Seisui looked down at the pavement. She had run blocks and blocks, and she was still crying.
Why did everything have to turn out this way?
She knew she could rationalize Tokimo's decision. "Don't let innocent people die." She supposed that it made sense. She should forgive her.
Still, she couldn't help feeling pretty awful about it.
Tokimo would probably call her tonight. Maybe sooner. Tokimo, she knew, cared too much about her to let it end this quickly.
"Father..." Seisui mumbled. She had found her only friend trying to save her father. She had regained her self-confidence through trying to save her father. She had awakened Nemesis by trying to save her father.
She might lose a friend because of her father, too.
If it had been Fubuki or Tokimo or Yamiko's father, would they have reacted the same way? Harbor such a hatred? Or would they blame their father, who had been stupid enough to oppose such a power? Would they like the Queen? Would they be happy that his life was spared?
A meaningless life, without caring. Seisui still missed him. Maybe she was crazy. Maybe she didn't care.
"Sei-Seisui? It's Seisui, right?"
Seisui turned around. It was Kazeko.
"Yeah..." Seisui replied dreamily. "That's my name."
"Can you show me to the temple?" she asked quietly. "I've always wanted to see the statues."
"Did you follow me?" Seisui asked. If Kazeko had been able to run after her, Tokimo surely would have too. At least, Seisui hoped so...
"...sort of..." Kazeko looked a little nervous. "Not right away. I had to track you down."
Seisui smiled bitterly. "You could find me, but my best friend can't..."
"Nat-naturally," Kazeko replied. "Your friend seems unable to sense you. But it's surprising...y-you're swelling with an incredible power."
"An incredible power, huh?" Seisui replied reflectively. "Because I'm a Sailor Senshi?"
"In part," Kazeko said. "But that's not all of it. There's...someone inside you. I can feel them when you're angry or sad. Usually I have to touch someone to feel something. But I spent a few minutes talking to the ground, and I was able to find you that way. After all, it can feel you stepping on it, and your energy is hard for even someone as slow-moving as the ground to miss."
"You're talking nonsense," Seisui said with a sigh.
"No," Kazeko hesitantly replied. "I can definitely feel it....If I was crazy, I wouldn't have been able to find you, and I wouldn't have known what happened when the Fomorii appeared."
"Fomorii?" Seisui paused for a moment. "You mentioned that before. But you wouldn't tell me what it is."
"Fomorii are demons," Kazeko explained. "They're born of the netherworld, a land of darkness. They are the only truly evil creatures."
"Why are you willing to tell me now?" Seisui asked. "Why not before?"
"I trust you," Kazeko replied with certainty. "You are a good person."
"Are you crazy?" Seisui smiled. "I'm not a good person. I'm not even a person, if you ask some people."
"No," Kazeko replied. "No...you aren't a person, I suppose. You're really a god."
"You really are crazy," she replied flatly.
"Something really sad happened to you, didn't it?" Kazeko said quietly. "Something terribly sad. And there's someone inside you that's trying to protect you from it."
At this, Seisui stopped in her tracks.
"How do you know all of this?" she said, her voice nervous. "How do you know about Black Water?"
"Is that what you call it?" Kazeko murmured reflectively. "Black Water," she repeated.
"Yeah. How do you know?"
"Err...I said before, err...I can feel it."
"Where did you learn all of this?"
Kazeko paused. "I-I-I can't tell you. I-I'm sorry."
"Will you tell me if I take you to the temple?" Seisui stared at her. What was she afraid of? Maybe Kazeko was lying. Maybe she didn't think she was a good person. Maybe she had some use for her. Seisui's face turned downcast.
Kazeko was overwhelmed with pity and guilt. "It's not you, er--Seisui," Kazeko replied hurriedly. "There's something I'm afraid of."
"Black Water, right?" she scowled.
"No!" Kazeko said urgently. "Not Black Water. Not you. Not even the Fomorii. Something much, much more terrible than that, and yet...much less so."
Seisui looked a toward her a bit doubtfully.
"Seisui..." she said, more quietly this time. "I know you aren't a bad person. It is not natural or right to be a human without fault."
Seisui smiled weakly. "No, you're right, Kazeko. It isn't natural or right." She stifled a tear. "I'll take you to the 'temple.'"
Tokimo ran out to the street after Seisui, but by the time she got there, she was gone. Tokimo could feel tears welling into her eyes; she wandered around the streets aimlessly.
This whole Moon Senshi thing wasn't what she thought it would be. She gained a friend, only to lose her again, find her, and then lose her after that. Seisui, Tokimo thought stubbornly, was being unreasonable. She knew this was necessary. Anyone could see that.
Why couldn't she just bear with cooperating for a while?
After searching the perimeter of the school, Tokimo realized she wasn't going to find Seisui. She pulled out her communicator and typed "titan" in it.
"Seisui..Seisui..." Tokimo said vainly. No answer. Either the communicator was off, or she wasn't answering.
Well, she could always go to Seisui's house. She'd have to be home eventually, right? Maybe Kouken could even figure out where she was with his senshi-sensing sensors.
Tokimo started toward Seisui's house; then, thinking better of it, she headed down the street toward the stores. Nothing said "peace offering" like a cute little plushie! There was no way that her and Seisui could stay mad at each other.
Absolutely no way!
"Hiroshi, I..."
The Sailor Quartet had wasted no time in making themselves scarce after the battle. They probably knew that Hiroshi and Usako needed to have a talk; still, she wouldn't be surprised to find out that they were spying in the bushes.
"Don't worry about it. It's over now, right?" he told her reassuringly.
"I said some really rotten things to you," she replied, holding back a sob.
"You were worried about your friend."
"Still..." she murmured.
"Usako, we've both done some bad things. I still feel like you should have listened to some of my advice about Seisui, but at the same time, it was awful of me to tell Setsuna like that. I knew it would make you feel terrible."
"There just isn't any good advice about Seisui," Usako sighed. "Nothing works. I don't want to give up on her, but she doesn't...want to give up on me."
"Don't worry, Usako. I think what Sailor Charon did will help. If we can delay Seisui for a while, maybe that will give you your chance to patch things up. Right?"
"That's assuming she'll go along with Tokimo and stop for the time being."
"I'm sure she will. They're best friends, right?" Hiroshi smiled, putting his arm around her.
"I know, but...Seisui's really stubborn," Usako said with a sigh. "Well...I guess we'll just hope for the best."
Seisui scowled as she and Kazeko approached the colossal figures of the Sailor Senshi. The Church of Serenity was as big of a tourist attraction as it was religious temple, and Seisui wasn't sure which use more disgusted her. Regardless, millions of members of the Church of Serenity made pilgrimages every year to "the Holy City." The whole concept made Seisui a little sick.
Kazeko mumbled something in another language. It wasn't Japanese or English, Seisui knew, but it sounded European. She looked around nervously, as if she had lost something. Then she looked toward the left side of the Temple. She smiled a little sadly as she walked toward it.
"Where are you going?" Seisui asked, following after her.
"We're almost there," Kazeko replied.
As Seisui turned around the left side of the Temple, she could see what Kazeko had been moving toward. Seisui's eyes widened in surprise.
"It's...me..."
Next to the gigantic, white sculptures of the planetary senshi, this small likeness was nearly dwarflike. Still, the statue was easily taller than Seisui. It was black marble; there were orange flecks throughout the cold stone sculpture, and the statue's face was contorted into a devilish scowl. The eyes were covered by a blindfold that was carved delicately onto the statue's face, the tie suspended from the back of her head as though it were blowing in the wind. There were small white strings tied around the statue, as though whoever had tied them there were afraid that it would begin to move.
As Seisui looked around the perimeter, she could see the other Moon Senshi scattered into a crescent moon shape. Charon, Miranda, Phoebe...their faces, however, were not covered. All of them were tied up with the white strings, and then tied together in the semi-circle, as though a spider had only half-heartedly entrapped its prey.
Kazeko stared at the bottom of the statue of Sailor Titan, trying to make out some writing.
"W-what does it say?" she said a little hesitantly. Seisui walked over to the statue, and peered at the base.
"That's the kanji for evil or bad."
Kazeko continued walking to the next statue. "Can you tell me what all of them mean?" Kazeko said a little hesitantly. "I'm not good with kanji. I always have to use a dictionary..."
Seisui nodded. "Foreigners always have difficulty with kanji." Seisui looked down at the bases as her and Kazeko walked around the half circle. Seisui felt a little dreamy; these were people she knew, and apparently, they had been elevated to some sort of god-like being, albeit contemptible ones...
The next statue was Miranda. He hands were poised in front of her, her fingers contorted into a bizarre, claw-like formation. Her face was frozen in a silent scream, her eyes looking upward to the sky. Such a figure, Seisui thought, could summon blood from the skies.
"Violence," She finally told Kazeko. "That's what it says."
The next statue was markedly smaller. Seisui wasn't sure, at first, which statue this was; its legs were folded awkwardly--one hand covered its face, the other, its head. One of its legs was covering most of it's senshi fuku; even so, Seisui could tell from the two tails of dangling hair that it was Phoebe.
"Indecision. It must be Sailor Phoebe," she added.
Seisui paused a moment before the last statue.
"I can't stand people who just sit back and let others suffer.
I'll be your friend, no matter what!"
The face of a devil was before her. Carved into a wicked grin, the statue seemed fiendishly gleeful. She held a naginata in her hand; it was poised above her head, the blade pointing downward, ready to spear a helpless victim.
The Kanji was Shi.
Death.
Seisui could feel herself losing it. "What mockery is this?" she sputtered mournfully, her voice degrading to a crying whine. "Is this the way they personify Tokimo?" She scowled. "What do they know...? Every vile thing she did was for our friendship...it was for our cause." She shook her head. "The Kanji is death, Kazeko. In Japan, the number four is unlucky, because it has the same reading--'shi.'"
Kazeko looked at her a little sadly. "Druids believe that death is sacred," she told her, "because it is a natural part of life. There is nothing evil about it."
"What does that mean to me?" Seisui said sadly. "There are no druids here to defend her."
Kazeko said nothing. She pulled a stone out of her bag; it was a brilliant, metallic black. It looked familiar--hematite, was it? She placed it on the base of the statue of Sailor Titan, keeping her hand on the stone. She began to murmur something softly under her breath; Seisui could not understand.
Something dark began to hover around the stone, like the smog that Thisby had held around her hands. The stone began to glow; Seisui could see Kazeko's brow begin to sweat. Seisui couldn't help but be a little amazed and surprised that Kazeko wasn't a Sailor Senshi. What incredible power for a mortal human....
Kazeko faltered a little bit, resting her hands on the base of the statue. She stopped chanting. The stone's glow dimmed away.
"Are you okay?" Seisui asked her, walking up next to her.
Kazeko nodded. "Yeah...but it's no good...there's too much..."
"Too much what?"
"I wanted to bring the statue into balance," Kazeko said quietly. "I thought if I took some of the negative energy from the statue, I could help you as well...."
"That's just a hewn piece of stone, Kazeko," Seisui told her. "It isn't going to do anything to me."
"Sometimes objects can act as avatars for people," Kazeko explained. "But you're probably right. This statue is far corrupted beyond you. I should have known better than to use anything that doesn't actually belong to you."
"Kazeko, you're not from the Church of Serenity, are you?"
Kazeko looked a little nervous. "N-no..."
"Where are you from, Kazeko? Where do you get this power?"
"I-I-I-I can't s-say."
Kazeko's calm face became panicked. Were Kazeko's powers some kind of taboo? Why did she become so afraid?
"Are you a Moon Senshi?" Seisui finally asked. The strange power, the fear...this, above all, would explain it.
Kazeko shook her head. "No! The Tuatha de Dannann are gods! I am not nearly so powerful."
"How did you know all of this? Your powers aren't normal, Kazeko. Even if you don't think you are a Sailor Senshi, I think there's a possibility. I can figure it out. If you come with me, I can--"
"No...I'm not worthy. I'm not a Tuatha de Dannann."
"Why do you call the Sailor Senshi that, Kazeko? The Sailor Senshi aren't gods. After all, I'm a Sailor Senshi, and I'm far from perfect!"
"You are a god," Kazeko replied. "Gods don't have to be perfect. Just powerful. Gods are powerful, and sad...."
"Do you refuse to consider the possibility because you don't want the responsibility?" Seisui asked. "It's happened before...." She frowned, thinking of Yamiko.
"No..." Kazeko insisted. "I simply am not worthy. I...have to go home. My parents will be worried. I...I hope the best for you." She turned around and ran.
"Hey, Kazeko! Wait!" Seisui watched her run away; she thought about following her. Better to wait, she decided; Kazeko was afraid of something. There was certainly a strong possibility that she was a Moon Senshi....What was it that made her so anxious to avoid the possibility?
Once everyone had left the school yard, Yamiko promptly liberated herself of her lunch.
The mutilated corpse of Thisby...she wasn't sure how she had kept it in so long. Maybe it was the desire not to be seen by the others. The last thing she wanted was to hear them mock her.
She could feel herself sweating--the kind of acrid, putrid sweat that comes with fear--and she slowly followed the wall to the front door of the school. No more classes today. Certainly not for her.
Soon, the school walls were replaced by the street's walls. Yamiko still felt faint. She should have run away before the fight began. She told herself she wasn't going to get involved with this, and yet she stuck around to hear Tokimo squawk at her.
Just because she was a Moon Senshi didn't mean she had to be like the rest of them. Even Sailor Saturn, who killed her parents, was a different Sailor Saturn. And that had been three millennia ago. She could forget about all of that now.
Her screaming mother...the locked cell. A poisoned cup...what wretchedness. Her poor mother, a mere shadow of her former self...but that was so long ago. It didn't matter now, right?
"Are you okay?"
Yamiko looked up. It was Kane. She promptly scowled--she wasn't going to indulge this pretty boy or his frilly goth attire. "I'm fine," she told him irritably. "Go away."
"You look as pale as a ghost," he said, ignoring her. "You should get something to eat and drink. There's a café across the street. My treat, okay?"
"Trust me," Yamiko said, remembering the bloody corpse, "I don't want anything to eat. Or drink."
"At least sit down for a while. I'll help you. You look ready to pass out."
"You'd like that, wouldn't you? Fall into your arms? Wake up with you tenderly watching over me? What kind of a sap do you think I am?"
He shrugged. "I don't know you that well yet. I just want to help you out, okay? I promise. Talking to me won't kill you. Serenity, you don't even have to talk to me if you don't want to. And we'll be in a public place, so you can always scream, right?" The last point was said more than a little sarcastically.
"I just want to go home."
"Well, then, let me take you home."
"No."
"I'm going to follow you regardless. Who knows what could happen, with the condition you're in?"
"If you follow me home, I'll call the police."
"Realistically speaking, if I were going to kidnap you, I probably could do it you before you had the chance to grab your phone and call the police--especially since it doesn't look like you go to the gym regularly. Just let me get you something, okay? If you come to the café with me, I promise I won't follow you home." He grinned, as though something had occurred to him. "I bet your sister would like that, eh, if I--"
"Okay, I'll go with you to the café." The last thing she needed was her sister flirting with this guy. Or two or three of his friends.
"Okay, let's go." He tried putting his arm around her in an attempt to help her along, but Yamiko's glare of death quickly told him that this was unwise.
"Don't start getting delusional," Yamiko snapped.
"I was just trying to help you," he said a bit defensively. "That's all."
Yamiko walked across the street beside Kane, keeping a close eye on him. If that creep got anywhere near her...
Kane opened the door for her as they approached the café. It looked a bit on the pricey side; probably French. Since the rise of the Queen, Japan had seen a bigger influx of immigrants, and foreign cuisine was becoming increasingly common. Kane motioned over to the nearest booth; Yamiko sat down, privately grateful.
"So what happened to you, anyway?" he asked. "Do you have a virus?"
"Yes," Yamiko replied. "Deadly. You better leave, or you might catch it."
Kane laughed. "Good comeback."
"I'm not interested in you," Yamiko told him. "So just give up."
"I don't expect you to be interested in me. What kind of an asshole do you think I am? I just want to get to know you. I think you're an interesting person. That doesn't mean I'm interested in you, per se, but I find you interesting."
"What's so interesting about me, anyway? The way I treat you badly, or my attempts to push you away at every turn?" she said, looking incredulously toward him. Now that she had a distraction and a chance to sit down, Yamiko felt a little better. She remembered hearing about a condition that men in the field used to have from seeing people slaughtered in war. What was it? Post Traumatic Shell Disorder? She wasn't sure. It didn't exist anymore, so you only heard about it in the history books. Well, at least, it wasn't supposed to exist anymore.
Kane chuckled again. "Everyone has a secret. The more interesting the person and the more interesting the secret, the more they try to hide it."
"So I'm a puzzle?" This guy pissed her off. "Why not turn to the jumbles in the paper, instead of making me your human game of clue?"
"Good work, Yamiko! Keep on with the defense. Man the barricade! Throw out the molten iron! Get the cannons ready! Attack!" Kane smiled and waved toward a waitress. "A cup of tea, please. And a glass of water." The waitress walked off without comment.
"Are you trying to be insulting?"
"Not especially. You're insulted regardless of what I say, so it doesn't really matter."
Yamiko knew that this was when she should come up with a wickedly scathing comeback. Unfortunately for her, what Kane said was partially true--though she really felt he was asking for it.
Yamiko looked out the window; there was a large crowd gathering at the school yard, mostly reporters. Now that the battle was over, the vultures were swooping over the carrion. This would be all over the papers tomorrow.
"People love news," Kane said wryly. "Nothing says profit like Gross National Curiosity. And the Moon Senshi thing is like Shangri-La for newspapers."
"Have you been keeping up?" Yamiko asked.
"Sort of," he replied. "Not especially. I think people don't really understand them. Titan has become Satan to the public, but as they say, 'even a demon cries'. I'm sure there aren't many people sending her letters of support."
"I feel sorry for Seisui," Yamiko said with a sigh, "but at the same time, she brought it on herself."
"Do you know her?" he asked, a little surprised.
"Why do you ask?"
"Because you called her 'Seisui.' Not Han'i, or even Seisui Han'i..."
Yamiko was a little flustered. How was she going to explain this one?" Errr..well, you know, she's such a criminal and all, she doesn't really deserve to be treated with respect."
Kane raised an eyebrow. "You don't call your enemies by their first names," he persisted, smirking. "What are you hiding, Yamiko?"
Yamiko was thankful to be saved by the interruption of the waitress. She set the tea down in front of Yamiko and the water in front of Kane.
"Actually, the tea was for me," he said, a little embarrassed.
The waitress blushed. "I'm so sorry!" She gingerly switched the cups around. "Is there anything else I can get for you?"
"Are you hungry, Yamiko?" He looked toward her. "Can I get you anything?"
Yamiko nodded as the waitress handed her a menu. Maybe if she killed some more time, Kane would forget about the whole "how do you know Seisui" bit.
"Let's see..." Yamiko looked over each option slowly, trying to go quickly enough to keep the waitress there--and thus, halt the conversation--but long enough to kill some time. "I'll have...hmm...the chocolate cheesecake." The waitress scribbled down her selection and walked off.
"Let's see...where were we..." Kane trailed off.
"We were talking about how you thought I was a human game of clue," Yamiko suggested, slightly annoyed. Maybe if she went back to earlier in their conversation...
"No, no. We were talking about Han'i." His face lit up. "That's right! You were acting funny about it."
Fuck, Yamiko cringed. No go... "I must have said the wrong part of her name by accident," Yamiko shrugged.
"Not after being so defensive about it," Kane persisted.
"Look, just leave it alone, okay?" Yamiko spat. "It's none of your business how I know Seisui."
"So you do know her."
"Err--no, I--"
"Busted," he said liltingly, a broad grin on his face.
"Stop playing with me!" Yamiko retorted in annoyance. "It's so irritating. I'm not some game, okay?"
"I'm not trying to play with you..." Kane said with a sigh. "I'm just trying to be playful. I though I might get you to smile."
"Don't bother," she retorted. "I have nothing to smile about." She shivered, remembering the carcass. Yamiko gulped some water and reached for a pill. She couldn't deal with this....
"What's that?" Kane asked. "Asprin?"
"None of your business," Yamiko snapped.
"What's wrong, Yamiko?" he asked suddenly. "Something is really bugging you. Why not share?"
"Why share?"
"Because it'll make you feel better," he said seriously. "Please? I'm buying you cheesecake. The least you could do is humor me a little."
"I'll pay the tab."
"Yamiko..." he said, sighing. "Who am I going to tell?"
"I don't know. The police?" She was serious, too. He probably would.
"I promise I won't. Whatever it is you're hiding, I promise," he said. He really looked sincere, too--keyword 'looked.' "I promise."
"Words are pretty," Yamiko said. She felt a little sad. "Words are pretty, but they won't keep your mouth shut."
"No," he said. "No, they don't, do they? Words are just words."
Yamiko looked at him. A shadow crossed his face. What kind of person was Kane? He just felt like talking to her out of the blue. He looked like any counter-culture kid from Harajuku, but then, why did she meet him so conveniently near Goban? Kane, it seemed, had secrets of his own....
"Fine," Yamiko finally said. "You tell me some kind of horrible secret."
Kane's face brightened a little. "I would, but I don't think I have one."
"Then you certainly aren't in a position to understand any of mine," she replied.
"Okay, okay, fine. Let me think for a second."
"Okay," Yamiko said with a nod.
"My parents kicked me out," he said finally.
"Why?"
"Oh, I have to tell you why, too?"
Cue mocking indignation, Yamiko thought. Figures. "Yeah, you do."
"Okay, fine. They caught me downloading music off the VR con."
"So? What's so bad about that?"
Kane smirked. "'Morbid Anthem.' Hardcore industrial metal band. More importantly, they're anti-Serenity. Some people think they're the beginning of an attempt for international recruitment into some freakish killing cult. I think that's a load of bull, but, my parents weren't too thrilled regardless."
Yamiko raised an eyebrow. "They kicked you out for listening to music?"
"Well, yeah, but this was pretty extreme stuff. I mean, the Moon Senshi try fighting against the queen, and look what happens to them. Morbid Anthem might just be a lot of hot air, but it's still too controversial for most people to accept. There's a reason why they haven't caught on yet."
"What does the music say, exactly?"
"The Queen is evil, the world is fucked up, everybody sucks. You get the idea."
Yamiko was reminded of Fubuki. "Do you agree with them?"
Kane shrugged. "A lot of it. Some of it is a little too extreme, even for me."
"So you're saying you don't like the Queen."
"Hell no," Kane chuckled. "I mean, maybe she doesn't mean harm, but she's just so stupid. How did we ever let ourselves be ruled by such a moron?"
Wow, Yamiko thought. Maybe Kane does have a brain. "I know what you mean," she agreed. "It's like you say. She may not mean any harm, but she's incompetent. She hurts people, impoverishes them--she doesn't even know her own Kingdom."
"How could she?" Kane chuckled. "They don't let her outside her own castle. They're too afraid that Chaos will come back. It's so ridiculous. He leaned in, speaking more quietly. "Who can really blame the Moon Senshi?"
This was a surprise. Yamiko smirked a little. "Telling me you sympathize with the Moon Senshi is probably a far more dangerous secret than getting kicked out of you house."
Kane shrugged. "Sad but true. Now it's your turn, remember?"
Yamiko sighed. "Fine. You better keep your mouth shut, though."
Kane nodded. Yamiko paused. Telling him she was a Sailor Senshi probably still wasn't a good idea, no matter how much he supposedly sympathized. Better start with something a little more harmless.
"I do know Seisui," she told him. "I wouldn't call us friends or anything, though. She and another friend are having something of a spat with me."
"Oh?"
"Yeah," Yamiko said. The best way to lie was to tell the most truth possible. "I knew her back when the Moon Senshi thing was first stirring up. I wouldn't call us friends then either, but there was a time when I sympathized with her. They asked me to help them out in a lot of their plans against the Queen, but I didn't want to get involved."
"Why not?"
"I don't know...it was dangerous, I didn't see why at the time. I didn't want to. I still don't. There were a lot of problems with the way they thought, even if they were right to rebel."
"Hm...what happened, exactly?"
"Seisui just wants to kill the Queen. She doesn't think about what could happen afterward. True, I agreed with her for a while..." Yamiko still had mixed feelings about the day Seisui had gone to kill the queen. "Sometimes I still do. It's all too confusing. Seisui wants revenge, Charon wants justice...I just want peace."
"Are you really so miserable that you just want to bail out?"
Before Yamiko could say anything, the waitress returned politely with her cheesecake. Yamiko looked down at it and started eating. Who the hell did he think he was? "Are you really such an asshole that you're willing to believe you understand anything that I'm going through?"
"Okay, fine. What don't I understand?"
"You're telling me I should go risk my life on some moronic scheme!"
"No, Yamiko. That's not it. You have it wrong."
"Well what is it, then, Mr. Morbid Anthem, huh?"
"The fact that what you want is peace, to me, is telling. Han'i sees her problems as coming from other people. Charon wants to do the right thing. Revenge and justice, right?"
"Yeah, so?"
"Yamiko, you say you want peace, but it's not because you're dedicated to the idea of peace, the idea of changing the world. It's only because you hate conflict." He paused. "And even your reasons for not wanting to get involved--It's not as simple as thinking Han'i is crazy, is it? You believed enough in what they were doing that you were willing to help out. But at the same time, you don't want to get hurt. Maybe it's even more than that--you don't want to see them get hurt, either. I think, truly, you are torn over what to do about this. Torn, and afraid."
Yamiko paused. "Seisui is crazy," she replied sadly. "She's really quite mad."
"Probably. But you know why, don't you?"
Yamiko paused.
"Everyone is equally wonderful."
She shuddered. "Yeah, well...I guess."
Kane smiled. "What is it?"
Yamiko sighed. This guy seemed intent on becoming her personal shrink.
"Look, it's been nice and all, and thanks for the cheesecake. Now I really have to go home, Kane. I'm not really interested in exposing my life's secrets."
"Maybe we can chat again sometime."
Yamiko got up and grabbed her bag. Kane was such a freak. "Maybe," she said, with every intention not to do so.
"If you wait a minute, I can walk you home," he offered.
"No," Yamiko curtly replied. "I'm quite capable, thank you."
"You're welcome," he said graciously, a sarcastic smirk on his face. Why the hell had she spent so much time talking to this creep, anyway?
Oh well. At least she got some cheesecake.
"You're coming to church with me tonight."
Fubuki's mother looked menacingly toward Fubuki, who was seated apathetically at the other end of the table. The table was long enough to account for any man's compensation, Fubuki thought, which was why her mother had it.
"What the fuck? It's Monday. The day you don't drag me to your shit-brained devil worship. The day that I get to throw darts in your picture. Remember?"
"Fubuki!" she snapped, glaring warningly back at her. "The Moon Senshi crisis has made it especially important that we ask for the guidance of our Queen. Moreover, the new statues have been completed, and people are tying their wards."
"Like tying their shoelaces? Or is it more like tying your tubes?"
Her mother cringed. "When we tie the ward around the Moon Senshi, it contains their power."
Fubuki began to laugh, a deep-throated, mocking laugh. "It what?"
"If we pray that the Moon Senshi fail, then we will help our queen."
"You'll what?" Fubuki continued to laugh. So...fucking...stupid...
"Fubuki, you're coming with me! We're going to help our Queen subdue these sinners."
"By tying twine around her enemies?"
"It isn't twine. The silk thread is dedicated by the holy priest!"
"I am not going to your little pow-wow. As far as I'm concerned, the Moon Senshi can blow up whoever the hell they want."
"Fubuki, you are coming. Or I'll make sure that your room gets cleaned for once."
Fubuki scowled. Stupid bitch.
The crowd of sheep shuffling into the courtyard was of its typically large, flock-like size. People who couldn't think for themselves really pissed Fubuki off. People who couldn't think pissed her off even more. Most of these people were both of them.
Fubuki made sure to get lost in the crowd very quickly. The last thing she wanted to do was get put in the line for magical string. What a fuckin' waste of time. Fubuki cut through the crowd and made her way to the new abominations, walking nonchalantly past the typically white 'n' shining statues of idiocy.
Fubuki stared at each one. Sure enough, Seisui's statue was there, frothing at the mouth in typical Seisui fashion. Tokimo looked like she was having a little too much fun, and Yamiko was quivering on the floor. It was pretty amazing, really, how well they had imitated their personalities without really knowing a fuckin' thing about them.
Fubuki walked up to the statue of herself, screaming into the heavens. Heh. Mom would be proud. At least her statue looked powerful. If she were Yamiko right now, she'd be pretty fucking embarrassed.
Something shone in the corner of her eye. Fubuki turned; it was on Seisui's statue. A shiny, black rock was lying on the equally shiny and black pedestal of Seisui's likeness. Fubuki pondered it for a moment, wondering why the fuck anyone would put some freaking rock there. She walked over to it and picked it up, throwing it up in the air and catching it like an apple.
A nearby worshiper looked toward her depreciatively as she did so, noticing her rather ambivalent attitude to all they held sacred. Fubuki turned toward him, nonchalantly grinning like a demon.
"So, fucker," she said, smirking, "What the hell is this thing, anyway?" She glanced up at the rock as it fell back toward her hand.
The worshiper looked more than a little insulted, but Fubuki knew that her mother's church was too interested in converting the heathens to bother back-talking. He glanced at the rock momentarily.
"I don't know," he finally replied, continuing to tie his twine-o-demonic containment around Tokimo's statue.
Fubuki stopped tossing the rock in the air and looked down at it. It was actually very heavy. Fubuki somehow felt a deeply negative power seeping into her; not that that was anything unusual. She turned around and held up the rock; grinning, she threw it maliciously toward the ever-thickening line of worshipers.
Fubuki, for all her complacency, was overwhelmed by a feeling of dread.
Lightning crackled around the hurled stone; it stopped midair, holding the terrified attention of the crowd. Fubuki could see two pale hands pushing themselves out of the stone. She had a sinking premonition of what was coming.
She didn't have time to contemplate before two ivory hands were clenched firmly around her neck.
The amazement and fear degenerated into screams. Fubuki kicked upwards, landing the bitch in the stomach and sending her backwards on the ground. The same blonde hair and frilly sort of clothing as the last freakish whore; Fubuki coughed and grudgingly raised her hand.
"Miranda prism power, make up!"
The onlookers were now more terrified than ever. A flurry of snow surrounded Fubuki; the girl that was known throughout the church as an unwilling but "soon-to-be-converted" participant was undergoing a most terrifying transformation.
"Fubuki!" her mother was screaming, barely audible above the crowd. Only her mother could manage to do that. "Fubuki, what are you doing?! Get away from there!"
Sailor Miranda finished her transformation. The youma was still on the ground, and Miranda could see her mother's face. It was pallid, overwhelmed. Miranda cackled happily at her shock.
"It's the day of the Queen, my dearest," she she said with a smirk, "so I thought I'd give you a nice surprise!" She spread her hands like claws and looked toward the sky. "Look, 'mommy'! You should be proud!"
Her mother backed away, confusion flooding her face. Sailor Miranda moved closer to the youma, and in doing so, closer to her mother. Fubuki clamped a heel firmly on the pallid woman's stomach, who screamed in anguish.
"Your daughter is a God!"
~EPISODE ELEVEN:FIN~
Kokoro kareteru you ni asu ga kuraku naru kara
Koe ga kurushiku
kasureru hodo sakebitai
Donna toki mo kimi no ibasho
sagashite
Setsunai omoide mo mune ni motte
Sorazorashii wake no
kage ni kakureteru boku mo iru
Sadame wo kowaseba mirai nante
aru ka na
Demo maketaku nai kara akiramenai yo donna aite
demo
Sadame to iu mono ha michi wo kimeru dakedo
Kaiki gesshoku
demo kimi wo me ni suru
Kimi ha umarekawattemo boku no Radiance
dakara
Because, as if my heart's withering, tomorrow will get
darker
I want to scream until I get painfully hoarse
Searching
for where you are no matter when it is
And holding painful
memories in my chest
There is also a me who's hiding behind empty
reasons
If I destroy predestination, will there be a future at
all?
But because I don't want to lose, I won't give up, no matter
who my opponent is
That which is called predestination decides our
paths, but
Even during a total lunar eclipse, I'll remember
you
Because, even though reborn, you are my radiance
NEXT EPISODE
Seisui: Don't leave me alone...don't leave me alone...!
Tokimo: What's wrong with you? Can't you see? This is more important than any of that!
Yamiko: I'm not interested in you. I'm not interested in your life. And I won't become involved!
Fubuki: Anything that makes you squirm makes me smile. Now, I can be free. Jirou, support me always...
Kane: An angel of darkness is hallowed with light. Come to me, sweet angel...
Eros: I can play the pieces like any master. I can toy with emotions like a puppeteer.
Kazeko: There are some things that simply cannot be accepted.
Next time, on MOON SENSHI: UNMEI NO KODOMO--
"Downward to Heaven"
Mayumi: Everyone needs a little forgiveness.
