Neo Alt Episode 07

"DAMN YOU!" screamed Queen Rage. She stood up and slammed her wine glass down on the small table beside her throne. "I can’t believe this! You three are so incompetent! ALL OF YOU! This is the worst thing that could happen to us! Sailorsaturn has been reborn!" Her red eyes were raging. She threw the mostly full glass at Vandium, Gallium, and Thulium. It smashed on the stone at Thulium’s feet, staining her silvery shoes red. "Just like I remember," she muttered to herself. "I was hoping we could have changed that…"

Gallium raised his eyebrows, confused. "Queen Rage-sama, what exactly are you talking about?" he asked.

"Now that Sailorsaturn is in the fight, there is no way I will be able to get the Opaque Prism!" Queen Rage shouted, reaching for the new wine glass brought by a dutiful servant. "Do you have any idea of the power she possesses?" She flung the full glass at Gallium. It shattered when it struck his chest, the wine in it splattering over most of him and parts of the two on either side of him.

Queen Rage slowly settled back into her throne. Resting her elbow on the arm of her chair, she propped her head up on her hand. She idly crossed her legs, looking thoughtful for a few moments. A strange cruel smile formed on her lips. Finally, she said quietly, "I want all three of you to go down to Earth."

"You want us to what?" asked Vandium, giving Gallium a wary glance. He severely disliked—no, hated Gallium. He would much rather have gone to Earth with just Thulium. There were places on Earth he would love to show her…Earth really was a beautiful planet.

"Your majesty," said Gallium quietly, "I don’t think that’s a very good idea."

Queen Rage smiled, somehow both softly and menacingly. "It’s a wonderful idea…No thanks to you three, the Neo Sailor Team is very strong now." Her voice was cold. "I want you three to go down there and eliminate Sailorsaturn. If you don’t…" All the softness had left her smile. She paused, the silence itself threatening.

Thulium gulped, guessing what Queen Rage hadn’t said. The situation was to die on Earth or die at Queen Rage’s hands. Kill or be killed. But it was doubtful they would be able to destroy Sailorsaturn. Thulium’s eyes, filled with fright, flicked to the right, sliding over Gallium’s face, then Vandium’s, before locking with Queen Rage’s malevolent red eyes.

No one broke the silence for a minute. Then Vandium opened his mouth, then closed it, hesitating. Finally he sighed.

"Yes, Queen Rage-sama."

* * * * *

The dark hand reached forward and grabbed Seishi around the neck, squeezing. She gasped for breath, clawing at the cold hand. "Stop…it…" she begged, choking. She stretched out and grabbed a fistful of the perpetrator’s hair, pulling his head forward till she could see his face. "Otou-sama!?!?!?"

With a start, Seishi awoke, her skin damp with sweat. She had gotten herself entangled in the sheet. Part of it was wrapped around her neck. Another part was clutched in her hand. It had been all a dream. Of course.

Seishi disentangled herself from the sheet and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. How long had she been asleep? She gazed around the black walls of her room. Her eyes fell on her desk chair, which contained a sleeping male figure with brown hair. He mumbled something and shifted so she could see his face. Ryuu.

Seishi’s eyes widened. Why was he in her room? She glanced down. She was wearing her favorite nightgown, black lace and a see-through violet material. She blushed slightly. Had Ryuu seen her like this? How long had he been there?

Ryuu’s eyes suddenly snapped open, as if he sensed her gaze. "Sei-chan! You’re awake!" he exclaimed, jumping out of the chair. His eyes landed on her body. Bright red, he quickly looked elsewhere, anywhere but at her. "Ah, um, uh, sorry, Sei-chan, I, uh, ah, I, um..."

"Don’t bother apologizing," Seishi replied. She climbed back into bed, pulling the covers up to her neck. "You can look now," she added.

"I, uh, I was trying to say I’m glad you’re awake, Sei-chan," Ryuu said, regaining his composure.

"Why are you here?" Seishi asked. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Don’t you remember?" asked Ryuu quietly.

Seishi closed her eyes. Transforming, a fight, healing Ryuu...a funeral...that’s right, Okaa-sama is dead...

"I...I remember..." murmured Seishi. A tear trickled down her cheek. I wish I didn’t remember... she turned over, hiding her face in the pillow and hauling the blanket over her head.

After a minute, Seishi felt the blanket being lifted off her head. Ryuu gently smoothed down Seishi’s hair. "You’ve been asleep for two days," he said quietly.

Seishi mumbled something, she wasn’t sure what. After an awkward pause, Ryuu said, trying to find the bright side, "Well, now you know you’re Sailorsaturn...Aren’t you happy?"

Seishi sat up. "Why would I be?" she asked coldly. "I don’t want to be Sailorsaturn. I never wanted to be Sailorsaturn. I never will want to be Sailorsaturn. Okaa-sama died to give this power to me. I wish she hadn’t...wish she hadn’t..." She slid back under the covers, crying into the already damp pillow.

"Hotaru-mama wanted it this way, Sei-chan..." Ryuu whispered, gently brushing a bit of hair behind Seishi’s ear. "She loves you, you know she does, and she wouldn’t have died for you without a very good reason."

Ryuu stood up and walked over to Seishi’s desk, picking up one of the books that lay there. He held it up. "I got this out of the library. It’s a history of the Sailor Senshi. Why don’t you get dressed, so we can read it together?" Seishi nodded, and Ryuu left the room.

A few minutes later, Seishi walked downstairs. Ryuu was standing in front of the fireplace, his back to her, looking at the row of pictures on the mantel. He picked one up to look at more closely. It was a fairly recent one of her, one where she was smiling. Seishi deliberately thumped one step a little harder than necessary, making a quiet sound that was still very audible in the silent room. Ryuu hastily replaced the picture and walked over to sit on the couch, his face more red than normal. Seishi sat on a footstool she pulled up to the coffee table.

Ryuu flipped through the pages of the book he’d put on the coffee table. "Let’s see...ah, here, look." He turned the book so Seishi could see the picture of the girl on that page. "Bishoujo Senshi Sailorsaturn." She resembled Seishi, with shorter hair, and wore a violet and maroon sailorfuku.

Seishi glanced at the page number, then turned to the table of contents. "There’s more pages on her than anyone else," she commented, then turned to the page after the picture of Saturn. "Real name, Tomoe Hotaru..." Seishi looked up at Ryuu. "Is everyone really that stupid? Her name is right here. Why hasn’t anyone ever asked Okaa-sama about this? Why do only the other former Senshi know who she is?"

Ryuu shifted in his seat, looking uncomfortable, his face red. "This, uh, didn’t exactly come from the public library, it’s from the Crystal Palace Archives."

"I don’t think I want to know how you got in there." Seishi looked back at the book. "Sailorsaturn is the Goddess of Ruin," she read, tracing the lines with her finger. "She appeared when the Three Talismans (see Sailoruranus, Sailorneptune, Sailorpluto) were brought together to form the Holy Grail, which was to be used by Mistress 9 (see Tau Ceti, vol. 3) along with the Silence Glaive to bring the Silence on the universe.

"Sailorsaturn was never intended to be awakened, for fear of the Silence. She was reborn on Earth as Tomoe Hotaru, but died in a laboratory accident when she was eight." Seishi blinked and reread the sentence. The words hadn’t changed. "Hotaru’s father, Tomoe Souichi, sold his soul to Mistress 9 to bring Hotaru back to life, unaware that both he and Hotaru would be possessed. Sailorsaturn was later awakened and almost Silenced the world. She sacrificed herself to kill Mistress 9 and prevent the Silence. She was again reborn and given to Kaiou Michiru (see Sailorneptune), Tenou Haruka (see Sailoruranus) and Meiou Setsuna (see Sailorpluto), who became her caretakers. Later, during the Zodiac Wars (see vol. 2, the Zodiac Senshi), Sailorsaturn was reawakened, but killed by Sailorscorpio. She was reborn a third time to awaken Tsukino Usagi (see Sailormoon), then called to the future by Neo Sailormoon. The two of them returned to the past to help defeat the Golden Millennium." Seishi didn’t bother turning the page. "I don’t see why this is important to me."

Ryuu gently lifted Seishi’s hand off the book so he could turn the page. He pointed at the paragraph at the top, saying, "Look there."

"There must always be a Soldier of Silence to balance the good and evil of the universe. The successor to Sailorsaturn will be Tomoe Hotaru’s daughter. Without a doubt, she will possess both twice Sailorsaturn’s power and other, unimaginable, powers." It was interesting, but Seishi didn’t really care. "However, this successor will also inherit the remains of Mistress 9’s evil that lay dormant in Hotaru. This will certainly awaken in and consume Neo Sailorsaturn. The prophecies tell us that this Sailorsaturn will be the Soldier of Death. Even those whom she loves will feel her touch. Once again there will be a Silent Messiah, who may well bring on the destruction of the universe."

Ryuu looked up from the book, which he had been trying to read upside-down. Seishi’s face was impassive, her eyes cold and hard. He tried to say something, but no sound came out. Even after several throat-clearings, he could only manage a whisper.

"Sei-chan, that’s you..."

* * * * *

Kasumi sat down on one of the swings in the park. Her eyes wandered the clouds as she began to swing back and forth. She was running away again. Only a few minutes before, she had left her house. She couldn’t take it anymore. She had to escape.

This was more than mere sibling jealousy. Most ordinary children would fight with their siblings often, but that was just a facade to hide their true feelings. Underneath, the bond of love was still there. Kasumi, though...Nothing she did was ever good enough. Not for her sister, not for her parents, not for anyone but herself.

"I’m human, too...just like them..." Kasumi said angrily to herself. "I have feelings, I’m not made of ice...not that they care...nothing I do will ever matter to anyone but me...no one will ever care about me but me..." Mid-swing, Kasumi snatched a rock off of the ground and hurled it at the slide several feet away. It hit the metal with a satisfying clang and bounced off, leaving a large dent behind.

"I’ll never be popular...never be beautiful...never be anything...never going to have Ryuu...never matter to anyone except me..." Silvery tears ran down Kasumi’s face.

"What’s wrong, Kasumi-chan?" asked a familiar voice from behind Kasumi.

Kasumi slammed her feet on the ground to stop swinging. "Nothing is wrong," she said, her voice diamond-hard and icy cold. "Nothing at all."

"You’re lying, Kasumi-chan," said Hisakino Nijiko accusingly. The small black-haired girl walked around the swingset, then climbed up onto Kasumi’s lap.

"Why would you think that?" asked Kasumi coldly.

"Your mommy and your daddy and your sister and me, we’re all worried about you, Kasumi-chan."

"Why would they care..." muttered Kasumi, glaring at the ground. "Why would anyone care..."

"They care because they love you," said another familiar voice. Karei had taken the swing next to Kasumi’s.

"And I care ‘cause you’re pretty and you’re smart and you need to stop being mad at yourself," said Nijiko, smiling happily. The smile was gone the next minute as Nijiko looked around frantically. "Something’s wrong," she said, her voice panicked. "There’s darkness everywhere...something bad’s gonna happen!"

Karei swallowed hard, then asked, "What sort of darkness? What’s going to happen?"

"Something bad..." Nijiko’s voice suddenly became deeper, more mature. Her violet eyes went blank. "A light of life will be extinguished here tonight, her thread in the tapestry ended..." Nijiko slid off Kasumi’s lap, blinking rapidly and standing dizzily for a few seconds.

"Someone’s going to die..." whispered Karei.

Kasumi stood up and glanced around, pulling her transformation wand out of her pocket. "If it’s me, I’m not dying without a fight. Mercury Cosmic Power, Make Up!"

Karei hurriedly climbed the nearest tree.

"Mars Cosmic Power, Make Up!" shouted Nijiko.

The two Senshi heard the sound of applause from somewhere in front of them. Three figures materialized: Vandium, Gallium, Thulium. "Excellent show, ladies," sneered Vandium.

Thulium rolled her eyes. "We’re looking for one particular girl. Much though I want to kill you now, neither of you will die unless you stand in our way."

"And just what makes you think we’ll let you kill whoever it is you’re looking for?" demanded Neo Mars. "Who do you want, anyway?"

"Shino Seishi. Neo Sailorsaturn. You really have no reason not to let us have her, after all," replied Thulium. "If you let us destroy her now, Lord and Lady 9 won’t be able to use her to Silence your planet. You’d be getting the better side of the deal, really."

"Why does everyone want Seishi?" Neo Mars asked Neo Mercury.

"Simple," said Gallium before Neo Mercury could answer. "She is the strongest senshi in this solar system, perhaps in the galaxy, and among the strongest in the universe. While Tau Ceti wants to use this power for their own pathetic purposes, we just want to make sure that it cannot be used against us."

"Enough. Aqua Ice Purification!" said Neo Mercury calmly. The balls of ice encased all three enemies. Neither Senshi could tell what any of them did, if anything, but suddenly the ice vanished as if it had never been there.

Gallium yawned. "You’ll have to do better than that, girls."

"It’s not going to be so easy this time," added Thulium. She flapped one hand idly. A sudden gust of wind became a green ribbon that wrapped tightly around Neo Mars and Neo Mercury, binding them together back to back. They tried to pull apart, lost their balance, and hit the ground hard.

"Look at you two cute little girls, all tied up, like a birthday present for me," said Vandium, gazing at the two struggling Senshi avidly.

Thulium rolled her eyes. "If you tell us where Shino Seishi is, we’ll let you live. Otherwise, we’ll have a bit of fun with you before we kill you."

"Sorry, not happening," a voice said from above the trio. Vandium and Gallium looked up to see a girl in a modified sailorfuku standing with perfect balance on a tree branch almost directly above them. Vandium’s eyes nearly fell out. "Crescent Eclipse!" The golden crescent flew past the two bound Senshi, slashing the ribbon that held them, then reversed course to bang into Vandium’s forehead. He wobbled, then fell.

Neo Sailor V leapt down from the tree branch, then helped Neo Mars to her feet. "Pervert," she muttered, flipping her long golden hair back over her shoulder. She pointed at the three enemies. "In the name of the Victorious Moon, I will punish you!"

"I—ow—think you already—ow—did," mumbled Vandium, rubbing his head and struggling to his feet.

Thulium’s eyes flashed. "Enough nonsense! Kill them all! I don’t care what Queen Rage says anymore!" Obediently, Vandium threw a ball of lightning at the three Senshi.

"Fire Bomb!" shouted Neo Mars. Her aim was off: the ball of flame skimmed past the ball of lightning, missing it by a hair, then hit the ground and exploded just far enough away from the trio of enemies to not hurt them. Neo Mars cursed under her breath, then ducked. Neo Mercury dove left and Neo V right.

The ball of lightning, which had narrowly missed the three Senshi, suddenly flew back at Thulium, who blinked in astonishment, then rolled her eyes and said annoyedly, "Damn, not another one..." Neo Sailorjupiter had jumped in, Neo Knight Kamen right behind. The ball of lightning had hit Neo Jupiter’s sword and bounced off.

"It’s five against three now," Neo Knight Kamen said coolly. "Are you going to surrender, or do you have to lose the hard way? Because you know you can’t win."

"Oh?" asked Thulium, raising one eyebrow. "Can’t we?" The wind picked up violently, shaking the trees. (Karei, watching the battle from the top of one of the trees, started hanging on to the branches for dear life.) With a very loud thunderclap, five bolts of lightning struck down five confused and off-guard Senshi, knocking them to the ground unconscious.

"Idiotic fools," Thulium muttered. "If they’re all as weak as these children, then Neo Sailorsaturn won’t present the slightest challenge."

"You have three seconds to reverse that statement." The speaker’s voice was cold enough to give the listeners frostbite. Thulium shivered, as if the comparison were more than a metaphor. There was only one person left for this to be. "Three...two..."

Thulium turned around and met Neo Sailorsaturn’s cold violet eyes. Behind Neo Saturn stood Neo Moon. "Ah, Shino Seishi, we’ve been looking for you," she said. "And what, may I ask, will happen if I don’t reverse my statement?"

Neo Saturn didn’t reply aloud. Instead, she held out her left hand. A long staff, topped by a long deadly blade, materialized in her hand. She twirled the Silence Glaive expertly and swung it into the appropriate position to begin a duel.

"It’s seven against three now," Neo Moon said. "In the name of the Moon, we will punish you!"

"No one needs to die," Thulium said coolly, "if you surrender yourself to us, Seishi."

"In other words, once you’ve killed me you’ll leave Earth alone. Is that right?" Neo Saturn asked coldly. Thulium nodded slowly, her eyes never leaving Neo Saturn’s. "You really think we’re stupid enough to believe that?"

"Let’s put it this way," Thulium replied. "If you don’t come willingly, we’ll take you by force."

"Is that a threat?"

Thulium’s eyes darkened. "Vandium! Gallium! Attack!"

Neo Saturn held out her right hand, palm forward. A six-pointed star glowed bright violet.

"Saturn! No!" screamed Neo Moon. She jumped forward and slapped Neo Saturn’s arm, bringing it down several inches.

Neo Saturn glared at Neo Moon and shoved her away. She landed hard on her rear. Neo Saturn then whirled the Silence Glaive around in a complicated pattern that, in only a few seconds, revealed her full skill with the weapon, without so much as scratching anyone. The Glaive was moving fast enough to appear to be a roughly spherical violet blur streaked with silver. The pattern ended with the Glaive at Neo Moon’s neck, less than a millimeter from slicing her head off. A single drop of blood ran down from where the metal touched her skin. If she’d spoken aloud, she wouldn’t have been able to make her meaning any clearer: the closest she could have gotten would be ‘Stay out of this or die.’

"Saturn, no," Neo Moon protested, "you can’t kill them, they’re human, they can still be healed!"

"I don’t have to listen to you," whispered Neo Saturn coldly.

"Yes you do, Saturn! I’m the leader of the Neo Sailor Senshi! I ORDER you not to kill them!"

"If I wanted to, Sailormoon, I could kill you and everyone else in this universe," Neo Saturn said, her cold voice so quiet that they all had to strain to hear her words.

Neo Moon was stunned. The extent of Neo Saturn’s powers was immense, true. True, also, was that if Neo Saturn wanted to achieve a particular goal and was willing to use her powers to get there, there was no possible way to stop her. But the thought that she would use that to blackmail the other Neo Senshi...

"FOOLS! Kindhearted fools!" Thulium began laughing crazily. The wind, which had calmed down, picked up again. Thunder rumbled overhead. Two bolts of lightning shot from the clear blue sky to strike the two Senshi standing. Neo Moon collapsed, unconscious, but Neo Saturn still stood. She had raised the Glaive in time, and the electricity had been diverted around her to scorch two patches of grass behind her.

Neo Saturn began to rapidly whirl the Silence Glaive again. The violet blur effectively hid her from sight. She walked forward slowly towards Thulium, never losing the rhythm or speed of the pattern. Thulium dove sideways.

Neo Moon’s eyelids flickered, then flew open. By now all the Neo Senshi were conscious, though they could hardly move. "No...Saturn...don’t..." Neo Moon whispered, echoed by Neo Mars, Neo Jupiter, and Neo V.

"She tricked me..." Thulium whispered. "I underestimated her..." Somehow, Neo Saturn had switched from a slow walk, twirling the Silence Glaive too fast to be seen, to movement so rapid that she was only a violet blur, empty-handed.

"No...Saturn...I command you to stop..." Neo Moon shouted with all her strength. She was about as audible as a single leaf striking the ground in autumn.

"Silence Death Song..." Neo Saturn whispered. The violet beam shot through Thulium’s chest. Thulium’s last sight was Neo Saturn’s cold smile.

"No...I can’t believe you..." Neo Mars had found the strength to sit up.

"How could you be so...so cruel?" asked Neo Moon.

Saturn gazed calmly at Vandium and Gallium, who were staring helplessly at Thulium’s still form. Vandium looked thunderstruck, as if he couldn’t connect the words ‘Thulium’ and ‘dead’. Gallium’s face was filled with rage. "I’ll destroy you! I swear, I’ll destroy—" he shouted, his last word lost as he and Vandium disappeared.

"How...how...could you?" Neo Moon stumbled over her words, in complete shock. "She was human! She could have been saved!"

Neo Saturn didn’t even bother glancing over at her. "Save friends before enemies, Sailormoon," she said quietly.

"I order you never to do anything like that again! It’s wrong! Completely and totally wrong! It isn’t just barbaric and inhumane, it’s murder, pure and simple!"

Neo Saturn started down the path out of the park without looking at her fallen comrades or the woman she had just killed. As she walked, her transformation faded away in violet sparkles. "It’s survival of the fittest, Sailormoon. Our deaths would have meant nothing to her, so her death should mean nothing to us. The only true law of nature is ‘kill or be killed’."

"That doesn’t make it any less wrong!" protested Neo Mars.

Seishi stopped halfway down the path and slowly turned around.

"In this game, the strong survive and the weak die."

Her eyes landed on each Senshi in turn.

"You, Sailormoon...Sailormars...Sailor V...you are weak."