"Pain looks great on other people. It's what they're for." Todd Grimson, _Brand New Cherry Flavor_ _______________________________________________________________________ Kinmokusei Story Chapter Nineteen: Through the Looking Glass II by Kotetsu _______________________________________________________________________ Seiya felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise. Her Senshi senses flared with alarm. <--DANGER!!--> But by then, it was already too late. "Bel, GO LIMP!" she cried out as she threw her weight forward. The gigantic claws slashed through the air where her neck had been a moment before. They caught the long, curled locks of her ponytail and yanked backward, viciously. Seiya screamed, felt herself being jerked backward. Her arms flew away from Belinda's shoulders and she kicked out blindly with her legs, hoping to thrust the startled Knight away from her. It worked; her feet connected squarely with Belinda's shins, and Belinda stumbled backward, her eyes wide with shock, arms flailing, teetering back and forth, struggling to catch her balance. Finally, she fell over completely, landing ungracefully on her rump. The youma yanked Seiya's hair again, forcing her head to snap back, thrusting her neck and chest out. Open. Vulnerable. With its free paw, the youma swiped its claws in a graceful downward arc-- "NO!" Seiya cried out, and thrust her arms forward, upward. Miraculously, impossibly, she *caught* the creature's paw. One of her hands wrapped around one of the youma's giant claws, and her other hand wrapped around the opposing claw. It was easy - each claw was the size and shape of a small handheld weight, and only sharp at the tip, not at the side. The youma, undeterred, growled and pushed downward. Seiya groaned and pushed stubbornly upward, hoping to keep those giant claws away from her neck, from her chest, from her heart. She instantly broke out into a sweat. The muscles on her biceps bulged, straining. She gritted her teeth and clenched her jaw. And still, slowly, the gigantic clawed paw slipped downward, downward, millimeter by millimeter. Seiya was losing the battle-- "Hey, UGLY!" Seiya did not see the sword that buried itself in the youma's back, but she mentally sensed the creature's sudden burst of pain and surprise. The thing howled in rage and fury. The paw that had been pushing down toward Seiya suddenly wrenched backward and upward, easily breaking free of Seiya' sweaty grip. Its other paw twisted and yanked free of Seiya's hair, painfully pulling chunks of curled raven locks with it. Seiya dropped to the ground, momentarily forgotten, while the youma whirled around. Belinda was no longer in front of the youma; she was now *behind* it. And her sword was still buried up to its hilt in the thing's back. She stood before it, weaponless, defiant. "Yeah, ugly, I'm talking to you! Do you want to pick on a Knight for a change?" Seiya instantly saw the danger that Belinda was in. She didn't hesitate for a second. She stood up, steadying herself, taking a deep breath. "Fighter Star Power, MAKE--" And that was as far as she ever got. Because this youma was smart, because it was well-trained, because it instantly recognized the critical mistake that it had made. This youma was not slow, or lumbering, or stupid, not like the other youma that Seiya had fought up to that point. This youma was quick, mean, and fast, and it still had time to recognize and correct its brief mistake. Before its prey had a chance to even start the henshin sequence, the youma whirled around again, wound its arm back, and swung forward. Fist closed, claws tucked inside. It was like a battering ram, swinging through the air. The youma's fist smashed into Seiya's side, pushing upward and outward. Seiya was flung through the air like a limp doll. She smashed into the wall on the far side of the gymnasium. The sound that her body made as it hit the wall was sickening - almost a wet splat, almost a dull thud, and layered beneath, the sound of something - or somethings - cracking, splintering, shattering. Slowly, she slid to the ground. Her eyes were wide open with shock, but glazed, unseeing. Her mouth was open, too. Blood dribbled down her lip. She sank to her knees. Then her head tilted forward; and a moment later, her entire body flopped to the ground. She laid there, still. "NO!" Belinda shrieked. She didn't realize that the youma had already turned its attention back toward her. It was feeling pretty good, now, having already gotten one of its prey temporarily taken care of. Now it could afford to have a little fun. It thrust itself toward the Knight, lunging in low and fast. Belinda never even had a chance to react. Its jaws closed around her lower right leg. It flickered its tail happily, playfully, as if it were a dog with a big, juicy bone in its mouth. It bit down. Hard. Belinda's shin snapped cleanly in two. She screamed wordlessly. The monster opened its jaws and released her, watching her sink to the ground, watching her scream shrilly, stupidly, panicked. One white, gleaming, jagged end of her shin bone had erupted through the skin and tissue covering her leg. The youma licked the blood from its lips. Good, that was two prey disabled. It would be able to finish off both of them at its leisure, now. But heck, since it was right here, it might as well finish off the Knight completely, instead of suffering through her annoying screams. So the youma wound back its arm again, this time extending its claws to their fullest, preparing to swoop down and slash the helpless Knight wide open-- Hideaki was just about to roll out of bed when he heard Taiki drop the coffee pot. It smashed into the kitchen floor. The plastic pot cracked. Hot coffee spilled all over the tiles. Hideaki heard these sounds as he flew off the bed and dashed toward the kitchen. She was standing frozen, rigid, staring straight off into space. Hideaki almost burned his bare feet when he stepped into the puddle of spilled coffee. "Hey! Is something wrong?!" "Youma," she gasped. "Here? In the palace again?" She wasn't even paying attention to him anymore. "I have to run!" she cried out, lunging forward, either not knowing or not caring that she was still in her robe and slippers. Then, she halted herself, eyes wide with panic. "I'll never make it in time! I should teleport--" Hideaki took one look at her face, and knew that whatever it was, it was *bad.* He swallowed, feeling a dry lump in his throat. Had the enemy pre-empted them? Was it able to somehow spy on them, to know their plans ahead of time? Hideaki recalled how Reynard had, impossibly, apparently known every detail about his relationship with Taiki. As the memory crawled across his brain, he shivered. Surely, then, they were being watched. Now Taiki's eyes were closed, and she looked distant, detached. As if she were . . . listening? Yes, listening. Her mouth worked silently, speaking but not speaking. Finally, her eyes flew open. "Right. Henshin and teleport, and meet together there." She suddenly remembered Hideaki, standing there helplessly, watching her. She favored him with a brief glance. "I'll be back soon," she said, although they both knew that she may or may not be back ever again. "Good luck," Hideaki said, for lack of anything else to say. "I don't believe in good luck. I make my own luck." She then took a deep breath, collecting herself. "Maker Star Power, MAKE UP!" And just like that, she was gone. Hideaki was left alone in the kitchen. He glanced down at the broken coffee pot, lying in a cooling puddle of black liquid on the floor. "Somebody ought to clean that up," he said aloud to the empty kitchen. the persistent little voice in the back of his mind whispered fiercely. "Oh, good idea," Hideaki answered himself sarcastically. "And what exactly can I do to help her, hmm? Stand around like an idiot, get in the way, or get myself killed?!" Hideaki sighed. If he had a weakness, it was a terrible fondness for romantic, chivalristic notions; he wasn't sure why or how to explain it, but something in his gut was telling him to not let her fight this one alone, to follow her, to be by her, to offer her his own meager help and assistance in any way that he could. If anything else, Hideaki trusted his gut instinct above his rational senses. "All right. Fine. I give up!" Resigned to his fate, he ran out of the kitchen, threw on an old T-shirt and a pair of shorts, and sprinted out of the apartment, running through the palace hallways. He didn't even know why he felt like he should head for the basement, but that was where his gut instinct was telling him to go, so he ran, descending down flight after flight of stairs-- The youma halted its claws right in the middle of its downward sweep. There was a burst of multicolored light and a swirl of butterflies flashing behind its back. The monster sensed new, powerful, dangerous enemies that it would have to deal with immediately. Without giving the injured Knight another thought, the youma whirled to face the new threats. There were three of them. Sailor Senshi. One of them, short with long red hair, happened to glance toward the side of the gym, where the other girl was lying still and bloody-- She shrieked. "SEIYA!" Healer grasped Sailor Kinmoku's wrist. "She's not dead! It's okay!" "She's hurt badly, I can feel it--" "We still have time to save her." Maker braced her feet, staring down the monstrous, gigantic youma in front of them. "Healer, is that a . . . person?" "No," Healer answered quickly, "Absolutely not." "I've never seen one that big," Sailor Kinmoku breathed. Her eyes fell upon Belinda, sitting glassy-eyed and slumped over immediately behind the youma. She glanced at Belinda's oddly skewed right leg, and her face went grey. "Oh, Mother Maresuu." The youma, incredibly, wagged its tail at the site of them. It grinned, toothily. Its eyes shimmered with a malicious, mischievous intelligence. Almost as if . . . it had an idea. Sailor Kinmoku lowered her wand at the youma, pointing toward it threateningly. "I swear to all I hold holy, if you hurt Seiya, I'll--" She never had a chance to finish, because at that moment, the youma, strangely, waved its front paws in front of its face. For a moment, the three Senshi stared at it blankly, confused. And then it hit them. A shockwave of force, like a roaring wind, or a thousand invisible hands pushing backward, slamming into them, throwing them back, dragging their feet across the floor, pushing, relentlessly-- "Dammit!" Healer struggled, flying backwards-- "It can use magic!" Maker gasped. Her back slammed into the far wall-- "Oof!" Sailor Kinmoku slammed into the wall, and a moment later, Healer, at her other side-- "Nnnrgh," Healer grunted, writhing against the invisible bonds that painfully pressed her against the wall. "How in the world did it learn to do that?!" "There has to be a way to counter it," Sailor Kinmoku gritted her teeth, trying to force her body away from the wall, but unable to move even an inch. "Maker! Any ideas?!" "I don't know!" Maker cried out helplessly, feeling herself being smashed even further into the wall. She eyed the youma apprehensively. "NOW what is it going to do?" The youma flicked its tail playfully, grinning at them happily, eyeing them as if they were shiny new baubles that it had just added to some sort of collection. And then, apparently satisfied, it turned away from them. It cocked its head, once, for a moment, as if listening to something. And then, almost with a nod, it began to lope across the gymnasium, heading toward where Seiya was lying still and limp across the ground-- "NO!" Sailor Kinmoku screamed at the youma. "GET US, OVER HERE! OVER HERE!" The youma, of course, ignored her. It loomed over Seiya's helpless, inert body. "That's right," Reynard whispered into the mirror, into his youma's ears. "Finish her off, now. While the others are forced to watch. Rip her arms off, rip her legs off, open up her insides, and tear her head off. Make sure that there's a lot of blood. Make sure that they can see everything." At that moment, Reynard sensed an all-too-familiar presence suddenly appear over his shoulder. His skin crawled. It was Delilah. Her eyes flashed with anger, her jaw clenched, and her fists trembled at her side. "Reynard, what are you doing?!" she snarled at him. "Why, I'm about to issue the order to have my youma servant kill the first of the Sailor Senshi," Reynard answered calmly. "NO!" Delilah shrieked; it was ironic, Reynard noted, that in her hysterical protest, she sounded almost identical to the red-haired Queen that she hated to much. "She's MINE! They're MINE! I'm the Queen, and they're my Senshi, and I WILL NOT LET YOU HARM THEM!" "Oh, please," Reynard dismissed her protest with an impatient wave of his hand. "You and I can create magical servants far more powerful than these Senshi ever were. It will be easy, after we kill off the original Senshi and take over this wretched little backwater planet--" "That's not part of the Master's plan! Reynard, you are going to be in suuuuuuch big trouble when the Master is back up to his full strength--" Reynard merely stared at the mirror. "Kill her," he commanded his creation. "NO! NO!" Delilah screamed at the mirror; the youma paused, cocking her ears. "BRING HER TO ME! As Queen, I command you!" "Don't listen to her!" Reynard roared at the mirror. "You are my creation, and you will do as I say! KILL HER!" "I AM THE RIGHTFUL QUEEN OF THIS REALM," Delilah cried out to the mirror, "AND YOU AND REYNARD ARE BOTH MY SERVANTS! Obey my orders, and bring that girl TO ME!" Reynard's face contorted with anger. "That's not true! That was never true! I was never your servant! I never even--" "I think your youma would beg to differ," Delilah said calmly. She pointed at the mirror. Reynard turned and stared. The youma was gathering up the girl's limp body in her arms-- "PUT HER DOWN! PUT HER DOWN!" Sailor Kinmoku screamed in protest; dimly, she heard Healer and Maker also yelling themselves hoarse, protesting uselessly, demanding that the youma leave Seiya alone, set her back down on the floor, don't harm her, don't hurt her, just stop it, stop it, stop it right now-- Suddenly, the invisible bonds pressing Sailor Kinmoku to the wall dissolved. She stumbled forward, gasping, startled. She glanced up at the youma. It winked at her. She snarled and raised her wand toward it-- Too late. It was already fading, dissolving. With Seiya still cradled in its gigantic arms. "NOOO!" Her last cry died in her throat as she slumped forward, falling to her knees, staring at the empty space where the youma and Seiya had just been. Healer slammed her fist into the ground. "DAMMIT!" But Maker stepped forward, resolutely. "We can still go after them," she said. Her voice was hard, cold. "Oh, yes, sure. And forget all about helping this poor injured girl over here?!" The three whirled, startled by the sound of the new voice. Hideaki was supporting Belinda's shoulder, carefully pulling her upright, wincing as she cried out with pain. "What, you don't think that the fact that her bone is sticking out of her leg isn't serious enough to warrant immediate medical attention?" Maker's jaw dropped. "Hideaki, how did you GET HERE?!" "The old-fashioned way. I ran." Belinda blinked, slowly, coming to her senses. "Where'd Seiya go?" she asked, thickly, almost swooning against Hideaki. Hideaki raised his eyes to meet Maker's. "I know what you're thinking. I shouldn't have followed you. But something in my gut told me that I was needed. And here I am, and I sure am needed. You're right, you three HAVE to go after that monster as quickly as possible. So don't worry about the Knight, let me take care of her." He smiled, wanly. "It's like we're all pieces in some sort of puzzle, and all the pieces are starting to fall into place, you know?" "There you go again, with that fate and destiny nonsense," Maker muttered as she rolled her eyes. Without sparing Hideaki another glance, she turned toward Healer and Kinmoku. "So, are we going, or what?" "We're going." Sailor Kinmoku's eyes flashed. She clutched her wand tightly. "We're going, all right." "All we need to do is find the point of weakness between the two dimensions, and teleport through it. Healer . . . ?" "I'm on it." Healer closed her eyes, furrowed her brow, and concentrated. The youma stepped toward them, the broken, battered body of Kou Seiya draped across her arms. Delilah dashed forward and grabbed Seiya's body, clutching it tightly in her embrace, dragging it away from the youma. Reynard decided not to tell her that moving or touching Seiya's body in any way was, at the moment, a very bad idea - after all, one was not supposed to move a body that suffered from broken bones and internal bleeding. Instead, Reynard decided that it was time to try to reason with the madwoman. "They'll never obey you, Delilah," he explained, struggling to keep his voice calm and rational. "The Sailor Senshi can't be turned. We've tried, and we've failed. I don't understand what petty greedy need you feel for their loyalty, but the truth remains, that unless we ELIMINATE them, we can never succeed in taking over Kinmoku--" "You IDIOT! The Master specified that the Senshi were to be taken ALIVE! Don't you SEE?! They're PART OF THE PLAN!" "What part, pray tell?" "They're - They're - They're supposed to be MY Senshi, because the Master is going to make ME the Queen!" She paused for a moment, holding Seiya's limp body in her arms, caressing the unresponsive girl's cheek gently, almost tenderly. "Look at what you did. You hurt her." "That was the point." "No matter. I can heal her injuries. With the Master's power, I can make her whole again." Delilah narrowed her eyes and glared at Reynard, her expression smoldering of pure hatred. "I'm going to report this to the Master. He'll make you so miserable, you'll wish you had never been born." "I don't think that the Master is exactly on our side, here. Yours or mine, Delilah." "We'll see about that!" With a harrumph, Delilah turned and stomped away, carrying the injured Senshi with her. Reynard had a hunch that she was heading toward her bedchambers. Ew. But Reynard shrugged away the mental image. What or how Delilah chose to heal the girl's injuries was none of his concern. Reynard stood for a moment, silent, staring at his youma, which was still waiting patiently, silently, at his side. Was Delilah really so blinded with greed and ambition that she had left him unsupervised with the still-powerful monster to command? Ah, well, all the better for him, then. All he had to do was to pull the sword out of his youma's back - messy, bloody work, but she could heal fast enough - and then she would be as good as new. Reynard grinned as his beautiful youma. "Well, how about it, old girl? Would you like to go back through the mirror for another run at them?" The youma wagged her tail. Healer mentally groped along the edges of the dimensional barrier, searching, seeking-- A sudden mental image flooded her mind's eye, sickening in its vivid clarity. A strange woman, wild and dangerous, grunting and pulling, pulling Seiya's body up onto a bed, lying her down, frantically touching, caressing, running her hands along Seiya's breasts and stomach, and unseen but very much felt, the healing, the magical energies channeled by those hands, knitting bone together and draining blood and sewing up arteries and veins, and then the horrible madwoman bent down and kissed Seiya's forehead with her red round lips-- The vision dissolved as quickly as it had appeared. Healer shuddered. Was that, then, where the dimensional weakness lied? Delilah pulled her lips away from Seiya's smooth, cool forehead. She paused, examining the girl - no longer passed out cold, but now merely sleeping, peacefully, whole, healed. But in her ratty old exercise clothes, still? Oh, no. That simply wouldn't do. Not on Delilah's bed. "Let's slip you into something more comfortable," Delilah murmured amorously, sliding the limp girl's shirt up over her head and shoulders. "There it is. I feel it." Healer's eyes flew open. Maker glanced over her shoulder. "Hideaki, can you get Belinda out of here?" "No problem," Hideaki grunted cheerfully, hoisting the pale-faced Knight over his shoulder and already beginning to shuffle slowly away from them. "Right. On the count of three." "One." "Two." "Three!" "SAILOR TELEPORT!" There was a blinding flash of light. And then, a split second later, three Sailor Senshi flew backward across the gym and landed ungracefully on their behinds. Hideaki's and Belinda's heads snapped around. Hideaki stared at them, confused. "What happened?!" "Um . . ." Maker blushed, slightly embarrassed. "I don't know exactly how to describe this in physics terms, but . . . The hole, or weakness, between our dimensions, is too small for all three of us to fit through at once." She stood up, brushing herself off. "I'm afraid that we're going to have to go through--" "--One at a time," Sailor Kinmoku finished, grimly. They stared at each other, hesitant. And then, as if on cue, the three-way argument began. "I can go first, and then--" "No, we can't let you do that, you're our Queen you could walk right into a trap--" "If there's a trap, one of us should go first--" They simply could not decide upon a proper order to teleport in. Belinda moaned and slumped against Hideaki. Her breathing was becoming shallow, ragged. "I think . . . maybe you shouldn't be moving me . . . That youma . . . had venom . . . in its fangs . . . " "Do you want to stay here, to wait for help?" Her face was white as milk. "Yes," she whispered, her voice strained. "Do you think that I'm a coward now, mister Hideaki?" "No. I think that you're very wise in your decision." They stood, watching, waiting. Warm lips pushing against hers. Soft hands, caressing her shoulders. Seiya sighed into her lover's mouth and rolled over, twisting the bedsheets around her. Was it morning, already? She wanted to open her eyes, but was afraid that doing so would spoil some sort of lovely surprise. "Fighter . . . Has anybody ever told you that you have the most lovely, kissable lips?" A syllabant whisper in her ear, followed by another hot, passionate kiss. Oh, well. At the moment, Seiya didn't really care. She was melting into her Queen's arms. It was a pleasant sensation, but strangely numbing at the same time. Then the Queen's lips pulled away gently, and the two embraced warmly, relishing the touch of each other. Slowly, Seiya opened her eyes. And her body suddenly stiffened with shock and horror. The world was a blur of white, and the woman lying next to her was black skin and white hair on a smudged background. Seiya could see her own arms stretched in front of her, embracing the woman - they, too, were dark and black. It was like seeing the world and the colorless, inverted face of the woman in bed with her was not the face of Kakyuu, the woman that Seiya knew and loved. Seiya suddenly felt, deep within her heart, that she could give a name to this strange woman's face. She was called Delilah, the Queen of Shadows. "Why, Fighter," she smiled, "you look surprised." Kicking and scrambling frantically, Seiya pushed herself backward and across the bed, pausing once she reached the far end to watch her enemy fearfully. "What did you do to my eyes?!" "I know that it may seem strange to you at first, but in reality, your current eyesight is a vast improvement over your previous eyesight. Superior depth perception, more accurate vision at farther distances, and--" "But I can't see any colors!" "You're not looking hard enough." Seiya scanned the room with her alien eyes. The ceiling, floor, and walls were blurs of creamy-white smears of light. Taiki had said that the walls in the enemy's world were made of dark, slick stone; Seiya figured that because the stone was such a dark color, she was seeing it all as glaringly white. She glanced down at herself. Her own skin was the color of dark licorice, outlined in vanilla shadows. A few strands of her loose hair that fell down her chest were like pale threads of ivory. She was wearing a white, lacy nightshift - one which she guessed, in reality, was a very dark black - and her legs and arms were entangled in dark bedsheets. She shuddered. She would *never* sleep in such a lacy, girly slip of lingerie! "What's wrong? Don't you like your nightshift?" "Where are my clothes?!" Delilah shrugged. "Gone. I had my servants dispose of them." "Hey, that was my favorite T-shirt!" "Do you really concern yourself with such trivial matters?" Delilah raised an eyebrow. "How long was I--?" Delilah shrugged. "Who knows? Time passes more quickly in this dimension than it does in your world." Seiya quickly pushed herself off the bed and backed up toward the far wall of the bedroom, eyeing Delilah warily. "Why were you in bed with me?" "Oh, Fighter," Delilah sighed wearily, "must we go through with this again? I am the Queen of Kinmokusei, and you are my loving and loyal Sailor Senshi. You *are* in love with the Queen, aren't you?" "I am in love with a woman named Kakyuu," Seiya stated with more calm than she actually felt. "Kakyuu." Delilah twisted her lip in a sneer of disgust. "I hate that name. And I hate that woman. You may believe that you love her, but you are delusional, and misguided. My poor Fighter. Has that sly woman cast her spell upon you? No matter, though. My Master and I can free you from her evil spell." "LIES!" Seiya scrunched her eyes shut and held her hands to her ears. "No, no, I won't listen to that! YOU'RE LYING!" "You don't have any choice but to stay and listen to me. I know that my words can be painful, Fighter, but if you would just open up your mind and let me in--" "I don't have to stay and listen to you! I can run away!" "Run?" Delilah favored Seiya with an amused, yet contemptuous, smile. "Wherever will you run to?" "I don't know, and I don't care!" And with that, Seiya ran. She flew through the bedroom door, around bizarre-looking furniture and other strange obstacles, through another door, past a startled youma ( ) and through the impossibly white stone hallways. Her bare feet ached and began bleeding as she pounded them across the rough stone ground, but she didn't care. She was running. Down one twisted passageway after another, turning right and left at random, past youma and doorways and dark holes and caves, her breath catching in her throat and her heart thumping in her chest. She never once looking back behind her shoulder during her mad flight. The horribly long lacy nightshift was conspiring to trip up her legs, so she bent down and grabbed its hem with her left hand, holding it high above her knees and flashing her long legs as she sprinted down the hallways. She brought her right hand to her mouth and scrubbed her lips furiously as she ran, wincing, screaming inside her head, And then, suddenly, she stopped. Seiya ground herself to a halt and stood still, quiet, panting and wheezing for breath in the otherwise silent, deserted hallway. She shouldn't have been out of breath so quickly . . . The enemy must have drained some of her energy, she realized. Either during the fight with the youma, or afterwards, as she had slept within Delilah's horrible embrace . . . Drat. That must have been why Malathos could extend its influence over her to the point where her eyes themselves were betraying her. Seiya closed her eyes and concentrated. She felt, first of all, for the familiar mental presences that she could identify most easily - Taiki? Yaten? Kakyuu? No answer, nobody, nothing. So, then, she couldn't contact them while she was within the enemy's dimension? Fine, then it was time for Plan B. She mentally groped along the fringes of the dimensional boundaries, searching for a weakness . . . for a crack . . . for an opening, or a doorway of sorts . . . carefully . . . carefully . . . There, directly to the north of her. A dimensional distortion that felt like faint buzzing in the back of her mind. Okay, so she wasn't as good at that sort of thing as Taiki or Yaten was, but she could detect a dimensional weakness when she felt it. "All right, then, let's go!" Slowly, with a measured pace, Seiya turned northward and began to walk. Dimensional weakness or not, she knew that when she finally reached her destination, she would have to transform, and then teleport the heck out of there. And she would probably have to fight some baddies, too, because Delilah certainly wasn't about to let her waltz right back into her own dimension without a fight. And she was weak enough to begin with, so an energy-draining run was completely out of the question. It was a long shot, that was for sure. But she HAD to try. Anything was better than staying a moment longer with that woman Delilah, even if it meant a suicidal teleport through an unknown dimensional vortex-- Seiya kept walking. Straight north. Then, a turn to the left. Next, to the right. Down a flight of stone stairs. Then, through the third intersection on the left. Seiya let her feet guide her as the buzzing in her head grew louder and more insistent. She was getting closer to it, whatever it was. She wondered, idly, what in the world she was actually heading toward. Was it a gateway that the youma regularly used to cross over into her world? If that was the case, then would it be guarded? Or was it merely a crack in the dimensional superstructure that the enemy had failed to notice? White on white on white on white. The world was becoming a white blur. Seiya squinted through her snowy field of vision. Did that mean that in reality, her surroundings were becoming darker and darker? The buzzing in her head was almost overwhelming. She began trailing her hand against the stone wall beside her, its cold, slick surface a comforting anchor to reality in her increasingly surreal, dreamlike white world. And then, suddenly, the wall ended. As a matter of fact, the entire hallway ended. And Kou Seiya found herself standing on a shallow stone bank in the midst of a mammoth, cavernous opening. She shaded her eyes against the white glare on the ceiling high above her. There was a lake in the middle of the cavern. Still, serene, unrippled, a smooth, glass, unblemished surface that glowed pearly white. Seiya scanned the surface of the lake, and the surrounding cavern. Not a living soul in sight. Where, then, was the source of the horrible buzzing in her brain? She would have to find exactly the right spot before she attempted to teleport, or else she might not make it-- Did the lake just move?!?! Seiya blinked, hesitant, not trusting her own eyes. There it was again! The entire thick, noxious surface of the lake shifted slightly toward her. Seiya recoiled, backing up toward the sheltering hallway and eyeing the lake nervously. The lake was pulsing, throbbing. Not literally, Seiya realized with dawning horror, but within her *mind.* It was ALIVE, and it was responsible for what had previously been a mental buzz in the back of her brain, but was now evolving into a throbbing, rhythmic beat that thumped throughout her skull. Seiya fought her rising panic and pressed her hands to her head. "No, get out of my head! Iie! Iie!" Caught up in the moment, she didn't even realize that she was reverting back to speaking Japanese. "It can't be! You are . . . You are . . . " "Malathos!" Seiya blurted out. Something chuckled low and malevolently, echoing throughout the cavern. ----You're not the brightest of the Sailor Senshi, are you?---- "Don't speak in MY head," Seiya growled. Now that she had forced herself to say its name, to acknowledge its horrible presence, her fear was beginning to melt into anger. And hatred. So *this* was the enemy that had previously ravished world and after world in its terrible path across the galaxy, leaving a legacy of death and destruction in its wake?! So *this* was the enemy that was responsible for the pain and suffering that she and her friends had been forced to endure?! ----Yes, that would be me. I sense your anger. Are you going to fight me?---- Seiya backed up another step. "You tricked me into coming here, didn't you?" ----You give me too much credit. You were correct when you sensed the dimensional warping in this area. In fact, you and I are standing in the middle of it right now. Because, you see, I am normally . . . not a corporeal form . . . and I must weaken the reality of this dimension in order to appear before you as I do now. So, would you like to try to teleport through me? You might not like where you end up, though.---- "Curse you," Seiya spat contemptuously. Okay, so she was in a bit of a predicament. There was no way that she was about to take on something as big and as powerful as Malathos by herself, let alone in her present weakened state. But she hated the idea of running like a coward; although, at the moment, escape was the only feasible option. At least she could try to make it a dignified retreat. She took another step backward ----THAT'S AS FAR AS YOU GO---- but was suddenly stopped as her feet froze to the ground. ----What's this? Leaving so soon? How very rude of you.---- "Let me go!" ----I'm sorry, my dear, but I just can't do that.---- And then, horribly, Seiya's left foot rose slowly into the air, and began moving forward. It gently lowered itself, a full step in front of its previous position. Then her right foot slowly rose and began to follow suit. "Stop it!" Seiya gasped. ----I'll do no such thing. In fact, this is almost too easy for me,---- the thing gloated as Seiya stepped awkwardly toward it. ----A moment of temporary vulnerability on your part, and I was able to squeeze a small portion of myself through the cracks in your natural defenses. That's how I was able to affect your vision, and how you were able to attune yourself so well to the dimensional superstructure of this little world of mine. Now it's just a matter of calling that small bit of myself back into me, so that we can be rejoined . . . and so that you can be caught in the middle during the process.---- "No!" ----Protests won't do you any good.---- Seiya had to admit to herself that it was right. No matter how much she struggled, she still could not stop herself from her slow, inevitable progress forward. And once she reached the edge of the glob-like, oozing thing, what then?! What in the world was it planning to do with her?! Probably take her Sailor Crystal, and then kill her. She wasn't sure how, but she was sure that it could do so. After all, the bloody cursed Sailor Crystals were the reasons that this monster was playing such torturous games with her and her friends in the first place, instead of killing them outright. Closer and closer, Seiya crept toward it. Slowly, excruciatingly, placing one foot in front of the other. She felt her anger and her hatred rising, and she clenched her jaw with fury. What a dirty trick! What a lousy way to be defeated, betrayed by her own body! But how, exactly, was she supposed to escape from the creature's control? Malathos was throbbing through her brain, pulling her feet forward effortlessly as if tugging on invisible strings, and even reversing the normal sight patterns of her eyeballs themselves. And what was she supposed to do about that? Like she had done with the youma before? But that had almost killed her, and she couldn't afford to collapse helplessly in the middle of the enemy's dimension-- Too late. Seiya's left foot - bare, black, toes wriggling in panic silhouetted against the white stone beneath her - was set firmly at the very edge of the pearly pale lake. Her right foot was already poised just above the surface of the lake, and was lowering, lowering, slowly, slowly-- "No, please!" Seiya protested, uselessly, helplessly. The bare skin of her foot touched the unbelievably freezing cold surface of the liquid monster. Contact. It began to sink down, into the thick, gooey liquid . . . It was so cold, it hurt. It felt like a thousand tiny knives of ice piercing through the flesh of her foot. she thought, wildly, terrified. ----No, you won't die,---- the horrible voice echoed through her head again. ----I will not kill you. I will not even harm you. Just come to me, my darling, come into me.---- Seiya's left foot lifted off the ground. It jerked forward, and began to lower itself again. ----Yes, both feet now . . . Yes, that's a good girl . . . Just keep going, you're almost there . . . ????---- The sudden sensation of surprise and shock from the monster flooded Seiya's brain. "What?!" She stopped, her left foot hovering just millimeters above the noxious liquid. What was going on?! Why was it stopping? Why was it surprised? And then, Seiya felt it, too. Something hot and bright . . . A thrumming, throbbing source of energy . . . Growing stronger, closer, swelling, bursting, rushing toward them-- Her chest felt warm. She could see black light glowing in front of her. "Yes! Yes!" Seiya cupped her hands in front of her chest. "Yes, little Crystal, please, save me, save me!" ----No! No! Curse you, damn you, your pathetic little Crystal can't save you now!---- Seiya clasped her hands in front of her chest and squeezed her eyes shut, feeling bright rays of searing light washing over her flesh, bursting outward, striking the surface of the lake-creature, making it seethe and writhe and boil and scream inside her head-- Growing, growing, engulfing, flooding, the power was incredible, it coursed through her stronger and surer than it ever had before-- ----Noooo! NOOOOOO!---- Malathos screamed. Seiya's knees buckled underneath her. Too much. Too much power. It was too strong for her. But then why . . . why did her feet feel warm and dry? She wasn't standing in the lake anymore. She had collapsed to her knees, and knelt weakly on a white stone ledge, dozens of paces away from the edge of the writhing, boiling lake. It didn't matter. The bright, pulsing glow of her Crystal's awesome power was fading. The lake grew still, and quiet. So did Seiya. In fact, Seiya was so terribly exhausted, that, just as she had feared, her mind slipped downward into an engulfing, obliterating darkness. Seiya collapsed to the ground, and blacked out. Reynard motioned toward his youma. She bent down, obediently, and opened her mouth. Reynard plucked a fireroot bulb from a pouch sewn into his robes, and gently set it down on the youma's tongue. The youma closed her mouth, chewed, and swallowed. Her stomach rumbled, ominously. But her tail still wagged cheerfully. Reynard cracked his knuckles. "Well, this ought to liven things up a bit. Good show with that thick-air spell of yours. Now let's see if you can pull this little bit of magic off. Would you like to go back through?" The monster nodded, whining happily, almost dancing on her enormous haunches. "I almost feel like forgiving you for obeying Delilah," Reynard laughed amiably. He concentrated, opening up the doorway between worlds again. "Well, there you go, clever girl. Go get them!" Like a good girl, the youma leapt through the portal again. "I'll go first," Maker asserted, decisively. "Then you," she said, pointing to Sailor Kinmoku, "and Healer can bring up the rear." "Right." Sailor Kinmoku nodded, clutching her wand tightly. She wanted to argue with Maker, because she still wanted to go first, she was desperate, frantic, she wanted to reach Seiya as soon as she could . . . But they had already wasted too much time arguing. It was time to simply act. Maker took a moment to compose herself. She swallowed. "Right. Here goes." She closed her eyes, feeling once again for the dimensional weakness. Then, a moment later, she cried out, "SAILOR TELEPORT!" She vanished. Sailor Kinmoku waited a beat. Then she, too, cried out. "SAILOR TELEPORT!" She vanished. Healer glanced over toward the far side of the gym. Hideaki and Belinda were still there, but they seemed safe for the moment. Hideaki even grinned and flashed her a cheerful thumbs-up sign. Healer rolled her eyes, although deep down inside, she appreciated the gesture. But then it was time to get down to business. "SAILOR TELE--" She never had the chance to finish. Reality rippled around her. And then the gigantic youma *leapt* through the air and landed right behind her. She whirled. It had its back turned to her, and was headed straight for Hideaki and Belinda, trotting along at a mild lope-- Belinda's eyes widened with shock. "No - not again!" Hideaki struggled to pull her away from the youma's path. "Come on - run with me!" But she was too heavy, and in too much pain. The two of them stumbled forward, awkwardly, slowly. They would never make it in time. The youma was almost on top of them. Healer hesitated, her heart torn. Should she follow her Queen and her teammates? Or should she save the people that were dear to them . . .? But, as usual, her heart made the decision for her. She took a deep breath. "SAILOR TELEPORT!" And sent herself not through the dimensional void, but away from it. She popped back into existence, landing with a flash of light right between the youma and the two struggling escapees. "Hey--!" Hideaki gasped. Belinda moaned, low in her throat. Healer paid them no mind. She was just doing what her Queen would have wanted her to do, after all. The youma had stopped, startled, no more than a foot away from her. She placed her hands on her hips and glared at it. "That's right, ugly - do you want to try me on for size?" The youma stared at her, blinking, confused. And then, slowly . . . It grinned, and began to wag its tail. Maker landed, painfully, on a cold stone floor. She paused, uprighting herself, struggling to get her bearings. Wherever she was, it was very, very dark. She waited, holding her breath. She counted to ten. Fifteen. Twenty. Then thirty. Neither Healer nor Sailor Kinmoku appeared. Maker felt her heart clench in her chest. Had they been separated?! Yes. She realized, more with her gut than with her senses. They had been separated, why and how didn't matter at the moment, they were just . . . separated. Great. Just great. Maker shaded her eyes. Wherever she was, it was very dark, and very open. Like a cavern? She couldn't see any walls. If there were walls, they felt as if they were very far away. She glanced upward. She couldn't see a ceiling. She remembered the cramped stone hallways from her previous trip through the dimension, but certainly nothing like this-- "This is a church," Reynard's voice said. Maker whirled. Her skin crawled. Reynard was standing behind her, grinning at her idly. "Delilah's youma servants used to gather here to worship Chaos," Reynard explained in a voice that was mildly bored, mildly lecturing. "There are no benches or chairs here. The youma merely gathered in a circle and danced. Sometimes they liked to cut themselves and bleed. They thought that their blood was an offering to Chaos." Maker snarled. "You . . . !" "Oh, I saw you coming in my mirror." Reynard waved his hand at her, nonchalantly. "I looked and saw you coming only a moment after I sent my youma back over to your dimension. To kill your lover, of course." "You're lying!" "I would never lie to you." "Fuck you!" "Ah ah ah," Reynard wagged his finger at her. "This is a church. Watch your language." And then, Maker simply didn't feel like wasting any more words on the creep. It would be best just to kill him quickly, she decided. Reynard cocked an eyebrow at her. "I sense that you wish to fight me. Is this true?" Maker nodded, bracing her legs and clenching her fists. "How archaic. Why ever would you be angry with me?" Reynard feigned innocence for a moment; then his face set, cold, glaring. "Shall we?" Maker braced herself. Unfortunately, Sailor Kinmoku finished her teleport exactly where she was supposed to finish it. She found herself standing on a stone ledge, staring at a dark, still body of water-- Where were Maker and Healer?! a nasty little voice inside her head whispered. She shivered, because she knew that it was true. Then she happened to glance across the black lake. Her hand flew to her mouth. "SEIYA!" she stifled her own cry. Kou Seiya lied slumped across the stone ground on the opposite shore of the lake, still, unmoving. What in the name of Maresuu was she doing wearing a black, lacy nightshift?! Something still felt wrong. Kinmoku stretched out her Senshi senses, scanning Seiya's limp body . . . Nothing. Empty. Cold. Silent. Not-there. "Gone?" Sailor Kinmoku asked herself. "Gone where? How?" Soul in absentia? She shuddered, again. <<--blood on her hands!-->> the people had cried out, during that horrible vision on that horrible morning so long ago. She clenched her teeth together and squared her jaw, eyes flashing, determined not to let that future come to be. And then she felt the second Presence at her back. "False Queen," the madwoman croaked. "I'll kill you with my own two hands!" Sailor Kinmoku barely had enough time to whirl around, before Delilah attacked. Seiya opened her eyes slowly, and stood up. Up? Was she really standing up? Which way was up? Seiya couldn't even tell anymore. Everything was black. Black, not white!!! Seiya looked down at herself. Smooth, light, slightly tanned skin, blue veins in her wrists, white edges to her fingernails, black lace falling in sheer layers around her thin body. Did that mean that her eyes were back to normal?! Where was she? The cave, and the lake, were gone-- Malathos was standing in front of her. Seiya's eyes suddenly fell upon him, and her heart clenched in her chest. He appeared as he had at the wedding on Turan . . . Human body, ancient robes and an old cloak, dark hair and eyes . . . He glared at her, hatefully. "Fighter . . ." He spoke her name slowly, dangerously. "What have you done to us?" "I don't know," Seiya answered, honestly, helplessly. "I must admit, I am surprised by this new development," Malathos said carefully, his tone suddenly shifting to casual curiosity, almost bordering on admiration. The hatred was gone from his eyes. His face became relaxed and open; but all the same, curiously expressionless. "Your Sailor Crystal reacted to my touch, and attempted to save you at the last moment. It has trapped me . . . in a corporeal body, sealed within this dimension, wherever this is . . . I never expected your Crystal to wield such power, at least, not yet, not at your young age. But then again, maybe I do think too highly of your abilities . . . Because, you see, you do not yet have complete control of your Crystal's potential." "What are you saying?" Seiya asked, breathlessly. His voice was now light and amiable. "You may have confined me to a corporeal body and trapped me within this strange dimension of yours, but, at the same time . . . you have somehow, foolishly, managed to trap yourself also." "Oh," was all Seiya could think of to say. "Oops." She felt very stupid, almost like a small child being berated by someone older and wiser than she. "Fighter." He smiled, almost softly, wistfully. "I should have known. I was destined to have a . . . heart to heart talk with you, anyway. Apparently, your Crystal cannot be taken by force. You should feel proud of yourself, for protecting it so well." This last statement sounded almost fatherly, but strangely patronizing. Seiya's eyes whirled around her surroundings. Up, down, left, right, front, back. Nothing but blackness. Was she standing on thin air?! At least Malathos, as he appeared before her, glowed with the normal colors that she remembered seeing in the old painting. So, her eyes really were back to normal. Thank goodness for small victories. "I've always felt drawn to you, above the other two," Malathos continued, as if he were confiding a deep and terrible secret to his oldest friend, "because you and I are kindred spirits." "How so?" "You are a Soldier of Chaos, like me. Your Sailor Crystal holds the power of death and destruction. I yearn for that power, I'll admit to that freely. But you, unfortunately, have neither the skill nor the desire to use it effectively. I can help you . . . I can teach you . . . If you'll trust me." Seiya narrowed her eyes and scrutinized him closely. The gentle, fatherly, welcoming smile . . . it was false. Contrived. Of course, she could see through that easily. But he *wanted* her trust, and he wanted it badly . . . she could almost sense it, his desperate yearning for her Sailor Crystal . . . Seiya could use this to her advantage. She took a hesitant step toward him, then stopped, pulling her foot back. "Delilah said that you were fighting to make her the Queen of Kinmoku. But I don't want Delilah for my Queen," Seiya complained, petulantly, childishly. Malathos chuckled softly. "Delilah! The fool. But you . . . why does Delilah not please you?" "She is weak. Pathetic. Needy, clingy, and self-deluded." "If you can see that in her, then you truly are my kindred spirit." His eyes twinkled maliciously. "Fighter, my lovely little Senshi . . . Would you care to hear the greatest joke in the history of the galaxy?" "What joke?" "The joke is that although I fully intend to install Delilah as the Queen of Kinmoku, she will be the ruler of a dead, lifeless planet. Delilah is only useful to me insofar as she can make and summon youma, and insofar as she can trap the Sailor Crystals of your friends for me. I have fed that madwoman's delusions, and she has served me well. I will reward her for her service to me, by granting her greatest wish, and crowning her as Queen. But I never promised that there would be any of the populace left for her to rule. You see, my dear, I have other plans in mind for this planet." "What do you mean, 'other plans?' " The warm smile turned into a cold, arrogant smirk. "I am about to undertake the greatest journey ever conceived of by any being in this galaxy. Hundreds of thousands of years of travel across this galaxy, hundreds of thousands of years of planning and research and storing up energy . . . It all comes down to right here, and right now. But in order to succeed, I need your help. I need you and your lovely Sailor Crystal to make this work." "Why should I trust you?" "Because you need me. Because you're in pain." "What?" "I can feel the pain and the confusion in your heart. You've tried to live your life by love, and you've always given your love to others so fully, completely, and selflessly. And what have you received in return? Nothing but pain, heartbreak, and sorrow. Not only that, but your love is also reaching out and hurting other people that you care deeply about, isn't it?" Seiya winced mentally. "Your problem, Fighter, is that you've been going about your life the wrong way. Wouldn't it be better if you didn't have to worry about hurting others, or about being hurt yourself? Wouldn't it be better if you didn't have a heart, so that it could never be wounded or scarred again? Wouldn't it be better - for everyone - if those horrible, evil emotions never existed, and there was nothing to feel or think about except sweet, cold, empty, unchanging oblivion?" Seiya wrapped her arms around her chest and shivered, but said nothing. "You want to do it, don't you?" Malathos smiled, greedily. "You've even though about it before, haven't you? You wished that you could just rip out your heart and cast it aside, and then you would never have to love - or have to be hurt - again." Seiya felt her stomach twist in a sickening knot. He had actually said something that was true. She *had* thought about it . . . in her darkest, most desperate hours, she had once contemplated it very seriously . . . But that was a secret so dark and so terrible that she kept it mostly hidden even from her own consciousness. How, then, did he know that about her?! Seiya lifted her eyes to meet his. "Who are you?" she whispered. "I am Malathos. I am very old, and very wise, and very powerful." "You're lying." Seiya breathed in and out, very slowly, carefully. "You're something bigger than what you say you are. I can feel it. How am I supposed to trust you, if you won't tell me the truth?" "Fair enough. If you can sense my true nature, then who do you think I am?" Seiya concentrated for a moment, wrinkling her brow. "Chaos?" "No. Chaos sought to destroy you. Chaos was your enemy. I, however, am your friend." "Then tell me." "Come closer to me." Seiya narrowed her eyes. "You must think I'm an idiot, to expect me to obey that." "Why not? In this realm, I can't hurt you. In fact, I'm virtually cut off from all of my powers. It's you, my dear, who has the upper hand here." Seiya hesitated. She sensed that some of what he said wasn't true - he was actually humming with power, but whether he was able to use any of it or not . . . Seiya was uncertain of that. Either way, if her eyes could see correctly, that meant that she was somehow being protected from Malathos's sphere of influence, right? Was it worth the gamble, to consort with the enemy? Slowly, carefully, Seiya took a small step forward. And another. And another. Malathos smiled, warm and welcoming. His eyes reflected nothing but kindness and understanding. The most horrible part of it was that Seiya *knew* that not all of his attitude was false. Those terrible, sympathetic eyes of his had stared straight into her soul and understood almost everything about her, even the most secret parts of her soul that she kept so carefully hidden from the rest of the world. Malathos held out his hand. "Fighter, I want to hold you. Will you please let me hold you? You're so beautiful, and I just want to . . . No, don't be scared, my touch won't hurt you." Seiya felt numb all over. And cold. Unsure why she was doing so, but curiously apathetic toward the consequences, Seiya reached toward him and allowed him to enfold her hand in his own. Gently, he pulled her in toward him, clasping one hand tightly in his own, and finally wrapping his other arm around her shoulders. And so she stood, cold, frightened, surrounded by his sickening warm embrace, lowering her head wearily to his chest and resting it there, sighing. "You lied to me." Seiya struggled to form the words, her breath choking in her throat. "You said that you couldn't hurt me. But you've . . . enchanted me, or something." "I know. But I haven't hurt you in any way." He raised one hand to her scalp, and began playfully running his fingers through her unruly raven hair. "I just wanted to touch you, that's all. The sensation of tactile touch . . . It's been so very long since I was last able to truly enjoy it." Seiya pressed her cheek against his chest and closed her eyes, resigning herself to his touch. His chest felt warm, and smelled like a human's chest, underneath his layers of arcane clothing. He smelled like olive blossoms. She could feel his heartbeat, pulsing gently against her cheek, and could feel the expansion and contraction of his chest as he breathed in and out, slowly. Seiya realized, in that moment, that she didn't *want* to break free of his embrace. She felt numb all over, detached, and curiously empty, hollow. She felt neither fear nor disgust nor pain, even though she was trapped in the arms of her enemy. In fact, she felt . . . absolutely nothing at all. Nothing. Sweet, delicious, obliterating nothing. For the first time in years, her heart was free of pain. It was no longer a heavy weight in her chest, no longer a burden on her soul, no longer a source of grief and suffering for her. For the first time in years, she felt really and truly free. Seiya snuggled against Malathos. "You took away my pain. How did you do it?" "What does it matter? It's gone now. Do you feel better?" "Yes. Thank you." She sighed, sleepily, feeling herself relax even further into his embrace. "But you still have to keep up your part of the bargain." "Oh?" "Tell me," Seiya murmured drowsily, feeling her mind begin to slip gratefully into a sea of black nothingness. "Please, tell me everything. About you, and about what you'll have me do for you." Malathos smiled at her indulgently, and patted her head approvingly, treating her as if she were a small child. Seiya didn't notice, and if she had, she wouldn't have cared. "Very well, my dear. If you can trust me, then I can trust you." He began to speak. - end part nineteen -