
men. Usagi nearly dropped her jaw when she saw the images. She took
a deep breath to get over the shock and then turned to Sailormercury.
"What about the government?" Usagi asked. "And special forces?
What are they doing to protect the people?"
"Most people have evacuated from Crystal Tokyo," Sailormercury
told as the screen went blank. "The government told them to evacuate
about five days ago, which was before the demons really started to
trash everything. The special forces has been trying to fight the
demons but without any positive results. They have retreated until
they can come up with a plan."
Usagi sighed in frustration. She sat down on her father's throne
again.
"So... Crystal Tokyo has been abandoned..."
There was silence. Most of the people in the room were seeing the
images before themselves. Crystal Tokyo, the place that had once been
a center for peace. Now... it was an former utopia that was falling
apart. To think that it would end like this... that Crystal Tokyo
would be destroyed but lowly creatures such as demons with no minds or
souls.
Ishtar stood in the middle of all the Shin Senshi. She stared
at the blank screen for a long time. She had felt different kinds of
emotions when she had seen those images. Fear, anger, sadness...
those were only a few of them. She didn't know what to feel, but in
this mix of emotions there was only one thought. She couldn't sit back
and watch Crystal Tokyo being destroyed.
"I'm going back."
Everyone's head snapped up and all eyes were on Ishtar. She tore her
gaze away form the screen and looked at the first one who spoke to
her, her grandmother.
"Chie, are you crazy?" Sailorvenus exclaimed. "You can't go
back! It would be suicide!"
"I have to," Ishtar answered softly. "For my mother, my
father, Kenji-kun and everyone else who has been lost. Crystal
Tokyo, no matter how dangerous it is..." Ishtar glanced at the blank
screen. "...is my home."
The expression on Sailorvenus' face softened but the look on her face
was a mixture of shock, confusion and amazement. Ares and Medusa
exchanged a look and then walked over to Ishtar.
"We're going with you," Medusa said. Ishtar's eyes lit up,
she was obviously happy that she wouldn't be alone in this. Archangel
stepped forth. She hesitated for a moment when she looked at
Sailoruranus but then she turned to Ishtar and smiled vaguely.
"I'm going too," she said. "I can't let you leave me behind."
"Tomo-chan..." Ishtar whispered. She was touched by the tone
in Archangel's voice. Though not in words, but by the look in her
eyes, Archangel was saying that she felt the same way Ishtar did.
"Archangel, you..." Sailoruranus began but she didn't know
what to say. Archangel turned to her.
"Uranus-sama... I mean, obaa-sama. Please understand."
Sailoruranus stepped back when she realized what Archangel had just
said. It wasn't that Archangel had called her grandmother. Both she
and Archangel had gotten over the shock of being related the day when
Archangel had arrived at the Moon Kingdom. It was what Ten'ou Natsu
had said to Sailoruranus once.
Please understand.
Sailoruranus remembered what had happened. Because of her lack of
understanding, she and Natsu had argued. The argument had ended in a
real fight and then Natsu had left to never come back.
Meanwhile, Lilith turned to Lucius.
"Hey onii-san..." she began but Lucius cut her off by shaking
his head. Lilith frowned deeply. "Why not?!"
"We have to fight with Ishtar," Lucius answered, smiling and
saying the opposite of what Lilith expected him to. "They're our
friends and friends help each other."
Lilith grinned happily and then turned to Ishtar.
"Yeah! Let's kick some demon butt!"
Ishtar chuckled and nodded. Then she turned to Hermes who stood alone.
Hermes was the first one who had joined Ishtar and Diana. He had
joined because Ishtar and Diana had asked for his help. He had made it
clear back then, his real mission was to find Triton. But now he had
found Triton in Misao... at least what was left of her. And Misao had
left the Shin Senshi. Ishtar hesitated at first. Did she dare to ask
for Hermes' help again.
"Hermes, will you..." she began. Her voice faded away when she
saw Hermes smile vaguely and nod. The hesitant look on Ishtar's face
disappeared and she smiled back.
"Ishtar."
Ishtar turned around when she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was
Nature.
"Nature-sama..."
"I was planning on living a quiet life with my family now that
I'm here on the Moon Kingdom," Nature told. "But it seems like fate
has planned one last battle for me. I'm with you... Sailorishtar."
If possible, the smile on Ishtar's face widened even more. The
original Senshi in the room watched the Shin Senshi in confusion and
amazement.
"As Michiru said... they're young," Sailorjupiter said to
Sailormars who nodded. Usagi sat alone on the throne, watching her
friends. She wanted to get up and say that she was coming with them
but she couldn't. She was back home, finally. After so many battles
she was finally at home with her mother.
"It's suicide to head back to Crystal Tokyo," Sailormercury
said, which happened to be exactly what Usagi was thinking. "Didn't
you see those images?"
"Didn't it seem like suicide to go up against Galaxia and all
those other enemies you fought in the past?" Ares asked lightly. No
one answered. Ishtar looked at Usagi. By the way they looked at each
other it was like they were having a mental conversation. Then, Ishtar
finally nodded and turned to the other Shin Senshi.
"Minna-san, let's go."
As the Shin Senshi exited from the throne hall, the original Sailor
Senshi stood there. They didn't follow them, nor did they try to stop
them. Sailorneptune looked curiously at Sailoruranus.
"Uranus... you're not gonna try to stop Archangel?" she asked.
After a few seconds of silence, Sailoruranus shook her head.
"No..." she answered. "I'm not going to make the same mistake
twice."
* * * *
"Ishtar!"
Ishtar was just about to enter the teleportation chamber when she
heard a familiar voice calling her name. Turning around, she saw
Diana running towards her.
"Ishtar, what are you thinking?!" Diana exclaimed, sounding
exactly like she had in the past while trying Ishtar. "I heard that
you're going back to Earth!"
"That's my plan," Ishtar answered. Diana looked at her
silently, for a moment everyone thought that she was going to yell at
Ishtar. But suddenly, Diana began to laugh. At first it was quiet and
soft, but then the laughter became louder. Ishtar stared at Diana,
confused.
"Why are you laughing?" Ishtar wondered. Diana stopped
laughing but the smile didn't leave her face.
"Ishtar, I think that you're forgetting about something,"
Diana said. "Like the fact that you didn't have enough power to
teleport until Circe helped out."
"Well I..." Ishtar began but then she realized that Diana was
right. "Oh, damn it."
Diana smiled softly and drew Ishtar into a hug. "I'll help you, but
don't tell anyone," she whispered.
"You will?" Ishtar whispered back.
"Yeah..." Diana answered and then spoke to everyone else as
well. "I'll help but don't tell anyone. My mother will have my head if
she finds out."
* * * *
Hel saw images of Crystal Tokyo when she closed her eyes. She saw her
demons destroying it and killed everything that was alive. Hel didn't
smile in satisfaction. Killing every creature that was left in Crystal
Tokyo wasn't her goal.
She opened her eyes and instead of Crystal Tokyo she saw the
cold, hard, floor of her chamber. In anger, she raised one hand
towards the chair she normally sat at. The chair exploded into
thousand pieces. Frowning, she turned around.
[I still haven't succeeded...] she thought angrily. [Over
fifty years in this body and I still haven't found the Child of
Destiny.]
She raised her both of her hands. The curtains behind her fell to the
floor and the candles were put out by an invincible force. The hall
was shrouded in darkness. Hel didn't mind. Darkness was what she was
made of, darkness was what had kept her in this body.
[What am I hoping to achieve by finding the Child of Destiny?]
Hel asked herself. She looked upwards. Normally, when there was light
in the room, one could see the painting on the ceiling. However, Hel
knew exactly what the painting looked like.
It was a large cross. The entire cross was black but in the
middle of it was a white spot that looked like real shining light.
The white spot was the only thing that Hel could see in the darkness.
There was nothing special about the cross except for the white spot.
Yet every time Hel looked at it she was reminded of her failure.
Suddenly the darkness was exchanged by the image of five
Sailor Senshi arriving by light in the middle of Crystal Tokyo. The
image only lasted for two seconds, but it was more than enough for
Hel. She had already recognized the Senshi.
[The Shin Senshi... how foolish of them to return.]
* * * *
"Where are we...?"
Lilith looked around at her surroundings. They were standing in the
middle of a street. Cars had crashed against each other and had been
abandoned. Signs had been pulled down and destroyed. Windows had been
broken and there were glass shards everywhere. A half of a poster on
a billboard showed some kind of commercial for a magazine. A neon
sign occasionally flashed with green light. So far no demon had been
seen.
No one recognized the place they were in. The Crystal Palace
was in sight, so they knew that they were in Crystal Tokyo. Finally,
Hermes turned around and saw something.
"Over there."
Everyone turned around and looked at what he was pointing at. It was
just like any other store. The windows had been broken and the door
was no where to be seen. Only one third of the sign was left, the
other pieces were gone. When no one recognized the place, Hermes
almost sadly said:
"That is the jewellery store where I first met Misao."
Archangel frowned. They were all still standing in a circle, she
took a few steps forth and stepped out from the circle. Once she was
closer, she looked at the store's sign and recognized it.
"We went to this store a couple of times," Archangel said,
referring to Misao and herself. "I remember it." She turned around
and immediately started to recognize the other stores. "There's the
cafe where we used to have tea... and there's that book store! And
there's the store that sells those hair accessories..."
Archangel's voice drifted off and she stared silently at the destroyed
stores. Memories of Misao, Nozomi, Sayuri and herself resurfaced.
Nozomi loved that hair accessory store. And Misao... who had once
yelled a waiter for being rude to her. Where were they now? Misao,
Nozomi, Sayuri... and Miyazawa-sempai. where they safe? Archangel
flinched when she felt someone's hand on her shoulder. But she calmed
down when she saw that it was only Nature.
"Try not to think about them," Nature advised, knowing what
Archangel was thinking about. "It was only make things harder."
Like a good little girl, Archangel nodded.
"Let's go," Ishtar decided. "Before any demons come here."
"Where are we going?" Medusa asked. Ishtar turned around. Her
green eyes had locked on to their destination.
"The Crystal Palace. We have faced Tiamat there once and
Hecate too. And if the demons have stayed off the Crystal Palace then
there has to be something there. It's not like there's anywhere else
to go."
The others agreed. With Ishtar leading the way they started to walk
towards the Crystal Palace. After a few minutes of silent walking,
Ares suddenly stopped. Medusa was the only one who noticed it. She
stopped as well and turned to him.
"What is it?" she wondered.
"I heard something," Ares told and looked around. Medusa
turned to her side, thinking that she had heard something as well.
The sounds were so quiet that she could hardly hear them. But she did.
Something was approaching. Footsteps were heard. Quickly the sounds
of footsteps became louder. The rest of the Shin Senshi stopped as
well and turned around now that they could hear the footsteps.
"What is that?" Lilith whispered.
As soon as she had uttered those words demons sprang up from the
ground. They came from above where they had suddenly appeared and
landed perfectly on the ground. They came out from the stores where
they had been hiding, waiting for someone to come. They came running
from alleys.
"Oh shit..." Ares muttered. He quickly grabbed Medusa's hand
and they ran towards the others. Ishtar didn't have to estimate how
many the demons were. Looking at the demons was like looking right at
an ant nest. There was no way that all of them could be counted.
"Run, everyone!" Ishtar shouted. They did as they were told
and ran as fast as they could. The demons, however, pursued them and
were faster than them. While they were still far away from the Shin
Senshi, they were closing in on them. Realizing that they couldn't run
from the demons forever, Ishtar turned around and blew a kiss into her
hand. A small, red heart appeared in her hand.
"Venus!" she called out. "Love and Beauty Shock!"
Seeing that Ishtar had attacked the demons, Medusa also stopped to
use her attack. She raised both of her hands and her set of bow and
arrow appeared. Only this time there were four arrows. How Medusa
would manage to shoot them all at the same time, Ishtar didn't know.
"Poison Arrows!"
The four arrows were shot and each hit a demon perfectly, turning it
into dust. However it wasn't very effective since Medusa's attacks
were meant to fight one or few opponnents, not this many. Hermes
turned around and raised his sword.
"Ice Shield!" he shouted and sliced through the air. Blue
energy made it's way from his sword to the demons. The energy made
marks on the ground without even touching it. It travelled to the
demons and then formed a shield of ice, probably as big as a building.
The others had stopped by now and were looking at the shield that
Hermes had created. The demons were trying to get through it but the
shield held them off. For now.
"We have to do something," Lucius said. "Once the shield
breaks they'll be after us again."
"We can't fight them all!" Lilith exclaimed. "They're too
many!"
"We can't run either..." Ares said. "They'll catch up with us
before we get to the Crystal Palace."
"I'll fight them."
Everyone turned to Archangel who stood in the back. She walked up to
Ishtar and Hermes. While staring at the shield and the demons, she
talked to everyone.
"I'll use my Angelic Purification to hold them off while you
run."
"Are you out of your mind?!" Ishtar yelled so loud that
Archangel would have normally flinched. "It wasn't that long ago that
you hardly could use your Angel Wing to destroy ONE demon!"
"I've recovered from that," Archangel replied calmly without
looking at Ishtar. "I'll be fine. Just go."
Medusa made her way to Archangel and placed herself between Archangel
and the shield, forcing the younger Senshi to look at her.
"No, I agree with Ishtar. You can't handle all of them alone."
"It will work out," Archangel answered. "Please... everyone
go before the shield breaks."
Nature was about to protest against Archangel as well when she noticed
what no one else had. Archangel's brooch was different. She hadn't
noticed it before because it's shape was still pretty similar to the
way it used to be. But a few gems had been added and the brooch was
gold. It had been silver before.
[I recognize that brooch...] Nature thought. [If she's
thinking about doing what I'm thinking... then there's actually a
chance that she can handle all those demons.]
"Let her go."
Everyone except for Archangel turned to Nature and looked at her as if
she was crazy.
"Let her go," Nature repeated. "We don't have much of a choice
than to let her deal with the demons."
"But she'll get killed doing that," Ares hissed. "What is the
point to leave her or anyone else here if another Shin Senshi will
die?"
Ishtar shook her head and turned to Archangel again. "Listen to me,
you can't handle all demons on your own..."
"It's better that most of us survive than all of us,"
Archangel cut off and finally looked at Ishtar. She smiled vaguely at
her. "I'll be okay... trust me."
"I trusted that Kenji would be okay and looked what happened
to him."
"I'm not Kenji."
The shield was breaking. The first crack had been made in the ice by
the demons. Archangel looked at the shield briefly before turning to
Ishtar again.
"I promise you, I won't die. I still have a mission to
complete."
Unable to know what to say, Ishtar didn't answer. While most of the
Shin Senshi protested, Nature managed to convince them that it was
best to let Archangel take care of the demons. Archangel's Angelic
Purification was the only chance they had to destroy all the demons
at once. If Misao had been there she and Hermes could have used the
Freezing Cascade but she wasn't there. And in case the Angelic
Purification would fail, it was better that most of the team were
somewhere else safe from the demons.
Ishtar didn't say anything when she was dragged away by
Hermes. She stared at Archangel who watched her comrades leaving. Once
they were all out of sight, Archangel turned around. The shield had
several cracks now. Her wings began to flap and she ascended up in
the air. Up in the air she could see that there were far more demons
than she had expected.
[So... here I am...] she thought. Her heart was pounding fast,
of course she was afraid. She was just Archangel. Her powers were
based on healing. It didn't matter how many names she had had,
Kamiya Tomoko, Hoshino Izumi, Arai Shiho, Archangel. She was still the
same person inside. Yasha had once said that she wouldn't even be able
hurt a fly, much less kill a demon. Over the years Archangel had
prooed that she could kill demons... but never this many.
Another crack was made on the shield.
[I have come this far... I can't turn back now. I wonder if
kaa-san can see me know. And tou-san... wherever he is... I wonder if
he would have been proud of me. And there is obaa-sama, she must have
been so sad all these years. I wonder if I disappointed her.]
Archangel slowly raised her hand to her chest, where she detached the
brooch. She held it before her and looked at it.
[This brooch as gone through a quite a lot of changes... I
think it changes every time it switches an owner.]
The demons were pushing the shield. They pushed once more... and the
shield broke into ice crystals, big and small. Archangel almost smiled
as she held out the brooch and concentrated. A circle of glowing stars
appeared around her, spinning.
The demons had noticed her. Archangel didn't care. She raised
her right arm, the one holding the brooch, slowly.
"Star..." she began.
She had had no intention of using the Angelic Purification. Although
Nature had convinced the others that it would work, Archangel knew
that it wouldn't. It was too weak and wouldn't work on so many demons.
Perhaps Nature had known too? Then why had she been on Archangel's
side? But she didn't have the time to think about it. The demons
leaped up in the air to attack her.
[Will it all end now... or begin?]
The first demon reached out it's claw to attack her. Archangel frowned
and pointed her arm and brooch at it.
"...SERIOUS LASER!!"
* * * *
Usagi set down the tray on the expensive marble table. Serenity sat
up in her bed, smiling at her daughter. Usagi did her best to smile
back, she couldn't forget the fact that her friends were back on
Earth.
"I brought you some soup," Usagi said, sitting down next to
her mother on the bed. "Ami-san said that she was going to give you
your medicine after you had your soup."
Serenity nodded and Usagi reached for the bowl of soup. While doing
so, Serenity couldn't help noticing something about her daughter.
"Small lady..." she began. "Have you been crying?"
Usagi looked at her mother and quickly shook her head. She picked up
the bowl and a spoon.
"No," she lied. "What makes you think that?"
"Your eyes are a little red," Serenity answered. "I can see
that you've been crying. What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong," Usagi said. "Here's your soup, mommy."
Serenity smiled softly. "Forget about the soup for a while and tell
me what's really going on. You're worried about your friends, aren't
you?"
Usagi stared at Serenity, puzzled. How did she know? Then Usagi
remembered that Minako had gone to see Serenity not soon after that
Ishtar and the others had left. Minako must have told Serenity about
what had happened. Seeing that there was no way of assuring that
everything was alright, Usagi nodded quietly and put the bowl of soup
back at the table.
"Small lady... do you remember when you were in the past and
we fought Neherenia for the second time?" Serenity asked. Usagi
nodded again. "She took your father away from me... and you fainted
before the future was threatened. After that happened, I went after
Neherenia to get your father back... what did all of you do then?"
"We went after you and daddy," Usagi answered. She didn't
really understand why her mother was bringing this up all of the
sudden. Serenity smiled, suddenly she looked very tired.
"All Neherenia wanted was a friend," she told. "I... was so
lucky to have so many good friends... and I still have. Friends share
your feelings, Small lady. Your sadness and anger, your happiness and
laughter..."
"Mommy, you look very tired," Usagi pointed out. "You should
rest."
Serenity shook her head. "No, let me finish. My friends helped me
when I needed them. That's why, I want you to go and help yours."
"Mommy... What about everything here? I want to be by your
side and I want you to feel better. Makoto told me that the whole
kingdom has been in chaos and..."
"I'll be much happier knowing that you were with your
friends," Serenity cut off softly. "After all, that's what you really
want, isn't it?"
Usagi looked down at her hand. Then she nodded again. Serenity managed
to lift her hand to touch her daughter's cheek.
"You have grown up to become such a beautiful and lovely
person," she whispered. "Do what you think is right... not what you
think that you're supposed to do."
Usagi met her mother's eyes again and she gave her mother a hug while
tears began to stream down her face.
"I love you, mommy," she sobbed.
"I love you too... Usagi," Serenity answered. "Now go. And be
careful."
Usagi nodded and then released her mother. Then she rushed out from
the bedroom and closed the door after herself. There was no need to
say goodbye. Serenity closed her eyes and saw Endymion's face before
her. She smiled to herself.
Usagi entered the teleportation chamber as Sailormoon. There
was no one there. Sailormoon didn't hesitate, she went right over to
the control panel. Once she got there, she cursed. The panel was full
of buttons, screens and gauges she didn't understand. For a while she
stood silent, studying the control panel. Ami had shown her how it
worked but that had been years ago, before the Moon Kingdom and the
Earth had separated.
[The blue button first...] Sailormoon recalled to herself. She
pressed a large, round and blue button first. Once the button had been
pressed, figures and letters began to appear on the screens. She
smiled to herself and then looked at the screen. But it didn't take
long for her happiness to vanish. She had managed to turn on the power
but there were lots of things she had to type in that she hardly
understood. After ten minutes, she pressed a red button and the power
went off.
[I give up!] Sailormoon thought angrily to herself and walked
away from the control panel. [There's no away that I can use that
thing!]
With a frustrated sigh she sat down on the platform with her hands
covering her face. Why hadn't she paid more attention when Ami had
taught her to use the control panel?
[Because I was stupid,] she thought angrily. [I thought that
I'd never go back to Earth, I thought that I never had to use it!
Damn, now I have to get back! Chie, Hikaru, Tomo and the others...
they could be in trouble.]
She was so angry at herself for not being able to do anything. The
tears were starting to form in her eyes but she did her best to hold
them back. What would she do now? She couldn't use the control panel
which meant that she couldn't get back to Earth on her own. Either she
had to ask one of the original Senshi to assist her or to abandon her
friends. She could do neither.
Sailormoon looked up and caught sight on a trash can. In
anger, she raised her hand a little and the trash can exploded into
five pieces. Pieces of paper swirled around the room and some got
stuck in her hair, but she didn't care. She watched the paper pieces
fly lightly around the room.
[This power... is so unknown to me...] she thought. [The
powers of Sailormoon... involve healing. Then why can I destroy things
like this? What am I?]
Once the paper pieces had settled down on the floor, Sailormoon turned
her eyes to the next object. A pile of folders. She hesitated for a
while. Those folders could be important to someone's work or research.
[Oh, what the hell... I'm the princess, I'll find a new job
for them.]
She raised her hand and again when the object had exploded pieces of
paper swirled around the room. Sailormoon sat on the platform,
watching the pieces of paper with an empty look in her eyes. She
didn't notice a small orb of light appearing in her hands. The orb
grew a little bigger as each second passed. Finally, when it had
reached it's full size, Sailormoon looked down and noticed it.
[The Ginzuishou?]
The light that the orb emitted weakened and Sailormoon saw that she
had been right. It was the Ginzuishou. She held it up, a little closer
to her face. And she remembered.
* * * *
"Shut down the right engine and transfer all the power to the
left and keep this plane up in the air!"
"The engine's not responding! We're losing altitude!"
"We're gonna crash!"
"Oh my God, we're gonna die!"
Usagi grabbed on to her father's arm. Although Endymion's face was
calm, he was just as afraid as Usagi on the inside.
"Daddy..." Usagi began but Endymion cut her off.
"It's going to be okay, Small lady," he assured her. He got up
from his seat and went for the place where the life jackets were
stored. Usagi got up as well but seeing how calm her father was didn't
help her. Her heart was pounding fast, she wasn't the only one who
was afraid. The crew were beginning to panic as well. The only one
who appeared to be calm was Endymion.
[I don't want to die... I don't want to die...] was Usagi's
only thought. It might had sounded selfish, it might have sounded
unlike someone with the name Serenity to only think of herself and
panic. But she was human. She was afraid.
"Small lady, here," Endymion said. He had found two life
jackets and was offering one of them to her. But she didn't take it.
She had been too afraid to notice that the Ginzuishou had appeared
before her.
"Daddy..." she whispered again. The Ginzuishou began to emit a
strong light. Usagi closed her eyes and within less than a second she
had disappeared from the plane.
When she opened her eyes again she wasn't on the plane. She
was standing in the middle of a park. The sun was setting and the park
was empty. But Usagi didn't see the park. She saw a vision of the
plane her father was still one. The plane kept losing altitude and it
neared the ground. The last thing Usagi saw before opening her eyes
was that the plane crashed and exploded.
Her eyes were flooded with tears. There was no way that anyone
could survive that crash. King Endymion or not. Her knees felt weak
and her head was hurting to so much. Finally, she fainted and her
entire body rested on the ground.
It began to rain.
* * * *
Sailormoon opened her eyes. The Ginzuishou had disappeared from her
hands and she stared sadly at them. The image of her father's calm
face when he had handed her that life jacket still lingered inside
her.
[Oh, daddy... why did it have to turn out like this?]
"Having a quiet moment, princess?"
Sailormoon looked to her right to discover two things. One, she hadn't
closed the door after entering the teleportation chamber. Two, Circe
had just entered the chamber. The darkness in the room shaded her
face and body while the light that came from the hallway shone. It all
made Circe look so mysterious. But on the other hand, she was. Who
could teleport to Earth on her own? Not even the Inner and the Outer
Senshi could do that. They had to use a teleportation device or
teleport in pairs.
"Circe..." Sailormoon whispered. Circe closed the door after
herself and then went to sit down next to the princess.
"Did they leave without you?" she asked. Not really knowing
what to say, Sailormoon just nodded. Circe chuckled.
"And you?" Sailormoon asked. Circe avoided looking into
Sailormoon's eyes.
"When I heard that my mother had left I was so angry at her,"
she told. "After I have done so much to get her back with us she goes
back to Earth again. But my father told me that I was wrong. So, I've
been spending some time here, wondering if I should go back and get
her or not."
"Crystal Tokyo has been attacked by the demons these last
three days," Sailormoon told, not knowing if Circe knew or not. After
all Ami hadn't said anything about this information being released to
the public. "Everyone has gone back to fight them."
"I know," Circe answered. "How about you? Are you going back
to fight them too?"
"Yes."
Circe was quiet for a while. Sailormoon wondered if she was just
thinking about her mother. From what she had seen it seemed like
Amelia had grown close to Jun during her short stay on Earth.
"I guess I'm going with you then," Circe said. She didn't say
anything else but that. Sailormoon accepted her offer, actually she
was happy that she didn't have to go there alone. Not to mention that
she didn't know any other way to teleport to Earth than with Circe's
help.
"But Circe... can I ask you a question?" Sailormoon wondered
as they both got up. Circe nodded.
"Sure."
"Who are you, Circe?" Sailormoon asked. "You teleported on
your own to Earth, something that not even the Inner and the Outer
Senshi can do. You chanted a spell that broke Hecate's hold on our
powers. And Tomo told me that you helped Jun healing her. Where does
this power come from? Sachiko-san? Your father?"
Once again Circe looked away.
"I... don't know. This power seems to have nothing to do with
my parents, theirs is very different. And I know that I'm not a
reincarnation of a former Senshi, somehow I just know that. But where
this power comes from? I have no idea. I just use it." Circe turned
back to Sailormoon. "It's just like your power, isn't it? The power
you use to blow things up. You don't know where it comes from either.
And looking the all the paper pieces here... I assume that you use
it."
Sailormoon smiled, feeling a sudden solidarity with Circe.
"Shall we go?"
Circe nodded again and they both stepped to the center of the
platform. They joined hands and closed their eyes. As Sailormoon
began to feel being teleported, she wondered what would happen the
moment she came back to Earth.
So part 18 and 19 are done... I didn't really feel like writing any
notes at the end of part 18. The events in this part was planned a
long time ago (Actually all parts of Mirai were planned a long time
ago except for part 14)... well about 1½ years ago. I'm pretty close
to finish this fanfic, part 23 or 24 will be the last one. Please
e-mail me with any comments, I really need someone's opinions on these
last few chapters. Thank you for reading. BTW, this part is the first
part that I have run through a spell check. ^_^
Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)
http://www.geocities.com/komillia/index.html
28 March 2002
Next:
Sailormoon Mirai Part XX: Sacrifice
The Shin Senshi arrive at the Crystal Palace. Hecate waits for Nature
there, ready to settle a personal vendetta.
~MIRAI~
PART XIX: CHOICES
by: Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)
http://www.geocities.com/komillia/index.html
Disclaimer: Sailormoon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko and Kodansha,
etcetera. Chie, Hikaru, Yasha and the other original characters belong
to me.
Some Japanese words I use:
obaa-sama = grandmother
onii-san = brother
minna-san = everyone
kaa-san = mother
tou-san = father
Ginzuishou = the Silver Crystal
* * * *
Chie looked at the sign in her hands. Tears formed in her eyes, again.
She couldn't count the times she had cried the last few days. It
seemed like whenever she tried to stop crying the tears would just
flow. But all the crying in the world wouldn't bring Kenji back.
Nothing could bring Kenji back.
"Chie..."
Chie looked over her shoulder and saw everyone. Akira, Yasha, Hikaru,
Tomo, Sachiko, Jun, Mai and Amelia. They all stood behind her, staring
at an empty spot on the wall. Usagi was the only one who wasn't there.
Chie didn't blame her for not being able to attend. After all, she was
the princess and had responsibilities. Chie turned back to the wall
again. The wall was huge, filled with name signs and pictures of
departed Senshi. In another room of the shrine were the names of the
Senshi of the Victory Team and there was a room dedicated to only one
Senshi, Sailorsaturn.
In the middle of the wall that everyone was staring at was
an empty spot, reserved for Kenji.
The grip Chie had on the name sign tightened as she recalled
conversations she had had the last few days. Rei had seen in the fire
what had happened to Kenji and there was no doubt. Kenji was dead. NSS
activists had shot him. There were witnesses, of course. But the NSS
would deny the whole thing and say that the activists hadn't done it
in the name of NSS and that NSS shouldn't be held responsible.
[Damn them...] Chie thought. [Damn them and the world we live
in. But I won't forget this. We won't forget this.]
With a new found determination Chie stepped forth to the wall. She
raised the name sign and hung it up on the wall. Then she backed two
steps so that everyone else could read the inscription on the sign.
Yamazaki Kenji - Odin Knight
4007 - 4031
Our beloved friend and comrade
Your dreams will never be forgotten
"We'll fight for you, Kenji-kun," Chie said. "Don't worry.
Your dream will come true... one day."
She then turned around and started to the leave the shrine. The others
stepped forth and paid their respects as well, whether it was by
leaving flowers, saying something or just thinking about Kenji.
Kenji's sign looked so small among with the other signs on the wall.
[You will never be forgotten, Kenji. Never.]
* * * *
"They're really taking his death hard."
Haruka nodded, agreeing with Michiru's words. She continued to watch
the Shin Senshi from a safe distance behind some trees. So did Michiru
and Makoto. The Shin Senshi exited the shrine and then began to make
their way back to the Moon Palace.
"The loss of a Sailor Senshi is always worse than the loss of
a normal human," Makoto pointed out. "You'd think that with all our
powers and long life span we would be close to immortal."
Haruka was silent. She had had that belief once, that she and the
others were practically immortal, unbeatable. But then came the day
when Hotaru had mysteriously died. And after that her eldest daughter
Aozora had died because she lacked control over her powers. Then there
was Natsu, who had ran away over twenty years ago and only recently
Haruka had been told that she had died in 4028, almost three years
ago. And the shrine the Shin Senshi had just been in... the shrine was
a painful reminder to everyone... that no one was immortal, not even
Sailor Senshi.
"The Shin Senshi are all young," Michiru said. "Except for
Sachiko, but she's not officially a part of them. They will overcome
their losses. I'm sure of that."
There was silence. All three original Sailor Senshi were thinking
about their loses. Hotaru, Karin, Aozora, Natsu, Sakurai and many
others. Sakurai wasn't dead but her childhood and innocence had been
lost the day her friends died.
Their thinking was interrupted by the sound of their
communicators beeping. Haruka was the first one who reacted. She
quickly pressed a button and Sailorvenus' face appeared on the small
screen.
"Haruka, Michiru, Makoto, get back to the Moon Palace right
away," Sailorvenus commanded without as much as a greeting for her
long time friends.
"What's going on?" Haruka asked.
"This is an emergency," Sailorvenus answered. "I'll tell you
everything as soon as you get back."
The small screen went blank. Haruka pressed a button on the
communicator and looked at Michiru and Makoto. They nodded, confirming
that they had heard everything.
"Let's go," Makoto said. The others agreed and they made their
way back to the Moon Palace as fast as they could.
* * * *
When they entered the throne hall they found that everyone was
already there. Usagi was sitting on her father's throne and
Sailorvenus, Sailormercury and Sailormars were standing in a small
circle talking to each other. The Shin Senshi were also there, looking
confused and wondering what was going on. Nature was there too but
her daughter was no where to be seen. A computer had been set up
behind Sailormercury and next to it was a big screen.
"Now that everyone is here," Usagi began, standing up and
turning to Sailorvenus. "Can you please tell us what's going on?"
There were no guards in the room, Usagi noticed. There had to be
something very secret going on.
"Everyone," Sailorvenus spoke, stepping forth. "We have
received news that demons have been terrorizing Crystal Tokyo these
last 72 hours non stop. We've received transmitted images and this
doesn't look good. They're everywhere. On the streets, in
buildings... It looks like they haven't come near the Crystal Palace
but there is no certain way of telling."
Usagi and everyone else in the throne hall except for Sailormercury
and Sailormars stared at Sailorvenus in shock. Sailormercury turned
to the computer, pressed a few buttons and images appeared on the
screen. Archangel gasped when she saw the images. Demons were
destroying buildings and everything they caught sight on. In one of
the images they saw at least fifty demons surrounding two defenseless
men. Usagi nearly dropped her jaw when she saw the images. She took
a deep breath to get over the shock and then turned to Sailormercury.
"What about the government?" Usagi asked. "And special forces?
What are they doing to protect the people?"
"Most people have evacuated from Crystal Tokyo," Sailormercury
told as the screen went blank. "The government told them to evacuate
about five days ago, which was before the demons really started to
trash everything. The special forces has been trying to fight the
demons but without any positive results. They have retreated until
they can come up with a plan."
Usagi sighed in frustration. She sat down on her father's throne
again.
"So... Crystal Tokyo has been abandoned..."
There was silence. Most of the people in the room were seeing the
images before themselves. Crystal Tokyo, the place that had once been
a center for peace. Now... it was an former utopia that was falling
apart. To think that it would end like this... that Crystal Tokyo
would be destroyed but lowly creatures such as demons with no minds or
souls.
Ishtar stood in the middle of all the Shin Senshi. She stared
at the blank screen for a long time. She had felt different kinds of
emotions when she had seen those images. Fear, anger, sadness...
those were only a few of them. She didn't know what to feel, but in
this mix of emotions there was only one thought. She couldn't sit back
and watch Crystal Tokyo being destroyed.
"I'm going back."
Everyone's head snapped up and all eyes were on Ishtar. She tore her
gaze away form the screen and looked at the first one who spoke to
her, her grandmother.
"Chie, are you crazy?" Sailorvenus exclaimed. "You can't go
back! It would be suicide!"
"I have to," Ishtar answered softly. "For my mother, my
father, Kenji-kun and everyone else who has been lost. Crystal
Tokyo, no matter how dangerous it is..." Ishtar glanced at the blank
screen. "...is my home."
The expression on Sailorvenus' face softened but the look on her face
was a mixture of shock, confusion and amazement. Ares and Medusa
exchanged a look and then walked over to Ishtar.
"We're going with you," Medusa said. Ishtar's eyes lit up,
she was obviously happy that she wouldn't be alone in this. Archangel
stepped forth. She hesitated for a moment when she looked at
Sailoruranus but then she turned to Ishtar and smiled vaguely.
"I'm going too," she said. "I can't let you leave me behind."
"Tomo-chan..." Ishtar whispered. She was touched by the tone
in Archangel's voice. Though not in words, but by the look in her
eyes, Archangel was saying that she felt the same way Ishtar did.
"Archangel, you..." Sailoruranus began but she didn't know
what to say. Archangel turned to her.
"Uranus-sama... I mean, obaa-sama. Please understand."
Sailoruranus stepped back when she realized what Archangel had just
said. It wasn't that Archangel had called her grandmother. Both she
and Archangel had gotten over the shock of being related the day when
Archangel had arrived at the Moon Kingdom. It was what Ten'ou Natsu
had said to Sailoruranus once.
Please understand.
Sailoruranus remembered what had happened. Because of her lack of
understanding, she and Natsu had argued. The argument had ended in a
real fight and then Natsu had left to never come back.
Meanwhile, Lilith turned to Lucius.
"Hey onii-san..." she began but Lucius cut her off by shaking
his head. Lilith frowned deeply. "Why not?!"
"We have to fight with Ishtar," Lucius answered, smiling and
saying the opposite of what Lilith expected him to. "They're our
friends and friends help each other."
Lilith grinned happily and then turned to Ishtar.
"Yeah! Let's kick some demon butt!"
Ishtar chuckled and nodded. Then she turned to Hermes who stood alone.
Hermes was the first one who had joined Ishtar and Diana. He had
joined because Ishtar and Diana had asked for his help. He had made it
clear back then, his real mission was to find Triton. But now he had
found Triton in Misao... at least what was left of her. And Misao had
left the Shin Senshi. Ishtar hesitated at first. Did she dare to ask
for Hermes' help again.
"Hermes, will you..." she began. Her voice faded away when she
saw Hermes smile vaguely and nod. The hesitant look on Ishtar's face
disappeared and she smiled back.
"Ishtar."
Ishtar turned around when she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was
Nature.
"Nature-sama..."
"I was planning on living a quiet life with my family now that
I'm here on the Moon Kingdom," Nature told. "But it seems like fate
has planned one last battle for me. I'm with you... Sailorishtar."
If possible, the smile on Ishtar's face widened even more. The
original Senshi in the room watched the Shin Senshi in confusion and
amazement.
"As Michiru said... they're young," Sailorjupiter said to
Sailormars who nodded. Usagi sat alone on the throne, watching her
friends. She wanted to get up and say that she was coming with them
but she couldn't. She was back home, finally. After so many battles
she was finally at home with her mother.
"It's suicide to head back to Crystal Tokyo," Sailormercury
said, which happened to be exactly what Usagi was thinking. "Didn't
you see those images?"
"Didn't it seem like suicide to go up against Galaxia and all
those other enemies you fought in the past?" Ares asked lightly. No
one answered. Ishtar looked at Usagi. By the way they looked at each
other it was like they were having a mental conversation. Then, Ishtar
finally nodded and turned to the other Shin Senshi.
"Minna-san, let's go."
As the Shin Senshi exited from the throne hall, the original Sailor
Senshi stood there. They didn't follow them, nor did they try to stop
them. Sailorneptune looked curiously at Sailoruranus.
"Uranus... you're not gonna try to stop Archangel?" she asked.
After a few seconds of silence, Sailoruranus shook her head.
"No..." she answered. "I'm not going to make the same mistake
twice."
* * * *
"Ishtar!"
Ishtar was just about to enter the teleportation chamber when she
heard a familiar voice calling her name. Turning around, she saw
Diana running towards her.
"Ishtar, what are you thinking?!" Diana exclaimed, sounding
exactly like she had in the past while trying Ishtar. "I heard that
you're going back to Earth!"
"That's my plan," Ishtar answered. Diana looked at her
silently, for a moment everyone thought that she was going to yell at
Ishtar. But suddenly, Diana began to laugh. At first it was quiet and
soft, but then the laughter became louder. Ishtar stared at Diana,
confused.
"Why are you laughing?" Ishtar wondered. Diana stopped
laughing but the smile didn't leave her face.
"Ishtar, I think that you're forgetting about something,"
Diana said. "Like the fact that you didn't have enough power to
teleport until Circe helped out."
"Well I..." Ishtar began but then she realized that Diana was
right. "Oh, damn it."
Diana smiled softly and drew Ishtar into a hug. "I'll help you, but
don't tell anyone," she whispered.
"You will?" Ishtar whispered back.
"Yeah..." Diana answered and then spoke to everyone else as
well. "I'll help but don't tell anyone. My mother will have my head if
she finds out."
* * * *
Hel saw images of Crystal Tokyo when she closed her eyes. She saw her
demons destroying it and killed everything that was alive. Hel didn't
smile in satisfaction. Killing every creature that was left in Crystal
Tokyo wasn't her goal.
She opened her eyes and instead of Crystal Tokyo she saw the
cold, hard, floor of her chamber. In anger, she raised one hand
towards the chair she normally sat at. The chair exploded into
thousand pieces. Frowning, she turned around.
[I still haven't succeeded...] she thought angrily. [Over
fifty years in this body and I still haven't found the Child of
Destiny.]
She raised her both of her hands. The curtains behind her fell to the
floor and the candles were put out by an invincible force. The hall
was shrouded in darkness. Hel didn't mind. Darkness was what she was
made of, darkness was what had kept her in this body.
[What am I hoping to achieve by finding the Child of Destiny?]
Hel asked herself. She looked upwards. Normally, when there was light
in the room, one could see the painting on the ceiling. However, Hel
knew exactly what the painting looked like.
It was a large cross. The entire cross was black but in the
middle of it was a white spot that looked like real shining light.
The white spot was the only thing that Hel could see in the darkness.
There was nothing special about the cross except for the white spot.
Yet every time Hel looked at it she was reminded of her failure.
Suddenly the darkness was exchanged by the image of five
Sailor Senshi arriving by light in the middle of Crystal Tokyo. The
image only lasted for two seconds, but it was more than enough for
Hel. She had already recognized the Senshi.
[The Shin Senshi... how foolish of them to return.]
* * * *
"Where are we...?"
Lilith looked around at her surroundings. They were standing in the
middle of a street. Cars had crashed against each other and had been
abandoned. Signs had been pulled down and destroyed. Windows had been
broken and there were glass shards everywhere. A half of a poster on
a billboard showed some kind of commercial for a magazine. A neon
sign occasionally flashed with green light. So far no demon had been
seen.
No one recognized the place they were in. The Crystal Palace
was in sight, so they knew that they were in Crystal Tokyo. Finally,
Hermes turned around and saw something.
"Over there."
Everyone turned around and looked at what he was pointing at. It was
just like any other store. The windows had been broken and the door
was no where to be seen. Only one third of the sign was left, the
other pieces were gone. When no one recognized the place, Hermes
almost sadly said:
"That is the jewellery store where I first met Misao."
Archangel frowned. They were all still standing in a circle, she
took a few steps forth and stepped out from the circle. Once she was
closer, she looked at the store's sign and recognized it.
"We went to this store a couple of times," Archangel said,
referring to Misao and herself. "I remember it." She turned around
and immediately started to recognize the other stores. "There's the
cafe where we used to have tea... and there's that book store! And
there's the store that sells those hair accessories..."
Archangel's voice drifted off and she stared silently at the destroyed
stores. Memories of Misao, Nozomi, Sayuri and herself resurfaced.
Nozomi loved that hair accessory store. And Misao... who had once
yelled a waiter for being rude to her. Where were they now? Misao,
Nozomi, Sayuri... and Miyazawa-sempai. where they safe? Archangel
flinched when she felt someone's hand on her shoulder. But she calmed
down when she saw that it was only Nature.
"Try not to think about them," Nature advised, knowing what
Archangel was thinking about. "It was only make things harder."
Like a good little girl, Archangel nodded.
"Let's go," Ishtar decided. "Before any demons come here."
"Where are we going?" Medusa asked. Ishtar turned around. Her
green eyes had locked on to their destination.
"The Crystal Palace. We have faced Tiamat there once and
Hecate too. And if the demons have stayed off the Crystal Palace then
there has to be something there. It's not like there's anywhere else
to go."
The others agreed. With Ishtar leading the way they started to walk
towards the Crystal Palace. After a few minutes of silent walking,
Ares suddenly stopped. Medusa was the only one who noticed it. She
stopped as well and turned to him.
"What is it?" she wondered.
"I heard something," Ares told and looked around. Medusa
turned to her side, thinking that she had heard something as well.
The sounds were so quiet that she could hardly hear them. But she did.
Something was approaching. Footsteps were heard. Quickly the sounds
of footsteps became louder. The rest of the Shin Senshi stopped as
well and turned around now that they could hear the footsteps.
"What is that?" Lilith whispered.
As soon as she had uttered those words demons sprang up from the
ground. They came from above where they had suddenly appeared and
landed perfectly on the ground. They came out from the stores where
they had been hiding, waiting for someone to come. They came running
from alleys.
"Oh shit..." Ares muttered. He quickly grabbed Medusa's hand
and they ran towards the others. Ishtar didn't have to estimate how
many the demons were. Looking at the demons was like looking right at
an ant nest. There was no way that all of them could be counted.
"Run, everyone!" Ishtar shouted. They did as they were told
and ran as fast as they could. The demons, however, pursued them and
were faster than them. While they were still far away from the Shin
Senshi, they were closing in on them. Realizing that they couldn't run
from the demons forever, Ishtar turned around and blew a kiss into her
hand. A small, red heart appeared in her hand.
"Venus!" she called out. "Love and Beauty Shock!"
Seeing that Ishtar had attacked the demons, Medusa also stopped to
use her attack. She raised both of her hands and her set of bow and
arrow appeared. Only this time there were four arrows. How Medusa
would manage to shoot them all at the same time, Ishtar didn't know.
"Poison Arrows!"
The four arrows were shot and each hit a demon perfectly, turning it
into dust. However it wasn't very effective since Medusa's attacks
were meant to fight one or few opponnents, not this many. Hermes
turned around and raised his sword.
"Ice Shield!" he shouted and sliced through the air. Blue
energy made it's way from his sword to the demons. The energy made
marks on the ground without even touching it. It travelled to the
demons and then formed a shield of ice, probably as big as a building.
The others had stopped by now and were looking at the shield that
Hermes had created. The demons were trying to get through it but the
shield held them off. For now.
"We have to do something," Lucius said. "Once the shield
breaks they'll be after us again."
"We can't fight them all!" Lilith exclaimed. "They're too
many!"
"We can't run either..." Ares said. "They'll catch up with us
before we get to the Crystal Palace."
"I'll fight them."
Everyone turned to Archangel who stood in the back. She walked up to
Ishtar and Hermes. While staring at the shield and the demons, she
talked to everyone.
"I'll use my Angelic Purification to hold them off while you
run."
"Are you out of your mind?!" Ishtar yelled so loud that
Archangel would have normally flinched. "It wasn't that long ago that
you hardly could use your Angel Wing to destroy ONE demon!"
"I've recovered from that," Archangel replied calmly without
looking at Ishtar. "I'll be fine. Just go."
Medusa made her way to Archangel and placed herself between Archangel
and the shield, forcing the younger Senshi to look at her.
"No, I agree with Ishtar. You can't handle all of them alone."
"It will work out," Archangel answered. "Please... everyone
go before the shield breaks."
Nature was about to protest against Archangel as well when she noticed
what no one else had. Archangel's brooch was different. She hadn't
noticed it before because it's shape was still pretty similar to the
way it used to be. But a few gems had been added and the brooch was
gold. It had been silver before.
[I recognize that brooch...] Nature thought. [If she's
thinking about doing what I'm thinking... then there's actually a
chance that she can handle all those demons.]
"Let her go."
Everyone except for Archangel turned to Nature and looked at her as if
she was crazy.
"Let her go," Nature repeated. "We don't have much of a choice
than to let her deal with the demons."
"But she'll get killed doing that," Ares hissed. "What is the
point to leave her or anyone else here if another Shin Senshi will
die?"
Ishtar shook her head and turned to Archangel again. "Listen to me,
you can't handle all demons on your own..."
"It's better that most of us survive than all of us,"
Archangel cut off and finally looked at Ishtar. She smiled vaguely at
her. "I'll be okay... trust me."
"I trusted that Kenji would be okay and looked what happened
to him."
"I'm not Kenji."
The shield was breaking. The first crack had been made in the ice by
the demons. Archangel looked at the shield briefly before turning to
Ishtar again.
"I promise you, I won't die. I still have a mission to
complete."
Unable to know what to say, Ishtar didn't answer. While most of the
Shin Senshi protested, Nature managed to convince them that it was
best to let Archangel take care of the demons. Archangel's Angelic
Purification was the only chance they had to destroy all the demons
at once. If Misao had been there she and Hermes could have used the
Freezing Cascade but she wasn't there. And in case the Angelic
Purification would fail, it was better that most of the team were
somewhere else safe from the demons.
Ishtar didn't say anything when she was dragged away by
Hermes. She stared at Archangel who watched her comrades leaving. Once
they were all out of sight, Archangel turned around. The shield had
several cracks now. Her wings began to flap and she ascended up in
the air. Up in the air she could see that there were far more demons
than she had expected.
[So... here I am...] she thought. Her heart was pounding fast,
of course she was afraid. She was just Archangel. Her powers were
based on healing. It didn't matter how many names she had had,
Kamiya Tomoko, Hoshino Izumi, Arai Shiho, Archangel. She was still the
same person inside. Yasha had once said that she wouldn't even be able
hurt a fly, much less kill a demon. Over the years Archangel had
prooed that she could kill demons... but never this many.
Another crack was made on the shield.
[I have come this far... I can't turn back now. I wonder if
kaa-san can see me know. And tou-san... wherever he is... I wonder if
he would have been proud of me. And there is obaa-sama, she must have
been so sad all these years. I wonder if I disappointed her.]
Archangel slowly raised her hand to her chest, where she detached the
brooch. She held it before her and looked at it.
[This brooch as gone through a quite a lot of changes... I
think it changes every time it switches an owner.]
The demons were pushing the shield. They pushed once more... and the
shield broke into ice crystals, big and small. Archangel almost smiled
as she held out the brooch and concentrated. A circle of glowing stars
appeared around her, spinning.
The demons had noticed her. Archangel didn't care. She raised
her right arm, the one holding the brooch, slowly.
"Star..." she began.
She had had no intention of using the Angelic Purification. Although
Nature had convinced the others that it would work, Archangel knew
that it wouldn't. It was too weak and wouldn't work on so many demons.
Perhaps Nature had known too? Then why had she been on Archangel's
side? But she didn't have the time to think about it. The demons
leaped up in the air to attack her.
[Will it all end now... or begin?]
The first demon reached out it's claw to attack her. Archangel frowned
and pointed her arm and brooch at it.
"...SERIOUS LASER!!"
* * * *
Usagi set down the tray on the expensive marble table. Serenity sat
up in her bed, smiling at her daughter. Usagi did her best to smile
back, she couldn't forget the fact that her friends were back on
Earth.
"I brought you some soup," Usagi said, sitting down next to
her mother on the bed. "Ami-san said that she was going to give you
your medicine after you had your soup."
Serenity nodded and Usagi reached for the bowl of soup. While doing
so, Serenity couldn't help noticing something about her daughter.
"Small lady..." she began. "Have you been crying?"
Usagi looked at her mother and quickly shook her head. She picked up
the bowl and a spoon.
"No," she lied. "What makes you think that?"
"Your eyes are a little red," Serenity answered. "I can see
that you've been crying. What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong," Usagi said. "Here's your soup, mommy."
Serenity smiled softly. "Forget about the soup for a while and tell
me what's really going on. You're worried about your friends, aren't
you?"
Usagi stared at Serenity, puzzled. How did she know? Then Usagi
remembered that Minako had gone to see Serenity not soon after that
Ishtar and the others had left. Minako must have told Serenity about
what had happened. Seeing that there was no way of assuring that
everything was alright, Usagi nodded quietly and put the bowl of soup
back at the table.
"Small lady... do you remember when you were in the past and
we fought Neherenia for the second time?" Serenity asked. Usagi
nodded again. "She took your father away from me... and you fainted
before the future was threatened. After that happened, I went after
Neherenia to get your father back... what did all of you do then?"
"We went after you and daddy," Usagi answered. She didn't
really understand why her mother was bringing this up all of the
sudden. Serenity smiled, suddenly she looked very tired.
"All Neherenia wanted was a friend," she told. "I... was so
lucky to have so many good friends... and I still have. Friends share
your feelings, Small lady. Your sadness and anger, your happiness and
laughter..."
"Mommy, you look very tired," Usagi pointed out. "You should
rest."
Serenity shook her head. "No, let me finish. My friends helped me
when I needed them. That's why, I want you to go and help yours."
"Mommy... What about everything here? I want to be by your
side and I want you to feel better. Makoto told me that the whole
kingdom has been in chaos and..."
"I'll be much happier knowing that you were with your
friends," Serenity cut off softly. "After all, that's what you really
want, isn't it?"
Usagi looked down at her hand. Then she nodded again. Serenity managed
to lift her hand to touch her daughter's cheek.
"You have grown up to become such a beautiful and lovely
person," she whispered. "Do what you think is right... not what you
think that you're supposed to do."
Usagi met her mother's eyes again and she gave her mother a hug while
tears began to stream down her face.
"I love you, mommy," she sobbed.
"I love you too... Usagi," Serenity answered. "Now go. And be
careful."
Usagi nodded and then released her mother. Then she rushed out from
the bedroom and closed the door after herself. There was no need to
say goodbye. Serenity closed her eyes and saw Endymion's face before
her. She smiled to herself.
Usagi entered the teleportation chamber as Sailormoon. There
was no one there. Sailormoon didn't hesitate, she went right over to
the control panel. Once she got there, she cursed. The panel was full
of buttons, screens and gauges she didn't understand. For a while she
stood silent, studying the control panel. Ami had shown her how it
worked but that had been years ago, before the Moon Kingdom and the
Earth had separated.
[The blue button first...] Sailormoon recalled to herself. She
pressed a large, round and blue button first. Once the button had been
pressed, figures and letters began to appear on the screens. She
smiled to herself and then looked at the screen. But it didn't take
long for her happiness to vanish. She had managed to turn on the power
but there were lots of things she had to type in that she hardly
understood. After ten minutes, she pressed a red button and the power
went off.
[I give up!] Sailormoon thought angrily to herself and walked
away from the control panel. [There's no away that I can use that
thing!]
With a frustrated sigh she sat down on the platform with her hands
covering her face. Why hadn't she paid more attention when Ami had
taught her to use the control panel?
[Because I was stupid,] she thought angrily. [I thought that
I'd never go back to Earth, I thought that I never had to use it!
Damn, now I have to get back! Chie, Hikaru, Tomo and the others...
they could be in trouble.]
She was so angry at herself for not being able to do anything. The
tears were starting to form in her eyes but she did her best to hold
them back. What would she do now? She couldn't use the control panel
which meant that she couldn't get back to Earth on her own. Either she
had to ask one of the original Senshi to assist her or to abandon her
friends. She could do neither.
Sailormoon looked up and caught sight on a trash can. In
anger, she raised her hand a little and the trash can exploded into
five pieces. Pieces of paper swirled around the room and some got
stuck in her hair, but she didn't care. She watched the paper pieces
fly lightly around the room.
[This power... is so unknown to me...] she thought. [The
powers of Sailormoon... involve healing. Then why can I destroy things
like this? What am I?]
Once the paper pieces had settled down on the floor, Sailormoon turned
her eyes to the next object. A pile of folders. She hesitated for a
while. Those folders could be important to someone's work or research.
[Oh, what the hell... I'm the princess, I'll find a new job
for them.]
She raised her hand and again when the object had exploded pieces of
paper swirled around the room. Sailormoon sat on the platform,
watching the pieces of paper with an empty look in her eyes. She
didn't notice a small orb of light appearing in her hands. The orb
grew a little bigger as each second passed. Finally, when it had
reached it's full size, Sailormoon looked down and noticed it.
[The Ginzuishou?]
The light that the orb emitted weakened and Sailormoon saw that she
had been right. It was the Ginzuishou. She held it up, a little closer
to her face. And she remembered.
* * * *
"Shut down the right engine and transfer all the power to the
left and keep this plane up in the air!"
"The engine's not responding! We're losing altitude!"
"We're gonna crash!"
"Oh my God, we're gonna die!"
Usagi grabbed on to her father's arm. Although Endymion's face was
calm, he was just as afraid as Usagi on the inside.
"Daddy..." Usagi began but Endymion cut her off.
"It's going to be okay, Small lady," he assured her. He got up
from his seat and went for the place where the life jackets were
stored. Usagi got up as well but seeing how calm her father was didn't
help her. Her heart was pounding fast, she wasn't the only one who
was afraid. The crew were beginning to panic as well. The only one
who appeared to be calm was Endymion.
[I don't want to die... I don't want to die...] was Usagi's
only thought. It might had sounded selfish, it might have sounded
unlike someone with the name Serenity to only think of herself and
panic. But she was human. She was afraid.
"Small lady, here," Endymion said. He had found two life
jackets and was offering one of them to her. But she didn't take it.
She had been too afraid to notice that the Ginzuishou had appeared
before her.
"Daddy..." she whispered again. The Ginzuishou began to emit a
strong light. Usagi closed her eyes and within less than a second she
had disappeared from the plane.
When she opened her eyes again she wasn't on the plane. She
was standing in the middle of a park. The sun was setting and the park
was empty. But Usagi didn't see the park. She saw a vision of the
plane her father was still one. The plane kept losing altitude and it
neared the ground. The last thing Usagi saw before opening her eyes
was that the plane crashed and exploded.
Her eyes were flooded with tears. There was no way that anyone
could survive that crash. King Endymion or not. Her knees felt weak
and her head was hurting to so much. Finally, she fainted and her
entire body rested on the ground.
It began to rain.
* * * *
Sailormoon opened her eyes. The Ginzuishou had disappeared from her
hands and she stared sadly at them. The image of her father's calm
face when he had handed her that life jacket still lingered inside
her.
[Oh, daddy... why did it have to turn out like this?]
"Having a quiet moment, princess?"
Sailormoon looked to her right to discover two things. One, she hadn't
closed the door after entering the teleportation chamber. Two, Circe
had just entered the chamber. The darkness in the room shaded her
face and body while the light that came from the hallway shone. It all
made Circe look so mysterious. But on the other hand, she was. Who
could teleport to Earth on her own? Not even the Inner and the Outer
Senshi could do that. They had to use a teleportation device or
teleport in pairs.
"Circe..." Sailormoon whispered. Circe closed the door after
herself and then went to sit down next to the princess.
"Did they leave without you?" she asked. Not really knowing
what to say, Sailormoon just nodded. Circe chuckled.
"And you?" Sailormoon asked. Circe avoided looking into
Sailormoon's eyes.
"When I heard that my mother had left I was so angry at her,"
she told. "After I have done so much to get her back with us she goes
back to Earth again. But my father told me that I was wrong. So, I've
been spending some time here, wondering if I should go back and get
her or not."
"Crystal Tokyo has been attacked by the demons these last
three days," Sailormoon told, not knowing if Circe knew or not. After
all Ami hadn't said anything about this information being released to
the public. "Everyone has gone back to fight them."
"I know," Circe answered. "How about you? Are you going back
to fight them too?"
"Yes."
Circe was quiet for a while. Sailormoon wondered if she was just
thinking about her mother. From what she had seen it seemed like
Amelia had grown close to Jun during her short stay on Earth.
"I guess I'm going with you then," Circe said. She didn't say
anything else but that. Sailormoon accepted her offer, actually she
was happy that she didn't have to go there alone. Not to mention that
she didn't know any other way to teleport to Earth than with Circe's
help.
"But Circe... can I ask you a question?" Sailormoon wondered
as they both got up. Circe nodded.
"Sure."
"Who are you, Circe?" Sailormoon asked. "You teleported on
your own to Earth, something that not even the Inner and the Outer
Senshi can do. You chanted a spell that broke Hecate's hold on our
powers. And Tomo told me that you helped Jun healing her. Where does
this power come from? Sachiko-san? Your father?"
Once again Circe looked away.
"I... don't know. This power seems to have nothing to do with
my parents, theirs is very different. And I know that I'm not a
reincarnation of a former Senshi, somehow I just know that. But where
this power comes from? I have no idea. I just use it." Circe turned
back to Sailormoon. "It's just like your power, isn't it? The power
you use to blow things up. You don't know where it comes from either.
And looking the all the paper pieces here... I assume that you use
it."
Sailormoon smiled, feeling a sudden solidarity with Circe.
"Shall we go?"
Circe nodded again and they both stepped to the center of the
platform. They joined hands and closed their eyes. As Sailormoon
began to feel being teleported, she wondered what would happen the
moment she came back to Earth.
So part 18 and 19 are done... I didn't really feel like writing any
notes at the end of part 18. The events in this part was planned a
long time ago (Actually all parts of Mirai were planned a long time
ago except for part 14)... well about 1½ years ago. I'm pretty close
to finish this fanfic, part 23 or 24 will be the last one. Please
e-mail me with any comments, I really need someone's opinions on these
last few chapters. Thank you for reading. BTW, this part is the first
part that I have run through a spell check. ^_^
Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)
http://www.geocities.com/komillia/index.html
28 March 2002
Next:
Sailormoon Mirai Part XX: Sacrifice
The Shin Senshi arrive at the Crystal Palace. Hecate waits for Nature
there, ready to settle a personal vendetta.