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A Rei of Hope: The Burden of Duty
by Soumitra Choudhury
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In the ruin of the Tokyo Olympic Stadium, amidst a pile of rubble
and debris, a throne of marble dominated with majesty over the throngs
of steadily increasing youma. Hissing, slavering, moaning, screeching,
they waited, some with patience, some without. All stared expectantly at
the winged woman reclined in the seat of stone. She apparently slept,
her wings occasionally trembling in some dream, her chin resting in the
palm of one hand upon the left arm of the throne.
Rumors roamed the crowds of beasts that she would perish soon,
that her power consumed her before their very eyes. Patience would
reward them with a prime world and no masters, away from the toxic
wastes of the Lower Planes. The Earth would be a stepping stone for
eternal carnage and chaos throughout.
Some of the youma watched the woman's luxuriously long tresses,
made it their overwhelming goal to witness her hair, never to stray from
gazing at her locks.
For, every few hours, if one watched extremely closely, one could
see a strand of hair fade ever so slowly from deepest black to the aged
shade of ancient white.
It would not be long for the Angel who had summoned them to wither
away. Then the youma would rule.
*****
The symbol of Mars faded away, leaving the room bathed in the
cold, drab light of the Silver Crystal that even the Great Fire could
not overcome.
Sailor Saturn watched the dark-haired woman carefully, her hands
tightening on the Silence Glaive. For the last hour, Rei hadn't moved
from her seated position in the center of the room, the Silver Crystal
touching her forehead. She hadn't moved, hadn't made a noise.
And then, Rei Hino opened her eyes slowly, unconsciously dropping
the Crystal to her lap. Pupils dilated, she seemed to gaze at nothing, a
horribly deadpan expression upon her face.
Saturn stepped in front of her and kneeled down to look her in the
eyes. "Rei-sama?"
The older woman blinked, her eyes misting slightly. "It... it was
my fault. I'm the reason the Senshi are dead."
Then she began to cry.
*****
The seraph's eyes snapped open. "Ma'lel?"
A lupine youma stepped before her. "Yes, Mistress?"
"The one I seek has awakened. Bring her to me."
"As you wish, Mistress." The youma vanished in a cloud of foul
vapors.
*****
"We do not have time for this, Rei-san," the deep-toned voice of
Trust rumbled through the room. "What did you see? Anything that may
help us defeat her?"
The sobbing woman rubbed an arm across her eyes, wiping away tears
that would not go away. With great effort, she picked herself off the
ground, ignoring Saturn's concerned look. "I recognize you, Grell. Come
out and have your fun. I'm not in any mood to fight you."
In one corner of the room, near the fire, the air rippled like
water, and then parted, revealing the towering, cloaked figure of the
Grell, jeweled eyes scintillating in the cool light. "So, you have
regained your memories." It was a statement, not a question, and there
was no hint of emotion behind it.
Sighing wearily, Rei turned to Saturn. She reached out, and
embraced the child tightly, burying her face into the child's hair. "I'm
so sorry, Hotaru-chan. I should have killed her a long time ago. None of
this would have happened."
"Killed who? What happened?"
Rei told her, fearful, but weary.
*****
Outside the Hikawa Shrine, fifteen tall, muscalar humanoids
materialized onto the grounds, each with a monstrous horned beetle-like
head, and each sporting a wicked poleaxe nearly eight feet in length.
At the head of the squadron, the lupine youma known as Ma'lel
growled softly, a feminine growl of frustration. She tried to take a
step closer to the shrine doors, but some divine force held her back
from entering. It was a force so holy, she felt the beginnings of pain
assault her corporeal form, attempting to rip her back to the bowels of
the universe.
While Ma'lel felt this, the Shrine knew a sort of pain as well,
for it shuddered mildly, wood creaking and groaning. The wards against
evil Rei and her grandfather had spent their lives maintaining were
being forced to test their strength against the very essences of evil,
as such were the nature of these youma.
*****
Just as Rei finished her story, Trust suddenly drew his blades and
stepped closer. The whole of the building shuddered mildly with a sad
groan. "We have guests, Lady Rei. Guests of a rather formiddable
nature."
The priestess, realizing the shudder for what it truly was,
released her mind to probe out the disturbance.
When she reached the outside, a small female humanoid with a fox
head turned to her invisible form and bowed. "Greetings, Damned One. My
mistress wishes an audience with you," the youma purred silkily.
"Please, won't you allow us to escort you?" Rei caught sight of the
fifteen guardian youma standing in formation behind the lupine figure.
Quickly, she remerged with her body.
"Youma, outside," Rei murmured, rubbing her temples. She smirked
sardonically to the Grell. "Friends of yours?"
"Your humor is unappreciated, Lady Rei. How many of them?" His
twin wakazashis glinted malevolently.
"Fifteen, not including the fox."
"Fox?"
Rei nodded. "There was one, kinda small, like a girl, but with a
fox head." She shivered. "That one talked to me. She wants to escort me
back to the stadium."
The Grell stared at her, unmoving, blades still drawn. She didn't
want to admit it, but the lack of emotion he presented to her scared her
silly, but she was too strong to allow him any sort of moral victory.
"Do you mind not staring at me?"
"I was just considering what it means that an arcanaloth has been
brought out of her seclusion from the Tower of Gehenna." The cloaked
villain shrugged. "Ah well. I am curious," and with that, he strode
towards the exit.
"Hey! Wait! Where do you think you're going?" Rei asked, then
clamped her mouth shut. Bewildered with herself, she absently fingered
her tattered clothing, trying hard not to blush. Strangely,
though, her questions were more thoughtful than angry, and she began to
wonder if perhaps the Grell's presence made her feel more...
comfortable?... in her predicament.
For his part, the Grell ignored her and continued out.
"So... they're all... dead..." the girl sobbed, and Rei kneeled
down before Saturn. "What are we... it's all over... we've lost." She
fixed a hopeless gaze on the Senshi of Fire, one that seared Rei's mind
with sorrow unending. The child before her was empty, completely and
unequivocally, and Rei had no one to blame but her own damned self.
Nothing could change that.
Except.
Yes. There was a way. Slim. Dangerous. More terrible than dying,
but yes.
"No, Hotaru-chan, we have not lost yet." She picked up the drab
Crystal that was once such a desired item. It still shed the muted grey
light that seemed to suck up all the warmth. Her resolve faltered as she
held it, her hand shaking terribly. The pit of her stomach felt queasy.
But all she had to do was look at the corpse of Sailor Moon to
compose herself again.
"What are you going to do, Mars?" Saturn sounded worried, and a
little panicked at seeing the woman pick up the Crystal again. "They're
dead! Those youma don't care about you, and neither does the Grell! If
you try to do something, you'll be dead too! Where will I be then?!
Alone! Again!"
"If I try to do something, you won't be alone."
Carefully, Rei stood up, detransformed, then transformed back into
Sailor Mars. As she expected, her suit was fully mended again.
"What are you going to do?" Saturn repeated, grabbing onto Rei's
arm.
"I'm going to see my twin."
The girl shook her head. "That's a bad idea. You know she doesn't
care about your well-being."
"Actually, she's so worried about my well-being, I have no doubt
I'll be safe. Remember, she wants to see me suffer by allowing me to
live." Smiling wanely, Rei took the girl's chin in one hand and gently
stroked it. "I'm going to offer something worse than that."
"Huh?"
The Senshi of Fire shook her head sadly, adding only one thing
more before she blinked out of sight. "Remember, Hotaru-chan. Emptyness
is infinitely more horrifying than Darkness. Good-bye, Senshi of
Silence."
*****
Outside, the Grell calmly stood atop the stairs of the Shrine,
peering down at the congregation. Strangely, the wards did not react to
his presense.
"My, my. This is quite a treat," the arcanaloth murmured, tapping
her fingers together in her voluminous robes. "The Grelloth Noxus, in
the proverbial flesh. How goes the life here on this decrepit rock?"
"What are you doing here, Ma'lel?"
The youma clucked in disappointment. "What? No greetings, no
pleasantries... no sweet words for a former lover?"
The aura about the Grell gave an impression of a frown. "Don't
make me repeat myself. Why are you here? Since when do you leave the
Tower to do someone else's dirty work?"
"We contract as we see fit." Ma'lel sauntered up to the granite
banister at the bottom of the stairs, leaning on it demurely. "You know,
of course, that there is a considerable bounty on you head, my dear."
The Grell snorted derisively. "Are you here to collect? Is that
why you're here? And I thought you were playing the lackey to the Dark
Angel of Earth."
Ma'lel growled, leaping up several of the stairs in a single boud.
"I warn you, Grelloth Noxus. Toy with us not. Our interest in this world
will not be denied, by you, the Mistress, or these Senshi. We will
conquer this rock, and the Door of Ragnarok will be opened."
"Hmm, so you are here as I thought." The Grell shrugged, lowering
his guard. "I supposed as much. I wish you the best of luck, then. I
assure you, though, the Door is not here within this shrine."
"The Mistress wishes an audience with the wench."
"She will not have it with the likes of you escorting her, my
once-sweet concubine." Seemingly amused, the Grell's tone remained dead
and unemotional.
Ma'lel took a step forward. "My guards-"
"-have no chance against me, and you are quite aware of that
fact." He pointed one fine blade towards the lupine youma. "Don't force
a confrontation neither of us would like. I will send you back to the
malaise of Gehenna in pieces if I have to, then where will your search
be?"
They stared coldly at one another, and then Ma'lel smiled a toothy
grin. "Guards."
Suddenly, all fifteen giants were upon the stairs and surrounding
the Grell, swinging poleaxes with brilliant speed and finesse. Eight
blades sought the cloaked villain's death.
All of them slammed into the ground where he had stood only a
split second before.
From the shadows formed on the stairs by the solid banister, the
Grelloth Noxus leaped out, jeweled eyes piercing the boundary of
darkness. His twin blades took one of the guards in the back, easily
sliding through the gut. Wrenching viciously, he slashed sidewise in
opposite directions, slicing the creature in half. With a desperate
groan, it melted into a cloud of dark vapors and vanished.
Like a pack of rabid dogs, the guards as a whole turned towards
him, hissing and clicking in anger. The nearest one brought his weapon
to bare, while two just behind pointed clawed fingers at him. A spout of
fire roared from each, forcing the Grell to wrap his cloak about him and
leap backwards. Three flips in midair dropped him neatly on the temple
grounds below the stairs.
Perched on the left banister like a gargoyle, Ma'lel's lips curled
into a tiny grin. In rapid succession, the guards began popping into
existence around the Grell, once more attempting to block his escape. As
they waded into combat, the Cloaked One blurred into action.
With millenia of skill behind his hand, he held off the
surrounding odds, his inhuman speed dodging blows that he should not
have realized were coming, his swords parrying away those few that did
manage to become unavoidable. His skill surpassed anything the Earth had
ever seen, each of his movements flowing with the speed of liquid light.
Sparks clashed from the contact of poleaxe upon wakazashi, illuminating
the battle area in a magnificent storm of lavender and violet.
Where the Grell had not been touched in the combat as yet, the
guards were paying desperately for their folly.
Every few strokes, a random limb would fly lazily through the air
to land some distance away, and the handicapped creature would find that
his life soon ended thereafter from a killing blow, whether it be from
the Grell himself or a halfhazard strike from a fellow companion.
Poleaxes were not the best close-range combat weapons.
As the numbers dwindled, and he faced the remaining nine, the
Grell suddenly recognized a whispering chant coming from the stairs. The
sudden distraction resulted in a well-placed axe blade to jam into his
shoulder clear through to his chest.
Falling, his hand shot for the bracelet on his left arm, twisting
one of the five black sapphires a quarter to the right.
Ma'lel finished her chant, raised both arms to the sky and twirled
both index fingers. From the sky, the clouds opened into the blackness
of starry Space. Several of the stars seemed to leap down from their
place among the heavens.
Three more poleaxes blasted into the prone of the Grelloth Noxus.
A fourth attempted to strike the mask itself. As soon as the steel
touched the porcelain fixture, however, the weapon exploded into fiery
shards, throwing the assailant back thirty feet in a blazing inferno.
The stars from above spun about as if caught in a vortex far
above. Closer and closer they spun, still falling, until they passed
below the line of the clouds. Instantly, they collapsed into each other
with a flash, becoming a deadly concentrated beam no more than fifteen
feet in diameter. With unspeakable speed, the cosmic ray blasted into
the battle ground, incinerating with a blinding glow that masked the
area.
It lasted but a moment, but nothing was left wherever the beam
touched. No ashes, no grass, no remnants. A hole fifty feet deep told
the whole story.
Purring in satisfaction, Ma'lel bounded off the banister and
strolled for the hole. Kneeling beside it, she peered down.
Nothing.
"Well, well, my dear Grelloth Noxus. I guess millenia on this
planet had made you fatally soft. Tis a shame." Turning on her heel,
Ma'lel aimed to return to her mission.
Sailor Saturn stood calmly upon the stairs, Silence Glaive in
hand. "Leave this place, youma."
Ma'lel frowned. "Who are you? Why aren't you dead?"
A flash of grief crossed the girls eyes, but quickly froze into
glinting anger. "Leave, or die." She gripped the Glaive more tightly.
"Child, you know not who you deal with. I could rip your soul from
your body as you watch and flay it, allowing you to feel the agony. I
could melt the bones within you, liquifying your being into a massless
jelly. I could-"
"You could shut up and save us the pain of listening to your
chatter," said the rumbling grave voice of the Grelloth Noxus as he
pushed up from Ma'lel's shadow and pierced his blades through her chest.
She gasped, then shrieked in defiance. "NO! I killed you! NOOO!" Her
form evaporated into dark vapors, dispersing back to the Lower Realms.
Saturn regarded the masked form cooly, a hint of disappointment
apparent in her sagging shoulders. The glaive remained poised before
her. The Grell absently brushed off the dust from his cloak, his swords
disappearing within its folds. "Lady Saturn, you seem unhappy at my
resurrection." Despite the needling humor of the statement, Saturn
sensed a slight undertone of reprove.
"Why do you care whether Mars' efforts save or damn the Earth?"
she asked quietly, boldly.
"Why do you need any justification for my actions? Is it not
enough that I seek to aid you?" he returned.
She shook her head. "Your presence is anathema to all the Senshi
hold dear and true. You-"
"Does that include Galaxia?"
Gritting her teeth at the barb, the child forced herself to remain
calm. "You," she continued, "have gone out of your way to wreck some
sort of vengeance on Sailor Mars. Why the sudden change of heart?"
The Grell's cloak fluttered in agitation, perhaps in response to
the creature's own irritation. "What could YOU know of my vendetta
against the firechild? You've only heard of me over the past several
years, only have acquainted yourself with me in the past few days.
Really, Lady Saturn, I tire of your incessant whining and-" He stopped
in midsentence, cocking his masked head everso, as if listening intently
for something at a great distance. The jeweled eyes flashed dangerously.
"Where is Lady Mars?"
The grave-chilled tonelessness of the question scared her, but
Saturn defiantly set her jaw. "Tell me what your interest in the matter
is."
The lightning strike of a viper could not have matched the speed
with which the Grelloth Noxus used at that moment, and Sailor Saturn
suddenly found a wakazashi pressed uncomfortably to her throat. "Where
is the Sailor Mars?" he repeated in an evil whisper that would have made
her shiver had she not feared being skewered even more.
"She... she left."
"Where?"
"I'm not sure. I think the stadium."
The only sign of his surprise was the blade dropping nearly a
millimeter. Nearly. "Why?"
"I don't know. I think she has a plan, but she didn't say." A bead
of sweat trickled down her forehead.
"What DID she say?"
Saturn hesitated just a moment before murmuring, " 'Emptyness is
infinitely more horrifying than darkness'".
The Grell held the sword in place a grueling minute longer, then
sheathed it. Saturn readied herself for a quick stab, but halted at his
words: "The Lady Mars is a noble fool." There was a faint note of
respect in his voice.
Blinking, forgetting her precarious situation, she gaped at him.
"You know something, don't you?" She had the disturbing feeling that he
seemed amused, but all he muttered was "Follow me."
The purple-and-white clad girl frowned. "Where?"
"Where else? The stadium."
*****
"I should kill you, Rei."
The moon shone a silent shaft of light through the thickly smoking
haze hanging over Japan, illuminating the tiny passage of an alley
between the arcade and a once prosperous restaurant. Both were gutted
mounds of so much concrete and shattered glass, uninhabited for nearly
five days now, but not the alley. Near the crumpled remnants of a
dumpster, a huddled, shivering man crawled out, cradling his injured
left wrist. Awkwardly, he rose from the ground, grunting with the
effort. His torn polo shirt hung loosely, fluttering wildly in the wind
tunnel that formed in the corridor, but he did not seek any further
shelter than that afforded by the dumpster. Calmly, he waited.
Waited.
He raised his good fist in preparation.
*****
As soon as Sailor Mars popped out of her teleport, she thought
something had gone wrong.
When a forceful, if not stunning, punch smashed into the side of
her face, she was positive something had gone wrong, especially when she
landed none too softly in the stagnant puddle of an alley, and not the
relative softness of stadium turf.
Years of training as one of the greatest saviors of the human
race, however, had taught her a thing or two about combat, and one was to
dodge. Quickly. With superhuman speed, Sailor Mars pushed off the ground
and leaped backwards, performing a superb flip to land soundly upon her
feet. "Alright, you scum-ridden-" She stopped at the sight of her
attacker, gaping quite unprofessionally.
"I pulled that punch, Rei," the young man muttered through gnashing
teeth, then he smirked sardonically, shaking his hand to evaporate the
pain. "You have a hard cheekbone."
For her part, Rei had the grace to close her mouth and rub the
sore spot on her face. "Ur... Urawa?"
The smirk vanished, replaced with a stony glare.
"How did you... how do you know... what?-"
"I was there, Rei," he interrupted in a low, dangerous voice. "I
saw what happened... in the stadium. I could have saved her. I could
have." His shoulders trembled, from fury or sorrow, Rei could not tell.
"I could have saved her, but I couldn't, and she died."
"Who? Where? I didn't-"
"AMI, DAMN YOU! I KNEW! I KNEW SHE WAS GOING TO DIE AND I COULD
HAVE SAVED HER! I... I could have... saved her..." The rest was lost in
his deep anguished sobs.
"No, damnit, there will be no more tears!" Rei grabbed Urawa by
the shoulders, and shook him, uncaring of the abuse. "Myself, Sailor
Saturn, and now you, Urawa-san. There has been too much crying and not
enough action!" A remote part of her mind was rather surprised at her
callousness, but it felt necessary. "How did you bring me here? How do
you know these things?"
It took a few moments, but he did stop crying, gazing at her with
a visage between bafflement and scorn. "Bring... bring you here? Don't
you realize who you're taking to? I KNOW things! I KNEW you'd be here! I
didn't bring you here."
Puzzled, she let go of the young man. A sudden chill swept
through her spine. She
didn't even want to think about that.
Shaking her head to clear it of the rampant thoughts, she focused
again on Urawa. "Fine. Whatever. Why are you here then?"
"I came to tell you not to continue on your current line of
action."
Rei frowned. "How do you know- Oh yeah." She was starting to get a
headache. "Alright. Why?"
"It won't succeed. You'll end up doing more harm than good." Then
he smiled, and it seemed to Rei an almost longing smile. "And you'll
cease to exist."
*****
From her throne, She Who Embodied The Crystal listened, a touch of
amusement in her jet black eyes. She vanished in an explosion of glowing
motes.
*****
"Then she will win, won't she?" Sailor Mars whispered, despair
sinking into her half of the soul once again. "There isn't anything
left, is there?"
It was Urawa's turn to grab her, though it was rather awkward with
only one arm. "Now you listen to me. I would have lost my life saving
Ami from her death. Whether it would have been enough, I don't know. The
Gods were not kind enough to tell me. What they have told me is that
saving you from yours will, at the very least, postpone the end of the
world. Don't you dare make Ami's death a waste!"
"But what can I do?! The only thing I could think of is becoming
one with her once again, and hope to use the Crystal's powers to reverse
everything that had happened."
A sparkle of light materialized, then grew into the form of Rei's
twin, majesty and all. "So that was your plan, eh Sister? A noble
endeavor, but one that I would have refused you."
Cooly, Sailor Mars faced her antithesis, instinctively adopting a
defensive stance. Urawa, on the other hand, reacted quite a bit
differently.
Screaming incoherently, he launched himself at the newcomer, both
arms reaching to strangle her, despite the excruciating pain in his
broken wrist. Too late did Mars attempt to stop him.
In a beam of brilliance, Urawa evaporated to dust. No sound, no
mess. Just a flutter of dust.
*****
"She's not here," Saturn mumbled, a touch of condescension in her
tone.
The Grell did not reply, seeing no point in getting baited into
showing emotion. Overlooking the stadium from their position on the
precarious ledge of the open-air dome, he could see for himself that
neither the firechild nor her accursed amoral spawn were within. He'd
have muttered an explative or two, but years of maintaining a semblance
of calm had taught him that it was better otherwise.
"Alright, my pretty minx, where have you gone to then?" the
gravelly voice mumbled, scanning the crowds of youma nonetheless. This
particular contract was starting to get a might bit dangerous, what
with the unexpected inclusion of the arcanaloths, but he would see it
through, even if it led to his own demise. What else did he have to
lose? His life would only reform within the next body to find the mask,
though it may be a greater battle of wills. There was always the fear
that someone would don the mask with a psyche much greater than his
own... say perhaps any of the higher-ups on the arcanaloth echelons from
the Tower of Gehenna. Oh, they would drool over the opportunity to
escape the rigid code that ruled their lives on the planes of Carceri.
Still, he had managed to stay one step ahead of the pack so far,
and he had no intentions of giving up now. That was in the deal. He
would get the Orb if he would aid in reinstating the currently lost
royal line of the Moon Kingdom. He hated dealing with that old crone,
but millenia of struggling against her plans, having his own plans
foiled by the toothless hag, had blossomed a grudging respect for the
Mistress of the Dancing Hut. Fine. He'd help the witch, but not without
his price. Even if he succeeded in this contract, his own plans
thereafter would hurtle the royal line back into its rightful place in
the grave.
The jewels in his mask shifted as he sensed the distant, but
unmistakeable scent of the Silver Imperium Crystal's output. Without
permission, he smoothly slid an arm around Sailor Saturn's waist,
careful to pin her arms to her side. A squeak of protest was the only
response as he leaped back, using mystical air currents to glide them
away from the stadium.
*****
Sailor Mars turned her head away from the sight, cold fury, stark
fear, and utter disgust gnawing at her belly. How could such a hideous
creature spawn from her own soul?
"You don't approve of my methods?" the hauntingly familiar voice
inquired, stepping that much closer. She shrugged nonchalantly, ignoring
the dust motes that tried to settle on her blinding robes. "You've led
me on quite a chase, Rei-san. There's no telling how long I've fought
off the Crystal's... eh, debilitating effects, if you will, just so I
could find and... talk to you again." She chuckled quietly, but it was
tinged with a distant sadness.
"Debilitating effects?" Mars asked, surprise twisting her back to
face her twin. It was only then did she notice the uncommon amount of
white streaks in the seraph's hair. Unconsciously, Mars touched her own
raven locks.
From out of thin air, an ornate crystal table and two chairs
appeared, delicately crafted and shining as if made of solid moonlight.
Sighing softly, the Light One sat in one, demurely spreading and
arranging her robes about her legs. When Mars did not take the apparent
invitation to sit, she looked up from her task. "Please, Rei-san. Sit."
Cold. Demanding, but tired.
Hesitantly, glancing about her shoulders for any surprises, Sailor
Mars joined her twin, though wary of any traps. "What do you want?
You've destroyed everything. Why not end my life and have done with it?"
Crystal Rei seemed to ignore the questions, eyes wandering about
the street and alleyway as if gazing far away. "Do you see what I am,
Rei-san? My hair grows older every moment, moreso when I use the power
of the Crystal, but it doesn't stop when I don't. I can't stop it, even
with the magic of the Crystal." With graceful fingers, she ran them
through her tresses absently, curling the ends about her fingers, the
same dazed look on her face. The look concentrated on Mars's own hair,
so intent that the heroine shied away slightly.
"I'm dying," the sorceress spat suddenly.
Frowning, Sailor Mars pursed her lips. "Are you requesting
sympathy? Pity? Aid? I could care less if you're dying."
"No. no. I did not expect nor want any of those things. I want
only one thing from you-"
"-You won't get it-"
"-, I want you to understand," the being finished, ignoring the
interruption.
"Understand? I don't want to understand!" Mars was gripping the
ends of the table so hard her knuckles were white. "You killed Sailor
Moon! Do YOU understand ME?! SAILOR MOON IS DEAD!!"
...Sailor Moon is Dead...
...Moon is dead...
...Dead...
The echoes faded away through the alley.
Shrugging, Dark Rei released her locks. "Do you know how I
obtained the Crystal's powers?" she asked calmly.
Sailor Mars struggled to compose herself, for obviously rage was
not going to get her anywhere. She felt so small and helpless sitting
next to herself, a being who for all practical purposes, was as a
goddess in strength compared to her inconsequential talents. "No," Mars
grated after a pause. "I don't even know how you escaped the
Spiritwrack."
A flash of heat passed over Dark Rei's eyes, but only for a
moment. "Ah, then perhaps I should begin there." She settled back into
her chair more comfortably.
"Getting out of that infernal prison proved easier than we've ever
known, actually, but that's because of our unique bond with the Weave.
The moment I realized you indeed had the audacity to shove me in there,
I reduced the amount of energy I was drawing from the Weave." She
grinned proudly at that. "You had no idea, did you?"
Instantly, Mars knew. In reducing the amount she was drawing on to
sustain herself, Dark Rei tricked her nemesis into recalibrating the
facets of the prison to accommodate the weakened prisoner. Originally,
Mars had figured on allowing the facets to only allow enough of the
Weave open to keep the prisoner in a constant state of equilibrium:
enough power to hold on to life, but not enough to fully heal even one
wound. The recalibrations allowed the facets open enough to gain that
healing the prisoner would need. "But I didn't sense a thing," Mars
whispered, half in shock, half in disgust.
At this, the villainess frowned harshly. "Baka! I could only
reduce it so much without alerting you. THAT is why it took me FIVE
YEARS to escape!"
"That still doesn't explain-"
"Come on, Ami-chan is not the only one with any brains! Think about
it! Once I was fully healed, I was sitting on the Weave. Granted
it took a while to soak up enough energy to enact any dweomer, but you
left me sitting on the Weave!" The angelic being seemed to find a great
deal of humor in this.
For her part, the irony was not lost to Mars.
"Sure, I could not leave the Spiritwrack without someone opening
it for me, but that didn't mean I couldn't send my astral form out,
especially-" a delighted chuckle, "-sitting on my source of power."
Mars refused to show any reaction.
The sorceress continued. "After that, it was an easy matter to spy
on the comings and goings of the Sailor Senshi, especially since you
seemed to have disappeared from the city. Well, if I couldn't use you to
release me, what else was left to do?"
The Senshi of Fire didn't like where this was leading. Already,
the story was pointing out a considerable lack of duty on her part.
There was an malicious glint in Dark Rei's eyes. "It was an easy
matter to fool Usagi into using the Silver Imperium Crystal to open the
Spiritwrack. Hypnosis is a crude, but effective tool. She believed you
came to her in a dream and flew her about the city, teaching her the
uses of magic."
"But I should have sensed the opening-" Mars's jaw clacked shut.
No, she would not have sensed anything from all the way across the
world. The facets of the prison were not open enough to release any
great amount of the Weave's essence, and at that distance, the ripple
would have been noticeable only if you were within a certain radius.
A small sob escaped Mars despite herself. It's all my fault. All
my fault. My fault My fault My fault my fault my fault...
Dark Rei proceeded with the torturous tale. "My first step out
into reality, and my only concern was how to destroy you. Obviously
you're my equal. I needed some advantage, something that would make me
better than you. I spent quite a lot of time thinking about that."
"And then it hit me. How did you defeat me? What was your
advantage?" Another cruel grin. "The Silver Imperium Crystal."
"That's enough," Mars whispered, closing her eyes in shame. She
didn't want to hear anymore.
The storyteller ignored her. "Well, I'll not bore you with details
of my rather easy task of stealing the Crystal. Do you know she wasn't
even carrying it with her? Like the twit I always... I mean, YOU always
took her for, she left it in her dresser at home. Does she have no
originality, Rei? That's where she kept it all the time five years ago!"
She snorted in derision.
She suddenly fell silent, and it lasted so long that the lone
listener opened her eyes, surprised that her nemesis had actually
stopped. The glow shone slight brighter, so it was hard to tell, but
Mars thought she saw regret in the other's eyes.
There was such an echo of sorrow in the glowing being's next words
that Mars almost felt a tinge of pity.
"I was wrong to steal the Crystal's powers, Rei-san. I should have
just hidden it away, or something, but I was ambitious, seeking the
limitless powers of a God, and ignoring the price. I didn't know the
power was that of the Universe. I didn't know it would eat away at my
insides, devouring what mortal essence is contained within me until
there is nothing left to hold it in." Yet another chuckle, though this
one was weaker, more tired. "You know, the youma I've summoned here
think they will get the world when I die. They think they only have to
wait for the power to consume me, and then they will rule. Such single
minded creatures. No, the moment I die, I think the resulting release of
cosmic force will be so great, it will blow a hole straight through the
planet." She sighed heavily. "That's being conservative, I think."
"Then get rid of it! Return it to the Crystal!"
Dark Rei shook her head. "No, I'm pretty sure that kind of loss
will destroy me as well."
"But you just said the world-"
The sides of the sorceress's mouth curved upward slightly. "You
mistake my sorrow, Rei-san. I don't care that the world will die. My
regret is that you will die as well, absolved of the eternity of torment
I wished you to experience."
Mars gaped at her. "You monstrous-"
"Please, Rei, spare me the melodrama. Remember, I'm the part of
you that always disgusted you. I'm that part of you that felt you should
have been the Queen of All Things. By the way, where is Sailor Pluto?"
The dark-haired woman blinked, caught off guard by the sudden
change in conversation. "Sailor Pluto? I thought you-" And then there
was reason to smile. "She escaped. You didn't get a chance to kill her
like the rest of them."
"Yes, she has eluded discovery for quite some time, but I'll
destroy her eventually. She can't hide forever, wherever she is, though,
if you tell me, I promise to kill her quickly, painlessly."
Sailor Mars heard nothing. All she could do is grasp onto that one
thought. Sailor Pluto was alive somewhere! Surely there was something
she could do to help restore things. If Mars couldn't use the Crystal to
repair the damage, maybe she could use Time instead, one of the few
categories denied to the Archmagi.
"Did you hear me, Rei-san?" Dark Rei asked, irritation in her
voice.
"Huh? What? No, what did you say?"
Narrowing her eyes dangerously, the sorceress leaned forward
menacingly. "I asked you to find Sailor Pluto for me."
Mars gave a start. "Me? You want me to find Pluto for you? Are you
mad? I'd rather eat a rat."
Dark Rei beckoned her hand and instantly, a rat appeared on the
table. Quirking mouth in humor, the sorceress pointed at the poor
rodent. "I would be more than happy to watch."
Suddenly, a piercing beam of violet slashed through the crystal
table, shattering it with enough force to throw both women back
jaringly to the ground.
*****
"What are you trying to do, kill her?!" screamed Saturn, twisting
helplessly in the Grell's grip. It didn't do much good, especially with
her glaive safely away in her pocket dimension. She couldn't come close
to the strength of the creature.
For his part, the Grell swooped in low and landed neatly upon the
ground across the street from the pair. Releasing the Sailor Saturn to
her whims, he rolled silently behind a streetlamp, then flicked a rapid
succession of seven shurikens aimed for the downed seraph's head.
As soon as she was airborne from the strike upon the table, the
Crystal Rei rolled with the blow, an instinct setting up a barrier to
protect her from another such blow. The resounding ping of seven tones
notified her that such an instinct was well worth listening to.
Angered beyond compare, the superpower rose to her feet, already
recognizing the throwing stars that lay about her. Waves upon waves of
cosmic energy corruscated from her outstretched arms, obliterating the
far side of the street where she assumed the cloaked figure had been
standing, but for all her rage, she could accomplish only the
demolition of the numerous streetshops lining the road. The Grell
disappeared far before the blast could incinerate him.
For her part, Sailor Mars tumbled helplessly into a brick wall and
lay there, stunned momentarily, still trying to absorb the new knowledge
of Sailor Pluto's survival. If she could somehow contact the Guardian of
Time, perhaps the two of them could concoct a plan that would remedy the
chaos that had struck the planet.
But first, she had to survive in order to contact Pluto.
As the Crystal's energy tore apart the neighborhood, Sailor Mars
crawled into the shadows of the alley. "Sailor Pluto, if you can hear
me, I need to speak with you desperately," she murmured, sending out the
words with as much psychic strength as she could muster. She could only
hope that Crystal Rei's rage would mask the power of the sending.
Sailor Saturn, awed and paralyzed by the sight of such cataclysmic
strength, barely had time to blink before a column of violet struck her
from the sky. When it vanished a moment later, the small girl was
nowhere to be seen.
Meanwhile, the Grell flowed out of the shadows just behind Sailor
Mars. "Greetings, fair child of the Flame," he whispered in a low voice.
"Take this opportunity to escape, as she will not be distracted by her
anger for much longer."
So surprised was Mars by this intrusion that she yelped before she
knew who the intruder was, a sound that seemingly warned her nemesis
twin. Halting her barrage, the glowing figure twisted around and glared
at the two of the them. "So, Rei, you have thrown your lot in with the
Grell, have you?" she sneered in abhorrent contempt. "You've-"
Another column of mystic light slammed down from the heavens and
swallowed Sailor Mars and the Grelloth Noxus before the evil sorceress
could finish her words, vanishing before she could complete a thought of
countering.
"NO!! I WILL NOT BE DENIED MY RIGHT TO VENGEANCE!!" Crystal Rei
screamed to no one, and then set to work utilizing the full might of her
powers.
The city of Tokyo groaned.
*****
"What's happened to you, Pluto?" Mars asked, horrified, for before
her, laying askance in Sailor Saturn's lap, was a woman who made the
word 'ancient' seem young. Her hair hung in wisps, thinning yet long,
but a shade of green like old, faded evergreens. Skin clung to her
bones, with no hint of muscles beneath them, and wrinkled beyond
compare. Only the eyes, shining of deep, ageless magenta, and her
outfit, that of the Senshi of Time, spoke of the individual's true
identity. Too, the woman gripped the Staff of Time within her bony claw,
the Garnet Orb pulsing a glow that permeated throughout the misty realm
they found themselves transported to.
Sailor Saturn stroked the old woman's faded hair gently, murmuring
and cooing like a nurse to a newborn babe.
Ignoring the question, and the girl who pampered her, Pluto turned
a glare upon the cloaked figure beside Mars. "I did not invite YOU here,
youma," she hissed in a voice that rasped like old paper.
The Grell shrugged nonchalantly. "If you are the one who sent the
temporal portals, then it was you who brought me here, whether that was
indeed your intention or not. My proximity to the Senshi of Fire belied
any intentions you might have had."
"Please, Sailor Pluto," Sailor Mars pleaded. "For all his evil,
the Grell is interested in combatting this disaster as we are, no matter
his motives. Surely that must be enough. We need all the allies we can
get, even if they come from unlikely cesspools." The last was targeted
towards the cloaked figure. He ignored the jibe.
Pluto snorted, but did not press the issue. "As to your earlier
question, I'm dying, just like everyone else. Only the Garnet Orb keeps
me alive to complete whatever task it is that I have left in this
despicable life that is left to me." Her eyes seemed bright with tears,
but her voice remained bitter and cold. "Alas, because most of my wounds
are mortal, and most of my powers are vanishing away, the Orb can only
sustain me with its own source of energy. This is the result. Millenia
of existence is suddenly catching up to me."
"Do you know what we must do?" whispered Mars quietly.
"Don't you?"
The dark-haired woman blinked in confusion for a moment, unsure of
the question, then nodded imperceptibly. "Once, long ago, or perhaps it
hasn't happened yet, you sent Chibi Moon back in time to fix the future.
Can you do the same for me?"
A sudden tremor of earthquake proportions shook the realm of time,
knocking Sailor Mars off her feet. Saturn gripped the Senshi of Time
lovingly, concerned for her safety. Only the Grell seemed to ignore the
breakdown of the system, though he muttered a chilling comment: "The
Crystal Nemesis seems to be closer to breaking through to this
dimension." His gloved hands trailed towards his hidden swords.
Sailor Mars glanced at him, aghast at his audacity, but Pluto
interrupted any comment. "Yes, the youma is correct. Apparently I should
have tried to retrieve you more surreptitiously, but I didn't think we
had time enough left. My blunder may cost us if I can't send you back
immediately." Despite her urge to hurry, she stood up with infinite
tedium and impeccable calm, gently pushing away the girl. "Your twin
will destroy the Terran Arch of Time with her strength. At that point,
there will be nothing left of the Earth's future."
Mars picked herself off the misty ground. "What must I do?"
The withered Senshi gave her an appraising look, one that Sailor
Mars felt as if she were being tested. After a moment of apparent
debating with herself, the Senshi of Time mumbled to herself, "I suppose
there is little choice in this." Aloud, she continued, "Traveling back
in time is a hazard best left alone, as you should well know. Chibi Moon
was allowed because her presence in that particular part of history
couldn't cause the paradox of running into herself. For you, however,
you DO run that highest of risks." She paused here, her face furrowed in
thought. "Because I have never deigned to do this, I'm not sure what
will happen. I suspect one of two things will happen: you will erase
your current existence at that time and take over as the true Sailor
Mars, thus creating a new future for yourself, or your two selves will
live concurrently in the same timestream, making it very unstable, until
a point in time where you can be returned to this proper time frame."
Another shudder wracked the realm, and Mars instinctively grabbed
onto the Grell's cloak to support herself. "What are the consequences of
both?" she asked, a nervous flutter in her voice.
"In the former case, I suspect nothing more than your memories
will slowly alter to accomodate the change in the timestream. You will
forget all that has happened here, or so I believe. If that is the case,
I won't be able to return you here. In the latter, I suspect a chaotic
turbulence that will rival what has already occurred to the planet in
this time."
"You suspect?" questioned the Grell in that irritatingly
unemotional tone. "You do not know for a fact?"
"Time is a delicate and unfathomable entity," replied Pluto
enigmatically. "My task is to guard it against such calamities as we are
presented with today. Better to ask what the universe is than discover
the secrets of Time, or so has been my experience."
"So where will you send me back to?" inquired Mars.
"Us."
Everyone turned to the Grell, Mars and Saturn with shock, Pluto
with contempt. "If you think I shall be sending the likes of you back to
tamper with the continuum, you have another thing coming, youma," the
ancient woman spat. "If anyone is going, it is Sailor Mars and Saturn."
"I'm not going," the girl muttered, barely loud enough for anyone
to here, and it was Pluto's turn to gasp in surprise. "I'm not leaving
you here to die by yourself."
"But-"
"NO! Everyone is dead and I wasn't there to stop it! I won't leave
you here by yourself!" cried Saturn heatedly. A bit more calmly, she
added, "Besides, I'm the only one here not going with enough strength
left to stand up against the Crystal's power, if for only a short amount
of time." As if to deny the fact, another tremor, the most powerful yet,
shook the dimension.
Pluto snorted. "That's ridiculous. I'm not leaving you here-"
"Stop treating me like a child! I am a Senshi like the rest of
you, and I will not let the risks keep me from the sacrifices that the
rest of you so nonchalantly commit. That is final, Sailor Pluto."
The Guardian of Time blinked at the finality of the statement, but
surprisingly, did not press the issue. Turning furiously back to the
Grell, she hissed, "That still does not mean I am sending you back."
"The Senshi of Fire will require my assistance in this matter, no
matter what you say. I am familiar with our enemy as much as the rest of
you, and I have abilities the Senshi may be reluctant to use. Perhaps my
amorality will find a place in this struggle. Besides, I will take it
upon myself to hinder any of your efforts to send Rei-san back if that
is what it takes. Do you have the time to worry about myself also, in
addition to the Crystal?"
No one said a word for the longest time, digesting the ruthless
nature of the being before them. For all his threats, they all knew he
made a great deal of sense, and time WAS running out.
Finally, Sailor Mars spoke up. "If you are to go with me, there
will be a condition."
The Grell gazed at her for a long moment, jeweled eyes
scintillating. "I'm listening."
"You must give me back Cole Gishumi once this is resolved."
A gravelly snort issued from the mask. "You ask much for something
I can just as easily take." He paused momentarily, then continued, "On
the other hand, if you can repair the damage that has been done, I will
be honored to reward you with your lost love. Besides, one body is as
good as another."
A shiver crawled up Sailor Mars's spine at the last, but she
fought it down. "Pluto, send us back. I-"
A tremor more destructive than all of the rest blasted through the
realm, knocking them all off their feet. The glow of the Garnet Orb was
suddenly muted in the shine of millions of stars pouring from a gashing
portal that opened some distance away.
Saturn was the first to recover. Instantly upon her feet, she
sprinted towards the light, the Silence Glaive humming with summoned
energy. "Get them out of here!" she screamed back before she disappeared
in the surrounding mists.
Pluto gripped her staff, and the Orb burst into awesome might.
"The future is yours to save or destroy now, Sailor Mars. There is no
one else. May Megami-sama aid in you quest."
"May Megami-sama aid us all," came the surprisingly gentle reply
from the Grell.
And suddenly, the Orb cracked, a dissonating ring melding into the
air.
The Grell and Sailor Mars both doubled over in apparent pain,
their forms distorting back and forth. Mars seemed to be screaming
something, but no sound emerged from a mouth that continued to open,
long past the breaking point. In fact, both of their bodies elongated
beyond the normal stretch of reality.
Sailor Pluto grasped the staff tightly and threw everything she
had left to maintain the sending. Over and over she murmured as
if the mantra would save them, concentrating the whole of her being into
the task.
The two forms slowly returned back to their normal form, fading
away as Pluto's power took hold of them, though the Orb cracked several
more times in the process.
And just as Sailor Mars and the Grell disappeared completely, the
Garnet Orb shattered into hundreds of sparkling motes, showering Sailor
Pluto with temporal energy that dissipated into the realm.
*****
The glowing being sidestepped the prone form of Sailor Saturn,
disgust written across her features at having to deal with such a young
individual. The dimension of Time she had managed to pierce into seemed
about ready to collapse, but she did not care a whit. All that mattered
was finding Rei and destroying Sailor Pluto for having hidden her away.
All she found was an old crone, crying silently upon the ground,
gripping a staff. "Who are you?" the glowing being asked harshly.
"I'm so sorry, so sorry. Please, Rei-chan, forgive me. I couldn't
control it. I'm so sorry." Over and over the decrepit woman lamented,
apparently ignorant of the looming figure beside her. Eventually, the
figure lost all patience, especially with the constant rumbles cracking
through the realm. Reaching down and grabbing the woman, Crystal Rei
pulled her to her feet, inches from her mask of fury. "Where is Sailor
Mars?!"
The old woman blinked, as if just realizing where she was, then
began to cackle insanely. Before her eyes, Crystal Rei noticed the aging
of the woman, wrinkles growing where there were none only moments ago,
what little flesh beneath her fingers wasting away as she held the woman
up. The evergreen hair seemed the only feature immune to the aging.
Disturbed greatly, Crystal Rei dropped the woman into a heap,
halting the cackles. Eyes blazing with bloodshot madness, the woman
gazed up at her assailer. "You'll never have her now, Maligned One. She
is beyond even your reach."
"Pluto?" the glowing being whispered, aghast.
The woman ignored her. "I may have not sent her to the correct
time, but there is a chance. Always there is a chance. Perhaps. Anything
will be better than this." Tears filled her eyes again. "Oh, Hotaru-
chan. Why didn't you go? Why? Why, Hotaru-chan?"
Fear began to crawl into Crystal Rei's being. Had she lost? What
was Sailor Pluto talking about? "Where are they, Pluto?"
"They are beyond even your grasp, my dear Rei."
The sorceress straightened carefully, the words of the new voice
slicing through her with painful clarity. Turning, her onyx orbs widened
beyond startlement, beyond surprise. "No," she whispered at the
apparition before her. "No, I killed you."
The ghost smiled cryptically. "Yes, Rei, you did, but your work
has dealt the world a might blow, and it is dying." The wraith glanced
at its wrist, at an illusionary wristwatch. "Or rather, it was dying."
She shrugged. "Nonetheless, much that holds the universe together at the
nexus of Earth had been ripped asunder since your tyranny began, the
least of which being those you have murdered." Another smile, one warm
and innocent.
Crystal Rei gaped like a fish, and fell to the ground when another
earthquake rumbled through the realm.
Heedless of the tremors, the apparition floated to the ancient
crone, and knelt beside her. "Setsuna-sama," she crooned, cradling the
woman as a babe, "sleep, my friend. Your burden of duty has ended in
this time."
The madness left Pluto's eyes, and she gripped the apparition's
hand tightly, with tired, but hopeful, joy. "Then... everything will...
be alright, Megami-sama?"
"It is in the hands of the one I have placed my trust in for all
ages, my Senshi of Time, as I once told you before. Rest, and awaken."
A sighing breath of contentment escaped Pluto's mouth, her last.
Gently laying the body to rest, the ghost rose and returned her
attention to the sorceress, a face of infinite sorrow. "Do you see what
you have done here, Rei-chan?"
"I AM NOT YOUR REI!!!" the dark-haired woman screamed back
hysterically.
The wraith shook her head. "Ah, but you are. You are the part that
sees things from a different perspective, the part that shows those of
us too... naive... the dangers of reality, that it is not all bunny
rabbits and ice cream sundaes. Sure, you're much harsher than your other
half, but so is the world when you really look at it." She grinned
mischieviously. "Who else is going to tell me to get off my butt and
make something of myself, or make fun of my hair incessantly?"
A dozen bolts of argent beams burst from Rei's chest, slamming
into the ghost, illuminating the latter with silvery fire. "Get away
from me! Leave me alone!" screamed the sorceress.
"Tsk, tsk." The apparition raised a hand to the Crystal's power,
and seemingly absorbed it into herself. "Rei, you were never meant to
have the Imperium Crystal. It is rightfully of the Moon's Royal Family.
Give it up. Join me, and perhaps we can watch my true Rei succeed in her
quest."
"What quest?! Where is she?!"
The ghost stared in a moment of confusion. "You still haven't
figured it out? Why, MY Rei-chan, along with that hateful Grell
individual, has gone back in time to stop you." She flipped one of her
blonde ponytails out from over her shoulder, careful to get it over her
wing of angelic feathers.
Then, in a most ungraceful manuever, the apparition stuck her
tongue out at the sorceress.
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