Sailor Moon bounced around her friends, hopping like an over ecstatic rabbit. Each one received an extra large hug, which they returned happily. While Sailor Moon, Mercury and Jupiter giggled amongst themselves, Sailor Venus and Mars looked at each other, Venus offering only a small, fragile smile.
"Minako-chan," Sailor Mars asked, taking a step closer, "What's wrong?"
"Rei-chan, we have to get Luna and Artemis out of here." Sailor Venus looked to the two felines who brushed up happily against the other soldier's legs. Sailor Venus' eyes became dark, her romantic, love filled aura becoming bittersweet.
"Why?" Mars questioned; the vulnerable feeling in her stomach began to fill her limbs. She felt cold, an abnormality for the soldier of fire.
"This..." She paused, "This, this is it." Sailor Venus looked at her fellow soldier, and her lover, "We're going to fight Beryl. We're going to protect our princess. At all cost." Venus looked paler than usual, and drained. The reality of the situation had sunk in. Sailor Venus was speaking as a soldier, but held the loss of any fourteen year old girl. The very sound of her words insinuated that they may not live.
Mars's eyes blinked rapidly, while her shoulders froze stiffly, ceasing their raise and fall signifying breath. Suddenly, the frigid weather wasn't noticed. Sailor Mars felt numb; They were soldiers above all else.
"I understand." Sailor Mars said simply, her own smile mirroring her leader's, "We'll always protect her."
"Rei-chan, I," Sailor Venus paused, "I…You're a very special person to me." Her voice was shrinking. Sailor Mars looked ahead, a sad smile
"We won't be seeing Valentine's day, will we?" Sailor Mars asked quietly. Sailor Venus' shoulders jolted up, and her eyes became filled with determination. She inhaled and filled herself with false confidence.
"Don't talk like that, Mars. We will see it, we just have to serve our princess, first."
Sailor Mars smiled, just a little. She knew better. But, at the same time, the thought of spending the holiday with Minako was enough to push through anything. Though Sailor Mars' sickening feeling continued, and she knew what it meant, without having to sit through visions. 'No, I have to believe in Minako-chan, I have to believe in Usagi. She will save us. And we'll make sure she's able to.' Sailor Mars thought to herself.
Haruka looked over at the two long haired soldiers, listening carefully to their exchange. For a second, Haruka's vision flickered, becoming monochromatic and then jolting back into color. Her eyes were focused and unfocused simultaneously. With a couple shakes of the head, it was fixed. The sickening feeling did not leave, however. The girls talked while Haruka tried to understand her body.
Sailor Venus picked up Artemis and Luna. She stroked them both before sitting them onto the snow and joining hands with the other four inner Soldiers; with minimal energy usage, the four of them teleported the cats to the warmth of Tokyo.
Sailor Moon looked off to the side, "Is this really the right decision?"
Sailor Venus smiled, "Let's not think about what ifs, Usagi-chan."
"Yeah, I plan on having a full blown romance when this is all over." Sailor Jupiter chimed in, nodding firmly. Her eyes locked on Mercury, who blushed lightly.
"Maybe I will, too." Mercury said softly, bringing a small fist to her mouth. Moon looked over at Mercury, shocked and scooted closer, as if to inspect her. Mercury blushed more. Instantly, Mercury whipped out her computer and began to type away furiously, as if to diffuse the situation.
"Jeeze, Usagi. You're so," Sailor Mars did not finish her sentence.
"Everyone! Something is approaching rapidly!" Sailor Mercury called out, her compact computer firmly in her hand. Everyone turned away, forming a sloppy circle. All of their heads clicked around rapidly, looking for some sign of approach.
It wasn't until the first shocked scream that anyone was aware something was around. Around Sailor Moon's booted ankle, there was a green, leathery tentacle. Haruka launched herself at Sailor Moon, grabbing her and holding her erect right as the tentacle began to pull away. The green limb tightened. Haruka reached down and ripped a large chunk out of it. The tentacle retreated, leaking bright purple fluid. Once the fluid touched the ice, it steamed and evaporated it in seconds.
"It's corrosive! Be on guard!" Sailor Venus called out. Sailor Jupiter stepped in front of Sailor Moon. Haruka wrapped her arms around Sailor Moon, cradling the smaller girl into her chest.
Four women became visible. All of them looked similar. They smirked and giggled, as if to taunt the Sailor Soldiers. Sailor Jupiter's antenna sprung and began to spark.
"If you're going to start a fight with us, be prepared to lose! I won't hold back!" Sailor Jupiter shouted, as she began to run forward to the women-demons. As she approached, the women vanished. Jupiter froze, her mossy green eyes' pupils shrunk with shock, as she rapidly looked around.
"Jupiter!" Sailor Moon called out, struggling against Haruka's strength. Her chest pounded. Moon's thoughts were rapidly repeating Jupiter's name over and over against. Her muscles weakened with fright, "Jupiter!" She called out again.
Just as Sailor Moon called out, three of the women formed a triangle around Sailor Jupiter. They all launched tentacles at Jupiter, restraining her arms to her sides. They opened their mouths and hissed. The purple liquid began to leak from pores in the tentacles. It started at the top and was rapidly approaching Jupiter. Sailor Jupiter laughed at them.
"Making physical contact with me is a mistake," She warned them. The two of them moved in closer. Their miasma came into contact with Jupiter's skin, which began to boil and steam. She screamed loudly.
"Mako-chan!" Usagi screamed, her voice splitting in emotion.
"I've got you now." Sailor Jupiter said lowly as her antenna crackled with raw energy. The two closest to the soldier looked at each other in confusion. "Supreme Thunder!" Sailor Jupiter called out. A massive cylinder of pure lightning descended onto her, turning the whole sky white from the power.
As the light faded, two of DD ladies were gone, and two of them were cradling an injured one. Sailor Jupiter couldn't be seen. Sailor Moon fell to her knees. Sailor Mercury brought a shocked hand to her mouth. Sailor Mars touched Mercury's shoulder lightly, Sailor Venus looked down and inhaled deeply.
"No," Sailor Moon whispered, "No! No! Mako-chan! Mako-chan!" Sailor Moon screamed, tears rolling down her cheeks rapidly. She struggled to breathe from all the pressure in her chest, the dizziness in her mind, and the emptiness in her core.
Haruka touched Sailor Moon's head and looked at the ground. With little warning, the DD ladies were gone again. Sailor Moon stood and began to run to where Sailor Jupiter had once stood. Shocked, Haruka stumbled, following the girl. Sailor Mercury also followed.
Sailor Jupiter laid on her back, her hair was knocked loose, and the wavy locks had fanned themselves around her. Her breasts were partially exposed, as was her abdomen. Her arms were crushed and a mix of still bleeding and cauterized wounds. Her ribs protruded abnormally far from her stomach and appeared to be crooked. Jupiter's eyes were glossy, but had an odd look of serenity to them.
Sailor Moon fell to her knees next to the soldier. Sailor Mercury stood behind her.
"Mako-chan," Sailor Moon whispered delicately, "Please, don't die." She begged, still sobbing. Sailor Jupiter looked up at both Mercury and Moon and smiled gently.
"Hey, don't cry so much, Usagi-chan. Ami-chan is supposed to be the one with the water works." Sailor Jupiter whispered.
"Mako-chan." Sailor Mercury whispered. Haruka moved closer to Moon and Mercury.
"You, you can't do this, Mako-chan. You told me that you were going to have a full-blown romance, remember? Mako-chan, you have to come with us!" Sailor Moon sobbed.
"Your special person knows that you love them, Mako-chan. And they love you, too." Sailor Mercury said softly. Sailor Moon continued to sob. Jupiter looked at Haruka.
"Protect her." Jupiter whispered, before her eyes slipped closed and her muscled relaxed, causing her head to tilt to the left.
"Mako-chan?" Sailor Moon paused, waiting for a response, "Mako-chan? Mako-chan!" She began to hyperventilate, "No! Mako-chan!" She screamed. Sailor Mercury looked away, closing her eyes. Sailor Moon stood up and looked around. "Take the stupid crystal! Whoever you are! Just give Mako-chan back to us!"
Sailor Mercury promptly slapped Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon touched her cheek, and Haruka blinked in shock.
"I'm sorry, Usagi-chan but," Sailor Mercury paused, "Don't let Mako-chan's death go in vain. She sacrificed herself to protect you and our cause. Giving it will make her death pointless."
"But," Sailor Moon's tears halted for a moment, "I don't want to lose you or anyone else."
"Usagi-chan, you won't lose us. We swore to protect you." Sailor Mercury said, offering a gentle smile.
Sailor Moon nodded, "What way do we need to head, Ami-chan?"
"North."
Sailor Moon walked ahead of Haruka and Sailor Mercury, heading back towards Sailor Mars and Venus. They waited for the smaller soldier, and walked with her. They proceeded mostly in silence, occasionally gossiping about something trivial. They couldn't break, they had to see this through, to honor Makoto's sacrifice.
"You lied effortlessly." Haruka said lowly to Mercury.
"What?" She sounded startled.
"Jupiter won't be the last one to die in this, and you know it. Yet you told her otherwise."
"It couldn't be helped. She needs the faith. Usagi-chan needs to see this fight to the end. Whether or not we make it isn't important. Usagi-chan needs to end this, and she will." Sailor Mercury said gently. She paused in her steps and turned around. Haruka looked back and saw the three DD ladies.
"Shabon spray!" Mercury shouted, quickly sending a smooth, frigid mist into the large area, concealing all of them.
"Merucry!" Venus called out.
"There were those women again, I had to conceal us! Be on guard!" Sailor Mercury shouted back.
Haruka blinked several times, her eyes wide each time. She looked around the fog, astonished by how thick it was. She could barely see Sailor Mercury's outline and that girl was no one more than a foot away.
"Haruka-san, you should keep walking north to catch up with the others. Protecting Sailor Moon in a group will be the safest method." Mercury said quickly.
"What about you?" Haruka asked, shifting her weight to her left hip and looking towards Mercury.
"My attacks aren't as strong as the others. They will be needed later. I have to hold them here and fight alone." Mercury said softly, turning away.
"You might die." Haruka stated.
"It's my duty to protect our princess. And," Sailor Mercury paused, "It'd be easier on Usagi-chan if she didn't see me die." Ami reached forward and touched Haruka's arm. Haruka looked down at in shock. "Please, protect her." Mercury said with a small smile.
AN: I'm so sorry for such a sad chapter! It's the countdown to the final battle. Hopefully the last update will come out sooner this time. Keep seeing more people putting an alert on this story and it gets me so excited! I hope for more reviews, but I just hope, more than anything, that people are enjoying the story, even if it's a bit dark. Thanks for reading!