Chapter Text
There were things Haruka expected in death, and others she hoped for. She consented to the logic of nothingness, that when she passed she would cease to be in every possible way. In her mind, she believed it, but her heart believed something else-- the idea of heaven, a restful place where nothing bad could touch you.
But as the shot echoed around the cathedral, she did not feel either of those things draw near. The world faded out, but it wasn’t like falling asleep or like ascending to the light. Haruka felt as though someone was wrapping a thin cloth over her eyes again and again, over her whole self until she could not see or feel or move. The tighter it got, the more fear crept up from her toes. Her hearing remained. Usagi cried and cried and the sound did not diminish. Would Haruka be listening forever? Was this all there was? The simple doom of being a ghost with only ears, bound to hear the world pass by? Was Michiru next to her, suffering the same fate and unable to say? Would they be inches apart, doomed to never touch for all eternity? Haruka had been so stupid, she should have taken her hand, she should have--
“ Finally .”
Everything Haruka had left went cold. That voice sounded like… but it was wrong somehow, very wrong. The sounds of Usagi’s sobs stopped.
“Uranus, are you awake?” the voice that could not be Michiru’s asked.
“I am.”
Her voice, that was her voice. Haruka wished she could open her eyes. She wanted to struggle free of whatever bound her, she wanted to know what--
Quiet, parasite!
_____
Usagi should have been overjoyed. She wanted to be, but the queasiness of fear would not leave her as Michiru and Haruka rose. They were alive, and that was good. Michiru helped Haruka up. Neither appeared hurt. That was good. Usagi willed herself to feel it was good.
“Usagi,” Mina said from somewhere behind her. “Come this way.”
She couldn’t move. Moving would show them she wasn’t happy, and that would hurt their feelings, wouldn’t it?
And besides that, if she moved they would catch her. She did not want to think it, but she did. Usagi stayed on the ground, still and small.
“Usagi.” Mina was firmer now. She could see whatever had happened, too. Maybe if none of them moved, it would be alright.
“Are you not going to say hello, Venus?” The Michiru that was too wrong to be Michiru retrieved the mirror talisman from the floor. “It’s been such a long time.”
“I’m surprised you haven’t rid yourself of your stowaway.” Haruka stepped forward, sword in hand, and for all her bluster she had never sounded so cruel.
Mina stepped up to Usagi’s side, the other senshi at her back. “We have an understanding.”
“How quaint.” Michiru-- no, Usagi realized with a swallow of fear, only Neptune— stepped closer. “I’m afraid we do not find ourselves so forgiving.”
Uranus pointed her sword straight at Usagi’s nose. “Her mother banished us to the far reaches of the kingdom, and when that kingdom fell she trapped us in this pathetic existence.”
“You’ll put that away if you know what’s good for you.” Mina put a protective hand on Usagi’s shoulder.
“That queen is long dead, her authority no longer makes you my general.”
A stream of flame shot at Haruka so quick, she barely had time to duck out of the way. “That wasn’t an order,” Rei said, chin held high and stiff, “but a threat.”
Neptune’s eyes flashed. “You know we have little need to kill her now, Mars. I know what you’ve seen. We will awaken that messiah and be free of this world.”
Makoto grabbed her wrist that held the mirror. “If you so much as come near Usagi--”
Neptune yanked back her arm. “Then I suggest you stay out of our way.”
Uranus joined her as they took their leave, shoving past the senshi.
“Haruka… Michiru…”
“They’re gone, Usagi.” Ami knelt beside her. “They knew all along they would have to sacrifice someone to find the talismans.”
“This isn’t right.” Usagi’s hands shook. “This isn’t how it’s supposed to be!”
“It isn’t.”
They all turned to see a tall, dark woman-- the woman who had told Usagi to come to the cathedral. She hung her head and with a breath, transformed.
“Pluto!”
“I thought this part of them would be sealed within the talismans, and that removing them would ensure their eternal sleep.” She shifted her grip on her staff, avoiding their eyes. “Had I known that the talismans bound them...”
“But why? Why are they being like this?”
“The four mutinous planets,” Mina whispered.
Pluto nodded. “You remember.”
“When Queen Serenity built her kingdom in this system, four planets welcomed her. They signed her peace treaties and each sent a daughter to live in her palace on the moon. Four planets rejected her--”
“And chose to self-destruct rather than bow to her. But her magic was strong, and she saved one girl on each planet. The first swore fealty in exchange for her life, and so when she took up her father’s station at the Door of Time, the Queen made a portal so that she might ease her loneliness. The second was but a babe, with great power asleep within her, so the queen put her asleep as well to grow with her power until she was needed.”
“The final two stayed loyal to their dead planets, and so the Queen left them alone there, to face oncoming threats alone.” Mina’s voice changed, as it sometimes did, to something deeper and older, something awoken from a time long past, and today it set a yet bigger lump of fear into Usagi’s stomach. She wanted to cry out for Mina to come back, but did not want to act so childishly in front of Pluto.
“I am surprised she allowed this to be spoken of in the Palace.”
“Not her palace, but mine.” Venus smiled, sharp and dangerous. “We were loyal, but not blinded.” She shook her head, and Mina returned. “What can we do then, if they’re bent on revenge?”
“They cannot awaken the Messiah of Silence without the third talisman.” Pluto cupped the orb on her staff. “If it can be avoided, I will not give them what they need.”
“What do you mean, if ?” Rei asked, hands on her hips.
“If threats become too great for this planet to face, destruction is inevitable. It is better to raize the world and begin anew than to let evil flourish.”
“Is that how your leaders justified killing their planet?” Mina looked murderous.
“It is how our Queen justified destroying the moon and earth, when she lost that war.”
“Well, luckily we don’t have to worry about any of that.” Mako smiled. “You’re forgetting we’re here, and there’s no threat we can’t handle.” She punched into her own hand.
“I hope that is true. I only tell you to warn you, guardians. It is likely Uranus and Neptune will do everything in their power to force my hand.”
____
They returned to the apartment their parasites had shared, figuring it was as good a place as any to regroup and plan their next move. Neptune examined the provisions, but when she reached for a bottle of wine her hand jerked itself away. That bottle is worth more than your entire planet at its peak.
Neptune fought and grabbed it anyway, along with bread and cheese-- she didn’t recognize most items in the kitchen.
“They did a lot of work for us,” Uranus said as she sat down. “All this research on the talismans, but they didn’t have a clue what it meant.”
“The daimons can play in our favor.” Neptune poured them each a glass of wine. “If we keep the others too occupied to defeat them as they come, the planet will be overrun.”
“Then we just have to find the messiah.” Uranus took a sip, and grimaced at the taste. She shook it off and drunk deeply.
Neptune watched her carefully. “She’ll be a young girl, I imagine. She was always much younger than us.”
Uranus’s face flashed with struggle, sadness, resolve. Her parasite, too, was acting a nuisance.
If you are in our bodies, are you not the parasites?
Neptune would not answer her. She would not give her any encouragement. “We should split up. I will search for the messiah, and you can break up any daimon fights. If you think you can handle it.”
“Of course I can handle it. Can you ?”
“Naturally.” Neptune bristled. Perhaps it had been for the best that they had never met in that old life. “I merely mean your parasite seems to give you a certain amount of trouble.”
“You are not nearly as good at hiding your own struggle as you think.”
Neptune rose to strike her, but her body went rigid. You will not lay a hand on her!
Uranus laughed. “See? You have no control.” She stood and stared her down. “I haven’t half the troubles you have.”
Furry built in Neptune’s chest. She rose her hands, but they landed gently on Uranus’s arms. Haruka…
Uranus slipped her hands into hers, then pulled away in shock. “We should split up now. You were right.”
“Of course I was,” Neptune spat, clenching her fists to regain control. They had to destroy the world, and they had to do it soon. These parasites were not as weak as she’d first believed.
____
It was little surprise to Minako when Uranus showed up soon after the next daimon, appearing around the next street corner just as the fight began. Usagi went white, and Mina did not have to follow her gaze to know why.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Mako grunted as she loosed an attack at the monster. “I swear I’ll--”
“Let me take care of her.” If any of Haruka was still somehow in there, a classic Mako pummelling would do nothing to help her. “Make sure you handle this as quickly as possible, in case the other one shows up.”
Mako nodded and moved to shield Usagi. “Be careful, then.” She blasted the daimon further down the road and herded Usagi forward.
Uranus watched Mina approach. She made no move to attack-- it was a trap, certainly, but sometimes the best way to outmaneuver a trap was to walk straight into it, knowingly. Mina stopped just feet away, where one lunge with Uranus’s sword would surely run her through, and waited.
“You split up,” Uranus said at long last.
“So did you."
“I work best alone.”
“Yeah sure.” Minako watched carefully, while doing her best to appear careless. “There’s one thing you didn’t consider, though.”
Uranus’s eyes narrowed. “What’s that?”
“The person you’re fighting in there cares about more than just Michiru.” She launched herself at her, ramming her shoulder into her chest and knocking them both down. Mina called upon her love-me-chain, and within moments Uranus was bound. “Haruka could build herself up to fighting us, but she won’t do it for you.”
“She’s not here.” With a flash the chains broke, and Uranus came on the offensive, swinging her sword swiftly enough that Mina could barely dogde. “You’ve gone soft, Venus.”
“Like hell I have.” She took a breath and pooled her power into a sword to parry Uranus’s blows. “Not to be cliche, but I have strength you’ll never reach.”
Uranus’s fighting style was not unlike Haruka’s. She was still a whirling storm of blows, but she had none of Haruka’s hesitation, and a touch more precision. Even so, to Mina she was predictable. Mina stuck to defence and waited as she began to wear, picking her moment the second Uranus over extended herself. Mina knocked the sword from her hand.
“Be sure to tell Neptune you failed. By now Makoto has weakened the daimon enough for Usagi to cleanse it.” Mina picked up the sword talisman, but it dissolved in her hand and reappeared at Uranus’s feet.
“This isn’t over,” Uranus huffed.
“It sure isn’t. Go home and rest, buddy.”
“Mina…”
Minako walked away and did not look back. She’d almost hoped that Haruka had been entirely gone. Killing them would be easier than saving them.
She found Usagi and Mako a few streets over, victorious but still transformed. Usagi ran to her, hugging her hard enough to knock her out of breath.
“Hey, I’m alright. I’m alright.” She ruffled Usagi’s hair between her odangos. “Uranus is no match for me.”
“What did she want?” Mako crossed her arms.
“To distract us, I’d guess. But she’s not as in control as she’d like to be.”
Usagi pulled away. “You mean Haruka’s still here?”
“Maybe.”
“Then I can heal her!” The Moon Rod appeared in her hand and she started to run until Mina grabbed her shoulder.
“I don’t know if it’ll be that easy. You can try next time, but please don’t seek either of them out.” There was a niggling of fear at the back of Mina’s mind that was not strictly her own. Will she heal me away, too? Mina put a hand on her chest, instinctually protecting what lived inside her.
“They’re not really monsters,” Mako said, and whether she knew Mina’s fear was impossible to say. “Maybe we just need to put their hearts back.”
“We’ll try everything.” Usagi stood up straight, for a moment looking every bit the woman who would become queen. “We won’t lose them. We won’t lose anyone.”
Mako smiled, but Mina felt less sure. She kept her hand on her heart, just to feel it beat. Just so all of her could feel it beat. Loss seemed inevitable, one way or another. The only question was who.