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The scream was high-pitched and sonorous as it reverberated down the Charon
Castle halls. It pealed like a bell in all its desperation.
Sailor Neptune and Sailor Saturn dashed down the marble passageway, heading
towards the Communication room.
Saturn lead the way, Silence Glaive in hand. She could her the choked
breathing of Neptune behind her. Sympathy pulled at her heart as she
realised she was disguising tears of fear for the other scouts, so obviously
in danger.
Hotaru knew that Michiru's primary concern was for Haruka, her lover. It
wasn't a typical lover affair, but it was one of the strongest and enduring
relationships that she had ever seen. The two women together were
unstoppable and a contrasting pair of personalities that fit each other so
well, just like two jigsaw pieces. The elegant and serene Michiru and the
brash and dynamic Haruka.
Nevertheless, Hotaru knew that Michiru cared for all of the Senshi. That's
why she fought with all of her heart and soul.
And I, Sailor Saturn, the Scout of Silence, with the blessings from the
planet of Destruction, shall do the same.
The Scouts hurtled around the corner, leaving the entrance to the
Communication Room in full view .
Neptune slammed the door, it buckled slightly but did not open.
Inside the room a torrential fight was taking place. Shards of incandescent
light squeezed through the cracks in the door hinges. The luminous shining
flashed and faded erratically. Unidentifiable voices screamed and yelled,
both in pain and fury. The sound of limp bodies being hurled against walls
and floors and the sonic, wave-like blasts of attacks filled the corridor.
With a pulse of power, the door bulged, flinging Neptune back into Saturn's
small frame. The two collapsed and winced in pain. The Scouts glanced at
each other in wordless assurance and leaped to their feet, reading their
stance. Neptune glanced at Saturn with glistening eyes. Hotaru nodded in
appreciation and continued pushing at the door. She gasped in shock as she
felt a dull thud against the wood. The fear and panic multiplied as they
could not see who was present or what was happening. Saturn felt a twist of
pain in her gut, a twist of fret. She could tell her dearest friends where
entering a fight of terror and pain, yet she was powerless to help, a simple
door of wood separating her from her family, who where risking their lives.
Neptune bolted forward and pressed herself against the grained material. She
firmly banged on the surface with flattened palms.
"Uranus! Pluto! We're here!"
The only reply was angry yells and cries of pain, accompanied by the
occasional flash of light and eruption of force.
The two Scouts froze in shock and stared at each other. Neptune's eyes
widened and her face drained of colour.
"DEAD SCREAM!!" the husky voice of Pluto had risen to an unusual tone of
panic in the enclosed room.
The bolt of purple and maroon could be seen in glimpses through the door.
Saturn joined Neptune in hammering on the door.
"Pluto!! Open the door!! Please!! Uranus!!"
The crashing of glass and screeching metal tainted the air.
Saturn turned her melancholic face to Neptune.
"Step back."
Neptune obeyed and watched silently.
Saturn handled her Glaive with such ease. She spun it gently, like a baton.
The light gleamed. The energy became visible, glittering in its power and
purity. Both strangely sinister. It was frightening to see something so
beautiful become so destructive. The power concentrated at the tip of the
blade, intensifying in brightness. Saturn raised it high and tilted her head
back, eyes closed in concentration. Both hands held firmly on the base of
the glaive she whipped it round, the curve of the blade pointed directly at
the door.
"SILENCE GLAIVE SURPRISE!!"
The energy burst out of the blade and rushed towards the door, ripping
through the air in a howl of power, leaving a roaring wind in its wake.
For Sailor Neptune, the next ten seconds slowed down to almost a complete
stop.
The roaring stream of Saturn power collided with the wooden door. Instead of
a burst of wooden fragments and shattered material, there was a flash of
green. The snake of energy curved round upon itself and tore its way toward
Sailor Saturn.
It crashed into Hotaru with a force that lifted her off her feet into the
air.
She screamed in pain as the energy ripped her skin and tattered her fuku.
Her head snapped back and her spine arched as she flew through the air. Her
hair frayed and she slammed upon the cold floor, glaive torn from her hands.
Her chest heaved and she struggled for breath. She jerked and twitched in
pain, tears of agony running down her gashed cheek and dripping onto the
floor.
Neptune ran from the door.
"Hotaru!!!"
She knelt by Saturn and grasped at her convulsing hand.
"I...don't.." Saturn coughed. "I don't believe.... I was ...so...blind"
She coughed again, a glossy stream of blood oozing from her mouth.
"Hush, Hotaru-chan. Don't try to speak."
Saturn turned her head slowly and looked groggily at Neptune.
"A...Force...field. Michiru?"
Neptune smiled weakly and smoothed Saturn's hair away from her forehead. The
purple gem in her tiara shimmered.
"Yes Hotaru?"
"I'll be...okay." It sounded halfway between a question and a statement.
"But...my own attack..."
Michiru dabbed at Hotaru's cheek with a cotton handkerchief.
"No Hotaru. It wasn't. That flash of green. It did something, it didn't just
reflect your energy, it honed it."
Hotaru's face became pleading and she tightened her grip on Michiru.
"Neptune... I know. What lies behind that door... Is a part of what lies in
the centre of the ... storm. The invaders..."
Neptune picked Saturn up, the fragile scout lay across her arms, her limbs
falling limp.
She moved right of the door to the Communication Room, and set her down, out
of the line of attack, should there be one.
"Michiru?"
Neptune turned around.
"Yes, Hotaru-chan?"
"I'm sorry I couldn't be... of help" she coughed again, more blood.
"Hush... you are of help. Great help. We'll succeed. We always have."
They both smiled, weakly, but affectionately. Michiru guided Hotaru's hand
to her Silence Glaive and it laid, within her grasp, along the length of her
body.
Saturn gazed at Neptune, through the tears.
"Go...Go Neptune. Go and save the others."
Neptune stroked Saturn's pale cheek. Saturn's eyes closed and her breathing
became less laboured as the darkness overtook her.
"Rest, Hotaru-chan. Leave it to me!"
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