30: The Murderer
I think, without any doubt in my mind, that I have been truly, truly scared only a handful of times in my life. One was when I had nearly died when I was a young child, almost run over by an errant transport in front of the sailor school I attended. Another was more recent to the Great Matter, when Dyka had nearly killed me the night I had killed Tsukino Usagi.
If I truly had to pick another time, the moment I met the demon of fire certainly was it. And that moment was far more frightening than any other moment, than anything that I had ever encountered before.
-......Get....... My voice was cracked as I attempted to face what was surely my own end. -.......G-get back!!!!!
One of my longer appendages reached for the bloodied knife. If I could reach it, at the least I would be able to somehow defend myself. But the fire demon was powerful, powerful and fast. A string of fire immediately whipped my reaching tentacle, leaving a deep, black scorch mark upon it.
-AAAAAAAAUGH!!!!!!
-What is wrong, little Floritiuse? The figure smiled through the flames. -Are you hurt?
I grabbed my tentacle away with tears in my eyes. The mark was still smoking from the hit, and it was more painful than anything I had ever felt before. It was like the heat of the hottest star had struck me.
-.........i........
-You look frightened, little Floritiuse. The lames leaped up. -Here. Let me take that fear away from you.
I saw the figure's mouth move, though I could hear what she said above the roar of the fire, but I knew what it meant. Two balls of energy came from the flame, flung right at me. I threw myself to the side, letting the attack crash through the wall. I gave a cry as I landed, for I realized something about my attacker from her offensive against me.
My attacker was a sailor soldier!
It had to be. Though she did not say the words out loud, the power was the same, the way the power was used. Yet this sailor soldier was far more powerful than anyone I had ever beheld before. She could, perhaps, use the very air around her to attack me if she so wished.
It cannot be a crime for me to admit that I had never seen a more powerful sailor soldier in my life.
-....Who...........why?
I could only bring my words out in gaps. The heat was very dizzying, so it was very difficult for me to speak. But fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, the soldier seemed to read my mind, and knew what I would have asked, as if I had said it coherently.
-I have seen you very often lately..... the monster started to step towards me. -You may not know me, not in this way, little Floritiuse. But I, I know you. I know your fears very well. I live upon that fear. The fear of being trash.
-Trash....?
-I have longed, all of my life, to see the death of those little children like you. The figure kept towards me. -The destruction of weak stars. The upheaval and chaos. The beautiful entropy of change. The death of people like you.
The fire died down, and with that, I saw the figure's form change. Before, it had been clothed only in its own flame. Now, though she was still aflame, the soldier's true form was much easier to see.
She was dressed in barely anything, save for a black sailor top that was made ragged by her power, a strange black plate that barely covered her breasts, black gloves that covered her claw-like hands, and black pants. Or I thought they were pants, until I looked closer, and saw that it was fur, and that she had gold hooves for feet. Other than that, she was most certainly a like a human, similar to Tsukino Usagi's stock, taller - but she was in flames. Her entire body was still like than of a bright ember, and even her hair was like an endless fire coming from her head.
-You are not the first.... she held out her hand. -And even now, you shall not be the last.
I nodded up to see a ball came upon her hand. It was not one of energy, but was rather like a looking glass, with images inside it. When I looked up at it, I was suddenly moved in my own mind by the same images - only they were more graphic, more real.
I could not resist her powerful assault on my mind. Helpless, I watched as various images came into my mind and then vanished quickly, shifting within the blink of an eye. I couldn't get the scenes out of my mind, and I doubt I ever will, for they were so graphic that one could not forget.
Yet I saw enough. They passed through my sight. Sailor Jyanda. Sailor Zra. Brutus. Sailor Michag and her brother. Lei Ozwara. Many others I did not know, did not hear of. But they all eventually died, each death that was at this soldier's hands - for they were all at this soldier's hands, I now knew - more violent than the last.
-It was you.....
-Yes, it was me. The orb disappeared. She was quite close to me now. -At least you now know. Your search for truth is at its end.
She suddenly burst into bright flames again. I was all the way up against the lobby wall by this time, surrounded by her flames. There was no way that I could possibly escape, not even if I tried to get to the sides of her, out to the hole she herself created. I would have been turned to ash either way.
-It is a pity. She held her hands out. -If you were not in alignment with such trash, perhaps I could have spared you this fate. You could have been great.
She created another large wall of flame in front of me, and allowed it to come towards me. I closed my eyes, and waited for the end. Now, it was only a matter of several moments, and my brief life would be over. It was going to be over so quickly.
It was almost laughable.
Almost.
-STOP!!!!!!
The sudden scream echoed through the lobby. Through the oncoming flames, I could see my attacker's perplexed expression at the shout. I slowly turned my head towards the direction she was looking towards.
That was how I briefly saw the red cloak through the fire. It fell onto my attacker, briefly blinding her. I remembered, then and there, that the young boy from BatBi had not been the only person on the transport who had sat near me.
-AAAAARGH!!! The robe disintegrated in the flame. -What i-
-.......ver Power KISS!!!!
The flames in front of me suddenly disappeared. I saw my attacker stagger back from the power and cry out in angered shock, before being brought face to face with a great white light. It came from the side, growing bigger and brighter as it came towards us. I covered my eyes as it came over me, trying to shield myself from the attack.
Themis. Why?
I heard the voice faintly echo in my head. At this, I opened my eyes. I was within the attack, and the light that came from it was very bright and powerful. Yet, despite that I was inside it, I was unhurt.
We are soldiers. We are lonely.
I heard her scream come from in front of me. She was still there; my attacker was still alive. But she was being hurt by the attack. I could hear it in her voice.
-WHAT IS THIS!?! OW!!!!! AUUUUGH!!!!
This is the wrong way.
The attack finally broke, having used its energy, and created a surge wave of energy which threw me back into the wall. Because I had not been far from the wall, and was still on the ground, my journey was short and relatively painless, though I was pinned up by the air for several seconds. But I digress.
The other sailor soldier, on the other hand, was thrown clear across the lobby into the shadows, her flame almost completely blown out by the blast. Thick smoke emanated from her now dull and pale body as she fell to the floor with a growl. The smoke began to fill the room, and it began to choke my breathing.
-Uuugh......
I kept myself down to avoid the smoke coming right at me. I took several great breaths of the cooled and clearer air - for it was not as stifling as the air above me - and I managed to re-compose myself in this way. It was a brief and welcome relief.
However, I then saw the silhouette of my attacker slowly start to rise. I tensed up, ready for the next assault, ready for when the flame rose again. For all of her groaning, she was not dead, nor did she even seem injured, as I would have liked her to be from such a powerful attack. I prepared myself.
Then I saw the strange flower strafe the ground in front of the figure as she started moving.
-DON'T MOVE! Through the smoke, I saw Sailor Moon's weapon - a large white staff - pointed at my attacker. -Let Themis go now, or I'll make sure you regret it!!
There was a moment of silence at this. Certainly, I was silent, for I was shocked. Never did I imagine that Tsukino Usagi would come rescue me! How could she have gotten out of the house? Even with her disguise - which I cursed myself for not seeing through, as she had known Bysey such as Brutus who could have taught her such things? The guard would have known it was her!
Before I could wonder more about it, however, I heard another sound come from the sailor soldier in the shadows. It was a very hoarse, mocking laugh.
-Ohhoho. Ohohooo!!! The sailor soldier gasped. -OHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!!
She forced herself up, and started towards my rescuer. This time, there were no flames to shield her true looks. She was of Tsukino Usagi's race, or looked it. Her skin was pale, almost white, save for a spot on her forehead, which had a strange red sign that was the shape of a distorted star upon it. It was not the only thing that was red upon her; her once pupiless eyes now had irises as red as blood. The bottoms of her long locks of hair were also of this color, yet closer to the top, the locks were a of a dark gold hue.
-Hooo....... She stopped laughing, and her eyes sparkled as she started towards Sailor Moon. -Yes, wonderful. I commend you. That was an effective treat. I was certainly not expecting you, let alone the weakling one. But you should know, I am not one to be caught off guard again. And you WILL pay for this, my friend. Usagi-chan.
I looked over and saw that Sailor Moon was taken aback by the term which the sailor soldier had acknowledged her with. She seemed confused at first. As the moments went on, however, and as the other soldier approached her, her expression turned from one of confusion, to one of recognition, to one of shock and horror.
-It has been a while.
CRUNCH. Under the demon's foot was the flower, crushed to pieces, its petals scattered. I gave a cry at this.
-No!
-......the rose......
-Hasn't it?
Back and forth, from Sailor Moon to the stranger. Sailor Moon took a step back at the destruction of the flower.
-.....Can it be...? I saw her face turn white. -No......Is it.....is it you.......it is.........Sailor Galaxia!
