Power Transcendent
Sailormoon fanfiction by Jessica
-------------------
Chapter 28
While Ami had continued on to Minako's house, Makoto had turned her feet
towards the Hikawa Shrine. In truth, Rei's attitude of late had been a
source of increasing alarm to Makoto. First there had been the thing
with her and Michiru...which told Makoto that Rei's feelings towards the
Senshi of the Sea were deeper than she had suspected. Makoto was still
trying to decide how she felt about that...
But anyway, there had been that. And then, just when it seemed like Rei
had been getting over it, this had happened. Rei's spirit had always
seemed so indomitable, but now that her identity as a Sailor Senshi had
been stripped from her, Makoto worried.
The brunette girl shook her head angrily as she walked along the icy
streets of Tokyo. -She's *still* a Sailor Senshi.- She thought to
herself. -I have to remember that because...I think maybe she's
forgotten.-
She climbed the steps up the shrine carefully, watching for any icy
patches. When she reached the top, she saw Yuuichirou relaxing on the
shrine's wooden steps, drinking something hot and steaming out of a
bowl. The young man noticed her and waved. "Hi there Makoto-chan!" He
smiled broadly.
Makoto smiled and waved back. "Hi Yuuichirou-kun." She looked over at
Rei's room. "I'm here to visit Rei."
Yuuichirou's smile fell away. "Oh...you missed her. She went out for a
walk." He scratched at his head. "Rei-san's been acting kind
of...strange since she got out of the hospital."
With a sigh, Makoto nodded. "Yeah...I was going to try to cheer her up.
I don't guess you know where she went?" Yuuichirou shook his head.
"No...I was busy sweeping up. But she didn't leave very long ago." A
small breeze sprang up, knocking a lock of hair out of the baseball cap
Makoto was wearing and into her eyes. She blew it out of the way with an
irritated expression.
"Well, thanks Yuuichirou. I guess I'll go see if I can find her." She
turned with a wave and headed down the steps again. When she hit street
level she kicked idly at the bottom step. "How I'm gonna find her I
don't know..." She muttered. More out of a sense of futility than
anything else she tried to get Rei on her communicator, but as she had
suspected there was no answer.
Makoto paced up and down the street a few times, keeping an eye out for
Rei's approach. With evening coming on the street was emptying quickly
but there was no sign of the dark haired miko. Finally, in a spirit of
sullen stubbornness, Makoto sat on the steps and settled in to wait. It
wasn't until the streetlights started to flicker on that she heard
footsteps on the sidewalk and looked up to see Rei coming home. The girl
stopped a short distance away, surprised to see someone sitting on her
steps, then blinked as recognition set in.
"Mako-chan? What are you doing here? Did something happen?" Makoto shook
her head.
"No...I just wanted to talk for a little while." She smiled. "Have a
nice walk?"
"Um...yes..." Rei said, looking around with a distant expression in her
face. Then she looked back down at Makoto sharply as a thought struck
her. "How long have you been waiting out here?"
"Uh...Yuuichirou said I just missed you..." Rei's mouth opened and
closed again.
"You've been out here this whole time?" She asked incredulously. She
stepped closer and held out her hand. "Give me your hand." She demanded
imperiously.
Blushing a bit, but feeling rather relieved to hear some 'Rei-ness' in
the other girl's voice, Makoto did as commanded. Rei sucked in her
breath and her hand tightened around Makoto's.
"Mako-chan you're frozen!" She exclaimed. Without a backwards glance she
started up the stone steps, yanking the taller girl along behind her.
"What were you thinking? You're gonna get pneumonia like this!"
Makoto smiled ruefully and tried to keep her balance as Rei pulled her
along. -Well, you wanted to see her back to normal...- She reminded
herself. The shrine's courtyard was dim and empty as Rei resolutely
dragged Makoto across it. They entered Rei's room and Rei closed the
screen firmly behind her.
"You, sit." She said, pointing to her bed. She finally released the
other girl and hurried to a small coffee maker she had on a shelf. "I'll
make us something hot to drink." Before sinking onto the mattress,
Makoto rubbed her backside, which had gone completely numb after sitting
on the cold stone for such a long time.
As the smell of brewing coffee filled the bedroom, Makoto felt warmth
sinking into her extremities once again. After a few minutes, Rei tapped
her on the shoulder and handed her a cup. Makoto took it gratefully,
holding it both hands to get the most out of its heat. Rei took her own
cup and sat at her small table, looking down at it. After a moment,
Makoto left the bed and joined her.
It was quiet for a few minutes as they each sipped their coffee, and
Makoto noted with distress that Rei had that brooding, defeated
expression on her face once again. Finally Rei spoke in a low, sad
voice.
"I don't need you to feel sorry for me, Mako-chan."
Makoto looked up in surprise. "Sorry for you?" She said with a small,
confused smile.
"Yes...I don't want you to feel like you have to come here. You had a
long day, and you shouldn't be obligated to see me out of pity."
"That's not why I came." Makoto said firmly, her hands tightening around
her cup. "I don't feel sorry for you Rei-chan...but I am worried about
you."
"Just as bad." Rei muttered sullenly. Makoto put her cup down and folded
her arms on the table, leaning forward a bit.
"Hey, Rei-chan...we're friends, right? After everything that's happened,
why wouldn't I be worried? Wouldn't you be worried about me?" Makoto
thought it was a good point, but Rei didn't seem in the mood for reason
at the moment, and just shook her head quickly.
"That's not the point." She said, letting out a long, frustrated sigh.
"Look Mako-chan...like I said before, I *hate* all of this. I hate not
being able to do anything to help the rest of you while you're all
trying to help me. It'd be better if you all just forgot about me."
"What?" Makoto said, leaning back quickly. "Rei-chan, that's ridiculous!
We're not gonna just forget about you...and whether you like it or not,
we're going to help you."
Rei opened her mouth to retort, only to close it again. The flash of
anger seemed to vanish as quickly as it had appeared, and the girl just
seemed to wilt without it. "Just leave me alone." She said listlessly.
"When you're acting like this?" Makoto said in disbelief. "I don't think
so."
"Well, how am I supposed to ask?" Rei said, looking down at her half-
empty cup again.
"I don't know." Makoto said, waving her hand in an enthusiastic, if
rather vague gesture. "More like...you! Hino Rei shouldn't just roll
over and take something like this!"
"And do *what*?" Rei demanded, slamming her hands on the table as she
stood with such force that her cup tipped, spilling what was left of her
coffee over the wooden surface. "Don't you get it Mako-chan? I can't
*do* anything! She beat me...I'm not even a Senshi anymore. I can't
fight, I can't help you guys..." Her voice caught and she suddenly
sounded like she was on the verge of tears. "I can't do anything." She
repeated miserably, sinking her head down into her folded arms.
There was a short pause. "I can't believe this." Makoto said in a
disgusted tone. Rei lifted her head, a hurt expression on her face. "So
Sailor Mars gets knocked down and she just lies down and dies? She
doesn't even try to get up?"
"But I can't..." Makoto made a sharp chopping motion with her hand and
cut Rei off.
"No! I heard you the first couple of times, Rei-chan." She placed her
hands on her cheeks and spoke in a whining, listless tone. "Oh, I can't
do anything. I'm weak. Poor me."
Rei bristled. "How dare you..."
"How dare I?" Makoto snapped, cutting her short again. "How dare I?"
Makoto was getting well and truly angry now, not really at Rei herself,
but at this weak, whiny persona that she had assumed. "No, how dare you
let the rest of us down by giving up like this! I've got news for you,
Rei-chan...you don't find out how strong you are when you have power.
The test is to be totally powerless and still find the strength to
fight!"
Rei looked away sullenly. "As if you'd know..."
Makoto slammed her fist down on the tabletop with a force that seemed to
shake the room. Rei's gaze snapped back, her eyes widening with just a
hint of fear. Makoto leaned forward until she was right in Rei's face,
and Rei couldn't do anything but tilt her head back nervously.
"I know." Makoto said in a tight, dangerously quiet tone. "You don't.
You have no idea what it was like to grow up all alone with no family
and no friends in a world that seemed totally against you." Normally
Makoto would sooner get on a plane than talk about her childhood, but at
the moment she was past caring.
"The world's a terrifying place when you're a little girl who doesn't
have anything. I still have nightmares about some of it. And when you're
all alone like that, nobody thinks you're worth anything. For a while,
neither did I. But then I decided to fight...powerless and all alone, I
decided to fight it, until I was able to *make* myself worth something."
Her voice trembled and cracked. "So don't tell me I don't know!" She
shouted, turning her face away as her eyes welled up with tears.
Rei's eyes softened and she made as if to reach out to the other girl.
"Mako-chan..." She stopped as Makoto lifted her hand in a sharp, warding
gesture. After a moment Makoto took a deep breath and steadied herself.
"You're still the same person." She finally said in a much more composed
voice. "And you're still a Sailor Senshi. Tachyon can't defeat you the
way you think she has...you're the only one who can do that."
Those words seemed to hang in the air in the silence that followed. Rei
could only meet Makoto's fierce gaze for a moment before having to turn
her eyes downward again. "I...I don't know what to say." Rei finally
said in a faint voice.
"Sat that you're going to school tomorrow." Makoto said intently. "Say
that during the meeting you won't just hide in the corner with that
broken look in your eyes. It's not you, Rei-chan. And we all miss you."
Rei puffed out her cheeks and let out a long breath. "I'm...sorry." She
said, looking like the words were sticking in her craw. "I'm sorry." She
repeated, the words coming easier. "I didn't want to put you
through...something like that." She looked up and gave Makoto a wan
smile.
Makoto returned it. "I might have overreacted some." She admitted,
shrugging a little bit. "But seeing you like that...it really got to
me." She blushed suddenly as she truly realized just how much she had
let it get to her.
Rei actually chuckled a little bit. "Well...you're really good at
spoiling some really good self pity." Makoto laughed a bit at that as
well. After another short pause, the brunette stood.
"I should go home...I have to make dinner, and I still have some
homework." Rei nodded.
"Right. I have some things to think about...but I'll see you tomorrow."
Makoto nodded back and turned to leave. "Mako-chan..." Makoto turned
back. Rei was biting her lip, looking at her with eyes that showed a new
understanding. "I don't want to embarrass you, and I don't want to push
you. But, if you ever feel like you need to talk about...things...I'm
here, and I'll listen."
Makoto gave the dark haired girl a sad, tender smile and nodded.
"Thanks Rei-chan...maybe someday I will." Makoto wrapped her scarf
around her throat and left Rei's bedroom, heading to her small
apartment.
Sometimes she felt a little desolate about returning to her empty home,
but right now she thought she could use the solitude. She had a lot of
things to think about herself, and her emotions were a churning mess in
her gut.
She never talked about her childhood, not even in the oblique way that
she just had spoken of it to Rei. To talk about it was to invite the
memories of it back, and the feelings those emotions engendered. And
Makoto fought hard to keep those memories away.
But at that moment, what was even more disconcerting was the massive
surge of frustration and anger that had driven Makoto to speak of it in
the first place. She hadn't planned on it, not at all. But something
about seeing her fiery, passionate Rei so defeated had inspired a
protective impulse so strong that nothing else had seemed to matter at
the time.
"I guess I'm not as over you as I thought." Makoto whispered into the
still, cold air. Then she smiled resignedly. -Well,- She thought, -If it
helped bring the real you back, Rei-chan...I guess this time it was
okay.-
-------------------
When Setsuna returned home later that same night the house was dark,
save for a dim light coming through the living room window. Warned by
some sixth sense, or perhaps just previous experience, the tall woman
entered the house through the side door leading to the kitchen rather
than the front, leaving her white lab coat on a hook by the door.
And sure enough when she entered the house she could hear muffled
murmurs from the living room, ending with a surprisingly girlish giggle
that could only have come from Michiru. Rolling her eyes with a fond
smile Setsuna turned on the kitchen light and made her way out to the
living room. Several dozen candles were set all around the room, filling
it with a dim golden glow.
Michiru was standing there on the other side of the couch, her body
wrapped in a thin blanket. Her aquamarine hair cascaded down her bare
shoulders, looking quite tousled. Despite that, her serene and graceful
smile remained quite unruffled. "Setsuna." She said in way of greeting,
her voice sounding just a bit breathless. "We didn't hear you pull up."
It was a sight to give any lesser observer a nosebleed, but Setsuna just
smiled a bit sardonically. "I wonder why?" She murmured, and there was a
chuckle from the unseen occupant of the couch. "Haruka?" She asked, and
an arm appeared over the back of the couch in a lazy wave. Setsuna
lifted an eyebrow. "You only brought down one blanket?" She asked.
"Combined body heat is a more efficient way of generating warmth."
Haruka's voice said casually from the couch.
"Under the circumstances I should think so." Setsuna said with a deadpan
expression, and Michiru's cheeks actually turned a shade pinker at that.
The Guardian of Time glanced up at the stairs. "Hotaru is spending the
night with Chibi-Usa?" She guessed, and Michiru nodded.
"And we weren't expecting you back from the university for quite some
time yet...obviously." Michiru said with a light smile, glancing down at
where Haruka lay. "Did something happen?"
Setsuna shook her head and sighed a bit. "No...I just couldn't
concentrate." There was a shifting from the couch and suddenly Haruka
appeared, folding her arms on the back of the couch and looking at her.
Her short blonde hair was mussed heavily in all directions and it was
fairly obvious she was...underdressed. But her expression was serious as
she looked at Setsuna.
"Setsuna, you need to let it go. We had to go, and the only one who knew
that Tachyon's knife had been knocked off the building was Minako. And
she was out like a light." By the time the Outer Senshi had returned to
the sight of Tachyon's attack on Venus and Mercury, the knife was
nowhere to be found, and they had been forced to conclude that the child
had sent someone back to retrieve it.
"Yes..." Setsuna said with a long sigh of dissatisfaction. "I know
you're right...but it just seems like such a wasted opportunity. I could
finally have gained some ground against her."
"You're not being very fair to yourself." Michiru said gently. "You've
blocked us from her foresight, and derailed her plans on two occasions
now."
"And besides that, it's obvious she's terrified of you. Something about
you really rubs her crazy the wrong way." Haruka smiled. "You're doing
fine." She paused for a moment. "But don't think she's your sole
responsibility."
Michiru nodded. "It's true that you're our best chance against her, but
she is an enemy to all of us, and we're all ready to help you fight
her."
Setsuna was quiet for a moment, then nodded. "I know." Suddenly, she
even chuckled a bit. "Of course, it would be easier to take the two of
you seriously if you were wearing...anything."
Everyone laughed at that and Haruka nodded. "Alright, get into the
kitchen for a moment and we'll head up to get dressed. Maybe we can all
go out to eat?"
Michiru nodded, and Setsuna smiled softly. "I don't want to spoil your
evening together." She said. "I can just as easily get something to eat
on my own."
"Don't be silly Setsuna." Michiru said with a smile. "Dinner sounds
lovely, and I think we could all use each other's company."
Haruka slipped back down behind the back of the couch. "We were almost
done anyway." She drawled. Michiru looked down at her with a raised
eyebrow.
"We?"
-------------------
Late that night, Tachyon sat in her favored armchair in the sitting room
of her mansion. There were no lights on in the room, and it was lit but
dimly from the starlight coming through the windows. But Tachyon was not
asleep. Tachyon did not sleep, ever. The energies that empowered her
denied her the peace of slumber.
Her glittering eyes stared out at the darkened room as thoughts, broken
and fragmented, climbed over one another in her mind. Her loss of
control during the battle earlier disturbed her deeply. It had been such
a long time since she had done such a thing, not since Hadron had found
her and taught her a measure of control over her wild temporal powers.
Tachyon's existence before Hadron was a nightmarish blur. How old was
she? When and where had she been born? Who was her family? She knew
there were answers to these questions, but they had been lost to her
long ago. Time had stripped the answers from her mind.
"Time..." The word hissed through the room like a curse, and Tachyon
couldn't tell if she had spoken or not. As if in response, she felt the
invisible bonds that were wrapped across her entire body tighten. The
threads, the tendrils, sticky and slimy, that held every being in thrall
to the ultimate tyrant, Time. The others, pathetic, ignorant sheep that
they were, couldn't feel them. But she could...she could.
How could she not? It was these chains that held her frozen in a child's
body. These chains that had pulled her back and forth through the
timeline during her early existence. She could have been born at the
creation of the universe, during its distant end, or any time in
between. She had seen both, she knew. The chaos of being yanked from one
era to another, the agony of being torn through time again and again had
built and built until her mind had snapped under the strain.
All she could remember from before were the kills, standing out in the
chaotic screaming of her past life like bright, cold jewels. Oh, how she
loved to kill...it satisfied a gnawing, terrible need inside her. It was
her revenge, both against Time and all the disgusting creatures enslaved
by it. She hated them all, sailing through their lives, protected by
their ignorance.
For Tachyon knew that it was her awareness of Time that had incurred Its
wrath. It feared her knowledge, and had punished her for it. Hadron
could seek to rule the universe, but Tachyon knew there would never be a
tyrant as great and terrible as Time. But killing...Tachyon shivered in
her seat and drew her fingertips along the blade of her knife.
Killing was like tearing free a fragment of Time's dominion and casting
it into the void. When she took a victim, that thing became hers, her
plaything. *She* ruled over its passage through time. *She* became it's
master, not Time. And when she finally took it's life, she denied that
thing to Time forever more.
Suddenly her bonds tightened around her body, and Tachyon couldn't
breath. Fighting for air, Tachyon scrabbled at her throat, trying to
free herself, but it was no use. She rolled off the chair, and the chair
vanished. Eyes open wide, she looked around. The room, the mansion,
everything was gone.
Instead there was just a great spider web hanging in the blackness, and
she lay in its center. Still fighting for every breath she tried to
tear herself free, and she felt her flesh rip as the noxious smelling
threads held her tight. The web began to shake violently, and the child
looked up in terror.
There was the spider, a vast, bloated creature whose black fangs dripped
steaming venom. Its stench was everywhere and despite her lack of breath
Tachyon gagged and choked. Though it caused her blinding agony she tore
free from the threads holding her in place and tried to run. But bound
up as she still was, the spider was faster, coming at her with
unbelievable speed.
This was the true face of Time the tyrant. It had come, It had come for
her at last. And now It would devour her, drinking down her mind, body
and soul to punish her for defying It. She screamed, fighting to get
away.
"Lady Tachyon?" The door to the sitting room cracked open, and a daeva,
too foolish and new to Tachyon's service to know better, peered inside
to find the source of the disturbance. His eyes widened. The little girl
was scrabbling frantically at the other wall as if trying to climb it.
But when his voice sounded through the room, she stopped, spinning
around and staring with wide eyes that saw nothing.
The daeva never saw Tachyon's approach. One moment she was on the other
side of the room, the next she was right in front of him, her knife
slicing across his chest in a glittering arc. He had no time to scream
before the knife swung back and sliced deeply through his throat. The
daeva fell to the ground, and Tachyon leapt atop him, the knife coming
down again and again.
Several minutes later, Tachyon's eyes cleared and the child returned to
herself. Her breath coming in ragged sobs, she looked down at her blood-
coated form and then down at what was left of the daeva beneath her.
Glancing up, she saw her knife in her upraised hand and watched,
entranced, as the blood dripped from its needle-like tip. Suddenly she
shuddered heavily as a wave of deep pleasure washed over her, followed
by a smaller wave of regret that the kill had come so quickly.
Tachyon wiped her blade clean on her victim and stood, still breathing
heavily. Her waking nightmare was quickly fading to the back of her
tortured psyche, and in the aftermath of her victim's death she felt her
mind growing clearer and calmer. The threads of Time, her chains, were
still there...if she lifted her hand to her face she could smell their
stink beneath the blood. But their sensation had faded to a bearable
point once more.
With a clearer mind, she could summon the cogency to make a new plan.
Meson, she knew, was very eager for her to complete her true mission.
And truth be told, so was Tachyon. Hadron's promise to her had always
been that once her mission was completed, she would have the power to
achieve her heart's desire. But before she could do that, things had to
be settled with Sailor Pluto.
Sailor Pluto...the little girl hated her like she hated nobody else. She
*knew.* Tachyon was positive that she knew the truth, as Tachyon herself
did. But rather than fight against the cruel dominion of Time, she had
sold her soul to her. Such a betrayal was more than Tachyon could ever
forgive, and she swore to punish Sailor Pluto for it.
And she would...nobody would ever suffer the way that Sailor Pluto would
suffer. And Tachyon would begin by stealing away those close to her and
using them up until there was nothing left. Perhaps Sailor Pluto could
stop Tachyon from taking them herself, but that was what servants were
for. And there was one servant in particular...Tachyon giggled softly.
"Oh yes...tomorrow it really starts." She chirped, turning back to her
armchair and sinking into it, ignoring the grisly mess that still
covered her, and the crumpled corpse of her victim. She sat, toying with
the blade of her knife as she waited for the dawn, a sunny smile on her
angelic, blood-spattered face.
-------------------
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Busy night for everyone involved, eh? I wanted to give a
little more insight into Tachyon's madness, so I hope everybody enjoyed
that! Well, tomorrow should be even more exciting! Stay tuned!
Sailormoon and all associated characters belong to their respective
owners. All original characters belong to me.
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