Chapter 16-The Silence Part II
I stood up and wiped away my tears. Pluto sacrificed herself for us. We must carry on and not waste her death.
We ran down the long corridor, heading straight toward the center of the building. All of a sudden, we both sensed something evil surrounding us and we stopped. At first, they were puddles of liquid on the ground, inconspicuous. Then they raised up and formed a Daimon army. The monsters quickly spread themselves around us until we were trapped. Professor Tomoe stood proudly on the far end watching. "These are my children. I made them out of my own image."
Uranus and I started to fight our way through. A punch here, a kick there. The Daimons went down easily. Then they reformed just as quickly. Once we had enough clearing, we threw our attacks at them. Again, they bounced back, seemingly endless and unbeatable. We fought on, pushing past our point of exhaustion.
The Daimons knew. They could feel our attacks getting weaker, our punches getting softer. Eventually, we collapsed on the floor, overwhelmed by the attacks. I tried to stand up, but my leg was badly slashed by one of the monsters. Uranus automatically stood in front of me, trying to shield me as the Daimons closed in.
"Talisman." A voice popped into our heads. The deep aqua mirror and the space sword materialized in front of us.
I grabbed the mirror and I shined it at all the monsters. There was no hiding from my all-knowing talisman. All the other monsters faded away until the one true form stood. Uranus grabbed the space sword and drove it through the Daimon's head.
"I thought I heard Pluto's voice just then," Uranus said. I nodded as I heard it too. Even when she was dead, she was able to save our lives again.
"Can you move, Neptune?" Uranus bent down to examine me. I grabbed onto her shoulders and stood up. Pain shot straight through as I bear my weight on the legs. I forced a smile at Uranus. She looked so worried.
Boom. A loud explosion rang through the corridor. When it cleared, we could see Sailor Moon lying on the ground. "Sailor Moon!" I started running towards her. I willed my brain to stop feeling the pain from the leg wound, so I could run faster.
As Mistress Nine raised her hand to throw another attack at Moon, Uranus and I shot our attacks together at the evil Mistress. To our utter shock, Sailor Moon stood up and deliberately blocked our attacks.
"Hotaru is still alive. She is inside of Mistress Nine. We can't kill her," Sailor Moon had her arms spread out, even though she could barely stand. "We can't attack her. She is Hotaru."
"Don't be fooled, Sailor Moon!" Uranus raised her hand, getting ready for another attack. "Stay out of my way!"
Mistress Nine whipped out her ridiculously long hair and grabbed both me and Uranus. We were thrown against the marble pillar and more hair wrapped us securely to the post. Additional hair tied around our necks and it tightens its grip while the hair that was around our body started to squeeze. My body fought and wiggled, trying to loosen the grip. I tugged at the hair around my neck, trying to steal little breaths. My visions started to blur and my lungs felt like they were on fire. Panic started to set in as the body realized it could not survive long. I turned my head and saw that Uranus was turning dangerously blue already.
"Hand over your Holy Grail or your soldiers die, right now!" Mistress Nine threatened.
"Don't you dare, Sailor Moon." My voice croaked from the choking. "Our lives are not important. Please don't. I beg of you." I watched helplessly as Sailor Moon conjured the Holy Grail and handed it over to Mistress Nine.
The choking stopped and Uranus and I fell to the ground.
"Now you can all die together." Mistress Nine laughed and thrust the Grail into the bubble of alternate dimension, and the bubble started to expand. "Now my boss Pharoah 90 and all of his army will take over Earth."
I picked up Uranus's limp body and checked her pulse. It was faint, but she was still alive. I put her head on my lap and I stroke her hair. The world was ending now. Images of our "mundane" life flashed through my head…that night when she stole all the blankets and I woke up freezing; that day when she accidentally spilled tea on my music sheet; that one time when she popped my dislocated shoulder back into place after the battle. "Our time together was too short, Haruka." I kissed her gently on the lips. Uranus slowly opened her eyes and she gave me a weak smile.
The bubble of alternate dimension continued to develop, swallowing and suffocating everything else. The darkness and silence had spread. Defeated, Sailor Moon kneeled on the ground and she was weeping quietly.
Just when we thought all hopes were lost, Mistress Nine stopped. Instead, Hotaru's voice was heard again.
"How are you not dead yet? Be gone." Mistress Nine snarled.
"No. I have people I care about." Hotaru replied within the mistress.
"You stupid little pest. I will get rid of you once and for all." Mistress Nine clenched her fists and enveloped herself with more dark energy.
"No! I am Hotaru. I am Sailor Saturn." Hotaru yelled. The Saturn symbol appeared on her forehead and Mistress Nine screamed before she disintegrated. Standing in her place was a translucent Sailor Saturn.
She turned to Sailor Moon. "Don't worry. Chibiusa is safe now, her pure heart had been returned. Thank you for trying to save me. Now I will use my Silence Glave to end Pharoah 90."
"What will happen to you?," asked Sailor Moon.
"I was given enough power to destroy a planet. As a price, I would have to die also. This is my job. This is my duty. Let me save everyone." With that, Sailor Saturn jumped into the alternate dimension.
Without thinking, Sailor Moon followed.
Uranus and I watched, too weak and too wounded to help. Bright lights flashed through the black hole and we could hear the brutality of the fight. "DEATH REBORN REVOLUTION!" Saturn's voice rang through, followed by the screams of Pharoah 90 and his army.
The alternate dimension was obliterated. The sky was illuminated again as the sun started to rise. The wind died down and the sea was no longer stormy. Peace and calm descended over Tokyo.
In the sky, a spiral of light descended. In it was Sailor Moon and she was carrying a baby. Uranus and I rushed over, shocked to see her alive still. In her arms, the baby cooed and smiled. It was Hotaru, reincarnated as a baby. At that point, tears were running down my cheeks.
Hotaru, Sailor Saturn, was the Messiah of Light. The girl we almost killed. Instead, she gladly gave up her life so that she could fulfill her duty of protecting Earth. Idealism or not, Sailor Moon prevented us from making a grave mistake. Had we succeed in killing the girl before Saturn was awakened, we might have stopped the apocalypse. Or we might have made it worse because we killed the only savior.
I looked back at Sailor Moon and I gave her a grateful nod.