Long overdue but I found the disk it was on.
Finally.
I know--Kaz, you bitch, what took you so long?
I needed a working computer.
Now, the reviews:
Sailor Stella: Here is the next installment. One the Word Doc, it's finished but I will be waiting a few days before the next chap goes up.
DavisJes: No. It's not the end. It is the end when you see the completed date of the file OR the word "Fin" at the bottom.
Marius looked at the rations from the case Hotaru had tossed him. "Is this what you people seriously eat? And you can survive off of this?"
"Yeah, it's actually pretty good." Hotaru was eating a block of something that was a mix between Rice Krispies and tofu. "You should just eat it and stop complaining."
Morva chuckled to himself, eating his own rations. Marius could tell there wasn't that tension in the Saturian male's shoulders any longer. It had to do something with Hotaru's effect on him. The Vestian male smiled to himself as he tried something that looked like carrot wheels but they were more red than orange. They tasted more like celery and corn rather than like carrots. He couldn't believe that this 6 inch by 8 inch by 2 inch case could keep people like Morva and Hotaru going for months. Hotaru handed him a thin thermos of what he thought was vitamin water with flavoring when she suddenly froze.
"Somethin' wrong, Boss Lady?" Marius asked, getting Hotaru's fingertips on his mouth. Morva seemed to sense something was wrong too because his muscles began to tense, to prepare themselves to fight, to defend.
"Marius, run and take cover. I'm going to have to use my powers again and the eye of my maelstrom is only big enough for me and one other person." Hotaru told him softly before taking her hand from his lips. "Do you understand me?"
"Yeah, whatever you say, Boss Lady." Marius nodded, scrambling on to his feet. He ran for cover as Hotaru straightened up and Morva stepped back to not block her from attacking. Marius peeked around the edge of the wall as a golden fire made the doors of the sitting room fly off the hinges. "…oh, shit…"
Apollo stepped forward from the dwindling flames with that golden fire burning up his arms and around his feet. He was in white clothing and sun gold armor but it did nothing to hide the large scars on his visible flesh from Hotaru's Death Reborn Revolution.
"I see you're surprised to see me, Ameus." Apollo smiled perfect white teeth, his molten gold eyes burning with insanity.
"No kiddin'. Not many people survive my Ame's most powerful attack." Morva retorted, his eyes narrowing at Apollo. "Where the hell have you been cowering? I've been looking for you."
Apollo's left cheek looked twisted as he smiled wickedly. He took a short sword from behind his back and both Saturians found their breaths catch. "So, you recognize the Blade of Divinity. That's good because I took this off the corpse of the God you called 'Father Star'. I figured since my Solarian birthright couldn't kill you then this would."
He was suddenly in front of Hotaru and Morva went flying to the side in a blur of movement. Apollo grabbed Hotaru's bicep as she started for her companion. He had hit a wall and slid down its length to the floor, a new slash across his chest, matching the scar on her back. Apollo jerked her back and rammed the short sword blade into her gut, cutting through her spine on the other side. Hotaru coughed as white hot pain seared through her every nerve, telling her she was far too wounded to heal but far too weak to be reborn as an infant. She was going to die at long last.
"Pity I didn't get to keep you, Ameus of Titan." Apollo oiled words were seductive but she could see the insanity behind his eyes. He twisted the blade in her stomach. Blood spilled from her mouth. "I know this sounds cliché but if I don't get to have your body and power to be my queen, then I won't let anyone get you."
He pushed her aside and turned to finish off Morva who was barely conscious. Hotaru tried to breathe, tried to move, tried to get to her Companion. But her body was too weak, too tired. She was going to just let it all take her away into the whiteness death promised.
"O Eternal One, Sacred Xenaeth, hear my prayers. Please, I beg of you—save the last of your people who have dedicated themselves to your cause. Oh, please, O Silent One, hear and answer my prayers."
Was…was that Marius's frantic voice praying in her head? It was—It was Marius! He was praying to the last child of the Pantheon but how could she hear him in her head?
"These prayers I send to you, O Gracious One, for I know no where else to go. I have asked the temple priests and they just turn me away. They say that I should believe in you but you are the only thing that gives me strength to go on."
"Dear Sacred Phoenix, please hear my prayers. Mommy and Sister are sick and Daddy and my brothers are on the frontlines. Please, O Silent Immortal One, hear my prayers and send my the strength to be the protector for my family until my father and brothers come home."
"I pray to the Last Goddess to give me peace of mind and strength of will in this time of trial and need. I pray for the inner strength to withstand this cruel hand I have been dealt so I may live to see my wife and my 2 little children again."
"O Perfect One, hear this humble plea from such unworthy lips. I do not deserve to speak thine divine name nor do I deserve your help but it's not for myself that I pray to you. Our leader has fallen ill and the temples dedicated to you are desecrated. We do not deserve your light but our corrupted officials have taken the young and I fear for my younger brother and sister. Out parents are gone and I have defied the government and thus I am punished. Please, O Divine One, do not do this for me but for my younger sister and brother for they are pure and innocent…"
Prayers…she was hearing prayers from all over the galaxies. She could understand the languages they used and they were praying to her. The names they used were all terms given to the last child of the Father Star and Mother Heaven, the Silent Everlasting, the child goddess Xenaeth who had been lost after the throne on Saturn was destroyed. But if she was hearing the prayers, did that mean they were praying to Xenaeth and she was Xenaeth?
Hotaru rolled onto her back and looked up at the ceiling, her white vision barely colored. A tall beautiful woman in white and soft shades of garnet, purple, blue and silver knelt beside her, long black hair and lovely scarlet lips adding to the gentle hues. Her hand touched Hotaru's cheek with a tender touch that made Hotaru think of a mother.
"My little Xenaeth, my Soulless Star, please forgive me. We believed that you would be safe from Apollo. We hadn't foreseen that he'd use your father's sword to kill you but the Blade of Divinity will only kill your mortal shell, awaken your true power as the Silent Everlasting, as the Eternal Balance of Life and Death. You must pull your father's sword from your flesh and make it your own. Show your believers that you still exist, that you hear their prayers and you are still their Goddess. Show this man what a true God can do."
What a true God can do…right. That meant she had to bite down and push on. No giving up. She was a land chimera, a Sailor Senshi—a soldier, a fighter and a warrior. That meant buckle down, dig in deep and take the offensive to kick the ass of her opponent.
That meant she had to pull that damn blade out of her gut and run that Solarian bastard through.
Apollo was beating Morva to a pulp, cursing the Chimera male and his back was to Hotaru. She gripped the hilt of the sword and pulled it as hard as she could upward. The blade gave and inch, going towards the domed ceiling. She could feel the Arithian steel ore sliding at jerks out of her flesh, spreading pain and blood on the floor with her effort. The sword blade clattered on to the ground, getting Apollo's attention. He looked back, standing and gapped at the chimera struggling to stand to her feet that slipped a few inches in her own blood.
"Buckle down, Ameus! Are you Chimera or Manticore? You're a Manticore, aren't you? What are you doing? Why are you sitting down? We're not done here!"
"What's the point of finishing a mission if none of your men follow you to victory? Okay, sure, you finish it, you get all the glory but the glory belongs to those who can never claim it. And there are people somewhere that are going to miss those gone. It doesn't matter if I succeed or if I fail; as long as I can look out and see the faces of my men behind me on the way home and they're all alive…that's all the victory I need."
"…What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that the Gods didn't give us life just to throw it away like this. This is the Emperor's cause; not ours. We have no reason to fight Solarian battles. Let them come and die on the battlefield. Let them spill their blood for their cause. We have our own but they won't let us see it. It's not right that we have to die for a race that doesn't even like us to begin with."
"Ameus, is that how you really feel about this entire mess?"
"Honestly, Commander?"
"Yes, 'honestly'."
"Yes. Yes, that is exactly how I feel. I can see the pain of the Manticores under me. I feel them suffering as we go from damned tirade to another, just for some Solarian who abuses us, uses us and never lets us rest. We are fighting to build him an empire when all we want is peace. I just don't understand why they must suffer and Apollo gets all the damn glory."
"…Ameus…my student, the Pantheon has favored you with such reasoning. I do believe that you have shown me what I haven't quite seen. It's time for what the Terrans call 'coup de tat'. I say we have the long awaited and feared revolution. We will be free, my student. And we will not fail."
"…long nights of being on the damn battle field…fighting for you…" Hotaru coughed up more blood, the tip of the blade skimming the surface of the floor as she moved. "…fighting for a cause that wasn't our own…you knew that we hated our life…and I will finish what the Commander has started…"
"You're standing? But I was sure I had severed your spine!" Apollo dropped Morva on the ground and stalked towards Hotaru. He dodged her weak swing and flipped her back against his chest. He reached through the hole in her back, gripping her spine and getting her to bite back a painful scream. "This time, I'll insure that you'll stay down." He twisted his wrist sharply and her spine snapped. He dropped her onto the ground and reached to grab the Blade of Divinity when a fireball hit him upside the head. Apollo turned around and saw Marius, another fireball in the palm of his hand. "A commoner, fighting back?"
"A Vestian who's damn tired of slaving in forges and mines to serve a fat assed Solarian bastard!" Marius spat onto the ground, his eyes locked on Apollo. He got the message and his face twisted in rage. Apollo charged and Marius ran, not in fear, but with a plan up his sleeve. It was a plan Morva and Marlos, his brother had kept in case Hotaru and Morva ever got their chance.
It was a plan to save Hotaru's life.
Morva rolled over on his stomach and crawled to Hotaru on one arm. It was only 2 or 3 feet, Apollo's big mistake. As the Solarian Emperor followed Marius, Morva was going to do what he knew he'd have to do one day. He propped himself on his wounded arm and ignored the pain as he brushed the blood soaked hair from her face.
"Hey, Gorgeous." Morva told her softly. "How you hanging on?"
"…I-I can't feel my legs…ev-everything waist down…can't feel it…" Hotaru semi gurgled. Morva saw the tears, blood mixed with saline, slide from the corners of her eyes. "…I failed…I couldn't stop him…I'm sorry…I'm so sorry, Morva…"
"No, no, no-don't blame yourself, Ame. You did great. The Commander's smilin' down at you and he's finally admitting that you could easily take down his sorry land lover ass." It got Hotaru to laugh, then cough. It hurt so much. Morva put his head against her head then kissed her forehead. "I've got one last thing to give you, Ame. You'll love it, I know you will."
"…what is it?" She asked bloodily.
"Another chance to kick his ass." Morva kissed her lips as both were prepared to give themselves over to death.
Well, I do believe the boys have an ace up their sleeves and it will come our Firefly's aid.
Let it be the one she needs, ne?