Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Museishi ~Silent Death~ ❯ Two ( Chapter 2 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Elsewhere 
Anime/Manga: Sailor Moon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Horror / Psychological / Angst | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 03.28.2005 | Pages: 7 | Words: 7.4K | Visits: 274 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Sailor Moon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Horror / Psychological / Angst | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 03.28.2005 | Pages: 7 | Words: 7.4K | Visits: 274 | Status: Completed
Fandom: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon (anime)
Date Finished: October 23rd, 2004
Classification: Horror, Suspense, whatever you want to call a Creepy!Fic
Pairing: None especially; all non-canon pairings are only hinted.
Rating: PG-13
Note: Written for the sixth Gundam Legends challenge. (http://www.wiwp.nu/halloween/)
Museishi
~Silent Death~
By Elsewhere
elsewherecw@shaw.ca
All other information in Part One.
Part Two:
*****
Why am I here nowhere?
Just stare at the end of the everlasting
infinity
Enormous wandering shadows are
crumbling
Time passes as your heart mingles with
the flowing waters
*****
Taiki let out a sigh of relief as he stepped out of the bathroom. The shower had truly revitalized him after being out in the cold for so long. He rolled his shoulders, trying to loosen a few knots in the muscles, as he padded across the dark room towards the bed on the far side. The rain seemed to have stopped; the clouds had parted to reveal a high, gibbous moon. By the dim light of the moonbeams cast into their room between the uneven venetian blinds, Taiki could make out the forms of his three companions, all asleep. If he was quiet, he could hear their even breathing.
He could also hear something else, he realized just as he was about to get into his side of the bed. He stood upright again, listening more closely, and realized that what he heard was the unmistakable creak of footsteps on the floorboards of the hallway. He couldn't have said why he chose to go and investigate at that point when he could just as easily have gotten into bed and attempted sleep; after all, there wasn't anything especially strange about someone walking around in the hallways in the very early morning. But something compelled him, and he moved silently back across the room and out into the hall.
The footsteps were coming towards him, but at first he didn't see anyone. It was pitch black, except for the soft glow of light he could see coming from under one of the other doors. Still not sure of the source of his interest, he started down the hallway towards the footsteps, and after no more than a few steps, he found the person they belonged to.
Ami gasped and nearly dropped the tray she was holding when Taiki almost bumped into her, looming abruptly out of the darkness.
"Steady," he murmured, a reassuring smile instantly at his lips as he clasped her hands where they held the tray, steadying her grip. "I apologize...I didn't mean to startle you. I was just coming to see who was still up."
Ami took a couple of deep breaths, regaining her composure, before she dared to speak.
"None of us have been able to sleep," she said, referring to her roommates. "I'm just bringing some tea, to see if that will help."
"A splendid idea," Taiki agreed, and she glanced at him sideways as she continued to shuffle towards the door the light was coming out from under, the tray balanced carefully in her arms.
"Perhaps you'd like some as well?" she asked, and then, before he could answer, she opened the door a crack, holding the tray precariously against her hip with one hand, and said as quietly as she could into the room, "Would it be all right if Taiki-san joined us for tea?"
The calamity of girlish noise was instant.
"No! Yes! No!" came Rei's voice, which earned a mocking, "Maybe?" from Makoto. "Absolutely!" yelled Minako, followed by a squeak from Usagi stating, "Only if he's not a he!!"
Ami turned back to look at Taiki, the expression on her face one of patient exasperation.
"Well, that's easy enough," Taiki said simply. Ami watched, trying not to appear as fascinated as she felt, as Taiki closed his eyes and focused his energies for a moment before opening his eyes again. Aside from the hint of generous curves outlined under his pajamas, he hadn't changed significantly, except that his face had become more slender, more fine-boned.
"What are we waiting for?" Taiki said, offering Ami a smile before she gently took the tray from Ami's hands and nudged her way into the room. Ami followed.
Taiki glanced around the room, taking in the state of its inhabitants. Rei, Minako and Usagi were all sitting on one bed, and both blondes had their heads wrapped in towels; they'd obviously recently made use of the rapidly-dwindling hot water supply. On the other bed, Makoto was curled on her side, propped up on an elbow, so she could face the others.
"Here's the tea," Ami said, moving forward to clear off the bedside table between the two beds so Taiki could put the tray down. "Um, there are only five cups..."
"That's fine; I don't want any," Rei said quietly. "I don't feel well."
No one remarked on this. Ami poured five cups of tea and handed them around. Taiki waited until she was invited to sit on the end of Ami and Makoto's bed, then settled herself, her long legs curled up against her front.
"So I gather everyone's having trouble sleeping?" Taiki asked, in order to start a conversation.
The other girls all nodded their agreement, but Minako was the one to speak up.
"None of us can seem to get warm enough, and..." Here she paused, glancing at Usagi and Rei uncertainly.
"There's something strange about this house," Rei said, her voice whisper-soft. She was staring stonily towards the opposite wall. "I don't like it."
"It's creepy," Usagi agreed, shivering and wrapping her arms around herself.
"I still think you guys are freaking out over nothing," Makoto said, sighing as she rolled onto her back, careful not to kick Taiki.
"And what do you think, Ami-san?" Taiki asked, turning to her where she sat curled up on the bed, next to Makoto, cupping her tea between her hands as though desperate for warmth.
"I'm afraid for once I agree with the others," Ami said, her voice small. "This house is unusually cold, and I checked the thermostat while I was on my way back upstairs: the heat is turned on. Being here is giving me the oddest feeling..."
"The gas station," Usagi blurted, and all of them turned to her, startled by her outburst. Her eyes had widened slightly as she stared at each of them in turn. "That gas station yesterday where we picked up lunch...don't you remember? They warned us not to go to that campsite. They said it was haunted!"
"That's right," Minako said uneasily. "They told us strange things happen there...that people disappear there."
There was a resounding silence for several minutes before Makoto finally gave an irritated sigh and flopped over, closing her eyes.
"Whatever. I'm going to sleep," she muttered.
The others remained quiet while they finished their tea, and Taiki took the opportunity to observe the others. Rei was still staring at the wall, the look on her face utterly blank; it was impossible to tell what she was thinking. Minako and Usagi were huddled close to each other, both of them remarkably pale. Ami was still clutching her mug, even though it was now empty, and her eyes were unfocused.
Taiki cleared her throat to gather their attention and, speaking calmly, suggested, "Old houses like this often seem to have the feeling of being haunted or otherwise inhabited by the supernatural...old buildings make noises, and it is a cold night; the central heating may not be working properly. I suggest that we all try to put these sensations in their proper place---they are *only sensations*---and get some rest."
Ami looked relieved by Taiki's suggestion, and she was just about to speak up to say that she agreed when a loud bang echoed through the house. It was so loud the floorboards seemed to shudder.
Everyone, with Taiki as no exception, jumped. Minako and Usagi clutched onto each other, each squealing their fright, while Rei jumped to her feet and pulled something out of her shirt---a quick glance revealed it as an ofuda. Ami dropped her teacup, spilling the last few drops of tea onto the bedspread, and Makoto sat straight up, sleep instantly banished. She was the first to speak.
"What the *hell* was that?" she hissed.
For a moment no one answered; the only sound in the room was the harsh rasp of panted breath.
"It sounded like it came from downstairs," Ami said shakily after she had recovered her equilibrium. Her hands were clutched nervously in her lap.
"Are you going to tell us *that* was just a sound an old house makes?" Minako whispered loudly towards Taiki, who shook her head slightly, then turned to glance at Ami, who reluctantly nodded. The two of them got up and started for the door.
"Where are you going?" Usagi asked, sounding almost frantic.
"To see what the noise was, of course," Taiki answered, and then she opened the door and she and Ami disappeared out into the dark hallway.
After another moment had passed, Rei slowly sat down on the bed again, her fuda clutched tightly between pale fingers.
*****
Taiki, with Ami close at her heels, was as quiet as she could possibly be as she crept down the dark stairway towards the bottom floor, her eyes scanning the blackness for anything unusual.
They had just entered the front hallway when Ami suddenly gasped, reaching up to clutch Taiki's shoulder. Taiki spun around to look and saw a figure outlined against the nearest moonlit window; a very tall, slender figure, the moonlight providing it with a ghostly silhouette.
"Who's there?" Taiki said quietly as she walked towards the figure, and she was disappointed in herself when she jumped as the figure turned towards her.
"It's me," a voice said, and Taiki instantly clenched her teeth, even more irritated with herself for her concern. "Sorry if I startled you."
"That's fine, Mamoru-san," Taiki said, and then she turned and called back, softly, "It's Mamoru-san, Ami-san. It's safe."
She appeared by Taiki's side instantly, letting out a relieved sigh.
"Mamoru-san...what are you doing?"
"I heard a strange noise," Mamoru answered, and even in the dark they could tell that he was puzzled. "I came down to see what it was. I thought it might have been something falling, or a slammed door, but I haven't been able to find anything."
"Hm..." Taiki turned around, staring into the bleakness. "Why haven't you turned on any lights?"
"The lights have gone out," Mamoru replied. "The storm, I assume."
Taiki sighed.
"All right, then...well...why don't we split up and have a look around," she suggested, and Mamoru and Ami both murmured their agreement before they reluctantly parted ways.
*****
Five minutes became ten, ten became fifteen, and as the fifteenth rolled over onto sixteen, the four girls who remained in the room got restless.
"All right, that's it...I'm going to see what they're doing down there," Makoto said, her tone betraying her worry. "They shouldn't be taking this long just to see what some noise was."
"Maybe they stopped in the kitchen to get more tea, or..." Minako suggested, obviously reluctant.
"I don't care; I'm going," Makoto said, quickly pulling on a sweatshirt over her pajama top before she headed for the door.
"I'm coming," Usagi said, setting her jaw as she got to her feet and hurried after Makoto.
"Me too," said Rei, a mild frown on her face as though she was concentrating on something.
"Eep! Don't leave me!" Minako squeaked, hurrying to put on some warm clothes of her own before she scurried after them.
Halfway down the stairs, Usagi suddenly froze, standing still as though she was straining to hear something.
"Can you hear that?" she whispered, and the other three stared at her as she gasped. "It's Mamo-chan! Something's happened to Mamo-chan! That's his voice!"
Without another word she scrambled down the rest of the stairs, two steps at a time, and was gone into the darkness before any of them could stop her.
"Usagi!" Rei shouted, taking off after her at a run.
"Oh god," Minako whispered, clutching onto Makoto's arm as they both stood on the stairs for a moment longer, shivering with shock. "What's going on, Mako-chan...?"
*****
The rain blew hard against Usagi's face as she stumbled out of the back door and into the muddy mess of the old house's back yard, following the keening cries of her lover. She called back to him desperately, but the wind carried away her words. By the time she'd taken only a few steps, she felt as though she was walking on glass, and her lips felt like ice.
"Mamo-chan!! Where are you!?" she screamed into the darkness, but all she could hear were his continued cries, so she ran towards where they seemed to be coming from.
When she found him, she knelt in the mud and clasped his cold hands, and she wept.
*****
Ami's head shot up when she heard the long, desperate wail that pierced the silence of the old house, causing a thud of instant fear in her heart. She recognized the voice immediately, and within seconds she was at the back door, and then out in the rain, pushing forwards, searching for her friend.
"Usagi-chan!!" she screamed, and she knew she was already crying, more scared than she'd ever been in her life. "Usagi-chan, where are you!? Please answer me, Usagi-chan!!"
She wasn't sure whether to be relieved or terrified that the screaming had stopped.
*****
Taiki had darted forward at the sound of running footsteps in the downstairs hallway, and she made it just in time to see Ami make her way out into the rain, still in her nightclothes. Taiki couldn't help the gasp that came to her lips; was the girl suicidal!? Not if she could help it...
She stopped long enough to put on her shoes, then ran out into the rain, seeking the foolish genius.
"Ami-san! Ami-san!!"
Her cries went unheeded, but she pressed onward, determined to find Ami and have an explanation for her idiotic behavior.
*****
Hotaru sighed as she turned over in her sleep, reaching out unconsciously towards the warm body that she knew should have been beside her in the bed. When her fingers grasped at nothing, she woke up in a cold sweat. She wasn't even sure why she was so frightened to find herself alone in the bed, but her heart thudded in her chest like the beat of a huge drum.
"Setsuna-mama?" she whispered hesitantly into the darkness surrounding her. "Setsuna-mama?"
When there was no answer, she slid out from under the covers and tiptoed across the room to the other bed. She hesitated only briefly before she reached out and shook Haruka's shoulder.
Haruka grunted something sleepily but didn't otherwise stir, but the noise Haruka had made seemed enough to wake Michiru, who yawned and then lifted her head.
"Is something wrong, Hotaru-chan?" she murmured.
"It's Setsuna-mama...she isn't here," Hotaru said quietly.
"She probably went down to the kitchen or something, sweetie," Michiru said, sleepily rubbing at her still-damp hair.
Hotaru was silent for a moment before she came to a decision.
"I'm going to look for her," she announced, and then she put on a pair of slippers and darted out of the room.
"Hotaru-chan!" Michiru whispered, but the girl was already gone. Michiru frowned and reached out to prod at Haruka. "Haruka, Hotaru-chan has..."
"I know," Haruka muttered, nearly inaudible against the pillow.
"We can't just let her wander around a strange house alone!" Michiru said, a bit annoyed at Haruka's lack of response.
Haruka opened one eye to peer groggily at her lover.
"Michiru, that kid has the power to destroy the planet; I think she can manage the boogieman," Haruka said bluntly before closing the eye and attempting to go back to sleep.
Michiru let out a sigh that implied she wasn't entirely pleased with this assessment and got out of bed, determined to follow Hotaru.
*****
Hotaru wandered the halls without success, with the strange feeling, for perhaps the first time in her life, that she was alone in the universe. By the time she reached the kitchen she was shivering with cold, and the hairs at the nape of her neck were standing up. She stood in the kitchen for some time, staring out the window, but she couldn't make anything out beyond the smudged effect the rain had on the glass. Then she heard a sound, or more of a sensation of vibrating air waves touching the skin of her back, and she turned around quickly.
There was Setsuna, hovering in mid-air, slowly coalescing into her recognizable form. Hotaru's forehead instantly creased in concern when she took in Setsuna's fuku and the Garnet Rod clutched in one hand.
"Setsuna-mama, what..."
"I was called back to the future," Setsuna interrupted her, in her usual entirely placid tone. "There has been...an incident."
"An incident?" Hotaru whispered, her hand clenched against the fabric of her pajamas. "What's happened?"
"It's Small Lady," Setsuna said evenly, her eyes unnervingly focused on Hotaru's.
"Chibiusa?" Hotaru gasped. "What is it? What happened to Chibiusa?"
"She's dead."
For one long, breathless moment, Hotaru was sure that Setsuna had to be telling some kind of cruel joke, but then the dead seriousness in Setsuna's eyes hit her like a ton of bricks.
"...Dead?" she whispered, feeling her breath echo hollowly in her chest. "Chibiusa is dead? B...but...why? How..."
Her voice was choked off with tears and she collapsed to her knees, both hands now clutched against the fabric of her shirt.
"It was you," Pluto said, in that same utterly even, totally noncommittal tone. "You killed her."
At first Hotaru could do nothing but gasp and cry, her breath wheezing in and out of her between sobs. Then it occurred to her that she shouldn't take it as her fault; she had no control over her future self, had she?
And then she realized that she had, of course, been this way all along. And that was when she started to laugh.
*****
Seiya grumbled slightly as she felt herself being pulled from sleep by the sensation of someone tugging at her sleeve.
"Seiya! Seiya, please." It was Yaten, and her voice held a note of urgency that Seiya couldn't ignore. She snapped her eyes open instantly and turned to face Yaten, peering down at her with a look of near-panic on her face.
"What is it, Yaten?" Seiya asked, already worried.
"Seiya, Mamoru-san is gone," Yaten whispered, gesturing towards the other bed.
That made Seiya lift an eyebrow.
"So? Ask Taiki, maybe she knows where he went," she said.
"Taiki never came back from the bathroom!" Yaten said frantically, and Seiya stared at her.
"You're telling me Taiki, our resident genius, got lost in the bathroom?" It was a feeble enough attempt at a joke anyway, and Yaten clearly wasn't in the mood; she didn't even crack a smirk. "All right, all right...let's go take a look."
She got to her feet and tried not to feel too annoyed or alarmed when Yaten bounced up after her, clutching to her arm. Yaten remained there until Seiya got to the bathroom, peering inside.
"Anyone in here?" Seiya called into the small, dark space before she turned on the lights. "Hope everyone's decent..."
Of course no one was there.
"Well, nobody stuck in the bathroom..." she muttered, glancing into the bathtub. A glimpse of something brightly colored against the off-white caught her eye and she bent for a closer look, then blinked at what she saw. There was a tiny pool of blood around the seemingly clogged plug of the bathtub.
"Huh...that's odd," she said, thinking to herself that she didn't think any of them were on their period or anything of the sort. "Wonder if Taiki cut herself or something..."
She straightened up and turned around, then jumped about a foot in the air when she saw Yaten's reflection in the mirror, a pale, scowling face behind her.
"Holy shit, Yaten, you scared the hell out of me..." Seiya whispered, clutching at her heart. Yaten didn't answer; she just stared at her, so focused that Seiya couldn't help but feel a little creeped out by it. "What is it? What're you looking at?"
Yaten's voice, when it came, was low and cold, laced with venom.
"You killed her," Yaten said quietly, and Seiya blinked, instantly confused.
"What? I killed who?" she demanded, frowning.
"You killed her. You killed all of them," Yaten hissed, her voice growing harder with every word. "Every last one of them. It was your fault, you know, and you may think we've forgotten it, but we never have."
"*What* was my fault!?" Seiya said loudly, already fed up with this.
"You killed all of them!" Yaten yelled, her voice suddenly so loud that Seiya started again. "It was your responsibility! You were the leader, the one who was supposed to be strong and capable! We all looked up to you. But you let them all die...you let her die! YOU LET HER DIE!"
Seiya gasped and flailed her arms as Yaten suddenly gripped the back of Seiya's head and pushed her forward so hard that Seiya's head smashed into the mirror; she could feel the hundreds of gashes that were instantly torn across her face. She tried to cry out, to shout for Yaten to stop, but Yaten just pushed her harder against the mirror.
"Look at it," Yaten whispered. "Look at what you've done!!"
Seiya opened her eyes, tearing up with pain, and stared into what lay on the other side of the mirror.
Within seconds her voice was hoarse from screaming.
*****
Michiru was pacing back and forth, nibbling on her lower lip with obvious concern, staring at her adopted child, who was currently curled up in a little ball on the floor, rocking back and forth and laughing maniacally. Hotaru kept muttering various things to herself in a high-pitched, quivering voice, like, "Of course I killed her...ahahaha!" and "Why didn't I ever realize it before? It's always been inside me..." and "I ate her...I ate her heart. Oh yes..."
Haruka was sitting on the bed, her hands fisted against her knees, staring blankly at nothing.
"Hotaru-chan, I..." Michiru began for the umpteenth time, starting towards the younger girl, but as soon as she was approached by someone else, Hotaru started to scream, a high, piercing sound that threatened to shatter the room's only window.
Michiru glanced back to Haruka, obviously seeking some kind of help, but Haruka didn't know what to say; she just kept staring silently at the floor, grinding her teeth, her expression strained.
"Haruka...what can we...?"
"I don't know," Haruka said roughly. "I don't know, damn it! Leave me alone."
Michiru brought up a hand to cover her face, trying to keep herself from breaking down into tears.
Haruka got slowly to her feet and paced across towards Hotaru, stopping at a good distance. Hotaru was back to rocking and giggling, her eyes wide.
"Hotaru? I know you hear me," Haruka said, a deep frown set on her face. "Now listen, Hotaru, you've got to stop this."
"There must be some way we can help you, Hotaru-chan," Michiru added, her face streaked with the tears she hadn't been able to hold back. "Please, let us."
"Hotaru..." Haruka said, in a warning tone. "Hotaru, snap out of it!"
When Hotaru didn't respond, Haruka sighed and moved back over to the bed, sitting back down and fisting her hands against her knees again as she tried to think of what else to do.
If only Hotaru would stop *laughing*...the sound was filling Haruka's brain, making her feel as though the world was spinning around her. She felt sick to her stomach---she felt weak, and she hated it.
"Hahaha---I killed her!" Hotaru said then, particularly loudly, and Haruka slapped a hand against her thigh angrily.
"Hotaru, shut up!" she yelled.
"Haruka!" Michiru gasped, obviously shocked at Haruka's behavior towards their daughter.
Haruka gritted her teeth.
"Look, it's not my fault," Haruka said, getting to her feet and gesturing uselessly with her hands. "It's not my fault! She needs to stop it...she should just stop laughing."
She shook her head; it felt as though it was stuffed with cotton, fuzzy and warm. Hotaru's high-pitched laughter echoed between her ears in a never-ending loop.
"Stop it!" Haruka repeated, bringing her hands up to clasp her ears and closing her eyes. "Goddamn it, make her stop laughing!"
"Haruka, please, calm down..." Michiru pleaded with her, but it was too late. The laughter kept growing louder and louder in her ears until it was drowning out everything else.
"Stop it, stop it, goddamn you, stop laughing!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, and after that she seemed to black out.
When she came to, her hands were clutched tightly around Hotaru's neck, so hard that her fingers had left bruised imprints. She blinked, surprised at the sensation of silence, and it only took her a few seconds to realize why. The child in her hands was still and as limp as a rag-doll; as soon as Haruka pulled away her hands, staring at them in disbelief, Hotaru's body slumped back against the wall with a hard thump.
Haruka opened her mouth and tried to speak, but found she couldn't get anything out past the sick lump in her throat. Somewhere to her left she could hear Michiru crying.
/I've done it again.../ was all she could think. The thought turned itself over and over in her mind. /I've done it again./
It finally wrenched free of her in the form of a horrifying, soul-rending scream as she bent, curling in on herself, hiding her blood-covered hands from the moonlight.
*****
Makoto and Minako had parted at the bottom of the stairs, agreeing to split up to look for the others. Minako ended up doing a wide circuit of the downstairs, finding all of the main rooms connected at some point. Minako was just beginning to wonder why she hadn't met up with Makoto again when she reached the downstairs hallway and was surprised to see the back door hanging open. In the next instant, she was given a reason why: Rei abruptly stumbled through the door, Usagi piggy-backed on her back, both of them totally soaked.
"Rei-chan!" Minako whispered, rushing over towards them. "What happened?"
"I found her outside," Rei said, her voice tight. "She's unconscious; I don't know how long she was out there. We have to get her warm."
Minako nodded her agreement and helped Rei carry Usagi into the drawing room, where Rei started a fire in the fireplace with a wave of her hand, instantly returning it to the warm blaze it had been earlier. They lay Usagi out on the rug in front of the fire, and Minako watched as Rei started to rub Usagi's limbs, trying to warm the smaller girl. Minako began to do the same, and was shocked at how chilled Usagi's skin was.
"Come on, Usagi," Rei whispered urgently, bending over Usagi's chest occasionally. "Come on."
Minako felt her eyes welling up with tears.
"Do you think she's going to die?" she whimpered.
"Not if I can help it," Rei said fiercely, just as she bent over Usagi's face. Minako watched as Rei's face went deathly pale. "Oh god...she's not breathing. She's not breathing!"
"Oh god! Usagi-chan, please don't die!" Minako cried out, clasping one of Usagi's clammy hands tightly between her own.
Rei shifted her position and started CPR, her hands pumping down five times on Usagi's chest before she would bend over the still girl's face and close her mouth over Usagi's blue lips, forcing breath down into her lungs.
"Come on, Usagi!" Rei said, obviously near panic.
"Usagi-chan..." Minako whispered, rubbing the cold hand against her cheek. "Please...please, don't die..."
*****
Makoto got there too late. She had run as fast as she could as soon as she'd heard the sobbing, but by the time she got there, Minako and Rei were already bent over a dead, cold corpse. Minako was crying loudly, the source of the sobbing Makoto had heard, but Rei was utterly silent, staring down at Usagi as though she couldn't believe her eyes.
Makoto felt as though the bottom had dropped out of her stomach.
"I'm too late...?" she whispered, walking forwards. The other two glanced up at her, Minako gulping, Rei still just shell-shocked.
Makoto collapsed to her knees near Usagi's feet, a hand reaching out to lightly touch Usagi's frozen leg.
"Too late...I'm always too late," she murmured, feeling the tears growing thick in her throat. "I'm never strong enough."
"Mako-chan, this wasn't your fault..." Minako started to say, but Makoto shook her head sharply.
"There's no excuse...we should have been there. We should have been there," Makoto said dully.
A strangled sound tore its way out of Rei's throat as she got to her feet and ran from the room.
*****
Mamoru sighed as he wandered back into the kitchen, still determined that the sound must have been something falling in there. He barely glanced up as Rei streaked by him, running upstairs at full tilt. He was just too tired...too damn tired, and so *cold*. Why wasn't this house's heating working!?
He was just about to take a seat in one of the kitchen's chairs when a familiar voice assaulted his ears, accompanied by a flash of horribly familiar images. He fell to his knees, the chair crashing to one side, clutching his head and crying out at the pain.
"You failed...you failed her," the voice whispered; his voice, a thousand years in the future. "I warned you, but you didn't listen, and now it's too late. She is gone..."
"No..." he said, his voice shuddering with terror. "No! Usako!!"
He clutched at the kitchen tiles, trying to get to his feet, to shake loose the vision, but the images only doubled in intensity. He only withstood a few more seconds before he blacked out.
*****
"Usagi-chan!!"
Ami's voice was cut off by the sharp winds, and she sighed before turning to head in another direction. So far no luck finding Usagi, but she was determined to stay out for as long as it would take to find her.
She stumbled in every direction, searching high and low---or at least she tried to. For all she knew she could have been going in circles. It was really impossible to see through the torrents of rain pouring down around her, and every step she took squelched in the same mud. She felt like she had wandered for hours before she finally spotted something large and solid in the near distance, and she marked it as a goal to head towards.
She reached it in quite good time, and squinting through the deluge, she could make out that it was a tree; a large, old tree at that. She started to walk around it, trying to determine which way she wanted to go next, when she was suddenly tripped up by something large on the ground. She sprawled into the mud, some of it getting into her mouth, but she ignored that and quickly knelt upwards. Whatever she'd tripped on, it hadn't felt like a root.
She fumbled in the dark, her hands stretched outwards, and gasped when she touched what felt like skin...freezing cold, human skin. She moved closer, squinting, until she could finally make out two distinct figures leaning against the tree...and the moment she did, she fell back in horror, her mouth opening on a wordless scream.
*****
"Ami-san!"
Taiki grumbled to herself about 'stupid girls and their curiosity' as she wrapped her arms tighter around herself and headed farther into the dark night, heading towards a tree she could make out in the distance.
When she got there she stopped short as a brief flash of lightening suddenly illuminated the scene beneath the tree. In the next moment she was on her knees, her breath held as she knelt in the mud next to the unmoving figure of Ami, reclining in eternal repose against the trunk of the old tree.
Taiki felt a thousand angry words rise in her throat as she lifted Ami's wrist in her hands, her fingers sliding in the slick blood of the fresh wound. A million words of reproach about a life wasted, a life that had so much potential...about the concept of running away, and the concept of waste. Things it would be useless to tell a dead girl, anyway.
Her words gone, her heart hollow, she dropped Ami's arm and sat back in the mud, crossing her legs and burying her face in her hands.
"I...wanted to protect you, you know," she whispered a few minutes later, her voice piercing the stillness. "I want to protect you so badly. I wanted to protect all of you. But I've never...why can't I...the people I try to protect, they always..."
Her voice was drowned out by tears and rain.
*****
Michiru's breath was coming in great, hitching gasps as she stumbled into the kitchen, nearly bumping straight into Setsuna. Michiru let out a piercing shriek, and Setsuna gripped her elbows, trying to catch her eyes. Michiru was twisting her head, her eyes flitting around the room like those of a scared horse.
"Michiru-san!" Setsuna whispered urgently. "What is it? What's wrong?"
When Michiru didn't speak except to look at her for a long minute---long enough that the light of recognition finally dawned in her eyes---and then break down sobbing, Setsuna wrapped her arms around the shorter woman, trying to offer her some sort of comfort.
"What is it? Please, tell me what's happened," Setsuna urged Michiru, and after a few minutes, Michiru managed to wipe her nose.
"It's Haruka, Setsuna-san...she...she..." Michiru could feel herself starting to hyperventilate again, and she dropped her head against Setsuna's shoulder, trying to regain her breath.
"Killed Hotaru-chan? Yes, I know," Setsuna said soothingly, and Michiru's eyes snapped open. "I know...I saw it."
Michiru lifted her head and stared at Setsuna wide-eyed.
"You saw it...? B-but..." she started, unable to comprehend the fact that Setsuna still appeared as calm and collected as ever in the face of what had happened.
"It had to be done, Michiru-san," Setsuna said, gently patting Michiru's back. "You know that."
"What...?" Michiru whispered, taking a step away from the taller woman, who blinked in surprise.
"You do realize it had to be done, don't you?" Setsuna said, tilting her head curiously. "You are, after all, the most sensible of us. You, more than any of us, have always emphasized how important it is to never forget our duty. The identity of those we kill is irrelevant; if it must be done for the cause, then..."
"What are you talking about?" Michiru gasped, bringing up her hands to her face. She was shaking her head, horrified by Setsuna's calm words. "I've never..."
"But I'm sure you have," Setsuna said placidly, folding her arms over her chest. "After all, it was you who..."
"Stop it!" Michiru shrieked suddenly, covering her ears. "Stop it! I don't want to hear it!"
"You don't want to hear the truth?" Setsuna asked, blinking again with confusion.
"Yes! No...god, no, I..." Michiru was crying again, unsure of where to turn or what to do.
"Michiru-san, perhaps you should think about your priorities," Setsuna suggested, and then she turned and started to walk away.
"I did not...it wasn't my idea...I didn't...I would never...no!!" Michiru screamed, closing her eyes. She felt a flare of energy and for a moment she lost track of herself. When she opened her eyes, Setsuna was lying on the ground, motionless.
"Se...Setsuna-san?" Michiru whispered, frightened. She walked the few steps forward and bent down by Setsuna, reaching out to shake her. "Setsuna-san, get up..."
Setsuna didn't move.
Michiru touch a hand to Setsuna's neck and gasped, breathless with shock.
Setsuna was dead.
*****
Yaten made her way down the stairs in a daze, trying to remember where she was and why there was blood on her hands. Everything felt strange---the world around her was hazy, and her eyes were stinging as though she'd been exposed to smoke. With each step downwards it seemed to get more and more unclear, until she reached the bottom step. For some reason she hesitated there, peering into the darkness ahead of her uncertainly before she took a breath and descended to the floor.
Her foot touched cold wood, and her soul touched cold reality. A million images flooded up through her memory, painful reminders of all that she had forgotten. The world was suddenly bright and clear around her again, and she started to cry as she remembered her sins. The toll of the dead marched itself before her, one by one.
Then she looked up, saw herself in a mirrored reflection, and realized what was wrong in the picture. She stared for a long time, at first disbelieving what she was seeing.
Her reflection was waving at her.
*****
Rei ran out into the rain and stood beneath the deluge, at first silent, letting it build up inside her, a well of rage and despair, until she opened her mouth and screamed. She screamed for herself, and she screamed for the ones she had failed.
Then the lightning flashed and she saw something in the rain... a figure, a few steps ahead of her. She didn't stop to think; she ran towards it, thinking that she would not let another person die. Closer and closer she ran to the shadow, until she came to a stop, her breath caught in her throat as she stared at the apparition before her.
She was staring at herself.
*****
A crack of lightning made the old house creak and groan, providing the final boost for the three restless souls who finally stirred and then awoke, sitting up in unison and getting out of bed. One by one they crept downstairs, their feet moving silently on the floorboards, and through the empty hallways, into the drawing room. The fire blazed warmly, and before it, the old couple sat, waiting.
"Come in, come in," said the man, gesturing idly towards the armchairs. "Have a seat by the fire. You must be cold."
"You're the first in a very long time," the woman added, her kind old eyes wrinkled with what appeared to be amusement. "The first to come this far. Please, do come closer."
So they approached, all three cautious, but all dying to hear the tale.
*****
From yonder of darkness, the broken
pieces of recollection, Reminiscence
Eternity of time is ticking away endlessly,
Reminiscence
slimy hole bind detain insane sensual
surge vague twine assault mind
*****
END PART TWO
Date Finished: October 23rd, 2004
Classification: Horror, Suspense, whatever you want to call a Creepy!Fic
Pairing: None especially; all non-canon pairings are only hinted.
Rating: PG-13
Note: Written for the sixth Gundam Legends challenge. (http://www.wiwp.nu/halloween/)
Museishi
~Silent Death~
By Elsewhere
elsewherecw@shaw.ca
All other information in Part One.
Part Two:
*****
Why am I here nowhere?
Just stare at the end of the everlasting
infinity
Enormous wandering shadows are
crumbling
Time passes as your heart mingles with
the flowing waters
*****
Taiki let out a sigh of relief as he stepped out of the bathroom. The shower had truly revitalized him after being out in the cold for so long. He rolled his shoulders, trying to loosen a few knots in the muscles, as he padded across the dark room towards the bed on the far side. The rain seemed to have stopped; the clouds had parted to reveal a high, gibbous moon. By the dim light of the moonbeams cast into their room between the uneven venetian blinds, Taiki could make out the forms of his three companions, all asleep. If he was quiet, he could hear their even breathing.
He could also hear something else, he realized just as he was about to get into his side of the bed. He stood upright again, listening more closely, and realized that what he heard was the unmistakable creak of footsteps on the floorboards of the hallway. He couldn't have said why he chose to go and investigate at that point when he could just as easily have gotten into bed and attempted sleep; after all, there wasn't anything especially strange about someone walking around in the hallways in the very early morning. But something compelled him, and he moved silently back across the room and out into the hall.
The footsteps were coming towards him, but at first he didn't see anyone. It was pitch black, except for the soft glow of light he could see coming from under one of the other doors. Still not sure of the source of his interest, he started down the hallway towards the footsteps, and after no more than a few steps, he found the person they belonged to.
Ami gasped and nearly dropped the tray she was holding when Taiki almost bumped into her, looming abruptly out of the darkness.
"Steady," he murmured, a reassuring smile instantly at his lips as he clasped her hands where they held the tray, steadying her grip. "I apologize...I didn't mean to startle you. I was just coming to see who was still up."
Ami took a couple of deep breaths, regaining her composure, before she dared to speak.
"None of us have been able to sleep," she said, referring to her roommates. "I'm just bringing some tea, to see if that will help."
"A splendid idea," Taiki agreed, and she glanced at him sideways as she continued to shuffle towards the door the light was coming out from under, the tray balanced carefully in her arms.
"Perhaps you'd like some as well?" she asked, and then, before he could answer, she opened the door a crack, holding the tray precariously against her hip with one hand, and said as quietly as she could into the room, "Would it be all right if Taiki-san joined us for tea?"
The calamity of girlish noise was instant.
"No! Yes! No!" came Rei's voice, which earned a mocking, "Maybe?" from Makoto. "Absolutely!" yelled Minako, followed by a squeak from Usagi stating, "Only if he's not a he!!"
Ami turned back to look at Taiki, the expression on her face one of patient exasperation.
"Well, that's easy enough," Taiki said simply. Ami watched, trying not to appear as fascinated as she felt, as Taiki closed his eyes and focused his energies for a moment before opening his eyes again. Aside from the hint of generous curves outlined under his pajamas, he hadn't changed significantly, except that his face had become more slender, more fine-boned.
"What are we waiting for?" Taiki said, offering Ami a smile before she gently took the tray from Ami's hands and nudged her way into the room. Ami followed.
Taiki glanced around the room, taking in the state of its inhabitants. Rei, Minako and Usagi were all sitting on one bed, and both blondes had their heads wrapped in towels; they'd obviously recently made use of the rapidly-dwindling hot water supply. On the other bed, Makoto was curled on her side, propped up on an elbow, so she could face the others.
"Here's the tea," Ami said, moving forward to clear off the bedside table between the two beds so Taiki could put the tray down. "Um, there are only five cups..."
"That's fine; I don't want any," Rei said quietly. "I don't feel well."
No one remarked on this. Ami poured five cups of tea and handed them around. Taiki waited until she was invited to sit on the end of Ami and Makoto's bed, then settled herself, her long legs curled up against her front.
"So I gather everyone's having trouble sleeping?" Taiki asked, in order to start a conversation.
The other girls all nodded their agreement, but Minako was the one to speak up.
"None of us can seem to get warm enough, and..." Here she paused, glancing at Usagi and Rei uncertainly.
"There's something strange about this house," Rei said, her voice whisper-soft. She was staring stonily towards the opposite wall. "I don't like it."
"It's creepy," Usagi agreed, shivering and wrapping her arms around herself.
"I still think you guys are freaking out over nothing," Makoto said, sighing as she rolled onto her back, careful not to kick Taiki.
"And what do you think, Ami-san?" Taiki asked, turning to her where she sat curled up on the bed, next to Makoto, cupping her tea between her hands as though desperate for warmth.
"I'm afraid for once I agree with the others," Ami said, her voice small. "This house is unusually cold, and I checked the thermostat while I was on my way back upstairs: the heat is turned on. Being here is giving me the oddest feeling..."
"The gas station," Usagi blurted, and all of them turned to her, startled by her outburst. Her eyes had widened slightly as she stared at each of them in turn. "That gas station yesterday where we picked up lunch...don't you remember? They warned us not to go to that campsite. They said it was haunted!"
"That's right," Minako said uneasily. "They told us strange things happen there...that people disappear there."
There was a resounding silence for several minutes before Makoto finally gave an irritated sigh and flopped over, closing her eyes.
"Whatever. I'm going to sleep," she muttered.
The others remained quiet while they finished their tea, and Taiki took the opportunity to observe the others. Rei was still staring at the wall, the look on her face utterly blank; it was impossible to tell what she was thinking. Minako and Usagi were huddled close to each other, both of them remarkably pale. Ami was still clutching her mug, even though it was now empty, and her eyes were unfocused.
Taiki cleared her throat to gather their attention and, speaking calmly, suggested, "Old houses like this often seem to have the feeling of being haunted or otherwise inhabited by the supernatural...old buildings make noises, and it is a cold night; the central heating may not be working properly. I suggest that we all try to put these sensations in their proper place---they are *only sensations*---and get some rest."
Ami looked relieved by Taiki's suggestion, and she was just about to speak up to say that she agreed when a loud bang echoed through the house. It was so loud the floorboards seemed to shudder.
Everyone, with Taiki as no exception, jumped. Minako and Usagi clutched onto each other, each squealing their fright, while Rei jumped to her feet and pulled something out of her shirt---a quick glance revealed it as an ofuda. Ami dropped her teacup, spilling the last few drops of tea onto the bedspread, and Makoto sat straight up, sleep instantly banished. She was the first to speak.
"What the *hell* was that?" she hissed.
For a moment no one answered; the only sound in the room was the harsh rasp of panted breath.
"It sounded like it came from downstairs," Ami said shakily after she had recovered her equilibrium. Her hands were clutched nervously in her lap.
"Are you going to tell us *that* was just a sound an old house makes?" Minako whispered loudly towards Taiki, who shook her head slightly, then turned to glance at Ami, who reluctantly nodded. The two of them got up and started for the door.
"Where are you going?" Usagi asked, sounding almost frantic.
"To see what the noise was, of course," Taiki answered, and then she opened the door and she and Ami disappeared out into the dark hallway.
After another moment had passed, Rei slowly sat down on the bed again, her fuda clutched tightly between pale fingers.
*****
Taiki, with Ami close at her heels, was as quiet as she could possibly be as she crept down the dark stairway towards the bottom floor, her eyes scanning the blackness for anything unusual.
They had just entered the front hallway when Ami suddenly gasped, reaching up to clutch Taiki's shoulder. Taiki spun around to look and saw a figure outlined against the nearest moonlit window; a very tall, slender figure, the moonlight providing it with a ghostly silhouette.
"Who's there?" Taiki said quietly as she walked towards the figure, and she was disappointed in herself when she jumped as the figure turned towards her.
"It's me," a voice said, and Taiki instantly clenched her teeth, even more irritated with herself for her concern. "Sorry if I startled you."
"That's fine, Mamoru-san," Taiki said, and then she turned and called back, softly, "It's Mamoru-san, Ami-san. It's safe."
She appeared by Taiki's side instantly, letting out a relieved sigh.
"Mamoru-san...what are you doing?"
"I heard a strange noise," Mamoru answered, and even in the dark they could tell that he was puzzled. "I came down to see what it was. I thought it might have been something falling, or a slammed door, but I haven't been able to find anything."
"Hm..." Taiki turned around, staring into the bleakness. "Why haven't you turned on any lights?"
"The lights have gone out," Mamoru replied. "The storm, I assume."
Taiki sighed.
"All right, then...well...why don't we split up and have a look around," she suggested, and Mamoru and Ami both murmured their agreement before they reluctantly parted ways.
*****
Five minutes became ten, ten became fifteen, and as the fifteenth rolled over onto sixteen, the four girls who remained in the room got restless.
"All right, that's it...I'm going to see what they're doing down there," Makoto said, her tone betraying her worry. "They shouldn't be taking this long just to see what some noise was."
"Maybe they stopped in the kitchen to get more tea, or..." Minako suggested, obviously reluctant.
"I don't care; I'm going," Makoto said, quickly pulling on a sweatshirt over her pajama top before she headed for the door.
"I'm coming," Usagi said, setting her jaw as she got to her feet and hurried after Makoto.
"Me too," said Rei, a mild frown on her face as though she was concentrating on something.
"Eep! Don't leave me!" Minako squeaked, hurrying to put on some warm clothes of her own before she scurried after them.
Halfway down the stairs, Usagi suddenly froze, standing still as though she was straining to hear something.
"Can you hear that?" she whispered, and the other three stared at her as she gasped. "It's Mamo-chan! Something's happened to Mamo-chan! That's his voice!"
Without another word she scrambled down the rest of the stairs, two steps at a time, and was gone into the darkness before any of them could stop her.
"Usagi!" Rei shouted, taking off after her at a run.
"Oh god," Minako whispered, clutching onto Makoto's arm as they both stood on the stairs for a moment longer, shivering with shock. "What's going on, Mako-chan...?"
*****
The rain blew hard against Usagi's face as she stumbled out of the back door and into the muddy mess of the old house's back yard, following the keening cries of her lover. She called back to him desperately, but the wind carried away her words. By the time she'd taken only a few steps, she felt as though she was walking on glass, and her lips felt like ice.
"Mamo-chan!! Where are you!?" she screamed into the darkness, but all she could hear were his continued cries, so she ran towards where they seemed to be coming from.
When she found him, she knelt in the mud and clasped his cold hands, and she wept.
*****
Ami's head shot up when she heard the long, desperate wail that pierced the silence of the old house, causing a thud of instant fear in her heart. She recognized the voice immediately, and within seconds she was at the back door, and then out in the rain, pushing forwards, searching for her friend.
"Usagi-chan!!" she screamed, and she knew she was already crying, more scared than she'd ever been in her life. "Usagi-chan, where are you!? Please answer me, Usagi-chan!!"
She wasn't sure whether to be relieved or terrified that the screaming had stopped.
*****
Taiki had darted forward at the sound of running footsteps in the downstairs hallway, and she made it just in time to see Ami make her way out into the rain, still in her nightclothes. Taiki couldn't help the gasp that came to her lips; was the girl suicidal!? Not if she could help it...
She stopped long enough to put on her shoes, then ran out into the rain, seeking the foolish genius.
"Ami-san! Ami-san!!"
Her cries went unheeded, but she pressed onward, determined to find Ami and have an explanation for her idiotic behavior.
*****
Hotaru sighed as she turned over in her sleep, reaching out unconsciously towards the warm body that she knew should have been beside her in the bed. When her fingers grasped at nothing, she woke up in a cold sweat. She wasn't even sure why she was so frightened to find herself alone in the bed, but her heart thudded in her chest like the beat of a huge drum.
"Setsuna-mama?" she whispered hesitantly into the darkness surrounding her. "Setsuna-mama?"
When there was no answer, she slid out from under the covers and tiptoed across the room to the other bed. She hesitated only briefly before she reached out and shook Haruka's shoulder.
Haruka grunted something sleepily but didn't otherwise stir, but the noise Haruka had made seemed enough to wake Michiru, who yawned and then lifted her head.
"Is something wrong, Hotaru-chan?" she murmured.
"It's Setsuna-mama...she isn't here," Hotaru said quietly.
"She probably went down to the kitchen or something, sweetie," Michiru said, sleepily rubbing at her still-damp hair.
Hotaru was silent for a moment before she came to a decision.
"I'm going to look for her," she announced, and then she put on a pair of slippers and darted out of the room.
"Hotaru-chan!" Michiru whispered, but the girl was already gone. Michiru frowned and reached out to prod at Haruka. "Haruka, Hotaru-chan has..."
"I know," Haruka muttered, nearly inaudible against the pillow.
"We can't just let her wander around a strange house alone!" Michiru said, a bit annoyed at Haruka's lack of response.
Haruka opened one eye to peer groggily at her lover.
"Michiru, that kid has the power to destroy the planet; I think she can manage the boogieman," Haruka said bluntly before closing the eye and attempting to go back to sleep.
Michiru let out a sigh that implied she wasn't entirely pleased with this assessment and got out of bed, determined to follow Hotaru.
*****
Hotaru wandered the halls without success, with the strange feeling, for perhaps the first time in her life, that she was alone in the universe. By the time she reached the kitchen she was shivering with cold, and the hairs at the nape of her neck were standing up. She stood in the kitchen for some time, staring out the window, but she couldn't make anything out beyond the smudged effect the rain had on the glass. Then she heard a sound, or more of a sensation of vibrating air waves touching the skin of her back, and she turned around quickly.
There was Setsuna, hovering in mid-air, slowly coalescing into her recognizable form. Hotaru's forehead instantly creased in concern when she took in Setsuna's fuku and the Garnet Rod clutched in one hand.
"Setsuna-mama, what..."
"I was called back to the future," Setsuna interrupted her, in her usual entirely placid tone. "There has been...an incident."
"An incident?" Hotaru whispered, her hand clenched against the fabric of her pajamas. "What's happened?"
"It's Small Lady," Setsuna said evenly, her eyes unnervingly focused on Hotaru's.
"Chibiusa?" Hotaru gasped. "What is it? What happened to Chibiusa?"
"She's dead."
For one long, breathless moment, Hotaru was sure that Setsuna had to be telling some kind of cruel joke, but then the dead seriousness in Setsuna's eyes hit her like a ton of bricks.
"...Dead?" she whispered, feeling her breath echo hollowly in her chest. "Chibiusa is dead? B...but...why? How..."
Her voice was choked off with tears and she collapsed to her knees, both hands now clutched against the fabric of her shirt.
"It was you," Pluto said, in that same utterly even, totally noncommittal tone. "You killed her."
At first Hotaru could do nothing but gasp and cry, her breath wheezing in and out of her between sobs. Then it occurred to her that she shouldn't take it as her fault; she had no control over her future self, had she?
And then she realized that she had, of course, been this way all along. And that was when she started to laugh.
*****
Seiya grumbled slightly as she felt herself being pulled from sleep by the sensation of someone tugging at her sleeve.
"Seiya! Seiya, please." It was Yaten, and her voice held a note of urgency that Seiya couldn't ignore. She snapped her eyes open instantly and turned to face Yaten, peering down at her with a look of near-panic on her face.
"What is it, Yaten?" Seiya asked, already worried.
"Seiya, Mamoru-san is gone," Yaten whispered, gesturing towards the other bed.
That made Seiya lift an eyebrow.
"So? Ask Taiki, maybe she knows where he went," she said.
"Taiki never came back from the bathroom!" Yaten said frantically, and Seiya stared at her.
"You're telling me Taiki, our resident genius, got lost in the bathroom?" It was a feeble enough attempt at a joke anyway, and Yaten clearly wasn't in the mood; she didn't even crack a smirk. "All right, all right...let's go take a look."
She got to her feet and tried not to feel too annoyed or alarmed when Yaten bounced up after her, clutching to her arm. Yaten remained there until Seiya got to the bathroom, peering inside.
"Anyone in here?" Seiya called into the small, dark space before she turned on the lights. "Hope everyone's decent..."
Of course no one was there.
"Well, nobody stuck in the bathroom..." she muttered, glancing into the bathtub. A glimpse of something brightly colored against the off-white caught her eye and she bent for a closer look, then blinked at what she saw. There was a tiny pool of blood around the seemingly clogged plug of the bathtub.
"Huh...that's odd," she said, thinking to herself that she didn't think any of them were on their period or anything of the sort. "Wonder if Taiki cut herself or something..."
She straightened up and turned around, then jumped about a foot in the air when she saw Yaten's reflection in the mirror, a pale, scowling face behind her.
"Holy shit, Yaten, you scared the hell out of me..." Seiya whispered, clutching at her heart. Yaten didn't answer; she just stared at her, so focused that Seiya couldn't help but feel a little creeped out by it. "What is it? What're you looking at?"
Yaten's voice, when it came, was low and cold, laced with venom.
"You killed her," Yaten said quietly, and Seiya blinked, instantly confused.
"What? I killed who?" she demanded, frowning.
"You killed her. You killed all of them," Yaten hissed, her voice growing harder with every word. "Every last one of them. It was your fault, you know, and you may think we've forgotten it, but we never have."
"*What* was my fault!?" Seiya said loudly, already fed up with this.
"You killed all of them!" Yaten yelled, her voice suddenly so loud that Seiya started again. "It was your responsibility! You were the leader, the one who was supposed to be strong and capable! We all looked up to you. But you let them all die...you let her die! YOU LET HER DIE!"
Seiya gasped and flailed her arms as Yaten suddenly gripped the back of Seiya's head and pushed her forward so hard that Seiya's head smashed into the mirror; she could feel the hundreds of gashes that were instantly torn across her face. She tried to cry out, to shout for Yaten to stop, but Yaten just pushed her harder against the mirror.
"Look at it," Yaten whispered. "Look at what you've done!!"
Seiya opened her eyes, tearing up with pain, and stared into what lay on the other side of the mirror.
Within seconds her voice was hoarse from screaming.
*****
Michiru was pacing back and forth, nibbling on her lower lip with obvious concern, staring at her adopted child, who was currently curled up in a little ball on the floor, rocking back and forth and laughing maniacally. Hotaru kept muttering various things to herself in a high-pitched, quivering voice, like, "Of course I killed her...ahahaha!" and "Why didn't I ever realize it before? It's always been inside me..." and "I ate her...I ate her heart. Oh yes..."
Haruka was sitting on the bed, her hands fisted against her knees, staring blankly at nothing.
"Hotaru-chan, I..." Michiru began for the umpteenth time, starting towards the younger girl, but as soon as she was approached by someone else, Hotaru started to scream, a high, piercing sound that threatened to shatter the room's only window.
Michiru glanced back to Haruka, obviously seeking some kind of help, but Haruka didn't know what to say; she just kept staring silently at the floor, grinding her teeth, her expression strained.
"Haruka...what can we...?"
"I don't know," Haruka said roughly. "I don't know, damn it! Leave me alone."
Michiru brought up a hand to cover her face, trying to keep herself from breaking down into tears.
Haruka got slowly to her feet and paced across towards Hotaru, stopping at a good distance. Hotaru was back to rocking and giggling, her eyes wide.
"Hotaru? I know you hear me," Haruka said, a deep frown set on her face. "Now listen, Hotaru, you've got to stop this."
"There must be some way we can help you, Hotaru-chan," Michiru added, her face streaked with the tears she hadn't been able to hold back. "Please, let us."
"Hotaru..." Haruka said, in a warning tone. "Hotaru, snap out of it!"
When Hotaru didn't respond, Haruka sighed and moved back over to the bed, sitting back down and fisting her hands against her knees again as she tried to think of what else to do.
If only Hotaru would stop *laughing*...the sound was filling Haruka's brain, making her feel as though the world was spinning around her. She felt sick to her stomach---she felt weak, and she hated it.
"Hahaha---I killed her!" Hotaru said then, particularly loudly, and Haruka slapped a hand against her thigh angrily.
"Hotaru, shut up!" she yelled.
"Haruka!" Michiru gasped, obviously shocked at Haruka's behavior towards their daughter.
Haruka gritted her teeth.
"Look, it's not my fault," Haruka said, getting to her feet and gesturing uselessly with her hands. "It's not my fault! She needs to stop it...she should just stop laughing."
She shook her head; it felt as though it was stuffed with cotton, fuzzy and warm. Hotaru's high-pitched laughter echoed between her ears in a never-ending loop.
"Stop it!" Haruka repeated, bringing her hands up to clasp her ears and closing her eyes. "Goddamn it, make her stop laughing!"
"Haruka, please, calm down..." Michiru pleaded with her, but it was too late. The laughter kept growing louder and louder in her ears until it was drowning out everything else.
"Stop it, stop it, goddamn you, stop laughing!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, and after that she seemed to black out.
When she came to, her hands were clutched tightly around Hotaru's neck, so hard that her fingers had left bruised imprints. She blinked, surprised at the sensation of silence, and it only took her a few seconds to realize why. The child in her hands was still and as limp as a rag-doll; as soon as Haruka pulled away her hands, staring at them in disbelief, Hotaru's body slumped back against the wall with a hard thump.
Haruka opened her mouth and tried to speak, but found she couldn't get anything out past the sick lump in her throat. Somewhere to her left she could hear Michiru crying.
/I've done it again.../ was all she could think. The thought turned itself over and over in her mind. /I've done it again./
It finally wrenched free of her in the form of a horrifying, soul-rending scream as she bent, curling in on herself, hiding her blood-covered hands from the moonlight.
*****
Makoto and Minako had parted at the bottom of the stairs, agreeing to split up to look for the others. Minako ended up doing a wide circuit of the downstairs, finding all of the main rooms connected at some point. Minako was just beginning to wonder why she hadn't met up with Makoto again when she reached the downstairs hallway and was surprised to see the back door hanging open. In the next instant, she was given a reason why: Rei abruptly stumbled through the door, Usagi piggy-backed on her back, both of them totally soaked.
"Rei-chan!" Minako whispered, rushing over towards them. "What happened?"
"I found her outside," Rei said, her voice tight. "She's unconscious; I don't know how long she was out there. We have to get her warm."
Minako nodded her agreement and helped Rei carry Usagi into the drawing room, where Rei started a fire in the fireplace with a wave of her hand, instantly returning it to the warm blaze it had been earlier. They lay Usagi out on the rug in front of the fire, and Minako watched as Rei started to rub Usagi's limbs, trying to warm the smaller girl. Minako began to do the same, and was shocked at how chilled Usagi's skin was.
"Come on, Usagi," Rei whispered urgently, bending over Usagi's chest occasionally. "Come on."
Minako felt her eyes welling up with tears.
"Do you think she's going to die?" she whimpered.
"Not if I can help it," Rei said fiercely, just as she bent over Usagi's face. Minako watched as Rei's face went deathly pale. "Oh god...she's not breathing. She's not breathing!"
"Oh god! Usagi-chan, please don't die!" Minako cried out, clasping one of Usagi's clammy hands tightly between her own.
Rei shifted her position and started CPR, her hands pumping down five times on Usagi's chest before she would bend over the still girl's face and close her mouth over Usagi's blue lips, forcing breath down into her lungs.
"Come on, Usagi!" Rei said, obviously near panic.
"Usagi-chan..." Minako whispered, rubbing the cold hand against her cheek. "Please...please, don't die..."
*****
Makoto got there too late. She had run as fast as she could as soon as she'd heard the sobbing, but by the time she got there, Minako and Rei were already bent over a dead, cold corpse. Minako was crying loudly, the source of the sobbing Makoto had heard, but Rei was utterly silent, staring down at Usagi as though she couldn't believe her eyes.
Makoto felt as though the bottom had dropped out of her stomach.
"I'm too late...?" she whispered, walking forwards. The other two glanced up at her, Minako gulping, Rei still just shell-shocked.
Makoto collapsed to her knees near Usagi's feet, a hand reaching out to lightly touch Usagi's frozen leg.
"Too late...I'm always too late," she murmured, feeling the tears growing thick in her throat. "I'm never strong enough."
"Mako-chan, this wasn't your fault..." Minako started to say, but Makoto shook her head sharply.
"There's no excuse...we should have been there. We should have been there," Makoto said dully.
A strangled sound tore its way out of Rei's throat as she got to her feet and ran from the room.
*****
Mamoru sighed as he wandered back into the kitchen, still determined that the sound must have been something falling in there. He barely glanced up as Rei streaked by him, running upstairs at full tilt. He was just too tired...too damn tired, and so *cold*. Why wasn't this house's heating working!?
He was just about to take a seat in one of the kitchen's chairs when a familiar voice assaulted his ears, accompanied by a flash of horribly familiar images. He fell to his knees, the chair crashing to one side, clutching his head and crying out at the pain.
"You failed...you failed her," the voice whispered; his voice, a thousand years in the future. "I warned you, but you didn't listen, and now it's too late. She is gone..."
"No..." he said, his voice shuddering with terror. "No! Usako!!"
He clutched at the kitchen tiles, trying to get to his feet, to shake loose the vision, but the images only doubled in intensity. He only withstood a few more seconds before he blacked out.
*****
"Usagi-chan!!"
Ami's voice was cut off by the sharp winds, and she sighed before turning to head in another direction. So far no luck finding Usagi, but she was determined to stay out for as long as it would take to find her.
She stumbled in every direction, searching high and low---or at least she tried to. For all she knew she could have been going in circles. It was really impossible to see through the torrents of rain pouring down around her, and every step she took squelched in the same mud. She felt like she had wandered for hours before she finally spotted something large and solid in the near distance, and she marked it as a goal to head towards.
She reached it in quite good time, and squinting through the deluge, she could make out that it was a tree; a large, old tree at that. She started to walk around it, trying to determine which way she wanted to go next, when she was suddenly tripped up by something large on the ground. She sprawled into the mud, some of it getting into her mouth, but she ignored that and quickly knelt upwards. Whatever she'd tripped on, it hadn't felt like a root.
She fumbled in the dark, her hands stretched outwards, and gasped when she touched what felt like skin...freezing cold, human skin. She moved closer, squinting, until she could finally make out two distinct figures leaning against the tree...and the moment she did, she fell back in horror, her mouth opening on a wordless scream.
*****
"Ami-san!"
Taiki grumbled to herself about 'stupid girls and their curiosity' as she wrapped her arms tighter around herself and headed farther into the dark night, heading towards a tree she could make out in the distance.
When she got there she stopped short as a brief flash of lightening suddenly illuminated the scene beneath the tree. In the next moment she was on her knees, her breath held as she knelt in the mud next to the unmoving figure of Ami, reclining in eternal repose against the trunk of the old tree.
Taiki felt a thousand angry words rise in her throat as she lifted Ami's wrist in her hands, her fingers sliding in the slick blood of the fresh wound. A million words of reproach about a life wasted, a life that had so much potential...about the concept of running away, and the concept of waste. Things it would be useless to tell a dead girl, anyway.
Her words gone, her heart hollow, she dropped Ami's arm and sat back in the mud, crossing her legs and burying her face in her hands.
"I...wanted to protect you, you know," she whispered a few minutes later, her voice piercing the stillness. "I want to protect you so badly. I wanted to protect all of you. But I've never...why can't I...the people I try to protect, they always..."
Her voice was drowned out by tears and rain.
*****
Michiru's breath was coming in great, hitching gasps as she stumbled into the kitchen, nearly bumping straight into Setsuna. Michiru let out a piercing shriek, and Setsuna gripped her elbows, trying to catch her eyes. Michiru was twisting her head, her eyes flitting around the room like those of a scared horse.
"Michiru-san!" Setsuna whispered urgently. "What is it? What's wrong?"
When Michiru didn't speak except to look at her for a long minute---long enough that the light of recognition finally dawned in her eyes---and then break down sobbing, Setsuna wrapped her arms around the shorter woman, trying to offer her some sort of comfort.
"What is it? Please, tell me what's happened," Setsuna urged Michiru, and after a few minutes, Michiru managed to wipe her nose.
"It's Haruka, Setsuna-san...she...she..." Michiru could feel herself starting to hyperventilate again, and she dropped her head against Setsuna's shoulder, trying to regain her breath.
"Killed Hotaru-chan? Yes, I know," Setsuna said soothingly, and Michiru's eyes snapped open. "I know...I saw it."
Michiru lifted her head and stared at Setsuna wide-eyed.
"You saw it...? B-but..." she started, unable to comprehend the fact that Setsuna still appeared as calm and collected as ever in the face of what had happened.
"It had to be done, Michiru-san," Setsuna said, gently patting Michiru's back. "You know that."
"What...?" Michiru whispered, taking a step away from the taller woman, who blinked in surprise.
"You do realize it had to be done, don't you?" Setsuna said, tilting her head curiously. "You are, after all, the most sensible of us. You, more than any of us, have always emphasized how important it is to never forget our duty. The identity of those we kill is irrelevant; if it must be done for the cause, then..."
"What are you talking about?" Michiru gasped, bringing up her hands to her face. She was shaking her head, horrified by Setsuna's calm words. "I've never..."
"But I'm sure you have," Setsuna said placidly, folding her arms over her chest. "After all, it was you who..."
"Stop it!" Michiru shrieked suddenly, covering her ears. "Stop it! I don't want to hear it!"
"You don't want to hear the truth?" Setsuna asked, blinking again with confusion.
"Yes! No...god, no, I..." Michiru was crying again, unsure of where to turn or what to do.
"Michiru-san, perhaps you should think about your priorities," Setsuna suggested, and then she turned and started to walk away.
"I did not...it wasn't my idea...I didn't...I would never...no!!" Michiru screamed, closing her eyes. She felt a flare of energy and for a moment she lost track of herself. When she opened her eyes, Setsuna was lying on the ground, motionless.
"Se...Setsuna-san?" Michiru whispered, frightened. She walked the few steps forward and bent down by Setsuna, reaching out to shake her. "Setsuna-san, get up..."
Setsuna didn't move.
Michiru touch a hand to Setsuna's neck and gasped, breathless with shock.
Setsuna was dead.
*****
Yaten made her way down the stairs in a daze, trying to remember where she was and why there was blood on her hands. Everything felt strange---the world around her was hazy, and her eyes were stinging as though she'd been exposed to smoke. With each step downwards it seemed to get more and more unclear, until she reached the bottom step. For some reason she hesitated there, peering into the darkness ahead of her uncertainly before she took a breath and descended to the floor.
Her foot touched cold wood, and her soul touched cold reality. A million images flooded up through her memory, painful reminders of all that she had forgotten. The world was suddenly bright and clear around her again, and she started to cry as she remembered her sins. The toll of the dead marched itself before her, one by one.
Then she looked up, saw herself in a mirrored reflection, and realized what was wrong in the picture. She stared for a long time, at first disbelieving what she was seeing.
Her reflection was waving at her.
*****
Rei ran out into the rain and stood beneath the deluge, at first silent, letting it build up inside her, a well of rage and despair, until she opened her mouth and screamed. She screamed for herself, and she screamed for the ones she had failed.
Then the lightning flashed and she saw something in the rain... a figure, a few steps ahead of her. She didn't stop to think; she ran towards it, thinking that she would not let another person die. Closer and closer she ran to the shadow, until she came to a stop, her breath caught in her throat as she stared at the apparition before her.
She was staring at herself.
*****
A crack of lightning made the old house creak and groan, providing the final boost for the three restless souls who finally stirred and then awoke, sitting up in unison and getting out of bed. One by one they crept downstairs, their feet moving silently on the floorboards, and through the empty hallways, into the drawing room. The fire blazed warmly, and before it, the old couple sat, waiting.
"Come in, come in," said the man, gesturing idly towards the armchairs. "Have a seat by the fire. You must be cold."
"You're the first in a very long time," the woman added, her kind old eyes wrinkled with what appeared to be amusement. "The first to come this far. Please, do come closer."
So they approached, all three cautious, but all dying to hear the tale.
*****
From yonder of darkness, the broken
pieces of recollection, Reminiscence
Eternity of time is ticking away endlessly,
Reminiscence
slimy hole bind detain insane sensual
surge vague twine assault mind
*****
END PART TWO