onepassingnight | ☆ she dreams of past demons 004;

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☆ she dreams of past demons 004;

[ There's always the element of disbelief that can distinguish nightmares for true fears. But this dream.. it may look like a nightmare, but to Usagi, it's reality. Scenes pass by in a flash but linger far too long for her taste.

People shatter into stardust before her; the first one being the worst. It's of a man. Tall with dark hair and beautiful blue eyes. She and him are at the airport where he hands her a beautiful ring. He's in the middle of making a promise -- something to do when he returns from his trip before he pauses. He's quickly turning into stardust, leaving a golden crystal behined before a hand shoots out clutching it tightly. The stardust dissipates and it's a warrior in gold, staring with cruel amusement as Usagi's vision darkens.

The next are two dear friends -- the ones with the blessings of Jupiter and Mercury. There had been a battle with a different woman this time. Both of them are transformed, wrapped in ice white colored hair tendrils before they're hit with a power blast that cause them to crumble into nothing. Crystals in the colors of blue and green appear where their bodies were until they're snatched away.

Again two more friends perish at the hands of the golden warrior. The scene is of a japanese shinto shrine. She's managed to destroy a warrior with dark wings dark skin and red hair. The ones blessed with the planets of Mars and Venus look so happy when Usagi appears that while the race to gather together, they're caught unawares from the back. Their faces are horrified while their bodies disintigrate and before Usagi can snatch up the crystals left in their wake, the woman in gold has them and leaves maniacal laughter behind.

The golden warrior is named Galaxia. And only a tiny child with red hair is with her as Galaxia finds a way to taunt the moon rabbit. She plays on Usagi's fears -- torturing her with the image of Neptune and Uranus meeting the same fates as those before them. "Are you sure that the future you know is the real future? Do you really think the future you know will come to pass?"

The trip to Galaxia's stronghold is a difficult one. She and her Starlight comrades aren't even out of the solar system before she's left with the afterimage of Pluto and an untransformed Saturn disintigrating into dust. Resolve and anger strengthened, Moon, the Kinmoku Princess and the Starlights all head to the Zero Sagittarius Star System. So many deaths on the way to the final battle; most of her allies fall on the way to find Galaxia.

It seems like there's hope: The future child blessed by the moon and the color of pink cotton candy and her sailor senshi appear to help fight for everyone. But it seems that everyone has other plans. Galaxia is a cruel mistress it seems and has shaped her newest fighters to Sailor Moon's weakness. "Kill Sailor Moon. Get the Silver Crystal."

The image shifts and instead of a giant castle as the backdrop, the battle ground is a cliff that leads to a mass of swirling white: The Galaxy Cauldron: where everything is born from and comes to die at. The large container holding the stars of her dearest friends are thrown in, melting into nothingness as Galaxia laughs. Moon can't even grasp the last act of sheer cruelty: The corrupted version of her soul mate is pushed in, and as soon as he melts into the cauldron, her own future daughter disappears.

Alas, it is never over. Galaxia meets her fate at the rising Chaos, a much darker power that envelopes the beautiful swirling cauldron. Everything is dark except for Sailor Moon and Chibi Chibi. She learns of the Dark Stars, how everything was Chaos' plan to bring her here. He assaults her with dark power, which her power shield is able to deflect for the time being.

Chibi Chibi speaks in a voice much older than her childish body makes her out to be. "You must destroy the Cauldron, Sailor Moon. With it, Chaos will be destroyed as well. The only way to bring peace to this Galaxy is the do this." The look of horror says everything that Usagi can't.

She can't do this -- She doesn't want to do this but with no other option as Chaos grows larger and stronger by the second, she stands with tears streaming down her face as she rushes into the darkness.

The images disappear -- scattering into stardust like all the people in the after images of those memories. What's left is that same child sitting on the edge of the center of the universe staring at where the beautiful swirling mass of white was. She has no wings. Her battle uniform is tattered and torn in different places. Even her hair is loose and almost undone from its normal twin odango style.

But Sailor Moon is alive, face unreadable as the rest of her nightmare leaves her here until she decides to awaken. ]

(ooc: So, uh, tl;dr because sob, all of STARS is her nightmare: Lots of people die. She's forced to fight her dear friends that are corrupted. And she destroys the cauldron to keep the rest of the galaxy from dying out at the hand of Chaos. Which she does. Leaving her with nothing. END TL;DR sob, death anniversaries suck.

Here's a listing of the images I used in the post: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. )

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[It's like waiting for a cue behind the scenes of a great play, a great tragedy they will break over Sailor Moon's head. She can hardly make herself be patient. Finally, they are ready: She is not alone here; all the senshi of the solar system have come to battle the foolish girl.]

Your next opponent is us!

[She is proud to reveal what will crush the girl's heart next: Endymion, on their side, giving the order to kill.

She is pleased to obey. She puts herself forward with Mars the very moment the order is given. The attack comes without hesitation or mercy.]

[ It all happens within a blink of an eye. She's already bolted forward the moment she sees her friends in the archway of Galaxia's castle. Adrenaline has rushed through her, and even if with her eyes she sees Mars and Mercury's attacks and even though she sees the Sailor Quartet down and out for the count and even more so when Jupiter attacks her, she can't believe the warnings of her future daughter.

Over and over, both she and Chibimoon are thrown around by everyone's power. Even Chibi Chibi isn't spared by the onslaught.

But somehow, Sailor Moon is able to rush past everyone and into the foyer where Endymion has retreated into -- she has to. Too much at stake to just up and be defeated. ]

[Let her try it. Like the fool she is, their prey has left its back open. The girls - she is one of them - are not slow to take advantage of it. They combine their attacks as they've done so many times to empower Sailor Moon; but there is nothing of that in their faces now, only the ugly thrill of the power itself.

They each stretch out their hands together - Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Venus. Their power swells and multiplies with the force of Galaxia and their sham unity.]

Galactica Gale!

Edited 2011-09-26 07:00 (UTC)

[ Had she not been paying attention, the attack would have hit her back full on. But, she notices it and at the last second summons up energy to block their power before it can even come close to hurting her.

Quickly, she summons her Eternal tier once she has her footing and holds it out in front of her. ]

STARLIGHT HONEYMOON THERAPY KISS!

[ It's an act of desperation. But, in the heat of battle it's all she can do to protect herself. ]

[Mercury steps forward and gives a contemptuous snort as she easily shrugs off the attack, Sailor Moon's strongest.]

Didn't you tell me you came here to fight Galaxia and bring everything back? To get the crystals back?

How will you do that with so little power? Nothing but a tiny breeze!

[And yet the words had been spoken to an entirely different Mercury. It says at once who's standing before Sailor Moon and how much Usagi's words still stay in her mind, however she may seem to disregard them.]

Edited 2011-09-30 20:42 (UTC)

[ More tears spring to her eyes as the attack is practically brushed aside. Not because it's so easily disregarded, but because of the emotional value behind it. ]

I... I can't...

[ Sailor Moon hesitates -- so very unsure of herself as in her minds eye she sees her darling friends as they were. They're smiling brightly at her with their presence a nostalgic comfort in the middle of this chaos. ]

I can't attack Ami-chan.. [ She's almost physically shaking because she can't decide what to do. ] I.. I can't attack any of you.

Edited 2011-10-24 07:19 (UTC)

[The words cut through her more powerfully than Sailor Moon's attack ever could, in the part of herself that is a girl still asleep, the part of her that had never been able to shut those words out, the part of her that's heard them so many more times than they were spoken, the part that wanted to be sought-after and called by name.

Even in the dream, there's just a second before she joins her powers to the others. But the second passes in a dream, when years still haven't driven it from her mind awake. They will destroy Sailor Moon and take the ginzuishou. That's all the galactic Mercury needs to know right now.]

Galactica Planet Attack!

[Even as she is now, she feels the thrill of powers combining, of the force that very act generates all of its own, of being joined to a a sum greater than its parts. It gives her a heightened manic energy as Sailor Moon collapses, the wings break, and the staff shatters.

Victory.]

Edited 2011-10-24 07:24 (UTC)

[ It hurts. It only takes a second but feeling their combined powers ripping her wings apart, battering and bruising her physical body is worse than anything she had ever experienced.

Sailor Moon can hardly move for moments, her eyes bleary focusing on the broken pieces of her Eternal Tier and the boots of Endymion standing in front of her. She's painfully aware that they're mocking her loss of wings and just how pathetic she looks and just as she's finally pushing herself up to try and face them she hears the final command. ]

[ In that instance, Sailor Moon doesn't wait to be attacked because if she does then it's the end and that's the one thing she doesn't want. So with her determination, she wills another Eternal Tier to appear before her and pushes herself so she's up and facing everyone with tears in her eyes as she unleashes her new attack upon the Galactic Senshi. ]

SILVER MOON CRYSTAL POWER THERAPY KISS!

[For a second, she feels the thud of a heartbeat that shouldn't exist; then Mercury wakes up. The power breaks over her with the force of a storm, and she passes from this life of the dream into her waking life.

She was dead. It takes her several moments to realize where she is, to realize. She feels lost. Slowly, it comes to her that the darkness of her room isn't an afterlife, that the bed isn't a narrow plot in the star graveyard, that she isn't waiting to be reborn again. The shadows in the corner aren't the shape of a winged girl's crumpled body.

The room is dark, but she keeps her eyes open as though looking at something. All that plays through her mind are the events of the dream. She can't shut out the voice calling her Ami-chan. She can't shut out the sight of that broken and battered body. She barely dares to wonder what the truth might be behind the dream-thrill of fighting together with the sailor senshi. Awake, she knows how pathetic she truly was: a slave to Galaxia, mindless.

Grimly, she forces herself to a calm she doesn't feel. She falls asleep again, and back into the dream.]

[ The dream progresses as it should. Confronting Galaxia and chasing her through the long hallways of her castle. Standing their ground just past the gate to the Galaxy Cauldron. Everything is always the same when the Golden Crystal melts into nothingness and then it bursts into dark life.

Bursts into life and gives Sailor Moon two options from her alternate future self: Destroy or be destroyed.

The answer she gives is when she calls forth the power of all the Star Seeds sleeping within the cauldron as she throws herself into the chaos controlled celestial body to destroy it from the inside. ]

SILVER MOON CRYSTAL ETERNAL POWER!

[ From there, she can feel everything going white before it starts fading away into the lifeless voice, wondering if her own life will end along with everything else. ]

Usagi-chan!

[The voice comes from behind Usagi, high and clear and pure, stripped of all coldness or blame or mocking: Mercury's voice, a gently flowing stream.

She waits for Usagi to turn around, hands clasped near her chest as she smiles softly. She's dressed in her gown, light blue, and the sigil of her planet marks her forehead.

As soon as Usagi looks, she hurries forward to embrace her princess and her friend, to lace their fingers together. Tears of relief at being granted at least this moment spring into the corners of her eyes.]

[ The cauldron is not kind enough to give its destroyer any form of clothing. The only thing that seems to cover her are those large pearl colored wings. She's curled up into herself, waiting for the inevitable fading into the darkness when she's pulled back to consciousness.

It's a heart achingly beautiful voice that calls her back and when she turns she only has enough time to know that it's Ami with her warm words and her warm hands holding on to her.

The tears are threatening to fall once the shock wears off because once it does, Usagi's practically sobbing out Ami's name as she replaces hand holding with tight clinging. ]

I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I couldn't save any of you! I couldn't bring any of you back!

[ There are a few almost soft wail like cries that from the moon rabbit. ] I'm so sorry!

[Mercury, Ami, holds on just as tightly; modesty is so irrelevant at the end of all things, and Usagi's nakedness doesn't seem strange, but simple and sweet.

She shakes her head, and chokes back a lump in her throat before she can make her voice work again, making her eyes meet Usagi's as she speaks earnestly.]

I'm the one who's sorry! You suffered so much and we weren't even there to help and protect you! [Those fakes...]

The real me never wanted to hurt you!

You all died because of me! It's all my fault!

[ The tears in her eyes make her vision so unbelievably blurry. It's a good thing that her dear friend is so close to see. ]

You shouldn't have... all of you should be alive! Now I can never bring you guys back!

[ She's taking all the blame and even if she wants to just hide her face she can't look away. This is the first time she's really seen any of her friends so clearly. Every retelling stings and she can recall everything, but this moment is like she's living through something new. ]

It's not your fault. [She says it so calmly, so absolutely.] What you did was for the sake of ending these battles. We understand that. I only wish I could have stayed by you through those painful moments.

[She understands it so clearly, here where everything seems to be revealed. Even if it was also sad, some day, there had to be an end to the suffering of the long, ancient war.]

But, we'll still be with you even now. [She moves her hand right to Usagi's chest.] Live for us, and we'll go on living inside you.

Edited 2011-11-04 09:34 (UTC)

[ That hand on her chest rests on a painfully beating heart. Usagi doesn't want to go on living without them -- without those special people of hers. But, she knows she has to for their sake. It's what they sacrificed themselves for and letting all their efforts go to waste would be dishonoring them.

Her tears never stop but at least the sobbing and the wailing have subsided into sniffles and labored breathing. It was her first lonely step in making herself stronger. ]

I miss you guys.

You have to live.

[They need Usagi to go on for them, she needs Usagi to go on for her, or how can their rest be peaceful?

She strokes Usagi's face, wiping away those salty, heartfelt tears even as her own start to overflow. She knows she can't be here long, not nearly as long as she wishes for.]

We'll be with you every moment. I'll be watching over you.

[She smiles again, and her voice is light now, almost teasing.]

Study hard and finish high school for me, alright?

Edited 2011-11-04 10:03 (UTC)

[ The teasing gets a sad chuckle from her and she tries to at least smile but it comes out as a slight upturn of her mouth at best. ]

I'll... I'll make you guys proud of me.

[ Because as much as she hated studying, promises to the loved ones came first. ]

I promise.

I'll always be proud of you.

[There's one more worry she has before she can move on, one more regret she'll carry with her if she can't lay it aside, something she has to hurry to say while she has this chance.]

And please, Usagi-chan, look after Mama.

[She's leaving Mama alone, after all these years that it's been just them at home. How will she be?]

[ Usagi doesn't feel like she's worthy of that pride, but there's no use in arguing about it. She'll just have to do all she can to even live up to half of their absolute trust and faith in her. ]

I'll do my best to...

[ She raises her own hands up, cupping the other girls' cheeks in her hands, eyes trying so hard to engrave this moment in her fleeting memory. ]

I'll watch over your Mom for you, Ami-chan.

[She can rest now, and as if that very thought makes her less a part of the mortal plane of the dreamscape, her body becomes less real. It's less tangible somehow, less distinct. For a moment she looks shocked, but she grasps Usagi's hand tightly, as if it can anchor her there just a little while longer.]

Usagi-chan!

[Slowly, but inexorably, she's pulled away by a force too great for her to resist.]

Whatever happens, everything-

[But she doesn't finish the sentence before she vanishes into darkness and Usagi is left with her hand holding on to nothing.]

Edited 2011-11-04 11:08 (UTC)

[ Usagi's hand frantically tries to grasp on to the disappearing warmth of Ami. She doesn't want this. She doesn't want this at all. Her mouth opens, but no words come out when Ami tries to tell her one thing.

.. it hits her all at once what's trying to be said.

Turning her hand over, she flexes it open and closed, letting the ghost of her friends' hand linger in her memory as her tears start anew. ]

... will be alright.

[ There's a pause, but soon she's wiping her face harshly of all those tears, face set in a serious expression as she flaps her wings once, twice, a few more times and then she begins flying upwards to leave this place and continue life like she had sworn she would do. ]

Edited 2011-11-04 11:24 (UTC)

[She wakes up, trading darkness for darkness. It's a good thing she's already laying down, because she'd have no chance of supporting herself right now, as everything that happened courses through the pathways of her mind again and again.

How pathetic.

That ugly thought, this time, isn't enough to steady her. Nothing she tells herself is. Her breaths come in great gasps as she tries not to sob and then the tears come anyway.

How did reality get so far away from the end of that dream? How could someone like her still dream of things like forgiveness and love?

She clutches her pillow, even as a part of her stays impatient with herself for the corner her salty tears dampen (how long has it been since she's allowed herself?); she has nothing else to comfort her.

The moon shines brightly through her window, and for once, she doesn't draw the curtains against it. Perhaps it's a way of remembering. Away from the emotion of the dream, she feels so empty somehow.]

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☆ she dreams of past demons 004;

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