Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Super Sailor Mercury: Shattered Ice ❯ Chapter 8

Super Sailor Mercury: Shattered Ice

Part Eight

"World Shaking!" Sailor Uranus cried out, tossing down the golden sphere of fiery energy. Skimming along the ground, energy coursing all around it, it hammered into the youma, leaving nothing but ash behind.

Sailor Mercury scanned the battlefield around them, blue hair falling into her eyes as she used her visor to scan for more of the enemy. "There's more of them coming," she reported to the others crisply, "from both the north and east."

"Ready," Sailor Pluto held her staff, her eyes narrowing slightly as she waited.

"Right," Sailor Saturn said, the fearsome glave in the young woman's hands. Right beside her Chibi-Moon stood, her mini-scepter ready to use.

The things moved awkwardly, large and heavily muscled as they shambled forward. But whatever the six monsters lacked in grace they made up for in raw power, easily shoving aside anything that stood in their way.

"What are these things?" Sailor Neptune asked softly.

"When the Negaverse collapsed after Sailor Moon defeated Queen Beryl," Artemis said, the white cat standing near Saturn, "many of it's inhabitants were spat out onto Earth."

"They remained dormant for a long time," Luna took up the explanation, "but something seems to have revived them now." The little black cat crouched on Mercury's shoulder, ready to offer any advice or assistance if needed.

"How many youma were originally in the Negaverse, roughly?" Saturn asked curiously, watching warily as the creatures approached.

"Over a thousand," Artemis admitted.

Mercury puffed out a breath, "Let me guess, they aren't going to awaken at the same time, so they're going to be an ongoing problem?"

"Very likely," Pluto admitted.

"Lovely," Mercury made a face at that. Seeing that the creatures had shambled close enough she ordered, "Let's go."

"Dead Scream," Pluto pointed her Time Staff, a swirling bolt of purple death engulfing two of the creatures, eradicating them.

"Pink Sugar," Chibi-Moon raised her scepter and concentrated, summoning up her powers, "Heart Attack!" Her attack drove another two of the creatures backwards, giving Saturn an opening to follow up with her deadly glave.

Mercury ducked under a roundhouse punch, laying her hand on the beast's chest as she concentrated, the very air freezing around her as she cried, "Shine Aqua Illusion!" In a wave of frost the creature shattered, dust swirling in it's wake.

Neptune's "Deep Submerge!" finished off the final one, the park around them gone oddly silent in the aftermath of the battle. The sounds of sirens in the distance finally broke that silence, and softly Neptune said, "We'd better go."

"Right," Uranus gave her a smile as they bounded away.

Mercury, Pluto, Chibi-Moon and Saturn bounded after then, the cats held close until they were far enough away, then they dropped down under cover. A swirl of transformative energies, and the six moved off in their normal clothes.

"Nicely done, everyone," Ami Mizuno smiled, her blue hair falling into her eyes, the pale scar running across the bridge of her nose.

"Thank you," Haruka gave Ami a grin. She and Michiru walked closely together, holding on to each others hands. Hotaru and Chibi-Usa walked closely together, the two schoolgirls talking softly, their faces showing such delight with each other.

"They're really cute, aren't they?" Setsuna murmured softly, walking with Ami to give the other couple some space.

"Yeah," Ami agreed softly. She looked up at the taller woman, striding along confidently in her dark green dress. "Were you going out, before I signaled everyone?" she asked worriedly, noting the formal dress she was wearing.

"No," Setsuna shook her head, "I was just thinking about dropping in on a friend."

"Ami," Chibi-Usa moved over to her, looking up at her guardian, "could we go over to their house? Hotaru has a new lamp she wants to show me."

Ami noted that Hotaru was blushing faintly, and she fought back a smile. "Would you mind?" she looked up at Setsuna.

"It should be fine," Setsuna smiled back.

"Hurrah!" Chibi-Usa cheered.

"Easy to please," Luna softly muttered from her space on Ami's shoulder.

"Luna," Ami scolded softly, but she was smiling.

Michiru smiled slightly as she softly said to Haruka, "The kids certainly like being together, don't they?"

Haruka chuckled to herself, "That they do." She gave Michiru a sideways look, "I wonder what Ami might do if they fall in love..."

Michiru chuckled, "I'm not sure if I want to know." She looked back, smiling as she watched Setsuna and Ami talking together, the younger woman's face animated and happy. "Ami looks better, doesn't she?" she mused.

"Setsuna, too," Haruka said. Michiru looked a bit surprised so she continued, "You haven't noticed? Since she started spending more time with Ami she's been happier, somehow."

Michiru looked back again, watching Setsuna smiling naturally as she and Ami talked. "I wonder if Ami is aware how much Setsuna has fallen for her?" Michiru mused.

"Probably not," Haruka admitted. "For someone as bright as Ami is," she mused, "she can be rather blind about things like that."

"Well, lets hope she figures it out soon," Michiru frowned to herself fiercely, "for Setsuna's sake if nothing else."

Ami looked up at Setsuna thoughtfully, a moment of silence during their talk. Ever since their little evening talk Ami had tried to be a bit more outgoing at school, talking with students other than Haruka and Michiru. Oddly, she also found herself visiting the nurse's office regularly when she was free, just sitting there and talking with Setsuna. From science to philosophy, literature to time travel they would talk, both of them enjoying the give and take of their discussions.

'But how well do I really know her?' Ami found herself wondering. They rarely talked about themselves during those chats, instead focusing on intellectual discussion. 'My fault, mostly,' a frowning Ami admitted, 'the times Setsuna's tried to be personal, I've changed the subject.'

"You look rather grave," Setsuna noted.

"Just thinking," Ami smiled. She looked up, meeting those almost reddish eyes and curiously asked, "What's your favorite color?"

"Eh?" Setsuna blinked, then she shrugged, "Green, mostly. You?"

"Blue," Ami smiled a bit wryly, "but I've developed a fondness for black, too." She gestured to her boy's school uniform, "It's surprisingly comfortable."

Setsuna hesitated, "I was wondering.. why the boy's uniform?"

Ami puffed out a little breath, a slight blush to her cheeks. "I wanted to get as far away from what I was as I could," she finally admitted, the thin scar pale on that pink, "I wanted to be stronger, more capable than I was."

"You've certainly managed that," Setsuna noted. A slight smile tugged on her lips, "Are you still getting all those love letters?"

"That was a unexpected result," Ami admitted, blushing harder.

"Michiru tells me you don't even read them," Setsuna noted, "it almost makes me feel sorry for those girl's writing to you."

"Love letters give me a rash," Ami blushed brighter.

Setsuna chuckled softly, but decided to take pity on Ami and change the subject. "So how is Chibi-Usa doing in school?" she asked instead.

To be continued....