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Mars Fire Ignite
Chapter 6: A Rei of Hope
by Soumitra Choudhury
schoudh@eos.ncsu.edu
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The coming of the new day brought very little relief from the
trying night the scouts had encountered. A gloom of sooty grey clouds
settled over the city, periodically flashing a tendril of lightning
through its midst. The crispness of autumn gave way to a mournful,
wailing breeze, slipping its way through streets, cracks, and bones,
sending shivers of despair up and down the spines of the
population. It just wasn't one of those days one wanted to get out of
bed.
Serena stood at her window, hugging herself to ward off the
chill. Luna, worried that something was wrong, leaped onto the
windowsill. "Serena, are you alright?"
The princess ignored the cat's question, continued staring out
the window. "Don't you feel it, Luna? This isn't right. The air... it
feels wrong," she muttered after a while.
Flicking her tail in agitation, Luna merely nodded. She had
been told what had happened the night before, and it irked her that
she hadn't been around to help. She had been off with Artemis calling
in with Central Headquarters. Now, she could only do what she could to
help the other scouts defeat this Grell and try to get Rei back.
Central Headquarters had nothing to give on the entity known
as the Grell. The only person who knew anything was Darien... or the
Grell himself. He was a shadow, though. No one knew his whereabouts,
his hideout, nothing. It was as if he was nonexistent. Which, of
course, was not true.
Rei's condition was plenty testament to that.
What Serena told her of Rei also bothered the cat greatly. She
had always suspected that Rei had more power at her control than she
let on. Every time the cat had been present during a fire reading, she
could feel Rei building a barrier of willpower against something, and
releasing only a dribble of energy to control the Great Fire. Luna
always chalked it up to the rigors of being a Shinto priestess,
however, a topic with which she had little to no experience. It never
occurred to her that it was something much more.
And if Rei truly does have a great deal of power, how will the
strength of Sailor Mars affect it? Why hadn't Rei come as Mars to deal
with Serena and the rest?
Luna frowned as only a cat could. She felt that this piece of
the conundrum would be very important to consider, but she didn't have
enough knowledge to explore it. Perhaps Ami could help?
"Serena, when are we having the scout meeting?" the feline
asked.
"Umm, around one this afternoon. We're going to have it at
Mina's house because of her injuries."
Luna nodded. "Alright. We need to talk to Ami before that. I
need to ask her a few questions about Rei and her powers. Do you feel
up to it, Serena?"
The blonde girl stayed silent for a moment. Then, she squared
her shoulders and adopted a look of steady resolve. "Of course I'm up
to it. Rei needs us more than ever. I'm not going to let her down."
She turned to her dresser to find a suitable outfit.
Luna beamed with pride.
* * * * *
"Well, this is what I managed to find out, Luna," Ami replied
to the feline's question of Rei's powers. "The computer scanned out a
chart of her body activities, and it seems that her powers are indeed
magical in nature.She seems to be able to pull the required forces
>from the very air."
"Could you pinpoint anything about her powers?"
"Not any specifics, I'm afraid. I did notice, though, that
local weather patterns have changed drastically since yesterday. I
don't know whether that has anything to do with Rei, but the forecast
for today was originally lots of sun and 45 degrees, not overcast and
20. I can't be sure if it's a coincidence, but I've never heard of
clouds materializing from nothing over the span of a couple of hours."
She paused. "I think maybe her pulling so much from the surroundings
is causing the disrupted weather patterns."
"Alright. The concern is duly noted. What do you think about
the clashing of energies of Sailor Mars and her dark side?"
Ami shrugged. "I don't know. Based on experience, I wouldn't
think that a transformation would make a difference in her powers
other than adding the two together. That would make her deadly beyond
reckoning."
Serena frowned. "I haven't followed everything you said, but I
get the main gist. Now, whenever we transform, there's a sense of
goodness that surrounds us, a sense that what we are doing is for the
good of the world-" Ami nodded at this, "-so what happens when Rei
tries to transform and she feels this? Won't it clash with her dark
side?"
Luna blinked. "Why yes. That's exactly what I meant. Thank
you, Serena."
Ami contemplated this. "Well, I suppose it's possible that she
could be confused by this, but I have reservations about that. I think
she might be too powerful to fall to that sense."
"But somewhere deep down, the true Rei will feel it! It may
help in some way!" Serena cried emphatically.
"Perhaps," Ami replied, feeling bad about having to play the
realistic guy, "But it's a little much to have to weigh all our hopes
on, isn't it?"
The black feline gazed out the window. "It may be all we have,
Ami," she sighed softly.
Ami got up from the desk and ran a hand through her
hair. "Well, we should eat some lunch before we go to Mina's. Do you
want to eat here, Serena?"
The blonde smiled wanely. "Sure, I guess. I'm not too hungry,
though."
Luna was extremely worried.
It took some time, but Mina finally convinced her parents that
she would be okay without her parents around. When Mr. and Mrs. Aino
left, they got directly down to business.
"Alright, this is the situation, scouts," Luna began in an
authoritative voice, "As you all know, the Grell has managed to
subvert Rei somehow that has to do with the mask that she wears
constantly. Not only is she a less than nice person, Rei now has
more power than almost all of us combined, as last night's encounters
can attest to. Ami, do you want to explain your findings?"
Ami took up where Luna left off, providing them with all the
information she could glean from the data she had recorded. She didn't
mention Serena and Luna's theory about the transformation energy clash
until the very end.
"Wow!" exclaimed Mina, "you really think that's why she hasn't
become Sailor Mars yet and caused some real havoc?"
"It's not definite that this could happen, but yes, I think
that might be the case," the black cat replied.
Artemis padded out of Mina's lap and into the
spotlight. "Still, that doesn't explain how we are going to get her
back. The transformation may confuse her, but that's about it." He
shook his head. "Something about this is so familiar," he mumbled to
himself quietly. Mina stroked his head comfortingly.
No one could provide a response, so they turned to Darien, who
lowered his head. "I'm sorry girls, but I have no idea how to defeat
the Grell. Remember, we couldn't handle him even when magic was
prevalent, let alone now when we're the only ones who have power of
any kind."
*****
Rei perused over the last musty book, relishing the knowledge
that had been locked away from Civilization for so long. She now had
in her possession some of the most sought after treasures of the human
race of Earth, the Necronomicon and the head of John the Baptist to
name a couple. There were even items of tremendous magical power from
the Silver Millennium, Earth's distant past, and other planets and
existences, such as the sword Excaliber and something known as the
Runestone, a fist-sized black pearl inscribed with gold runes.
"That is the last of the treasures I have kept," breathed the
Grell, exhausted by his incarceration and having to guide the
fire-child around.
Rei closed the ancient anthology and teleported it to her
temple. She had taken to sending everything that she wanted to the
temple so that she could explore their lore later at her own
convenience. By now, the prayer room was choked full of wealth. "Hmm,
then it seems your usefulness is at an end. She raised her hands and
closed her eyes in concentration.
"What?!" cried the assassin, but he felt the forces of her
power gathering even as he spoke. Yelling out obscenities, struggling
futilely, the Grell tried desperately to escape. He even used what
little energy he had left, but it was swept away, just as before.
A gale slammed into him, and he screamed out his hatred and
pain. Motes of brilliant white light popped into existence around him,
forming the outlines of an sphere. The gale turned into a hurricane of
force, sending the papers, books, dust and furniture flying about in a
frenzied dance. More and more motes appeared, constructing a glowing
circular barrier around the evil being.
In the midst of this all, Rei calmly stood with her arms
raised high, eyes resolutely closed... until a full shining sphere
encased the Grell. Her eyes snapped open and she clapped her hands
together, spitting out a stream of arcane phrases. She finished the
last phrase, which encased herself in a shielding bubble of clear
jade, just as the world about her exploded.
*****
Suddenly the world shone brilliantly through the windows, and
everyone in the room snapped their attention in that
direction. Leaping to the glass, Lita swung the curtains open. What
greeted them would remain etched in their memories for all time.
Mina's house resided on a hill of sorts, so it had a fairly
good view of the surrounding city. Thus, they were able to see the
horribly huge globe of destruction that hung over the northeastern
part of Tokyo, a quarter nestled into the ground. Expanding rings of
pure flames inclined up the globe and shot off into the sky, ripping
through the overcasting clouds. A dull rumble reached their gathering,
and it felt as if a mild earthquake had meandered its way through the
ground.
The display lasted for a few minutes, then began to shrink in
upon itself. Slowly, irrevocably, the rings grew smaller in diameter,
the globe collapsing and elongating, until a column of pearly light,
perhaps no thicker than a tree stump, blazed up from the center of the
destruction into the heavens. Then, even that pillar dissipated
away. The shaking of the ground faded.
All that remained of the magnificent show was a crater a mile
wide and several hundred feet deep.
No one said a word, absolutely dumbstruck by the awesome
explosion, everyone's mouths hanging open. Mr. and Mrs. Aino burst
into the room. "Is everyone okay?" Mina's mother asked, looking
visibly shaken.
It took a few moments, but Mina voiced their perfect health,
and managed to get rid of her parents, albeit gently and with utmost
care.
"By the Moon, what was that?!" Serena cried when wits had
returned to all present.
Luna and Artemis had the most horrified expressions on their
face, and it was Amy who first noticed it. "What is it?" she
inquired. Internally, her mind was calculating and analyzing what kind
of power could cause that much of an effect. Atomic bomb?... no, too
localized. Exploding nuclear power plant?... no, doesn't seem to be
any radiation. The Grell? Possible. Rei? Dear God...
Luna curled up into a ball, shivering uncontrollably, and
seemed on the verge of tears. Artemis nuzzled her gently, then stared
up into the confused eyes of the scouts. "We remember what Rei is," he
muttered miserably. He sucked in a large breath, let it out slowly,
and proceeded.
"Back in the days of the Silver Millennium, each of the
individual principalities where you girls reigned as princesses were
known for being superior in a certain talent. For example, the people
of Jupiter were well respected for being the best military minds in
the solar system, those of Mercury as the most scholastically gifted
sages, so on and so forth. Most notably, though, were the people of
Mars, who were gifted in the lore of magic. In fact, before the Silver
Millennium even got started, it was the people of Mars who forged the
magical link the Moon Kingdom thrived upon. This, of course, is a
generalization, for interplanetary mingling spread the talents to the
other parts of the kingdom. For the most part, though, each was known
for their forte."
Artemis closed his eyes and inhaled again. "Anyway, once in a
while, their is one born who is extraordinarily gifted in the
arcane. He or she is afforded much honor, and schooled methodically in
his or her talent. The people of Mars called this person an Archmagi."
"An Archmagi had the honor and power to do as he or she
pleased, because of its rarity. Eventually, one family became the only
line in which an Archmagi arose from: Mars' Royal Line."
"So you're saying Rei's an Archmagi," Lita said, not
understanding what the big deal was. "So what? We're still the Sailor
Scouts. We have enough magic to deal with her, right?"
Luna perked up. "No! That's what we are getting at, Lita. Your
powers are not enough to deal with her alone."
"She's right," added Artemis, shaking his head. "The Sailor
Scouts cannot handle a rampaging Archmagi."
"In the past, an Archmagi almost always came to the court of
the Moon Kingdom to act as an advisor. He would have been given every
right and honor of nobility, almost to the rank of a prince, but there
was always an understanding. There were two reasons he would be kept
near the Moon court. First, undoubtably he was the most knowledgeable
individual in all things magical. With this, the Archmagi could advise
and instruct the Moon Kingdom from its capital."
"Second, and most importantly, the Archmagi was kept in the
central court so he could be watched."
The scouts blinked, not quite understanding the last
statement. "I'm afraid you lost us, Artemis," Darien said, voicing
everyone's confusion. "Why would he need to be watched?"
"You see, all of your powers come from innate magic that flows
through the solar system. Each of you can access your own planet's,
um, er, 'magic pool' if you will. It's based on a lot of theory and
scientific jargon that I don't rightly understand myself, so take my
word on it."
"An Archmagi, however, has control over a lot more than these
surrounding 'magic pools'. He or she can actually tap into the weave
of magic that spans the universe, that is the source of all
magic. Thus, the Archmagi has a nearly infinite source of power."
Artemis could tell he had their attention now as the understanding of
what they were up against finally dawned upon them. "Because of this
limitless power, the Archmagi was not only respected, but feared as
well."
"Most of them were kind, gentle, and of considerable help
throughout the history of the Silver Millennium. They were
instrumental in capturing criminal powers beyond our means. There was
once, however, where one of the Archmagi went astray, once long, long
ago."
Serena seemed fascinated. "What happened?"
Luna piped in here. "Well, you of course know of the asteroid
belt between Mars and Jupiter, right?"
Serena fidgeted a bit, looking embarrassed. "Uh, sure
Luna. The Asteroid Belt. Yeah I remember that." It was clear to
everyone that Serena had no clue there was an asteroid belt between
Mars and Jupiter.
Sighing in exasperation, Luna continued. "Yes, well, according
to history, back some one thousand years before the end of the Silver
Millennium, one Archmagi went on an ambitious rampage of
conquest. Back then, there was a planet called Muse in between Mars
and Jupiter, not an asteroid belt."
Everyone could tell where this was heading.
"The Archmagi, one Amos Hanadar, captured Muse and bent it to
his will. There was a great battle with the combined might of the Moon
Kingdom. It cost us severely, and in the end, Amos destroyed the
planet rather than surrender to us."
Serena gasped. "So many people..."
Luna gazed at her a bit sadly. "That included your great great
grandmother."
"What?!"
"Yes, she used the Silver Imperium Crystal to help in the
battle, and it took too much of her. Even then, the Crystal's power
was almost not enough. The Sailor Scouts of the time gave as much of
their own power to help, and it nearly killed all of them."
Silence filled the small room, and Serena's gaze slid back to
the open window, and the crater off in the distance. 'Oh Rei,' she
thought to herself, 'what's happened to you? Was that you who just
destroyed all that land, and all those people?' A single tear fell
from her eye.
"So," Mina began tentatively, "that explosion that we just
saw, that was Rei using her powers?" Fear tinged her voice.
Luna nodded. "I remember seeing those particular types of
explosions before. It occurs when someone of great power is trying to
access and manipulate the Spirit Wrack." She had a puzzled expression
on her face. "But why would she even want to? There hasn't been anyone
in there for hundreds of years."
"Uh, Spirit Wrack?" inquired Ami.
"Oh, yes. The Spirit Wrack is a magical prison that we used to
hold very powerful enemies. It was created ... "
*****
The Cherry Hill Temple rested upon its hillock foundation,
remaining vigilant in its scans about the surrounding suburbia. Had it
been living, though, it would have noticed the strange calm that
suddenly blanketed the temple grounds. The birds stopped twittering,
the breeze stopped blowing, the cherry blossoms stopped falling.
Inside, in the main room with the Great Fire blazing its
healthy warmth, streams of jade light coalesced from the air from all
parts of the room, gathering in an ever-growing globe of shimmering
luminescence. It expanded until it encompassed the whole center of the
chamber, then blinked out of existence, depositing a none-too-healthy
Rei nonchalantly upon the wooden floor.
The young girl groaned plaintively at the impact. Her kimono
lay shredded upon her form, nearly threadbare and tattered to
nonexistence. Her once glossy cascade of ebony hair now fell about her
in a matted mess of sweat-drenched clumps. Even her face, drawn and
pale, attested to a dreadfully exhausting endeavor that nearly
overcame her. Dark circles of fatigue underneath her eyes marred her
angelic beauty, her teeth pressed together, her breath escaping in a
hissing rattle.
The mask, torn and disintegrated, fluttered away to ash when
her breath passed through it.
Many minutes passed before Rei finally gained enough willpower
to drag her chilled and battered body closer to the Great Fire. Her
consciousness slipped away as her mind considered the numbing waves of
soreness sloshing about her head and limbs...
*****
"...And that is what the Spirit Wrack is," Luna finished with
a slight shiver.
Ami's faces pinched up in concentration. Why would Rei try to
manipulate the Spirit Wrack indeed? It didn't make too much
sense. 'Alright, Ami, slow down and think this through. The other
scouts are counting on you for this sort of thing' she thought,
calming herself down. 'First, the Spirit Wrack is a prison, a VERY
STRONG prison, designed for those who would cause massive damage if
allowed to run rampant.' Aloud, Ami asked, "Luna, you're sure there
was no one in the Spirit Wrack when the Silver Millennium collapsed?"
"Almost positive. The chamber hadn't been used in several
centuries really."
'Alright, so Rei didn't use it to release anything. Second, it
takes considerable energy to realign the facets of the crystal chamber
so that it can hold someone without killing them.' Ami's features of
puzzlement grew. 'Thus she had to put someone into the chamber to even
bother with it.' A mental click echoed through her mind.
"The Grell," she whispered, still partially lost in the
confines of her logical deduction.
Darien started. "The Grell? What do you mean?" The rest of
them had been discussing the explosion while her mind had whirled
away.
Ami's face glowed with understanding. "Think about it. Why
would Rei want to open the Spirit Wrack? To put someone in there,
right?"
Hesitant nods filled the room.
"So, if she needed to open it, she probably had someone to
throw in there, and who is the only one we know of who poses a strong
enough threat that would warrant this kind of expenditure of energy?"
The dawning of knowledge came slowly, but surely, and yet, it
didn't quite clear up much of anything.
"But why would she do that?" Luna asked, "unless of course,
she's not under his control anymore."
At this, Serena's face lit up. "Then she's come back to
us. She's going to be well again!" She leaped up into Darien's arms,
who tentatively returned the embrace, though his countenance showed he
was less than ready to believe that.
"She couldn't have beat the Grell all by herself," he mumbled,
astonished at the conclusion Ami had reached. The combined weight of
Serena's embrace and his own lack of comprehension dragged him into a
seat.
"Actually, Serena," Ami stumbled after a moment, "this doesn't
mean Rei is back to normal. Remember, she still has the mask with
her."
"But, but, that doesn't matter now, does it?" the blonde
pleaded. "The Grell controlled the mask, didn't he? Now she can get
rid of it, right?" No one had an answer for her, and her jubilance
slipped away once again. "Well, at least we don't have the Grell to
worry about anymore."
They were all silent for few moments more, trying to come up
with something to give them a focus as to what could be done, all
except for Darien. 'She just tossed him into the Spirit Wrack, just
like that,' he pondered to himself, still trying to chew it down. 'We
spend hundreds of years trying to capture or destroy him, and Rei just
walk right in and throws him in the most feared prison of all time!'
Streams of hot anger began to seep there way into Darien's mind. 'All
the bloodshed, all the deaths, all the destruction!' "And you had the
power the whole time!" The last came out in a cry of fury that caused
everyone in the room to jump ten feet.
Blinking a few times to bring himself back, he rose to his
feet. "I...I'm sorry. I need to go." He gently shoved his way passed
the girls, avoided Serena's curiously fearful gaze, and veritably ran
out the door.
"Um, I wonder what that was all about," Lita questioned
softly. No reply answered her.
*****
Nothing was resolved at Mina's house after that. No one knew
where to find Rei, or if they even wanted to find Rei yet, especially
with Mina down for the next couple of days (Mina fought against this
consensus, but it was a losing battle; she couldn't even get out of
bed with help). Thus, the best thing to do, they decided, was to rest
up, stay alert, keep in touch... and pray for the best.
Over the next few days, Darien was nowhere to be found.
For all the hardships that were bombarding the small group of
heroines, their leader was taking it remarkably well. The seriousness
of the situation had embedded itself firmly into her mind, and she
took another full step to maturing. She rarely smiled, finding that it
helped to put her carefree attitude to the side for the moment. Her
dexterity increased threefold, astonishing those individuals who had
no idea what was going on. She even awoke in the morning for school
without being pestered and nagged to death. She never once cried about
Darien's sudden and inexplicable disappearance. She took everything in
stride.
All in all, the girls missed the old Serena.
*****
"Release me!"
"Not on your life!"
"It's your life too!"
"Well, I like it the way it is!"
"You can't keep me here forever! The mask is gone, and I will
be free again. You know I am the stronger of the two of us!"
"Really? Is that why I still have control of the body, the
mind and the power? Is that why you can't seem to burst free of a
prison that has no walls, no barriers, no obstacles? Is it because you
are stronger that you float aimlessly in your own mind, locked away by
your own will?"
Silence.
Rei smirked to herself. "Of course not. It's not because you
are stronger. It's because you're WEAKER. You can't bear to come back
now. I've done too much. You're ashamed. You're afraid they don't like
me anymore, and thus, they don't like you anymore."
Silence, and then... a quiet sob.
Rei smirked in enjoyment. "You are right, though. They do hate
you. The deaths you have caused. The pain you have dealt. It's all
your fault." She turned to walk back to the world proper, vanishing
away into the foggy expanse.
Behind her, she heard Rei crying to herself, dejected and
alone in her own mind, her own grave.
*****
It was with great flourish that Rei stretched herself
awake. It felt good to be conscious. She opened her eyes slowly,
allowing them to adjust to the light about her.
She still lay in the room of the Great Fire, as the
everburning fire to her left could attest to. All about her were
books, treasures, and countless other artifacts she had taken from the
Grell's hideout. The Grell's former hideout.
She stood up, feeling the stiffness and kinks in her muscles
from sleeping on a wooden floor. Wondrously, though, the numbing
exhaustion was gone, washed away as her energies replenished
themselves in her slumber. Already, Rei could feel her powers flowing
through her once again.
She chided herself for attempting such a feat as changing the
Spirit Wrack when she wasn't quite ready. The drain on her had been
phenomenal, much more than she had expected. Had she not erected a
spell to shield her before the feat, and also a contingency to
teleport her to the temple when the deed was through, Rei was fairly
certain she would have perished in the aftermath. That notion gave her
a slight chill of... excitement?
Shaking her head slightly, she caught a glimpse of
herself. Her clothes were ruined, her hair, which hung limply, was a
mess, and her mask was gone. She blinked.
Her mask was gone.
Rei reached up with a trembling hand, stroking her face where
the mask should have been. All she felt was the smooth velvety texture
of her skin. "So," she mumbled to herself, "that really wasn't a
dream. I really am free." It struck her as odd, though. Which Rei am
I?
She let her mind wander about for a moment, then returned to
the present, satisfied with her probing. She was still Rei Hino,
Shinto priestess of Cherry Hill Temple. Rei Hino, alias Sailor Mars.
Rei Hino, soon to be Neo-Queen of Crystal Tokyo.
A malicious grin spread across her face. All in due time.
There was a slight difference now, though. Before, she was
confident that the moral Rei was locked away by the powers of the
mask, unable to break free. Now, however, she could sense a part of
her mind inhabited by her good half. It was small and it was weak, but
it was there, and she would have to keep it under control. This didn't
worry her too much. She was sure her good half didn't really want to
come out and play anymore. Shame and embarrassment would keep her
away.
Within the hour, Rei was back to her normal, coldly beautiful
self, immersed in organizing her newly acquired treasures. It would
take a few days to gather these away, and then she could get on to
bigger and better plans.
For instance, what was she going to do about the Sailor
Scouts?
*****
Three days later, or rather three nights later, a shadowy
figure quietly leaped down from a rooftop, and silently made his way
towards the temple on the hill. The familiar lights which usually
shone at night and lent an enchanted look to the shrine were
conspicuously gone, and several people had been turned away from it in
the last couple of days.
The figure stepped over to the front doors. Through the
windows, he could see lights shining from within. Carefully, he slid
the doors open, peeked inside, and stepped in. He slid the doors back
shut.
Somewhere in the back of the temple, he could hear humming.
Padding his way through the building, following the sounds of
a soothingly seductive voice, he entered Rei's bedroom. The singing
was coming from the adjoining bathroom.
Rei wrapped a plush towel about her head, another about her
body, all the while singing and humming a song she had written some
time ago. Satisfied that her bathroom duties were complete, she opened
the door and stepped into her room.
She was startled by Tuxedo Mask standing across the room,
opposite her.
"I'm sorry, Rei, is this a bad time?" he asked mockingly. He
had no intention of leaving without getting what he wanted first.
As the initial surprise wore off, Rei felt a tingling in the
back of her mind, a feeling of... attraction? Even after all that had
gone on? Hmm...
Smiling coyly, Rei sauntered up to him. "My, my, Darien. You
came looking for me? In my bedroom? What's the matter? Is Serena not
satisfying you enough?"
Mask clenched his fists and his teeth, hissing in anger, but
forced it back down. "I need to know something," he grated, stepping
away from her.
Rei arched an eyebrow, still retaining that seductive
smile. "And what makes you think I'm going to tell you what you want
to know?"
He snapped out a hand and grabbed her wrist. "Because I'm not
going to leave until you tell me!" It vaguely registered through his
haze of rage that she no longer had the mask on.
Rei's smile slipped to a frown at being handled so, but she
reigned in her initial reaction to blast him through the
wall. "Temper, temper, my prince. What is it that you wish to know?"
She was actually quite curious why this fool would come here alone to
confront her.
He breathed in a bit, then calmly asked, "Did you have the
power to stop the Grell back in the Silver Millennium?" He released
his hold on her.
A twinkle of laughter escaped her at that. "Is that all? Did I
have the power to STOP the Grell back then? What an interesting
question?" She continued her crystalline laugh, a laugh that held a
serrated edge to his nerves. Through his boiling fury, deep in his
rational lobe of his mind, he considered the consequences of his next
action, but, of course, who ever listened to that?
He reached forward and grabbed her roughly by both arms and
pulled her to him. "Stop laughing!" he screamed into her face.
Instantly, her mirth snapped shut, replaced with cold,
implacable control. Her black orbs locked onto his face, and within
those pools, a twinkle of flame began to rise out of them, white
flames that grew in intensity as they surfaced from the wells of her
being.
Twin streams of bright fire burst from her eyes, striking
Tuxedo Mask point blank in the chest, pounding him back through the
air and slamming him into the chest of drawers behind him. A
multi-spined mass of pain exploded from his chest. He screamed out a
primal cry of agony like none he had ever cried out before...
*****
Serena sprung straight up on her bed, surprising her black
feline to no end.
"Serena!" Luna hissed, miffed about being woken up, especially
having fallen asleep a few minutes ago. "What's wrong with you?!"
The blonde didn't answer. Darien's scream rang echoes through
her head, and it scared her terribly. Somewhere out there, her love
was in dire trouble.
Leaping out of bed, she fumbled on some clothes, quietly
opened her window, and carefully made her escape. Once outside, she
turned to a concerned Luna, who had followed behind. "Darien's in
trouble Luna!" she whispered. "I've got to go find him!"
"Call the other scouts then!" came the firm reply.
Serena hesitated a moment, feeling like this was her battle,
but dismissed that notion entirely. That was how Rei got caught
anyway. Besides, she might not be able to handle whatever this
was. Especially with the way Darien sounded...
She pressed the all-call button on her communicator, feeling
the mental tug of Tuxedo Mask's presence somewhere to the west.
"Serena, this had better be good," mumbled a sleepy Mina,
yawning loudly. Lita backed up that sentiment. Ami quietly waited.
"Meet me at the park, guys. Darien's in trouble."
That got everyone going.
*****
Breathing became deadly uncomfortable as the streams of fire
tapered off. Tuxedo Mask found himself smashed up against a piece of
furniture, most of his tuxedo burned away, revealing a mildly scorched
chest, and he definitely felt humbled, gasping like a fish.
"Don't you EVER grab me again!" Rei screeched, wisps of snowy
flames coruscating about her eyes. "I will not be trifled with,
Darien." She said this last in a menacing whisper.
Turning on her heels, she headed over to her closet, dropped
her towel, and proceeded to get dressed. Had it been any other
situation, Darien would have fled the room, embarrassed beyond
belief. He didn't rise, though. He barely acknowledged the fact. All
he could concentrate on was the burning in his chest, and trying to
get each breath to flow properly.
When she finished, she was clad in another silk kimono, though
this one a deep black, matching her hair and eyes... and heart. She
threw off the towel about her head, manifested a mild fire about her
hair, and dried her locks. "You know, I don't know if I could have
stopped the Grell back then," she offered thoughtfully, reaching for a
brush. This startled Tuxedo Mask into listening.
She drew the brush through her mane a few times, just to get
the kinks out, never truly paying attention to him. She seemed a bit
lost within her own world. "I knew I had the power, but I didn't
really want it." She scoffed. "Or rather, my former self didn't really
want it. She thought it would be too much, and she was scared for the
Princess. She didn't want to end up like that one Archmagi... the one
who destroyed Muse."
"You mean, she didn't want to end up like you," Mask wheezed
out, clutching at his chest at the pain of speaking. He couldn't pass
up the opportunity to verbally jab her.
She chuckled at that. "If you like, though that seems a moot
point now, doesn't it? Anyway, she was supposed to get training in the
wielding of her powers, but alas, the Negaverse made there
move. Perhaps a bit too early for her. She may have been able to stop
Beryl where that fool Queen Serenity could not." Rei put down the
hairbrush and turned back to Mask. "Now, what to do with you?"
"Rei, listen to me-"
"No!" she spat. "You listen to me. I am tired of this
ridiculous life that we have fallen into. What is happening to us? We
wait constantly for another monster to show up, and then go fight it,
afterwards returning to whatever we were doing? What kind of existence
is that?"
Mask raised himself to his elbows. "It won't always be like
this."
Rei sneered. "You're right. It won't always be like this. I am
going to change things."
"No."
Tuxedo Mask and Rei turned to the doorway of her bedroom,
wondering who would have the courage (or gall, depending on who you
asked) to defy the young girl.
Standing in the threshold stood a wondrously beautiful woman,
roughly in her twenties physically. Long dark green hair fell down her
back to her waist, complementing the Sailor Scout outfit of deep blue
and purple. In her hand she held staff topped with a brilliant
fist-sized spherical orb of blood red, matching the hue of her calm
but stern eyes, eyes that exuded ageless intelligence and wisdom.
Mask did a double take. 'What the hell?' he cried to himself,
'Another Sailor Scout?!'
Rei's own eyes narrowed in irritation. "Who are you?"
The newcomer stepped forward, into the room. "I am the
Guardian of Time, the one known as Sailor Pluto," the woman replied
matter-of-factly. "Do you remember, Rei?"
As soon as the identity was revealed, a host of images
fluttered about the Archmagi's mind, images of an immortal scout who
stood apart from the rest, an enigmatic character who was rarely seen
and even rarely heard from, a mystery that made her a near legend in
the Silver Millennium. A powerful entity, as those legends would have
it...
Rei arched an eyebrow. "What are you doing here?"
"You cannot continue this way, Rei," Sailor Pluto
responded. "What you are doing is changing the time stream. Even as we
speak, your actions are causing the River of Time to bend and warp."
The evil sorceress shrugged. "So?"
A flicker of annoyance passed over Pluto's otherwise calm
face. "The future that is destined will be polluted, corrupted, unless
you stop. Crystal Tokyo is already in danger."
"So?" Rei repeated, this time with a hint of a smile.
Sailor Pluto frowned. "I will destroy you if it is necessary
to maintain the proper path to the future, Rei." The statement held
the chill of certainty in it.
Rather than acknowledge the comment, she caught the slight
movement of Tuxedo Mask as he tried to reach for a rose from within
his cloak. Concentrating, Rei lifted Mask from his position and sent
him hurtling through the air... directly at Sailor Pluto.
Pluto tapped her staff lightly on the floor. The orb burst
into brilliance, and Mask's momentary flight halted in mid-air. He
landed in a decrepit heap at Pluto's feet.
"I warn you again, Rei. Stop this madness. You were not meant
to be the Neo-Queen of Crystal Tokyo. You are Sailor Mars, Defender of
Queen Serenity. This power trip will only end up destroying your
pride, and quite possibly your life." Pluto spoke in a cold but
commanding manner.
Rei bared her teeth at the older woman, taking stock of this
powerful foe. The fact that she could recall the strength of this
enigmatic character did little to dissuade her from the need for
conquest, but she felt it would be best to approach the situation with
extreme caution. Afterall, one did not get the title 'Guardian of
Time' and live in near immortality for nothing. In addition, the orb
Pluto held permeated a strong energy signature Rei had never
encountered before. Yes, caution was the best solution for this
predicament.
"Do you mind if we take this outside?" Rei muttered, vanishing
before she could hear a reply, taking Tuxedo Mask with her.
Sailor Pluto turned on her heels and strode out of the room,
and the temple, with all the care of a cold slab of steel.
*****
Minutes later, the remaining Scouts dashed into the park, two
felines converging with them. "Serena," Artemis yawned, stretching
lightly, "this had better be good. I don't often dream about lying on
a bed of tuna." He deftly leaped out of the way of Luna's slashing
claw.
Barely winded at the sprint, adrenaline (and fear) pumping
through her body, Serena responded, "Darien's in trouble. I heard him
scream in my sleep, felt him transform into Tuxedo Mask, and we're
wasting time." With that, she took off for the direction she
instinctively knew led to her beloved.
It was all the other scouts could do to keep up. Even the cats
were having difficulty. Full speed, Sailor Moon seemed as if she would
run forever to get to where they were going, and to Ami's perception,
they were headed for Rei's temple."Um, Sailor Moon?" she inquired,
huffing and puffing.
"Yes, I know, Mercury. Rei's temple," their leader replied,
and added an extra burst of speed. 'Please let them be okay.'
They rounded the final corner, and abruptly ground to a halt,
wondering if perhaps they had made a wrong turn somewhere. The temple
on Cherry Hill loomed over the surrounding suburbia, dark and
foreboding without its typical cheery lights to sooth any tortured
soul. A few auras of luminescence escaped through a couple of windows,
but the courtyard and the stairs lay shrouded in a cloak of darkness,
hauntingly reminiscent of a graveyard. Not even the Moon shone through
the thick bank of clouds blanketing the sky to illuminate the
spiritual grounds.
A flickering movement of deeper darkness drew their attention
to the courtyard. Something, or someone was in there. Sailor Moon took
a step forward, but Mercury placed a firm hand on her
shoulder. "No. Let me check it out first." She raised a finger to
activate her visor, but a globe of incandescence beat her too it.
A sphere of pale lunar light rose from the temple grounds,
bathing the carefully manicured grounds with an ethereal
brilliance. Twenty feet in diameter, it rose to the tops of the cherry
trees that lined the grounds, then stopped, shining like a second
moon.
Casually standing in the sea of grass that was the temple
grounds was Rei, clad all in swirling black silk, a shadowy nimbus of
hair fluttering about her. At her feet lay the weakened Tuxedo Mask,
struggling to rise to his feet.
"Tuxedo Mask!" screamed Sailor Moon, dashing across the street
to the courtyard, her faithful Scouts one step behind.
Snarling in irritation, Rei twisted about and brought up her
arms in a warding gesture, sharply motioning one arm downward in a
slash. A flicker of fire emerged from her eyes, pulsing bright.
Moon ran full speed onto the grounds, then slammed into the
invisible barrier that sprung up between her and the temple
lands. Dazed and hurting, the world spinning wildly, she fell back,
barely caught by Jupiter before Moon could strike the sidewalk. "Ohhh,
that hurt... bad," groaned the blonde, trying to focus her exploding
mind.
Luna and Artemis skidded to a halt, probing the invisible
wall, while Mercury began a computer scan. "I'm afraid Rei's domed off
the whole compound, guys," the blue-haired scout intoned, eyes glued
to her computer screen. "I'll try to figure out how to bypass it, but
given Rei's apparent expertise in magic..." she left the statement
unfinished as her visor came down once again.
Meanwhile, inside the transparent dome, Rei bent over and
touched her forefinger upon Mask's brow. A twinkle of foxfire pulsed
for a moment, and Tuxedo Mask felt his own world slip away as magical
waves of exhaustion rolled over him. In seconds, he was asleep,
snoring softly.
Satisfied that she wouldn't be disrupted, Rei straightened to
her full majestic height, waiting patiently for her opponent to show
herself. She measured the arcane energies her body held within
her. 'Hmm, that should be enough,' Rei though to herself calmly. She
didn't question that she would triumph over this evil.
'Now, where did that phrase come from?'
She didn't have time to consider the familiarity, or nonsense,
of her thoughts, for the intruding new Scout stepped out of the
temple, brandishing her staff, the orb glowing softly. Pluto glanced
about once, then fixed her eyes upon the fiery young priestess once
again. "I offer you one last chance, Rei Hino. Stop this foolishness,
or be destroyed."
Rei's answer was a superior smirk. She raised her arms toward
the green-haired woman, and released her Hellfire.
*****
"Who in the world is that?!" squealed Venus, witnessing the
entrance to the new Scout. The other Scouts gawked in silence, except
for Mercury, who continued trying to analyze the dome.
A streaking inferno of cleansing flames erupted from Rei's
outstretched arms, sluicing through the air towards the
newcomer. Pluto pointed the orb end of the staff towards the fiery
gout, and a shrill, lavender sphere of temporal energy shot out and
met the fire head on. The ensuing shockwave threw the Scouts to the
ground as waves upon waves of gale force winds blasted away from the
temple grounds.
When the Scouts could raise their heads again to see the
effect, they saw that both Rei and the new Scout were holding their
powers against each other, maintaining a deadly lock of magical
energies. Neither was gaining any ground on the other, and both were
straining powerfully. The glowing orb of lavender held in place,
though, against the cylinder of arcane fire erupting from Rei's arms.
Secretly, however, Pluto's mind boggled at the strength of the
attack. 'I can't possibly hold this for long!' she yelled at herself,
gritting her teeth at the tremendous strain on her powers. 'How can
this be?! She must be stopped, but how?!'
Even as she scrambled for a plan, Rei's spellfire slowly began
to push back the temporal orb. Pluto could feel her feet slipping
backwards at the forces. 'No! This can't be!'
Mercury cried out. "Now, guys! The dome has weakened a bit!
Everyone fire in front!"
The Scouts stepped back, and as one, powered up their most
powerful attacks.
"Mercury Ice Bubbles Blast!"
"Jupiter Thunder Dragon Crash!"
"Venus Cresent Beam Shower!"
Sailor Moon held back. Her attack wouldn't help all that much
anyway.
The three blasts smashed into the center of the area before
them. Cracks of glass appeared along the dome, spreading outward in a
spiderweb as the attacks burrowed through, and finally shattered the
invisible barrier.
Just as the dome collapsed, Rei, mildly pushing against Sailor
Pluto's attack, felt the power of that spell fade, and added it to her
fire stream. The whitish flames burst into even more brilliance than
before, engulfed the lavender sphere that was Pluto's power, and
blasted the gout into the insolent woman.
As the flames engulfed her staff, Pluto disappeared in a
symphony of light.
"Rei! What have you done?!" screamed a horrified Sailor Moon,
running up to her sleeping Tuxedo Mask and hugging his prone body to
herself. The other Scouts assumed defensive positions around her.
Rei glanced at each on in turn. "My, how amusing. Sailor Klutz
and her gaggle of pubescent girlfriends, come to save her dashing
hero. Well, it seems you're a bit late for Sailor Pluto. Her essence
is scattered to ash now." The sorceress chuckled. Mentally, she noted
how draining it was to maintain that magic, and how she was going to
handle these fools.
Jupiter growled. "Rei, if you-"
The fire-child raised a hand in disdain. "Please, Lita, spare
me your bullying threats. We all know that none of you are a match for
me."
This really got the Scout of Thunder going, and she stepped
forward, swinging a closed fist in a roundhouse punch that would knock
Rei clear into the next street over... had Rei been there to receive
it.
Popping into existence behind Jupiter, Rei circled about,
raising a delicate foot in the process. With astonishing speed and
precision, the sorceress performed a perfect circle kick that
connected with the green scout's temple. The world went black before
Jupiter could figure out where her target went.
Venus, reacting quickly to Rei's sudden teleportation, leaped
back. Mercury simply raised her hand.
"Mercury Bubbles Blast!"
"Venus Love Me Chain!"
A glowing length of chain wrapped around Rei; simultaneously,
she became encased in a mass of bubbles, all except her head.
"Very good, girls. Very good indeed," she applauded, smiling
beautifically, though she remained entrapped.
Sailor Moon shuddered, and rose to her feet. "Rei, stop this
at once! These are your friends! We're all your friends, and your
hurting us!"
Rei's grin fell to a menacing frown. Her eyes narrowed as she
leveled her gaze on her once best friend. "I don't need you anymore. I
don't want to be your 'friend'. All I want is to be the Neo-Queen of
Crystal Tokyo!" She strained her arcane powers, sending a sliver of it
down the chains. The conduction carried it along to Venus, who
couldn't drop the chain in time. A bolt of lightning sizzled through
her, locking her muscles into places, flaring her hair on end. The
blast lasted for mere seconds, but Venus was out cold when she finally
fell down, wisps of electricity snaking about her features.
Stunned into shock, Mercury missed it when Rei threw off the
bubble cocoon and began to weave a spell. Only when huge earthen hands
raised out of the ground and grasped her in an elemental hold did she
realize her error. The hands pulled her into the ground until only her
head remained above. Mercury was effectively imprisoned.
"Stop it, Rei!" Sailor Moon screamed, the speed at which her
Scouts had been incapacitated scaring her hugely. "These are the
Scouts! You're hurting them!"
"Of course I'm hurting them, you dolt!" Rei yelled back, rage
and sanity vying for control of her demonic, fiery eyes. "They are in
my way!"
Moon backed away, terribly afraid that Rei had finally lost
any semblance of stability in her. She reached out for the Moon
Scepter, holding it before her like a Christian cross, perhaps to ward
off her once best friend.
Disdainfully, Rei flicked a telekinetic bolt at the puny
object, sending it whirling away.
Sobbing now, Sailor Moon fell to her knees. She could vaguely
hear Mercury shouting at her to get away, to save herself, but nothing
registered. Her Rei was about to utterly destroy her, and there was
nothing she could do. She could feel hope slipping through her
fingers.
"Use the Crystal!"
Moon started, realizing the voice came from within her mind.
"Use the Silver Imperium Crystal, Princess!"
Rei stopped also, tilting her head quizzically. 'What is
this?' she thought mildly. She could hear the voice also, a familiar
voice...
"Dammit, Princess! Stand up and use the Crystal against her if
you value all the lives on the planet!"
That did it! Sailor Moon threw off the haze of despair that
threatened to engulf her, and called forth the Crystal from whence it
came. Her broach flipped open, and a large, fist sized diamond-like
gem floated out, flaring into brilliance before them. Moon sized up to
unleash the awesome might of the Crystal, silently praying for Rei's
forgiveness. Unimaginable grief and sorrow wracked her as she prepared
to fend off her close and dear friend, perhaps killing one or both of
them in the process.
And Rei began to laugh!
It started as a chuckle, cruel and mirthless, but it gained in
volume and emotion, ending in a roar of raging laughter that crushed
Moon in its superiority.
"What are you going to do, Serena? Kill me? Blow me away to
save this decrepit little planet?" Rei asked between guffaws. The
blonde princess took another step back, feeling her resolve cracking.
"Here, I'll even make it easier for you!" the sorceress cried,
and pointed to the ground encasing Mercury. A groaning rumble shifted
beneath their feet, and the blue-haired scout screamed in agony,
gasping pitifully occasionally as air was forced out of her lungs by
the squeezing earth.
Tears fell freely down Moon's face. "Please Rei! Stop it!" The
screams slashed through her being like stilettos, weakening her with
sickening grief, and yet, she couldn't raise her arms to clasp the
Crystal and end it all.
Mercifully, Ami lost consciousness in a matter of seconds, and
Rei released her grip. Slowly, Mercury's body rose out of the ground
to lay serenely on the verdant grass.
"You see, you can't destroy me, my dear friend," Rei said
sarcastically, padding over to the pathetic Moon, towering over
her. "You're too weak. You still see-" she absently waved a few
strands of light towards the onrushing cats, wrapping them up in a web
of magic, "-a human being who used to pick on you, but always played
as you friend. Another weak human who is forever locked away in her
own body because she cannot see that being moral, being a goody-goody,
will get her nowhere! Now, be a good girl and give me the Crystal."
Moon whispered something between her sobs, something Rei
couldn't here.
"What was that?"
"Mars. My friend Mars," Serena muttered a bit louder. Her
tears slowed a bit.
"Mars? You want to see your 'dear friend Mars'? Fine, here is
your precious Mars!" Rei reached into her pocket to retrieve the
transformation pen, thoroughly missing the slight smile that played at
the edges of Sailor Moon's lips.
"Mars Star Power!"
The familiar rush of flash and flame engulfed the
blacked-haired sorceress, until once again, she became the Scout of
Fire.
"See? Your Sailor Mars is just another power that I can add-"
Rei cut off as something pushed against her psyche. She staggered,
disoriented and unable to keep her balance, clutching at her head.
*****
In a realm of mist, shadowy grey and insubstantial, Rei shed
tears for her fellow scouts, for her friends. Shame tied her to this
dreary domain, a powerful leash against freedom. Everywhere she
turned, Rei could see the fruits of her failure. The scouts lay
unconscious, strewn across the temple grounds. Sailor Moon was their
last hope, and she couldn't bring herself to destroy the young
priestess, the devilish girl who had done nothing but pick on the
innocent blonde, who had mercilessly hammered Serena for every
nit-picky slight, every mistake, every miniscule lack. Rei's pride
shattered under the force of such compassion, but it was a little too
late. She was indeed too weak to break free of her self-imposed
prison. Her darker half could bask in the knowledge that it had beaten
her. There was no way she could face her friends anyway.
Essentially, Rei had given up.
That is to say, Rei had given up... until she realized the
trick Sailor Moon had played upon her darker half.
As soon as the sorceress uttered the transformation phrase,
the mists that clouded Rei's mind , the dreary landscape of despair
that had become her home for much too long, dissipated away in a
pleasantly warm breeze. When the fog cleared, the essence of a baffled
young girl stood in the center, gazing as if for the first time at her
surroundings.
The Cherry Hill Temple, standing like a gentle monarch over
the urban countryside, cherry blossoms fluttering through the air on a
warm Summer's breeze.
Lita, humming away as she cooked up a culinary masterpiece,
the hint of a smile edging out of her blissful face.
Mina, capricious Mina, modeling out the latest fashion of
bathing suits for the gathering of girls at a slumber party, flashing
her a friendly grin of mirth.
Ami, smiling quietly as she read over a particularly difficult
chapter in biochemistry, eyes focused in utmost concentration.
Cole, her sweet Cole, who meant so much more to her than she
thought possible in this fantastically abnormal life.
Serena.
Serena...
The Princess of the Moon Kingdom.
I am her protector.
I AM SAILOR MARS!!!
Suddenly, the confused girl was no more. Replacing her stood a
proud, seductively dangerous young woman, orbs flashing in
determination. She thrust her willpower like a sword through the heart
of darkness that had engulfed her for so long, and felt the heart
flinch.
Her eyes were the purest ivory white.
*****
Wonderingly, Sailor Moon watched as Rei floundered, grasping
her head in apparent pain.
"No, no! I won't let you out! You can't come back!" she
spouted out through gritted teeth, struggling desperately to fight off
the piercing will of her moral half. Collapsing under the stress, Rei
fell to her knees, groaning in concentration at the intrusion. Moon
took a step forward, fearing perhaps that she would hurt herself.
Off to the side, Sailor Jupiter moaned, approaching
consciousness once again. Tuxedo Mask stirred under the weakening of
the sleep spell that had caught him. Moon rushed over to him.
"Tuxedo Mask! Are you alright? Oh, I thought she had hurt you,
I was so scared!" she rambled furiously, cradling his head in her lap.
Groggily, he opened his eyes, gazing up at his
beloved. "What... what?-" but before he could ask the question,
remembrance slammed into him, and he shot up to a sitting
position. The scouts all looked out of commission, and Sailor Mars
seemed to be under the effects of a seizure. "What's going on?"
Moon glanced worriedly at Mars. "I think she's fighting with
herself."
He threw her an oddly confused look, but Moon merely shrugged.
Meanwhile, Mars suddenly went limp for a moment, then
carefully rose to her feet. Miraculously, her eyes, once deep onyx all
over, now shone completely white, with no pupils whatsoever. Tuxedo
Mask took a defensive stance in front of Moon.
The Scout of Flame smiled sadly, and waved his motion
aside. "That isn't necessary, Prince Endymion. I won't hurt the
princess. I don't have much time. Already, my dark half is pushing
through my defenses." As if on signal, she stumbled, barely gaining
her balance. Her serene smile twisted into a frown of frustration. "I
must battle her on better grounds, my queen. Can you send us to a less
populated area? I'm afraid-" she staggered again, falling to one knee,
"-I'm afraid it will become hazardous."
The blonde scout paused at the request. "Will you die?" she
asked, concern gushing in every syllable.
Sailor Mars avoided the question. "Hurry, Princess. There's no
time," she hissed, finding it difficult to breathe.
An eternal second passed as Sailor Moon watched her dearest
friend's struggles, weighing the planetary need to exile Mars away
against her own need to support her in her time of need.
Mars' pupils began to emerge, swallowing out the whites.
Gulping down the painful lump in her throat, the leader of the
Sailor Scouts used the Silver Imperium Crystal to teleport Sailor Mars
to the only barren place she could think of.
The Moon.
*****
Desolate, rocky, dusty, bland. These are all words you could
use to describe the surface of the Moon. Occasionally, you'll find a
crater, varying from a couple of feet in diameter to several hundred
feet, likewise in depth. No wind, no breeze, no movement of air.
No air to move.
A bright sparkle of light, and there lay Sailor Mars, suddenly
in an inhospitable environment that literally sucked away her breath.
Literally.
Pain burst through Mars' whole being as the air was pulled
from her body. Her eyes wide at the realization of imminent death, the
sorceress enacted a spell that enclosed her in a pocket of air. The
process took a blink of an eye.
A wholly black eye.
Gasping for breath, Sailor Mars groaned painfully, filling her
lungs with the precious medium, and then groaned in frustration at the
oncoming surge of will that resided within her mind. 'Not again,' the
evil Rei thought as the struggle ensued again.
Moments later, Mars' eyes were pupilless once more. Quickly,
hammering out the plan that she had begun to think up on Earth, she
collected her thoughts to cast the profound spell that had wormed its
way into her mind as soon as she figured out what she needed to do. In
a way, Sailor Moon's mistake in dumping her on the surface of the Moon
worked to her advantage. Continuously fighting one's own psyche is
draining work, and the lack of oxygen had been just the thing to
perform the coup without too much straining... straining she would
need to do to cast this spell.
*****
"Where is she, Sailor Moon?" Jupiter asked, picking herself
off the ground. She had caught the tail end of the conversation with
the true Sailor Mars.
"The Moon."
The Scout of Thunder stared at her, uncomprehending for a
moment, then gaped at her. "The Moon? The Moon? How are we supposed to
get to the Moon?!"
By now, Mercury had regained a semblance of a consciousness,
coughing softly. Venus remained firmly entrenched in her state of
disrepair. "We could Sailor Teleport," the blue-haired scout offered
weakly.
Jupiter whirled on her. "In your condition?! We don't even
have Venus to help!"
"Wait a minute! Why are we going there?" inquired Luna,
shaking off the remaining strands of clinging magic that still
insisted on holding her, even after the caster had relinquished the
hold.
The conscious scouts and a masked prince turned disbelievingly
to the cat.
"What do you mean 'Why are we going there?' To help her, of
course!" Jupiter cried vehemently.
"With her instability and powers?! Are you nuts?!" The volume
between the group slid up a notch as the motherly guardian cat
professed her concerns.
"Luna, she's our friend. We have to help her if we can."
Mercury always was the voice of reason, even though she crawled over
to the downed Scout of Beauty.
Darien stomped over to the Ami. "Mercury! She's gone off the
deep end! We can't even trust her! And didn't you notice how easily
she handled us?! We're like toys to her!"
The discussion rambled chaotically, no one side gaining any
ground. Jupiter and Mercury insisted that they remain a team and try
to tackle Rei again, hoping for the best, while Luna and Tuxedo Mask
opted for the safer argument of 'waiting to see what happened'. That
way, they would get a bit of rest, and hopefully think up a new plan.
None of them noticed until too late that Sailor Moon had
already disappeared, taking matters into her own hands for once.
*****
Pain.
Searing knives of agony that race across your skull with
millions of serrated edges, dashing down your spine, your limbs, your
body.
Excruciating sensations of having your being ripped apart by
titanic forces, forces too ignorant of feeling to pay attention to
your screams.
The pain of splitting one's essence in two.
That was the suffering Rei experienced at the completion of
the spell.
A wail of glass-shattering magnitude erupted forth from the
kneeling sorceress as she thrust her face and arms up into to the cold
dark expanse of space. The soundwaves didn't make it past the careful
shell of atmosphere she had encased herself in. Once past, their was
no medium with which to carry the soundwaves.
She began to shimmer then, a form like looking at a
mirage. Slowly at first, then with increasing agitation, Rei's form
liquefied into a wobbling pillar of quivering magma, roughly the same
height as herself. Next, with great deliberation, two tentacles of
liquid fire slithered out of the column, each in an opposite
direction. After a few feet, the 'heads' of the snake-like tendrils
stopped, but the rest continued forward, forming into two other
columns. Meanwhile, the central pillar shrunk and shrunk as it lost
mass, until it was no more, its substance given over to the two
cylinders beside it.
For a long moment, neither of the geometric shapes gave any
indication of animation. They simply shed a warm healthy glow, similar
to molten rock.
Suddenly, the cylinders began to mold into new shapes. They
twisted and wobbled some more, flowing and remolding themselves until
their were two identical humanoids radiating liquid fire. A brief
flash of light on both, and standing no more than ten feet from each
other, were two beautiful young women, both whose names were Rei Hino.
Each beauty gazed at the other in contempt. Both wore silk
kimonos as she was wont to do in her life, though the Rei on the left
wore one of blinding white, while the other once again wore a kimono
of deepest black, each kimono the shade of their owners' eyes.
"Well, well," snickered Black Rei, "so you've managed to split
us into our constituents. Whatever is your plan?"
"I wish to finish this off once and for all, to prove who is
the rightful Rei Hino," replied White Rei calmly.
Black Rei smirked. "Really? A duel? My, my. This will be
interesting. And what, pray tell, are the conditions?"
If she was irritated at her evil twin's cruel flippancy, White
Rei didn't show it. "A battle, here, using all of our powers. No
running away. No escaping. Just you and me."
"And how do you intend to prevent me from fleeing, IF I needed
to flee?"
White Rei wiggled her fingers, and a silvery cord of light
appeared, each end wrapping around each Rei's waist. There was enough
slack in the middle to allow some several hundred feet of running room
between them. "With this. It prevents any transportation of the body
through the use of magic. When one of us surrenders, the cord will
disappear, but it is fragile. As a rule, magic attacks directed
against the cord are forbidden. Agreed?"
Black Rei shrugged. "Sure, whatever. Anything else?"
White Rei considered for a moment. "Are you sure you don't
want to surrender now so that my life can go back to normal?"
The evil sorceress blinked. "What?!"
"You heard me. Please, Rei. This is foolish. If you win, then
you will only be hounded for the rest of your life. The Sailor Scouts
will eventually figure out how to wipe you out, and then neither of us
will have won. We both know that I am the true Rei Hino anyway. Let it
go at that."
Sputtering in astonishment, Black Rei gaped and blinked
repeatedly, trying to understand this odd approach. "You're a fool!"
she finally spat. "There's no way in hell that I'm going to let you
win. Just where would I go then?"
White Rei shrugged. "I'm sure we could come up with some
accommodation that would be mutually ."
Black Rei threw up her arms in derision. "What in the universe
are you talking about?! You have to destroy me! That is the only
ending in this outcome! Anything less would be pointless because I'd
eventually come find you again and this will start again!"
"It does not truly have to be that-"
"OF COURSE IT HAS TO BE THIS WAY!" Black Rei screamed. "How
many Rei Hinos can there be in a universe?! ONE!"
The good Rei pursed her lips, unable to reply.
A nimbus of darkness coalesced about the being of the Dark
One. "A very noble, but futile, attempt, sister, but this battle must
be fought to the death," Black Rei whispered, a vague note of sadness
in her tone. Somehow, upon the surface of the Moon, a gust of wind
began to swirl about the battleground.
A like aura of pearl white surrounded the Light One as she,
too, summoned a channel to the weave of magic that encompassed the
universe. The gust of wind picked up to a wailing gale that stirred up
the lunar sands. "Whenever you are ready, sister," she replied, a
similar hint of empathy in her voice.
*****
Sailor Moon emerged behind a ridge on the lip of the
crater. She shivered slightly at the landscape, realizing the Crystal
was probably protecting her from a great deal of the hostile
environment: the extreme cold, the lack of air, the awkward
gravity. She could feel the jewel pulling on her reserves of strength.
Moon sighed. Once again, she had gotten herself into quite a
pickle.
A flash over the ridge caught her attention, and she strode
over to investigate. Within the crater, some several hundred feet wide
and deep, stood two figures. With a gasp, she recognized the twin
individuals as her friend Rei. 'How did she manage to separate herself
like that?' she wondered, her mind stretching to grasp the
impossibility.
She had just managed to hear the terms of the duel when the
wind picked up over the barren wasteland, tossing her trailing
pigtails to and fro. The twin figures began to glow in shining light
and darkness.
Sailor Moon sat down to watch, concerned for her best friend,
the Earth, and the Universe in general.
*****
The last time the heavens had seen such an awe-inspiring
display of magic had been fifteen hundred years ago, when one Amos
Hanadar had obliterated the planet Muse in a titanic war against the
Moon Kingdom.
Of course, only a handful on Earth actually knew of such a
thing. The rest were clueless.
That cool, dreary night, no one could explain the flashes of
spectral illumination that lit the overcast sky blanketing the city of
Tokyo. They chalked it up to the Aurora Borealis, or some other such
civilian nonsense.
There was the observatory on the outskirts of Tokyo, but the
scientists their were having trouble focusing on the Moon's
surface. Every time they aligned it correctly, the focus would dim
away again, almost magically (not that a bunch of scientists would
admit such a crock of foolishness).
One scientist in particular, by the name of Kakeru, stood away
from the congregation of geniuses, gazing up at the clouds.
"Princess Snow Kaguya?" he whispered to no one in particular.
*****
For what seemed the hundredth time, the two sorceresses
clashed.
White Rei raised her arms to ward off the vortex of flames
that threatened to engulf her. With a flick of her wrist, she split
the gout of fire into smokeless wisps that sparked away to
nothing. Then, she closed her fist and released a powerfully
concentrated blast of directional force through the ground below her.
A chasm gaped open, ripping apart as it raced for the
black-clad Rei some yards away. The evil essence sprouted a pair of
glossy black wings upon her back and leaped into the air, scoffing at
the failed attack. "You will have to do much better than that,"
snickered the black angel.
"And so I shall," whispered White Rei. Furrowing her brow, she
too leaped into the air, but she continued to soar into the sky as her
form morphed and molded into the majestic being of a metallic silver
phoenix, fully 40 feet in wingspan. Motes of steely light glinted off
her polished body, all sinew and grace. Diamond sharp talons and beak
slashed through the atmosphere as the Rei of Hope streaked towards her
nemesis, a siren call of fury ripping from her mouth.
The figure in black dove under the mammoth creature, awe and
irritation fighting for dominance upon her face. She barely missed the
first talon, but caught the second in a glancing blow upon her
shoulder.
Flopping and twirling, she spun towards the ground, pulling up
and landing awkwardly just before a bonebreaking crash. Gasping for
air, Black Rei clutched her injury, hissing at the pain it gave
her. Blood trickled through her fingers, seeping into her torn
kimono. "Impressive indeed, sister," she called out, gritting her
teeth.
The grand phoenix banked gradually, taking the glowing cord to
its near limit before heading back. "Do you yield?" the silver being
questioned in a clarion voice that rang over the crater.
To answer, the Rei of Death traced a collapsing circular rune
of bluish lightning in the air before her. Instantly, a swirling
funnel of wind sprouted from the ground beneath the mythical beast and
reached up to engulf it in its swirling grasp. The tornado tossed the
phoenix about, directing her closer and closer to the craggy walls of
the crater. Then, with a supernatural shove, the twister threw White
Rei into those same walls with bonecrushing force.
With an audible snap, one of the creature's wings bent
backwards, taking the full brunt of the shove as she fell along the
cliff walls to the sandy floor. With a flutter of silver feathers, the
phoenix ground to a halt twitching in pain.
A sunburst glow, and the phoenix disappeared, replaced with a
decrepit and miserable Rei, her white kimono dirtied and torn, her
hair mussed and full of sand, and her left arm painfully cradled
against her abdomen, a piece of bone fragment pierced through her
elbow and leaking a dribble of blood.
Surprisingly, her face remained carefully impassive, though
she must have been in terrible agony.
Black Rei smirked maliciously. "Do YOU yield?"
*****
Sailor Moon nearly shrieked in despair, seeing the superb
entity that was the good Rei get tossed into the lunar cliffs with
such force. She nearly jumped up and brought to bear the whole of the
Silver Imperium Crystal right then and there, but she hesitated long
enough to see her dear friend stand back up and resume the challenge.
As much as she wished desperately otherwise, Sailor Moon would
not break the rules of the duel. She knew this was too important to
Rei to interrupt.
Even if the Universe hung in the balance.
*****
White Rei stumbled back to the general vicinity of the center
of the crater while Black Rei watched disdainfully. "Come now,
sister. You're badly hurt, and obviously in no condition to continue
such a foolhardy quest. Why don't you just surrender now?"
Ignoring the taunts, the Rei of Hope staggered closer,
fumbling through her mind for an edge, a weakness in her double,
anything to even up the scenario. She could call upon Sailor Moon to
catch her opponent off guard, for she had glimpsed the leader of the
Scouts upon the ridge while in flight.
She forsook that plan, however. This was her own battle. She
would win because SHE had to. This was to prove to herself that SHE,
the true Rei Hino, was the proper individual to own a place among the
universe.
A nonchalant flick of the wrist, and Black Rei launched five
bolts of crimson. Astonishingly swift, they sped for the weakened
sorceress' heart.
Concentrating desperately, the nearly doomed Rei summoned a
shielding wall of telekinetic force before her to dissipate the angry
missiles. Had she been any slower, the five bolts would have torn
through her and that would have been the end of that.
As it was, one bolt managed to tear through her, barely
slashing past the hastily erected barrier. Luckily, the bolt missed
all vital organs as it stabbed through her lower right side and
evaporated away.
Eyes tearing at the excruciating agony, Rei fell to the
ground, hissing loudly to prevent herself from screaming. Blood
quickly soaked through the remnants of her clothing. Using her good
hand, she plugged the hole with a finger, thinking distantly how
utterly disgusting that was. Waves of dizziness and nausea swept over
her, but she struggled to raise herself to a sitting position. 'My,
but this is difficult when you hurt and have no arms to help you,' she
thought, trying to occupy her mind from the recurring discomfort of a
broken arm and a hole in one's side.
"Do you yield?" Black Rei demanded, no hint of humor upon her
face.
"I... will... not... ever!" she replied, seeking to raise
herself to a standing position. She failed. 'Think! She's going to
destroy you, and then how will Serena ever rule!'
"Then, I am afraid I am going to have to-"
"Wait!"
Black Rei twirled about, searching for the source of the
voice. No one. "What the hell-"
And then she noticed magical manipulations in her surrounds.
She whirled back, stepping away and trying to recall the
proper incantation for a shield, but it was too late.
Writhing tendrils of flames emerged from the wounded Rei of
Hope, coiling quickly about the evil sorceress. Screeching in
defiance, Black Rei struggled, but she could feel the tentacles
seeping away her powers. Already, the nimbus of darkness that
surrounded her became faint, flickering and unstable. "No! You
cheated! You summoned someone to distract me!" the evil sorceress
screamed, fighting with all her strength against the binding
tentacles.
"Wrong," gasped White Rei. She too was struggling, for the
tendrils' hold was directly proportional to her physical strength,
something she was in dire lack of. "The illusion of someone's voice
and actually summoning someone are two entirely different things."
Frantically, Black Rei flipped through a rapidly diminishing
repertoire. With the spell draining her of her magic, she had to get
away quickly, or nothing would be left of her powers. Stopping her
fighting, she focused on the cord. If she could get rid of that, she
could teleport away. She knew, watching her double fight to maintain
the spell, that she wouldn't be able to hold it for more than a few
seconds.
In those few seconds, she could be safely away, plotting for
another day.
White Rei gasped again, her vision blurring with the effort.
Black Rei spat a thin beam of lightning at the cord, severing
it to silver sparkles.
Grinning, White Rei released the spell. She concentrated on
one last spell as she slumped down in exhaustion and agony.
*****
Torn between summoning her full fury and allowing Rei die,
Sailor Moon stood up upon the ridge, releasing the Crystal from its
broach.
'Wait!' cried Rei's voice inside her head.
Baffled at the command, tears streaming down her face at the
obvious pain of her friend, Moon held back a moment.
And then the oddest thing happened.
Black Rei turned her back on White Rei.
A slow smile of dawning delight lit up her face as Moon
witness her friend's comeback. The tendrils seemed to truly frighten
the evil sorceress by the way she struggled desperately against them.
And then the smile faded. White Rei was not holding her own
very well. She wouldn't be able to keep the stronger Black Rei from
breaking free much longer. 'Come on Rei! You can do it! Just a little
more!'
The severing of the cord that bonded the duel came as a
relatively small shock, as did the disappearance of the
tentacles. Suddenly, the proper thing to do clicked into Sailor Moon's
mind just as a voice entered her head once again:
'Blast her!'
The Silver Imperium Crystal blazed to life, shining like a
second sun. A searing multitude of thin silver illuminating beams
collapsed within the Crystal from the surrounding space, gathering
into a supercharged mass of fury.
As time slowed down to a crawl, Black Rei twisted towards the
display, her body moving at a snail-like pace.
White Rei softly dropped to the ground, like the fall of a
feather, a giant smile growing upon her face.
Sailor Moon's eyes fixed upon the black orbs of the Rei of
Death. "You're moon-dusted," she whispered.
Like a trigger, the words released the mass into a massive
lance of power that roared at, towards, and through the Dark One.
Black Rei, seeing her downfall in the rushing bolt, flushed
her body of all her remaining arcane strength, and erected a defensive
barrier.
Too little, too late.
For a brief miniscule moment, the shield held the blast back,
but an instant later, the barrier shattered, and Black Rei was carried
away in a maelstrom of cosmic energy that pounded her back, slamming
her hundreds of feet away a good five feet into the crater wall.
The blast of light held for a few seconds, then dwindled away.
*****
Darkness threatened to engulf Sailor Moon, but she fought it
back valiantly, and after a few minutes, the rotating world returned
to its stationary norm. She would not fall unconscious here of all
places.
Rising to her feet ('when did I fall down?'), the leader of
the Sailor Scouts let the knowledge sink in.
Evil Rei is gone.
Rei's back to normal.
REI'S BACK TO NORMAL!
REI!!
Fearful of what she might see, Moon searched for her Rei, and
found her, leaning against a collaboration of rocks, unmoving.
"No..."
She leaped forward, scrambling down the sides of the bowl,
unheeding of her own safety and fatigue. Thoughts of how close they
were fluttered through her head, of how much she could help Rei, of
how much she appreciated her, loved her as only a best friend could be
loved. All of these flashed before her mind's eye as she neared the
body.
'She doesn't look too good,' Moon considered with overwhelming
concern. Rei's kimono was tattered, dirtied, and not very white
anymore. It was more of a dusty maroon color, the color of dried
blood. In fact, not all of the maroon was maroon at all. Some of it
was a bright, rich red, a wet scarlet of fresh blood.
Kneeling softly, Moon tenderly cradled Rei's head, bending
over to listen for her breath. 'Good, she's still breathing.'
"Do you mind getting your hair out of my face, Meatball Head?"
came a weak voice beneath Moon's ear.
"You're awake!" the blonde squealed, squeezing Rei's head to
her in delight. "Are you alright?"
The dark-haired girl grimaced. "No, not especially. I hurt
pretty much all over. How do I look?"
Tears shimmered in the Moon Princess' eyes. "I don't
know. You're bleeding a lot, and your arm's broken. I wish Mercury was
here. She'd know what to do."
Rei rolled her eyes. "I don't. The last time she threatened to
tie me to the bed if I didn't lay still and recuperate. I'd rather die
here in freedom than have her worrying over me."
Sailor Moon blinked for a moment, digesting the
statement. Suddenly she burst into giggles, tears finally falling down
her face. Rei smiled slightly.
After a few moments, Moon calmed down enough to wipe her
face. "It's good to have you back Rei."
The priestess brushed the comment aside. "No, we'll have
plenty of time for that later. Is my double dead?"
Serena turned towards the hole in the cliff walls where the
blasted had carried the evil twin away to. "If she isn't, then she's
in a whole lot of pain."
"Help me get over there."
"Um, are you sure?"
Rei sighed. "Yes. We need to make sure. We can't have her
coming back after us, now can we?"
Sailor Moon gave her a worried look that spoke volumes, giving
Rei the once over. The sorceress grinned. "Don't worry about me. I'll
heal." 'I hope.'
With utmost care, the blonde leader helped up her wounded
friend, cautioning her every few moments about not overdoing it or
exerting herself. Taking it slow, the two scouts stumbled their way
across the bottom of the bowl to the cracked indenture caused by the
Crystal's power.
"You sound like Mercury!" Rei complained for what seemed like
the thousandth time in Sailor Moon's ears, but she ignored her, making
damn sure that nothing would be jarred or torn open. As it was, the
hole in Rei's side had already tapered to a trickle, an amazing feat
considering the extent of the damage. Still, Moon kept a piece of
kimono tightly pressed against it to keep the bleeding down as much as
possible.
"I keep telling you I'm going to be fine, Serena! Stop
pampering me!"
Serena smiled. "Stop complaining, Rei. You're in no condition
to do anything about it, and I'm not about to pass up a chance to take
care of you for a change."
That shut Rei up rather markedly.
It took some ten minutes, but they finally stopped in front of
the hole. Rei whistled slightly.
Within a blasted pit some five feet deep, Black Rei lay
propped up against the lunar rock. She was covered in blood, all over
her face, her arms, her legs, her torso, everywhere. All her limbs
looked broken in some form or another as they twitched slightly in
abnormal angles.
The worse, though, was the crack that ran from the back of her
skull around her left ear to her forehead. The back of her head had
caved in slightly, forcing cranial fluids to leak out of the fracture,
and a disgusting mix of clear, grey and red liquid dribbled down her
face.
Her bottomless black eyes stared back at them, fully
comprehending, fully alive... fully hating.
Sailor Moon suddenly leaned Rei against the cliff, ran a few
yards away, looking deathly pale, and a little green. She bent over,
breathing deeply, trying to avoid vomiting. She was barely successful.
As Moon tried to keep herself from being sick, Rei crawled her
way over to her double, gazing at her with pityingly white eyes. "It
didn't have to be this way. You could have just surrendered. I would
have put you back in my mind. It would have been better than this."
'... no...'
Rei felt the tickle of the word within her mind, knowing that
her evil twin was communicating with the last dredges of her
magic. "Why not? It's been this way for years. What changed this
time?"
"... freedom...'
Rei nodded. Her imprisonment within her own mind for the brief
amount of time taught her just that. Freedom was a wonderful thing, so
wrongly taken for granted, especially with the overwhelming
responsibility of power that she possessed. Freedom was a
double-bladed sword. It could hurt her or help her. Either way, it was
dangerous.
"That is why I closed it off all those years ago. It was too
much for me, especially after the death of my parents. There was no
one to teach me at such a young age. No one to help me control it. How
did you know?"
'... you've... always... known...'
Rei shrugged. She didn't quite believe that, but she was too
tired to argue. Perhaps her darker half had been whittling away the
years learning. Who knows? Who cares?
She watched blankly as her double used a brief surge of her
miniscule force to halt the leakage from her head. "It will be years
before your well enough to pose a threat. I could destroy you this
instant and save us all that trouble."
A slight smirk lifted the edges of Black Rei's mouth. '... but
you can't...'
Once again, Rei Hino nodded. "You're right. I
cannot. Cold-blooded murder is your department, not mine."
'... then go away... leave me be... it will... be
years... before we meet... again...'
The true Rei pierced her twin with a penetrating gaze, a look
that scanned her soul, a soul that was her own. A taut moment crawled
by before she spoke.
"Stay well."
Rei removed herself from the indentation, crawling back into
the light of space. Shakily, she stood up, taking a quick glance at
Sailor Moon. The latter was just regaining her color it seemed, but
didn't look like she had any intentions of seeing the evil sorceress
again. "Can we go home yet?" she asked plaintively. "She can't
possibly live through that."
Rei nodded, but thought to herself, 'Yes she can.' Raising her
arms, White Rei summoned her magic once again. With a rumbling groan,
the lunar rock of the crater floor raised out of the ground in a stone
slab, closing off the small cave. The wall of stone now made Black Rei
inaccessible to the Universe... at least until either of the Reis
regained their strength.
Sailor Moon rushed over and caught Rei before she could fall
to the ground in exhaustion. "What was that for? You're not in any
condition to be casting spells like that!"
Rei fell fast asleep.
TO BE CONTINUED ---> Epilogue
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, here's where I claim all those disclaimers and stuff. I'm sure
you know the drill. If you would like to send me comments, compliments
or criticisms, please email me at:
chouso@aur.alcatel.com
or
schoudh@eos.ncsu.edu
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