Sailors of Mercy Chapter Six: Is It Ever Too Late? Version 2
Legal Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters involved in this chapter. I do, however, maintain that my use of them is covered under Fair Use, as this story exists both as a way to show appreciation for the original work, and to make a commentary on it. Sailor Moon was a wonderful show full of positive messages about the power of love, friendship, forgiveness, and solidarity, as well as tons of PSA-style messages that helped me immensely growing up. But one thing I felt it never adequately explored was the implications of the various types of Monster of the Week being living, feeling beings, who sometimes showed signs of being redeemable. I wanted to explore what would happen if that changed.
Author's Note: A re-telling of my favourite chapter so far (if the novel-length spin-off didn't give that away), this time with no RAN. In keeping more with the spirit of the story, what would happen if Sailor Moon herself made the choice to show mercy?
Kyameran stepped forward, feeling sure of herself. She had Sailor Moon cornered, and any second now, she would be trapped in a photograph, having her energy drained, and safely no longer a threat to the Dark Kingdom and their plans. She grinned a grin that was two parts maniacal, one part a surprising relief. It wasn't until she finally knew the fight was won that she realized how afraid she'd been. Afraid that she would end up like the other Youma who had come face to face with Sailor Moon. She raised her camera-hand. "I hope you're ready for your close up!" she smiled. That was the line she went with? She shuttered internally, but brushed it off. In a moment, no one would remember it.
She fired her camera, and then, to her horror, Sailor Moon jumped up in the air and over her head, the beam cascading into the mirror and reflecting back at her. The blast hit Kyameran full-on in the face, and she screamed in equal measures horror and pain as she felt the energy warp and melt her flesh. She barely registered that the eyeball in her hand had popped out, but once she realized it had happened, she felt she was going to be sick.
"Oh no!" she gasped weakly, "Caught inside my own camera? This can't be! I won't let this happen!"
She slammed her fist into the mirror in front of her. It shattered the glass, but did little to help her situation. Powerless, and feeling more weary by the second, she propped her hand on the mirror to steady herself. Despite her exhaustion, the electric tingle of panic coursed through her body, as she knew that, any second now, her foe would remove the tiara from her head, and Kyameran's life would be over. She struggled to wrap her head around it, but nothing she did brought her any closer to acceptance. Her breath quickened and her heart raced as she braced for the end.
Sailor Moon stared at her fallen foe, flesh dripping and hanging off her body like a grotesque melted popsicle, struggling to stay upright with the help of the wall, and she felt something she'd never felt toward an enemy: sympathy. Knowing that Kyameran had been completely neutralized, the fear of annihilation that had completely controlled Sailor Moon evaporated, she was able to practice a level of empathy she usually didn't have the luxury of practicing. She thought of how much pain Kyameran must be in, how afraid she must be, and how defeated she probably felt.
"Just… just get it over with!" Kyameran hissed.
"Why?" Sailor Moon asked rhetorically, "What are you going to do, bleed on me?"
"Don't mock me!" Kyameran barked, "We both know this is the end for me, so can you at least let me go out with a little dignity?"
"I'm serious," Sailor Moon insisted, "You pose no threat to me anymore. What purpose is there in killing you?"
Kyameran struggled to comprehend what was going on. Here was Sailor Moon, sworn enemy of the Dark Kingdom, the one they called the Youma Butcher, who had mercilessly slaughtered so many of her friends, offering her a kindness. "You would show me mercy?" she asked.
"What's the point in being a hero if you can't occasionally show a little mercy?" Sailor Moon smiled coyly.
"But you're not a hero!" Kyameran countered, "You're the menace who constantly sabotages our plans to get back what's ours! You've hunted down and killed so many of my friends!"
"Don't believe everything that you hear," Sailor Moon replied, "Maybe I'm not so bad after all."
For Sailor Moon, this conversation was proving illuminating. She'd always assumed that her enemies were just evil people doing evil things because they're evil, but now she had to consider a second possibility: that, with just a little manipulation and deception, it was possible they were being fed a counter-narrative that painted her as the villain. She felt a pang of guilt for all the Youma she had killed, wondering if any of them were similarly just operating under false pretenses. Then again, it wasn't like she'd had the luxury of having a conversation with them. This was just what war was like.
"No, this is a trick," Kyameran insisted suspiciously, "You're trying to lull me into a sense of false calm to get my guard down."
"Why would I do that?" Sailor Moon asked incredulously, "The fight's already won."
"To make me suffer more," Kyameran answered tepidly, "To make me feel some pointless sense of hope to twist the knife in harder when it's all stripped away from me."
"Where would you get the idea that that's even something people do?" Sailor Moon asked, before realizing, "Man, they must have really done a number on you, didn't they?"
Kyameran said nothing. She turned her head only slightly to look at Sailor Moon out the side of her face, while crouching down and curling into as small a ball as possible.
"I'm not going to hurt you," Sailor Moon insisted, "At least no more than I already have."
Kyameran remained silent, eyeing the exits and mulling a run for it.
"It's okay, really," Sailor Moon promised.
Kyameran sprung up and took off running, but within a few steps, her legs gave out and she crashed to the floor. She fell too quickly to have any time to brace for impact, and her jaw collided with the hard floor, sending pain coursing through her face and neck. Sailor Moon walked over and offered a hand. Seeing no downside, no way things could possibly get worse than she perceived them currently being, Kyameran accepted the hand up. Once she was on her feet, Sailor Moon pulled Kyameran in for a tight, earnest hug.
She was surprised at just how human Kyameran felt in her arms. For no reason she could think of, she'd always suspected that the skin of a Youma would be hard, or cold, or somehow markedly different than our own, but hugging Kyameran felt exactly like hugging a classmate, soft, warm, and a little frail. She could faintly smell Kyameran's perfume, an energetic floral fragrance that came in waves.
Kyameran was equally surprised at how safe she felt in her foe's arms. She felt supported, sturdy on her own two feet again. The anxiety that threatened to tear her apart at her very core was now just a light electricity dancing across her skin, not gone altogether, but somehow manageable, solvable. She slunk further into her would-be enemy's grip. She felt her legs give out again, but Sailor Moon only shifted more of her energy into holding Kyameran up. In this position, it occurred to Kyameran how vulnerable she was, and the fear that this was all a trick returned. She began to gently cry.
"Shh, it's okay, you're okay," Sailor Moon cooed.
"Please don't kill me," Kyameran whispered through tears, "Please don't let this be the end for me."
"I'm not going to," Sailor Moon assured her, "I promise."
"You promise?" Kyameran asked.
"I promise," Sailor Moon stated matter-of-factly.
Kyameran found her footing again and gently returned Sailor Moon's hug, then released, and broke away.
"You're… you're really not going to kill me, are you?" she processed.
"That's what I've been saying!" Sailor Moon laughed.
"Thank you," Kyameran sighed, leaning against the mirrored wall and slowly sitting down, "I know I don't deserve it."
"A second chance?" Sailor Moon asked, "Everyone deserves that. Not everyone finds themselves in a position to get it, though."
"Well… fuck," Kyameran quipped, staring into the middle distance.
"What?" Sailor Moon asked.
"Well, if you're not the bad guy, that means…" Kyameran trailed off.
"'Fraid so," Sailor Moon smiled sadly.
"My whole life, it's all been lies," Kyameran gasped slowly, her eyes wide with realization, "How could I have been so stupid?"
"I'm sure they had ways of keeping you from questioning it," Sailor Moon posited.
"Oh god, you don't know the half of it," Kyameran replied, "The beatings alone."
"They beat you?" Sailor Moon asked incredulously.
"Oh yeah, like crazy," Kyameran answered.
"And you never started to suspect that they were the bad guys?" Sailor Moon asked, still more incredulously.
"I mean, I knew they weren't exactly good people," Kyameran responded, "But I guess it was one part convincing us that it would all be worth it in the end, one part convincing us that the other side was worse, and one side making us terrified that we'd be executed if they caught us doubting them."
"That… that sounds really awful," Sailor Moon sighed.
"You know, I don't think I ever acknowledged it, but it really, really was," Kyameran admitted.
"So all the Youma I've killed… same deal for all of them?" Sailor Moon asked, beginning to feel a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"Yeah," Kyameran answered, "We used to get so afraid for them when we found out they were scheduled to go out on a mission we thought might bring them into contact with you. Then when we found out they were dead, it like a fresh devastation that kept playing out over and over again, every week or so."
"I feel so horrible!" Sailor Moon exclaimed.
"Don't," Kyameran assured her, "I doubt many of them left you much of a choice. Now that I've gotten to know you, I know the Dark Kingdom killed them, not you."
"Still! Maybe I could've reasoned with them," Sailor Moon proposed.
"You would have if you could have," Kyameran insisted, "You did with me, first chance you got."
"I guess you're right," Sailor Moon conceded.
"You're alright, Sailor Brat," Kyameran smiled tiredly.
"Oh, I do need you to bring my friends back," Sailor Moon remembered.
"Right!" Kyameran gasped. She closed her eyes and concentrated hard on the still photographs sprinkled around the room. Within a few seconds, all of the people who had been trapped in the camera returned to where they had stood seconds before.
"I'll send you to Hell!" Sailor Mars exclaimed, readying her Fire Soul attack. Kyameran felt the shock of panic course through her body and turned to cover up.
"No!" Sailor Moon interjected, standing between Sailor Mars and the Youma, "The fight is over. We're all friends now."
"Did you somehow get dumber while we were in there?" Sailor Mars gawked, "She's a monster!"
"She's a scared, hurt person who just realized she's been lied to her whole life!" Sailor Moon retorted.
"You've absolutely lost it," Sailor Mars sighed, "Get out of my way."
"I'm not moving," Sailor Moon insisted.
"Are you really sure this is the smartest course of action?" Luna asked.
"It's the right thing to do," Sailor Moon answered, "And the right thing to do is always the smartest thing to do."
Sailor Mercury surveyed the scene: her resolute team leader standing in front of someone she was more conditioned to think of as a "what" than a "who"; meanwhile, seeing the monster curled up in a ball, afraid and clearly injured, she was full of a pathos she didn't previously think possible. "I trust Sailor Moon's judgment on this," she declared.
"What?" Sailor Mars blurted, equal parts angry and perplexed.
"I mean, stranger things have happened," Sailor Mercury responded, "The three of us have magic powers activated by makeup cases and sailor costumes, and our mentor is a talking cat. Is it really that out of the question that a monster might be redeemable?"
"I promise, I want to try to be better," Kyameran insisted.
"'Try' to be better," Sailor Mars repeated, "So not only are we just supposed to take your word on it, but all you're promising is a try? So what happens if you fail? I refuse to have that on my conscience."
"What's she going to do?" Sailor Moon asked rhetorically, "Her camera arm's shot, she can't really threaten anyone."
"I… have no counter to that," Sailor Mars admitted, "But still, we're the pretty guardians who fight for justice. I say we deliver justice."
"Aren't second chances part of justice?" Sailor Moon argued, "An eye for an eye something something."
"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind," Sailor Mercury finished.
"Thanks, glad one of us pays attention in history class," Sailor Moon responded.
Sailor Mars stood silent, desperately wanting to say something, but unable to come up with anything.
"I'm willing to chance it," Sailor Mercury asserted, "Sometimes doing the right thing means taking a risk, taking a chance on somebody. Maybe this is one of those times."
"Sailor Moon appears to have put quite a lot more thought into this than I initially gave her credit for," Luna chimed in, "I'm with her on this one."
"Fuck, fine!" Sailor Mars cursed in frustration, "Let the goddamn monster loose, see what happens!"
"Could you stop talking about her like she's not in the room?" Sailor Moon yelled.
"Fine," Sailor Mars replied, turning her eyes to Kyameran, and continuing in the most terse calm she could muster, "I think you're a monster and you deserve to die. But these three have decided to be complete fucking idiots about it, so I guess go ahead and kill some more innocent people. Just know I'll kill you the second you do."
"I… I understand why you feel that way," Kyameran responded softly.
"Good," Sailor Mars retorted flatly.
"No, I mean it," Kyameran continued, "I was completely prepared to kill you, all your friends, and all of these innocent people. I don't entirely know if I deserve this second chance. But I'm glad to have it, and I promise I'm going to do something good with it."
"Okay, maybe, just maybe, I'm prepared for the possibility that I might be proven wrong on this one. But you have a long way to go to earn my trust, Youma," Sailor Mars declared.
"I understand. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to earn your trust," Kyameran responded.
"You're awfully good at being diplomatic," Luna observed only a little suspiciously.
"In the Dark Kingdom, you get used to thanking people for not killing you," Kyameran explained, "This time I actually mean it, though."
"Let's get you patched up," Sailor Moon suggested.
"Where can we go?" Sailor Mercury asked, "I mean… we can't very well take her back to your place and try to explain to your parents that the Sailor Scouts picked their house for no apparent reason."
"We… we can use the shrine," Sailor Mars suggested reluctantly.
"Really?" Sailor Moon asked excitedly.
"Yeah, I mean it's already where we do pretty much everything else," Sailor Mars responded.
Sailors Moon and Mercury helped Kyameran back to her feet, and supported her as she attempted to walk. The five of them exited the studio, leaving behind a buzzing and truly confused crowd of onlookers. This dynamic didn't let up as they walked the streets to the shrine, as every passerby stood in awe, trying to figure out why the Sailor Scouts were walking side by side with a Youma. They all came up with theories, ranging from her being their prisoner to these being peace talks between the Scouts and the Dark Kingdom, and a few even got it right, but the Scouts were in no mood to validate any of their theories, as they focused on getting to the shrine as quickly as possible.
"Sir," Rei said once they reached the shrine, "We need to give our associate some medical attention."
"You brought a monster here on purpose?" Grandpa Hino asked, bewildered.
"Don't worry, she's friendly," Sailor Moon assured him, "And badly injured."
"Well, if you girls say so," Grandpa Hino responded.
"Sir," Kyameran said, bowing deeply, "Thank you for allowing me to come into your home."
The three Scouts spent hours bandaging Kyameran's wounds, trying to get the bits of dangling flesh back to their original locations. The task proved exceptionally challenging, as despite their many battles against them, none of them really knew all that much about Youma physiology, but Kyameran assured them they were doing it right. With each wound bandaged, the earnestness of Kyameran's gratitude continued to shine more and more, and by the time they were done, even Sailor Mars had come to trust her at least a little.
"And I think we're done," Sailor Moon declared as they snipped up the last bandage.
"Oh my god, thank you all so much," Kyameran gushed, "You really didn't have to do this to me, I mean I kind of did this to myself."
"Good to hear you speaking in those terms," Sailor Mars chided gently.
"Oh no, I mean I literally did this to myself," Kyameran responded, "You guys didn't see it, because you were trapped in the photograps, but all of this damage is from my own attack. Sailor Moon jumped out of the way and I hit a mirror."
"So you beat her without laying a hand on her," Sailor Mars murmured to Sailor Moon, "Impressive."
"Yeah, she definitely handed me my ass," Kyameran laughed nervously.
"Hey, you had me on the ropes for most of the fight," Sailor Moon assured her.
"Yeah, doesn't count for much," Kyameran insisted, "Still, losing that fight might be the best thing that ever happened to me. We'll see. Ask me once we figure out how long these wounds will take to heal."
"So what do we do now?" Sailor Mercury asked.
"She can… she can stay at the shrine until we figure out a plan," Sailor Mars suggested.
"Really?" Kyameran gasped.
"That way I can keep an eye on you," Sailor Mars retorted, "Don't think for a second that I trust you."
"Thank you!" Kyameran gushed, "You won't regret this."
"Sir," Sailor Mars called out to the man she still had to struggle not to address as "Grandpa", "Can we talk to you for a minute? We need to ask a really big favour."
"Anything for the girls who saved my shrine from infiltration," Grandpa Hino assured them.
"Our friend, she doesn't have anywhere else to go right now," Sailor Mars began tepidly, "Is there any way she can stay here for a few days?"
"I… I guess I don't see why not," Grandpa Hino responded, before grinning slyly, "I mean, if she wanted to stay in my bedroom…"
"That won't be necessary!" Kyameran blurted, feeling the heat under the bandages from her purple face turning red.
"We'll get you set up in one of the guest rooms," Grandpa Hino smiled.
"We should get going," Sailor Mercury suggested.
The three scouts and Luna left the shrine, found a place to Clark Kent themselves in the forest, and stood, about to go their separate ways.
"Are you really sure we can trust her?" Ami asked.
"Not even a little bit," Usagi answered honestly, "But I'm sure we have to give her a shot."
"She's not so bad once you get to know her," Rei admitted.
"This is big," Usagi acknowledged, "We've never had someone from the Dark Kingdom on our side. If this actually does work out, imagine how much information we're about to have access to."
"That does intrigue me," Ami responded.
"It would be pretty cool," Rei seconded, "Anyway, it's been a long day, and now I have to go home and pretend to be surprised. See you guys at school tomorrow!"
The three girls went their separate ways, and Rei returned to the shrine.
"Rei, honey!" her grandfather exclaimed upon seeing her walk through the front door, "The Sailor Scouts were just here! There's someone you need to meet."
Kyameran nervously walked out to meet Rei.
"This is Kyameran!" Grandpa Hino explained, "It's hard to see through all these bandages, but she's a Youma! The Sailor Scouts insisted she was on our side though."
"Oh!" Rei exclaimed, feigning startle, "N-nice to meet you!"
"Nice to meet you too," Kyameran responded suspiciously, extending a hand, which Rei accepted.
"Well, I'm off to make dinner!" Grandpa Hino informed everyone, "Can't let our guest go hungry!"
As Grandpa Hino walked off, Kyameran motioned to a side room, wordlessly inviting Rei to join her. Rei followed, feeling a slight twinge of panic run up her spine.
"What's up?" Rei asked, once they were alone.
Kyameran looked her dead in the eye. "You're Sailor Mars, aren't you?" she asked.
"N-no!" Rei responded, trying to act indignant.
"Come on," Kyameran furthered.
"How did you figure it out?" Rei asked.
"When you suggested we come here," Kyameran explained, "It sounded like you were the one with the most connection to this place, so I figured Sailor Mars had to be someone with a strong connection to the shrine. Then when you said you'd be keeping an eye on me, that was a bit of a giveaway. Mostly though? That, five seconds ago, is not the way anyone has ever reacted to meeting me for the first time. It was pretty obvious you were expecting me."
Rei stood dumbfounded for a second, then her expression became profoundly severe, and she pulled Kyameran in to whisper in her ear. "You realize this raises the stakes, like, a thousand percent, right?" she asked sharply.
"Yeah," Kyameran acknowledged, "It definitely occurs to me that it would have been safer just to keep my mouth shut. But I don't want to live that way anymore, always with one hand behind my back, everyone wondering what everyone else knows, what everyone else is up to, what's going to happen next. That was my whole life with the Dark Kingdom, but I can't do it anymore. You guys are the good guys, and if I'm going to be a good guy too, I need to start acting like it. So all cards on the table. I know you're Sailor Mars, and I'm not going to tell anyone."
"Not even if the Dark Kingdom comes looking for you and you figure it's the only way you can keep them from killing you?" Rei asked interrogatorily.
"You really don't know the Dark Kingdom," Kyameran smiled bitterly, "They'd kill me the second I finished telling them everything they needed to know."
"That was a pretty good speech you gave," Rei acknowledged, "You better hope like hell you meant it."
"I promise, I'll prove myself to you," Kyameran assured her, "Once my body heals, I want to fight alongside you. I want to bring down the Dark Kingdom, and I want to save as many of my old friends as I can in the process."
"You've been away from the Dark Kingdom three hours, and you expect me to believe you're already this gung ho about bringing them down?" Rei asked.
"Look what they did to me!" Kyameran insisted, motioning to her body covered in bandages, "They fed me lies my whole life, then sent me out alone for a fight I was totally unprepared for against an enemy that could have killed me, and by right would have been perfectly justified to do it! Sailor Moon may have inflicted these wounds on me, but she's not to blame for it. They are. And I'll make them pay. Make them pay for what they turned me into."
"You're alright," Sailor Mars conceded, "Now let's go, I think dinner's ready."