The Return
Chapter 12: Rage (or The Fire Within)
by Richan
Alecto stood in the middle of the room, gleefully rubbing her hands at the terror she had struck in the faces of these children. She looked at Nephrite and changed her mind. 'Make that children and a couple of men,' she thought to herself. 'Maybe I'll keep that one after I'm finished with the others. Hehe.'
Usagi looked at the lifeless bodies on the floor. She could feel that they were being held elsewhere, but she knew that the longer they were apart from their bodies, the harder it would be to reunite them. She drew a deep breath and poked Mamoru with a hidden finger.
Alert, he understood that she was signaling to henshin. Mamoru eyed the four generals, who stood prepared to fight. Catching their eyes, he nodded almost imperceptibly. The senshi left could feel the vibes flowing through the air and knew that this was the signal.
Alecto was unprepared for the energy that burst around her as everybody in the room transformed. She found herself surrounded by the senshi, power flowing from them in rapid waves. She looked at the closest one to her, the one called Sailor Jupiter, and found herself staring into a pair of deadly green eyes. She saw the anger welling up in them, soon reaching the point where she could take this girl. Raising an eyebrow, she looked Sailor Jupiter dead on. As she sent the girl to the realm where she had sent the others, she saw the blond man, out of the corner of her eye, reach for the senshi in front of her. Figuring to get rid of him as well, she sent the two of them off together.
As the bodies of Sailor Jupiter and Jadeite fell to the floor, Sailor Moon watched with a sad expression on her face. Alecto saw this and silently swore. Here was a person that almost never got angry when it came to important things, something that she couldn't touch. Even though she was scared at the events that were happening before her, she didn't let herself get angry.
'This could be trouble,' Alecto thought. She had never seen someone so in control of herself in battle. 'On second thought, yes I have. Who...? Nevermind.'
She gathered up energy and sent it flying towards Sailor Moon, who neatly sidestepped it.
The room gawked. Alecto stood with her mouth hanging wide open. She had been expecting a counter attack, which she would have easily been able to handle. This, on the other hand, she couldn't fathom. The senshi were in shock. They had never seen Sailor Moon act so calm in a battle, at least to start with. She usually had at least one panic attack when it was first sited, but today she was unusually calm.
Mamoru was impressed. He had known that she was getting stronger everyday, and this proved it. He was proud of her.
Sailor Moon gazed into Alecto's eyes. She saw nothing but anger in them, the kind of anger that will burn steadily until it's put out by an outside force. As long as that fire was burning, there was little or no chance to rescue her friends. She brought out the Eternal Moon Rod and held it before her. As she did so, she could feel new power flow to her. Focusing on it, she could feel it coming from Luna and Artemis who stood behind the senshi.
Letting the power flow into the rod, she let it go at Alecto, "Crystal Moon Tear Drop!"
A bright light burst out of the rod in thousands of colors, too many to name. They headed straight for Alecto, who found herself unable to move fast enough to avoid it. She was hit with a tremendous force, throwing her against the wall. She was incased in a crystal tear, her face contorted in surprise and horror.
"Wow!" Sailor Venus said. "How did you do that?"
Sailor Moon shook her head. "Never mind that. We have to get the others back."
******
Makoto and Jadeite stood in a dark room. They couldn't see each other, but they could hear the other's breathing.
"Where are we?" Makoto put her hand out to search for anything.
"I don't know," came Jadeite's voice from her left.
She turned in that direction, hand out from her body. After a couple of steps there was something hard yet soft under her fingertips and a slight "Umph!" in a male voice.
"Gomen," Makoto apologized.
"Daijobu," Jadeite replied. "Now that you found me, how about we look for an exit?"
Makoto nodded her head before she realized that Jadeite couldn't see it. "Sure."
******
Rei stopped suddenly, Suhai bumping into her back.
"Oops," he said. "Gomen. Why did you stop?"
She turned around and looked at Suhai. His body was starting to fade slightly, reminding her that they needed to find his 'real' body. She personally couldn't fathom how he was projecting himself from his astral body into this form. She had never heard it being done before. Opening her mouth, she started to speak but stopped. Her thoughts running in thirty different directions at all the possibilities, she found she couldn't get them out.
Rei turned her head away and was startled to see the wall wavering slightly near the top. At the crease of the wall and ceiling there were a pair of eyes staring down at her--her own eyes. They looked down at her, expressionless. Almost as if they were waiting for something to trigger a certain look deep within. Rei found herself mesmerized by those eyes, almost losing herself in their depths.
Suhai realized the danger in that and tugged on her arm, loosening Rei from the grip of her own eyes. "Don't look at them. As long as you are here, it's dangerous to gaze into your own eyes. You must look within, but that isn't the way to do it."
"Look within," she muttered. She had felt as if she were drifting in a rough sea when she had looked into her own eyes. Rei had thought that there had been something deep within them, but now she realized that they were nothing but the reflection of her in this place. As long as she hadn't found anybody, they would be empty.
Now she knew that she had to find the others. Knowing that the eyes that she used to see into the world were empty, as if they were a blank piece of paper, was terrifying. While she was here, she had to find the strength that she had always believed had shone out of her eyes.
Closing her eyes, she took a couple of deep breaths, trying to clear her mind. She could see herself sitting at the sacred fire again, as she had so many times before. This time, she stopped this before the fire could become reality. She held it in a small corner of her mind, not letting herself become so focused on it that it grew uncontrollably.
The sacred fire burned steadily in the small space that she had allotted it, showing her that she had the control to continue. Gazing into the flame, Rei could see that her friends were scattered over the large space of her soul.
Rei gasped. She was within her soul! Shaking her head, she couldn't believe it. The more she looked for another answer in the fire the more pronounced the one she had been given became.
She turned to look at Suhai and found that he had faded some more. Time was running out.
"Ikimasu!"
"Nani?" Suhai looked at her strangely.
"Get a move on it! We don't have much time left," Rei said demandingly. "You're almost as bad as Usagi. Move it!"
'What did I get myself into?' Suhai asked himself as Rei dragged him out of the room.
******
"Is he ok?" Unazumi bent over Suhai's prone body with a worried expression on her face.
"Yes," Suru replied. "I think that he is out there looking for something. I just wish I knew where we were."
"Rei," Shingo said abruptly.
Everybody's head turned quickly at the name.
"Nani?" Taiki asked.
"We are within Rei," Shingo said, moving his hand over his eyes in a tired motion.
"How...? Why?" Yaten looked at him as Motoki moved to sit by him.
"The hammer," Seiya said quietly. The others looked at him strangely.
"She needs to find the hammer," Kashikoi said. "Doesn't she?"
Shingo nodded. "I think that is where Suhai has gone - to help her."
"It's not going to be easy, is it," Unazumi asked.
Shingo shook his head before closing his eyes.
There was a rumble and a sudden crash to one side of the room as Makoto and Jadeite came through the wall. The hole that they made sealed up behind them.
"Bad move," Yaten said as the two walked into the middle of the room. "Now you're stuck here with us."
"What?" Makoto went over to the wall that they had just come through. She put her hand up to it, but couldn't force her way through like she had all of the others.
"Rei has to come find us," Taiki said.
Jadeite looked over the group, finding that they were scattered along one wall of the room, either sitting, or laying as in Suhai's case. They were bunched together in little clusters. He mentally sighed as he watched them talk amongst themselves. He saw Kashikoi try to get the others into a little group and he decided that he would help her.
"Is there a reason you're doing this," he asked her.
"We might be able to help Rei find her way here if we act like a group," Kashikoi said. She put her hands on her hips and huffed. Swinging her braid over her shoulder, she pulled Jadeite over to one side. "We need something to stir this group up. The longer it takes Rei to get here, the harder this is going to be, I think."
"You think?"
"I'm not all-seeing you know. I leave that to Setsuna," she said, pouting.
Seiya looked up to see Kashikoi whispering to Jadeite about something. He didn't know what was going on, but he was going to find out. He walked over to the two.
"Go poke her and get her attention," Kashikoi was saying, gesturing madly at Makoto, who had sat down next to Unazumi. "We need to get off of our butts if we want to help."
"Help?" Seiya looked at the two for a couple of seconds before realizing what was happening. "Leave it up to me," he said smugly to Jadeite and Kashikoi, who were watching him with strange looks on their faces.
Seiya walked to the middle of the room and cleared his throat loudly.
Nobody paid any attention.
He tried again, louder.
Nothing.
"Oi!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, causing everybody to cringe at the echo as the word bounced off of the walls at them.
"Knock it off, Seiya," Yaten groused at him.
"We need to get up and help Rei," Seiya said to him in return.
"Yeah, come on everybody." Kashikoi went over to Suru and tugged at his arm, not letting up until he was standing. She reached down and pulled Shingo up as well, even though both men were glaring at her. "Do you think that we'll get out of here if we don't help? We aren't going to be able to do anything if we just sit here!"
"Stop it, Kashikoi," Suru said in a low voice. "Quit being such a know-it-all."
She stopped in mid-motion, locked in a shocked tableau with the rest of the group.
"N-nani," she asked, stuttering in shock.
"Just stop it. I can't deal with this anymore, following you as if you really know anymore than the rest of us. You don't have anything that we haven't got. We're just as smart as you."
With every word Suru said, Kashikoi shrunk a little until she was standing in the middle of the room alone. "Suru," she whispered, holding out her hand towards him. "Doshite? What's the matter?"
"Don't you know what's the matter," he shouted at her, ignoring her hand. He turned away from her before turning again and stalking at her. "You've forced yourself onto this group, and for once I'm not standing for it! I don't want to do this anymore." He turned and walked toward the wall, his back telling her everything yet nothing at all.
The group watched in a sort of tired fascination as Suru walked away from her, leaving the young woman shaking. They lost interest in what was going on when Suru sat down next to Unazumi again.
Jadeite watched this and wondered what had happened. He knew that the two had grown up best friends, and now this? Something wasn't right here. He went over to Makoto and crouched down next to her.
"Makoto-san," he said softly.
She looked up at him with a confused expression on her face. "What just happened? I don't understand."
He shook his head and offered her a hand to stand up. Pulling her away from the group, he went over to where Kashikoi was standing alone, Seiya having gone back to the wall once more.
"Kashikoi-san," Makoto said. "Daijobu?"
Haunted turquoise eyes looked at the both of them before they became blank, masking any emotion. "Hai," was the reply in a muted, but determined voice. Before either could say another word, Kashikoi grabbed their hands and closed her eyes, whisking the three out of the room.
******
Rei stopped. Her heart felt like it was breaking. What had happened? The cord that she had felt tugging her felt as if it had been stretched taught, almost snapping under the pressure. When it was released, the cord was slack, its strength pulled from it.
"Something's wrong," she whispered. She turned to look at Suhai. He was watching her with faded eyes. All he could do was nod, unable to do anything more in his weakened state.
The two went forward, hoping that they found what they were searching for soon. Otherwise, there was no telling what would happen.
******
Usagi collapsed on the couch, her transformation swiftly changing. She clutched her heart in pain as Endymion caught her in his arms.
"Usako!"
"Usagi-chan," Minako yelled.
Those that were left in the room looked at the princess with worry in their eyes.
"Rei-chan," Usagi whispered. She felt that something was wrong, and she had to go find out what it was. She looked up at Mamoru. He was looking down at her with a calm look in his blue eyes, as if he knew what she was thinking.
"Mamo-chan?"
"Hai, Usako," he said softly. "We need to go after them."
There was movement on the floor across the room as Jadeite and Makoto stirred next to Kashikoi. They sat up slowly, trying to figure out where they were now. Makoto looked down at Kashikoi, who wasn't moving, except a couple of tears falling from her closed eyes.
"Daijobu," she whispered as she heard the others come over. Her answer was a slight shake of the head.
"Mako-chan," Usagi said in a worried voice. She hugged her swiftly before turning her attention to Kashikoi. The redhead was staring listlessly at nothing in particular as she was held in Setsuna's arms.
"Kashikoi-san!" Usagi looked closely at the young woman, alarmed at what she saw on her face. There was no emotion on it, unusual for such a vivacious person such as she was.
"Kashikoi," Setsuna whispered in her ear. "What's wrong?" Closing her eyes, Setsuna searched for a desperate answer in the future but received nothing but a cloudy glimpse of the present. Something was still blocking her knowledge of the future, leaving her feeling as if she could do nothing to help.
Usagi took a deep breath, silently hoping that Kashikoi would understand what she was about to do. Releasing the breath, she swung her hand across the young woman's cheek harshly, the crack echoing around the now silent room.
Mamoru watched silently, knowing that this was for the best. He could feel the guilt flow across Usagi in waves for the slap she had just given. He looked at Kashikoi, who didn't react. He was startled when Usagi fell back into his arms, trying to hold back tears.
"Gomen ne, Kashikoi-san," Usagi whispered over and over again. "I thought it would work."
There was a strangled sound deep in Kashikoi's throat, startling everybody. They went into shock at the horrible, strangled scream that erupted from the young woman, as if her soul was being torn apart. "Iie. Iie," she muttered repeatedly, shaking her head. Finally, she blinked her eyes and tried to sit up in Setsuna's arms.
"Koinu," Setsuna said softly, hugging her little sister. She had been terrified at the sound that had come from her. She knew that something was wrong, and she knew that she couldn't fix it, but wanted to help in anyway she could. "Please, tell me what's wrong."
Kashikoi shook her head violently, standing suddenly and rushing to the bathroom. The others started to follow when Usagi motioned them to stay. Reaching the bathroom, she found Kashikoi sobbing, curled up into a small ball next to the tub.
Brushing her hair out of her face, Usagi got a wet washcloth and wiped her tears away. She sat quietly next to her, knowing that Kashikoi would tell her what was wrong instinctively.
Trying to hold back her tears, Kashikoi looked over at Usagi. She found worried blue eyes watching her in concern. Almost bursting out in tears again at this, she closed her eyes. She hurriedly opened them again when all she saw was Suru yelling at her.
"Doshite," she asked herself quietly, not realizing that she said it aloud.
"Doshite, what?" Usagi took one of Kashikoi's hands and held it between her own.
Kashikoi looked up, startled. She took a couple of calming breaths. "Suru...he..." She stopped, unable to voice the thoughts running through her head.
"What did he do," Usagi asked. She had the feeling that it was something bad that had happened.
"He...he said...he said that I was being a know-it-all, that I had f-forced myself onto everybody," she said, starting to sob again. "He said that he didn't want to deal with me anymore." She broke down into heaving sobs, hugging her knees to her chest.
Usagi looked up at the doorway and found Mamoru and Setsuna looking at them, worry etched on their faces. She nodded at Setsuna, who came over and hugged Kashikoi. Rising, Usagi walked over to Mamoru and hugged him, burying her face in his shoulder.
"I don't understand what's going on," she said softly to him as she pulled him out of the room. She led him down the hallway and into one of the rooms on the main floor. "I thought that Kashikoi-san and Suru-san were best of friends, and he said that to her?"
"Usako," Mamoru said gently. "When you felt your heart hurt, what did you feel?"
She looked up at him, her eyes widening slightly. "As if anger had pierced an arrow through it."
"An arrow of anger," Mamoru said under his breath. Suddenly it clicked. "Mars."
"Nani?"
"You could feel Rei, right?"
Usagi nodded.
"And you could feel anger as well." Mamoru saw Usagi nod again. "This is connected to Rei somehow. She is the one most easily angered out of all of us, isn't she?"
Nodding again, Usagi hugged Mamoru once more. She understood it finally. "Alecto is the Fury unceasing in anger, and Mars is the warrior of war. She increased the anger that Rei-chan feels towards the world."
"That is where we were," came a male voice behind them. Mamoru and Usagi turned to see Jadeite and Makoto standing in the doorway nervously.
"We were within Rei-chan," Makoto said in a low voice.
"Somehow, I suspect that the anger Rei feels towards things was amplified through the room," Jadeite said. "When Kashikoi-san tried to get the others to help Rei-san, the others didn't even bother trying. Anger takes many forms, and a sense of disinterest is one of them."
Mamoru nodded his head. "Rei's anger at something is being fueled."
Usagi got a sinking feeling about this. She saw movement behind Jadeite. "Luna, Artemis!"
Luna walked over to her. "You should get going. The longer the others are gone, the stronger Alecto's spell will hold. Even though she is imprisoned, her magic still works."
Artemis nodded. "She is much stronger than her sisters. Anger is a very powerful emotion."
Nodding at them, Usagi looked up into Mamoru's eyes. She could see the determination deep with the blue orbs, matching her own. Hearing a noise outside of the room, she went and followed it, the others close behind.
Setsuna stood outside the bathroom, slowing making her way to the living room with Kashikoi. She stopped when she saw Usagi. "Before you leave, we need to talk alone," Setsuna said.
Usagi and Mamoru nodded, while the others wondered what was going on.
The four went into the kitchen, Kashikoi sitting heavily in one of the chairs at the table.
"Why didn't you get angry like the others did," Mamoru asked her.
Setsuna answered. "She rarely ever gets angry."
Kashikoi nodded slowly, rubbing her forehead tiredly. Her eyes were faintly red, and tears were lurking beneath the lids, but she wasn't crying anymore. "It takes a lot for me to get angry at somebody. And when I do start getting angry, I go inside my shell and cry for awhile, so I did get a little angry, I guess."
Mamoru nodded. He did the same thing, except for the crying part, when he got angry.
Setsuna looked at Usagi. "Princess, you need to make sure that you are prepared. You are going to have to deal with Rei's anger, and I think that some of it will be directed at you personally."
Usagi looked at her a couple of moments before nodding slightly. "I know." She turned to Mamoru and held out her hand. "Are you ready?"
Mamoru took it. "Yes."
Both of them concentrated, transforming silently with their crystals as they sped into Rei.
At the kitchen table, Kashikoi sighed. "Good luck."
Setsuna looked at her before nodding. "They will need it."
******
Sailor Moon surveyed the room that she was standing in. She could feel some emotion flowing through the air, but it wasn't anger. It more like sadness, pulling on her heart like the tide on the sand.
Endymion stood next to her, also feeling the emotions that floated around the room. He sensed that Rei, herself, was nearby, but didn't feel the others anywhere close to them. Taking hold of Sailor Moon's hand again, he guided them through the wall, coming into a pitch-black room. The air was oppressive here, suffocating them.
"What is this?" Sailor Moon tried to see anything through the darkness. She could feel Endymion's hand in hers, the only link between them.
"I think that this is her fear," he said. He stopped, hearing a noise behind him. Twisting around, he tried to see what it was, losing his grip on Sailor Moon's hand. He gasped and reached for her.
"Endymion," Sailor Moon's voice came faintly. "Where are you?" There was a soft scream and suddenly he couldn't feel that she was in the room anymore. Mentally bracing himself, he walked forward, coming up to a wall. Pushing through it, he blinked from the brightness of the room he entered.
"Endymion," said a surprised Rei.
Finally adjusting to the light, Endymion found Rei standing next to him, the faint shadow of Suhai close by.
"Rei," he said. "Where...? Have you seen Sailor Moon?"
Shaking her head, Rei looked to see how Suhai was doing. She gasped when she saw that he was barely there. Knowing that they had to hurry, she motioned for Endymion to follow her as she went to the next room.
******
Sailor Moon looked around the room. She saw the immortals scattered around the room. Yaten and Taiki were fighting, physically, down and dirty. Unazumi was yelling at Shingo, who was glaring for all he was worth back at her. Suru and Motoki were pointedly ignoring each other, each on one side of Suhai, who lay still. Seiya was sitting over in a corner, staring at nothing.
She could feel the anger flowing through each of them, at different levels. Deciding that she might as well get started, she went over to Seiya first, since it seemed like he had the lowest level of anger in him.
"Seiya-kun," she said softly, putting her hand on her shoulder. She pulled it back when she could feel vibrations running through him. "Daijobu?"
He turned to look up at her with his blue eyes in turmoil. "Sai...Sailor Moon!?"
Seiya jumped up quickly, trying to hide his anguish inside of the anger that flowed through him. He could still see the tears on Kashikoi's face as she vanished. He looked down into Sailor Moon's empathetic eyes and he calmed down.
Sailor Moon smiled at him, encouraging a smile from the man next to her. "Seiya-kun, please tell me what's the matter."
He looked at her carefully, fighting the anger that rose in him once more. Inhaling sharply helped him regain a sense of himself, pushing the anger to the side. "I...I hurt her," he said softly. "I hurt her. I didn't mean to do, but I..."
Putting a hand on his shoulder again, Sailor Moon said, "It's okay, Seiya-kun. I think that she will understand you. You just need to tell her what happened."
Seiya nodded. Closing his eyes, he saw Kashikoi's face in front of him, this time smiling at him.
There was a bright flash and Seiya was gone.
Sailor Moon sighed. 'One down and more to go.'
******