Power Transcendent
Sailormoon fanfiction by Jessica
-------------------
Chapter 20
The fierce blizzard whipped all around Sailor Venus, making her hair
stream out behind her and forcing her to squint as she looked ahead. She
stepped in front of Sailor Saturn as she helped Sailor Moon sit up,
placing herself between them and the massive onyx figure that loomed
over them. It stared at her with eyes like cold, dead stars.
"Where are we?" She suddenly wondered. "What's going on?"
-Does it matter?- A soft voice whispered in her mind. -You know what you
have to do.-
The black giant was reaching out to her, and Venus suddenly found
herself filled with fear and anger. "No!" She shouted. "You can't have
them, and you can't have me either. Stay back!"
"CRESCENT BEAM!" The golden light streaked towards its target, and the
wind increased to a blinding tempo. Venus brought her arms up to shield
her face from its bite, but lowered them just as quickly. The blizzard
had stopped completely.
Without knowing how she got there, she was someplace else. An impossibly
long, darkened corridor, it seemed to her, with numerous paths branching
off in every direction. "Now where am I?" Venus asked, hoping that the
voice would return. But as she asked, there was a massive rumbling and
the ceiling above her began to crack apart.
She ran. This entire place, whatever it was, seemed to be breaking
itself apart. She didn't have long until she was buried. She turned into
one of the archways, but found herself in a corridor identical to the
one she was just in. Sailor Venus continued to run, trying to escape the
destruction she heard behind her.
Far, far off in the distance, a faint blue light appeared. Putting all
she had left into it, she sprinted towards that light, her only sign
that escape might be possible. It grew brighter and brighter as she drew
closer, and she reached her hand out, sure she would find it's source in
just a moment.
Without warning, Venus was pulled to a halt. Someone had appeared behind
her and was holding her back in a grip of iron. She struggled, flailing
with fists and feet as she tried to escape, but to no avail. There was a
terrible crack from the ceiling directly above her, and she looked up to
see a mass of broken stone falling...
"NO!" Minako gasped, bolting upright in bed with her arms raised to
protect her head. She looked around, breathing heavily. Her room was
dark. A glance at her alarm clock told her that it was not yet three in
the morning.
"Minako?" Artemis muttered blearily from his position at the foot of her
bed. "What's going on?"
"Oh...nothing Artemis." Minako whispered. "I just had a dream. Go back
to sleep." Snores indicated that the cat had already done so. Minako
laid her head upon her pillow and stared up at the ceiling. She placed
her hand over her heart. It was still beating fast. The dream
again...but it was a lot more vivid this time. It didn't feel at all
like an ordinary dream.
Minako smiled a bit at herself and turned over on her side. Silly girl.
Weird dreams were to be expected when she was stressed, and she
certainly was stressed. Prophetic visions were the domain of Rei and
Setsuna, and occasionally Mamoru. And if Tachyon could block Rei's
visions and Setsuna's abilities, how could Minako be seeing the future?
Moments later, she was dreaming again, this time a far more pleasant
dream that featured Ami quite heavily.
-------------------
The dawn's light crept through Rei's window, falling over Makoto's
eyes and making her stir with a small groan. When she found she couldn't
move enough to escape the irritating shine, she cracked her eyes open.
The brunette girl felt a flash of surprise at finding herself slouched
on a floor rather than at home in bed, but it passed quickly.
She smiled a bit as she heard the muffled snores directly above her.
-That's right.- She thought silently. -I'm still at Rei's house.- Last
night, after everyone else had gone, Usagi, Rei and herself had stayed
until very late, watching Rei's impressive anime collection, talking and
laughing far into the night.
A somewhat frantic call from Usagi's father sent her scurrying for home,
leaving Makoto and Rei alone. At that point, Rei could barely keep her
eyes open and Makoto was feeling rather wiped herself. Faced with the
choice of staying there or taking the long, cold walk back to her
apartment, she opted to stay.
She and Rei talked for a few minutes more, but Rei had soon fallen
asleep, and Makoto had done the same without even realizing it. And now
here she was. Her feet and hands were freezing, she was shivering and
there was a horrible crick in her neck from sleeping slumped against
Rei's bed all night. -Well,- she mused as she stretched out and tried
to get some circulation back in her hands, -it's not all bad. And it's
not like I haven't slept in worse positions.-
She sat up and faced the bed. There was Rei, her face the only part of
her that was visible after burrowing down into the blankets. Makoto
smiled softly at the sight. Even around her closest friends, there was
sort of an edge to Rei's features, a sign of her sharp tongue and wicked
temper. Asleep, however, she was completely relaxed. Makoto thought she
looked very serene and elegant in her sleep.
As she watched, Rei stirred restlessly and clenched her eyelids shut
before cracking them open. "Mako-chan?" She muttered blearily. "Are you
still here? Go and feed the owl, the party's starting in an hour."
Without waiting for an answer, Rei turned around, hunching down under
her blankets and yanking a pillow over her face with a loud snore.
Makoto rolled back onto the floor and pressed her hands against her
lips, shaking with gales of soundless laughter.
When she had recovered from her giggling fit, the brunette girl stood
and began walking around the room silently, so as to not wake Rei. She
was fully awake now, and stood little chance of getting back to sleep
again, even if there had been a bed available.
Makoto sat at Rei's desk very gingerly, to avoid making the chair
squeak. Unable to help herself, she began poking through the drawers,
reasoning that she was unlikely to see anything *really* secret...it
wasn't her dresser, after all. The first drawer contained paper, pens
and a calligraphy kit. Makoto took out one of the practice sheets and
held it up to the light. As expected, Rei was quite good.
The top item in the second drawer was a framed photograph of a
beautiful, dark haired woman who looked hauntingly like Rei. "Her
mother." Makoto whispered, and felt a familiar pang in her chest as she
looked from the picture to the slumbering girl.
Though she'd never told anybody, Makoto had always felt that a certain
bond existed between Rei and herself. Both of them knew what it was like
to cope with the death of a parent. Rei was probably the only one of the
Sailor Senshi who could understand that sense of loss and fear when the
pillars that support a child's entire life are suddenly and violently
torn away.
Despite that, they'd never really spoken about it. It just...wasn't the
sort of thing they would discuss with one another. Makoto traced a
fingernail around the smiling woman's face, wondering how often Rei
looked at this picture. And if it ever made her cry, the way Makoto's
few pictures of her parents still did sometimes.
Makoto slipped the photo back into place and closed the drawer. She
turned in the chair, facing the sleeping Rei with her arms crossed over
her chest. She had a lot of stormy emotions towards the Senshi of Fire,
and she was struggling to work them out.
One of the things Makoto longed for more than anything in the world was
to be in love, to find that one person that she could share her life
with. She'd always sort of assumed it would be a guy...but she knew it
could be another girl, as well. She smiled with a small blush as she
remembered her intense, though thankfully short, crush on Haruka.
So she *could* be in love with Rei, she had to admit that. But was she,
really? She shook her head irritably. No, the real question was, was it
even worth thinking about? Probably not. She rested her chin in her
palm, her fingers tapping against her lips.
No...her feelings were probably just a little skewed by recent events.
Ami and Minako's growing romance had really sparked the idea of falling
for another Senshi in Makoto's heart. And then finding out that Rei was
in love with Michiru...well, Makoto would be lying if she said that her
heart hadn't skipped a beat when she realized Rei liked girls.
But really...that didn't do a lot to increase Makoto's chances with Rei.
Rei knew it was a hopeless cause, but until she was ready to move on,
her heart was occupied. And Makoto had matured just a little too much to
like the idea of trying to snatch Rei up while she was on the rebound.
The Senshi of Thunder stood up quietly, her eyes closed and a small
smile on her face. That's right...it was really best that this stopped
here, before it had a chance to develop into anything that would cause
problems. She made her way to the door and pulled on her shoes and coat.
As Makoto slid the door open, she glanced back at Rei, smiling sadly as
she watched the girl curl tighter beneath her sheets in response to the
cold draft that wafted in.
"It's better this way." She said to herself, turning away. And though
there wasn't a sound as the door behind her slid shut, she could almost
hear something slamming closed, deep inside herself.
-------------------
Tachyon wove through the black stalagmites that dotted Lady Meson's
control chamber, her violet hair gleaming in the ghastly white light
emitted by the ceiling and floor. She was humming under her breath, an
eager smile on her face as she danced through the wide cavern.
In the center of the chamber Meson herself waited patiently, her arms
crossed over her chest. Hadron was sending a contingent from the capital
world, and though she was not looking forward to enduring such company,
she was ready to meet it. Tachyon was here because she had made a
request of Lord Hadron, and what she had requested would be coming
through the portal as well.
The three largest pillars of stone began to pulse with a sullen red
light. Sparks of crimson light flared from the tips of each, flashing
out into lines of red energy that formed a triangle in the air. Red
light filled the area between the stalagmites, creating a solid crimson
field. Vague dark forms began to take shape within that light.
"They're here, they're here!" Tachyon sang excitedly, dashing over to
stand at Meson's side, bouncing up and down. Meson said nothing, just
gazing at the opening portal with a bland expression on her dusky
features. There were three figures within the red light, and as they
stepped out of it they took solid shape, three ominous figures, wrapped
closely in black, hooded robes.
The center one, so stooped that it looked bent almost double, stepped
forward. Meson did not bother to hide the sneer of distaste that
appeared on her face. "Lady Meson." The voice that come out of the hood
was harsh and croaking. "Lord Hadron sends his greetings."
"I see." Meson said disdainfully. Hadron knew her feelings towards his
Black Cultists, his personal cadre of sorcerers. They were fanatics all,
zealots culled from across his entire empire who worshipped Hadron as a
god. Though Meson couldn't question their unswerving loyalty or dispute
their usefulness, she simply found them intensely unpleasant to be
around.
"Where are they?" Tachyon called out impatiently, stomping one tiny foot
and looking expectantly at the portal. The lead Cultist turned from
Meson and bowed to Tachyon, its head almost touching the ground due to
its twisted posture.
"They are coming Lady Tachyon." The daeva croaked. "Two more of our
number are transporting them and keeping them locked in stasis." It's
hood turned back to Meson. "You will be able to keep them safely until
they are to be used?"
Meson waved a hand dismissively. "Tachyon will see to their keeping in
her own dwelling here." Meson was glad for the fact that Tachyon, like
Gluon, had found a base of operations outside of this series of caves.
The creatures she had asked for would more than likely prove very
disruptive to the daeva being housed here.
"Ah." At that moment, forms appeared in the portal once again. Two more
Cultists emerged, flanking a darkened sphere of fiery orange. Hovering
within the sphere were four small figures that appeared to be struggling
to escape.
"My Furies!" Tachyon moaned eagerly and ran forward, pressing her hands
against the sphere and peering inside. She giggled wildly and waved to
the creatures imprisoned within. "Oh, we're going to have *so* much
fun." She murmured soothingly. "Let's go!" She said to the two daeva
controlling the sphere. The Cultists turned their hoods to the leader.
"Go...follow Lady Tachyon and see to the Furies' containment, then find
us again." The twisted figure turned its hood upward to observe Meson.
"Lady, you have found a suitable location to perform the final spells of
the ritual?"
"Of course." Meson said shortly. "I will send for a daeva who will show
you the way."
"Lord Hadron is most eager to begin preparations immediately." The
Cultist croaked disapprovingly. "It would be better if you brought us to
this place at once..." Its voice cut off in a gasp. Quicker than thought
Meson had seized the front of its robes and spun around, lifting it off
the floor and hurling it into a stalagmite. It coughed and spluttered,
trying to catch its breath, but fell completely silent as a long, black
blade suddenly appeared against its neck.
The broad blade had extended from the top of Mesons wrist and over her
hand, allowing her to feel the vibration of the Cultist's pulse
traveling up the weapon as she held the flat of it against the thing's
neck. She smiled in satisfaction. "You will *never* give me anything
that sounds even vaguely like an order." She said softly. "Only Hadron
can direct me. While you are here, you are *my* servant. And you will
wait on my convenience."
"I do not fear death or you, Meson." The Cultist croaked defiantly. "I
serve Hadron faithfully."
"How commendable of you." With a curled lip, she turned the blade and
swept it right through black-clad neck of the daeva. Its head tumbled
out of the hood and into its lap, and Meson used its robe to wipe the
yellowish ichor from her blade before retracting it back into her
sleeve. She stood straight once again. The chamber was silent, save for
Tachyon's soft giggles. The Furies within the orb were moving violently
in response to the blood that had been spilled, and their keepers were
having trouble keeping it steady.
"You." Meson pointed at one of the free Cultists. "Help them." Without a
word the Black Cultist aided his companions in keeping the Furies under
control. Meson regarded the other robed figure. "Can you begin the
preparations alone?"
"Yes, Lady Meson." This one's voice was deep, almost musical.
"Then go. There is a daeva outside who will lead you to the place I
selected. And tell him to summon another to clean this place."
"Yes, Lady Meson." He left, and a moment later so did the others,
following Tachyon. The red light of the portal faded completely away,
and Meson vanished into the deeper recesses of the cavern, leaving the
headless daeva to sit alone.
-------------------
***ATTENTION***
We interrupt your regularly scheduled fanfic for an educational moment
with LEAVE IT TO MERCURY!
Dressed once again in lab coats, Mercury and Venus step out in front of
a blackboard. Venus huddles behind Mercury, who adjusts her glasses with
an embarrassed look.
Venus: Meson is scary! (she shudders)
Mercury: She's sure not very nice. But, that's not why we're here! We're
here to talk about the cave.
Venus: The cave?
Mercury: That's right! (she quickly draws a sketch of a rather toothy
cave on the board) These are the most common cave formations most people
ever see. They're called stalactites and stalagmites.
Venus: (lifts her hand) I've seen those! (she scratches her head) Where
do they come from?
Mercury: Good question! They're actually made from drips! You see, when
there's place in the cave where water is allowed to drip down, each drop
leaves a tiny little mineral particle behind on the ceiling where it
falls from and the floor where it lands. Over time, they form these
pillars of stone.
Venus: Wow, that must take a long time!
Mercury: That's right! Thousands and thousands of years sometimes. The
worlds biggest stalactite is in Nerja, Spain and is over 63 meters long!
Venus: I can't ever remember which one is which.
Mercury: Oh, that's easy! StalaCTITES have to hold TIGHT to the ceiling,
or they'll fall. StalaGMITES MIGHT hang from the ceiling, but they
don't.
Mercury: (bows politely) That's it for now! Thank you for tuning in. We
now return to the story.
Venus: (Jumps up and tries to yank Mercury off camera)
Mercury: What are you doing?
Venus: We're supposed to be mussed up for the next scene, remember? We
need to hurry if we're going to get nice and mussy.
Mercury: (blushes and lets Venus pull her away)
-------------------
Ami was sitting cross-legged on her bed, reading a book. Minako's head
was in her lap, her eyes closed as she smiled up at the blue-haired
girl. Every so often Ami's hand would slip down to caress Minako's
cheek, and Minako would open her eyes and look fondly at Ami.
Auruptly, Ami's stomach growled loudly. Minako opened her eyes with a
giggle. "Wow." She said. Ami blushed and closed her book, looking down.
"I woke up too late for breakfast this morning." She said with a
chuckle.
"Now see...I would have stayed for breakfast anyway." Ami poked the
blonde Senshi's nose and Minako squeaked playfully.
"That's why you're late so often." Minako shrugged carelessly.
"'Breakfast is the golden pillar of the day.'" She quipped. Ami blinked
and was about to say something when her stomach growled again. Minako
laughed and sat up facing her. "You want to go get something to eat? We
could head to the Crown Parlor and get some ice cream."
"That sounds good." Ami smiled and nodded, swinging her feet over the
side of her bed. She blinked as Minako handed her a tube of lip balm.
"Your lips are chapped." Minako said teasingly. Ami smiled and took the
tube.
"Well you're just lucky you always wear your hair down." She said,
reaching over and pushing Minako's hair back to look at her handiwork.
"That's a good one this time." She murmured. Minako blushed and clapped
her hand to her neck.
"If you keep doing that you're gonna give me a permanent mark." She
said, sticking her tongue out.
"Okay, I'll stop." Ami said easily, handing the balm back to Minako, who
grinned.
"Now I didn't say that, did I?" Ami laughed softly and leaned over to
brush her lips against Minako's before standing. A few minutes later
found them on the street below, heading to Crown. They walked apart, and
though Minako's hand itched to touch Ami's, she resisted the urge. -
Soon.- She kept telling herself. -Soon.-
They passed the doors to the arcade, waving at Motoki as they passed by
on the way to the stairs to the parlor above. As they passed the windows
of the arcade, however, something inside caught Minako's eye, and she
stopped, looking inside. Ami paused and looked back. "Mina-chan?"
A small pink flush and a smile had formed on Minako's face. "That would
be too cute..." She felt around in her purse for change and nodded. She
turned back to Ami. "Go on ahead...I'll be right up!"
"What's up?" Ami asked curiously, walking back to look inside as well.
Minako pushed herself against the window and spread her arms out,
blocking her girlfriend's view.
"Oh no...it's a surprise!" She winked and Ami smiled softly and nodded.
"Okay, but don't be too long." She went upstairs and Minako dashed
inside to the crane machine, quickly becoming so engrossed that she
failed to notice the five familiar figures that passed by the window on
the way up to the parlor.
-------------------
Unazuki wasn't working that afternoon, so Ami just found an empty booth
and took a seat, passing an order for a large sundae to a waiter as he
walked by. She rested her cheek in her palm and tapped the napkin holder
with a straw, hoping that Minako would come up quickly.
"Ami-chan!" The chirpy voice came from behind her and she was half-
turned in her seat before she realized it wasn't Minako.
"Oh...hi Usagi-chan!" She tried to smile as she saw the pigtailed girl
bounce towards her followed by Makoto, Rei, Mamoru and Chibi-Usa.
"Are you here by yourself?" Chibi-Usa asked, approaching the table.
"Um...yes, I just..." At that moment the waiter returned with a massive
chocolate sundae.
"Here you go miss!"
"Thank you." She smiled at the departing waiter through clenched teeth.
"You're going to eat that by yourself?" Makoto asked incredulously. "I
don't even think Usagi could do that!"
"Yeah, I couldn't even...hey wait!" Usagi stuck her tongue out at
Makoto.
Ami managed to recover from her stumble. "I...was going to say, I just
left Minako downstairs. She'll be up in a minute." -And then God help us
all...- She added mentally, casting a pleading glance at Mamoru, who
smiled understandingly.
He touched Usagi's sleeve lightly. "Usako, let's go get a table on the
other side..." Mamoru put a hand to the side of his head with a rueful
look. "I've got a headache and I want to stay out of the sunlight."
Usagi promptly melted a little bit and gently reached up to stroke
Mamoru's brow. "Oh, Mamo-chan...you should have said you weren't feeling
well!" She and Chibi-Usa began to fawn over him at the same time, while
he shrugged helplessly at Ami. Makoto and Rei, meanwhile, had been
grinning ever since Ami had mentioned that Minako was there, and it was
getting under her skin.
"Shouldn't you still be in bed?" She asked Rei pointedly.
Rei's face darkened. "Staying in bed was making me sick...as long as I
don't try to push or lift anything, I'm fine. The only thing I've done
today that hurt was knocking Yuuichirou out of the way so I could get
out of there."
"I see..." Ami glanced over at the door, now praying that Minako would
take her time. She was afraid that the blonde Senshi of Love would not
react well to this sudden intrusion.
-------------------
"Oh come *on* you stupid cheating thing!" Minako snapped, kicking the
crane game irritably. One of her prizes already sat next to the control
panel, and she was swiftly running out of change trying to get the
second.
She kissed her second to last coin and put it into the machine. To her
delight, her target lifted into the air, and she hunched over the
joystick, whispering desperately. "That's it, come on, come on...good
machine, I didn't mean it, you're not stupid. Please, please...YES!"
She eagerly snatched up both her prizes and darted upstairs to the cafe.
She skidded to a halt in the doorway as she saw the crowd gathered
around Ami's table, however. But before she could dart out of sight,
Chibi-Usa was waving at her. "Hi, Minako-chan!"
She forced a smile and held one hand behind her back as she waved,
hiding the prizes she had just won. -Oh great...now what?- She thought
desperately as she slowly approached the throng. "Hi guys!" She smiled
brightly. "How's it going?"
"Oh we're fine." Makoto said with a sly smile. "What kept you so long?"
Minako waved dismissively. "Oh...I just saw..." She stopped, looking at
Ami's face. She was smiling, but there was a sad sort of look growing in
her eyes. That look made the lie she was planning to tell wither and die
on her tongue.
It was one of those tense, frozen moments that seemed to drag on
forever. Minako's hands began to tremble and her heart climbed up her
throat as her thoughts began to war upon themselves. She looked at
Mamoru, who was sitting in the next booth and looking a little
embarrassed as Usagi massaged his temples for some reason. She felt a
sudden stab of longing for the freedom they had to display their
feelings so openly. She saw Makoto and Rei trying unsuccessfully to hide
a knowing grin, and flushed with sudden irritation. Finally, she looked
back at Ami and saw once again the sadness in her eyes. And there
was...nervousness there, as well.
The blonde girl's hand tightened around the toys she held behind her
back. Anger at her own stupidity rose up to choke her. Was she really so
bad about the whole thing that Ami was afraid to see what would happen
if she was confronted like this? And hadn't she promised? What was the
matter with her? WHAT WAS HOLDING HER BACK?
Nothing.
"I just saw something I wanted..." She said, trying to stop her voice
from shaking as she reached back with her freehand and pulled out a
cute little Sailor V plush.
"Oh that's CUTE." Chibi-Usa gushed. "Are you going to put it with your
other Sailor V stuff?"
"A...actually..." She held out her other hand, revealing a Sailor
Mercury plush. She walked closer to Ami, who looked up at her with a
surprised, almost disbelieving look. "This one's mine...I thought you
might want this one..." She set the Sailor V plush on the table in front
of the blue haired girl, who slowly closed her hands around it.
Without another word, Minako bent over the table and pressed her lips to
Ami's. Ami stiffened in shock for just a moment, but quickly returned
the kiss. Minako pulled her head back a bit and opened her eyes, a
little surprised to see a tear sliding down Ami's smiling face. "Thank
you." She whispered.
Minako just smiled fondly and winked in response before straightening
up. The area directly around the two of them had suddenly become very,
very quiet.
-------------------
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, the first of the new batch! My New Year's
Resolution begins! I hope nobody minds the Omake, but I thought the
scene transition needed a little softening. The 20th chapter...for me,
that's quite a milestone! I'm just sorry I had so many false starts
finishing this one. Thanks for reading, everyone!
Sailormoon and all it's characters belong to their owners. All other
characters belong to me. I'm making no profit from their use. So don't
sue me...I have NOTHING.
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