Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Sailormoon Dark ❯ Episode 3: University Orientation III. An Opening Born of Fire ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Sailormoon Dark: Episode Three
"University Orientation III. An opening born of fire."

written by Laurel Wilson ( Sailorhathor@aol.com )
Inspired by the Japanese animated show Pretty Soldier Sailormoon.
The ideas for this fanfic were conceived in 1995, but this actual episode was written in January 2000.


"Rei! My best friend Rei! Where are you?!"
"I know where she is. I have her life in my fist."
"Who are you?!"
"Sailordarkmars. Find me, so you can get there in time to see your friend DIE."
"Hold on Rei! I'll find you before it's too late!" "Sailormoon Dark: University Orientation III. An opening born of fire." The moonlight carries the message of love.

        A scream loud enough to be heard down in the courtyard hung in the air as Sailormars was struck with another solidified arrow of flame. Heliumsparrow and Antimonyhawk were holding the weakened Mars while her Dark half took easy shots at her. Several flame arrows protruded from her body.
        "Damn you, will you die already?" Sailordarkmars complained. "How can half a soul have so much will?"
        With much effort, Mars croaked, "I wouldn't... expect... someone like you... to understand... my will."
        Darkmars, shaking her head, let out a brief laugh. "Don't you understand yet? I am you." She sighed. "I cannot be whole until you are dead, so let's finish this. Fire River!" As Darkmars threw a mass of red energy to the ground, it spread in a line toward Sailormars at lightning speed, like a river of fire flowing toward the sea. The energy jumped up and slammed the now frail Mars in the chest. Its power was so great that her body was ripped from the hands of her captors and tossed across the roof in several painful skips.
        "AHHHHHHHHHH!" Sailormars howled as she was struck. The next thing she was aware of was the group of evil ones standing over her. She tried to get up, pushing up with her arms, but she collapsed again to the surface of the roof with a grunt. Suddenly her body was embraced by ribbons, and they dissolved to reveal Rei's university uniform.
        "Ah, that did the trick. The rest is a piece of cake." Raising her hand, Sailordarkmars prepared to strike her final blow. Red energy quickly sprang to life between her fingers.
        Unable to fight back, Rei watched a dark red river trickle across the roof, away from her body. She did not want to end her life here. Alone. If only she could see her friends and loved ones one more time... Suddenly Rei realized the red river was running toward a pair of feet clad in snakeskin cowboy shoeboots. Her eyes came alight with a glimmer of hope. Was this person here to save her?
        "Ahhhhhhgh! Ow!" Darkmars cried. A blade stained with her blood cracked against the cement roof as Darkmars cradled her cut hand to her chest. "Who the devil are you and why are you crashing my party?" she asked with a bored sigh.
        The dark-skinned senshi held her double-bladed weapon ready for another strike. "I cannot let you finish the cowardly attack you began on this innocent girl. We are here to better even the odds. From the Galileon Satellite of Jupiter, I am Sailorcallisto , leader of Team Galileo!"
        With another sigh, Darkmars turned to the red-haired senshi who accompanied her. "Now that her spiel is done, who are you?"
        "Jerks like you deserve nothing less than the most pain I can give you." She held up a bejeweled goblet. "So Sailorganymede of Team Galileo will give you nothing less than a big cup o' whoop ass!"
        Sailorcallisto sighed in embarrassment, sweatdropping. "That is not the speech you practiced."
        "Who says I have to do what I practice?! I can improvise if I want to!" Ganymede protested.
        Taking advantage of the distraction their little spat provided, Sailordarkmars cried, "Fire River!" The river of flame energy coursed toward the two Satellites so quickly they barely had time to turn to see it coming.
        A blanket of light green hair swished by Sailorganymede as another senshi she did not recognize ran out in front of her. The girl was yelling, "Passage Denied!" as she held a large black key staff up to the Fire River. The red energy bounced off an invisible barrier between the senshi and the evil ones. The green-haired senshi grimaced in pain as the red sparks rebounded off her staff, but she stood her ground.
        "Who are you?! Are you one of the other members of our Team Galileo? We're looking for them!" Sailorganymede asked with excited hope.
        The girl brushed pale green tresses from her shoulder. "No. I am Sailorcharon , keeper of the Key of Styx. I am also a Satellite. Now move away from this area; my barrier is not permanent."
        The three Satellites leapt to separate places on the roof in an effort to surround the evil senshi. Seeing that she was raising her hand to strike again, Sailorganymede aimed for Darkmars with her attack.
        "Cup Runneth Over!" She spun and tipped the goblet as if to spill its contents. A waterfall of precious jewels flowed out.
        "Fire River!" The flame river coursed toward Ganymede. As the jewels flowed over the red energy, they clustered together, hardening the river of flame. The jewels continued to the source of the flame and clustered over Sailordarkmars' feet up to her knees. "I cannot move my feet!" she screeched in surprise.
        "Jewels! Hundreds and hundreds of real jewels!" Sailorheliumsparrow squealed. She enthusiastically began picking diamonds and rubies off the stream of clustered jewels.
        "You idiot! Do something!" Darkmars barked.
        The girl jumped up, looking embarrassed.
        All she saw before she was struck was the image of a large grizzly bear gnashing its teeth at her as Sailorcallisto cried, "Grizzly Bear Razor!" and threw her Razor Claw Staff at Heliumsparrow. The staff with its serrated blade on each end turned end over end as it sailed through the air, finally slicing into Heliumsparrow's soul; not bringing blood, but cutting through the evil senshi on her deepest level. The girl screamed, her entire body quaking. The Razor Claw came back to Sailorcallisto like a boomerang. She caught it neatly by the handle.
        "Things are going well, huh?" Ganymede said conversationally to Charon. "So are you a student here?" Her head shook back and forth suddenly, like a toy bobber, as Sailorantimonyhawk smacked her across the cheek.
        Not even taking the time to sigh, Sailorcharon slammed the end of the Key of Styx into the roof. "Tornado of Suicides!" A whirlwind of moaning souls flowed from behind the large coin in the top of the staff. It swallowed up Antimonyhawk and tossed her around among the souls before throwing her down on the roof.
        She curled up into a ball, screaming to herself. "So lonely! They're so lonely!"
        This was the moment that Usagi arrived on the roof, finishing the climb of the stairs that would take her there. She threw open the door and clamored out onto the roof. Before her was a group of senshi she had never seen before. Three of them wore skirts with a stripe lining the bottom edge, like Sailortriton. There were two lying on the roof with expressions of horror and pain on their faces; their senshi uniforms had a jacket for the top, with exposed midriffs. Then Usagi saw her best friend Sailormars struggling to free her feet from a jewel encasing... but she was not Mars. Her uniform was different. It had a heart-shaped cutout where her bellybutton was, and the top encircled her neck where she usually had a collar. Why were her eyes so hard?
        Sailordarkmars spotted Usagi. "Oh great, the stupid klutz is here. What are you going to do now, Usagi? Do some fancy spin and waste all the mega-baddies while I take a permanent back seat to you? Everyone knows I should have been the leader. I would definitely make a better leader than stupid crybaby Usagi!" she ranted angrily.
        The three senshi with the striped skirts turned to her. "Usagi? Do you know her?" Sailorcharon asked. She held the Key of Styx ready. A friend of Darkmars could mean more trouble.
        Usagi was shocked by everything she saw, but more by what she heard. "Sailormars, why are you talking to me like this? What did I do? What's the matter with you?" She wondered to herself if these other senshi had turned Mars evil somehow...
        Scowling, Darkmars yelled, "Don't you get it? This is the way I've always felt all along, deep down. You can't even take care of this problem without talking it to death first! You should have finished me off by now, but stupid Usagi always has to take her time. What a disgusting display."
        Still confused by Mars' behavior, Usagi looked to the only senshi standing, tears forming in her eyes. "What did you do to her?! She has never been that cruel to me."
        "We did nothing," Sailorcallisto answered with some irritation. "How do you know her? She is evil. She and her companions were killing that girl when we arrived." She pointed at Rei.
        Instantly Usagi glanced to where Callisto pointed. The horror that she witnessed was almost unspeakable to her. It was Rei, lying on the roof, with many arrows protruding from her body, and bleeding so badly that Usagi feared she would not survive. Rei raised her battered face so that her eyes met Usagi's.
        "Usagi-chan... you're here..." was all she could manage.
        In a split-second, Usagi recalled what she had experienced the night before. The raven-haired Usagi in her bedroom. "I have evolved beyond you." Somehow it was significant, the two Reis told her.
        There was a deep intake of breath. "REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIII!" A silver crescent moon burst to life on Usagi's forehead, giving off a light so bright that the others had to shield their eyes. The light warmly bathed her body. The others were amazed to see her transform into a senshi, but a senshi like they had never seen. Usagi wore a white uniform with a cape, completed with pearl and winged accents. The odangos in her hair became heart-shaped and adorned with perfect white pearls. She extended her hand to curl it around the staff of a new weapon. This weapon was topped with a large winged pearl, the most beautiful staff any of them had ever seen.
        "Who is she?" Sailorcharon asked with wonder.
        "Bitchen!" cried Ganymede. Sailorcallisto sweatdropped again.
        The others who had been following Usagi suddenly clamored through the door and onto the roof. "Usagi? Did you find--"
        Hotaru let out a harsh gasp, turning her face to Michiru's chest. "Rei!"
        The others spotted her then too. "Rei!" Minako moaned.
        "Oh Rei, no..." Ami burst into tears.
        Makoto gasped too as she saw Usagi. "Sailormoon! What has happened to her?!"
        "A new awakening!" cried Haruka.
        "Sailorcosmos, save Rei," Hotaru begged.
        Her body filled with an energy she had never felt before, Sailormoon somehow knew she had become Sailorcosmos, the senshi of the universe, before Hotaru spoke her name. Was this her ultimate form? Was she not to be the protector of the moon anymore, but now the protector of the entire sea of stars? If she had not been so focused on Rei, Usagi would have doubted all of this was real.
        She turned to Sailordarkmars and her lackeys. "You deeply hurt my best friend. I will never forgive you for that. I am Sailorcosmos . In the name of the precious sea of stars, I will punish you!"
        Panicking, Darkmars babbled, "You can't kill me. If I die, Rei dies too!"
        Rei replied weakly, "She's lying. Her death is the only way we can be reunited."
        "Reunited?" Makoto wondered aloud. The evil Mars looked just like the good Mars--were they separated aspects of Rei's own being?
        Sailorcosmos nodded in understanding of what Rei said. She raised the Winged Pearl Staff with her eyes closed, concentrating. Many large pure white jagged crystals materialized in the air around her. "Cosmic Crystal Blood Embrace!" Cosmos swept the staff down in a dramatic arc. The large floating crystals cut through the air so quickly they became a bright blur as they reflected the sunlight.
        "Nooooooooo!" the three evil senshi cried. The crystals tore them apart molecule by molecule, dissolving them into piles of dust. The only piece left of Sailordarkmars was the oval mirror from her forehead. It shattered into many pieces and littered the pile of dust that had been Rei's dark side.
        "Her love for her friend evolved her into a new awakening," Sailorvulcan commented as she stepped out onto the roof. "But she may not have the emotional energy to maintain the evolvement for long. I can feel the Winged Pearl fading..."
        Sailorvulcan was correct; Usagi's knees buckled and her uniform dissolved back into her school uniform. She looked at herself in shock. "What happened to Sailorcosmos?! Can I not even be Eternalsailormoon? I don't understand..."
        "You have evolved too far beyond Eternalsailormoon to ever be her again. You must learn to maintain Sailorcosmos," Vulcan explained.
        Usagi collapsed into tears next to Rei. "I don't know how. I can't heal Rei without the Therapy Kiss. Please tell me how!"
        "I'm sorry. I do not know," Vulcan gently whispered. She was on the verge of tears.
        With tears streaming from her eyes, Hotaru knelt beside them. "I have a healing power. It heals physical wounds."
        Usagi hopefully rested Rei's head in her lap.
        But Rei just shook her head. "You cannot heal me, Hotaru. My mortal wounds are not physical. I can feel the arrows sucking the life from my body..."
        "Then we will pull the arrows out." Taking hold of an arrow, Hotaru pulled, even though it burned her hands. This produced a howl of pain from Rei like no one had ever heard before. It was almost primal, like a wounded animal caught in a trap.
        "Hotaru..." Haruka placed a hand on her shoulder. "There is nothing that can be done. The arrows are a trap. If you pull them out, her life-force will flow out. If you leave them in, they will finish draining all the life from her. It's too late."
        "She is right," Sailorvulcan lamented.
        Minako and Ami fell to their knees next to Rei, sobbing hard. With her hand to her eyes, Makoto stood over them, her own body shaking with sobs. Usagi wildly shook her head back and forth. "No! No no no nononono! I will not let it happen! Eternalsailormoon could heal Rei, I know it. I want her back. I renounce Sailorcosmos! I cannot be her anyway! Give me back my previous self!" She covered her brooch with her hand and concentrated on being Eternalsailormoon again.
        A shaking hand interlaced its fingers with the ones Usagi had placed over her brooch. "Usagi-chan..." Rei whispered. "Do not doubt yourself. You must be Sailorcosmos. It is your destiny. You must not deny your new awakening because of me. It is too late for me. There is a powerful new enemy out there and you must evolve to fight them. To save our universe."
        Usagi sobbed in great breaths. "I don't want to live in a universe without my best friend."
        Rei shook her head again. "Don't insult my memory by believing that. We are soldiers of love. Don't let me die in vain by giving up. Promise me... you will do your best... to fight on." Her eyelids fluttered as her consciousness began to fade.
        Usagi promised, "I will fight on bravely, Rei-chan. I will work to evolve fully into Sailorcosmos. I will save our universe."
        "That's my Usagi. I am grateful that I was blessed to see my friends one more time... and our new allies. Thank you for protecting me... long enough... to see my friends again. And your beautiful new transformation, Usagi-chan."
        Sailorcall isto, Ganymede, and Charon nodded to Rei. "I only wish we could have done more for you," Charon said with much emotion in her voice.
        "Usagi... I will return before the final battle. Somehow, I know I will. I will be there to fight alongside you. Will you save a place for me?" Rei asked.
        "Of course. Of course," she promised.
        "Tell... Grandpa..." Her eyes fluttered, and finally closed. One last breath blew past her lips. Rei was still.
        "Nooooooooooo ooooo!" Usagi wailed. She gently hugged Rei to her body, sobbing over her. The arrows dissolved, then disappeared from Rei's body. A shining translucent object floated up from her heart. Everyone looked at it with surprise and wonder.
        "Is it her soul?" Minako asked.
        "It is one half of her Soul Shield," Sailorvulcan answered. "See how it looks like the white half of a yin-yang?"
        "Where is the other half?" Ami wondered.
        Remembering the raven-haired Usagi who had been in her room again, Usagi turned to the pile of dust that had been Sailordarkmars. Floating above it was the dark half of Rei's Soul Shield. "It's there!"
        "No part of Rei could have been that monster!" Makoto declared.
        "The sentiment is admirable, Makoto Kino, but you are wrong," a voice said behind them. They all turned to see another unfamiliar senshi dressed in mostly white, with black bows, and silver suspenders and sandals. Her white hair was done up in long thin braids. She carried a skinny staff with a flat blank block of stone on the top. An air of great mystery surrounded her.
        The senshi held her staff in front of her face, her eyes peeking over the flat stone. It glowed for a few seconds, but stayed blank. "I am the Unknowable. Sailorodin . I come to tell you what you must hear." Odin moved the Rune Oracle staff away from her face. "Your friend Rei will return. You must take care of her until the final battle. Take her to Valhalla. The Witches will look after her. When the final battle begins, her Soul Shield may return to her body."
        Sailorodin held out her black-gloved hand. The two halves of Rei's Soul Shield easily floated up into her palm. They fit themselves together with a musical tone. Inside the Shield was a bow and flaming arrow with a warrior's helmet. Odin slipped the Soul Shield into a velvet pouch. "This will protect it and hide its light from the Dark."
        "Where is Valhalla? Who are these Witches? Aren't Witches dangerous?" Usagi asked desperately.
        Sailorodin tittered, shaking her head. "Those are only stories. You must take a chance and learn the answers by yourself." She placed her staff before her face again. The Rune Oracle glowed. When the light calmed back, the stone showed the fourteenth Rune.
        "Kano." Sailorodin lowered the Oracle. "An opening, born of fire. Now you will be able to begin dispelling the Dark that has been shrouding your future. This is an opportunity." She carefully circled her hand in the air. A thick book with a leather cover, some cracks in its spine, materialized below her hand. It levitated there as she spoke. "The Itsubun of the Past. I will give it to you. Use it wisely."
        Setsuna collected the book and the pouch from Sailorodin. "The Itsubun? Lost writings?" She noticed that the cover did have the kanji for "lost writings" engraved into it, under an engraving of a crescent moon.
        "Yes." Odin bowed to them all. "Take her to Valhalla. I hope you trust my Oracle. If you have been operating in the Dark, there is now enough light to see that the patient on the operating table is yourself.*" Spinning her staff in front of her, Sailorodin disappeared as if behind a drawn but invisible shade.
        Usagi, confused and tired with grief, examined the faces of the others. "Do we trust her? Where do we find Valhalla?!"
        Off in the shadows where the others could not see, Sailortriton stood and watched the action. She had the burned seamonster in her arms. "That girl... Odin... she looked right at me, like she knew I was here."
        "You'we imagining things. We wewen't successhfuw..." Siggy the seamonster sighed.
        "Sure we were. Our distraction worked. Sailormars is dead."

"My best friend Rei is dead... and there are all these new senshi... another war. I've got to find this place Valhalla, too. There are Witches there. Witches! Life couldn't be more confusing for the soldier of the moon. Uh... correction... soldier of the universe!"
"Don't forget, Usagi. Classes start tomorrow."
"Ami, are you kidding??!! Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" "Pretty Soldier Sailormoon Dark: The Itsubun Gives Clues. We're off to the Witch!" The moonlight carries the message of love.

----------------------------------------------------

* A phrase from The Book of Runes by Ralph H. Blum

On to Episode 4: The Itsubun Gives Clues. We're off to The Witch!
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