Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon - Infinity Alternate 'Eye of the Beholder' - Chapter Two by AmazonessDuo amazonessduo@hotmail.com ~~~~~~~ “Witch!” A group of three girls gathered near Hotaru, taunting her yet again. She closed her eyes tightly in an attempt to ignore the viscous things they said. “So what are you up to this time, Tomoe?” One of the girls asked, her voice full of venom. “Nothing…” Hotaru said meekly, clutching the book she had been reading to her chest. She was having trouble breathing as her heart beat faster. Why wouldn’t they ever just leave her alone? Why wouldn’t they let her fade into the background? All she asked for was to not be noticed. Had she ever done anything to hurt them? No. So why couldn’t they ignore her? “What’s this, Tomoe?” The girl on the right asked, ripping the book from Hotaru’s grasp. She flipped through the dog-eared pages before shutting the book. “You studying some more witchcraft?” “What else could she be doing reading all the time like that?” The girl on the left replied. Hotaru released a shuddering breath. She had no more tears to cry over this. It happened often enough. The constant teases and taunts were by now a way of life from her classmates. “If you don’t want to be here, Tomoe, get on your broomstick and leave.” The three girls snickered at the dark haired girl, one of them tossing her book to the ground. “Why don’t you all leave her alone?!” a sweet voice yelled angrily. The girls turned to see a pink haired girl about their age run up to stand beside Hotaru. Her crimson eyes burned with an unseen fire from the anger she felt, her small hands balled up in fists. “What has she ever done to you?!” ChibiUsa demanded. The middle girl glared at Hotaru. “She was born.” Hotaru normally would have shrank back from the other girl’s statement, but she was still in shock. ChibiUsa was here? Defending her? The thought made her head spin. “If that’s her only crime against you, you oughtta think of something better because I can think of plenty more you’ve done to her just from what I saw,” ChibiUsa said, stepping forward a little ahead and to the side of Hotaru. “How would you know? She’s a witch,” one of the girl’s said, pointing at Hotaru. “If she is a witch, I’d rather spend an eternity with her than a second with you cold hearted bitches.” ChibiUsa stared at each of the three girls. The girls glared back at this strange pink haired girl. “She is a witch! We’ve all seen her. When people get hurt, they pop up without a trace of it after she touches them,” The girl on the right began. “And what’s wrong with that? She did the same to me, and I’m grateful,” ChibiUsa said absentmindedly rubbing her arm where her injury had been. “She’s always off on her own. Usually she’s reading something. She always wears black. And she has those strange seizures,” The girl in the middle finished. “How can you all stand here and say that? You’re all so blinded by hatred for what you don’t understand that you can’t see what she really is,” the pink haired girl argued. “And what’s that?” The middle girl asked with a smirk. “The sweetest, kindest, most beautiful girl I’ve ever met. If she is a witch, then she’s a great one. And everything you all see wrong with her, I wouldn’t want to change. She’s smart and gentle and has a wonderful shining heart. And if none of you can see that, then I pity you. I was wondering why she was so shy and reserved, but now I know. Because of people like you.” ChibiUsa took Hotaru’s hand in her own without taking her eyes from the three girls in front of her. All three stared back at the pink haired girl that had interrupted what would have otherwise been a normal day for them. “What are you? Her girlfriend?” one of the three asked. “What if I am?” ChibiUsa asked back, tightening her grip on Hotaru’s hand, feeling the slight tremble in her lover’s hand. “Oh my god…” The middle girl turned her gaze to Hotaru. “Tomoe’s a lesbian.” The other two gasped as well, looking back and forth from to the pink and raven haired girls. After whispering with each other for a moment, the three girls finally turned to leave. ChibiUsa looked in shock after the three girls. They were retreating as if they had some kind of disease. “And what’s wrong with that?!” the pink haired girl yelled after them, half expecting a response, but not being surprised when none came. Her free hand going to her forehead, she sighed deeply. A tug on her wrist caught her attention. Turning her attention back to the dark haired girl, she saw Hotaru kneeling to pick up her book that they’d so carelessly thrown to the ground. “Oh, Hotaru-chan, I’m so sorry. I was just so angry when I saw them treating you like that. I had no idea… I’ve probably just made things worse for you now, haven’t I?” Hotaru shook her head softly. “There have been plenty of rumors about me before. Everyone already thinks of me as a witch. This won’t change things.” Glancing down at her book, Hotaru wiped some of the dirt from the cover. “Then why’d they leave like that?” ChibiUsa asked, confused. Hotaru allowed herself a slight smile. “They were probably afraid of my girlfriend.” ChibiUsa laughed and drew the dark haired girl into a warm embrace. Hotaru’s pale cheeks turned a bright red as she felt the other girl holding her lovingly. ChibiUsa’s expression suddenly turning serious, she said, “I’m sorry those girls were acting like that.” Looking away, Hotaru wouldn’t return her gaze. “Its not just them.” “Hotaru-chan… I’m sorry,” ChibiUsa said sadly, at a loss for words. Hotaru smiled softly. “Don’t be. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, ChibiUsa-chan. Its not your fault if they all act like that. You more than make up for it with the warmth and kindness you show me.” ChibiUsa looked intently into Hotaru’s violet eyes. “Don’t worry about them. Just remember that I love you no matter what. It doesn’t matter what they think. I’ll always love you.” Hotaru’s blush worsened as she lost herself in the crimson pools of the pink haired girl’s eyes. “And I you, ChibiUsa-chan.” Before she knew what was going on, she was sharing a kiss with her lover right where they stood. Hotaru remembered all the cruel comments and torture she endured from her classmates. ‘What’s it matter what they think?’ she thought to herself. ‘This moment of bliss is worth more than every single thing they’ve ever done combined.’ ~~~~~~~~ Hunched over a computer, Mamoru rubbed his palms against his eyes, trying to focus. He had been looking up information on Professor Tomoe and the events surrounding him for the past several hours and everything was rapidly becoming a blur. Between the studying for college classes he needed to catch up on, running around in a top hat and tuxedo, and doing research for running around in said tuxedo, he had to wonder when he had time for anything at all relaxing these days. Even going to see the talented violinist, Michiru Kaioh, with ChibiUsa, Usagi and her friends had turned out disastrously. And ChibiUsa had seemed awfully distracted about something. The tedious work over the past few hours had finally yielded some results, thankfully, so maybe he’d have a chance to relax after all. Stretching in the chair, he turned back to tell ChibiUsa the good news. The pink haired girl was nodding off in a chair near him, her head tilted to the side as she sat leaning back. After a moment or so, the future princess stirred and blinked. Noticing that Mamoru had had seen that she had nearly fallen asleep, she grinned sheepishly and pointed toward the computer. “Did you find anything, Mamo-chan?” Turning back towards the computer, the older man sighed. “No matter where I looked, I couldn’t find anything of interest on Professor Souichi Tomoe. Just a few minutes ago, I finally accessed something on him. His life’s work has been on genetic research. It’s been an obsession for him his entire career, even to the point where he was considered an outcast by the scientific community for his bizarre experiments on animals. He put up his knowledge on the subject out for sale to continue funding his research and was bought up by the Infinity district. Apparently they didn’t mind whether or not his work was inhumane and hired him anyway.” “So that’s why Hotaru-chan lives there,” ChibiUsa said thoughtfully. A few more pieces of the puzzle started to fit into place, but she didn’t say anything. She had promised Hotaru that she wouldn’t tell that her father had done that sort of thing. But it seemed that Mamoru had found out on his own. Mamoru nodded, his tone growing more grave. “During the construction of some of the buildings, a fire broke out under some unknown circumstances while he and his family were there.” Scooting to the side, he let ChibiUsa get a good look at the screen. There was a picture of a smiling woman there with the words: Wife, Keiko, Age 32, Deceased. ChibiUsa gasped. That was how Hotaru’s mother had died when she was younger. But what was even more surprising were the picture of a young dark haired girl and the words that followed: Daughter, Hotaru, Age 8, Critical Condition. Not only had Hotaru lost her mother in the fire, but she herself had been caught in it, too. But what had happened to her? How had she survived the fire? “They say that after that incident, all life left the Professor’s face,” Mamoru said, breaking the uneasy silence that had spread through the room. “The loss of his wife and the near loss of his daughter must have changed him.” ‘I can understand why he’d grow cold after that. I don’t know that I wouldn’t do the same if I lose Usako and ChibiUsa. And we haven’t even had ChibiUsa yet,’ he thought to himself. “ChibiUsa-chan, you should keep a careful watch on Hotaru-chan. It’s your duty as a Sailor Senshi to find the enemy and eliminate them. If we don’t stop them soon, it may be too late to stop their invasion. All could be lost. Professor Tomoe seems even more suspicious now, and if he’s Hotaru-chan’s father, you should keep an eye out for anything.” Luna looked up at ChibiUsa seriously. The pink haired girl nodded eagerly. Any excuse to stick close to the firefly was good enough for her. She wouldn’t believe that Hotaru had anything to do with this but she felt very uneasy about the raven haired girl’s father. “Hai, I understand, Luna. I’ll do my best. I won’t let Hotaru-chan out of my sight.” She had a hard time trying to conceal a large smile. Luna sweatdropped. For some reason she didn’t think they meant the same thing. ~~~~~~~~ Where is she? We were supposed to meet here to go to the movies. We’d been planning it all week so we’d be able to have some fun this weekend. Hotaru couldn’t have forgotten, could she? I hope that’s all it is. I can wait a while longer before I go looking for her. What if she shows up and I’m off looking for her? No, its safer to stay here for now. Brushing back some pink strands of hair from my eyes, I glance around the park, searching for any sign of midnight black hair or ivory skin. Hoisting my book bag over my shoulder, I stand up on the bench I had been sitting on to get a better view. I can’t suppress my anxiety. Maybe something really has happened to her. I could never forgive myself if Hotaru got hurt coming here to see me. You’re making too big a deal out of this, I scold myself. Just relax. She’ll get here sooner or later. Its all a matter of time, just like Puu had said so long ago. I grin a bit at that. I wonder if she had any idea about this back when she first let me go back in time. The grin fades as I remember that glimpse of dark green hair in a crowd after I’d left Hotaru’s house with Usagi a while back. Could Pluto still be alive? But why wouldn’t she come tell me? There are too many unanswered questions. My head hurts just from trying to think of all the questions, let alone the answers. Hotaru’s the focus of most of them. She’s so mysterious. There’s a lot that I don’t know about her or her family. But I don’t want to pry into things that are better left alone. She seems so fragile that I worry about what digging too much could do to her. And besides, I’m content just knowing she’s there. I smile a bit. She’s so…. intoxicating? The more I’m with her, the more I want to be with her. Forever. Fifteen minutes go by and still no sign of her. I’m really starting to get worried. It’s been over an hour now and she’s still missing. My heart starts to beat quicker as panic begins to set in. Hotaru’s okay, I assure myself. To prove that to my yearning heart, I decide to go look for her. Her house isn’t too far from here so I decide to check there first. A surge of excitement runs through me as I walk towards where I remember Hotaru-chan’s room to be from the outside. I know I’m not supposed to be here, but what if she’s hurt? She could’ve fallen down after having another one of those fits and no one could know. Her father barely pays any attention to her as it is and Hotaru obviously doesn’t like that weird lady that works as his assistant. I barely notice myself picking up speed as I nearly break into a run, desperate to make sure the firefly’s okay. If anything’s happened to her... Pushing the thought out of my mind, I stop worrying about whether or not anyone saw me sneak into the house and bolt towards Hotaru’s room. Be okay, be okay, be okay, please just be alright and I promise I’ll make everything better... You’ll never have to cry again, just please be alright... Out of breath and exhausted from making it here in a much shorter time than it’s ever taken me before, I slump to my knees a few meters from Hotaru’s window. Ignoring the burning inside as I gasp for breath, I half walk and half stumble over to the windowsill. “How do those new parts feel?” I hear Hotaru’s father ask from inside as I make my way to the window. Well, if he was spending time with her then it was worth her being late. He’s all she has for her family so it’s good he’s not buried in his work right now. He seems to care a lot about her when he does show it and my firefly misses him. “They feel fine, dad. I think I’m getting used to them already,” Hotaru lied. I don’t know what she’s lying about, but whatever it is, it sounds like she’s faking it. For her father’s sake? Or because she’s late? Whatever it is, her father doesn’t seem to notice. I try to catch her attention from the window, but she’s looking over at the clock in her room. I smile a bit. At least she’s okay. And now I get to surprise her. “The parts incorporate a new development in masons and neurons that I came across. They were used as part of a rather interesting experiment. I’m still waiting to hear more of the results.” Her father shakes his head, extremely pale purple hair moving from side to side as he does. “But that’s besides the point. All the technology is state-of-the-art and made from the best materials available.” He places a hand on her cheek. I wonder what they were busy with. Hotaru shivers slightly at his touch. A while back, she had told me that his hands felt very cold. I guess it has something to do with his research. “Very soon you won’t have anymore fits, Hotaru-chan.” I smile at that. It has to be some new kind of medication then. This means Hotaru-chan will get better! My smile fades after I see the look on Hotaru’s face. I don’t think she believes him that she’ll get better. My poor firefly. It’ll get better, I promise. He finally picks up a few things that I can’t quite pick out as medical instruments or tools and leaves the room. “I have to hurry,” Hotaru-chan says worriedly, brushing back dark hair from her eyes. The poor girl almost seems frantic. Awww... That’s so cute that she wants to see me so much. Hmm... How should I surprise her? “ChibiUsa-chan might have already gone home by now. I’m really late. That took longer this time.” She sighs sadly. What took longer? I want to ask her. Bending up her arm, her skin begins to glow brightly. Underneath, I can see wires holding her muscles together and other strange parts in the part of her arm I can see. She picks now to turn around and spot me. I am Jack’s nervous breakdown. Her oddly hypnotic silver eyes catch mine before I can dare to look away. Caught like my namesake in headlights, I can only stare back for a long moment. I don’t know what to think. If only I’d waited this never would have happened. Fear and shock quickly fill those infinitely deep silver eyes, mirroring my own as I take a step back. What.. What was that? What happened? “ChibiUsa-chan?!” she calls out, her soft voice wavering. I’m caught. I don’t know what to do. What can I say to her? There’s no way I can fix this right now. I should’ve waited at the theater and then... “I’m sorry, Hotaru-chan... I... I shouldn’t have barged in here...” I turn around and start to run away, unable to sort out everything that’s going through my head. “I’m sorry,” I repeat as I run as far as I can, away from it all. She probably hates me now for seeing that. My poor firefly... “ChibiUsa-chan!” I can barely hear her call again. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I fall to my knees where I’m standing, unable to even make it the rest of the way to my bed. Hot tears stream down my cheeks as her fleeing image remains seared in my mind. Why? Why did this have to happen? Why did I finally find a friend only to have her taken away from me? My body is wracked with pain even as my heart and soul are wracked with guilt and fear. I’ve lasted this long on my own but now that I’ve had a taste of what it was like to have her care about me I don’t think I can go back to the way things were. I don’t want to be alone anymore. It hurts too much. The pain inside my battered shell of a body grows more intense as my thoughts get darker. It’s as if the physical pain is mirroring the pain in my heart. I collapse forward onto the floor, clutching at my chest. My sobs are starting to hurt more and more as ice cold shoots through my veins, followed seconds later by the searing hot pain. Maybe… Maybe I’m dying. Maybe whoever’s out there decided to take pity on me, to finally end my suffering. Maybe the cruel trick that was played on me, letting me finally find a friend and someone to love, will be the last. My head against the floor, my tears stream down my cheeks. A shaky hand reaches out to my amulet in the hopes that it can heal me, but the image of ChibiUsa’s horrified face when she saw me for what I am seizes up my body. My hand falls back down to the floor, even the will to live completely drained from my body. I deserve to die. My life has served no purpose. I’ve only been a burden to my father. He’s usually too busy to worry about me anyway. He has to have Kaolinite keep an eye on me. Everyone else I’ve known has made it painfully clear that they don’t want me here. They’re all afraid of me. Even.. Even she’s afraid of me. Harsh, painful sobs wrack my body as my pain begins anew. “ChibiUsa- chan…” I whisper hoarsely. I curse my horrible, dead body. I curse myself for still being here for this to have happened. If I’d died a few months ago, this never would have happened. She’d never have been afraid of me and I never would have... I never would have met her.. A lump forms in my throat as I try to look through my blurry, tearful vision to the Holy Grail she gave me. It sits in a very special spot near my bed, right near several of my favorite lamps. She somehow saw past what everyone else hated about me, she wasn’t afraid of me when she found out I could heal with a touch, but now that she’s seen what I am, she’s frightened of me. And I don’t think I can live with myself for that. I should have known that it was too good to be true, that she could really accept me. Who could? I’ve been half dead for so long.. My eyes fall closed as the pain starts preying on my consciousness. I can only hope it won’t last much longer, that I’ll finally be able to be free. Free of this prison of a body. Free of all the loneliness and the hate. I don’t want to live anymore. This painful life has taken everything from me. First my mother, then my body, and now the only person who’s ever cared about me. Not too mention all of the other countless things that have been ripped away from me. How could this have happened? I had thought that if she just didn’t know about it that maybe… just maybe things would work out. How could I have fooled myself into such childish dreams? I had thought I was past that, past deluding myself with any form of hope. But looking into her shining eyes made me forget about that, it made me grasp onto those thin shreds of hope and cherish them with all of my being. She made me feel alive again. After so many years of being dead, of being a breathing dead girl, it felt so wonderful to feel alive again. Dad keeps my body alive… barely… but she had brought my soul back to life. And now it was all gone. All taken from me within a few brief seconds. Such an inconsequential amount of time that brought my life to a deafening crescendo of pain and tears. Really, nothing has happened. Things will go back to the way they were before I met her. Everyone will still hate me and I’ll be all alone again. I shake my head in torment. I can’t live like that! I can’t be alone again! Tendrils of fear grip my ice cold heart as the thought of having to endure through it all with the painful memories of her sends more tears rolling down my cheeks. I’ve lasted through everything else because I’ve never had a choice. What else could I do but move on? Even when everything hurt, I was too apathetic to do anything but cry to myself and hide in the shadows. But I can’t stand it any longer. The thought of moving on knowing that I lost the only person that ever meant anything to me is just too much to bear. “Agghh…..” I wince painfully as I stagger to my feet, leaning heavily against a dresser. The pain inside and out seems to contort my body in some sick rhythm. A symphony of silence. Making a few half steps forward, barely able to make out anything through my blurred vision, I grasp onto one of my favorite lamps. It’s a beautiful lamp. Small silver designs encircle the midnight black lamp in a neverending dance. But right now I can barely even see the object in my hand as I concentrate on it. Fire shoots through my arm as the muscle seems to threaten to just rip apart on it’s own. I cry out but keep going. This is nothing compared to the pain I’ve felt. My favorite lamp cracks and shatters as that small burst of cyborg strength finally wins out over my dead body. Collapsing to the floor again, I weakly watch the shattered pieces of the lamp, so much like the shattered pieces of my life. Things had seemed so perfect before mother died and everything started slipping away from me. Now even the last shred of hope I had held onto has been taken away into the darkness of the night. My pale hands search the floor for the right piece. I barely flinch at the cuts I get as I grasp at them, blinded by my grief and self- pity. A long jagged piece of porcelain finally catches my attention to my right. Clutching it tightly, I can feel it bite into my skin, the blood dripping much the same way my tears are. I shake my head as I bring it towards my wrist, almost hoping someone will stop me, praying that no one will. “Oh, ChibiUsa-chan… I’m so sorry…. I’ll never hurt you again…. Because I don’t want to hurt again either...” I get out between sobs as I push into my wrist. This is the only way to escape. This is the only way I’ll ever stop the pain. It hurts too much to go on. I only hope that ChibiUsa will forgive me. But by now she’s probably already forgotten me... Shaking all over, I slide in across my wrist, a grimace spreading across my face as the pain becomes even more intense. As I wait to die and be rid myself of this worthless body and life, I look down to my wrist. Torn flesh and pouring blood greet my eyes, but also something more sinister. Metal cords going to my hand jut out from the injury, a painful reminder of how little of me is still human after the fire. Shivering on the floor, whimpering, the darkness finally claims me and all is silence. Silver eyes blinked slowly and painfully into consciousness. Hotaru immediately regretted opening her eyes as a harsh white light burned into her vision. “Dad?” she asked weakly, his dim outline barely visible through the haze of pain settling throughout her body. Yet even then, it didn’t hurt at all in comparison to the pain in her heart. Blinking back bitter tears, she rolled to her side, towards her father. It was gone. It was all gone. There was a terrible emptiness inside of her that could never be filled. It wasn’t just that something was missing, that things could go back to the way they were before, but that it had been ripped forcibly from her, the torn edges of her soul impossible to mend. Shaking lightly as the tears came more freely, she wondered where her father had gone. This man in his place only cared that she lived, that her body was all right. He didn’t offer any comfort to the pitiful girl lying on her bed. Instead, he kept checking a sheet of paper in his hands. Hotaru cursed herself as his cold hands checked to make sure the wires in her arms were undamaged. She couldn’t even do that right. Her only escape had been ruined. She couldn’t even kill an already dead body. “Good morning, Hotaru-chan. You’re awake,” he stated as he moved around to get a better look of the repairs he’d done to his cyborg daughter. The cords and pieces in her wrist had been easy enough to fix, although that most certainly wasn’t one of the things he’d been worried about before then. He thought if anything endangered that which was within his daughter’s body, it was that the girl was weak and dying. He should have seen this coming. Of course, it didn’t change anything. The time was near, making this only a very minor setback. “How are you feeling?” The sound of it was that of a doctor asking a patient, Hotaru could tell. He was wondering how she was feeling physically, not how torn apart she felt inside. “Papa...” the dark haired girl whispered sadly. She was truly all alone now. Her father had gone somewhere far away, leaving only this.. this person in his place. And now the only person who had ever cared about her had run away in fear of her. Why had she survived and her mother died? Why couldn’t she have taken her mother’s place? She could barely remember her anymore, but she knew that she’d been a wonderful mother. She didn’t deserve to die in a horrible fire. Her life would have been much more worthwhile than Hotaru’s own. Like she often did, but never with as much regret that she couldn’t make it a reality, the dark haired girl wished that she could have taken her mother’s place. They’d both nearly been burned to death but she had somehow survived. Now more than ever she wondered why. Dimly hearing her father repeat the question, she simply nodded. She could feel a burning inside of her as the wires and cords and parts all worked at a more desperate pace to keep her body alive. She wanted to rip it all out. She was a mockery of life. Not truly alive, but not allowed to die. It didn’t matter anymore. She was already dead. There was no way this was any sort of life. She only had to wait for when her body would finally give out on her. And she knew that wouldn’t be a long wait. Her father finally left the room. “Why did she have to find out? Everyone hates me for being able to heal others. They think I’m some kind of witch. It was hard enough with them knowing that. I didn’t want anyone to know about this dead body of mine. I’ve been all alone for so long now. All by myself even when drowning in a sea of humanity. Dad doesn’t care anymore. His research is the only important thing to him. I don’t even know why he tries to keep me alive. Doesn’t he see I’d be better off that way? I knew I was going to die alone. It was a sad fact of life. But then... I finally met her. She wasn’t afraid of me. She didn’t hate me. She wanted to be my friend. She wanted.. to love me...” She sobbed painfully, tears starting to fall anew down her still damp cheeks. “I should have known. How could anyone love a monster like me? She’s an angel and I’m a demon. I could only drag her into darkness. But without her, why should I go on? I have nothing now. Why should I live anymore? Is there any point to my life? Mama... why couldn’t I come with you?” An intense pain in her head makes her double over, clutching at the searing fire within. “It... it hurts...” Her labored breathing faltered for a moment, her physical and mental pain becoming an uncontrolled beast within. “My forehead.. it’s… it’s like it’s on fire...” Through the knife’s blade that felt lodged in her forehead, the deathly pale girl could make out three figures watching her. “Who are you?! Are you... are you Death? Please... why are you torturing me? Please just let it all go away... Please let me die..” The figures just watched as if taunting her. Hurling her amulet out past them, the figures vanished, leaving her all alone once more. Her face against her pillow, she wept as it seemed to get even worse. The darkness inside her was growing as her sense of loss intensified, images of the pink haired girl from the past few weeks filling her thoughts. Suddenly, she didn’t feel so alone anymore. And that frightened her as she tried to look around the room. “It hurts so much... Everything.. everything hurts.. Like someone’s trying to burst out of me...” She looked up as thoughts that weren’t her own began to invade her fading mind. “Someone’s taking over my body...” She tried desperately to cling onto her last vestige of consciousness as icy cold fear shot through her veins, her will crumbling quickly. “ChibiUsa-chan...” The pink haired girl in question was leaning against a brick wall a few blocks away, panting heavily as she tried to catch her breath. Brushing back sweat dampened hair, she looked back the way she had come. She felt sick from all of that running and the torrent of thoughts swirling like a storm cloud in her head. Her insides felt tied in knots. She pulled her legs to her chest, her short, crystal blue dress in disarray. The harsh bricks scraped her back even through the thin fabric. Shaking her head, the pink haired girl sighed miserably. What she had seen of the raven haired girl entered her mind every time she closed her eyes. Wires and cords holding her beautiful frame together, keeping her alive. The girl she loved was barely alive. “What should I do? Oh, Hota-chan, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have seen that. I should have waited for you.” “I had an accident a long time ago. I have many wounds from it,” Hotaru had said to her what felt like years before but could only have been less than a month before. ‘So that’s what she meant,’ ChibiUsa thought to herself, pulling her legs closer. “That surprised me. But what should I do now? When I ran away from Hota-chan, did I hurt her? What have I done?” She stood up, finally managing to breath more normally. “We all have our secrets, Hotaru-chan. I’m over nine hundred years old and I never told you. I can see why you wouldn’t want to tell me about that. But I want to make it up to you. I love you no matter what. This doesn’t change anything.” With renewed determination, the pink haired girl gathered herself up and began to turn back the other way. A sharp pain on the side of her head elicited a yelp from the young looking pink haired girl. Taking a half step backward, she felt a biting cold feeling where the pain had been. Curiously, she brushed her hand over the spot. It now felt wet and the cold began to be replaced by a burning feeling at her touch, making ChibiUsa wince. Bringing her hand back, she saw some blood on her fingers. “What?” A gasp escaped her lips as she felt as if she’d been bitten above her calf. Looking up at the dark sky gave her a better understanding of what was going on. A few fat droplets of rain hit the future princess. “What’s going on? It shouldn’t be hailing in this season. This is just...” She stumbled forward, having a hard time concentrating as that cold feeling that had been on the side of her head started to spread through her body. “This isn’t normal hail. I’ve gotta get out of it while I still can.” She hugged herself tightly as she tried to keep warm, heading off through the rain and hail. “I have to get back to Hotaru-chan. She needs me.” Her weary mind still guilty from before, ran over the possibilities as she raced back the way she’d come, hoping that she could make things all right. Was this what dying was like? That had to be it. She was dying. It was worse than any of the fits she had ever suffered before. Her whole body was aching horribly, like ice cold knives had been raked across her body. Making out anything through her blurry vision was a chore that she couldn’t waste the time on, her nausea just making it even worse. Every bit of her pain wracked body screamed out in agony as she tried to get up. Had her father’s attempts at keeping her corpse-like body alive finally failed? Was she finally going to do? Fresh tears started to sting her already bloodshot eyes. It was over. Finally, this sick joke was over. “No...” she whispered, her raw throat aflame. There was something else there. Something with her. Something... evil. That presence she felt earlier, it was gaining in strength even as she was starting to slip further and further away. She didn’t want to be here anymore, no longer up for playing the part of the hated, wretched witch. But still, the fear of dying was deep within her. And she knew that even if she died, this thing would be released. And it would hurt... “No!” she managed to get out louder. It was preying on her thoughts. It had already picked its first target. Because of her. “You can’t have her. No...” Pale hands gripped her burning forehead as she tried to force it out, tried to change its mind, anything. If she’d been allowed to kill herself, she would have been able to get rid of it along with herself. Instead, it would hurt the only person that meant anything to her. Silver eyes sparkled as Hotaru’s gaze was drawn to the window. A large pillar of light flared in the growing storm, energy sweeping through it. It was both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. Like part of her could remember something much like it from long ago. No, it wasn’t her. Someone else remembered it. Someone deep inside of her. “The power..! It should be more than enough to replace the Taioron Crystal. Master Pharaoh 90 will be pleased. That must be the true power of Sailormoon. The Ginzuishou.” It wasn’t her own voice, but someone using her to speak. The thought sent shivers through her weak body. Tears plunged to the sheets beneath her as Hotaru’s whole body began to shake. She was afraid of what would happen now. Her hand lifted of its own volition, picking up the amulet her father had given her. The crystal twirled back and forth as it hung from its string. Something began to coalesce in the crystal, some sort of image. She recognized the person immediately, her stomach turning in on itself as it became clearer. Kaolinite, her father’s assistant. The person who never failed to make things worse. She wanted to drop the amulet, to get away from her, but she couldn’t let go. “Soon, I will become the master’s partner. I won’t fail him. Unlike the Witches 5, I won’t let the Sailor Senshi get in the way,” Kaolinite said through the crystal. Despite being startled, Hotaru clung unto the string, the crystal swinging back and forth. Again, the dark haired girl’s mouth opened without her permission. “Yes, Magus, the time has come. You will take your place as the master’s partner. Just remember your duty.” Magus? What was she talking about? Who was their master? Why was all of this happening to her? As the image vanished, she dropped the amulet to the floor, it making little sound as it rolled across the carpet. Her hands went to her head, light sobs escaping her. “Get in the car,” a voice said sternly as a car pulled up beside ChibiUsa. The pink haired girl was shivering badly now as the storm was only getting worse. Her eyes caught site of Haruka, Michiru, and “Puu! It is you!” She wasted no time climbing into the back with her old friend. Hundreds of questions raced through her mind, but she couldn’t force any out. Instead, she just watched her old friend for a long moment. The car sped up quickly, throwing her against the seat as Haruka chose to ignore the traffic laws. “What happened?” she asked finally. “We screwed up,” Haruka offered in reply. Michiru frowned and turned back to face the future princess. “Sailormoon has powered up with the power of all of the Senshi. It’s all focussing on her with the help of the Holy Grail. The Enemy has undoubtedly noticed this.” Looking out the window, it took a moment for ChibiUsa to think clearly again. “So that’s what that feeling was. Usagi’s more powerful now. But isn’t that a good thing? Shouldn’t that help if the Enemy’s close?” Her crimson eyes burned with curiosity as she looked at the aqua haired woman. Her mind couldn’t drop what she’d intended to do in the first place, still worrying about the raven haired girl even with this crisis so close. “It’s not that simple. The Princess can’t handle this mission, even if she has powered up,” Setsuna explained, trying to find the best way to explain to her young friend from the future. She had only recently regained her memories so it was awkward seeing the pink haired girl in this life. “The Soldier of Ruin has been awakened. Our coming together has awakened her because of our talismans. They have called her from the deep slumber she had been in up until now. The final soldier from the forbidden planet, Saturn. She is the Soldier of Silence, the one who must not be allowed to awaken. We know that the end is nigh. This world will come to an end unless we can stop it. When we Senshi, stronger than the Sailor Team, cannot handle a problem, then it is up to Sailorsaturn to end everything. We watched as she brought down her glaive, ending the Silver Millenium. If we don’t act quickly, she’ll do the same to this world.” ChibiUsa gasped. To think that such a soldier existed was horrific. Why would there be a need for such a last ditch effort? Something that ended all. Could she really be a Sailor Senshi? She had never heard of her in the future. But then, she had never heard of the Outer Senshi either. “We were so stupid. Without all of our memories, we didn’t realize what chaos we’d be causing. We had intended to stop the Enemy, but instead we’ve brought about an even greater danger to this world.” Haruka’s driving became more erratic as her frustration grew. She calmed only slightly at Michiru’s reassuring hand on her thigh. “We didn’t know. Someone had been calling for the talismans to be gathered in out dreams. We hadn’t yet remembered what the outcome would be,” Michiru said comfortingly, thought she didn’t know if it was more for Haruka’s benefit or her own. She once again turned to the young princess. “Sailorsaturn appears when all is lost. At the end of the battle, she is the one who brings all to nothing. It is her duty to bring an end to everything.” “Kind of like a cosmic reset button. If we screw up in our job to protect this solar system, she takes over and wipes it all out so it can begin all over again,” Haruka explained, narrowly missing a pedestrian. ChibiUsa really wasn’t liking the sound of this. How would that solve anything? Well, it would solve the battle rather quickly, but so many lives would be lost. That wasn’t what Sailormoon was about at all. She was supposed to protect lives. The smaller princess had thought that was what all the Senshi were supposed to do, even if the Outer Senshi resorted to some rather cutthroat tactics at times. Setsuna cut in, grabbing the pink haired girl’s attention. “Saturn is the guide to death. She brings all to the afterlife with her. But she is normally asleep because her power is too deadly to be allowed to work in conjunction with the other Senshi. She is awakened when our three talismans come together, shattering her sleep and calling her to her sacred duty. We are the guardians of the talismans, only to awaken her in the most dire of circumstances. When Saturn awakens, the planet will die.” ChibiUsa let all this sink in, the wet air from the storm, playing with her oddly styled hair. “Then why did you bring them together? How did it happen?” “We’re supposed to defend this solar system from outside attack. The others are supposed to protect from inside threats along with the princess. We didn’t often meet back during the Silver Millenium, and never when all three of our talismans would be together. When they were all brought together during the battle against the Dark Kingdom, Saturn ended the Silver Millenium and all of the planets that had been a part of it. On this world, we were reincarnated with out mission still intact. We met up so that we could find the Enemy that had invaded from outside while we had slept and put a stop to them. Little did we know that we’d bring about a larger problem.” Michiru sighed as she leaned back in her seat. “We weren’t supposed to meet here. Saturn has been reborn.” ChibiUsa sat forward, trying to make out the swirling image in Michiru’s mirror as it showed the face of the final soldier. “Oh my God...” Her eyes went wide and her heart skipped a beat. She knew that face. She knew it all too well. “That’s... is that Hotaru-chan? Is she Sailorsaturn?” Her mind raced with the implications of that, fitting it in with everything the Outer Senshi had told her. “Saturn is awakening. That girl’s body is already going through the stages of her reawakening. Soon Saturn will be upon us,” Haruka added. “Saturn’s soul was the voice calling out for the talismans in our dreams. We had no idea it would come to this. She must realize the severity of the situation and used us to bring her back so she could put a stop to this.” “But we can’t allow that. Small Lady, you have a future. This is all wrong. None of it is what is supposed to happen. Saturn can’t end things now. Somewhere, time has gone awry. If it continues along this path, your future will cease to be. Small Lady, you may cease to be,” Setsuna explained softly. What had caused time to slip so much from its original path? Was it her fault? Chibimoon hadn’t been there the first time around. Was it Setsuna? She had been guarding the Time Gate rather than being reincarnated like she had been this time. Was it something else altogether? “Why is this happening?” Haruka shook her head. “Whatever the case, we mustn’t give Saturn the chance to bring everything to ruin. We can’t let her wake up.” Her stomach taking a dive, ChibiUsa finally managed to ask the determined Senshi what was on her mind. “How are you going to stop her?” “We have to kill her.” “What?!” ChibiUsa’s crimson eyes went as wide as saucers at the statement. Haruka had been dead serious. “You’re kidding, right? You don’t really mean you’d kill Hotaru-chan. She’s an innocent.” She had to ask, even though there had been no doubt in her mind that Haruka had meant every word of it. Michiru sighed and gave Haruka’s thigh a none to gentle squeeze, eliciting a yelp from the blonde. “I thought we weren’t going to tell her that. You can explain it all to your ‘Odango’, but she’s just a little girl. And that other girl’s friend no less.” Giving Haruka a disapproving frown, it melted away as she turned back in her seat to face ChibiUsa again. “We have to kill her so that Saturn can’t awaken. Then we can seal her away permanently.” “But.. But she’s one of you! She’s another Sailor Senshi! Why would you kill another Sailor Senshi?!” “She’s not another Sailor Senshi yet,” Haruka explained. “Besides, just because she’s one of us doesn’t mean we can sit by and let her destroy our world. We have to stop her. Then we’ll go after the enemy. She may be an innocent, but a lot less innocents die without her.” “The talismans have already called Supersailormoon. They’re full of power, vibrantly giving it off. Just like when she.. They acted the same way when they called Saturn to end the Silver Millenium. The time is near when they will fully awaken her.” Michiru shuddered at the memories. “This world shouldn’t have to go through that horror.” “That’s still no reason to kill her! There has to be another way without sacrificing Hotaru-chan. You can’t throw people’s lives around! Who are you to decide who lives and who dies? Isn’t that her job?” ChibiUsa wiped at her eyes, her heart aching at their words. She looked to Setsuna for support but got nothing more than an apologetic look. “It’s not like this is our first plan of action. But there’s nothing else we can do. If we don’t kill her, this world will come to ruin. And then everyone will die. One life isn’t worth the lives of billions. She would die as well. So this way, only she will die. We don’t have long before Saturn returns. You’ve seen her body, haven’t you, Small Lady? She should have died years ago from an accident that took her mother’s life and rightfully should have taken hers. But Professor Tomoe rebuilt her body, keeping her alive through a mixture of machinery and his genetic research. She only came out of her coma because he sold his soul to Pharaoh 90. Her small, weak body, it can’t last much longer. She has been dying for a long time, Small Lady. If we weren’t to kill her and Saturn didn’t, then she would still die. Soon,” Setsuna tried to explain. She wished there was an easier way, especially with the pain she saw in her young friend’s eyes, but knew this was how things had to be. “There has to be a way to save Hotaru-chan. She can’t be a lost cause. I won’t believe that,” ChibiUsa said stubbornly. Haruka frowned, turning a corner. “The only way to save her body would be to let her fully awaken as a Sailor Senshi. That would be strong enough to bring her body back to life. But letting that happen would be foolhardy. She’d be dead moments later when Saturn wiped everything out.” The future princess was starting to feel sick. The girl she’d seen not more than an hour ago was going to destroy the world. And more importantly, these people were going to kill her. She couldn’t let that happen. “I won’t let you kill Hotaru-chan! Even if it’s to seal off Saturn, I won’t let you do it! There has to be another way. You’re Sailor Senshi! You’re supposed to protect lives, not end them!” “If we can save this world by killing that child, we will. After we kill her, we’ll stop the Enemy. If we let her live, she’ll kill us all. Do you think we’d just sit by and let that happen? Just because she’s an innocent?” Haruka closed her eyes, still keeping the car from plowing into anything miraculously. “This isn’t what I wanted when I joined up. But it has to be done. We can’t let this world end. It’s our mission to stop her. She is a threat and we have to kill her.” “ChibiUsa-chan, her life has been tough and full of hardship. The poor girl never had any friends. She’s always been alone. She’s always been in pain. It is time for her to rest. She’ll be much happier in the afterlife,” Michiru said soothingly, switching tactics. “I’m her friend now! I’ll make sure her life gets better. I won’t let her be alone again. I’ll make sure that this life gets better for her,” ChibiUsa protested. She had to cling onto the hope that she could fix things. She had to believe. Haruka chuckled, opening her eyes as she passed another stop sign. “Those are strong words for one so young, princess. Are you really willing to devote your life to fixing her problems? That’s a lot of commitment.” Setsuna’s sweatdrop went unnoticed. The Senshi of Time was the only one out of the three of them that knew that ChibiUsa was over nine hundred years old. “Yes! I don’t care. Hotaru-chan’s very important to me. I’d do anything to make sure she’s all right.” There was so much more the pink haired girl wanted to say, but it was all so confusing. She just sighed. “It doesn’t matter. So your future can exist, so this world can have a future, we have to kill her. She’s even more of a threat than the Enemy at this point. We might not even have time to stop her. But we have to try.” “No!! I won’t let you kill her! We can save her, I know it! We just need to try! I know my future exists, so she won’t destroy it. The world will be fine. Just trust in Sailormoon and let me deal with Hotaru-chan. I promise that everything will be okay.” ChibiUsa’s pleading voice broke, more tears building up in her crimson eyes. Michiru shook her head firmly. “We can’t fight with Sailormoon. She feels the same way about sacrificing innocent lives. So we have to do this on our own. The Sailor Team is too weak. We have to be the ones to save this world. And we will.” The car came to an abrupt halt and before the smaller senshi knew it, she was standing there on the curb while the car drove off. It took her a moment to catch her balance as her weary body begged for a rest. The cold droplets were starting to pelt her with more force now, the occasional hail stinging her soft skin badly. “Hotaru-chan is Sailorsaturn. Sailorsaturn will end the world,” she whispered to herself, her thoughts muddled. “Hotaru-chan... You always look so sad. Your eyes seem to know everything. Even when you’d laugh, you still looked so depressed and alone. I won’t leave you alone. I promise.” Clutching her broach, the pink haired girl took off towards the large house where Hotaru lived, praying that she’d get there before the Outers.