Chapter 5-The Premonition
"The silence is approaching." I heard the premonition before I saw it.
Something exploded from afar. A red light shot straight up to the sky. It started to expand and the blast radiated out. As the blast expanded, everything it touched turned to ashes. The sky was a fiery red. The air smelt of fire and smoke at first, then burnt meat. People were fleeing and the cacophony of their screaming was unbearable. I watched in horror as the people burn and disintegrate. The heat was agonizing and I could feel my skins starting to burn…
Then I was back at the funeral. My heart was pounding, adrenaline all pumped up. It felt so real. What the hell was that? Was this what grief and guilt felt like?
"Kaioh -chan. We need to go now." The funeral director gently led me to the car. For the rest of the way to the crematorium, I remained silent. No sobbing. No emotions. I just stared out the window, still thinking about what I just saw.
After the cremation, I went home alone. My parents' friends offered to stay with me for the night. They had been so nice to me but I just couldn't deal with them right now.
It was getting dark. The house felt emptier than usual, even though it had always been empty since their deaths. The funeral changed everything. It was the final chapter of their lives. Exhausted, I slumped down on the floor, and then I wept.
I went upstairs and curled into my parents' bed. It still smelt faintly of mom's perfume. I hugged her pillow and fell into a deep sleep. It had been a while since I properly slept. My body finally decided to shut down, forcing me to rest. Thankfully, the rest of the night was uneventful. I did not dream of Alex dying. I did not dream of my parents dying. I did not dream of the people I killed coming back to haunt me…
The premonition did not come back until a week after the funeral. At first, it was infrequent. It would pop up randomly, unpredictable. Then it became a daily event. Each time was the same agonizing fear and terror, but more details were added. I started seeing another figure. She had long hair and she was holding a staff. She was telling me something but I couldn't hear her. Another time when the premonition hit, I saw the outline of five sailor soldiers. The frequency and intensity of the premonition kept increasing. I was beginning to lose it. I didn't remember the last time I ate something proper. I didn't remember the last time I slept through the night. I wondered, what would happen if I transform into Sailor Neptune and somehow use the attack on myself. I wondered if I could have some peace after that…
Life had a funny way of working out. Just when I was ready to step over the edge, hope was offered to me in the premonition. That was the first time I saw her. She had short blonde hair and she was incredibly handsome. I was slightly taken aback at seeing something so beautiful in the middle of hell. She came up to me, grabbed my hand and started to run. "Neptune, we have to keep fighting. We have to find the talismans and save the world." The beautiful stranger said to me.