InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Judge yourself."

Hino Rei still hates karaoke (fireandpassion) wrote in wariscoming,
@ 2011-12-24 18:31:00

Entry tags:

aino minako/sailor venus, hino rei/sailor mars, tsukino usagi/sailor moon

Who: Minako, Rei and ~~Usagi~~ Serenity
What: Merry Christmas, you're in a different world!
When: This evening
Where: Somewhere in Lawrence. Warehouse district maybe?
Rating: PG-13 for fighting and violence of that nature

Rei could hardly believe it. Everything they had tried so hard to keep from happening had come to pass. Usagi was gone, the Princess in full control. Endymion was dead again. The tragedy once more set in motion. As she she lay there on the ground, dirt and pain covering her body, Rei could only watch as the Princess was enveloped in a white light that could only signal the destruction of the Earth. The Senshi were powerless in these final moments, unable to stop their Princess, too beaten down from the fight. As the white light stretched forth to encompass them all, all Rei could think about was their failure.

Usagi... she thought as her eyes closed and her head fell against the ground. It was all over.

Or was it?

There were sounds as if she was outside. She could hear cars, birds, even people in the distance. But if the world had ended, why was she hearing these things? Wondering if she was in the afterlife, she opened her eyes, only to find herself in a completely unexpected place. She didn't recognize anything, the buildings she could see didn't look like ones she'd ever seen in Tokyo before. And she certainly wasn't in the Dark Kingdom. Considering she was still feeling pain, she was certain she was still alive. But how?

"What...?" She managed to shift herself up onto her elbows, then slowly up to sit on her knees, eyes scanning the surrounding area. If the world had been destroyed, why was there still an Earth here? Confusion wracked her as she tried to find an answer to her question. The Princess wouldn't simply save Ami, Makoto and her for anything, not in the state she'd been in. They would have perished with everything else. This still left her wondering where she was and what had happened. Clenching her teeth, she pushed herself up to her feet and started walking, deciding her questions could be answered by someone here.

Suddenly, Rei stopped walking, sensing the heavy presence of evil. It wasn't the kind of evil she was used to sensing. This was different, somehow more oppressive because it was everywhere. Pressing a hand against her forehead and closing her eyes, Rei felt overwhelmed and dizzy for a few seconds. Even the minions of the Dark Kingdom hadn't made their presence known in these numbers before. Normally, Rei would be able to sense a youma's aura and track it, but with so many different auras around, Rei could barely distinguish the evil ones from the good ones. That is until three dark presences suddenly became the most prominent ones she could sense.

"Youma," she whispered to herself. She turned her head and saw three people come around the corner of a building. Just as she spotted them, they spotted her. Rei was at a disadvantage, she was still fresh from another fight that had taken a lot out of her, and now she was slightly disoriented from the oppressive evil in this place. Shaking her head, she willed herself to focus on the three people coming towards her and readied herself for a fight.

"Well, look here. A poor little girl all alone. Shouldn't we help her get back home?" One of them said, a bit of a cruel smile on her face.

"I think that's a wonderful idea, Diamond." The second said, zeroing in on Rei. Well the language they were speaking settled it, she definitely wasn't in Japan anymore. Going by their accents, they sounded American. Wonderful. More questions that would need to be asked when, or if, she made it out of this alive.

"Do not think me to give up." Rei warned them, taking a defensive pose. For the first time, it felt wrong to her to be fighting alone. So many times before she would've rather fought alone. Now, she wished the other Senshi were here to help. The usually confident Rei had doubts she could win this. However this may turn out, she wasn't going down without a fight. Gathering fire, Rei kept her eyes on the evil before her. Her meditations as a priestess served a good purpose, allowing her to now filter everything else out except the three people before her. It helped her regain stability of mind as she attacked. "Youma taisan!!!" She hurled the fireblast at the one called Diamond, catching her by surprise. The woman, obviously a demon in nature, screamed as her clothes caught fire and her skin was burned.

"So you've got some fire power, do you? Excellent, we do love a good fight!" The second said, sending a telekinetic blast at Rei. Rei hadn't expected that kind of attack and she was sent flying backwards, hitting the ground and rolling. Shaking her head, Rei looked up to see the two unburned demons approaching her. Well, if she was going to make her final stand here, she might as well do it now before she took anymore hits. Pushing herself up to her feet, she pulled out her matching tambos, crossing her arms over her chest momentarily. Her eyes drifted to the one in her left hand, bearing the mark of Venus.

Please, lend me your aid one last time, Minako. She thought before turning her gaze to her opponents. Moving her right arm in an arch, followed by her left one making the same movement, Rei called upon the power of Mars. "Flame...Planet Mars...Give me the power." Ending with her wrists crossed above her head, both tambos were encased in a bright golden light, transforming them into matching daggers, one with a blade of red, the other a blade of gold.

"Oh she's got toys, too! Tonight definitely will be promising!" The third spoke. Both demons charged, and Rei charged to meet them halfway. All three delivered and dodged attacks. Rei was on the receiving end of some punches, the demons on the receiving end of her daggers. At least until one of them got tired of the hand-to-hand combat and flung Rei backwards. Hitting the ground and rolling, Rei grunted, finding it hard to get back up. Her body was protesting the movement, and even with the adrenaline pumping, her limbs weren't responding as quickly as she wanted. And that's when the demon she'd set on fire rejoined the fray.

"Take this, bitch," Diamond said as she flung Rei backwards. Rei crashed shoulder first into a concrete wall, crying out and dropping the daggers as she hit the ground hard. Pain coursed through her shoulder and radiated down her side. Even with the pain, Rei stretched out her uninjured arm, trying desperately to grab the nearest dagger, which happened to be Venus'. But it was no use, it was just out of her reach, and the three demons were closing in on her.

Rei had no idea what was happening. The Princess wasn't destroying the world, yet here Rei was facing mortality yet again. She looked up at Diamond as she stood over her, and she felt the aura of death radiating from her. Whimpering slightly, Rei tried to recoil from the demon, but was met only by more pain and the coldness of the concrete wall. She wasn't so sure she could fight anymore on her own. For reasons she didn't understand, she'd seemingly been spared from her Princess killing her, only to have some evil entity kill her so quickly. In those few moments where she recognized her own death with imminent, Rei couldn't help but think she wasn't much of a soldier if she couldn't get off more than two attacks before she was down for the count. The fact she'd all ready been battle-worn made no difference. She should've been able to keep going to the bitter end, take at least one of them down. But she was too tired, too hurt, too bewildered by whatever had happened in the past few minutes. Perhaps death would be a relief compared to this. Rei stopped reaching for the dagger, letting her hand go limp against the ground as the demons closed in around her.

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ibecamemyself
2011-12-25 01:12 am UTC (link)

It had been too late. By the time that she had decided to do the surgery, the doctors had warned her that the chances of success were less than what they would have been even a month ago. Still, they had decided that they could try it, if she wanted to. The question was, did Minako want to? Three days ago and she would have decided that it wasn't worth it. She'd only exist as Sailor Venus, it was all that mattered. But now, she had promised she would get the surgery because she wanted to live, as Aino Minako. A fourteen year old with a mission to protect the planet determined by the past life. If she died, would she be able to forgive herself when she was reborn? After all, she knew it would happen, there would always be rebirth for the senshi so long as the princess and prince were reborn. A mission to perform. Still, she had prepared for this. She knew that there was a party planned for her return, but if it didn't happen, they needed to know. So Minako had snuck into the karaoke room and left her latest single as well as the goodbye letter. If she made it out, she'd take the letter back and no one would be the wiser, but they needed to know it was okay and to keep on with the mission.

As she prepared for the surgery, Minako stared in the mirror. Usually when she did that, she merely saw Sailor Venus, leader of the Senshi, destined to stop the destruction of the Earth. Now though? She saw who she was beyond being a Senshi. She saw herself. The person Artemis and Rei had been pushing her to be. It was surprisingly nice. But she knew that this might be the last time she ever saw herself in the mirror. It was a strange sensation. She had been preparing for her death for two years now, and with it such a strong possibility because she'd been too late to try to get the surgery despite it's slim chances of success, yet she still felt a twinge of fear. Fear that the others would need her, fear that they wouldn't succeed. Fear of the unknown.

Hearing the voice of the nurse, Minako let out a sigh and went to be prepped, before she was taken into surgery. While she was awake, she didn't feel anything. She didn't even feel herself slipping away, images of the Senshi dancing before her eyes, the friends she had made. When she opened her eyes, Minako found herself on a bench and people speaking English. That... was not normal. Why would she be somewhere where English was the main language, and why on a park bench? She'd been in surgery...

"Nande...." Sitting up, the fourteen year old looked around, this most definitely wasn't Japan. Just what had happened? But before she could even question that, Minako felt a familiar twinge in the air. Danger. It was different, but it was definitely there. Which meant that she had to get to the scene of the disturbance. She may be prepped for surgery, but she had a duty to protect this planet from it's tragic destiny of the prince and princess. Was that why she was here? To prevent it's destruction?

Racing through the streets, ignoring the odd looks she got as she was indeed in a hospital gown, the fourteen year old idle skidded to a halt as she saw the scene before her, Mars down... and giving up?! Oh no, that was so not okay.

"Venus Power Make UP!" Feeling the familiar sensation of her transformation, Venus felt a bit stronger, dropping to the ground and rolling to where her comrade was, grabbing the dagger with her sigma on it. "Rolling Heart Vibration!" The attack raced towards the one known as Diamond, knocking them out of the way, her gaze turning to Mars, "Mars, I'm disappointed in you, giving up like that is not acceptable."

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fireandpassion
2011-12-25 02:36 am UTC (link)

Yes, she'd given up, but what else could she do? Her body refused to move anymore, and she was exhausted. But through all of what she believed to be her final thoughts, a voice cut through them all. It was one that was familiar to her, yet at the same time she knew she shouldn't be hearing it. She lifted her head to see someone she should not be seeing. Her eyes went wide as she stared up at Minako as she knocked a demon out of the way.

All right, what was going on? Nothing of the world was making sense anymore. So Rei arrived at the decision that she was in the process of dying and was having a vision, or hallucination. Yes, that was it. The dead didn't simply come back to life spontaneously. Well, they didn't come back to life at all, so Rei came to the logical conclusion that she was about to die herself. Perhaps then she could be with her mother and Minako and be happy. If that was what was awaiting her, she wanted this dying process to hurry up. She didn't want to be in pain anymore. She was so tired. Everything had been in vain.

"The world is all ready gone, Minako. We failed. I failed. The Princess destroyed it and we couldn't stop her." Tears of regret and defeat stung her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. However, her voice wavered with the unexpressed emotions she was trying to keep herself from feeling. "Everything else is dead. I don't know what this place is, but I just wish it hurry up and send me to the afterlife because there's nothing left to fight for!" For once Rei didn't have fighting words in response to Minako. All she had was a broken will and a depleted body. "I can't fight anymore. I fought my way to the Princess and used everything I had. But it wasn't enough. It wasn't enough..."

So she was believing that Minako was little more than a figment of her imagination. And she must be in a state between life and death because she couldn't even really feel the pain in her body now. She didn't want anything more to do with this, and she just wanted it to be over. Hadn't they all suffered enough?

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ibecamemyself
2011-12-25 04:05 am UTC (link)

Venus was well aware that they were not alone and not just the demons, but Serenity as well. So, she was here as well, was she? This was just marvelous. Not only did they have to worry about this new threat, but her as well? The past life's mission would always follow them, no matter what. Even in death. Though, Venus felt very alive at the moment, hyped up on adrenaline. But wasn't that how it always was? Heat of the moment, fights, until they took so much out of her, but that didn't matter. Right now, there was a threat against one of her own and she wasn't about to see Mars waste away because she felt there was nothing worth fighting for. Even as she'd been dying, Minako had held onto the will to fight, sometimes it was all she had. So for Mars to just give up?

Eyes blazing, Venus slapped Mars across the face.

"The world is not gone, Mars and this is a disgusting display! Pull yourself together and fight. You can be upset about what happened at home after this threat is neutralized."

Venus' voice was hard, focused. Because Mars was the best of the Senshi, the Senshi leader had made sure of that. She had trained her, forced her to be stronger in case she couldn't make it. And this was how she responded? To cry and saying she couldn't fight anymore? No. It did not work that way.

"I don't know what you are talking about, but this. is. real. So fight! Hate me later, challenge me later, but right now, fight."

With that, Venus moved away from Mars and focused on the demons at hand. She would deal with Mars' disappointing her by giving up and with Serenity later. Right now, there was a threat at hand and like hell was Venus going to stand back and do nothing. They were still bound to protect this planet, even if the threat was not the princess, though Venus felt she was still indeed a threat. Now though, the demons. So with or without Mars' help, the blond rushed forward and began striking.

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fireandpassion
2011-12-25 05:03 am UTC (link)

Normally Rei would have fought harder than anyone. She would've burnt all three attackers to a crisp with one attack if she had to. But right now? She was low on energy and she wasn't even sure she could stand up. Her head was starting to spin, then she realized why. Serenity was here. Oh this wasn't good. How had she missed sensing her before? She had to stop her...or was it too late?

But then Minako slapped her and her thoughts all suddenly ground to a halt. She looked at Minako, her eyes suddenly filled with some sense of clarity. Okay, Minako was a solid being. That was good, right? She'd worry about the how later. As Minako charged, Rei looked around for her dagger. She found it a couple feet away. Great, it would take effort to get to it. Drawing in a deep breath and trying to dig deeper than she even knew she could, Rei pushed herself up to her hands and knees. And that's when she noticed one of the demons coming for her.

"BURNING MANDALA!!!" She unleashed the blaze of fire, putting all of her might into it, letting herself scream to try and work herself up enough to fight. Because Minako was here. Serenity was here. And if there was a chance the world wasn't destroyed yet, she would throw herself at Serenity to stop her. The demon went up in flames, this one not having the chance to extinguish them or come back into the fight. That only left Diamond and the other one. With a grunt, Rei forced herself up to her feet, staggering over to claim her dagger. She turned and took a breath. She couldn't stand up straight anymore and she was on the brink of collapsing. But she charged one of the two remaining demons. The demon charged at her, all ready having a couple cuts from her earlier dagger attacks.

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ibecamemyself
2011-12-25 05:24 am UTC (link)

Good, there was a sense of clarity in Mars' eyes, which meant she'd fight and not just wallow in self pity and let herself be killed. That was not the teen whom Venus had chosen to be her second. It was the one who was willing to fight until her dying breath, with fire and drive. The one Minako had known she could trust with that weight and the one she had trusted with her secret. This was the Mars she had chosen and like hell was she about to sit back and watch her fade away. They were soldiers, they would always have to fight. There was no peace for them, even though they were no longer in the Silver Millennium. They had been born again to fight and they would always be born to fight.

Was she worried about Mars' physical state? Of course she was. It was obvious the other teen had been through a fight. But the fact remained that she couldn't give up and let herself be killed. She couldn't let that fact keep her from showing her true potential. And there it was in decimating one of the demons at hand. Good, now it was two on two as Serenity obviously couldn't be counted on to fight. There was no threat to her precious Endymion so of course she wouldn't fight or care.

With Diamond focusing on her, Venus spun and winked to Mars before grabbing the belt around her waist.

"Venus Love Me Chain!" With that, the chain of hearts lashed out at the demon, wrapping around the shell and throwing them into the wall before she channeled a Crescent Beam into her Tambo and shot it point blank at the demon, who vaporized as Zoicite had when she had killed him the first time when she made her appearance as princess.

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fireandpassion
2011-12-25 05:46 am UTC (link)

When she met the demon mid-run, she spun around him and gave him an elbow to the back. As she tried to spin to face him, she stumbled a bit, but remained standing. Her dagger was in a tight grip in her left hand, her right arm hanging loosely at her side, mostly useless as her shoulder refused to move. Her shoulder wasn't dislocated, but it might as well have been for the way it felt.

She saw the wink Minako gave her, then gave one back as she braced herself for the demon coming at her. He was too close for her to wind up one of her attacks, so she quickly switched her dagger to her right hand. She used the very last of what she had left and charged the demon, burying the blade of her dagger in its chest. For a moment they were frozen there, but the demon finally fell over onto its back. And that's when the black smoke came shooting out of its mouth and nose and flew up into the sky before disappearing.

Blinking, Rei had no idea what that was. She'd never seen anything like that before. She looked down at the body which had her dagger in it still. And that's when her legs finally gave out and she collapsed to the ground. Not sensing any other direct threat, aside from Serenity, Rei's Mars outfit shifted back into her normal clothes, but all the dirt on her skin still remained. Oh she was going to have many bruises, but right now she didn't care. She had to stop Serenity, but she couldn't move. All she could do was lay there on her side and hope that Serenity wasn't about to destroy the world.

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twilight_flash
2011-12-25 02:10 am UTC (link)

The Senshi had told her that there was no other way. They all had told her and then begged her to stand back while they tried to kill him. She watched as all her friends failed and tried again but at this rate Metallia would kill them. She had bowed her head to gather her strength to pick up the sword left by Minako. With the spirit of Mamoru guiding her, she accepted that the evil in front of her wasn’t her love anymore and she couldn’t sacrifice the Earth to keep him. She had to let him go.

Usagi had felt older than her 14 years then. She felt the weight of the thousands of years that her soul had gone through to be reincarnated on this planet. She felt the weight of the Ginzuishou inside her body and how just having it had brought this evil back from the depths. There was no other way. She pushed herself forward, stumbling into a run. Mamoru would forgive her for this. He would. He had to.

The give of Mamoru’s torso shocked her as the sword plunged into him. She muffled a small cry and promised herself that this small moment would pass, and she would see Mamoru smiling at her again one day. Sailor Moon squinted her eyes tightly against the sudden light, tears rolling from them. She held on to the sword’s hilt as tight as she could, hands shaking with the effort. All she could think about was how sorry she was to him. There was no other way to save him from Metallia and now she had killed him. Murdered him. Was the Earth even worth this?

The light engulfed them both and there was nothing. She couldn’t see, or hear one second and in the next, all of her senses came rushing back as if they had never stopped. She shot up, screaming. “ENDYMION!!” The Ginzuishou’s warm, golden light engulfed her as Usagi’s spirit broke from what she had been forced to do. Inside her mind, the Princess offered her the chance to retreat. She would take care of everything. Usagi was content to let her do it and relinquished her control of her body. The golden light faded to soft ebb and flow until finally it dissipated. Serenity opened her eyes and looked around. This was some kind of warehouse area..but how did she get here? What happened to the field? She stood up brushing the gravel from the satin fabric of her fuku.

“Where is this place? This not Tokyo.” The Princess was smart enough to figure that out. Then suddenly she remembered Endymion, and looked around for his body.

‘No! He’s gone!’ She cried out in thoughts, and glared at nothing. That Beryl woman must have taken it. No matter. She would find out where she was and find the Dark Kingdom. That woman would not have Endymion. The Princess looked around, not knowing where to start her search. This warehouse area looked deserted. That’s when she felt the dark energy of some kind of creature. Youma? If it was a youma then she would chase it down and make it pay. Beryl would be found.

Serenity broke out into a run towards the direction of where those demons, Mars, and Venus were. Nothing would delay her from Endymion. She wanted to have him by her side when she destroyed this planet for taking him from her. She skidded to a halt just as she came around the corner, narrowing her eyes. 'Mars? Venus? They have come to stop me. I won’t allow it.'

The Princess decided to stay hidden behind a crate and watch them. Venus and Mars no doubt would sense her soon enough but she would find out their intentions first.

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ibecamemyself
2011-12-25 06:13 am UTC (link)

The battle was done. At least the one with the three demons, though the black smoke that came from the last one Mars killed was surprising. It was unlike anything they had ever come across before. Whatever they had fought was certainly not of the Dark Kingdom. They had nothing to do with Queen Metallia. Which meant she was going to need to research just what was going on here if they wanted to better be able to fight. Because Venus wasn't an idiot. She knew that something had brought them here and it was going to be hard if not impossible to get back. But they'd been pulled into a fight and so she'd fight. It was who she was, what she was born to do. Protect the planet against any threat it might face. Her current threat had been Serenity but now she wasn't so sure.

Still, Serenity was there and something would have to be done about her. So as she started towards her princess, Venus dropped her henshin and returned to Minako, still in her hospital gown and prepped for the surgery that had killed her back home. First, she passed by Rei and quickly scanned her over. She was obviously injured and drained of energy but the idol remembered what she had exclaimed about failing. Something had happened after her surgery, but what? And why didn't she know? Unless she had been correct that it would kill her. But that didn't explain the different time lines they faced. No matter. Rei was in shock and injured but it wasn't life threatening. Good, that meant that Minako could deal with Serenity.

Passing by the injured Senshi, Minako made her way to where Serenity was hiding behind the crates.

"You know as well as I do, Princess, that this is not our home. There is no reason for you to destroy it in a selfish act because your precious prince isn't here."

Harsh? Perhaps. Insubordinate? Most definitely. Did Minako care? Not at all. She was tasked with protecting this planet and if it meant calling out Serenity for her selfish behavior, so be it. Did she think she'd listen? No. But she could hope that somewhere, Usagi was still in there and would hear and break through the princess' control.

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twilight_flash
2011-12-25 06:25 am UTC (link)

Serenity had watched the whole fight in boredom. There was some weird melodrama between Venus and Mars. She was going to have to ask Usagi about that. It wasn't like the Princess spent all day with her soldiers, or any time at all really. The demons were really interesting to her. There weren't youma.

If they weren't youma then what were they? This place was different from Tokyo but she figured it was still Earth, just somewhere else on it. It must be a trick from Beryl to separate her from her beloved. The Princess could barely contain the roll of her eyes as Venus finally decided to go and confront her. Why was she wearing a hospital gown? Serenity felt a little confused but she did not show it. She kept her cold, emotionless mask on as she stood up to face Minako.

She stared at her for a while, observing the girl. In another time, back on the Moon, Venus wouldn't dare be as insubordinate as this but Serenity said nothing. Time changes, people change too.

"Venus. Why are you alive?" She kept herself aloof. Serenity certainly did not care about the Leader of her guard. One time she did. Venus was the closet to her back then. Serenity glanced over Venus shoulder at Mars, and then back to the other teen. "We both know you died yet here you are."

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ibecamemyself
2011-12-25 02:19 pm UTC (link)

If Serenity had even commented on the 'melodrama', Minako would have scoffed. Serenity was the master of that, destroying a planet because her boyfriend died? Tragic, yes. And Minako was the embodiment of love and beauty, but there was more to life than one's significant other. Love came in all varieties, to throw your life away... to destroy a planet was pathetic. She and Mars might have their issues, but they still grasped that little fact.

Honestly, Minako didn't even register that she was once again in a hospital gown. She didn't feel the cold that was around them or that she was weakening from the fight. She was focused solely on this moment. Her memories made it hurt ever so slightly. She and the princess had been close, perhaps even as sisters. But this wasn't the princess she had loved. The one who smiled and enjoyed life. This wasn't the princess she'd lay her life down for. This was the one who destroyed an entire planet, who killed everyone. Grief was powerful, and the Ginzuishou tied to the other teen's emotions, but that didn't change the fact that she had destroyed the planet. It would be one thing if it had been an accident, if she felt remorse but it was clear she didn't. Minako had seen her when Mamoru had been taken, her desire to destroy for him. It was disgusting.

Oh, times did change and so did Minako. Because she wasn't just Venus anymore. She had allowed herself to live as Aino Minako, even in the small amount of time she'd had left. And she didn't regret it. And because of that, she would challenge the princess. It would do no good, really, but someone had to say it.

"I don't know why I'm alive as it seems I did die in that surgery, but my guess is that it's whatever brought us here. This is beyond Beryl, the Dark Kingdom. They wouldn't have brought me back. Whatever did bring us here is the reason for that."

So she'd been wrong that Usagi would break through, though there was still chance.

"We're tasked with protecting this planet, Princess. We were born again to keep it's tragedy from happening again, so I'm not going to stand by and wonder why I'm alive when there is work to be done. If you are a threat, you will be taken down. If you aren't, then fine. I will continue to perform my duties as a senshi. This is beyond the Dark Kingdom, beyond you. So accept that fact and either help, or let Usagi return."

Because, while Minako was often confused by Usagi's antics, she at least knew the girl would want to help in this fight to protect the planet, because where Serenity was selfish, Usagi wasn't. Minako had begun to see that once she stopped treating her as a princess. Rei had been the one who told her that they didn't protect her because she was the princess, that they didn't see her as such, and it was wise, really. So Minako would try to get that girl back, because she was needed here, wherever here was.

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twilight_flash
2011-12-25 06:26 pm UTC (link)

Whatever did bring them here would sorely regret that decision. Serenity was not happy to be away from her own mission. Being here, and being alone, she would have to make some crock of an alliance with Minako and Rei. Usagi was in no shape to return. In fact, the teen was hiding in the far recesses of her mind.

Serenity wouldn't give up on finding Endymion's body and bringing them both, Usagi and herself, the solace of peace for their crimes. That was the only thing keeping her own self going after what had transpired. Usagi was playing the scene over and over and it was much like watching a film for Serenity. She felt the overwhelming pain of her own emotions, and turned away from Minako. With her back turned, she allowed a tear to slip. If she didn't let it out somehow then the Ginzuishou would just let it out for her and that wasn't what she wanted. For now.

Getting control of herself, she closed her eyes for a moment and visualized the white "room" with one sole window. That was Usagi's and her mind. A representation of it. Her spirit saw Usagi sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall, her pigtails had fallen out and a curtain of black hair hid her face from view.

Usagi. You have to stop remembering what happened. You are going to destroy us both accidently.

The other teen made no movement or sign that she had even heard the Princess. She just kept crying silently and thinking about killing Mamoru. The memory manifested itself on the far wall like a movie projector. The Princess kept her body turned away from it. She couldn't look. She wanted to, yes, but that was the only thing she felt emotion for now and her emotions are what destroyed the planet and the moon long ago. Control. She had to have it.

I'm going to supress you farther into our mind. It won't hurt.

The Ginzuishou's warm power flowed through her for the task and Usagi's spirit disappeared from the room. Serenity knew she was not gone. No, the girl had simply found another room in their mind to inhabit, somewhere deeper than the surface. That being done she returned this part of her spirit back to the body. Even though she had been 'gone' for a couple minutes in her mind, it was only seconds in the real world.

Eyes flashing open again, she turned swiftly towards Minako, "I will heal you both. I will help but I am not keeping Usagi a prisoner in her mind. She is deeper than I can reach her and doesn't wish to face reality. She's gone."

With that said, she held out her hands and materialized the Princess Harp. She looked down at it, and began to pluck the notes expertly. Of course this weapon-turned-harp didn't have physical strings but the movements were the same. Back on the Moon, the Princess had played the harp. It was all apart of her 'Princess Lessons'. She still remembered sneaking out to the gardens to get away from her mother during those times. The Ginzuishou on top of the harp began to glow soft and released a golden aura to wash over Minako and Rei, healing whatever injuries they both might have. The fatigue she could do nothing about. They would have to deal with that on their own.

Serenity sent the harp away with a flick of her wrist after she had finished. "We must find out if Endymion is here. I will work with you but this is the only thing I will not relent on."

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fireandpassion
2011-12-25 11:28 pm UTC (link)

As she lay there, Rei heard Minako and Serenity's voices, but she wasn't processing what was being said. She was still stuck on how exactly Minako was here and alive. Part of her wanted to leap up and hug the other Senshi, tell her how much she'd missed her. The other part was telling her this was some sort of trick, that Minako had only appeared to somehow help her stop Serenity and those people that had attacked her. Her heart was tearing itself in two as she fought with herself over how she should react.

Her inner turmoil nearly made her miss when Serenity healed her. But she snapped out of her thoughts enough when the golden light enveloped her, washing her pain away. The exhaustion was still there, but she could deal with that. At least she could move now without feeling muscles protest. She stood up and finally joined the other two, eyeing Serenity suspiciously. Did she trust her? Of course not, not after what she'd witnessed. Would she accept the help? Yes because they had to find out where they were, and they had to find Makoto and Ami-chan as well. But there was a problem.

"Fine, but we must also find Makoto and Ami-chan. I don't think they're anywhere near here. I do not sense them at all. But we must be careful, there is much evil around here. It is different from the Dark Kingdom, more oppressive." She knew the other two would be able to sense it on some level, but Rei had a heightened sense. She could sense some people that seemed to be both good and evil, which confused her. Rei pointedly kept her gaze on Serenity because if she looked at Minako, she would lose the grip on her emotions and she would break like a dam with a large crack in it. She didn't want to break here in front of Serenity. More than ever, Rei needed to keep control of herself. At least with Serenity, she could focus on the anger and contempt she felt for her.

"We also need to make it a priority to find out exactly how we are here. I had thought you had something to do with it because you were the last thing I saw before I found myself here. But I know now that it wasn't you." Which was something Rei admitted begrudgingly. She wanted to blame Serenity, to yell at her for this, but she couldn't now.

Finally, Rei dared to look at Minako. For a moment, a wave of emotions washed through her, but she clenched a fist, digging her nails into the palm of her hand. She wanted to ask how Minako was here if she was dead, but she doubted the Senshi had any answer to that right now. It was then that she noticed Minako was still in the hospital gown. Another twinge of emotion ran through her, clawing at the wound that was still raw from having lost Minako, but she managed to keep herself under control for the meantime. "First, you need clothes." She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone Luna had given her and handed it to Minako. There were plenty of clothing options for her in there.

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ibecamemyself
2011-12-26 03:14 am UTC (link)

Serenity saying that Usagi was "gone" caused Minako's eyes to narrow ever so slightly. Did she believe it possible that the reincarnation of Serenity was in pain and hiding? Yes. She did believe that was possible. After all, she remembered how strongly she fought to retain her memories of Mamoru as Minako tried to erase those memories with Zoicite's music box. To fight so strong for those memories and not want to hide from the pain if she lost him was understandable. She had tried to be strong for all of them, but if Serenity had destroyed the world as Mars had told her, than Endymion, thus Mamoru, was dead. But Minako refused to believe that Usagi was forever lost to them. She had fought too hard for that to ever be a real option in the idol's mind.

The comment on helping caused Minako to quirk a brow but she had no real time to say anything to question Serenity's intent for she was suddenly healing both her and Rei of their attacks sustained from the battle they had just gone through. It did nothing for her tumor but Minako already knew that would be the case, otherwise she would have been healed of that when Serenity had first healed everyone who had been injured when she first awoke.

And there it was. The demand that they find Endymion. Oh how Minako wanted to retort, and she would have had Rei not decided to join in the conversation. She was aware that the priestess was refusing to look at her, though if she thought Minako dead, it made sense. So she merely nodded at the words spoken.

"I agree on both counts. We should try to locate both Jupiter and Mercury, and learn where we are so we can continue to protect this planet. Knowing where we are and what we're facing will help us in locating all three of them if they're even here." Because somehow, Minako doubted it. Mercury and Jupiter would have shown up here at the fight were they here as well.... and Serenity never would have come here if Endymion was close by, she would have gone to him. But right now was not the time to mention that as she really didn't want to cause Serenity to throw another hissy fit and destroy the planet.

Of course, her attention was then caught by Rei and she blinked in confusion, forgetting the whole hospital gown thing.

"What... oh. Right. Thank you, Mars." Perhaps one day, Minako would call the Senshi by their names, but she was still adjusting to seeing herself as more than Venus so it would take time. Still, the Senshi leader took the offered phone and flipped through the pictures until she settled on an oversized white sweater paired with black leggings and black boots. Once in actual clothing, Minako returned the phone to Rei.

Now if only Artemis were here. Perhaps he'd have the answers they were seeking.

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twilight_flash
2011-12-26 04:10 am UTC (link)

Serenity didn't really care if they believed her or not. The senshi wouldn't trust her. She was a psychopath according to their view of her. She had no regard for life. She didn't agree with that though. It was just that she didn't -care- about anything that wasn't Endymion. He was taken away from her before and she at least wanted to be with him in death.

Serenity looked exasperated at Rei's thinking it was her who caused all this. "And why would I want to get us stranded in the middle of nowhere?Really, Mars. Use Venus' example sometimes." Yeah, she was half-insulting the priestess. No one said she had to like working with them. Seeing, Rei hand her phone over for Minako's use made her remember that Usagi had one too. She dropped her henshin, her royal gown appearing on her body and took out her own TeletiaS, flipping through the pictures for an outfit.

"..Does all she wear is this juvenile clothing?" The Princess muttered, complaining more to herself really. She finally saw something she could wear. A white dress with some kind of frills. Modern fashion was strange too her. She'd prefer to walk around wearing his gown but she didn't want any weird questions. Talking when she wasn't spoken to or needed to talk wasn't something she wanted to do.

Having dressed in appropriate clothing, Serenity looked up at the other two girls. "Venus. You're the leader. Lead us." She said almost mockingly. "I'm tired of standing here and what if more demons come? Let's go."

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fireandpassion
2011-12-26 04:29 am UTC (link)

Nodding to Minako, she watched as she chose some clothes, then handed the phone back. Rei flipped through the pictures, finding a coat for herself. After all, it was suddenly colder than it had been where she'd been. After fitting herself with a waistcoat, she slid her phone into her pocket, then turned her attention back to Serenity. Who was now back to being bitchy.

Rei crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes a bit, inwardly thankful for the bitchy response. It allowed her to focus on being bitchy back instead focusing on the other emotions she'd rather not think about right now. There'd be time to properly deal with Minako being alive, and that was not now. She was trying so hard to keep that part of her inside until she was somewhere alone.

"Forgive me, Princess, but I just saw you destroy the world. It was only natural that I thought I was dead and this was some kind of afterlife at first." The way she said Princess was far less than reverent, and she didn't care. Though her choice of words gave away a bit of her current mental state as she'd thought she'd ended up in some hellish underworld instead of going to a better, more peaceful place. And she did feel like a failure as a leader. After all, she'd failed to complete the mission Minako had set her on. Yes Makoto, Ami and she had all given everything they had to fight and stop the Princess, but it hadn't been enough.

That only helped stir up those emotions within her that she was trying so hard to suppress. She closed her eyes and lowered her head as Serenity chose some clothes to wear. She tried to breathe deeply, trying to put herself into a meditative state to reach a balance within her where she could keep the pain and agony and misery to a minimum. As Serenity told Minako to take the lead, Rei kept her eyes closed, waiting for an audible cue from Minako to leave.

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ibecamemyself
2011-12-26 04:58 am UTC (link)

Minako said nothing as Rei and Serenity had their back and forth. It did make sense, Rei's perspective thinking that she was dead after what had happened, and she had vocalized just what had happened. Destiny hadn't been changed. The princess still had destroyed the planet. Psychotic would be taking it a bit far, but Serenity was still the enemy if she continued on her path of destruction. Because to not care about anything if Endymion was gone was just sad and pathetic. Codependency, it wasn't healthy.

Instead, the idol just closed her eyes and steadied herself. Her energy was fast failing her, a reminder of her condition. So, it seemed they hadn't gotten rid of it before she had died and it had come with her here. That was going to be something Minako needed to look into. But right now, her princess was mocking her about being leader and so the fourteen year old merely opened her eyes, keeping the sarcastic quip to herself in regards about how they clearly couldn't have Serenity being bored by standing somewhere. Not to mention, she didn't know the extent of Rei's English speaking skills and she doubted the princess would know the language as it didn't exist back in the Silver Millennium and the fact that they'd been reborn in Japan.

So, giving a curt nod, eyes briefly locking with Rei to see just how she was holding up, Minako just sighed. Clearly not well if her eyes closed.

"Fine, this way." With that, Minako turned and started them out of the warehouse district, taking in her surroundings as the three walked. Nothing was said it seemed, but what was there to say? Minako and Rei didn't trust Serenity and Serenity clearly didn't care about making friends with either of them as all she cared about was Endymion. As if friendship meant nothing.... which was ironic given Minako was just now realizing its importance, but they'd had friendship and sisterhood back in the Silver Millennium.... back in that time of innocence before Endymion and the destruction.

It was dark out and many places were closed, the date on a newspaper stating it being Christmas Eve in the year 2011. Again, more proof that this was beyond the Dark Kingdom and Metallia and more proof that the chances of the others being here was slim to none. But for now, it was searching for a place to stay that wouldn't ask too many questions about three fourteen year old Japanese girls who had no money. Well, there were the phones but even that wouldn't help with the age thing....

Walking past a hotel, Minako's eyes landed on a group of teens dressed in elf costumes. That.... now that could work. Holding her hand out to the priestess, the idol waited until Rei seemed to figure out what she wanted. Once it was in her hand, Minako took a picture of the elf costumes and then used the camera to change into it before handing it to Rei who could hand it to Serenity if Serenity decided not to take the hint on what to do.

"We'll sneak in with that group and then find an empty room to stay the night."

Right now, they needed off the streets. Tomorrow they could work on figuring out the rest.

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