Starlit Ruins

by Simon Woodington

Time. Probably one of the most alien and familiar aspects of life. Something to which many feelings have been ascribed. At this particular moment, laborious, unyielding, unsympathetic, unmerciful, and foremost both responsible and not. Yet, to the five anxiety-laden young women, there was a sheer gratefulness. They were alive.

  Consciousness, to the young Princess Tsukino Usagi, had returned during what appeared to be a stunningly glorious midday. They lay somewhat precariously strewn about the edge of a densely populated oil painting-like forest of rich jades and deep coppery earth tones against a soft butter-yellow and crystal blue sky.

  'Usagi-chan…'

  It was Mina, her beach-blond waist length hair slipped over her white and blue sailor school suited smooth shoulders. She helped the wounded, fatigued young leader sit up, who winced and gasped out at the echoed pain of several cracked ribs.

  'Mina-chan…? Are you okay?'

  'Ow! Um, I guess,' she muttered, grasping her rib cage. Dully, and oddly, she knew now would not be the appropriate moment to burst into tears.

  Altogether unusually selfless.

  'You okay…?' she asked faintly, biting back the powerful urge to cry.

  Mina nodded slowly. Her gaze wandered over the others, who sat in a very small circle, including the previously near fatally wounded raven haired priestess, Hino Rei.

  'Rei-chan!' she called, running her hands over a few of the multitude of bruises by which she was marked. The recepient nodded, her lips tightening into a compressed line as their gazes met. She nimbly pulled back a collection of her thick, well-kempt hair which hung loosely, albeit messily, over her left shoulder.

  'You almost died!' she wailed, running over to her and hugging her desperately. 'What happened?!'

  'I don't know!' she barked, shoving her back slightly. 'Get off me Usagi-chan!'

  'I'm sorry,' she sniffled. 'I just…'

  'I know…' she replied with a heavy sigh.

  Usagi plunked herself amongst her friends, somehow feeling very distant, even though she could easily lay her hand upon any of them just then.

  'Where are we?' Makoto half-growled, eyes darting.

  Ami played her delicate fingers over her compact computer. A stricken look bent her thin eyebrows, and twisted her small mouth in a deeply ingrained frown.

  'We're not home… um, I mean, on Earth, Usagi-chan. Whatever that portal was… it took us away.'

  'We should transform,' she noted, running her fingers through on of the thick, tangled length of distinctly unique hair.

  'We can't. At least, I couldn't. I don't know if it's because our powers won't work here, or if we're all too scared.'

  Makoto frowned sternly, standing, and grasping her transformation pen.

  'Scared? Who said I was scared?! They can go to bloody blazes!' She paused, then remarked, 'Uh, whoever they are… anyway…'

  She then raised her arm and proclaimed: 'Sailor Jupiter - Make Up!'

  The girls stared on as her second stage transformation introduced the power of her senshi title as uniform, something they had until then thought impossible.

  'It does matter,' Rei negated. 'You can't possibly have enough power to teleport us all home.'

  'Why don't you try?' she barked, eyes narrowed as she faced her, hands upon her impressive hips.

  'I…'

  Hesitantly, she stood, taking her red handled pen in hands, and gazing at it brief before raising it and calling: 'Sailor Mars - Make Up!'

  Her mystic metamorphosis transcended her lack of confidence, bringing her the somewhat waned semblence of her heroically proven alter ego. Then, as they looked on, her white and red uniform shimmered and retreated as she collapsed to the soft grassy earth. Tearily, she shook her head, huddling against Ami, who hugged her comfortingly.

  'I'm sorry… so sorry!' she cried, voice wavering.

  Abruptly, as Usagi approached Rei to lend her support and soft words, a stunning blast threw her to the unyielding earth.

  'Iye!' Jupiter snarled, whirling to face the enemy, and froze in abject horror. It was no more than a second that she stared upon the futuristic saucer-like airborne barge, upon which was a snake-like creature surrounded by four lovely grey body-suited young women. The nearest, despite the eye masking silver-grey helmet upon her head, fired an energy bolt from what looked like a wrist mounted weapon. Makoto barely dodged this, and gave out a cry as Mina crumbled to the ground at the impact of the weapon fired by the strange woman next to her.

  'Supreme Thunder!'

  The shard of electric force struck and rocked the barge, after which plain, simple attacks from the strange women brought down the remained senshi. In a blind rage, Jupiter leap at the alien vessel, and folded, dropping like a heap of stones as she was knocked aside by twin flashes of energy.

  Gazing faintly at the barge as it hovered over them, she felt weakness draw her to a dark, cool place.

  @~%~~~

  Over a crystal of turquoise, a woman marred by the violence of fist, whip, and neural mace raised her closed fist to the middle of her chest, her heart, and bowed her head.

  “Sivil-san!”

  The young battered dirty blond snapped her head towards the voice as she tapped a switch hidden in her wrist, a cool, unruffled look sharing the address with the faintly attractive features of her face. The crystal faded to what might have been an alternate reality. Her voice was calm, none of the abundant tension she felt evident in her manner.

  “Yes, Usagi-chan?”

  “My friends, my…” Team? Is that even right anymore? “Um, they're ready. Are…” the pig-tailed blond paused, her eyes wandering helplessly. “Are we going to leave?”

  Sivil nodded firmly. “Yes. We must. Do the clothes fit?”

  Was there nothing remaining of which she was uncertain? Reluctantly, she succumbed to this truth, internally. Wistfully, she nodded, running her fingers over the icy silver silk cat suit. Concern lit upon Sivil's pleasant, yet hard face. “How are you doing?”

  “We're alive,” she stated softly in the somewhat awkward verbal conjugation of English, as if the fact surprised her.

  “No,” she negated. “I mean you, Usagi. Maybe you should talk to them. Before we go.”

  She shrugged absently.

  “They need you,” Sivil stated. “There's no one else to lead them. They depend on you.”

  Usagi's sapphire eyes reached for her, and set steadily upon her. A momentary focus flickered.

  “How do you know that?”

  Sivil froze in word and deed for an instant before allowing herself to speak. “It's obvious. You're a natural leader.”

  Usagi shook the husk of recent pain for a moment while she bristled with pride. “Really? You think so?”

  “Yes Usagi, I really do,” and gentle smile broke the mask of stalwart emotional death. For a moment she considered the young woman, before letting her words travel forth. 'Do you need time?'

  “Do we have time?” The pride dropped and scurried into a darkened recess of her consciousness, not to be forgotten.

  “Long enough.” Her facade of strength returned, eyes averted slightly.

  “How long is that?” she nearly whined, sounding frightened.

  “Just tell me when you're ready to go,” she stated, turning away, leaving the matter closed.

  Saying nothing, Usagi retreated from the room. This woman, this light offering hope, one destroyed when they arrived here, when it became clear their situation, was an odd creature. There was a silhouette of death standing beside her, a dismal shadow drawing Usagi short of confidence. It had been hard to give up. To submit to the Splugorth Slaver. No, that had not been difficult. When it came down it, they never did. What had it been? Painful. To watch her friends as their strength failed, as their training faltered. To see that Luna and Artemis were gone, that she could not reach Mamoru again, that he could not protect her, nor touch her again.

  That was the most dramatic point. Fear. Of everything.

  'Usagi-chan? What did she sa
y?' Ami's voice and language of body spoke of her demure nature, as ever, yet there was an additional anxiety to her. Usagi waved her off, sitting with mildly graceful motions in a small circle of cushions. Silently, she bid the others join her. Slowly, they did, each in a varied state of a theme in mind and soul.

  Makoto, as the fury and strength of the Sailor Senshi, looked beaten, as the others, yet she remained unshaken, powerful. To Usagi it was clear that she would be the last to fall. Ami's battered form - slender as a cat, despite any mistreatment - betrayed her nature: The intellectual whiz kid with brains where brawn was inappropriate. In comparison, the two made a sharp contrast. While the Ami seemed to be faring well, she was far from the most resilient of the Senshi, and was the first likely to crumble. Watching the fire and heart of the team, Rei and Mina, it was plain they had been hurt. Why she placed the two together did not occur until she noted that they spent more than coincidental amounts of time exchanging shamed and scared glances.

  'Rei… nani honto-wa?' Usagi's sudden question was sharp, and each of the four girls emitted a short gasp.

  'Gomen nasai, Usagi-chan,' she apologized softly, not willing to elaborate, eyes downcast.

  'Mina?' Usagi prodded, turning to the most experienced Sailor Senshi.

  The golden blond felt herself wanting to flee, and that her eyes fled from Usagi's gaze. 'Rei and I, we… we…' she was trembling, forcing down her reaction. 'No, nevermind.'

  The two shared a deep, telling look and Usagi blinked, worried and lost. All she could do was apologize. 'Gomen. Gomen nasai, Rei-chan, Mina-chan,' Usagi muttered in reply. After several minutes of intimate silence, she spoke, drawing out the situation. 'What will we do? Ami? Do you think we can make it back?'

  Ami flinched self-consciously. Realizing she was reasonably safe, she nodded, and retrieved her miniature computer. Opening the pink make-up case, she noted - as if to herself, 'I've already done the calculations. If we can… well… um…' her ammunition was cut short. Her serene blue eyes descended into sorrow. 'I don't know. We should be able to, if we can get a hold of some magic stuff. Maybe some scrolls for something. Teleportation, or… maybe… I don't know.'

  Makoto piped up, 'But we can't use magic! We don't know how.'

  An emotionally darkened “hmm” selected one girl, then moved through each once, before dying in a faintly off-key chorus.

  'I'll try to learn,' Mina determined. 'As Sailor V I ran into a couple demons who used the stuff. Cancelling their summoning spell was the only way I beat them.'

  They all handed her an amazed stare. She blushed, embarrassed.

  'Well… you never asked…' she replied with a weak chuckle.

  'Anyone have any idea, um, what we need?'

  Each shook her head in turn as determined by Usagi's questioning gaze.

  'Usagi-chan,' Ami half-whispered, trembling eyes upon the owner of the name. 'A-are we going to make it? I-I… I m-mean home.'

  By silence, she admitted uneasily her uncertainty. She got to her feet, expending energy she felt beyond her.

  'I've got to… Um, I should tell Sivil we're going.' No, she thought, “ready” isn't the right word.

  Sivil said nothing, merely nodding when faced by Usagi. Proceeding through the hush and aphony of Atlantis' back alleys and tunnels, words became necessary only in caution, usually at the behest of Sivil.

  @~%~~~

  Usagi, for once, was paying attention, and noted that this woman's knowledge was great. What was it she had said? A slave of ten years? And not sold? She lacked the time to inquire, and wondered how much truth belonged to the words at any cost. Even at that of their lives.

  Atlantis was beautiful, flawless in appearance, if only to hide… no, she paused. The Splugorth did not seem to be concerned in the least of their phantasmagoria, the swatch of evil that permeated every structure of the formerly lost realm. They did not hide their deeds, the slave trading, the domination of races, the atrocities of their existence. The sky explained the method of the ideal dream, while below it was disregarded for carnal pleasures, and other inequities.

  “Hold up,” Sivil whispered. “That's it, we're here.”

  Usagi laid a hand upon the tunnel wall, panting dry heaves, while the others took to recovering their winds. Beyond the shadow of metal crate lay an endless expanse of water, and a gleaming, thrumming dock wrapped tightly to the edge of the city-island.

  “What?” Usagi half-muttered.

  Sivil turned to her sternly, eyes narrowed, brows knotted. “Hush! This is the crucial point. We need a little ship, a scow, or maybe a freighter. Something!”

  Her eyes sailed the opportune vessels, each the prodigy of modern technology. Unfortunately, every one of them was crawling with guards, Over and Power-Lords, among other Splugorth.

  Fine, she determined, wrenching herself to the decision. There's no other way.

  Face set with a dispassionate glare, she swiveled to Usagi. “I need you to head to that ship,” she stated, indicating a crippled looking little freighter.

  Trepidation swam in Usagi. “But… Why Sivil-san?”

  'Don't question, just go. When you reach Japan, just look for a little shop called Conroy's Cybernetics. Give them this.” She produced a tiny jade crystal, shoved it into Usagi's open palm and closed it with the other. She then stepped out of the tunnel, not looking back.

  “No, Sivil-san! You can't!”

  A serene expression declared itself, and was offered to Usagi in Sivil's face as she gazed backwards. “Go!”

  Usagi felt tears well as the young woman brought forth the pace of a run, heading directly for the required distraction.

  'Usagi,' Makoto urged, touching her shoulder. 'C'mon.'

  Lethargic, she agreed, feeling vaguely numbed.

  Gazing behind her, she thought: I'm sorry Usagi. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to know you better. I'm sorry for what I have to do, but you'll later thank me.

  She swiftly placed herself in the blind spot of a five-foot tall being of stony skin, tail, claw, and asymmetrically armoured figure. The tripod of eyes failed to perceive her, while the unseen nose detected her scent. She buried her repulsion with the greater need; save the Senshi.

  'Hi-ha!' she snapped, taking an arm by the hand and flipping the inhuman weight over her stiffened shoulder. The creature grasped her with the fourth member of a quad of limbs as it flipped nimbly to land upon the pair of armored legs. Hauled in the reverse of the preferred direction by thin lengths of hair, she stumbled backwards, twisting to face it. The slender beast uttered a low whining growl, striking her with a clawed hand.

  She cried out as the fingers bit into rib and lung.

  'Sivil!' Usagi screamed desperately, stopping her flight for the freighter.

  'Usagi-chan iye!' Makoto grabbed her shoulder, spurning her onwards, tossing her roughly behind the crates just within the door of the sea bound vessel.

  Another cry flew from the mouth of the doomed young woman while other Splugorth approached.

  “Escaped human slave! Kill it!”

  'Sivi…' her words were cut off by a swift motion drawing her face to the side, and causing a red welt to display upon her cheek. Makoto glared at her.

  'Don't! You'll attract their attention!' Anger inducing fear clenched Makoto's jaw and tensed the muscles of her face.

  Shocked, she sat down. 'Makoto…?'

  Looking on, amazed, the others saw the brawn of the Senshi made a harsh gesture for silence. The cacophony beyond the open loading doors fell away as Sivil's screams halted. The violence hardened brunette winced at the sickly pronouncement of death; an audible dissection of flesh and bone.

  'Oh… by the Goddess,' Usagi sobbed, burying her face in her hands, knees drawn to her seated body. Mute empathy held the team, and brought them to sit, hide and cower in the silver of hope provided by the death.

  Chronos visited, wandering the room with Silence, who explained Nothing, who agreed wholeheartedly with the other two. Silence found herself cut o
ff by the introduction of Sound as a low, rumbling, strangely calming and quiet hum. Makoto stood, and began wandering the storage bay, searching for… well, anything. Preferably weapons. She returned in short order with blankets, a few packages of rations, and an odd looking pistol.

  'What do we do when the ship docks?' Ami asked hesitantly. Usagi looked surprised as she curled up in the yellow tinted cloth covering. The short blue haired girl usually had more answers than she did questions.

  'We get off,' Makoto supplied shortly. 'Then get away. The Splugorth won't catch us again. Anyone who gets in our way will have to deal with me.' She hefted the pistol.

  'I wouldn't use that unless someone attacks us first,' Rei observed quietly. 'We don't even know what it does!'

  'I doubt that weapon is not powerful enough to kill,' Ami said in an uncharacteristically obvious statement. The other three nodded agreement as she bit into a portion of ration, then spat, grimacing.

  'Usagi-chan?' Mina asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. 'You okay?'

  Usagi looked at Mina, a frightened distance in her eyes.

  'I… wish Sivil hadn't died,' she said. 'I wish Luna was here.'

  They had all been struck by the reality of that loss. Luna had not come through the portal with them.

  'Ami-chan, it's all right. You're doing the best you can,' Usagi offered consolingly.

  The youngest of the five nodded weakly, trembling slightly. The rest of the trip had given way to Sound as moving water, and the uncomfortable realization of uncertainty of the future. They had docked some hours later. Makoto woke everyone, aside from Usagi, who had been too scared to sleep.

  'You going to be alright?' Mina had asked as they had prepared to leave. Her pale orange cat suit accented her trim figure as she moved gracefully toward Usagi.

  Usagi nodded, not sure of the truth of it.

  'Let's go,' she distracted. 'We'd better do this before it's too late.' Or before I give in to fear.

  Makoto formed the head of the line, with Ami behind her, Usagi in the middle, for the protection, following back to Mina, and Rei at the end. They followed a line of crates off the ship, and after some time, managed to reach the dock were they could see a town at the edge. Freedom had never seemed closer since their arrival here!

  “Halt!” A tall white-faced overlord bellowed deeply from a deck aboard the ship.

  Makoto turned, rage afire within her, and realizing a perfect outlet.

  “Not a chance buster!” she snarled. Without hesitation, she raised the pistol and pointed it at the OverLord.

  “Seize them!” The OverLord did not appear to be terribly troubled by Makoto's weapon, or where it was aimed. A half dozen blind warrior women, on the other hand, seemed quite concerned. So concerned, in fact, that they rushed the five girls simultaneously.

  “Transform…!” Usagi commanded with little conviction. Without Luna there was no one but her to give the orders. Her first thought was of their senshi powers. She was not sure if their transformation pens would work - especially in the light of past evidence - but the chance for freedom was so clear.

  One by one, each respective Sailor Senshi replaced the five human girls. There was a discrepancy that Usagi noted with ill ease. Each uniform had appeared, but without the usual transformation energies. Due to the speedy approach of the blind women, Usagi did not have the time to ponder the matter. She was just barely able to dodge a blast from a weapon much like Makoto's. Ami was the first to attempt the utilization of her powers.

  “Shabon Spray!” she called in English, crossing her arms in front of her, then pushing the bubbles forth as they appeared in one motion. The bubbles dispersed, creating a heavy fog. The women did not stop, nor did they even slow, uninhibited by the normally visually inhibiting attack. She thought, it’s not affecting them!

  Usagi called out a rapid succession of orders, mainly of attack and retreat. As the battle ensued, it appeared that they were winning. Two of the six blind warrior women remained standing. Only Ami and Rei and fallen on their side. Usagi shouted for Jupiter to grab Mercury, and Venus to grab Mars, they were going to retreat.

  A shot came out of the blue and hit Usagi in the upper arm, near her shoulder. A brilliant flash of pain burned, Usagi cried out in agony. Mina screamed, 'your arm!'

  As the pain ebbed, Usagi looked for her left arm. A gut wrenching shock tore through her midsection: It was gone! There was a great, dark looking burn from which the pain still stemmed. A blackness wrapped itself around Usagi's mind.

  @~%~~~

  The face of a violently weathered young woman flicked into existence before his wearied eyes. She squinted for a moment, then straightened her back and winced as she squared her shoulders. Her hair was matted with grease and dirt, her face a mesh of bruises, scars, and fresh lacerations.

  “Date: 35853.6. Sergeant Silver, this phase of the mission has succeeded without error. The collective emotional state of the Sailor Soldiers -” she paused to nod to something off screen “- is fearful, uncertain, and hopeful. Their experience conforms to the specifications provided. We have remained here for twenty-four hours, and are about to proceed. With any luck, I will return alive. If not, I pray to die with honor to the service.”

  She signed off with a customary salute before the image departed to the null of cyberspace.

  “Lt. Nira was later slain in the escape, though the Sailor Soldiers were able to stow away aboard a cargo vessel bound for Japan,” the icy tones of a screen-bound plain-faced young woman elaborated.

  He bowed his head and breathed a shallow sigh.

  “Location?”

  “Currently unknown. It is assumed that the Soldiers landed safely in Japan.”

  “Never assume anything,” he stated, adamant. “Send a scout team to investigate the matter. Immediately.”

  “Yes sir,” the woman represented in the screen bowed her head slightly. “Will there be anything else?”

  “Yes. Notify our global contacts. We cannot afford to waste time.”

  Chapter 2

  Rapt Prey