SINS OF YOUTH
Chapter 10: "Haunted"
A neo-Sailor Moon fanfic
By Bill K.
In the infirmary room where Palla-Palla was recovering, the scene was one of solemn quiet. Palla-Palla lay on her bed bobbing in a churning sea of emotions. She felt guilt for the trouble she'd caused in her Sailor Pallas guise, trouble she didn't remember doing, trouble she only learned about second hand. There was fear as well, fear that it could happen again to her or to any of them, Ves-Ves particularly. She could sense that it was a fear shared by her three adoptive sisters and the fear hung like a cloud over the room.
Jun-Jun worked on a computer station in the room. She did her duty because it was necessary, but also because it allowed her to keep from brooding over what had happened. She'd noticed that the suspicious looks from others had returned, looks that had died away. So she worked on her research, because the sooner this was solved, the sooner things might - - might - - go back to normal.
Cere-Cere had endured this the longest, so she was beyond it all by now. Her deepest longing was for it all to just end. Glancing over, she saw Ves-Ves still staring out the window, arms folded over her chest. The girl had been like that for much of an hour. Well, that needed to end, too, so Cere ambled over.
"They'll fix it," Cere offered as Ves continued to stare.
"How do you know?" Ves grunted.
"Faith? Naivete? Take your pick. They'll fix it because the alternative reeks."
"So they fix it," Ves replied. "Think that's going to matter to anyone?"
"It has to," Cere argued.
"He says you're wrong," Ves nodded to the CDP officer standing at the door of the room. He had appeared at the behest of Chief Nakamura, over Ami's protests, as a compromise for keeping Palla-Palla from arrest. The palace was abuzz with the growing friction between the Royal Family and the CDP and more than one of the staff blamed the Asteroids.
"You only say that because you don't trust anyone," Jun spoke up as she typed.
"Hell, we may as well move back to Brasilia after this is done," Ves grumbled. "We're cooked here. Nobody's going to believe us. And even if they find this yurei thing, folks are still going to blame us."
"So why is Brasilia better?" Cere asked.
"They speak our language," Ves pointed out. "The customs are familiar. The food is familiar. I don't have to pretend to be somebody I'm not." Ves scowled at the window. "And they never heard of The Dead Moon Circus there."
"Yeah, in Brasilia you're just one more street orphan hustler and people put their hand over their wallet whenever they see you. That's soooooo much better," Cere scowled.
"Well, there's other places in the world!" Ves snapped. "It's a cinch we're not going to get a fair shake here anymore! And for what? We didn't even do anything!"
"But Palla-Palla likes it here," Palla-Palla spoke up timidly. "Palla-Palla has friends here, and a nice place to stay. And-and she likes Queen Serenity. Palla-Palla doesn't want to leave."
"Neither do I," Cere said. "I like it here, too. Brasilia is always going to be a part of me, but anyone with a brain can see that Crystal Tokyo beats Sao Paulo in almost every way. And it's probably that way for anyplace you can name." Cere turned and walked back to the other side of the room. "If you want to give all this up, fine. You'll just be proving my point that you're too stupid and stubborn to see when you've got it good."
"How about everybody stop expecting the worst and just let The Princess and the Elders handle this," Jun suggested. "Trust the King and Queen to have our . . ."
Everybody noticed Jun stop in mid-sentence and looked over. Even the CDP officer looked her way.
"Jun?" Cere inquired, walking over to where Jun worked. "Did you find something?"
"Yeah," Jun murmured. "Read this, you guys."
The ghostly apparition stood on the spot Rei had designated. It seemed to be made of smoke. From the waist up, the yurei resembled a Japanese man around fifty. He had thick-rimmed glasses, a stern face and was balding. From the waist down there was nothing but a swirling tail of smoke and ashen gray vapor. What startled everyone was the expression on his face. It was sullen, hardened with a searing hatred that seemed to penetrate everyone to their core. There was little doubt what bound this spirit to Earth.
"Wow," Venus murmured. "She always could put on a show."
"What was your name in life, spirit?" Rei asked him.
"Hiboshi Ishikawa," the spirit replied. The name meant nothing to anyone, but everyone in the room suddenly got a sense of danger. The yurei's manner was almost contemptuous of Rei rather than forced or strained.
"Why do you remain?" Rei asked him. "What binds you here?"
"I seek revenge," the yurei said. Its reply was straight forward and cold, the passion of the emotions hardened into an icy hatred.
"Against the Asteroids?"
"If that is their name in this time," it responded with a rough voice. "I seek revenge against the four villainous girls who called themselves The Amazoness Quartet."
"Why?" Rei inquired. "How did they wrong you?"
It didn't seem possible for the spirit's mouth to harden any more, but it did. The spirit's eyes seemed to smolder.
"They killed," he choked out, for even now it was difficult for him, "my son."
"Hataro Ishikawa," Jun read from the ancient news story accessed on her computer station, "fifteen, leaped from the roof of his middle school to his death January 22, 1995. According to his parents, he had been undergoing emotional problems ever since being a victim of the supernatural entities known as The Amazoness Quartet which has been plaguing Tokyo for months." Jun swallowed. "The address they give for his home is the location of the club over on Avenue D. There's a picture of him, too."
"I don't recognize him," Cere commented, leaning over Jun's shoulder. "But then, I don't remember what most of my victims looked like. They were just people with mirrors. I never bothered to get to know them."
"I do," Jun said, staring at the screen. "I remember he had a Vespa. That's what first drew me to him. He was heading to his Vespa after baseball practice. He was pretty good. And I thought he was kind of cute. I thought he was the type who would probably ditch the scooter in a few years and buy a full-size Yamaha. Real confident, athletic type, you know?"
"Jun?" Cere inquired, while Ves and Palla-Palla watched her, feeling the hair on the back of their necks rise up.
"And Zirconia was really pressing us to find the mirror Helios was in, remember?" Jun continued. "She was really coming down on us. So I figured that this guy might be the one. So I walked up to him, and," and Jun's voice wavered for a moment. "And I started coming on to him. And when his guard was down, I produced my pool cue and popped his mirror out."
"Jun," Cere tried to say in consolation.
"Boy, was I wrong about him," Jun said, voice cracking. "His whole life was just an empty facade. He had no beautiful dream. He was just going through life, with no ambition, no dream, nothing in his future. He was just existing, riding the tide and living vicariously through his friends and their hopes and dreams. His mirror was completely lifeless. It really disgusted me. I thought he was such a chump."
Jun expelled a shuddering breath.
"And I called up a Lemure," Jun related in a tiny, horrified voice, tears rolling down her cheeks. "And I laughed while it ate his mirror."
"Jun, we were different people back then," Ves told her. "You can't hold yourself responsible for this."
"Why not?" Jun asked. "If I hadn't gone sticking my nose into his life, he might have lived."
"It wasn't your fault!" Ves maintained.
"Then whose fault is it?" Jun turned to her. "Neherenia's? Zirconia's? They just pulled the trigger. We were the bullets, Ves. Or maybe it's the fault of that poor teenager who had his dream, no matter how dull and meager it was, stolen from him. Who couldn't handle having his deepest, darkest secret ripped out of him and flung back into his face? Could you handle something like that?"
"Yeah," Ves scowled, thinking back on her psychiatric sessions with Ami. "And he should have, too. His being weak doesn't make you any more guilty."
"It doesn't make me any less, either," Jun replied. "And how many others died because of what we did? How many others died because we stole their dream and fed it to one of our Lemures? Do any of us know? And what if this whole yurei thing is related to this? That's why it would have it in for us?"
"That was a thousand years ago!" snapped Ves.
"Hate can last a thousand years," Cere said, "if you give it enough reason."
"He was a wonderful boy," the spirit of Hiboshi Ishikawa said.
He'd told them everything: about the attack by Jun-Jun, of his son's depression, how he quit the baseball team and withdrew from his friends. He told them about how he'd helplessly watched the boy wither and withdraw from everything.
"That day he went to school," the yurei continued. "He seemed better. He seemed like he had regained purpose in his life. He seemed like a burden had been lifted." Anguish spread over the yurei's face like a veil. "And then the police told me he'd killed himself - - jumped off of the roof of his middle school."
Everyone still in the club stared silently, either at him or at the floor. Sorrow and pity blanketed the room.
"My life ended that day," the yurei said. "It just took my body a while to catch up to my spirit. My wife left. She grieved for our son and had no desire to watch me follow him to the grave. I gave up. I had nothing left."
"I grieve for you, spirit," Rei said gently. "You have suffered much. My advice is to pass on to your rest. No one deserves peace more than you."
"I cannot pass on," the yurei stated flatly.
"Why? Nothing is left here to bind you."
"There is one thing holding me. Revenge. Revenge against those witches who drove my son to his death."
"That won't free you," Rei advised him. "That will only bind you more securely to this world, spirit. It will blacken your soul and turn you into a monster. Believe me when I tell you this!"
"You will not turn me, Sensei," the yurei rumbled. "My son will be avenged."
"I can't let you do this," Rei said, "to yourself or to them." Rei produced a haraikushi and held it before her, pointed at the yurei. "Gods of Heaven, Gods of Earth . . ."
"NO!" roared the yurei and Rei seemed to be hit with a gale force wind. "YOU WILL NOT BANISH ME BEFORE I HAVE HAD MY REVENGE!"
Venus and Saturn crouched, ready to act. However, they didn't really know how to act. Usa looked on anxiously. Rei had braced herself and now the contest was a battle of spiritual energy versus spiritual energy. Light seemed to flicker around them both as Rei and the yurei clashed in the center of the room. For long moments neither side seemed to gain advantage.
Then Usa noticed Rei begin to grimace. The hands gripping the haraikushi started to quiver. And without warning, Rei was suddenly hurled backward. Venus moved in quickly and caught the priest. Rei stared at the spirit, stunned by its power.
"You could not stop me a thousand years ago, priest," the yurei proclaimed. "And my hatred has had a thousand years to ferment and grow strong."
The yurei turned its back to her and thrust its arms into the air. "Bring me the four who murdered my son!" it bellowed and the foundation of the club quivered. "Bring them to me or you will all know no peace!"
With that, a howling wind swirled through the club. Chairs and tables smashed against the walls. Glass was swept from the bar and shattered. And still the winds grew stronger.
"Silence Wall!" Saturn called out. Her protective force field encompassed everyone near her.
And still the winds grew stronger. They swirled until everyone left in the club not protected by Saturn's shield was picked up. Panicked screams echoed in the club as people were blown out the door and into the street. Saturn strained to maintain her shield against the massive air pressure. But it proved too much for her. The senshi were also swept away and into the street like so much debris. Usa skidded to a stop in the street and turned back to the club.
"Bring them to me," a sepulchral voice echoed from inside the club. Then the door slammed shut.
Trudging back into the palace, Princess Usagi and the three senshi with her mirrored the despair each one felt.
"If only I'd neutralized him back in 2016," Rei fumed. "None of this would have happened!"
"Hey, cut yourself a break, huh?" Minako advised, massaging the priest's shoulders. "Nobody wins them all."
"It's inexcusable!" Rei shot back. "There's no way this yurei could have been that powerful a thousand years ago! I just wasn't concentrating!"
"Aunt Rei?" Usa said. She was both concerned for her and amazed that Rei Hino could have let a simple spirit get by her mighty powers. Amazed and perhaps just a little disappointed.
"There's no excuse," Rei turned away.
"I've got one," Minako interjected. "She was still messed up psychologically from being held prisoner for two years."
"IT'S NO EXCUSE!" Rei snapped.
"Yeah, yeah, keep telling yourself that," Minako rolled her eyes.
"You were a prisoner?" gaped Hotaru. "For two years?"
Rei scowled and looked down. Minako wanted to speak, but deferred to Rei.
"Go ahead and tell them," Rei whispered. "You'll probably bust if you don't."
"During the Great Disaster," Minako began, "we all got frozen into senshi-pops by those ice giants. But they captured Rei and dragged her off to their dimension. She spent two years in some smelly dungeon, a prisoner of the guys who controlled the ice giants, thinking she was the only survivor of Earth. Then she spent another two years an emotional cripple because she was too stubborn to get some help for it." Minako glanced Rei's way, expecting a challenge. "Messed up her psychic sight. Finally Makoto and me sat on her and let Serenity work on her." Minako glanced at Rei again, with an impish smirk. "And she didn't even say 'thank you'."
"I didn't put a curse on you, did I?" Rei replied. "Bottom line, we're where we are now because I dropped the ball a thousand years ago."
"You did your best, Aunt Rei," Usa contended. "Aunt Minako's right, you can't succeed every time. You weren't at your best. You've got to give yourself a break for that."
A melancholy smile grew on the priest's face. She reached up and cupped her hand behind Usa's.
"Thank you, Muffin," Rei beamed.
Just then, the Asteroids ran up. Jun was in the lead. Each one, though, seemed nervous and desperate.
"What happened at the club, Sensei?" Jun asked anxiously.
"It was a yurei," Rei told them. "I confronted it. It has been specifically targeting you four and we found out why."
"His name wasn't Ishikawa, was it?" Jun asked.
"How did you know that?" Rei asked with alarm.
But all Jun did was begin to cry. She sank to the ground limply, covering her face, as the other Asteroids crowded around to support her. Usa and Hotaru leaned in, too. Even Rei and Minako were stunned and concerned by her reaction.
"Jun?" Minako prodded. "Kid, what is it?"
"I killed his son!" Jun wailed piteously. "I drove him to his death!"
"Aunt Rei?" Usa pleaded, turning to Rei and Minako. Rei leaned in and helped Jun to her feet with the assistance of Ves and Cere.
"Take her to the shrine," Rei told Ves and Cere. To Jun, she said as she stroked the girl's temple, "Jun, we need to talk about this. Do you feel up to that?"
Jun nodded as she cried. The three people supporting her led Jun off, while Palla-Palla followed behind, stricken and saddened. Minako, Usa and Hotaro watched as they walked off.
"Poor kid," Minako mumbled.
"What happened?" they heard Serenity inquire and found her coming down the corridor. "I felt such a burst of emotional distress just now."
"We got the lowdown on the yurei," Minako said. "It wasn't good news, especially for Jun."
"I should go to her," Serenity proclaimed, but Minako stopped her.
"Rei's got it handled," Minako told her, then nodded toward Usa. Thankfully Serenity took the hint.
"Did you come through this all right, Usa?" Serenity asked. Her daughter shrugged.
"I'm all right," she said. "I'm going to go visit Jun."
"Just a moment," Serenity said, her hand resting on her daughter's arm. "You can look in on Jun later. I think she needs to be with Rei right now. And I need to hear about what happened."
"Can't Aunt Minako tell you?" Usa protested.
"I'd rather hear it from you," Serenity said. She took her daughter's hand and gently, but firmly led her off.
Enduring her mother's whim with stoic disdain, Usa allowed herself to be led to the Royal Receiving Room. It was an odd choice, but then her mother had made a lifetime of odd choices. Serenity led her into the room, then released her hand.
"Usa, dear," she smiled, gesturing behind the teen with her hand, "you have a guest."
Usa turned - - and found Helios standing behind her.
Continued in Chapter 11