|
"Minaaaakoooo!"
Minako opened her eyes gingerly, facing the black darkness that surrounded
her like a thick, dense curtain. She sat up, running a pale hand over her
arm, testing to see the extent of her wounds. To her sheer surprise, she
couldn't feel a thing, the jagged and splitting pains significantly absent.
Her sky-blue eyes scanned her body. Not a single drop of blood slicked her
skin. Not a single bruise tainted the colour of her flesh. Her heart pulsed
in her chest as if it wanted to escape as fear began to gnaw in the pit of
her stomach.
"Where...where...am I?" she asked herself. Her voice echoed, repeating
itself pointlessly into the gloom.
Floating in shadow, she stood up onto her feet, her night-dress billowing in
a cosmic wind. She blinked, staring around the murkiness. She could feel the
ground under her feet, and the air filling her lungs yet she could only see
herself, hovering, isolated.
She ran forward a few paces, rearing her head, attempting to identify any
item, any piece of landscape that could help name the place that she was in.
All she could see was immanent darkness. She alone remained illuminated and
she began to panic.
"Helloooooo?! Is anyone there?"
Her heart beat rapidly and her eyes began to water. She swallowed thickly.
"Please!"
She pressed her hand to her mouth.
"Are you scared, Minako?"
The voice, a man's voice, was warm and comforting. It inspired a feeling of
relief and calm in Minako's heart, soothing it, filling her body with
warmth. She opened her eyes, yet all that filled her view was shadow.
"H-hello?" she replied.
"Princess Minako. Open your heart."
She flicked her head from side to side, her desperation rising in her chest.
She opened her mouth, hugging herself against her night-dress.
"Who are you?"
In the distance a pin point of light began to shimmer, like first morning
light upon a lake in the Crystal Millennium. The white tones shimmered to
yellow and amber. Minako walked forward in fractions, hesitating, squinting
towards the light as it's shine increased in intensity.
"It's okay, Minako."
"What's okay?!" she shouted, pausing in place.
"This isn't okay! It's darkness!"
The voice remained calm.
"Is the darkness what you are afraid of?"
Minako, stirred by the mention of fear from the voice, hung her head, blonde
locks falling along her waist like spun gold.
"I...don't want to be alone."
"You have your friends, dear Minako. You are never alone."
Raising her head, Minako swept a tear, salty and bitter, away from her
cheek. The darkness made her feel trapped and claustrophobic. The cold bit
at her skin and she shivered.
"To succeed never lose sight of your goal. Never forget your duty."
"Who are you!?" she shouted into the shadows, cheeks flushing.
"I know your voice!"
"I am a friend. Remember what I said. Trust your heart! That is the key to
victory!"
Minako felt the words fill her spirit, yet the cold cut through her and the
inky darkness surrounded her, holding her down like chains. She felt lost
and weak in her flimsy night-dress that swirled in the wind.
"Keep your head up, Venus! The galaxy is relying on you! I must leave you,
but remember, look ahead... and face your destiny. Remember."
The voice echoed and faded out, leaving Minako feeling hollow.
"Please don't leave me..." she whispered, knowing it was in vain. The words
he said still echoed inside her mind.
Look ahead, Minako...Look ahead, Minako...Look ahead, Minako...
She tilted her head upwards, listening to the words. In her eye line, the
twinkling light glimmered for her attention, its amber light piercing the
gloom.
She frowned and straightened her stature. She felt, just by looking at the
luminescence, that her strength had improved. She felt braver, stronger and
her desire to save the Crystal Millennium from the same shadow that she had
faced had blossomed, increasing her vitality.
With a dash, she hurtled towards the light, feeling its warmth melt the cold
on her skin, setting it alight with a golden fire. She stopped in front of
it. It was a golden star, shimmering and gleaming like a miniature candle in
the middle of a pitch-black night. It pulsed, matching the steady beat of
her heart.
Never lose sight of your goal...Never lose sight of your goal...Never lose
sight of your goal...
Minako smiled.
"My goal is to protect my friends, the Sailor Scouts, Neo-Queen Serenity,
the whole galaxy! That is my goal! And I'll never forget it!!"
The start glowed and increased in size.
"I am afraid! But I will never give up! So long as people are at risk, I'll
stay where I'm needed! I'll bring honour to my mother planet Venus!"
The star expanded and glittered. With a swirl of starlight it burst forth
into a column of celestial light. Within it hovered a symbol of gold metal,
curved and smooth. A golden symbol of the planet Venus.
Minako, guided by an unknown force, let her hand slip down into her pocket.
Her fingers collided with cool metal. Slowly, she removed the Henshin stick
out into the air.
With a final look at the sparkling token she held her Henshin stick high.
"VENUS PLANET POWER, MAKE UP!!"
The cosmic winds swirled around her, melting her night-dress away from her
body. The power curved around her, leaving her naked, yet feeling completely
invulnerable. The glorious power encased her, her flaxen hair splaying out,
glistening drops of crystalline power splashing out from her like rain
drops, sending rainbow-like iridescent rays out into the gloom. Ribbons of
power swathed her body, sheathing her torso in a white, firm corset.
Shimmering silk swept around her legs in layers, forming a skirt, wrapping
around her chest forming a bow. She felt her toes wiggle inside her shoes
and her fingers sing with warmth inside her gloves. Across her head sat a
golden tiara, a beautiful topaz gem glimmering, catching an unknown light.
"The Scout of Love, with blessings from the planet Venus, Sailor Venus is
here!"
Before her eyes, the column reverted back into a star. It fluttered around
her like a hummingbird, coming to rest upon the brooch nestled in the middle
of her chest, illuminating it. The intense light dissolved, yet the heat
remained, pulsing like a second heart, setting a fire of purity through her
veins.
"Come on, Hotaru!! Please!" Michiru's voice pierced the darkness, resonating
with fear, pulled tight like the strings on her violin.
"Please! We must get out of here!"
Venus spun around, eyes probing the darkness
"Michiru! Where are you?"
"Michiru-mama..."
Hotaru's voice quivered in fear, child-like and innocent.
"Oh! Hotaru?!! Are you okay?!! Michiru?!"
Venus pounced forward, yet she could not place her friend's voices. The fear
in her comrade's voices inspired a pain in her heart and an anger in her
soul.
"How dare you harm my friends!! I need light!!"
Without thinking she raised her hands into the air, allowing the fire in her
to rush upwards.
"VENUS POWER!! Light this darkness!!"
Like the birth of a star, a power surged forwards in a wave of light,
circling, encompassing an area just before her. The fabric of the space
swirled and rippled like the eddies in the ocean as she gazed into it. The
swirled surface shone like a mirror, but instead of seeing herself, she saw
a terrible scene that made her cry out in anguish.
Sailor Neptune dashed down a corridor, her porcelain face streaked with
tears and her once-shiny and silken hair looked dishevelled and knotted. Her
fuku was stained with crimson blood that obviously wasn't hers, judging by
the battered and torn Sailor Saturn that hung loose like a rag doll in her
arms, limp hands holding her Silence Glaive to her chest, which raised and
collapsed jerkily.
Deep gashes along Hotaru's limbs oozed blood, giving her bruised skin a
pallor that was slicked with a sweat as her face wrinkled in pain.
"Come on, Hotaru-chan." Neptune whimpered, unsuccessfully trying to conceal
her panic, "Just a little further."
"Michiru-mama...I'm...afraid."
The two Outer Senshi burst into, what looked like, a transportation room.
Venus recognised it as it was practically identical to the ones each of the
Inner Senshi had in their Castles on their respective planets. The
contraptions saved a lot of time in emergencies, but also used a lot of
energy.
"Don't be, Hotaru-chan," Neptune's voice became motherly and protective
"I'm here now."
Hotaru began to sob, tears rolling down her face.
"Pluto! Uranus! What about them, Michiru-mama?"
Neptune hesitated and her face drained of colour, her angel-blue eyes
glittering. She coughed and smiled weakly.
"You know them, Hotaru. They'll be fine. Rest now, my little one."
"But... transportation... your energy..."
Saturn's head lolled back as she faded into unconsciousness. A lavender haze
encased Saturn and dissolved away, leaving Hotaru in her normal form, no
longer dressed in a fuku, but in a black skirt and a denim jacket. Neptune
wiped a tear away and kissed Hotaru's hair. She stepped up onto the
transportation plateau.
"Don't worry, little one. We'll have help soon."
She faced the machine and cried out.
"NEPTUNE PLANET POWER!! Take us to the Crystal Palace!"
The machine started to swirl and glimmer but there wasn't enough power to
call the space tunnel.
"Please!" Called Neptune
"Please! Just this once!"
Venus, watching in silence felt useless as tears fell down her cheeks.
Look ahead, Minako...Look ahead, Minako...Look ahead, Minako...
Minako frowned and spread her hands aloft, her inner flame burning bright
once more.
"VENUS PLANET POWER! My power to Sailor Neptune!!"
She opened her eyes just in time to see the two scout disappear into the
space tunnel.
"Yes!!!"
Minako punched the air, feeling joyous and glory. Soon Hotaru and Michiru
will have the help they need. Minako's fear for herself disappeared in a
wave of relief. However, the relief was short lived.
"What did Hotaru mean about Pluto and Uranus?"
As if in reply, a figure of Pluto hovered before her eyes, beautiful and
serene. Her long hair fell down to her knees in thick, heavy strands,
shimmering as if it were liquid. Her coffee-coloured face looked asleep, her
heavy-lashed eyes closed and her mouth slightly open. She leaned heavily on
her Garnet Rod, breathing gently. Minako smiled and reached out a hand to
touch her. Before her fingertips could smooth Pluto, the figure cracked and
crumbled into dust that scattered to the wind.
"Pluto!!" Venus yelled, hands flying to her face. But she knew it was to
late. She couldn't sense her anywhere. Pluto was dead.
She wiped her moist face with the back of her hands and stepped towards the
space-screen.
"Show me Haruka! Sailor Uranus!"
In the image, a blood-soaked Uranus was held aloft, groaning and writhing in
the hands of a wondrous genie-woman.
"Haruka!!!!" screamed Venus.
The woman released Uranus, who crashed onto her knees, Space sword slipping
out of her grasp and sliding along the floor out of reach.
The woman sunk to her knees and held Haruka's face in her grasp, smiling as
she inspected the slashes and the stripes of blood and dirt that smeared
Uranus' skin. She kissed Haruka lovingly. Uranus snarled a guttural noise
and heaved herself away. The woman giggled, the smile melting into a sneer
and she forced a foot down into a slick wound on Haruka's body.
"I liked you, my woman-prince." She said, with a gentle, adoring tone.
Haruka writhed again, glaring at the woman.
"I am Sailor Uranus and I am not yours! Don't you forget it!"
The woman ground her foot deeper into the wound. Haruka's head snapped back
in agony.
"I am Dextra, but I will forgive you if you forget, since I will be
separating your head from your body!"
She raised a nimble hand and released a white-pink beam into Haruka's neck,
a gurgling pool of blood flowing across the floor.
Venus screamed in misery. Her chest burned and her lungs felt as if they
would explode. She reached for the screen, but her hand merely slipped
through it.
"Harukaaaaaaaaaaa!"
Her eyes could not be torn away from the charred stump of Uranus' neck.
Haruka's head rolled away from her body, disintegrating into dust.
Venus retched as her stomach cramped.
"Ha...ruka....."
Venus raised her eyes to the screen, anger bleeding into her system as her
tears burned her skin.
Dextra skipped through the stream of Haruka's blood, dipping a toe into it
as if she were a child testing the temperature of a swimming pool.
"Mmmm." Dextra murmured
"Now for the others..."
She continued skipping out of the room, leaving shiny red footprints in her
wake.
Venus collapsed to her knees and she pounded the black floor with her fists.
"No... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
|
