Chapter Eleven
As soon as the barrier dropped, Uranus, Neptune and Fighter launched their attacks to clear a passage, having already convinced a grumpy Healer to preserve her strength for what would no doubt be a gruelling struggle to the shrine.
They moved swiftly, Uranus and Neptune blasting whatever they could out of the way whilst Fighter kept up an almost continuous stream of Star Laser Beams shooting behind her, arcing and twisting and diving to keep up with the others.
Healer caught the odd monster that reached their flanks, or that got too close to Uranus and Neptune, but her attacks were still weak and rarely finished the monsters off unless they'd already sustained damage.
It was difficult, miserable going, but they persevered, and reached the stairs leading up to the Shrine faster than Healer expected. Grudgingly, she had to admit to herself that Uranus and Neptune were impressive – not only were they both powerful fighters, they worked together so effortlessly they seemed to always know intuitively what the other was thinking, never fumbling when support was needed, never missing on combination attacks that devastated their enemies before the monsters even realised they'd been launched.
When they finally paused to assess their next move, Healer stumbled and almost fell. Stars above she hated being like this, so utterly depleted and incompetent. A gloved hand steadied her shoulder, and she was surprised to find it was Neptune's. Her eyes were unusually warm and comforting, and whether consciously or otherwise, she stirred up a cooling salt breeze to caress Healer's overheated skin.
"Not much further," Neptune encouraged.
"Slight problem with that," said Fighter, causing Healer to look up and focus her attention on the stairs.
Monsters were crowding up the stairs, mostly the scaly ones they'd fought on the way here, but also an assortment of others that seemed to be erupting from who knew where. They could obviously sense the energy at the top of the Shrine, but so far they couldn't make it through whatever barrier was holding them back, only seething and swarming and gnashing their teeth in anger as they circled and circled, looking for a way in.
Just in case, Neptune tried her communicator. "It's still out. We can't let them know we're down here."
Uranus sent a World Shaking up the stairs. A Deep Submerge and Star Serious Laser soon followed. Power crackled in Healer's hands, but she couldn't make it go further, and she stopped trying after Fighter gave her a look that promised an extremely dull lecture later if she didn't stop.
The monster ranks thinned a little as the attacks hit, but there were more than enough scrambling up the hillsides to soon fill the stairs again, leaving them back where they started.
They needed a juggernaut to clear the way, and that meant Uranus or Fighter.
"I'll go first," Uranus and Fighter said at the same time, promptly followed by a mutual glare.
"I have a Sword," said Uranus, hefting the object in question.
Fighter rolled her eyes. "You and your Sword," she muttered.
"Perhaps the two of you could resolve this in the next five seconds?" Neptune suggested as monsters began closing in around them.
Uranus eyed the stair. "It's just wide enough for two. Fighter – can you power up that blazing body shield thing I've seen you do before?"
"No problem."
"Then we'll go together. But you'd better be able to keep up. I run fast."
"I'll cover your retreat," Neptune said, somewhat needlessly since there was no one else to do it.
Uranus nodded stiffly and held her eyes for a moment. "I expect to see you at the top."
"You will."
"Healer – stay right behind me and Fighter."
"Geez you don't have to tell me that," Healer muttered.
"Right." Uranus lifted her Sword in readiness. "Everyone in position? Let's go."
Uranus and Fighter were soon clearing a wide path up the Hill, the golden field of Uranus's Space Sword and Fighter's blue body shield blasting a wide swath of monster-free zone up each new increment of the stairs. But it was hard going, with more monsters always scrambling to replace those that had fallen while yet more swarmed up from below.
Without warning, Neptune stopped and turned, holding her position even as the others advanced. Healer looked back incredulously and slowed. "Neptune's going to get separated from us!"
Uranus yanked on her arm. "Keep moving!" she barked. Her face was set like granite. "Neptune knows that she's doing."
Healer watched in trepidation as monsters poured into the widening gap between Neptune and the three of them, but Neptune seemed unaffected. She just waited calmly, building a massive ball of energy between her hands until she was ready to release it, raising her arms and sending two great waves crashing down on either side of the hillside, sweeping away everything in their wake.
Swirling waters surged at her feet and sea spray reared up before her as the waves roared in salute. Facing upwards again, she used her Mirror to shatter the monsters still blocking her path and began running to catch up.
It was easier for Uranus and Fighter now. The only monsters left were those that had been able to crowd onto the stairs to escape the water, and with their numbers depleted they were no match. When Neptune had released her attack, there'd been a hopeful shout too from the top of the shrine, and soon cover fire from the Inner Senshi was streaming out to help them.
After expending so much energy already, Healer was starting to struggle though she'd done nothing but run up the stairs behind Uranus and Fighter. Her lungs were bursting with effort and sweat was dripping into her eyes. She stumbled, nearly losing her footing on the wet and slippery stairs and plunging one foot into the ocean. She could feel herself weaving on her feet and dropped to one knee as a bout of nausea hit.
Fighter noticed immediately and grabbed onto her.
"We're nearly there!" she yelled.
Uranus grabbed Healer's other arm without comment, and together she and Fighter practically dragged Healer up the last few stairs and over the brow of the hill.
As they passed easily through the barrier it immediately became quieter, the ocean Neptune had summoned fading to a distant roar, the howls of the monsters reduced to uneasy whispers borne on the wind.
Healer and Fighter collapsed in a heap but Uranus was already on her feet, looking back down the stairs towards Neptune as Mars, Venus and Jupiter came running to offer their assistance. Neptune had nearly made it – her fingertips just brushed Uranus's outstretched hand – and then with sickening speed a monster reared out of the sea and dragged Neptune down into the swirling waters.
"Neptune!" Uranus screamed, bolting upright and searching the waters desperately with her eyes.
Seeing what had happened, Venus didn't hesitate. She ran with the current, following the water until she caught a flash of aquamarine hair. Immediately she sent her sparkling chain into the sea, and as it caught on something she was nearly yanked right over the side of the hill into the ocean herself. Hastily, Uranus grabbed onto the chain from one side, stopping her trajectory, while Jupiter came and took up the other.
They began to pull, but nothing emerged. In a worried voice Uranus said, "we have to be careful. If something down there has Neptune trapped we could be hurting her."
"That's assuming we've got her at all," Venus grumbled.
Mars stood beside them with a flaming arrow cocked ready in her bow, but didn't release yet. It was impossible to see anything through the churning waters, and Mars couldn't risk hitting Neptune instead of the monsters that were, presumably, keeping her captive on the other end of Venus's chain.
"We need Mercury," said Venus in a clipped voice. "Where is she?"
"Looking after Mamoru," Jupiter replied.
Drawing in a breath, Venus bellowed, loud enough to make Uranus wince, "Artemis! Wherever you are, get out here!"
The little white cat soon bounded up to them from inside the temple, taking in the curious tableau the soldiers were holding. "Venus? What is it?"
"Go and find Mercury and tell her she's needed. Comforting a sobbing Uranus over Neptune's death is not on my list of things to do later on. Okay?"
Artemis nodded and made it back to the temple in a few large bounds.
The others held their positions and waited.
Not long after gaining the top of the stairs Healer had lapsed into unconsciousness. Fighter picked her up and carried her as far as the shrine's veranda, not knowing whether she should enter.
The others had their hands full trying to rescue Neptune, and Fighter could only hope they were able to save her. Lowering Healer gently onto the wooden boards of the veranda, Fighter did her best to try and warm her cold, clammy skin, her alarm growing steadily as Healer seemed to slip further and further away.
A familiar scent brushed over her; that scent that had always reminded Fighter of her princess, and she looked up to meet Sailor Moon's gentle eyes.
"Princess! You should go and help your soldiers. Neptune was taken…"
Struggling on a monster-riddled planet so far from her home, with Maker gone and Healer dangerously depleted, Fighter could feel the twin pressures of solitude and fear grinding into her. It was hard for her to remind Sailor Moon of where her priorities should lie, unpleasant to remember that her own life and the lives of her teammates meant not much at all to her present sailor soldier allies.
Sailor Moon looked towards her soldiers struggling next to the ocean, indecision flickering through her eyes before she turned back to Fighter. "Neptune's life force is still strong, and I have faith in my team. They'll be able to rescue her in time. I think right now it's Healer who is in need of help."
She knelt down and touched Healer's face. "What happened to her?"
"She's expended a great deal of energy. Maybe too much."
"Let's get her inside."
Easily picking up Healer's slight weight again, Fighter followed Sailor Moon into the shrine. Moon took them to a bedroom – Mars's if the photos littering the walls were anything to go by – and turned down the coverings on the bed.
"This should help her warm up," she said.
Looking at the crisp sheets, Fighter realised that Healer was none too clean, and neither was she.
"Are you sure Mars won't mind? Aren't there other rooms?"
"There is one other room free, but…"
"I guess that's for Uranus and Neptune, huh?"
Sailor Moon gave a slight nod, and patted the bed. "Don't be difficult, Seiya. Let me do something for Healer."
Fighter gave in with a nod and laid Healer down in Mars's bed, drawing the comforter up and tucking it around her. She noticed Luna padding into the room as she sat down next to Healer on the edge of the mattress.
"Hi Luna," she said softly, tears pricking her eyes as she felt how cold and limp Healer's hand was. "I'm afraid Yaten isn't doing so good."
Luna jumped up onto the bed and pawed at Yaten a little, giving a pitiful mew when she didn't respond.
Unveiling the light of the Silver Crystal, Sailor Moon held it out before her, sending warm, healing energy streaming over both of them. This was the first time since her return to Earth that Fighter had seen Moon's power, and she realised in that moment just how much stronger Moon had grown.
It was no longer so impossible to believe she might one day reign as Queen, illuminating all the world in gentle silver light.
Colour came back into Healer's cheeks and her lips were no longer deathly pale. She opened her eyes, blinking against the fading glow of the Crystal, and blushed when she saw Sailor Moon looking down at her with a smile.
"Princess, what are you doing? You shouldn't be wasting your powers on me—"
"It's all right, Healer. I can control the Silver Crystal better than when you knew me last. And I have no intention of losing anyone today."
There was worry in Sailor Moon's eyes, and a question she was too afraid to ask. It took Fighter a moment to put things together and understand she was indirectly asking what had happened to Maker.
"Maker is okay," she reassured. "At least, we think she is. She's just…In another dimension. Possibly. We need to talk to Neptune about it. Once Neptune is…Able to talk."
Relaxing a little, Sailor Moon nodded. "I need to go and check on everyone else, but Luna will stay with you and get you anything you need. Right Luna?"
"Of course," said Luna quickly. She always had liked Healer.
Healer scratched Luna's chin in appreciation, a weak smile flickering over her lips.
"What's happened to Neptune?" she asked after Sailor Moon left.
"She got dragged into the sea by a monster," said Fighter. "Everyone is still working to free her. Uranus is okay. At least – she's unhurt."
Repositioning Luna on her stomach, Healer made a non-committal noise. Luna circled a few times then curled up nose to tail, apparently more interested in catching a nap than listening in on Healer and Fighter's conversation.
Healer was still all prickles and frowns, angry at her own condition and maybe angry at Fighter too for asking her to show herself at her most vulnerable to the two people she perhaps liked least in the universe.
Usually, Fighter knew it was better not to cross Healer further when she was like this, but the amount of resistance Healer had shown to helping Uranus disturbed her. There was no love lost between the Outer Soldiers and the Starlights, but that didn't mean Fighter would ever be okay standing by and watching them die when there was something she could do to help.
"Yaten," she said quietly, "what you did back there wasn't okay. You can't just decide not to help someone who's dying in front of you. No matter how much you dislike them."
Her words were met with a furious flash of green eyes. "You never stop and think, Seiya. When I was talking about risking something back there, what did you think I meant? My life? I'm a soldier. I risk that all the time. But that exchange, under those circumstances…What if I'd ended up too weak to move? Or unconscious? You think Uranus and Neptune would have risked themselves for us? You think they wouldn't have left us behind? They care about their princess, not us. So it wasn't just my life I was risking. It was yours. It was the future of our planet."
"Maybe they would do something like that under other circumstances. But not when we'd just saved their lives. Even with you being exhausted, there was no question of leaving anyone behind. I doubt either of them even thought of it."
"And what if I hadn't been able to run? What if I hadn't even been conscious?"
"Then I would have carried you! You're tiny!"
"If you were carrying me, you wouldn't have been able to fight. Uranus and Neptune would have had to cover you the whole way. Slow and dangerous going. Are you really sure they would have done that? For us? Jupiter told me they once abandoned Chibiusa on the battlefield. They once killed Pluto and Saturn, their own damn family. Uranus once nearly killed Neptune. That's what they do to their own. And yet you think their tender consciences would have stopped them from leaving us behind? Really, Seiya? That's what you think?"
"If that's what you think, why did you change your mind and help them?"
Yaten gave Seiya a frustrated look and rolled onto her side, facing the opposite wall and leaving Seiya with a view of tangled silver hair. "Neptune was so scared," she whispered. "I've never seen her scared. And I realised – If it was you…"
As a result of Yaten's movement, Luna had ended up on her back, paws in the air, body curved like a banana. Somehow, she was still asleep.
Bizarrely, Seiya's heart sped a little. She could count on the fingers of one hand the number of times Yaten had said or done anything that could even be called remotely romantic over the last six months. For the most part, she just wasn't the demonstrative type, unless sulking and yelling counted.
Stroking Yaten's hair smooth, Seiya murmured, "I love you too."
Being in the ocean, even one as wild as this, was not really a problem for Neptune. But being in an ocean infested with drowning monsters intent on tearing her limb from limb was rather another matter.
She fought them off as she tumbled along with the raging currents, until she saw the shining thread of Venus's chain coming towards her. Neptune grabbed onto it at the same moment that two monsters grabbed onto her.
"I'm here!" Mercury cried. She immediately snapped on her visor and looked into the swirling waters, occasionally flicking her gaze away long enough to tap on her computer. "There!" she said suddenly. "I can see her. She's got the chain, but there's two monsters holding onto her. One around her waist and the other wrapped around her legs."
"Damn it," said Mars. "I can't see anything."
Mercury pressed a button on her computer screen. "Mars, I've uploaded your aiming program to my computer. I can see where you're shooting with my visor. You need to go down and to the left. Yes, there. That's it! Shoot!"
Mars released a flaming arrow. It hissed at it disappeared into the water.
The chain gave a little.
"One more to go. Further up. Now!"
The second arrow shot into the water and a moment later the chain snapped free of restraint. Neptune emerged and went flying through the air, crashing into Uranus and knocking her onto her back.
Laughing in relief, Uranus hugged her tightly. "Neptune," she purred, "is now really the time?"
"Well, that uniform does suit you, Uranus, despite all your complaining."
"Oh good heavens get a room," Mars muttered.
"Oi you two, report," snapped Venus. "I said REPORT!"
Still lying in Uranus's arms, Neptune half turned her head. "The city is overrun with monsters and all the intra and inter-dimensional portals appear to be in flux so we have no way out. Now." She regained her feet with remarkable dignity. "I'm going inside to get warm and dry off. Perhaps you could help me with that, Uranus?"
"Gladly."
"Unbelievable," Mars said, as the pair limped off towards the shrine.
"Well you did tell them to get a room," Jupiter pointed out.
"Just make sure it's not my room!" Mars yelled after them. If they heard, they ignored her.
"Right," said Venus. "Back to sentry duty."
Under the hot spray of the shower, Haruka brushed her fingertips over the red gauges marring Michiru's hip.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I should have been faster."
"I was out of reach. Being faster wouldn't have helped."
A look turned into a kiss; a brief tangle of bodies, each clinging to the other's warmth and breathing with fast-moving chests pressed close together.
When they came out, Artemis pointed them to a guest room and Haruka dressed Michiru's wounds with the first-aid kit that had thoughtfully been supplied. Then they crawled into bed in little more than their underwear and, for a time, set their duty aside.
About half an hour later, Usagi approached the guest room cautiously. Whoever had closed the door had done so carelessly, leaving it far enough ajar that she could peek inside and see Haruka and Michiru fast asleep, ensconced in each other's arms. She smiled and slid the door closed, and went back to sit by Mamoru's side.