TWO WRONGS
Chapter 10: Despair
A Sailor Moon fanfic
By Bill K.
It took a moment for Ceres to refocus her senses. The Senshi had been in the midst of teleport, ferrying the sorceress Keika back to the Crystal Palace. Then there was a moment of black and a hard impact with something. The teleport bubble had dissipated.
"Where have you taken me?" demanded Keika. Ceres grimaced at the shrill voice and squinted at her. "If this is Earth, this is not the Earth I have heard tales of! I warn you, I am not without defense!"
"Aw, shut up!" Ceres heard Vesta snap.
Using her hand, Cere felt a smooth, hard surface beneath her. But when she glanced down, there was nothing but a gray mass. Looking up, everything around them was varying shades of gray, the surface darker than the atmosphere around them. Whatever this place was, it was the dullest, bleakest place she could ever remember being in. There were no plants, no features to the landscape, no features to anything. Cere instantly felt depressed. Then she thought: maybe that was the feature of wherever they were.
She took a moment to look around. Keika was in front of her, glaring silent accusations at her and Vesta. Vesta was on her right, glaring right back. God, she so didn't want to have to break up a fight between them. Juno was on her left, recovering her wits as well.
"Vesta! Ceres!" screeched Sailor Pallas. "Miss Saturn-Ma'am is hurt!"
Saturn was laying face down between Juno and Pallas. Her glaive lay on the bleak gray surface next to a limp hand.
"Is she dead?" Juno asked fearfully.
"Let's not assume the worst," Ceres sighed. She had scooted over and was gently turning Saturn over onto her back. "No, she's still breathing. But I don't like the way she looks."
"You suppose that's why we crashed out of the teleport warp?"
"Probably," Ceres replied. "Take out Saturn's power quotient and . . ." Ceres stopped when she sensed a presence next to her. Glancing to her right, she found Keika peering down at Saturn.
"Yes, this one is your most powerful comrade," Keika said, studying Saturn. "I sensed this in our confrontations."
"WHAT THE HELL YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Vesta roared. She grabbed Keika by the collar and jerked her away. The sorceress landed awkwardly on her bottom.
"I'm TRYING to tend to her, you SAVAGE!" Keika snarled back. "I have some small ability with healing spells and potions! You pick that up as a sorceress! Why, do any of YOU know how to help her?"
"And why do YOU suddenly want to help?" Juno asked suspiciously.
"Because I'm not a fool," Keika replied aloofly. "I don't have the components with me to weave a transport spell, so if I'm to escape this - - wherever this hellish place is - - I'm going to need you four to take me." She nodded to Saturn. "And you four apparently need her."
Ceres and Juno exchanged glances. It made sense.
"It looks like her heart. She's breathing, at least," Keika persisted. "Maybe I can help keep her that way."
Ceres expelled a breath. "OK. Go ahead and try to help her. Vesta, watch her."
"Like a hawk," Vesta replied.
"Pallas, see if you can make mental contact with Saturn," Ceres told her. Immediately Pallas set about concentrating.
"She is very pale," Keika judged, her tapered fingers probing around Saturn's face and neck. "Cool to the touch."
Keika closed her eyes. Within seconds, her snake familiar appeared, slithering over her shoulder from inside the back of her dress.
"HEY!" Vesta exclaimed. The others also reacted.
"Calm yourselves. I did not summon him to attack," Keika frowned. She extended the palm of her right hand up to the snake's mouth. The serpent opened it gently and pressed its fangs to her palm, taking care not to puncture the skin. It deposited two single drops of venom onto her palm. Keika brought it down and massaged the venom into Saturn's chest while mumbling some arcane words.
"Oh!" Pallas gasped. "It's OK. Miss Keika-ma'am is using the spit from the scary snake to slow down Miss Saturn-ma'am's heart beat. Pallas heard it with her head."
"She's straining too hard for oxygen, over-exerting the heart," Keika added distantly. "This will give her a chance to recover." She scowled and her body slumped. "Perhaps I could do more if I only had the tools."
"What do you need?" Ceres asked.
"Some Hawthorn or Arjuna," Keika said, eyeing Ceres curiously. "I'd even take ginger, but it wouldn't be as effective."
"Is that all?" Ceres smiled. Keika watched Ceres remove a seed from a pouch on her uniform. "Floral Stimulation."
In moments her palm held Hawthorn herb. Keika's eyebrow cocked.
"My compliments to your sorcery," Keika muttered, taking the herb. She rubbed it between her hands, mumbling an incantation, then wiped her hands over both sides of Saturn's neck. For good measure, she made a vertical mark on Saturn's forehead with her thumb. Then she sat back.
"What now?" Juno asked.
"Now we wait," Keika answered. "If the venom and the Hawthorn have the desired effect, her heart rate will slow and her veins will dilate, allowing more oxygen to get to her vital organs. Thus she will regain her strength." Keika glanced around. "And then we may be quit of this hideously depressing place."
"And if it doesn't?" Juno followed up.
Keika grew very sober. "Then we may all very well die in this place."
"I am searching the dream realms, King Endymion," Candide transmitted through her mental contact with the Monarch of Crystal Tokyo. "If they are here, I will find them. But the Dreamscape is vast - - and I have - - other concerns as well. It may take some time."
"Any help you can give us, Lady Candide," Endymion thought back.
"How fares the Princess?"
"She's actually slightly improved. It's almost like something is helping her gain more strength to fight back."
"Or someone, perhaps," Candide thought back. Endymion could almost sense her smiling. "I shall contact you if I have news."
Endymion let the connection sever and returned his consciousness to the infirmary room where he, his wife, Rei and Ami, all watched over the comatose Sailor Moon.
"Anything?" Serenity asked. Little Mamoko was nestled against her breast.
"She's looking," Endymion replied.
Suddenly Rei's head snapped up. Everyone in the room looked at her, wondering what caused the reaction. The priest's head turned and looked squarely at Serenity.
"You've been funneling crystal energy into me," Rei stated. "Reinforcing the sutra with your own spiritual energy."
"I must be getting better at it," Serenity grinned. "You just now noticed."
"Serenity."
"Don't - - say it," the Queen commanded. "We have to do something. I don't know how much longer I can take this - - watching her lie there..."
"Serenity, endangering your health," Ami began.
"It doesn't matter," Serenity said flatly. "It has to be done."
"We may not have a choice, Ami," Rei sighed. "I've done all I can. I can't expel this snake demon. All I'm doing is holding it back, and the longer this takes, the more my spiritual energy begins to wane."
"Can Serenity safely 'wish' it away?" Ami asked.
"I wouldn't advise it. Serenity doesn't understand the spiritual aspects of exorcizing a demon. She might accidentally cause permanent damage to Muffin - - Sailor Moon." She straightened up in her chair. "I can guide her power, though. Perform the exorcism safely."
"What do I have to do?" Serenity asked.
"What you've been doing," Rei told her. "You just don't have to try to be sneaky now." She extended her hand to the Queen. "Take my hand. It'll help us connect more securely."
"Endymion, could you hold Mamoko please?" the Queen requested, handing off the infant to her husband. She grasped Rei's left hand with her right. The priest immediately sucked in air.
"No matter how many times I do this, I'm never ready for the surge of spiritual energy," Rei exhaled. "All right, snake demon. Resist me now."
As Rei closed her eyes, Serenity followed suit at the same moment. Immediately Ami moved in, brandishing her medical scanner. Immediately she was struck by how similar the brain wave patterns for Serenity and Rei were. She noticed Endymion watching her.
"I want to make certain both Serenity and Rei don't endanger themselves," she explained, trying not to sound worried. Endymion nodded.
The Asteroids and Keika the sorceress sat and watched and waited for some sign from Saturn that she was recovering. Juno noticed that Pallas was still attempting to telepathically contact her. She scooted over next to the Senshi.
"Any luck, Pallas?" Juno asked.
"Dëshpërim," Pallas replied distantly, still in her telepathic trance.
"Huh?" Vesta replied, walking over and kneeling down next to her.
"Does she talk in tongues?" Keika asked.
"It's the name of this place," Pallas said softly.
"Do you know where it is?" Juno asked her.
"Dëshpërim is part of the Dreamscape," Pallas answered. To the other Asteroids, it was like she wasn't initiating the conversation. It was like she was serving as a conduit. "It's the place where people go when they dream of losing all hope."
"Then the decor fits right in," Ceres murmured, glancing around.
"How does she know this?" demanded Keika.
"She just does," Ceres explained. "I learned a long time ago not to think too hard about it."
"Does it know a way to get back to Earth?" Vesta asked Pallas. "Or maybe back to Elysian?"
"Why?" Pallas asked, still in her telepathic trance. "You'll never get back. It's hopeless. Why try?"
"Pallas!" Vesta exclaimed. She grabbed the Senshi by the shoulders and shook her. "PALLAS!"
Pallas opened her eyes. She stared at Vesta for a moment as if she didn't know her. Then her eyes sought her lap.
"Pallas couldn't hear Miss Saturn-Ma'am, and she couldn't get her to answer," Pallas said, her brow furrowed. Pallas seemed supremely depressed and embarrassed. The feeling of despair was beginning to creep into everyone.
Ceres noticed Keika had walked away from the group and put her head in her hands as she sat on the smooth surface that could be felt but not seen. After some consideration, Ceres got up.
"Where are you going?" Juno asked surreptitiously.
"It looks like this place is getting to her," Ceres replied. "I thought I'd - - you know - - reach out. Try to keep her going."
"Uh, are you forgetting that she tried to kill us?"
Ceres looked down for a moment. "Maybe she thought she was defending herself. Think about it. How many times has Ves reacted like that when she perceives a threat?"
"Sure she's not just evil?" Juno posed.
"My Dad told me something once," Ceres recalled. "Looking at a dispute from the other party's perspective can often help you solve that dispute. Maybe I'm wasting my time, but I'd like to have her working with us to get home and cure Usa than working against us."
"Good luck," Juno offered. Ceres nodded and cautiously approached their traveling companion. Gingerly she sat down near the woman in the torn black gown.
"I said before that our war has temporarily ceased," grumbled Keika. "Do you still suspect me of treachery?"
"No. I realize that we have to pool our abilities to get out of here, just like you do," Ceres offered. "So you don't have to be any more suspicious of us than we are of you - - in spite of what you did."
Keika glanced at Ceres. Her expression showed her displeasure.
"You just seemed like this place was getting to you," Ceres told her. "We can't give up. It's too important to give up. We have to keep going. For Sailor Moon's sake as well as our own." Keika's expression grew more puzzled.
"How does she rule you, this princess of yours, that makes you so fiercely loyal?" Keika asked. "Is it her you fear or the hand of her father?"
"We're not afraid of her," Ceres responded. "She's our friend. Our lives are better for being around her. And her parents saved us, so we owe it to them to try everything we can to save her. But mostly we want her to keep being a part of our lives."
"Friendship? Love?" Keika snorted. "They're transitory. One day your precious princess will stop being your friend. You'll do something she doesn't like or expect something you can't give - - or else she'll just grow tired of you. And then you'll have nothing." Keika looked away. "Nothing to show for all of your sacrifice."
"Well that kind of depends on the person," Ceres countered gently. "Is that what happened between you and your husband? He just got tired of you?" Keika didn't answer. "You didn't help it along?"
Keika shot an angry glare at her.
"Had he played you before? Or were you just being suspicious?" Ceres inquired. "You knew he went to Sailor Moon's quarters so you had to be watching him somehow, maybe through your sorcery. If you were watching him, that meant you didn't trust him."
"Very clever of you," muttered Keika. "His eye wandered - - a lot. Particularly in recent times. But I never found him with another woman before." She glanced back at Ceres. "Until this time."
"Look, I understand jealousy," Ceres confessed, "and I understand being insecure about where you stand with the man you love. I recently thought my guy was playing around on me and I said some pretty nasty things."
"Was he?"
"Probably not. But I didn't want to trust him. That's kind of the hard part about being in love. You have to trust each other. If you don't have trust, you can kill the love you feel very easily. And you have to show each other that you still care instead of just assuming that the other one knows."
"Trust," Keika mulled the word over. "And if he is actually seeing another on the side?"
"It's the risk you take," Ceres shrugged. "Sure, if he is and you ignore it, he'll probably lose all respect for you - - maybe think he can keep getting away with it. But if you accuse him of it and he isn't, you're just killing any feelings he has for you. Maybe you're even driving him to it."
Keika looked down. She seemed to be showing some signs of remorse.
"You, too, think it wrong that I killed him," Keika asked, "don't you?"
"Yeah. Even when I was fighting with Hiroki, I never thought about killing him," Ceres said. "Besides, we're taught not to. The Queen thinks it's bad and so does the Princess, and if we're going to follow them, we have to believe that, too." Ceres thought for a moment. "But killing's also pretty final. You can't say 'sorry' if it turns out you were wrong. And even if you were right, you don't have the chance to forgive them if they're dead." She glanced surreptitiously at Keika. "So all you're doing by killing someone is soothing your pride or massaging your ego. Unless you're protecting another life. If there's a good reason to do it, I suppose that's it. But I never understood how you could kill somebody you're supposed to love."
"I was taught that the strong survive and the victorious stop at nothing to achieve their goals," Keika responded. "That a wrong is answered swiftly and in kind, else it will embolden your enemy."
"So how victorious do you feel?" Ceres asked.
Keika looked down. Her mouth puckered slightly. Her eyes seemed to sting.
"All I ever wanted," she choked out. "was for him to love me. Just me. Was it so much to ask? Was it so much?" She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Yes, I feared he would leave me. Yes, I suspected him. Is it my fault? Did I drive him to it?"
"That's something only you can answer," Ceres said. "Look, guys look. It's infuriating, but it's part of being a guy. It doesn't mean they're cheating. I know that now. Now what Na did to Sailor Moon is inexcusable and you've got every right to be mad about it. But I don't know enough to say what brought it on - - if he just got bored or drunk, if he was just a bad guy all along, or if you somehow drove him to it, or if it was all of the above. And the only one who can answer that now is you. He can't speak for himself anymore."
Vesta walked over. She stood about two feet from Keika and Ceres, towering over them both. Since she was in Keika's presence, her demeanor was angry and sullen, but she actually had good news to report.
"Saturn's beginning to stir," Vesta told them. "Figured you two might want to - - check on her."
"Thank you, Keika," Ceres smiled, reaching out and touching Keika on the hand before the woman could withdraw it. The Senshi began to get up, but lingered when Vesta lingered over Keika. For her part, Keika met Vesta's glare with one of her own.
"You came through for her," Vesta said in clipped fashion. The muscles in her jaw bunched as she ground her teeth. "Thanks."
"How it must have pained you to say such a thing," Keika smirked in triumph as she rose to her feet.
"Yeah," Vesta grunted. "Do the same for Sailor Moon and I'll stop thinking about gutting you from the neck down."
"Ves!" snapped Ceres. "Don't mind her. Some of us take longer to learn than others."
"I take no offense," Keika stated. "In some ways, I understand her more than I understand the rest of you."
The three joined Juno and Pallas, who were knelt down beside Saturn. Saturn turned to them as Ceres and Keika knelt on her other side. Her eyes drooped and she seemed so fragile. But her breathing and her color were better.
"Sorry I worried everyone," Saturn exhaled. "Let's try to teleport again. I promise I'll hold my end up."
"You can't. It's much too soon," Keika advised her.
"I can do it!" Saturn protested.
"Grip my hand," Keika said. Saturn tried her best. "You see? Weak as a kitten. If you try to expend your inner being in such a transportation spell, you will destroy yourself and possibly us."
"But," Saturn began, her emotions welling up, "we have to get to Sailor Moon!"
"You are of no use to your princess dead," Keika replied coldly. "And she's probably already died by now anyway."
With that, Saturn turned her head away and began weeping bitterly. "I'm sorry, Usa," she murmured through the tears, "I'm sorry."
And once more Keika felt the venomous stares of the others on her.
Continued in Chapter 11