Tenoh Haruka wants to become the wind (swordoftheskies) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2012-07-29 01:59:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, tenoh haruka (sailor uranus) |
Who: Tenoh Haruka, dream!Michiru, dream!Usagi and dream!Eudial (Narrative)
What: Uranus and Neptune face their fate.
When: The midpoint of Sailor Moon S. Or, well, last night.
Where: The Marine Cathedral, a church under construction, in Tokyo.
Rating: R. Just because there's potential triggers in there: loss of life, suicide, plenty of violence, all lovely things that you wouldn't expect from something like Sailor Moon. Also, F for FEELS.
Status: Complete.
There was no emotion as she ripped the locket from the blonde girl's chest. This was their mission, and she... was an unfortunate intruder they'd never factored into their plans. They had to find the Talismans, no matter what the cost – no matter how much Sailor Moon begged for them to find another way, to believe in her and hope for the best.
"Listen." Haruka pocketed the locket, never once looking away from the younger woman. "The next time you show yourself in front of us... you will die!"
Without a second thought, they transformed. Uranus paused a moment. When she spoke, her voice was cold, unfeeling. "We're searching for the Talismans that are sealed inside pure hearts. The Holy Grail won't appear unless we gather all three Talismans in one place."
"Silence... a time of destruction is approaching this world." Neptune's voice was hardly any warmer. The icy depths of the oceans were as unforgiving as she was. "The only one who can save us is the Messiah, the one who can use the Holy Grail."
Usagi's confusion was clear, but the two of them were unwilling to explain further. They had a meeting to attend... they were quickly in the waiting helicopter and away, ignoring the way Usagi cried out to them. They couldn't afford to get emotions involved in this – they'd come too far to risk losing it all.
The journey was largely in silence, except for the constant noise of the helicopter's blades. It was only when they came close enough to see it that they talked – Neptune first, largely because she wasn't the one having to fly. "I can see it now..."
"So, that's it?" It looked like a mess of towers, jutting out from the sea. The stars seemed almost like the ones they wore on their Mugen uniforms, Uranus realised, but... perhaps that was coincidence. True, the school wasn't exactly normal, but... to build a cathedral of this level had to be beyond them. "A church under construction. A marine cathedral..."
She brought the helicopter in to land, stepping out carefully. The place was deserted, which made sense to some level, but awoke a sense of suspicion in the soldier of the skies. Had Eudial lured them into a trap? It'd hardly surprise her, considering her usual tactics.
Together, she and Neptune approached the grand door of the cathedral. "We'll finally meet the owner of a Talisman..."
"Uranus..." Neptune's fingers briefly brushed hers. "You understand that no matter what happens, we'll acquire the Talismans. From here on, we'll ignore each other's danger, and... you'll move on by yourself."
That sounded so ridiculous. Uranus couldn't help a slight smile, a note of amusement slipping into her voice. "What are you talking about now, of all times?"
Neptune let out an amused little noise, pulling her hand away. "You're right..."
As it turned out, Uranus had been right to suspect Eudial. The initial unwelcoming air of the cathedral quickly gave way to an attack, tiles flying out of the walls of the cathedral, attempting to crush them. Thankfully, their speed was almost unparalleled – dodging was child's play, especially compared to some of the more difficult things they'd faced in the past.
Two well-placed attacks destroyed most, if not all, of the tiles. Smirking triumphantly, Uranus looked upwards. "How's that?" Eudial couldn't have been expecting them to fall to that, surely? It was almost as if...
Something moved behind her. A new tile, manifesting in place and quickly shooting towards her. There was no chance, even with her speed of dodging that.
"Uranus!"
Before she could even think of reacting, Neptune had shoved her out of the way. Her partner was knocked against the wall, captured by the way the panel span mere moments after her impact. When Uranus ran to try and save her, the panel faded out of existence. It was all she could do to not try to punch through the damned wall.
A sudden blast of organ music rang out through the cathedral, drawing Uranus's attention. Eudial's laugh echoed menacingly, making it damn near impossible to place where she was. "Sailor Uranus! Now, I have the owner of a Talisman!"
A Talisman? Neptune? That... that couldn't be right. "What are you talking about?!"
The witch let out another short laugh. "I really fell for it as well... but then again, not even you'd realised it."
Oh, she was just trying to annoy her now. Uranus clenched her fists, willing herself not to just World Shaking the entire building down to get to Neptune. "What in the world are you talking about?!"
"I'll tell you..." The witch sounded almost smug, triumphant. Had she planned all this from the start? How long had she known about the Talismans...? "The owner of a Talisman is your partner, Sailor Neptune!" There was a low laugh, one that barely registered in Uranus's mind. "I'll soon extract the Talisman from Neptune. How do you feel about that? If you want to watch, come to the main hall..."
Before she'd even finished speaking, Uranus was running. Her mind was racing, trying to make sense of everything that she'd said. 'Neptune is the owner of a Talisman...?! That's impossible!' The witch had to be lying. Neptune was just as corrupted as she was, just as merciless when she had to be – what part of that made them hold Pure Hearts?!
She crashed into the main hall, coming to a halt the moment she saw the scene before her. Eudial, sat at a great organ, and... and Neptune, tied to the tile that'd captured her, seemingly unconscious. Without a second thought, she cried out her partner's name and started running again, trying to channel every ounce of strength she had into her speed.
The moment she set foot on the bridge, it became clear Eudial had expected her to do that. The tiles on either side opened up, firing what felt like hundreds of darts at her, knocking her back onto the floor. Even for an experienced soldier, the pain was almost unimaginable.
She vaguely heard Eudial laugh, gloating over her victory over the soldier of the skies. She advanced on her, her footsteps echoing around the room. "Idiot. Whenever anyone but me walks across this bridge, they receive divine punishment!"
Oh, that was ironic. People like them receiving something like that? Somewhere, some homophobic idiot was likely cheering. "Divine punishment...?"
Eudial was still advancing on her. What in the world did the woman want? Did she want to finish her off, to prevent her from ever saving Neptune? "Don't worry. I haven't pulled out Neptune's Talisman yet..." Uranus managed to push herself up slightly, trying to pay better attention to what she was saying. "I must pull the Talisman out of another person first."
"Another owner of a Talisman?!" How in the world was that even possible? There were only the three of them there... unless Eudial had conned another few people into coming to the cathedral. Uranus wouldn't put it past her.
Eudial rolled her eyes, shoving a gun against Uranus's chest. "I mean you!" She seemed to take some sick pleasure in the shock on her face, a twisted smirk on her lips. "I'm talking about your heart... the one that tried to save the world, not caring if she got her hands dirty."
Somehow, Uranus could swear she heard Neptune murmuring her name. She brushed it aside as mere fantasy, trying to focus on Eudial and her frankly ridiculous ideas. "Talismans are sealed within pure hearts... there's no way I could be holding one."
Eudial's smirk didn't vanish, her grip on the gun seemingly tightening. "You'll see soon enough... although, with those wounds, the force from this gun will kill you."
Uranus's world narrowed down to a single point. Eudial's fingers tightened on the trigger... and, from across the hall, the newly awoken Neptune cried out her partner's name, ripping free from her restraints. The moment she set foot on the bridge, the divine punishment struck her down... and she forced herself back up. "Haruka... I won't let you die..."
Uranus's eyes widened as she took another shaky step forward. She couldn't... the bridge had almost killed her, and Neptune had already taken a beating. "Wait, Neptune! Don't move!"
Despite her words, Neptune pressed on. The bridge's punishment struck out once more, drawing out a scream of pain from the soldier of the seas. Uranus was forced to watch in horror as her partner fell to her knees, crying out her name once more. She... couldn't do this. She couldn't take much more, could she?
Neptune was strong, just as strong as she was, but even they couldn't withstand something like that... and yet, despite all the odds, she forced herself up again. "Haruka..." The way her voice cracked almost broke the soldier of the skies, almost made her look away, but she couldn't. How did she even have the strength to do this...?
On the next step, Uranus braced herself for the inevitable... and it never came. Neptune, obviously in massive amounts of pain already, managed to soldier on, every step making Uranus want to plead for her to stop, to rest, to let her take the pain of fighting Eudial.
"They're out of bullets..." Eudial seemed almost annoyed by that. Maybe she hadn't expected the bond between the two of them to be so great... the woman was obviously more idiotic than she'd previously seemed. In mere moments, Neptune had reached her, moving to try and force her away from Uranus – her reaction was almost instantaneous. She turned the gun on her and fired.
Neptune's body slumped to the floor as her pure heart shot out her back. All Uranus could do was stare, in pure shock, her heart breaking. She'd failed her, failed the one woman she'd ever truly trusted with everything that she was... the rush of memories almost broke her, almost brought her to the point of tears, and she was barely able to hold herself together.
The glimmering pieces of light coalesced into a pure heart crystal, radiant as Uranus had always suspected Neptune's would be. She'd always just prayed she'd never have the misfortune to see it... it seemed to pulse even brighter for a few brief moments, before changing shape entirely, forming a gold and dark teal mirror, the back imprinted with the symbol for Neptune.
"So, this is a Talisman..." Eudial seemed moments away from snatching the thing, apparently trying to recapture her breath. Had Neptune startled her that much? "I'll take yours next!"
"The Talismans were sealed away in us...?" To say Uranus was shocked would be an understatement. She couldn't tear her eyes away from her partner's prone body, hoping to whatever god there was, or maybe even to the Messiah, that somehow, someone would save her... it was hard to focus entirely on saving the world when her very reason for living was effectively dead before her. "Messiah... is this the punishment we get?!"
Suddenly, a shaft of light pierced through the stained glass windows overhead, a clear and resolute voice crying out. "Hold it right there!"
When Haruka looked back, she could swear it was the Messiah come to save them. The rainbow-hued light streaming through the window gave her an almost ethereal look, her hair flowing in some kind of unearthly wind... 'The Messiah...?'
When the light faded, it was her. Tsukino Usagi. Sailor Moon. Eternal thorn in their side... and somehow, the most caring and kind woman the two of them had ever met.
"You're...!" Eudial was clearly less than pleased at the interruption. Not that she had much time to think – Usagi charged at her, knocking her down the gap between the bridge and the walls, the gun falling from her hands and clattering across the floor. It was only by sheer luck that she managed to survive, catching onto a pulley that sent her shooting down to the cathedral's depths.
"Hold yourself together, Michiru-san!" The moment Eudial had disappeared into the depths, Usagi had moved to kneel next to the soldier of the seas, pleading with her in a way that almost made Uranus's heart break to see. She was holding the Talisman by the very edges of the protective bubble of light that contained it, something Uranus wasn't exactly sure if she should allow or not. "Please, Talisman... turn back into Michiru-san's heart crystal!"
"Please, stop that..." Uranus sat up, trying to keep any trace of emotion out of her voice. If she gave in now, if she let her feelings show, Neptune's sacrifice would have all been in vain. This was their mission, wasn't it? They had to finish it somehow. "We've found the Talismans. This is the way it should be..."
"That's impossible!" Even though Uranus refused to look at her, she could tell Usagi was on the verge of tears. The girl honestly wore her heart on her sleeve... maybe that was part of why she'd liked her to begin with. Someone so open was rare. "Then, Michiru-san is...?"
Uranus was silently thankful that she didn't finish that sentence. "You're so unfair, Michiru... to leave for a world of your own..." Looking up for a brief moment, she threw Usagi's locket back to her. There was no sense in her keeping it now. "I'll return that to you..."
She moved to pick up Eudial's gun from where it'd fallen, still talking. "You really were reckless. You knew you couldn't transform."
The moment the younger woman realised just what Uranus was intending, she launched herself at her, trying to wrest the gun from her grip "You can't! Stop that!"
Uranus was clearly the stronger of the two, but she let Usagi have her moment, if only so she could attempt to explain. "Let go! There's another Talisman inside me!"
It almost seemed like that'd work. Usagi looked up at her, her eyes shimmering with tears. "Even if we don't have the Talismans, we can save the world!"
"...What?!" Had the girl completely lost her mind? Had she forgotten what they'd said earlier, that the Messiah's Holy Grail would only come about when the three Talismans were gathered together? Without that, they might as well give up on everything – there was no hope against the Silence without it.
That seemed to give Usagi pause. "I'll... I'll save the world!"
For a moment, Uranus's expression softened. She was so hopeful, so young... and she'd had the purest heart she'd ever seen. The radiance had burnt into her mind so vividly on that day. "It's strange... when you say it, it really feels like you will." There was no harm in telling her what she'd seen, was there? "A few minutes ago... for some reason, you looked like the Messiah. Even though I don't believe in your powers..."
Usagi loosed her grip, concern written across her features. "Haruka-san..."
That was the only opening she needed. Uranus shoved her away with one hand, holding the gun away from her with the other. "Sailor Moon. Please, make sure to find the last Talisman too..."
She pressed the gun against her chest, ignoring Usagi's cry to stop, much as it tugged at her heartstrings. Pulling the trigger, everything went white, the searing pain of her pure heart being torn from her body doing just as Eudial had predicted. If she survived this, it'd be down to the Messiah taking mercy on them, not anything that Sailor Moon could do...
"This can't be... Haruka-san, Michiru-san..."