BISHOUJO SENSHI SAILORMOON
~MIRAI~
PART XX: SACRIFICE
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.
Note: A lot of flashbacks in the part, by the way. And yes, I realize
that the teaser I wrote in the last part is a bad one.
Some Japanese words I use:
okaa-san = mother
sou desu ka = is that so?
yokatta = I'm glad
henshin sticks = transformation sticks (As if you didn't know that!
^_^)
* * * *
Both Hermes and Ares pushed the crystal door with all their strength.
Sweat dripped from Ares' forehead. Hermes pushed with all his might,
trying not to show how tired he was. But the door wouldn't budge.
Medusa frowned and walked over to the door to help Hermes and Ares.
Eventually the others joined in as well to help. But the door refused
to be open.
"It's usually not locked," Lucius commented when everyone had
given up on opening the door. "How strange."
"If Sailormoon was here she could probably blow up the door
for us," Medusa muttered. The comment made most of the Shin Senshi
smirk but not Ishtar. She had been quiet every since they had left
Archangel to fight the demons. What had become of Archangel no one
knew and that was probably what worried Ishtar so much.
[I wish that I could tell her that Archangel will be alright,]
Medusa thought, glancing at Ishtar. [But I wouldn't be able to
convince her... I don't believe it myself. Why did we leave her alone
in the first place?!]
It had been over an hour since they had left Archangel. Lucius had
guided them to an entrance to the Crystal Tokyo. It had been closer
than to go through the main entrance and since Lucius was used to
going through that entrance they had chosen to save some time. And
perhaps lives. Ishtar didn't want them to be attacked by demons again
and be forced to leave anybody behind.
"Everyone, step back," Ishtar suddenly said. Hermes, Ares and
Medusa looked at her, surprised that she was talking. Ishtar took
a few steps forth and all the Shin Senshi backed away from the door.
She took a deep breath and raised her right arm.
"Crescent Beam!" she shouted and two crescents appeared above
her fingers. They turned into energy that channelled through her arm
and then towards the door. The blast left a hole where the lock and
the handle used to be and the door fell from it's position, leaving
the entrance open. The door fell towards Lilith, who with a simple
motion of her hand tossed the door into a few bushes where it wouldn't
fall on anyone.
"Let's go," Ishtar said quietly and then began to walk through
the entrance. The others looked at each other, puzzled, but followed
her silently. They entered a dark hallway, the only light came from
outside. Lilith squinted her eyes, trying to get a better vision.
Finally, she moved her hand a little. The sound of a light switch
being turned on was heard and the hallway lit up. Ishtar blinked,
caught off guard by the sudden light. Once her eyes had adjusted,
she looked around the hallway.
It was empty. The walls were white and there was nothing on
them except for the light switch that Lilith had turned on. No doors.
There was only one way to go. Left.
"Exactly what are we looking for?" Hermes asked.
"Something, anything," Ishtar murmured as she began to walk.
She took a deep breath, somewhat frustrated. "I don't know."
"Then what are we doing here?" Ares questioned. "Wasting our
time while Archangel dies?"
"Ares!" Medusa called out, shocked. Ishtar stopped walking.
Nature and Lucius looked at Ares first, but then at Ishtar. Everyone
waited for her reaction. Slowly, Ishtar turned around and began to
walk back towards the entrance.
"You're right... Archangel shouldn't be alone... she..."
Ishtar began quietly. Then she stopped again. Suddenly she looked
straight into Ares eyes. "No, we're not going back out. I don't know
what has happened to Archangel right now but we have to do what we
came here for! We know where the enemy is and we're going to the
bottom with this. If you have a problem with that, Ares, then I'm not
forcing you to come with us."
With that she turned around once again and began to walk down the
hallway. While exchanging insecure looks, Nature, Lucius and Lilith
slowly began to follow her. Shortly after they left Hermes did as
well. Ares stood silent and was staring down at the floor. Medusa
walked over to his side.
"Ares... come," she said, taking his hand.
"Who do you want to save, Yasha?" Ares asked suddenly. "Those
who are Senshi like us, or those who are different, humans? Tomo or
the people of Crystal Tokyo?"
"Both," Medusa answered with hesitating. "I know we can save
both if we get to the bottom of this. I didn't want to leave Tomo
either but Hikaru... at certain points of our lives we have to do
things we don't like."
Ares raised his gaze and looked at Medusa. He almost smiled.
"Tell me... since when did we stop fighting and start to get
along?"
Medusa smiled back. She squeezed his hand a little harder and then
they both went after the others.
Ishtar had chosen to walk first. Not only because she was
literally followed by the others as a leader, but also because if
she walked first then no one could see her tears.
[My family is falling apart...] Ishtar thought, fighting back
her tears. [First Misao left... then Kenji died... I've left Tomo
behind. And now I said those horrible things to Hikaru. Why didn't I
take more time to talk to Misao and Akira? Or convince Kenji to come
with us? Tomo... why did I let myself get dragged away? And I let out
my frustration at Hikaru. I'm a failure as a leader. I don't even
know where we're going.]
"Ishtar."
Ishtar looked to her side to see Ares walking next to her. As
surprised as she was, she could have dropped her jaw.
"Ares? You're coming with us?" she whispered. Ares smirked
and looked forth.
"Medusa convinced me. It's that look in her eyes she has when
she's serious about something. But don't tell her that I said that."
Ishtar almost laughed.
"And Ishtar?"
"Yes?"
"You're not the only one who's afraid."
* * * *
When Sailormoon opened her eyes she was no longer standing on the
platform in the teleportation chamber. She was standing on the rooftop
of some sort of building, an apartment house perhaps. She walked to
the edge. The first thing she saw was the Crystal Palace in the
horizon. The second thing was the massive destruction.
She had expected it to be bad. But seeing it with her own eyes
were a thousand times worse than imagining it or seeing it on a
picture. Sailormoon backed away from the edge and sat down. She
shielded her eyes with her gloved hands.
[Am I too late?] she asked herself. [The others... are they
fighting somewhere? Or are they...?]
"There you are."
Sailormoon opened her eyes. There was no one standing in front of
her. She looked over her shoulder but she still couldn't see anyone.
"Amelia?" she said. She had recognized the voice.
"Look up."
Sailormoon looked up and saw Circe floating at least ten feet above
the building. Feeling happy that she wasn't alone, Sailormoon stood up
and straightened her uniform. Circe giggled.
"From the way you looked it was like you thought that the end
of the world was coming," she said. Sailormoon smiled but her face
soon grew serious.
"This could be the end of the world, Circe," she told. "Look
at what's happened to the city. Nothing like this has ever happened
before."
Circe's smiled faded away, she nodded and understood the seriousness
of the situation.
"I know where the others are."
"They're alive?!" Sailormoon asked. She rejoiced inside
herself. She should have known that her friends would be okay. Circe
nodded again. She became to descend to the rooftop.
"Yeah, I've picked up traces of Lucius' energy," Circe
informed. "I've seen traces of the others as well. Most of them are
at the Crystal Palace."
"Most of them?" Sailormoon repeated. The worry was building up
inside of her. What was Circe talking about? Most of them?
"I picked up a trace of Archangel," Circe replied. "But she's
not at the Crystal Palace with the others."
"Where is she then?"
Circe shrugged and her boots touched the rooftop. She sounded somewhat
sad and apologetic when she spoke. "I don't know. I just know that
she's somewhere else."
"Let's go and look for her!" Sailormoon exclaimed and turned
around. She headed towards the door that led to the inside of the
building. Circe grabbed her arm before she could go any further.
"Princess, wait," she said. "We can't."
"Why not?!" Sailormoon snapped, turning to Circe.
"Wherever Archangel is I can't find her with my powers," Circe
told. "It could take hours, even days before we find her."
"What if she's hurt or dying?!" Sailormoon yelled angrily. "We
can't just leave her there!"
She saw the look on Circe's face. No matter what Sailormoon said
Circe wouldn't go. After all, Circe didn't know Archangel. She only
cared for her mother and Jun. It wouldn't matter to Circe if Archangel
was dead or alive? Sailormoon narrowed her eyes.
"Fine," she muttered. Her voice was lowered but Circe could
hear that her anger hadn't faded away. She pulled her arm out of
Circe's grasp. "I'll go and look for her myself."
"Listen to yourself," Circe spoke as Sailormoon began to walk.
Sailormoon pretended not to hear her. "You're not acting rationally!
Think about this, there has to be a reason why the others are at the
Crystal Palace. They could be fighting Hecate, what if she uses that
spell to bind their powers again? What if she decides to kill them
right away this time? Think about what you can do to find Archangel
and think about what you can do for the others. Either way, going
after the others is the best option."
Sailormoon stopped but didn't turn around. She felt like crying. It
wasn't fair that she had to choose. It didn't matter which option she
took, either way there was the possibility that someone could die.
Circe had caught up with her by now and was looking at her
sympathetically.
"What's it gonna be?" she asked. Either a few seconds of
silence, Sailormoon spoke:
"Are you sure that the others are at the Crystal Palace?"
Circe nodded. After another few seconds of silence Sailormoon agreed
to what Circe wanted. Happy that Sailormoon had come to her senses,
Circe smiled vaguely. However Sailormoon didn't smile back. As Circe
murmured a spell to herself, she glanced apologetically at Sailormoon.
"Levitate," she finally said and both she and Sailormoon
floated up in the air. Sailormoon looked at Circe, puzzled.
"I thought that it would go a lot faster if we went to the
Crystal Palace by air," Circe explained before Sailormoon had the
chance to ask. "And Sailormoon... I wouldn't worry about Archangel if
I were you. I wouldn't have picked up traces of her energy if she was
dead or injured."
Feeling relieved, Sailormoon tried to twitch her lips into a smile
but failed. She had a feeling that trouble awaited her and Circe once
they got to the Crystal Palace.
* * * *
Ishtar suddenly halted. The others followed her example but Lilith
almost walked into Nature's back before she stopped. She looked at
Nature with an apologetic look. With a nod that Lilith easily could
have missed, Nature then turned to Ishtar.
Ishtar was staring at the hallway. There were two ways. One
to the left, one to the right. Both ways were like mirror images of
each other. Equally dark, undecorated and uninviting.
"Which one should we take?" Ishtar whispered, more to herself
than to the others. "Left or right?"
Lucius joined Ishtar's side. He looked at the left way first, then
the right. He frowned and the others knew that instantly that he
didn't seem to recognize this place.
"How strange..." Lucius said, looking at the others over his
shoulder. "I can't remember seeing a right way before. Only the left
one. Lilith, do you recognize this?"
Lilith shook her head.
"Should we split up?" she asked, sounding more serious than
the others had ever heard her being. "If we all go one way, it will
just slow us down in case it's the wrong way."
Ishtar felt reluctant to agree with Lilith's idea. She would have
suggested it herself, but the thought of splitting up didn't appeal to
her. She didn't want anyone to be left out of her sight, fearing that
they might end up like Odin or Archangel.
Everyone saw the look on Ishtar's face and knew what she was
thinking. Medusa bit her bottom lip, pondering silently for a while.
Then she turned to Lucius.
"Lucius, you have the ability to sense other Senshi's powers,
don't you?" she asked. Lucius nodded slowly and Medusa then turned to
Nature. "Don't you have it too, Nature?"
"Yes..." Nature answered, understanding what Medusa meant. "If
we split up in two groups, with Lucius and I in each group, then we
would be able to sense each other within a certain range."
"A certain range?" Ishtar asked. "How big is that?"
"Big enough," Nature replied. "I'll take the right way, Lucius
will take the left way. Since Lucius and Lilith are most familiar
with the Crystal Palace, I'll take Lilith with me. That is if you
don't mind."
"Nope, not at all!" Lilith exclaimed, back to being cheerful.
Nature nodded again with a smile. She then turned to look at the rest,
Ishtar, Hermes, Ares and Medusa.
"Hermes, would you mind coming with me and Lilith?" Nature
wondered. Hermes agreed silently by walking over to Nature and Lilith.
Ishtar looked at the others.
"I guess Medusa, Ares and I will be going with Lucius then,"
Ishtar said. She looked at Nature. Ishtar didn't say it out loud, but
Nature could see that she seemed grateful that Nature had taken the
role as a leader, even for just a minute.
"We should be off then," Nature said. "There is no time to be
wasted."
There were no goodbyes as the Shin Senshi parted ways. Each other them
seemed to be silently praying that there was no need for a goodbye.
Ishtar had let Lucius walk first and was deep in her thoughts. She
was grateful that she had ended up with Lucius. She would never admit
it, but the calmness Lucius had made her feel a little better.
* * * *
Ami opened the door to Serenity's room as quietly as she could, even
though she knew that she had to wake up Serenity when she came in. It
was just an habit she had never gotten rid of.
"Serenity..." Ami said as she stepped inside the room and
close the door after herself. To her surprise she saw the bed was
empty. Her blue eyes quickly looked around and soon spotted Serenity.
She was sitting on a chair near the window. She had drawn her knees up
and put her arms around them. The long, blonde hair, which had paled
somewhat over the years, hung over her shoulder and reached down to
the floor, along with the white nightgown she was wearing. Although
the queen seemed to be simply looking at the view, her eyes betrayed
her and told Ami that she was in deep thought.
"Serenity?" Ami said again. She was surprised to discover that
Serenity was awake and even more surprised that she wasn't resting in
her bed. It had been weeks since Serenity had been able to get up and
sit by herself.
The distant look on Serenity's eyes disappeared and she looked
to her right side to see Ami standing by the door. She smiled,
reminding Ami about the way Serenity had been before Endymion had
died.
"Ami-chan, what brings you here?" she asked lightly.
"It's time to take your medicine," Ami reminded, raising her
arm a little and pointing at the jar of pills that always stood on a
table. On the table was also a bottle of water and a few glasses.
Serenity nodded and widened her smile a little.
"Oh yes... I forgot."
"How are you feeling?" Ami asked and walked over to the table.
She poured up some water and then took a pill from the jar.
"I feel better," Serenity answered. She accepted the pill and
the glass of water from Ami. "Ami-chan, could you do me a favor?"
"Sure," Ami answered. "What is it?"
"Bring everyone here," Serenity told. "I need to talk to
them."
Ami didn't have to ask who "everyone" was. She watched Serenity
swallow the pill and empty the glass before leaving the room. Almost
an hour passed before everyone were gathered before Serenity. All the
original Sailor Senshi weren't in the same mood.
Minako looked miserable, as if she had been crying. She had in
fact. Who could blame her? Her granddaughter had just left to probably
face the same destiny as Sakura Miyako. Haruka looked somewhat sad as
well, but tried her best to hide it. Michiru held Haruka's hand,
trying to comfort her and share her sadness at the same time. Makoto
looked surprised that Serenity seemed to well. So was Rei, although
she did her best to hold hide it, she seemed to look troubled.
Something was bothering her, the feeling hadn't stopped even though
Rei had thought that it was because of Odin Knight's death. And Ami...
even she was troubled.
"Serenity, I looked everywhere but I haven't found Small
lady," Ami told. "The last time someone saw her was hours ago. I have
people looking for her here in the palace and in the cit..."
Serenity raised her hand a little and Ami became silent. Serenity
looked at her friends and smiled. Despite in what mood the others were
in, they all looked surprised to see her smiling after Ami had said
that Usagi was missing. They had expected her to be overprotective of
Usagi.
"I know where Small lady is," Serenity said. "She's on Earth."
"On Earth?" Michiru repeated, staring at Serenity with wide
eyes.
"She went after the Shin Senshi," Serenity went on. "I
encouraged her to do it."
Minako dropped her jaw, then shook her head in disbelief. She sat down
on a chair, feeling unable to stand.
"Why did you do that?" she asked weakly. "Don't... don't you
know what's going to happen...? Haven't you experienced enough pain
already, Serenity? Haven't all of us been? They will end up like the
Victory Team... in the end, their names will be on the walls of the
Memorial Shrine."
Serenity rose from her chair and walked over to Minako. She smiled to
her and gave her a hug.
"Have faith, Minako-chan," she said. "Have faith in Small
lady, in your granddaughter and their friends."
Serenity released Minako from the hug and turned to the others. They
had been thinking the same thing as Minako, only they hadn't expressed
their sorrow like Minako had.
"All of you..." Serenity began. "You have been right by my
side for so long. There are no words for how grateful I am to have
such wonderful friends like you. You have done so much for me... yet,
I'm asking you all for one last favor. The day we heard about the
death of Victory Team we vowed that we wouldn't let the tragedy be
repeated. That's why I'm asking you... Go to Earth. Don't let the Shin
Senshi be another Victory Team."
As if it was done by magic, all of Serenity's listeners thought about
those that they had lost. Images, voices... memories of the Victory
Team flashed before their eyes.
* * * *
"Okaa-san, you have to read this. I've written the three
chapters so far!"
Ami laughed as she accepted a folder from her daughter. Mizuno Masami
looked at her with a puzzled look on her face.
"Another new book?" Ami teased lovingly. "When are you
actually going to finish the ones you have already started?"
Masami tossed her hair over her shoulder, a habit she had acquired as
a child. She looked very much like her mother and her older sisters,
only with long hair and a little smaller eyes.
"Those stories were just practise," she answered. "I tell
you, *this* is will be my greatest work!"
A month later she came to her mother with the two chapters of another
new story she claimed to be her greatest work.
* * * *
"Yu-chan, why didn't you tell me about how they treated you
at school?" Rei asked. She was sitting in the living room with her
daughter, holding her daughter's both hands. Ishida Yuri looked up at
her mother. Her violet eyes looked sad and ashamed.
"I was afraid... that you would be disappointed at me," Yuri
answered quietly. With her cherry red hair people would assumed that
she was a hot-tempered and daring girl, but the truth was that Yuri
was shy and could be a push over.
"Why would I be disappointed at you?" Rei asked, not
understanding that Yuri was saying.
"Mommy... I just want to be like you... You're not afraid of
anything and you don't let people walk over you. I didn't want you and
daddy to know because then you would be disappointed because I'm not
like you."
* * * *
"Why can't you understand?!" Arai Natsu yelled at her mother.
"I love him, he loves me! It's that simple!"
"You two don't belong together!" Haruka yelled back. "I have
known him *far* longer than you have, young lady. And I know that he's
not good enough for you!"
The last sentence made Natsu stare at her mother in a long time.
Whether she was trying to come up with something to say or if she was
just shocked and angry Haruka didn't know. Finally, Natsu walked over
to the chair that she had thrown her jacket over.
"I can't believe you," Natsu said harshly and picked up her
jacket. "No one was ever good enough for you. Not my father, not even
me. I wouldn't even be surprised if sweet, wonderful and dead Aozora
wasn't good enough for you."
"Don't you dare talk about your sister that way," Haruka
hissed. Natsu looked straight into her mother's eyes, defying her.
"I'll tell you the truth, *mother*," she went on. "I hated
Aozora, do you know why? Because *she* got all your attention, she got
all your love and she made you forget completely about me when dad and
I moved away. But you know what? I wish that she was alive. Because if
she was, then you would have never sent for me and then I would still
be living a happy life far away from you!"
With that, Natsu opened the door and left Haruka's office. She didn't
even bother closing the door after herself.
* * * *
"She's so pretty..." Minako whispered. She was sitting on the
bed, admiring her second grandchild who was asleep in her mother's
arms. Miyako smiled, beaming with a mother's pride.
"We're naming her Chie," Miyako told. She spoke with a quiet
voice so that the baby wouldn't wake up. "After Masao's grandmother."
Minako nodded, she had no objections to how Miyako and Masao named
their daughter. After all, Kazuo had been named after Minako's own
father.
"Luna was here," Miyako said suddenly. Minako looked at
Miyako, a little surprised. Either Luna or Artemis usually came to
a newborn child of a Sailor Senshi to see if the child also had
powers. In Kazuo's case the results had been disappointing. Kazuo was
normal, like his father. While Minako had felt somewhat sad about it,
it hadn't mattered to Miyako and Masao. They were prepared to treat
their children equally, Senshi or not.
"Already? What did she say?" Minako asked. Miyako smiled
vaguely and looked at little Chie.
"She's a Senshi," Miyako said. "She'll grow up and become a
strong Senshi." As Chie opened her eyes and woke up, Miyako's smile
widened. "My precious little Chie."
* * * *
"He just sparred with you, it wasn't a real duel. Just a
practise."
"It doesn't matter in what form," Karin persisted. "A fight is
a fight. And I lost."
Michiru shook her head and continued to chop the vegetables. Karin
stood next to her, peeling a few potatoes. It was a Sunday night and
Karin had just returned from training at a dojo.
"You take it too seriously," Michiru said. "You have to
remember that Soujiro-kun has trained for a bit longer than you."
"I can't stand losing that guy," Karin muttered and started to
peel the potato a lot faster. "He's like a block of ice, he hardly
talks to me and ignores me all the time... He never laughs, he never
smiles..."
"Sou desu ka? Sounds to me like you're in love."
Karin dropped the potato she was peeling and a deep, red blush spread
over her face. Michiru smiled at her daughter and glanced at the
potato she had dropped.
"Karin... if you keep peeling the potatoes like that we won't
be able to have anything to cook."
Still blushing, Karin picked up a new potato and began to peal again.
She did it slower this time.
"I'm don't know what you're talking about," Karin said.
"By the way, isn't Soujiro-kun staying with Fujita family?"
Michiru wondered.
"Um... yes," she answered. "Why are you asking?"
Michiru grinned slyly at her daughter. Karin didn't like that smile,
she had a feeling that Michiru knew something that Karin didn't.
"Because I invited everyone in the Fujita household for
dinner tomorrow," Michiru replied casually and continued to chop the
vegetables. Karin dropped both the potato and the potato peeler. She
stared at her mother in total shock.
"Okaa-san!"
* * * *
"Sakurai, why won't you talk to me?"
Makoto was in tears while her daughter was just silently sitting on
a chair, staring at nothing in particular.
"You're twelve years old, Sakurai..." Makoto sobbed. "You
shouldn't be suffering like this, not alone. Talk to me, talk to us."
Hajime Sakurai didn't answer. A few months Makoto would have never
believed that this was her daughter. Sakurai had been so happy,
talkative, care free. Like any other child. And now... after the death
of her comrades, Sakurai was just like an empty shell of her former
self.
"You don't know how it feels," Sakurai said suddenly. Her
voice was cold, distant. "No one does..."
* * * *
Serenity smiled when she saw the looks on her friends' faces. Though
her smile was made of joy, she seemed to be sad as well. One by one,
the six Sailor Senshi turned their eyes back to Serenity. All of them
wondered if it was Serenity's powers or if it was her words that had
triggered the memories. Either way... it didn't matter.
"Serenity..." Makoto began, her eyes a little wet from
thinking about her daughter. "I will do as you say."
Serenity smiled gratefully towards Makoto and then looked at the
others. They slowly nodded, no words were needed. Serenity sat down
on her chair again.
"Yokatta..." she whispered. "Everyone... thank you."
All of them, except for Serenity of course, held out their hands.
Small spheres of light appeared in their hands, transforming into
their henshin sticks. Looking at each other and Serenity, all of them
raised their henshin sticks.
"Mercury Crystal Power!"
"Mars Crystal Power!"
"Jupiter Crystal Power!"
"Venus Crystal Power!"
"Uranus Crystal Power!"
"Neptune Crystal Power!"
"Make up!"
* * * *
The atmosphere was quiet, but not peaceful. As Lilith walked down the
corridor she could hear nothing but the sound of her own breath and
the sound of her and her friends' footsteps. Neither Hermes nor Nature
had said anything for a long time and Lilith had given up on trying to
strike a conversation with them. With Nature concentrating on sensing
Lucius and Hermes being himself it was practically impossible to make
them talk.
They had reached corridors now and Lilith had given the
directions on which way to go to get to the central parts of the
Crystal Palace. She really had no idea where they were trying to go
but Nature had agreed on concentrating on going to the inner parts
first.
As they were walking, Lilith looked at her two comrades,
studying them. When her eyes turned to Hermes, she found herself
thinking about the girl, Misao, who had quit the Shin Senshi a few
weeks after Lilith had joined. Lilith hardly knew anything about
Misao, in fact she had only met her once. She only knew that Misao had
been the reason why Hermes and Ares weren't talking that much. Was it
a love triangle, perhaps? Lilith smiled to herself, congratulating her
for finding a new topic to talk about.
"Hey Hermes..." she began. "Back then, what was it that made
you so mad at Ares?"
Hermes didn't answer. His silence only fed Lilith's imagination even
more. Misao had been Akira's girlfriend and perhaps she had cheated on
him with Hikaru? But that didn't seem right. Hikaru seemed pretty
devoted to Yasha.
"It was Izukawa-san, wasn't it?" Lilith guessed, trying to
make him answer her. "I heard that you got mad at Hikaru just before
Yasha was kidnapped by Hecate. What were you arguing about?"
Still no answer. Lilith sighed, a sigh that was only heard by herself.
What was it with Hermes anyway? Was he always like this? Lilith had
assumed that he didn't talk much to her because they didn't knew each
other that well.
[Or maybe he's just as cold as the ice wall...] Lilith
thought, remembering the wall Hermes had magically conjured when they
had been fighting the demons.
"Too bad I never got to meet Izukawa-san more than once,"
Lilith went on. "She was gone quite a while after the battle. And when
she got to the house, I was out shopping with Jun and Kenji. Of
course, that was also the day that she decided to leave us..."
"Don't speak about her," Hermes suddenly said, startling
Lilith a little. She quickly recovered, pleased that she had made
Hermes say something.
"Why is that?" she wondered, hoping to get some more answers.
But suddenly Nature stopped which made Lilith almost bump into her
again. Lilith stopped before she did but looked at Nature, confused.
Misao was forgotten.
"What is it?" she asked. Nature was looking at a door that
they were just about to walk past. Lilith glanced at the door, finding
nothing special with it.
"She's in there..." Nature murmured, taking one step towards
the door.
"Who?" Hermes asked, his right hand reaching to draw his
sword.
"Hecate..." Nature whispered and slowly pushed the door open.
The door opened to reveal a great hall, looking much like the other
halls in the Crystal Palace. This one was vaguely familiar to Lilith.
She searched her memory for it and remembered that this was the
hallway that Tiamat had trapped Yasha in.
Nature took two steps forth, her eyes focused on something
that was lying on the floor. Or rather, someone that was lying on the
floor. It was Hecate. Her red hair was spread out on the floor looking
similar to a pool of fresh blood. Her normal clothes had been
exchanged by a black top and a long black skirt. The skirt was torn,
making it look like rags.
Hermes drew his sword and Lilith prepared for a battle. But
once again Nature raised her hand. The two others looked at her, both
shocked.
"This is my battle," Nature stated. "I will settle with her
once and for all."
"Alone?!" Lilith exclaimed loudly. Nature nodded.
"Yes, alone," she replied. "You two go ahead. Lilith, you know
the way."
"We can't leave you alone," Lilith protested. "You don't know
what she might do!"
"Ishtar doesn't want to see another Shin Senshi dead," Hermes
reminded. "Hecate isn't one you should underestimate."
"I'm not. All of us can't run away from here. And all of us
can't stay here and fight. It would just slow us down. This is the
reason why we split up."
Hermes frowned and sheathed his sword. Lilith stared at him, her jaw
almost dropped. What the hell was he doing? Didn't he care if Nature
lived or died?
"Let's go," Hermes muttered, apparently convinced by what
Nature said. He didn't seem to like it but that was something that
Lilith didn't notice. Nature could hear Lilith protest and yell at
him, calling him names as Hermes dragged Lilith away. Nature took
another few steps to get a better look at Hecate.
Hecate wasn't unconscious or anything. Her eyes were open and
there was no trace of her being hurt in any way.
"You have come..." Hecate said, staring up at the ceiling.
"It's time to settle this," Nature answered. "That is... the
reason why you were waiting for me, wasn't it?"
Then all hell broke loose. Magical attacks were cast, damaging the
hall but missing the targets. Physical attacks were made, some
successful and some not. The wind blew violently outside the Crystal
Palace.
* * * *
"Damn it!"
Ishtar looked at Lucius. She wasn't surprised at his sudden outburst.
She was more surprised at what he had said since this was the first
time she had actually heard Lucius curse.
"What is it?" Medusa asked. Lucius stopped walking and lowered
his gaze to the floor. It was like he didn't dare to look at the
others. When Lucius didn't answer Medusa, Ishtar walked over to him.
Her presence more or less demanded an answer.
"Tell us," she ordered.
Lucius looked into Ishtar's eyes and that was all it took for Ishtar
to understand. She shook her head negatively but this time she didn't
try to deny it.
"I'm sorry," Lucius apologized. "I can no longer sense Nature
at all."
If you have been REALLY paying attention, you might have noticed that
there was a Senshi who was a part of the Victory Team that wasn't
even mentioned during the flashbacks. That's because she was the
daughter of Sailorpluto and as you may have noticed Sailorpluto hasn't
appeared in this fanfic, just mentioned. I must say that I enjoyed
writing the flashbacks scenes, especially Michiru's. I made a mistake
in part 2 when I wrote that Yuri was Rei's granddaughter, she's
supposed to be her daughter.
Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)
http://www.geocities.com/komillia/index.html
16 April, 2002
Next:
Sailormoon Mirai Part XXI: Survivor of the Victory Team
The Shin Senshi come closer to the source of the evil as the original
six Sailor Senshi arrive on Earth. With them is another Senshi dead
set on avenging her friends.
~MIRAI~
PART XX: SACRIFICE
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.
Note: A lot of flashbacks in the part, by the way. And yes, I realize
that the teaser I wrote in the last part is a bad one.
Some Japanese words I use:
okaa-san = mother
sou desu ka = is that so?
yokatta = I'm glad
henshin sticks = transformation sticks (As if you didn't know that!
^_^)
* * * *
Both Hermes and Ares pushed the crystal door with all their strength.
Sweat dripped from Ares' forehead. Hermes pushed with all his might,
trying not to show how tired he was. But the door wouldn't budge.
Medusa frowned and walked over to the door to help Hermes and Ares.
Eventually the others joined in as well to help. But the door refused
to be open.
"It's usually not locked," Lucius commented when everyone had
given up on opening the door. "How strange."
"If Sailormoon was here she could probably blow up the door
for us," Medusa muttered. The comment made most of the Shin Senshi
smirk but not Ishtar. She had been quiet every since they had left
Archangel to fight the demons. What had become of Archangel no one
knew and that was probably what worried Ishtar so much.
[I wish that I could tell her that Archangel will be alright,]
Medusa thought, glancing at Ishtar. [But I wouldn't be able to
convince her... I don't believe it myself. Why did we leave her alone
in the first place?!]
It had been over an hour since they had left Archangel. Lucius had
guided them to an entrance to the Crystal Tokyo. It had been closer
than to go through the main entrance and since Lucius was used to
going through that entrance they had chosen to save some time. And
perhaps lives. Ishtar didn't want them to be attacked by demons again
and be forced to leave anybody behind.
"Everyone, step back," Ishtar suddenly said. Hermes, Ares and
Medusa looked at her, surprised that she was talking. Ishtar took
a few steps forth and all the Shin Senshi backed away from the door.
She took a deep breath and raised her right arm.
"Crescent Beam!" she shouted and two crescents appeared above
her fingers. They turned into energy that channelled through her arm
and then towards the door. The blast left a hole where the lock and
the handle used to be and the door fell from it's position, leaving
the entrance open. The door fell towards Lilith, who with a simple
motion of her hand tossed the door into a few bushes where it wouldn't
fall on anyone.
"Let's go," Ishtar said quietly and then began to walk through
the entrance. The others looked at each other, puzzled, but followed
her silently. They entered a dark hallway, the only light came from
outside. Lilith squinted her eyes, trying to get a better vision.
Finally, she moved her hand a little. The sound of a light switch
being turned on was heard and the hallway lit up. Ishtar blinked,
caught off guard by the sudden light. Once her eyes had adjusted,
she looked around the hallway.
It was empty. The walls were white and there was nothing on
them except for the light switch that Lilith had turned on. No doors.
There was only one way to go. Left.
"Exactly what are we looking for?" Hermes asked.
"Something, anything," Ishtar murmured as she began to walk.
She took a deep breath, somewhat frustrated. "I don't know."
"Then what are we doing here?" Ares questioned. "Wasting our
time while Archangel dies?"
"Ares!" Medusa called out, shocked. Ishtar stopped walking.
Nature and Lucius looked at Ares first, but then at Ishtar. Everyone
waited for her reaction. Slowly, Ishtar turned around and began to
walk back towards the entrance.
"You're right... Archangel shouldn't be alone... she..."
Ishtar began quietly. Then she stopped again. Suddenly she looked
straight into Ares eyes. "No, we're not going back out. I don't know
what has happened to Archangel right now but we have to do what we
came here for! We know where the enemy is and we're going to the
bottom with this. If you have a problem with that, Ares, then I'm not
forcing you to come with us."
With that she turned around once again and began to walk down the
hallway. While exchanging insecure looks, Nature, Lucius and Lilith
slowly began to follow her. Shortly after they left Hermes did as
well. Ares stood silent and was staring down at the floor. Medusa
walked over to his side.
"Ares... come," she said, taking his hand.
"Who do you want to save, Yasha?" Ares asked suddenly. "Those
who are Senshi like us, or those who are different, humans? Tomo or
the people of Crystal Tokyo?"
"Both," Medusa answered with hesitating. "I know we can save
both if we get to the bottom of this. I didn't want to leave Tomo
either but Hikaru... at certain points of our lives we have to do
things we don't like."
Ares raised his gaze and looked at Medusa. He almost smiled.
"Tell me... since when did we stop fighting and start to get
along?"
Medusa smiled back. She squeezed his hand a little harder and then
they both went after the others.
Ishtar had chosen to walk first. Not only because she was
literally followed by the others as a leader, but also because if
she walked first then no one could see her tears.
[My family is falling apart...] Ishtar thought, fighting back
her tears. [First Misao left... then Kenji died... I've left Tomo
behind. And now I said those horrible things to Hikaru. Why didn't I
take more time to talk to Misao and Akira? Or convince Kenji to come
with us? Tomo... why did I let myself get dragged away? And I let out
my frustration at Hikaru. I'm a failure as a leader. I don't even
know where we're going.]
"Ishtar."
Ishtar looked to her side to see Ares walking next to her. As
surprised as she was, she could have dropped her jaw.
"Ares? You're coming with us?" she whispered. Ares smirked
and looked forth.
"Medusa convinced me. It's that look in her eyes she has when
she's serious about something. But don't tell her that I said that."
Ishtar almost laughed.
"And Ishtar?"
"Yes?"
"You're not the only one who's afraid."
* * * *
When Sailormoon opened her eyes she was no longer standing on the
platform in the teleportation chamber. She was standing on the rooftop
of some sort of building, an apartment house perhaps. She walked to
the edge. The first thing she saw was the Crystal Palace in the
horizon. The second thing was the massive destruction.
She had expected it to be bad. But seeing it with her own eyes
were a thousand times worse than imagining it or seeing it on a
picture. Sailormoon backed away from the edge and sat down. She
shielded her eyes with her gloved hands.
[Am I too late?] she asked herself. [The others... are they
fighting somewhere? Or are they...?]
"There you are."
Sailormoon opened her eyes. There was no one standing in front of
her. She looked over her shoulder but she still couldn't see anyone.
"Amelia?" she said. She had recognized the voice.
"Look up."
Sailormoon looked up and saw Circe floating at least ten feet above
the building. Feeling happy that she wasn't alone, Sailormoon stood up
and straightened her uniform. Circe giggled.
"From the way you looked it was like you thought that the end
of the world was coming," she said. Sailormoon smiled but her face
soon grew serious.
"This could be the end of the world, Circe," she told. "Look
at what's happened to the city. Nothing like this has ever happened
before."
Circe's smiled faded away, she nodded and understood the seriousness
of the situation.
"I know where the others are."
"They're alive?!" Sailormoon asked. She rejoiced inside
herself. She should have known that her friends would be okay. Circe
nodded again. She became to descend to the rooftop.
"Yeah, I've picked up traces of Lucius' energy," Circe
informed. "I've seen traces of the others as well. Most of them are
at the Crystal Palace."
"Most of them?" Sailormoon repeated. The worry was building up
inside of her. What was Circe talking about? Most of them?
"I picked up a trace of Archangel," Circe replied. "But she's
not at the Crystal Palace with the others."
"Where is she then?"
Circe shrugged and her boots touched the rooftop. She sounded somewhat
sad and apologetic when she spoke. "I don't know. I just know that
she's somewhere else."
"Let's go and look for her!" Sailormoon exclaimed and turned
around. She headed towards the door that led to the inside of the
building. Circe grabbed her arm before she could go any further.
"Princess, wait," she said. "We can't."
"Why not?!" Sailormoon snapped, turning to Circe.
"Wherever Archangel is I can't find her with my powers," Circe
told. "It could take hours, even days before we find her."
"What if she's hurt or dying?!" Sailormoon yelled angrily. "We
can't just leave her there!"
She saw the look on Circe's face. No matter what Sailormoon said
Circe wouldn't go. After all, Circe didn't know Archangel. She only
cared for her mother and Jun. It wouldn't matter to Circe if Archangel
was dead or alive? Sailormoon narrowed her eyes.
"Fine," she muttered. Her voice was lowered but Circe could
hear that her anger hadn't faded away. She pulled her arm out of
Circe's grasp. "I'll go and look for her myself."
"Listen to yourself," Circe spoke as Sailormoon began to walk.
Sailormoon pretended not to hear her. "You're not acting rationally!
Think about this, there has to be a reason why the others are at the
Crystal Palace. They could be fighting Hecate, what if she uses that
spell to bind their powers again? What if she decides to kill them
right away this time? Think about what you can do to find Archangel
and think about what you can do for the others. Either way, going
after the others is the best option."
Sailormoon stopped but didn't turn around. She felt like crying. It
wasn't fair that she had to choose. It didn't matter which option she
took, either way there was the possibility that someone could die.
Circe had caught up with her by now and was looking at her
sympathetically.
"What's it gonna be?" she asked. Either a few seconds of
silence, Sailormoon spoke:
"Are you sure that the others are at the Crystal Palace?"
Circe nodded. After another few seconds of silence Sailormoon agreed
to what Circe wanted. Happy that Sailormoon had come to her senses,
Circe smiled vaguely. However Sailormoon didn't smile back. As Circe
murmured a spell to herself, she glanced apologetically at Sailormoon.
"Levitate," she finally said and both she and Sailormoon
floated up in the air. Sailormoon looked at Circe, puzzled.
"I thought that it would go a lot faster if we went to the
Crystal Palace by air," Circe explained before Sailormoon had the
chance to ask. "And Sailormoon... I wouldn't worry about Archangel if
I were you. I wouldn't have picked up traces of her energy if she was
dead or injured."
Feeling relieved, Sailormoon tried to twitch her lips into a smile
but failed. She had a feeling that trouble awaited her and Circe once
they got to the Crystal Palace.
* * * *
Ishtar suddenly halted. The others followed her example but Lilith
almost walked into Nature's back before she stopped. She looked at
Nature with an apologetic look. With a nod that Lilith easily could
have missed, Nature then turned to Ishtar.
Ishtar was staring at the hallway. There were two ways. One
to the left, one to the right. Both ways were like mirror images of
each other. Equally dark, undecorated and uninviting.
"Which one should we take?" Ishtar whispered, more to herself
than to the others. "Left or right?"
Lucius joined Ishtar's side. He looked at the left way first, then
the right. He frowned and the others knew that instantly that he
didn't seem to recognize this place.
"How strange..." Lucius said, looking at the others over his
shoulder. "I can't remember seeing a right way before. Only the left
one. Lilith, do you recognize this?"
Lilith shook her head.
"Should we split up?" she asked, sounding more serious than
the others had ever heard her being. "If we all go one way, it will
just slow us down in case it's the wrong way."
Ishtar felt reluctant to agree with Lilith's idea. She would have
suggested it herself, but the thought of splitting up didn't appeal to
her. She didn't want anyone to be left out of her sight, fearing that
they might end up like Odin or Archangel.
Everyone saw the look on Ishtar's face and knew what she was
thinking. Medusa bit her bottom lip, pondering silently for a while.
Then she turned to Lucius.
"Lucius, you have the ability to sense other Senshi's powers,
don't you?" she asked. Lucius nodded slowly and Medusa then turned to
Nature. "Don't you have it too, Nature?"
"Yes..." Nature answered, understanding what Medusa meant. "If
we split up in two groups, with Lucius and I in each group, then we
would be able to sense each other within a certain range."
"A certain range?" Ishtar asked. "How big is that?"
"Big enough," Nature replied. "I'll take the right way, Lucius
will take the left way. Since Lucius and Lilith are most familiar
with the Crystal Palace, I'll take Lilith with me. That is if you
don't mind."
"Nope, not at all!" Lilith exclaimed, back to being cheerful.
Nature nodded again with a smile. She then turned to look at the rest,
Ishtar, Hermes, Ares and Medusa.
"Hermes, would you mind coming with me and Lilith?" Nature
wondered. Hermes agreed silently by walking over to Nature and Lilith.
Ishtar looked at the others.
"I guess Medusa, Ares and I will be going with Lucius then,"
Ishtar said. She looked at Nature. Ishtar didn't say it out loud, but
Nature could see that she seemed grateful that Nature had taken the
role as a leader, even for just a minute.
"We should be off then," Nature said. "There is no time to be
wasted."
There were no goodbyes as the Shin Senshi parted ways. Each other them
seemed to be silently praying that there was no need for a goodbye.
Ishtar had let Lucius walk first and was deep in her thoughts. She
was grateful that she had ended up with Lucius. She would never admit
it, but the calmness Lucius had made her feel a little better.
* * * *
Ami opened the door to Serenity's room as quietly as she could, even
though she knew that she had to wake up Serenity when she came in. It
was just an habit she had never gotten rid of.
"Serenity..." Ami said as she stepped inside the room and
close the door after herself. To her surprise she saw the bed was
empty. Her blue eyes quickly looked around and soon spotted Serenity.
She was sitting on a chair near the window. She had drawn her knees up
and put her arms around them. The long, blonde hair, which had paled
somewhat over the years, hung over her shoulder and reached down to
the floor, along with the white nightgown she was wearing. Although
the queen seemed to be simply looking at the view, her eyes betrayed
her and told Ami that she was in deep thought.
"Serenity?" Ami said again. She was surprised to discover that
Serenity was awake and even more surprised that she wasn't resting in
her bed. It had been weeks since Serenity had been able to get up and
sit by herself.
The distant look on Serenity's eyes disappeared and she looked
to her right side to see Ami standing by the door. She smiled,
reminding Ami about the way Serenity had been before Endymion had
died.
"Ami-chan, what brings you here?" she asked lightly.
"It's time to take your medicine," Ami reminded, raising her
arm a little and pointing at the jar of pills that always stood on a
table. On the table was also a bottle of water and a few glasses.
Serenity nodded and widened her smile a little.
"Oh yes... I forgot."
"How are you feeling?" Ami asked and walked over to the table.
She poured up some water and then took a pill from the jar.
"I feel better," Serenity answered. She accepted the pill and
the glass of water from Ami. "Ami-chan, could you do me a favor?"
"Sure," Ami answered. "What is it?"
"Bring everyone here," Serenity told. "I need to talk to
them."
Ami didn't have to ask who "everyone" was. She watched Serenity
swallow the pill and empty the glass before leaving the room. Almost
an hour passed before everyone were gathered before Serenity. All the
original Sailor Senshi weren't in the same mood.
Minako looked miserable, as if she had been crying. She had in
fact. Who could blame her? Her granddaughter had just left to probably
face the same destiny as Sakura Miyako. Haruka looked somewhat sad as
well, but tried her best to hide it. Michiru held Haruka's hand,
trying to comfort her and share her sadness at the same time. Makoto
looked surprised that Serenity seemed to well. So was Rei, although
she did her best to hold hide it, she seemed to look troubled.
Something was bothering her, the feeling hadn't stopped even though
Rei had thought that it was because of Odin Knight's death. And Ami...
even she was troubled.
"Serenity, I looked everywhere but I haven't found Small
lady," Ami told. "The last time someone saw her was hours ago. I have
people looking for her here in the palace and in the cit..."
Serenity raised her hand a little and Ami became silent. Serenity
looked at her friends and smiled. Despite in what mood the others were
in, they all looked surprised to see her smiling after Ami had said
that Usagi was missing. They had expected her to be overprotective of
Usagi.
"I know where Small lady is," Serenity said. "She's on Earth."
"On Earth?" Michiru repeated, staring at Serenity with wide
eyes.
"She went after the Shin Senshi," Serenity went on. "I
encouraged her to do it."
Minako dropped her jaw, then shook her head in disbelief. She sat down
on a chair, feeling unable to stand.
"Why did you do that?" she asked weakly. "Don't... don't you
know what's going to happen...? Haven't you experienced enough pain
already, Serenity? Haven't all of us been? They will end up like the
Victory Team... in the end, their names will be on the walls of the
Memorial Shrine."
Serenity rose from her chair and walked over to Minako. She smiled to
her and gave her a hug.
"Have faith, Minako-chan," she said. "Have faith in Small
lady, in your granddaughter and their friends."
Serenity released Minako from the hug and turned to the others. They
had been thinking the same thing as Minako, only they hadn't expressed
their sorrow like Minako had.
"All of you..." Serenity began. "You have been right by my
side for so long. There are no words for how grateful I am to have
such wonderful friends like you. You have done so much for me... yet,
I'm asking you all for one last favor. The day we heard about the
death of Victory Team we vowed that we wouldn't let the tragedy be
repeated. That's why I'm asking you... Go to Earth. Don't let the Shin
Senshi be another Victory Team."
As if it was done by magic, all of Serenity's listeners thought about
those that they had lost. Images, voices... memories of the Victory
Team flashed before their eyes.
* * * *
"Okaa-san, you have to read this. I've written the three
chapters so far!"
Ami laughed as she accepted a folder from her daughter. Mizuno Masami
looked at her with a puzzled look on her face.
"Another new book?" Ami teased lovingly. "When are you
actually going to finish the ones you have already started?"
Masami tossed her hair over her shoulder, a habit she had acquired as
a child. She looked very much like her mother and her older sisters,
only with long hair and a little smaller eyes.
"Those stories were just practise," she answered. "I tell
you, *this* is will be my greatest work!"
A month later she came to her mother with the two chapters of another
new story she claimed to be her greatest work.
* * * *
"Yu-chan, why didn't you tell me about how they treated you
at school?" Rei asked. She was sitting in the living room with her
daughter, holding her daughter's both hands. Ishida Yuri looked up at
her mother. Her violet eyes looked sad and ashamed.
"I was afraid... that you would be disappointed at me," Yuri
answered quietly. With her cherry red hair people would assumed that
she was a hot-tempered and daring girl, but the truth was that Yuri
was shy and could be a push over.
"Why would I be disappointed at you?" Rei asked, not
understanding that Yuri was saying.
"Mommy... I just want to be like you... You're not afraid of
anything and you don't let people walk over you. I didn't want you and
daddy to know because then you would be disappointed because I'm not
like you."
* * * *
"Why can't you understand?!" Arai Natsu yelled at her mother.
"I love him, he loves me! It's that simple!"
"You two don't belong together!" Haruka yelled back. "I have
known him *far* longer than you have, young lady. And I know that he's
not good enough for you!"
The last sentence made Natsu stare at her mother in a long time.
Whether she was trying to come up with something to say or if she was
just shocked and angry Haruka didn't know. Finally, Natsu walked over
to the chair that she had thrown her jacket over.
"I can't believe you," Natsu said harshly and picked up her
jacket. "No one was ever good enough for you. Not my father, not even
me. I wouldn't even be surprised if sweet, wonderful and dead Aozora
wasn't good enough for you."
"Don't you dare talk about your sister that way," Haruka
hissed. Natsu looked straight into her mother's eyes, defying her.
"I'll tell you the truth, *mother*," she went on. "I hated
Aozora, do you know why? Because *she* got all your attention, she got
all your love and she made you forget completely about me when dad and
I moved away. But you know what? I wish that she was alive. Because if
she was, then you would have never sent for me and then I would still
be living a happy life far away from you!"
With that, Natsu opened the door and left Haruka's office. She didn't
even bother closing the door after herself.
* * * *
"She's so pretty..." Minako whispered. She was sitting on the
bed, admiring her second grandchild who was asleep in her mother's
arms. Miyako smiled, beaming with a mother's pride.
"We're naming her Chie," Miyako told. She spoke with a quiet
voice so that the baby wouldn't wake up. "After Masao's grandmother."
Minako nodded, she had no objections to how Miyako and Masao named
their daughter. After all, Kazuo had been named after Minako's own
father.
"Luna was here," Miyako said suddenly. Minako looked at
Miyako, a little surprised. Either Luna or Artemis usually came to
a newborn child of a Sailor Senshi to see if the child also had
powers. In Kazuo's case the results had been disappointing. Kazuo was
normal, like his father. While Minako had felt somewhat sad about it,
it hadn't mattered to Miyako and Masao. They were prepared to treat
their children equally, Senshi or not.
"Already? What did she say?" Minako asked. Miyako smiled
vaguely and looked at little Chie.
"She's a Senshi," Miyako said. "She'll grow up and become a
strong Senshi." As Chie opened her eyes and woke up, Miyako's smile
widened. "My precious little Chie."
* * * *
"He just sparred with you, it wasn't a real duel. Just a
practise."
"It doesn't matter in what form," Karin persisted. "A fight is
a fight. And I lost."
Michiru shook her head and continued to chop the vegetables. Karin
stood next to her, peeling a few potatoes. It was a Sunday night and
Karin had just returned from training at a dojo.
"You take it too seriously," Michiru said. "You have to
remember that Soujiro-kun has trained for a bit longer than you."
"I can't stand losing that guy," Karin muttered and started to
peel the potato a lot faster. "He's like a block of ice, he hardly
talks to me and ignores me all the time... He never laughs, he never
smiles..."
"Sou desu ka? Sounds to me like you're in love."
Karin dropped the potato she was peeling and a deep, red blush spread
over her face. Michiru smiled at her daughter and glanced at the
potato she had dropped.
"Karin... if you keep peeling the potatoes like that we won't
be able to have anything to cook."
Still blushing, Karin picked up a new potato and began to peal again.
She did it slower this time.
"I'm don't know what you're talking about," Karin said.
"By the way, isn't Soujiro-kun staying with Fujita family?"
Michiru wondered.
"Um... yes," she answered. "Why are you asking?"
Michiru grinned slyly at her daughter. Karin didn't like that smile,
she had a feeling that Michiru knew something that Karin didn't.
"Because I invited everyone in the Fujita household for
dinner tomorrow," Michiru replied casually and continued to chop the
vegetables. Karin dropped both the potato and the potato peeler. She
stared at her mother in total shock.
"Okaa-san!"
* * * *
"Sakurai, why won't you talk to me?"
Makoto was in tears while her daughter was just silently sitting on
a chair, staring at nothing in particular.
"You're twelve years old, Sakurai..." Makoto sobbed. "You
shouldn't be suffering like this, not alone. Talk to me, talk to us."
Hajime Sakurai didn't answer. A few months Makoto would have never
believed that this was her daughter. Sakurai had been so happy,
talkative, care free. Like any other child. And now... after the death
of her comrades, Sakurai was just like an empty shell of her former
self.
"You don't know how it feels," Sakurai said suddenly. Her
voice was cold, distant. "No one does..."
* * * *
Serenity smiled when she saw the looks on her friends' faces. Though
her smile was made of joy, she seemed to be sad as well. One by one,
the six Sailor Senshi turned their eyes back to Serenity. All of them
wondered if it was Serenity's powers or if it was her words that had
triggered the memories. Either way... it didn't matter.
"Serenity..." Makoto began, her eyes a little wet from
thinking about her daughter. "I will do as you say."
Serenity smiled gratefully towards Makoto and then looked at the
others. They slowly nodded, no words were needed. Serenity sat down
on her chair again.
"Yokatta..." she whispered. "Everyone... thank you."
All of them, except for Serenity of course, held out their hands.
Small spheres of light appeared in their hands, transforming into
their henshin sticks. Looking at each other and Serenity, all of them
raised their henshin sticks.
"Mercury Crystal Power!"
"Mars Crystal Power!"
"Jupiter Crystal Power!"
"Venus Crystal Power!"
"Uranus Crystal Power!"
"Neptune Crystal Power!"
"Make up!"
* * * *
The atmosphere was quiet, but not peaceful. As Lilith walked down the
corridor she could hear nothing but the sound of her own breath and
the sound of her and her friends' footsteps. Neither Hermes nor Nature
had said anything for a long time and Lilith had given up on trying to
strike a conversation with them. With Nature concentrating on sensing
Lucius and Hermes being himself it was practically impossible to make
them talk.
They had reached corridors now and Lilith had given the
directions on which way to go to get to the central parts of the
Crystal Palace. She really had no idea where they were trying to go
but Nature had agreed on concentrating on going to the inner parts
first.
As they were walking, Lilith looked at her two comrades,
studying them. When her eyes turned to Hermes, she found herself
thinking about the girl, Misao, who had quit the Shin Senshi a few
weeks after Lilith had joined. Lilith hardly knew anything about
Misao, in fact she had only met her once. She only knew that Misao had
been the reason why Hermes and Ares weren't talking that much. Was it
a love triangle, perhaps? Lilith smiled to herself, congratulating her
for finding a new topic to talk about.
"Hey Hermes..." she began. "Back then, what was it that made
you so mad at Ares?"
Hermes didn't answer. His silence only fed Lilith's imagination even
more. Misao had been Akira's girlfriend and perhaps she had cheated on
him with Hikaru? But that didn't seem right. Hikaru seemed pretty
devoted to Yasha.
"It was Izukawa-san, wasn't it?" Lilith guessed, trying to
make him answer her. "I heard that you got mad at Hikaru just before
Yasha was kidnapped by Hecate. What were you arguing about?"
Still no answer. Lilith sighed, a sigh that was only heard by herself.
What was it with Hermes anyway? Was he always like this? Lilith had
assumed that he didn't talk much to her because they didn't knew each
other that well.
[Or maybe he's just as cold as the ice wall...] Lilith
thought, remembering the wall Hermes had magically conjured when they
had been fighting the demons.
"Too bad I never got to meet Izukawa-san more than once,"
Lilith went on. "She was gone quite a while after the battle. And when
she got to the house, I was out shopping with Jun and Kenji. Of
course, that was also the day that she decided to leave us..."
"Don't speak about her," Hermes suddenly said, startling
Lilith a little. She quickly recovered, pleased that she had made
Hermes say something.
"Why is that?" she wondered, hoping to get some more answers.
But suddenly Nature stopped which made Lilith almost bump into her
again. Lilith stopped before she did but looked at Nature, confused.
Misao was forgotten.
"What is it?" she asked. Nature was looking at a door that
they were just about to walk past. Lilith glanced at the door, finding
nothing special with it.
"She's in there..." Nature murmured, taking one step towards
the door.
"Who?" Hermes asked, his right hand reaching to draw his
sword.
"Hecate..." Nature whispered and slowly pushed the door open.
The door opened to reveal a great hall, looking much like the other
halls in the Crystal Palace. This one was vaguely familiar to Lilith.
She searched her memory for it and remembered that this was the
hallway that Tiamat had trapped Yasha in.
Nature took two steps forth, her eyes focused on something
that was lying on the floor. Or rather, someone that was lying on the
floor. It was Hecate. Her red hair was spread out on the floor looking
similar to a pool of fresh blood. Her normal clothes had been
exchanged by a black top and a long black skirt. The skirt was torn,
making it look like rags.
Hermes drew his sword and Lilith prepared for a battle. But
once again Nature raised her hand. The two others looked at her, both
shocked.
"This is my battle," Nature stated. "I will settle with her
once and for all."
"Alone?!" Lilith exclaimed loudly. Nature nodded.
"Yes, alone," she replied. "You two go ahead. Lilith, you know
the way."
"We can't leave you alone," Lilith protested. "You don't know
what she might do!"
"Ishtar doesn't want to see another Shin Senshi dead," Hermes
reminded. "Hecate isn't one you should underestimate."
"I'm not. All of us can't run away from here. And all of us
can't stay here and fight. It would just slow us down. This is the
reason why we split up."
Hermes frowned and sheathed his sword. Lilith stared at him, her jaw
almost dropped. What the hell was he doing? Didn't he care if Nature
lived or died?
"Let's go," Hermes muttered, apparently convinced by what
Nature said. He didn't seem to like it but that was something that
Lilith didn't notice. Nature could hear Lilith protest and yell at
him, calling him names as Hermes dragged Lilith away. Nature took
another few steps to get a better look at Hecate.
Hecate wasn't unconscious or anything. Her eyes were open and
there was no trace of her being hurt in any way.
"You have come..." Hecate said, staring up at the ceiling.
"It's time to settle this," Nature answered. "That is... the
reason why you were waiting for me, wasn't it?"
Then all hell broke loose. Magical attacks were cast, damaging the
hall but missing the targets. Physical attacks were made, some
successful and some not. The wind blew violently outside the Crystal
Palace.
* * * *
"Damn it!"
Ishtar looked at Lucius. She wasn't surprised at his sudden outburst.
She was more surprised at what he had said since this was the first
time she had actually heard Lucius curse.
"What is it?" Medusa asked. Lucius stopped walking and lowered
his gaze to the floor. It was like he didn't dare to look at the
others. When Lucius didn't answer Medusa, Ishtar walked over to him.
Her presence more or less demanded an answer.
"Tell us," she ordered.
Lucius looked into Ishtar's eyes and that was all it took for Ishtar
to understand. She shook her head negatively but this time she didn't
try to deny it.
"I'm sorry," Lucius apologized. "I can no longer sense Nature
at all."
If you have been REALLY paying attention, you might have noticed that
there was a Senshi who was a part of the Victory Team that wasn't
even mentioned during the flashbacks. That's because she was the
daughter of Sailorpluto and as you may have noticed Sailorpluto hasn't
appeared in this fanfic, just mentioned. I must say that I enjoyed
writing the flashbacks scenes, especially Michiru's. I made a mistake
in part 2 when I wrote that Yuri was Rei's granddaughter, she's
supposed to be her daughter.
Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)
http://www.geocities.com/komillia/index.html
16 April, 2002
Next:
Sailormoon Mirai Part XXI: Survivor of the Victory Team
The Shin Senshi come closer to the source of the evil as the original
six Sailor Senshi arrive on Earth. With them is another Senshi dead
set on avenging her friends.