A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I think this chapter will surprise a lot of people. Enjoy!
The Starlights refused to let me go first, insisting that it was too dangerous for me to take the lead in case something jumped out at us from the front. So Fighter went first, because she was stubborn like that. I went second, with Healer walking right beside me, and then Maker brought up the rear. If I counted Chibi-Chibi, I was surrounded on all sides. There was something about that which made me feel warm even as I worried about their safety. I was slowly growing to realize that there was a flaw in my plan that I had not anticipated: I was terrified by the thought of something happening to one of them - or worse, to all of them. Selfish though it might have been, I couldn't help thinking that if they all died I would truly be alone.
Perhaps that's why I didn't see or hear it coming. I should have been paying more attention to our surroundings than agonizing over what might happen. As it was, the bright flames took us all by surprise. Fighter swore loudly and threw her arm out to stop our progress as the flames quickly spread into a ring that surrounded us on all sides, forcing the four of us into a tight circle. I stood with my back to the Starlights and stared hard at the flames, trying to see past them to what might be waiting on the other side. But that was easier said than done. Beyond the brightness of the fire, everything was dark and murky. The hall was filled with shadows that seemed to waver and dance.
The flames were close enough that I could have reached out and touched them if I wanted to. But they did not get any closer, maintaining their distance, and I knew that whoever had cast this spell had great control over their power. Containing fire was not something easily done, I knew that much from Sailor Mars. It had to be a strong creature, and that made me nervous. But there was something else. I squinted at the fire, momentarily ignoring whatever lay beyond, and tried to think of what it was. There was something about this situation that seemed to be intimately familiar. But when had I ever been surrounded by bright blue fire?
"Something's wrong," I said quietly. My voice was barely audible over the sound of the crackling flames, but Healer heard me anyway.
"God, you think?" she said, and I didn't need to look over at her to know that she was probably rolling her eyes. That was Healer: when she was upset or scared she got sarcastic. Instead of making me angry, though, it served to do the opposite. I felt myself calming down, and that's when it finally dawned on me. The fire was not hot. Or rather, it was so hot that it almost seemed to be cold.
"Koan," I breathed, the word sticking in my throat.
"What?" Maker said, her head snapping around to look at me.
I started to respond, but I didn't get the chance. Out in the darkness someone laughed, and it was a woman, and I recognized it. My mouth snapped shut, and I felt my stomach curl. I couldn't speak as she stepped out of the darkness, coming just far enough towards the fire that we could see her. She looked exactly the way she had before, dressed in that awful pink and black outfit. But instead of the mark of the Black Moon on her forehead, there was a bright red ruby. The flames danced off it, brightening the color to blood red, and I felt sick.
"Hello, Sailor Moon," Koan said, flipping her hair back off of her shoulders. Her eyes were wide and dazed, but her painted lips were smiling. "Imagine seeing you again, especially here."
"What are you..." I shook my head, unable to finish my sentence. The day that I'd healed Koan, I was convinced that I would never again have to fight her. She'd been so happy living on Earth as a regular human, making her own way in the world, and that was nothing compared to her reaction when her sisters had eventually joined her. To see her here, like this, made me want to throw up.
"Rubeus came to visit us." She made it sound like he'd dropped by for coffee.
"Us?" Fighter said, and she twisted around. "Does that mean - are the rest of you, your sisters, are they here too?"
Koan giggled. "You'll find out," she said in a sing-song voice, which made it pretty obvious that Fighter had guessed correctly. She took a step backwards and disappeared into the shadows again. I couldn't track her, had no way of knowing whether or not she was still there.
"This changes everything," Maker said quietly, glancing around at the flames. "Rubeus isn't working alone. He's got at least one, possibly four, partners."
"Don't call them that," I said, shaking.
"Sailor Moon?"
"They're not his partners!" I turned around, putting the heat of the fire against my back. It made me feel cold all over. "He's brainwashed them somehow, or - or taken over their minds. Koan, Berthier, Petz and Calaveras would never agree to help him, not after what he did to them last time. They were happy here. And I..." I closed my eyes and shook my head. "Fuck, I should have done something before. This was exactly what Petz was scared of. She knew he would try to find them. Damn it!"
The Starlights were completely silent. It was so quiet that all I could hear was the sound of the flames. I didn't know if they agreed with what I'd said, or maybe they were shocked by the fact that I was swearing, or maybe they thought I was wrong and the Ayakashi sisters were helping Rubeus of their own free will. But it turned out to be a good thing. If it hadn't been for the fact that all of us were just standing there not speaking, I wouldn't have heard the whisper of high-heeled shoes tapping against smooth stone.
"Get down!" I shouted, dropping to my knees. It hurt, the pain radiating up my thighs, but it was worth it. A gust of bright blue fire roared inches over my head, so close that I swore I could feel the hair on the tops of my odango singeing. We had to get out of here, I realized: like this, we were sitting ducks and Koan would be able to pick us off as she pleased.
Healer must have been thinking something along the same lines, because all of a sudden she stood up and shouted, "Star Dawn Explosion!" An arch of jagged lightening formed around her hands, rolling into an enormous ball that was so big it hid her from view. It exploded outwards into multiple, smaller balls of lightening, about the size of my head, that flew out on all sides, extinguishing the fire as neatly as though someone had poured water on them. Healer reached down and grabbed my hand, yanking me to my feet and forward. We stumbled across the line just in time, as the flames roared up behind us even stronger than before. I turned around wildly, searching for Maker, Fighter and Chibi-Chibi. My heart didn't stop thudding until I was sure we were all safe.
"We need to keep moving," Maker said, her eyes scanning the darkness around us. "We don't know when or where the next attack is coming from."
"Sailor Moon, what can you tell us about Koan?" Fighter asked me as we started to run.
Fortunately, I had experience in running and talking at the same time. "She was the youngest sister, came from Crystal Tokyo. Rubeus was using her and the others as his minions so that he wouldn't have to do any work himself, but I'm sure that he was taking all of the glory for it. He made them believe that he was in love with them. This time around, it seems like they're just brainwashed," I explained breathlessly. "Her strongest attack is the one you just saw. It's called Dark Fire, and it creates flames that burn so hot they're cold. Sailor Mars used to be the one who fought with her the most. I didn't - most of the time I was more preoccupied with Rubeus."
"Too bad we couldn't cool her off," Healer muttered. She had somehow ended up as the one who was carrying Chibi-Chibi. It surprised me that Chibi-Chibi did not seem to be frightened by what was happening. She was holding onto Healer's neck tightly, but she didn't look afraid.
"You said you healed them last time. What did you do?" Maker asked.
"I used the ginzuishou. But I had to get their permission first." And oh god, that had been a battle that was hard won. Trying to get Koan, Berthier, Calaveras and Petz to realize that they didn't need dark magic had been nearly impossible. Berthier had almost committed suicide rather than admit she couldn't live like that. I didn't think we were going to be that lucky this time. "I don't think that's going to work. I told you, this time I think they're brainwashed. They're not going to agree to let me heal them, and I doubt the ginzuishou could do that against their will."
"Then we'll fight them," she said determinedly, and I stopped running. It took them a couple of seconds to realize that I'd stopped and then double back to me. Fighter reached for my hand and tried to pull me along, but I resisted. I had to make one thing very clear.
"I don't want to do that," I said.
"Sailor Moon," Maker started.
I cut her off. "No! It's not their fault. They don't know what's going on, and they don't deserve to be punished because someone else took over their minds and forced them to believe that I'm the enemy. I'm not going to stop you from trying to protect yourselves or me, but I won't let you hurt them. Or do anything worse." My throat refused to form the word "kill".
"We're not going to do anything like that," Fighter said gently, clearly knowing exactly what I hadn't said. She was still holding my hand, and now she guided me around until I had to face her. "I know what you're thinking of. Odango, back when you first met us that was the only way we knew of handling the phages. We had no other way of defeating them until you came along with the power to heal them. If there is a way to return your friends to normal, then that's what we'll do."
I stared at her for a moment, studying her face to see if she was telling me the truth, before I looked at Healer and Maker. I wanted to believe them but I'd never been able to make myself forget the first time we met, when I had to stop them from killing that phage. Still, they had changed a lot over the past few months. And Fighter was looking at me with so much confidence. "I believe you," I whispered.
"Aw, isn't that sweet," Koan said.
We all jumped. Fighter yanked me behind her. Koan was standing right in front of us. I didn't know how we hadn't noticed her appearance. "Koan, please," I said desperately, moving just enough so that I could stare at her from around Fighter. "You don't want to do this. Remember how happy you were when you got the chance to be free? You love living on Earth with your sisters. It's everything you've always wanted. Please, try to remember the good times."
"That's not going to work on me. I'm not your daughter," Koan replied, a smirk pulling at her lips, and I jerked backwards. It almost felt like she'd reached out and slapped me. Her smirk grew even bigger and she laughed. "Enjoy your time with your friends, Sailor Moon. It will be your last."
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