Rising Darkness By Sillabub Chapter Sixteen - Requiem “Usagi-chan’s head may not be screwed on very tight, but her heart’s in the right place.” – Yaten Kou ***** “Princess Serenity . . . die.” As Hecate launched the ball of power, two voices screamed out, and Usagi suddenly found herself tackled by a body that was slightly smaller than hers. A pair of small arms closed around her as soft pink hair obscured Usagi’s vision. “Usagi, move!” screamed Chibi-Usa. Usagi cried out as another familiar voice yelled, “Get Usagi-san out of the way!” Chibi-Usa threw herself on Usagi, wrapping small arms around her and covering her up, and then the other voice let out a scream. Usagi looked up as Hecate’s ball of power crashed into a nearby building, blowing a hole in its side, and she turned just in time to see Hotaru collapse to the ground, blood streaming down her back. The attack had grazed her, but it was powerful enough so that the young girl was now hunched over in pain from the wound it caused, and Usagi moved toward her. “Hotaru-chan!” The younger girl looked over at her, teeth bit together from pain. “Usagi-san, you should run,” she said. “No!” snarled Hecate. “No more running for you, Princess Serenity. We’re ending this.” Chibi-Usa hesitantly moved back as Usagi sat up and stared at Hecate. A strange look was on Usagi’s face, but she said nothing. Noticing her silence, Hecate cackled. “You see how that child was just hurt because of you, Serenity?” she asked wickedly. “It’s a pity she did it out of duty rather than love.” Usagi stopped as Hotaru started toward her and whimpered from pain. “It’s not true, Usagi-san!” she cried. “We all love you. You know we do.” There was a long moment of silence that was broken by the sound of footsteps coming toward them, and out of the corner of her eye Usagi saw Rei, Makoto, Ami, and Taiki running in their direction. “Usagi!” cried Rei. Hecate’s evil eyes glimmered as her gaze shifted from the senshi to Usagi, and she smiled coldly. “Are you ready to give up your life, Serenity?” she asked. Usagi was silent, but her mind was racing. She thought back to her decisions over the past weeks, decisions that had been made with good intentions but were still bad decisions. Usagi thought of how when she decided to keep her pregnancy a secret, it was because of Hecate’s desire to kill her and because she knew that the other senshi would be more adamant about their protection, more recklessly willing to give their lives up for her if they knew she was pregnant. Usagi’s intention was to protect them all by not telling them, but as she thought of it, her secrecy caused more pain than she intended and . . . well, she hadn’t exactly protected anyone in the process. As her heart raced and the others waited for a response, Usagi thought suddenly to all the times in the past when her friends had protected her: Beryl . . . the Black Moon . . . Nehelenia . . . Galaxia . . . and then it occurred to her. She couldn’t give her life away. Not passively and peacefully with a smile on her face. That wasn’t protection; that was mindless sacrifice, martyrdom. If she wanted to protect the people dearest to her, she had to fight, and the only way she would give up her life is if she died while protecting them. More footsteps sounded around her as Usagi stood determinedly to her feet. “Princess,” she heard Setsuna say worriedly, and Usagi knew that she, Haruka, and Michiru had arrived. She heard a gasp and out of the corner of her eye saw Haruka run to Hotaru’s side and gather the injured girl in her arms. “Well, Serenity?” said Hecate with a cruel smirk. “Aren’t you going to protect them?” Usagi stared impassively up at her as she replied, “Yes.” Chibi-Usa started toward her. “Usagi, no!” Hecate smiled, her red lips parting to show her fangs. “Perfect,” she said. “I’m pleased you’ve seen the light, Princess Serenity.” “I think you misunderstood me,” said Usagi coolly. Hecate’s smile disappeared. “What?” “I said I was going to protect them,” Usagi said, and her hand slipped into her pocket and closed around something cool and round and so very familiar. “I never said I was going to go down without a fight.” And as Hecate bared her teeth in a furious snarl and the others looked on, Usagi held her golden broach high overhead. “MOON ETERNAL, MAKE UP!” ***** Yaten and Minako were still sitting together on Yaten’s hospital bed, and while they could see the sky out the window, they could not see the street below and had no idea what was going on beyond their view. Yaten was chuckling at something Minako had said. “I remember that . . .” he chuckled. “I’m a little uncomfortable now that I think back on it. I had no idea Luna was more than just an ordinary cat.” Minako snorted. “Poor Artemis was so jealous of you.” Yaten frowned suddenly, looking around the room. “I would have thought at least they’d be here,” he said, referring to the cats. Heaving a heavy sigh, Minako looked out the window. “Last I checked, Chibi-Usa-chan was going to take them to stay with Usagi-chan’s family for a few days, just to take some of the strain off of Usagi-chan.” “I don’t get her,” said Yaten, shaking his head. Minako bristled at that. “Just because Usagi-chan doesn’t think the way you do doesn’t mean . . .” “Whoa, whoa, settle down,” said Yaten. “I didn’t mean anything by it.” Minako relaxed a little, sighing and looking out the window. He watched her for a moment before smiling slightly. “I know how kind she is,” he said. “Usagi-chan’s head may not be screwed on very tight, but her heart’s in the right place.” “Hey,” said Minako suddenly, her eyes wide as she pointed to the window. “What was that?” Yaten frowned. “What was what?” Minako was frowning, having caught sight of a silvery light burst through the sky. “I was sure I saw a flash of light, just there,” she said. “Something’s going on.” “I didn’t see anything,” Yaten said, looking perplexed. Minako sighed and frowned, sliding off the bed and moving to the window. When she reached the window and looked out on the street, the sight before her made her heart stop. “Yaten!” she cried, whirling back to face him. “We have to go!” He looked flabbergasted. “Go?” he repeated, somewhat squeakily. “They’re out there, everyone’s out there,” Minako blurted, running to his side and grabbing his hand. “Usagi-chan’s going to fight Hecate! We can’t stay here, we have to go!” “I don’t know if you and your crazy blond head have noticed,” said Yaten slowly, pointing to his heavily-bandaged shoulder, “but I’m a little bit incapacitated right now. And you’re not exactly in perfect shape yourself.” And he looked pointedly at her bandaged face. Minako stared at him, her blue eyes clear and determined, and Yaten thought suddenly that she looked like the old Minako again. “Fine,” she said abruptly, turning away. “You can stay here, Yaten, but I have to go.” “What good will it do?” he asked impatiently. “You’re still injured, and you can’t fight.” She shot him a stubborn look. “I still have to be there for Usagi-chan.” Yaten watched her crossly as Minako marched to the door, and right before she grabbed the handle, he blurted, “Wait!” Minako stopped and turned back to him, eyes wide. Yaten was scowling down at the blankets, not looking at her as he said, “I’m going with you.” She blinked. “But you just said . . .” “I know what I said, alright?” he said impatiently, looking back up at her. “I care about Usagi-chan too, so we should both be there. I can’t let you go alone.” “Yaten,” Minako said softly. “Only . . .” and he stopped, turning away again and for some reason looking reluctant, “. . . only I might need your help getting up.” Minako’s eyes softened, and she moved immediately to his side, helping him sit up and move so that his legs dangled over the edge of the bed. “Tell me if it hurts, okay?” she said softly, and Yaten nodded as she slipped an arm around his torso and helped support him as he shakily stood to his feet, groaning. “Are you okay?” Minako asked worriedly. Looking like he was in a great deal of pain and would like nothing better than to stay in bed, Yaten nodded. “Alright, we’re going to start walking, one step at a time,” Minako said quietly. “Just tell me if it hurts, and we’ll stop.” Yaten nodded again, already in agony but he knew that at that moment, his pain wasn’t the most important thing going on. ‘Thank God we heal quickly,’ he thought as Minako tugged his uninjured arm over her shoulder to help support his weight, and the two moved together out the door and toward the exit. ***** Eternal Sailor Moon was standing in the snowy street, glaring up at Hecate, who since Usagi had transformed was looking as though she had been hit over the head. “You . . . you . . .” she growled. “I’m not going to let you hurt anyone else,” said Sailor Moon, taking a fighting stance. “From now on, your only opponent is me.” Hecate snarled and threw a ball of energy at her, but Sailor Moon rolled out of the way and it crashed into the street, melting the snow where it hit. “Silver Moon Crystal Power Kiss!” cried Sailor Moon. Silver energy and feathers swirled around Hecate, throwing her back and knocking the wind out of her. She gasped and clutched at her stomach, which had taken the force of the attack, and a loathsome glare was on Hecate’s face as she looked down at Usagi. “You could have made this easy, Serenity,” she growled. “If you had simply given up your life, I wouldn’t have to kill anyone else.” “You say that now,” said Sailor Moon, “but if I die, there will be no one to protect them when you change your mind.” Hecate let out a hate-filled shriek as she let fly another blast of energy, which Sailor Moon nimbly dodged. The senshi could only watch, helplessly, unable to do anything else. Then their attention was broken by the sound of more footsteps moving toward them, and they turned to stare at the three approaching figures in shock. Seiya and Kakyuu were moving towards them, holding between them a struggling Mamoru. Taiki started forward. “Seiya, what . . . ?” Seiya had twisted one of Mamoru’s arms behind his back and was forcing him toward the others, and he was struggling to hold onto the taller man. “Let go of me,” Mamoru said, and his voice sounded empty, hollow. “I don’t want to see her.” “You have to,” scowled Seiya, tightening his grip on Mamoru’s arm. “Mamoru-san, you’re not being yourself,” Kakyuu said, determinedly holding onto Mamoru’s other arm even though he could have easily broken free of her grasp. “Usagi-san’s your wife, you’ll work things out.” “It’s too late,” Mamoru said, his eyes cold and empty. “We can’t work things out.” “Mamoru-san,” said Seiya, still struggling to hold onto him, “I know you’re bigger than me and could kick my ass, but I’m not letting go until you agree to calm down and stop being such a bastard!” “Mamo-chan!” cried Sailor Moon, just noticing him. Her wide blue eyes quivered and she started forward, but stopped at the sight of the cold glare Mamoru sent her. Hecate was watching the exchange with wicked amusement. “Ah, Endymion,” she said with a delighted cackle. “The unwilling father.” “Shut up!” cried Sailor Moon, but then a wave of nausea hit her, making the world spin around her. She wobbled briefly, feeling very dizzy. Hecate grinned at her. “Look at how weak you are, Princess,” she purred, and she prepared another blast of energy. “In the end, you couldn’t protect anyone.” At that moment, several things happened. Usagi collapsed to her knees, clutching her abdomen just as Hecate gathered the ball of energy and hurled it at her. As that happened, Mamoru managed to break free from Seiya and Kakyuu’s grasp and bolted, not away from, but toward Sailor Moon as the blast of energy streaked at her. The energy exploded where Sailor Moon had been huddled, but Usagi was several feet away and safe, wrapped in Mamoru’s arms. “Mamo-chan,” breathed Sailor Moon, looking up at him as he gently lowered her to the ground. “Are you alright?” he asked worriedly. His eyes looked clearer, more alive somehow, and Hecate let out a snarl, realizing what had happened but not understanding why. “Endymion,” she growled, “you broke free of my control?” “Control?” asked Sailor Moon, her eyes widening as the truth dawned on her. A cruel smirk curved Hecate’s lips. “I should have known better than to take a puppet,” she said. “In the end, I am the only one who can accomplish this act of revenge.” Usagi was smiling up at Mamoru. “I’m so glad it wasn’t really you,” she said softly. “And I’m so sorry about everything.” He smiled at her, and just as he was about to speak there was another sound of approaching footsteps, but these were slow and painstaking and a bit clumsy. The group turned to behold the sight of Minako and Yaten struggling toward them, with Minako supporting Yaten’s weight as she helped him walk. Both looked to be in a great deal of pain. “Yaten!” shouted Seiya, running toward them. He took Minako’s place supporting Yaten as the blonde stepped back, in pain and exhausted. Her wounds had opened back up, and there was blood streaming down her face. “What are you guys doing out here?” asked Mamoru sternly, stepping towards them. “You know you shouldn’t be moving around yet.” Yaten made a sound that was a cross between a chuckle and a groan as Minako turned to Mamoru, dabbing at the blood on her face. “Do you really think we’d stay behind knowing Usagi-chan was out here fighting for everybody?” Hecate was glaring down at the two new arrivals, as if both surprised and very annoyed to see them. Noticing this, Minako waved cheerfully up at her. “Hi,” she said. “Remember me?” Hecate scowled, unaccustomed to such sarcasm and quite angered by it. “I should have killed you when I had the chance, Princess Venus,” she said darkly. Sailor Moon stepped toward Hecate, her gaze steady and determined. “I’m the only one you’re fighting now, Hecate,” she said evenly. A strange look crossed Hecate’s face, and for a moment it looked as if she were very amused by what Sailor Moon had just said. The expression passed quickly and faded into a dark, serious look. “Very well,” she said, and she threw out a hand. That familiar glow of black power erupted from her palm and expanded into a ball of crackling black lightning, and Hecate held the ball of power up, scowling down at Sailor Moon. “Know suffering, Serenity,” she hissed, and a cruel grin curved her lips as she readied the attack to launch. As Usagi prepared herself to dodge the attack, she saw what was really about to happen, and her heart stopped. Hecate’s evil red gaze shifted from Sailor Moon to Mamoru, who was several feet away, and instead of attacking Usagi, Hecate launched the ball of energy at him. Time seemed to stop for Usagi as the blast streaked toward Mamoru with deadly accuracy, aimed straight for his heart. Usagi screamed his name and ran to him, her actions fueled not by thought, but by pure, raw emotion. Mamoru’s vision was suddenly blocked by his wife’s back as she leaped in front of him. Then the blast of power struck. Warm blood sprayed over Mamoru as he stared into the gaping wound in Usagi’s back, and, as everyone else cried out in shock, she fell backwards onto him. Mamoru caught her without comprehending it, his mind numb as he stared down into her wide, sightless eyes. The world around him became a blur. Chibi-Usa let out a blood-curdling shriek, clutched her head, and vanished. Rei began to scream. The other senshi were either staring in shock at the scene or collapsing in tears. Hecate was laughing. And blood flowed like a river from Usagi, staining the snow red. “USAKO!!!” ***** End Chapter Sixteen