Rising Darkness

By Sillabub

Chapter Fifteen – Rush

“I’ve always been different from the others. I was alone from the start.” – Aino Minako

*****

Usagi dashed down the hospital corridor, tears streaming from her eyes and her heart 
pounding in her ears. Mamoru knew. Mamoru knew.

“Usako!” Mamoru yelled after her.

Usagi shook her head as she ran on. It was wrong, all wrong. It wasn’t supposed to 
happen like this.

“Usako! Wait!” Mamoru called, sprinting after her. Ignoring him, Usagi choked on a 
sob and, scrubbing furiously at the tears in her eyes, darted into the hospital lobby. 
She knew from looking outside that it was very close to dawn; it was still dark 
outside but the world seemed to be lit up at the edges with gold, the first hints of 
the rising sun.

“Usako!” yelled Mamoru, running after her through the hospital lobby. He could hear 
the sounds of running behind him and knew the other senshi had followed after them, 
but he didn’t have time to think; Usagi was running fast and would soon make it out of 
the hospital where she would be out of sight, in the dark, and terribly, terribly alone.

Mamoru didn’t know what to do, but he knew that he did not want that to happen.

“Usako, please! We have to talk about this!” he shouted desperately, and Usagi, still 
running, looked back at him over her shoulder. Her pace slackened, and it looked for a 
moment like she was going to stop, but then she shook her head, hair flying behind her,
and ran out of the hospital and into the street.

Mamoru paused, out of breath and looking quite frightened as the others approached his 
side.

“Split up,” he said immediately, looking back at the group of pale senshi. “We can’t 
let her be alone.”

Seiya frowned. “But what about Yaten and . . .”

“The hospital’s the safest place for them right now,” Mamoru said impatiently.

“But still, Mamoru-san, we can’t just . . .” Ami started, but she stopped short when 
Mamoru took off after Usagi.

“Apparently we can,” commented Haruka flatly as the rest of the group followed after 
Mamoru. The wind whipped around them, their feet crunched against the snow, and they 
shivered in cold , but all that mattered at that moment was Usagi.

*****

Glazed blue eyes slid open slowly, staring lifelessly up into the blackness. Minako 
sat up, looking around the dark hospital room and swallowing hard. She squinted her 
eyes, trying to make out shapes in the darkness, but as she did so, the small muscle 
movement sent a hot, burning pain shooting through the side of her face, and, slowly, 
gingerly, she reached a hand up to touch her cheek. A small gasp escaped from Minako’s 
lips as instead of smooth skin, her fingers touched against a heavy bandage, sending a 
burst of pain through her face again. 

Minako froze, her eyes wide and horrified as the pain brought the events of the night 
before flooding back into her memory, making her heart beat so quickly she was certain 
it would burst from her chest. 

It wasn’t a dream . . .

Shaky and frightened and unsure of what to do, Minako clutched at her pounding heart 
and looked around the dark room, her eyes adjusting to the dim lighting. She was in a 
hospital room, she could tell, but where was everyone else? And more importantly, 
where was . . .

“Yaten-kun,” breathed Minako, seeing his comatose form lying on the gurney beside hers. 
She threw back her covers and tried to make her way toward him, but the IV in her arm 
kept her where she was. Not even thinking, Minako yanked it out and darted to Yaten’s 
side.

“Yaten,” she whispered, kneeling down beside his bed and staring at his pale, unmoving 
face, then at his heavily bandaged torso. The monitor Yaten was hooked up to told her 
that he was alive and that his heart was beating properly, but still Minako couldn’t 
hold back the tears that were spilling from her eyes. 

How close had he come to death, and for her sake? It was something Minako didn’t want 
to think about, but as much as she tried to rid her brain of the image of Yaten being 
hit by the blow that was meant to end her life, she could not stop replaying that 
horrific scene over and over again in her mind. 

“Yaten,” she said, and she reached up and grabbed his hand, hoping the small touch 
would wake him. “I wish you were awake.”

Yaten remained as still as ever, and Minako lowered her head so that she could rest 
her forehead on the edge of his gurney. She suddenly felt so tired, so old. 

“Yaten, please wake up,” she said, her voice so soft it was barely audible. Her face 
seared from the pain of doing such a simple task as moving her mouth to speak, and she 
felt so helpless and weak that it was all she could do to stay where she was and not 
collapse on the floor. “I . . . I want to talk to you. I want to know you’re alright.”

She paused, and she raised her head. Her swollen cheek was aching, and she knew she 
must have looked like a mess, but at that point she didn’t care about a thing except 
for Yaten.

“Even if you’re not awake, I still want to talk to you,” she said quietly, and she 
reached up her other hand so that she was gripping his pale hand in both of hers. “I 
wish . . . I wish I had been able to tell you. Back then. But we were a galaxy apart, 
and there’s no way I could have . . .” Her voice trailed off, and she sighed; it felt 
as if the pain of her wounds and the weight of her words were draining her already 
weak body of all the strength it had left. 

“I’m supposed to be strong,” she whispered, watching Yaten’s pale face. She was 
speaking without thinking, only aware of the fact that she wanted to talk to Yaten, 
wanted to share all the secrets and things that the others didn’t know, perhaps to 
overcompensate for the secrecy and all of the things she had never told him “We’ve 
never really talked about it, but I’ve always been different from the others. I was 
alone from the start. When they were awakening as senshi, I was already out there 
fighting and making a name for myself, so when it was time to band together I was 
expected to be strong enough to stand on my own without any help. I was always 
supposed to stand alone.”

Minako’s lower lip trembled briefly as she looked out the window at the sky. It would 
be dawn soon. She sighed, continuing, “I thought that . . . that I could handle 
anything. I thought I was strong enough. Everyone else did too.”

Her words hung in the air for a long time, until the silence in the hospital room 
became deafening, and when she spoke again it was in a voice thick with tears.

“I’m not strong.”

Minako paused, as if she was waiting for Yaten to open his eyes and contradict her, 
but he didn’t stir. Choking back a sob, she whispered, “When you left, I died a little 
inside. And then, a few months later when the m-miscarriage happened and I found out 
what was lost . . . I think what little strength I had left died too.”

She was sobbing now, and Minako released Yaten’s hand so that she could hug herself 
and hunch over. “I thought I was still strong,” she whimpered, blue eyes swimming with 
tears. “I was keeping such a big thing to myself, and I was doing just fine with it 
because we had peace for such a long time. I fooled myself into thinking I was still 
strong because nothing told me otherwise . . . until H-Hecate.”

Pain coursed through her face from speaking, and her heart ached with the words she 
was saying. With her entire body trembling from crying so hard, Minako cried out, “I’m 
not strong enough to be alone anymore! I need you!”

It was too much for her to bear, and Minako slipped from her kneeling position to 
huddle on the floor, hugging herself and sobbing. When a weak voice from right beside 
her spoke, her heart skipped a beat.

“You are strong,”

Slowly, dazedly, Minako choked back her tears and managed to raise her head so that 
she could stare at Yaten.

He was awake. His face was pale and his eyes were oddly glassy as he gazed at her, but 
he was awake. Minako had to suppress the urge to tackle him in a hug, instead settling 
for grabbing his hand.

“Yaten!” She was smiling, even though that gesture was causing pain to sear through 
her face, and she didn’t even mind that he had heard everything she had said.

Yaten was staring at her as if he couldn’t believe she was alive. “I’m glad you’re 
okay.”

Minako nodded and gripped his hand. “I’m glad you’re okay,” she said softly. “I thought 
for sure that you were . . . that we were . . .” She stopped, shaking her head. “I can’t 
believe we both survived.”

Yaten nodded and let out a slow breath, looking slowly around the hospital room. He 
looked slightly dazed, and he winced as he turned his head and felt pain travel 
through his shoulder. After a moment of silence, he looked back at Minako, and he 
paused as he took in the sight of her heavily bandaged, swollen face.

Minako grew anxious under his scrutinizing stare. “I’m sure I look like hell,” she said, 
bringing one hand up to gingerly finger the bandages on her cheek.

Yaten shook his head. “You still look beautiful,” he observed quietly.

Flushing a little, Minako released his hand and sat back on her heels, looking 
awkwardly down at the floor. She didn’t know what to say, and as if sensing this, 
Yaten looked around and said, “I would have thought the others would be here.” 

Minako shook her head, looking back at him. “I just woke up, and no one was here,” 
she said. “I don’t know where they are.”

Yaten looked puzzled, and he tried to sit up in the hospital bed but as he did so he 
made the mistake of putting weight on his right arm. “Damn!” he cried, wincing in 
pain and clutching at his shoulder, and as a result collapsing back down onto the 
bed. “Holy mother of . . . wow, you have no idea how much this hurts.”

Minako was on her feet, slipping an arm around him and helping him sit up properly. 
“I’m so sorry,” she said quietly. “It’s because of me that you’re so hurt.”

He stopped, looking back up at her with an odd look on his face. “I . . . I didn’t 
mean to make you feel bad about it,” he said, looking away. “It’s not like I regret 
it or anything.”

Blinking, Minako looked at him in surprise. “Really?” she asked softly.

He nodded, then turned to look back at her. Smiling, he said, “Let’s just say we’re 
even now, okay?”

“Even?” repeated Minako.

Yaten shrugged. “Yeah. Now we’ve both sacrificed ourselves for the other.”

She raised a skeptical eyebrow. “You call that even?” she asked jokingly. “I don’t 
recall you dying.”

“I came damn close,” he pointed out, looking insulted. “You have no idea how much 
getting blasted through the shoulder hurts.”

Minako snorted. “Well, you have no idea how much having your Star Seed stolen hurts, 
do you?”

Yaten stopped, as if it hadn’t occurred to him. “Huh. Guess not.”

Minako’s sarcasm melted away, and she smiled as much as she could without hurting her 
wounds. “I was only kidding,” she said gently.

He smirked at her. “I know.” And, gingerly, he laid back against the pillows, wincing 
as he did so. Minako knew he must have been in an incredible amount of pain, but there 
were no complaints from Yaten. He only shifted into a more comfortable position, 
hissing slightly and gritting his teeth at the pain that came from such a simple 
movement, and he peered out the window for a long, silent moment.

“Can I do anything for you?” she asked quietly. “You look like you’re in pain.”

He shook his head, still looking out the window. “I’m fine.”

Minako sighed, looking away. “I wish I knew if the others were okay,” she said softly. 
Yaten didn’t turn to look at her, and she hugged herself, shivering where she stood 
beside his bed. “I can’t help feeling like something horrible’s going to happen.”

“Come sit with me,” Yaten said abruptly.

Minako blinked at him, but he was still looking out the window and she couldn’t see 
his face. “What?” she asked blankly.

“Sit with me,” he repeated.

Puzzled but not displeased, Minako moved to sit on the edge of the gurney and 
hesitantly leaned back so that she and Yaten were both sitting up against the 
headboard. Yaten had still not turned to face her and was still peering out the 
window, and Minako watched him closely, trying to read him.

“Yaten-kun, what’s wrong?” she asked softly, after a moment of confused staring.

Yaten finally turned toward her, and when he did there was a warm, peaceful smile on 
his face that made her heartbeat speed up inexplicably. “Look,” he said in a hushed 
voice, and he turned to look out the window once again. “The sun’s rising.”

Minako turned to look as well, and she let out a soft sigh at the sky, which had 
suddenly transformed from dark gray to gold as the sun rose, with clouds of pink and 
orange and bright yellow scattered around it.

“It’s beautiful,” breathed Minako.

Yaten didn’t reply, but he slipped his left arm behind her shoulders and pulled her 
closer against him. They sat like that for a long time, watching the sun rise until 
the sky was once again blue and clear and the sun was white-gold and shining down upon 
the snow, unaware of what was going on right beyond the window.

*****

Usagi’s heart was beating so fast that she was sure it would explode. Shortly after 
running from the hospital, she had grown queasy and had hidden in a nearby alley, 
unable to run anymore. She could still see the hospital from where she was hiding, and 
she hadn’t yet heard anyone following after her, so she sat down and leaned her back 
against the wall so could catch her breath while her mind raced on. She didn’t know 
where to go or what to do, and she didn’t know how to react to the knowledge that 
Mamoru now knew what she had been keeping secret.

Usagi stiffened and ducked down as she heard footsteps coming her way. 

“Usagi-chan!”

“Usagi!”

Rei and Makoto ran by, darting right past Usagi’s hiding spot as they called for her, 
their feet crunching in the snow. Guiltily, Usagi was able to watch as they disappeared 
around a corner, no doubt out of their minds with worry and going crazy at the thought 
of something happening to her. Usagi shook her head and shivered from the cold. She 
needed this time to think, to hide.

Every way she looked at it, Usagi couldn’t see how the inevitable conversation between 
she and Mamoru could end happily. There was the possibility that he wasn’t ready for 
children and would wind up unhappy and uncertain – after all, he had told Usagi’s 
family that they weren’t ready. Also likely was that Mamoru would be reluctant to 
forgive Usagi’s secrecy in addition to being reluctant about fatherhood. But even if 
Mamoru was happy about the baby and excited to start a new chapter in their lives, 
nothing could change the fact that Usagi had kept a monumental secret to herself and 
that Mamoru would likely feel betrayed and unlikely to trust his wife again.

Usagi dropped her head into her hands. It was one of the worst things that could have 
happened, Mamoru finding out, and now . . . well, she couldn’t see how things would 
ever be right again.

“There you are.”

Usagi’s heart stopped, and she slowly raised her head to stare in horror at Mamoru, 
who had managed to approach her hiding spot without her noticing and was now watching 
her, looking both puzzled and a little stunned. Usagi leaped to her feet, ready to run 
away again.

“Usako,” Mamoru said, stepping toward her. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

“I don’t want to talk about this,” Usagi blurted, looking up at her husband in fright.

Mamoru frowned, and it was clear to Usagi that he was trying his best to remain 
level-headed. “Usako, we have to,” he said. “You’re my wife. We’re not supposed to 
have secrets from each other.”

Blue met blue as they stared at each other, and Usagi whispered, “But this is . . .”

“Something that’s going to change our lives,” finished Mamoru. He paused, staring at 
her for a long moment before saying quietly, “You should have told me.”

Ashamed of herself, Usagi lowered her head and stared at her feet, sniffling from the 
cold. “I know,” she said. “I was scared, and I just wanted to protect everyone. I never 
meant to do anything wrong.”

Mamoru watched her for a moment, his expression gentle and confused as he tried to 
understand her. Usagi wasn’t looking at him, or she would have noticed the thin stream 
of black smoke that had suddenly appeared from out of nowhere to swirl around Mamoru’s 
head, and she would have seen the small black cloud dissipate as it seemed to absorb 
into Mamoru’s very skin. All Usagi saw, when she finally raised her head, was Mamoru’s 
strangely empty eyes as he glared at her, and when he spoke, it was with a voice that 
was stiff and cold.

“You disgust me,” he said.

Usagi froze. Her blue eyes were wide in disbelief, and her entire body began to quiver. 
It was as if her greatest fears were suddenly realized. “W-what?” she breathed.

Her shock didn’t seem to phase Mamoru; he only stared coldly at her. “To keep something 
so important a secret . . .” he said, and his eyes hardened. “Who the hell do you think
you are? You’re so selfish!”

“Mamo-chan,” said Usagi urgently, moving to his side. Her eyes were beginning to fill 
with tears, and a distinct feeling of nausea was beginning to grow in her stomach. 
“Mamo-chan . . . please, I only did it to protect you.”

She reached out a hand to grab his sleeve, but at the contact Mamoru whirled around 
and slapped her across the face. Usagi let out cry as she tumbled to the ground from 
the force of his blow, landing hard on her knees with a hand over her stomach. Betrayal 
and shock were mingled with the tears in her eyes as she raised her head to stare at 
her husband, who glared down at her.

“Mamo-chan,” she said, her lip quivering as tears began to work their way from her eyes. 
She let out a weak whimper as brought a hand up to touch the sore spot on her cheek. 
“Why . . . ?”

Mamoru didn’t speak for a moment; he only looked down at his wife with an expression 
that was both disgusted and detached. Then, without saying a word, he turned to walk 
away.

“Mamo-chan!” cried Usagi, tears streaming down her cheeks. She let out a strangled sob 
and hunched over, feeling as though her entire world was falling apart. “Mamo-chan, 
come back!”

Mamoru sent a glare over his shoulder. “I can’t stand the sight of you,” he said. And 
he turned to walk away.

Usagi clutched herself as she sobbed, her entire body shaking in anguish as she vomited 
into the snow. She could hear the sounds of Mamoru’s footsteps, and she could feel her 
own heart beating so desperately within her chest

“Poor child,” a cool voice said from high above her. “Poor, sweet Princess Serenity.”

Usagi choked on her tears as she raised her head to stare up at Hecate, who was 
watching her with satisfaction.

“Does it hurt, Princess?” she cooed, as if she were coddling a child. “Knowing that 
Endymion has finally seen the light and forsaken you?”

Tears continued to flow from Usagi’s eyes as she sat in the snow and peered miserably 
up at Hecate, not replying as she cried silently.

“You can’t blame him, can you?” said Hecate wickedly, flapping her wings so that she 
was hovering right above Usagi’s head. “You were very selfish. And you always have been. 
The people around you always protect you and get hurt for it, and you selfishly let 
them.”

Whimpering, Usagi lowered her head and hugged her knees to her chest, crying into them. 
She hadn’t thought about it that way, and she hated to admit it, but Hecate was making 
sense. When she thought about the others, Usagi had always seen their protection as 
willful, as an act of love. She had never considered that they were obligated to do it 
or that she was just too selfish to stop them.

“How many important people have been hurt for you?” asked Hecate, her lips curving into 
an evil smile. “How many people have I hurt because of you?”

Usagi trembled. “Minako-chan and Yaten-kun, and Rei’s grandfather . . .” she whispered, 
wiping her tears. “. . . So many people . . . so many important people . . .”

“And yet you continue to let those closest to you continue to protect you,” purred 
Hecate. “You’re selfish and weak, aren’t you?”

Usagi nodded into her knees. “Yes.”

Hecate smiled. “Yes, you are,” she said. “You always have been, forever. You and your 
wicked mother.”

Usagi sniffled. “What you did to her was horrible,” she said quietly.

“She deserved it! She deserved to be betrayed!” cried Hecate, suddenly furious. “She in 
her perfect, white world . . . no one ever opposed the great Queen Serenity, no one 
ever betrayed her! She deserved to have that delusion destroyed!”

There was a long moment of silence as Hecate fumed down at Usagi, who continued to sit 
with her face against her knees. Usagi’s crying didn’t stop, and although she knew 
Hecate could and would attack her at any moment, she didn’t raise her head. 

The silence between them loomed on for several tense minutes until finally, Usagi 
broke it with her tiny, pain-filled voice. 

“Is this how you’re going to fight?” she whispered into her knees. Her shoulders 
trembled. “Is this your punishment?”

“Yes,” said Hecate, and the wicked glee in her voice was evident. “To make you suffer, 
to make you wish you were dead . . . that is my ultimate goal in carrying out my 
revenge. Then finally, when you can take no more pain, I will kill you.”

That was when Usagi raised her head. Her eyes were still full of tears, but there was 
something else mingled with the tears, something pure and untainted that both 
intrigued and frightened Hecate.

“W . . . why are you looking at me like that?” she hissed.

“If I die, will your revenge be fulfilled?” Usagi asked quietly.

“Why ask such a foolish question?” growled Hecate, irritation rising in her voice. She 
flapped her wings a few times as she regarded Usagi with narrow, red eyes. “I’ve said 
that already.”

“You could kill me right now,” said Usagi softly. “If you did that, you would have no 
reason to hurt anyone else. Your revenge would be complete.”

Hecate only glared down at her.

Strangely, a serene look had come over Usagi’s face. Slowly and determinedly, the small 
blonde fought her way to her feet, and then she stood up, pale and thin and peering 
without any trace of fear up at Hecate. Then, Usagi spread her arms, as if offering 
herself to Hecate.

“Kill me,” she said softly.

Hecatre’s red eyebrows arched in surprise that even she couldn’t suppress. “Kill you?” 
she breathed.

“I won’t fight it at all,” said Usagi softly. “If it means that you won’t hurt anyone 
else, I’ll gladly give up my life for the people I love.”

Hecate’s pale face quivered, and there was a distinct note of confusion in her voice as 
she said, “You would . . . you would give up your life?” To care for someone else so 
much that one would die in their stead . . . such a notion was something Hecate could 
not understand, something that filled her with dread and fear even as she floated 
there above Usagi.

“I would,” said Usagi, staring up at the evil woman. Her arms were still spread as she 
said quietly. “Now, take it. Take your revenge.”

Hecate frowned briefly, looking confused.

“Take it,” said Usagi again.

“Very well,” said Hecate, and her puzzlement melted away into an excited grin. She held 
out a clawed hand, and a pinpoint of black power began to grow in her palm. The Stone 
of Shadows glowed blood red, and the power in Hecate’s hand exploded into a ball of 
swirling black lightning and red energy. Her vicious red eyes focused on Usagi for a 
long moment as she held the ball of energy aloft, poised to throw. “Princess Serenity 
. . .” she hissed.

Usagi swallowed, her heart racing. 

-I’m sorry, everyone.-

“. . . Die.”

*****

End Chapter 15