This story was inspired by the "Sailor Moon: Another Story" Super Famicom
video game, where the villains from the first three seasons of the show
are resurrected. In the game, one of the groups of villains you must defeat
are the Ayakashi sisters; however, it is interesting to note that according
to the sisters, the person who urges them to return to the Black Moon
family is not Rubius, but... Someone else. Hence, this scenario...
***
Black Moon: Another Story
"Rebirth and Renewal"
by aviatrix88@yahoo.com
Petz Ayakashi sighed as she stepped into the cool, night air of the
balcony, pulling the screen shut behind her. The atmosphere inside the
apartment was far too stifling... Besides, she was in no mood for the
idle chatter of her sisters. Petz had found that she had become far more
introspective in the past year, ever since she had been healed by the power
of the Silver Crystal.
Still... Leaning across the balcony railing, Petz listened with half an
ear to her sisters' conversation, as it filtered outside. It had turned to
more serious things; they were now uneasily discussing the monsters that
had been wandering the city, as of late. A few moments later, an argument
had broken out: Beruche claimed that she had seen a Droid she had worked
with the other day, while Cooan swore that that was impossible.
Petz's brow furrowed. That was the other thing, too... Her sisters had been
fighting with each other a lot more lately. Even she wasn't immune, she
recalled guiltily, remembering a spat she had with Calaveras just the other
day, over some trifle or another. Oddly enough, it put her in mind of the
time when they worked with Rubius... Not that that they hadn't their share
of bickering even after they had been healed by Sailor Moon; they were
siblings after all, and couldn't help it sometimes, but...
"It's almost as if... Destiny has changed somehow..." she murmured to
herself, feeling the disquiet awaken in her. "As if... the past is
returning..."
As she stared broodingly into the night sky, Petz thought she glimpsed
something out of the corner of her eye. She ignored it. She had seen /his/
face often enough in her dreams (and nightmares) in the past year, and had
learned to live with it. But just then, Petz heard a footstep beside her;
startled, she turned around.
At first, she thought she was dreaming again; all she could see was the
person's face. Then, the figure moved into the light. That was when Petz
saw how the midnight blue of the figure's hair and jacket melted into the
night sky behind him, the steel rods on his breast resembling stars; and
how the shadowed white of the rest of his uniform blended in perfectly with
the grey stone of the balcony. As she looked up into the person's face, she
felt, more than saw, his deep blue eyes meet hers.
"Hello, Petz," said Saffir, softly.
She must've cried out, because her sisters were suddenly by her side;
she only noticed their presence because of the stifled gasps beside her.
Realizing that they were too shocked to react, Petz felt she had to be the
first one to say something.
"S... Saffir!" she managed to say, rather weakly. "I... I... I thought you
were dead!" She knew it wasn't the most brilliant thing to say to him, but
Petz was too stunned to think of anything else.
"I was," murmured Saffir in reply, with no trace of irony in his voice.
"Then... Are you a ghost?" To confirm this, Petz held out her hand
hesistantly, to touch him. To her surprise, he took her hand and gently
placed it upon his chest. Her hand trembled as it felt the heartbeat
beneath it.
"No, Petz... As you can see, I am quite alive."
"But... How is that possible?" Petz belated recognized the uneasy voice of
Calaveras from behind her. Saffir shook his head slowly, as he carefully
let go of Petz's hand.
"That, I cannot say." Turning away for a moment, he glanced up at the night
sky. "Somehow, our Family has been brought back to life... My brother,
Esmeraude..."
"Rubius...?" inquired Cooan tentatively. Saffir turned and gave her a
sad smile.
"Yes, Rubius too." The expression suddenly disappeared from his face. "But
I did not come to tell you that... I think you all know why I'm here."
Petz's heart sank. There was only one reason she could think of why
Saffir would be here now, considering the circumastances... And it wasn't
pleasant.
Beside her, she heard the tremulous voice of Beruche. "What are you talking
about, Saffir-sama?"
Saffir was about to answer her, when he was interrupted by Petz's voice.
"He wants us to come back, Beruche." As she felt her sisters' gazes turn
towards her, Petz took a deep breath and continued.
"Saffir wants us to return to the Black Moon Family."
There was a stunned silence, which was then broken by Saffir.
"I'm afraid Petz is correct, Ayakashi sisters..." he confirmed, bowing his
dark head apologetically. "I was sent here to ask you to return to our
clan."
"Ask?" said Petz bitterly. Saffir nodded, ignoring the tone of her voice.
"Ask," he repeated. "I will not force you if you don't want to go... But I
suspect you and sisters will find you have no other choice."
After that enigmatic phrase, he gave them all a measuring look. "I will
give you time to decide; go and discuss it amongst yourselves, if you wish.
I will be waiting out here on the balcony, for your decision."
That was a clear dismissal; even though the Ayakashi sisters were no longer
of the Black Moon Family, they were used to taking orders from their
superiors. Uncertainly, they went inside to make their decision. However,
Calaveras stopped upon the threshold and looked back, when she realized
one of her sisters had remained behind.
"Go," urged Petz softly. "I wish to talk to Saffir... Alone."
The brown-haired woman stared at her elder sister in concern, but the
conviction in Petz's eyes made her nod. Turning around, Calaveras
re-entered into the apartment, carefully shutting the glass door behind
her.
Petz turned back to Saffir, and felt his deep blue gaze fall upon her.
Somehow, she couldn't help but feel resentful... She found herself wishing
that Prince Dimando had sent (for she had not missed the fact that Saffir
had been /sent/) someone else to ask her and her sisters back; Rubius, or
even Esmeraude. Rubius may had been able to convince them, but the Ayakashi
sisters were too aware of his manipulations, now... But Saffir... Saffir...
Summoning all of her courage, Petz glared at him. "How could you... How
could you ask me and my sisters to come back? Don't you know..." At this,
her voice cracked a bit. "How happy we have been...?"
He looked at her sadly. "How could I not know? I've seen it myself. When
I last visited... You..." He trailed off and turned away.
"Then why... Why are you doing this?" Her voice had turned pleading now.
Saffir's eyes met hers, and Petz was caught off guard by the pain she
saw in them.
"Do you think I had any choice...?" He leaned against the balcony, and
hung his head.
"What do you mean? Of course you have a choice!" snapped Petz, feeling her
anger return. Saffir gave her a look that made her temper die down for a
moment; then, he addressed her, carefully.
"No, I don't. And neither do you and your sisters, I'm afraid..."
"Is that a threat?" snapped Petz.
Saffir looked startled. "No, of course not!"
"Then what do you mean?" she asked desperately. "First you say we have a
choice, but then you tell me we have none... I don't understand!"
All of a sudden, Saffir held her by her shoulders and gazed deeply into her
eyes. Petz was too startled to react, and could nothing but only stare back
into his intensely blue gaze.
"Haven't you noticed, Petz? The monsters that have returned to the city;
some of them are the Droids I created! The uneasiness in your soul, as if
the darkness is returning to it? The feeling that your Destiny..."
"...Is returning," finished Petz softly. Saffir had just put into words
the unexplicable disquiet that had been building inside of her lately.
Realizing that she now understood, Saffir released her. Turning away, he
closed his eyes painfully.
"Please understand, Petz, I don't want any of this... I just want to go
back to sleep again, along with my brother and and the rest of my
family..." Petz's eyes widened.
"Surely you don't mean that...?" He looked at her wearily.
"I don't expect you to understand this, Petz, you who has so much life
ahead of you... But my existance at this very moment is /wrong/. I'm just
reliving the past, now... A mere shadow of my former self."
There was a uncomfortable silence. Then, Petz gathered up the remains of
her courage and found her voice.
"But... Isn't that enough?"
As Saffir turned to look at her in surprise, she walked up to him, until
they were close enough to touch.
"If I said yes..." she continued, avoiding his gaze, "If I agreed to return
to the Black Moon Family... You and I..."
Reaching out tentatively, Petz took his gloved hand into hers, then placed
it against her cheek. "Could be together again..." she concluded softly.
Saffir's eyes widened sympathetically. "Oh, Petz..." Gently, he took her
into his arms, and she held him as she would never let him go.
"We could start over again," she whispered. "We could do it right, this
time..."
"I'm sorry, Petz... " he murmured gently into her ear. "It... It just
wouldn't work out... Remember our past lives? The darkness in our souls
would never allow it..."
"I don't care," sobbed Petz, burying her face in his chest. "As long as I
could be with you again..."
They stood together in the moonlight for a long time, reassured by each
others' presence. After a while, Petz reluctantly pulled away from Saffir's
embrace.
Just then, they heard a tapping noise behind them. Both looked up to see
Calaveras knocking surreptitiously on the doorframe, her younger sisters
standing uncomfortably behind her. As they stepped out onto the balcony,
Petz managed to compose herself, wiping tears from her eyes, as Saffir
addressed the other sisters.
"So... Have you made your decision?"
The three youngest Ayakashi sisters looked at each other uncertainly, and
then nodded. Saffir then turned back to the eldest sister, and addressed
her gently.
"Petz?"
The green-haired lady cast her eyes downwards. After a while, she looked
up, a resolute gaze in her eyes. "Yes," she replied firmly.
Saffir hung his head quietly for a moment. Then raising his right hand, he
waved it in front of each of the Ayakashi sisters' faces. Instantly, the
brand of the Black Moon appeared on their foreheads, and the sisters'
civilian clothing transformed into their respective Black Moon uniforms.
Then, Saffir held out his other hand, opening it. Upon it, lay four pairs
of dark crystal earrings. He gazed at each of the sisters with a mixture of
sadness and resolve, his gaze lingering the longest upon Petz.
"You know what to do."
As the earrings floated to each of the Ayakashi sisters, a dark crystal
spaceship rose up behind Saffir, overshadowing the balcony, and casting all
of them into darkness...
END
*****
Copyright Cherryne Edejer, 2000. Sailor Moon and all related characters
are property of Naoko Takeuchi, and are used without permission.
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