Title: Usagi is Dead II Dead is Usagi Part: 13 - Trouble and Townships Author: Dark Day for Anime (Mark A Page) Email: ayanami@merlin.net.au ICQ: 9845111 IRC: Saitou^Hajime on DALnet's #ajas, Nueno_M on EFnet, DDFA on Austnet Fic Rating: PG-15 - Some disturbing content and psychological hocus pocus. ------------------------------------------------------------------- USAGI IS DEAD II DEAD IS USAGI by DARK DAY FOR ANIME Disclaimer - Sailormoon is owned by Takeuchi Naoko and Bandai, so these characters really belong to them, except ones I made up. This means I'm only using the Sailormoon characters for purposes benign. (And if you believe that, you'd believe anything. ^_^) ------------------------------------------------------------------- S T A R T ------------------------------------------------------------------- "Pull up a chair." "No, I'd rather stand." "Well, pull up a floor, then." The Goon Show -------------------------------------------------------------------- "You don't understand. I can see you don't understand." Usashin crossed her arms in front of her. "Is the concept of resurrection so beyond you? It is at the very heart of the mythos by which you live." "More than that...." Said a voice from behind. They both turned as Miste stepped out of the rubble she had created. "The planet we are on is at the very heart of the universe.... It is the hub by which the universe operates. This is where the Big Bang had its origin.... Where the energies that created this Universe escaped, from wherever it was they had been formed." She climbed through the hole and started to brush herself down. "That is why these things are possible. Wyccfaer is the mind, body and soul of the universe. And whomever controls it also has control of that universe." She looked up at Usashin and frowned. "You appear to me to be my Princess, Serenity." "Both myself and my good friend, here..." She gestured to Kaorusagi, who had now joined her. "...Were born from the template of Serenity, herself. It is not surprising that you should recognise her within us." Usashin paused. "I take it you are the source of the aquatic energies my friend, Neptune-dono, felt earlier?" "Neptune?" Miste turned her face to the other newcomer, and her eyes opened wide. "Aquius!" She trembled. "Aquius.... It is you...." "Who is Aquius?" Michiru frowned at Miste for a second, after waving nervously to the dumbfounded Hotaru and Makoto. "Yes.... Now EVERYTHING is clear to me. Aquius.... You WHORE!" And with that, Miste flung herself at Michiru, hands clawed. ----o Part Thirteen Trouble and Towships ----o "Erlon." The dark figure, sitting deep within the folds of the black leather chair, staring into the glowing crystal globe before it, turned to the small, hunchbacked figure, who appeared to be bowing with deferential glee. "Ye... yeth, my lord?" Erlon looked up at the figure, his immeasurably ugly, misshapen and scarred face quivering with uncontrollable ticks of nervousness. The figure glanced at Erlon, monetarily, sighing. "Your face gains a new disfigurement every time I see it. This does not make it pleasurable for me, you do realise?" "Yeth, my lord." Erlon bowed. "And your lisp is getting worse. Before long, you'll have me rasping my words.... Not a fate I find all that attractive. However, it would appear that Du Prae has failed to execute Miste Kiele and her most dishonorable guests." "I know, my lord. Forgith me for plathing him in charge of thith operathon." "It's not really your fault, Erlon.... He was defeated because of an unforseen interference.... Still, with his powers, he really should have expected as much." The figure crossed its arms and sat back, staring at the darkened ceiling of the almost black room. "I would suggest calling someone to apply some medical treatment to Du Prae. He has proven to be a useless asset to me in an offensive capacity, but I might yet find a use for him, elsewhere." "Yeth, my lord. I thall thee to it thtwait away." Erlon bowed once more, and shuffled through the beaded curtain that marked the only visible entrance to the room. The figure shook its head, chuckling softly. "No matter how much you try to match my moves, Serenity.... I shall always be one step ahead of you...." ----o Umi sniffed as she stared at the township with disdain, looking up at Usako with tired eyes. "It's abandoned, isn't it?" "It would appear so." Usako smiled at her, weakly. "Strange, really.... It is such a starkly beautiful place." She gestured to the lake, next to which the township sat, then to the rolling moors on the other side, leading to a collection of low, yet snow-capped mountains. "This may, or may not be, a world in decline, judging from what we see here." "Ah...." CereCere wandered over to the pair, her arms behind her head, looking bored. They turned as she kicked a stone over the low wharf. "I've checked through all the buildings on that end of the esplanade. Not a person in sight. All the places are open and all.... They obviously didn't expect there to be squatters moving into these places." "From what I've seen, I'm not surprised." Usako took a long breath. "I don't think they expected anyone to pass this way again." She turned and pointed up to a nearby hill, behind the far end of the esplanade. "There's still that church to be checked, not that I'm expecting anyone to be there, either.... But it might make a better place of rest than one of these weather-beaten shanties." "Agreed." CereCere nodded. "Some of these places look like they're ready to fall over. Wouldn't like to be in one of them when they do." "Nyaaaa!" At that point, Natsagi bounded through the doorway of one of the buildings. The hovel then proceeded to collapse in on itself as the catgirl shook dust from her hair. "I told Mokosagi not to play with that support beam." "Mokosagi was in there?" Umi stepped forward as the walls of the hovel fell inwards, completing the demolition job. "Oh no.... She'll be hurt...." She paused as the dust cleared. In the middle of the wreckage, Mokosagi was standing unharmed, next to the still- erect support beam, looking a bit shocked and nonplused. Umi ran to her and scooped her up in her arms. "You silly, silly bunny. You could have been hurt really badly." "Pu...." Mokosagi said, nervously. "Don't you ever do that again." Umi hugged Mokosagi tightly. Natsagi sighed and shrugged. "You should keep an eye on the bunny-chan.... Animals tend to have minds of their own." Natsagi paused, then added.... "After all, I should know. Nyaaa." She licked her hand and started to groom her hair, nervously. A chill wind blew across the lake. Usako shivered and turned to face it, her gaze distant. CereCere, noticing her concern, put a hand on her shoulder. "Is there something wrong?" "This place.... I can hear voices...." "Voices?" CereCere listened, trying to hear over the chatter that was going on between Umi and Natsagi, the young girl explaining exactly what Natsagi could do with her suggestions. For a few moments, it appeared as if Natsagi was going to cry, which Umi managed to contain. CereCere shook her head and turned back to Usako. "I'm afraid I can hear nothing, save those idiots." "Not those voices.... The voices of the dead." Usako placed a hand over her face, as if in pain, then shook her head to clear it. "This is not a good place to stay for too long.... I can hear the singing of angels. That cannot be a good sign." "Angels?" CereCere raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you are feeling alright?" "You have never heard the singing of angels?" Usako took her hand away and leveled her gaze at CereCere. "Its charms are greater and more hypnotic than any other sound in known existence, yet it can also chill you to your very soul. I have heard it many times. It is a harbinger of things not being as they should be. With the very fabric of the universe.... Or a multiple of universii." "Excuse me, but I think I'm starting to get a headache." CereCere put a hand to her head, looking stressed. "Why is it my life has been one complex explanation after another for things that are intrinsically inexplicable?" "Probably because you are holding yourself back.... Not allowing yourself to ascend from within, in all areas, probably because you're afraid of what you might find." Usako smiled. "I'm not so frightened. Probably why I get to play the messiah role. I can tell you this, though.... I'd gladly give it all away to be just a little stupid." Usako stepped over to Umi, who was now standing on the edge of the wharf, Mokosagi sitting by her foot. The girl's expression was the same as Usako's had been. CereCere watched as Usako placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, smiling and attempting to reassure her... that things were alright. "Oi...." Natsagi sniffed, breaking CereCere from her musings. "What's up with them? The girl just went all kind of strange all of a sudden.... Kinda spooky...." The catgirl crossed her hands in front of her, looking around nervously. "Not that I disagree, or anything. I find abandoned places kinda scary." "You'll probably never understand. Usako is.... special. As is Umi. It's.... a product of their origins." ----o "What shall I do with her?" Makoto asked as she hitched Miste's unconscious form over her shoulder. "Dump her in the harbour?" "Despite the fact that it would probably do her a world of good...." Usashin turned from comforting a near-hysterical Michiru. "....The legal paperwork would probably not be worth our time." "Suit yourself, then. I'd personally like the pleasure of dumping the paranoid cow in at the closest sewage outlet." Makoto huffed. "That having been said, just what the hell should I do with her?" "Do whatever you like." Hotaru crossed her arms. "You're the one who clobbered her." "Yeah, and it felt REAL good." "JUPITER!" Hotaru shouted. "That will be ENOUGH! She's out for the count. All you have to do is put her somewhere comfortable. I doubt she'll be a happy little paranoid psychomaniac when she wakes up." "All the better to dump her in the harbour." Jupiter sneered. Hotaru proceeded to tap her on the head with the flat of her Glaive, which made a very sudden appearance. Makoto got the message. "Jeez, you really have NO sense of humour." As Makoto entered the wrecked town house in the hope of finding somewhere to lighten her load, Hotaru allowed her Glaive to dissipate, and turned back to where Michiru was sitting, against the town house wall, regaining her composure. Kaorusagi was holding her hand, gently talking to her. "How are you feeling, Neptune?" Hotaru stepped up alongside Usashin. Michiru registered her presence, looking up at her, angrily. "What was that about?" Her voice was silken, which sent shivers down Hotaru's spine. She'd heard that tone from Michiru, before, and it was usually followed by a long discourse on the personal ineptitude of the person in closest range. "I take it the psycho-Mercury recognised you as something less than friendly. I.... can't imagine why." "And just where did you acquaint yourself with that homicidal cow?" She looked like she wanted to stand. Hotaru held out a hand to her, hoping the offer would diffuse some of her anger. Michiru looked at the hand, then up at Hotaru. "I can stand myself, thankyou very much." "Hmph! Be like that then. Some friend you are." Hotaru turned away, crossing her arms. Michiru rolled her eyes and stood, followed by a concerned Kaorusagi. "Oh, stop acting like a child." Michiru clenched her fists. "I am NOT a child, anymore, Neptune. Or haven't you noticed the strange similarity in our physical height?" "I didn't say you were a child.... I said stop ACTING like one." Michiru reached forward and wrapped her arms around Hotaru, pressing her face into her back. "Stop acting like one. Childishness was never your thing. You were so much a better person when you were in control of your emotions." Hotaru didn't know how to react. She was sure Michiru was crying. She looked down at the pair of hands, hanging limply in front of her. "Mi.... Michiru-san...." "You don't know.... how glad I am... to see you here, Hotaru- chan. At least I know I'm not the only one. You're here." "And Jupiter. She's here, too." "Yes.... Yes.... And Jupiter. But...." Michiru swallowed. "If I'm here, and the both of you are here.... Then where is...." "Haruka?" Hotaru said the name, softly. For a full minute, there was silence, broken as Usashin placed a hand on Michiru's shoulder. Michiru looked up at the samurai. "Do not cry, Neptune-dono. The tides of fortune on this planet are such that, if you are here, then in all likelihood so is your partner." Michiru's grip on Hotaru slackened. "But WHERE? This planet is so BIG. Where does one begin to look, for signs that Haruka is alive, and here on this planet?" "Neptune-dono.... Look at it this way.... You are a Senshi, and so is she. For how long do you think the pair of you can exist in a society such as this without making your presence felt?" Michiru opened her mouth, then paused. "You have.... a point, there." She swallowed, then turned to Hotaru. "And Setsuna-san.... Is she...?" "She's alive." Michiru let out a sigh of relief at Hotaru's words. "But she is not on this planet. Nor is she the same person you once knew. She has been reborn.... as a child." "A child?" Michiru's heart seemed to sink as she let Hotaru go, her arms dropping to her sides. "I suppose that is good, but...." "She's alive, Michiru-san. Do we need to say any more?" Hotaru turned to her, then felt an itching on the back of her neck. Her hand flew up to feel her hair standing up. "I.... think we better make ourselves scarce.... I feel something pretty nasty coming this way." She stepped back from Michiru, looking down the street. The others followed her gaze. Three figures were approaching them. A short, stubby and extremely bulky man with a round, bald head and thick, muscular arms that reached all the way to the ground, like some kind of ape, lead the group, leering and drooling like an idiot. Following him was his physical opposite.... A very tall, very thin man with an equally thin face and thatch of white, spiky hair. Like the first, he was wearing a black coat over an equally black suit. Next to him was a woman, with short spiky brown hair, a round face and deep-set eyes that were set in the deepest of black eyeshadow. She wore a simple dress that was cut off at the shoulders, with the pale flesh of her arms covered in runic tattoos. These had to have covered the entirety of her body, as they continued on down to her bare feet. "Friends of DuPrae, I'd say." Usashin unsheathed her sword. "Come to collect.... Either he or us, I'd say." "Yes, they don't appear to be the friendliest of individuals." Hotaru nodded, dancing the fingers of her right hand in the air until her Glaive appeared. "Neptune?" "Wh... what?" "Do you have your powers?" Michiru swallowed. "I'm not really sure. I think so." She paused. "I haven't really had an occasion to use them. Not in any offensive capacity, anyway." "Get used to the idea." Hotaru raised her Glaive with both her hands and pointed the blade in the direction of the trio.... ----o After laying down the older senshi's form on the lounge suite, Makoto watched her. Scowled at her would have been a better description, but she wasn't in the mood to lay into the woman any further than she already had. It disturbed her, to see this image of Ami, so bitter and twisted. Miste was not the Ami she knew.... She was an entirely different creature, but still, the memories ran deep in her soul, and she could not shake the desire to throttle the woman for destroying the last vestiges of someone she had once cared for with her failings. Of course, Makoto was not going to cry over it. She was beyond crying now. So she often thought. Easier to treat people with open, boorish contempt. Nobody was ever going to look after her, care for her. Not really. Not anymore. She reached down, touching Miste's face. What had happened to them? What had happened to them all? She had been denied the opportunity to grieve, to feel something, for all that had been lost. Even moreso the fact that she had contributed to the loss.... More by her own inaction than anything else.... Inaction. Yes, that was it. She had sat on the sidelines for too long, ignoring the whirlwind that was passing her by. She closed her eyes. Closed her eyes, and.... Fell, through clouds of the most brilliant blue. Above her, she could see the doorway through which she had fallen. She was young once more, yet not innocent.... She had been killed, and brought back to life, this time by her own power. And now she was falling, her cry of fear and surprise disappearing into the air above even before it had an opportunity to reach her own ears. That was how it seemed. She turned and looked down. Looked down at the small.... the small.... something. A ship. No, a kind of floating station. With huge metallic funnels at the front, and even larger wing-like structures, made of what looked like brass, jutting out from its high roof. As she closed in on the object, gliding her body in towards its hull, she could see smaller structures.... Small bubbles that had to be part of the vessel's infrastructure.... Tunnels and rooms and observation ports. Yet, there seemed to be nobody within the vessel through its increasingly large windows.... She prepared for impact, holding her arms and knees up in front of her, noticing, as if for the first time, that she was wearing her old senshi uniform. Tattered, torn and sprayed with blood.... it was enough to distract her that she didn't feel the moment she hit the gantry, rolling across the catwalk, then falling over and onto the superstructure itself. And there she stayed, still and unconscious. But she was not alone. ----o The verger opened his eyes. For some reason, he felt a disturbance.... a presence nearby. Unable to put this feeling from his mind, he sat up from his small bed, throwing away the thin blanket covering. He stood and raced over to the window of the small cottage that lined on side of the church, and stared down at the old lakeside township. There were people there. He bit his lip, nervously. Why did people ALWAYS come to this church? Why did they ALWAYS have to disturb him in his efforts to reach the door? He knew why. It was them.... The angels that sang.... He placed a hand to his forehead, trying to erase the sound from his mind. They were particularly noisy, today. They'd attracted a whole bunch of people.... He counted them.... Four. Four and a small white thing. Still, it didn't matter that much. They would merely be added to the growing pile in the church, like the girl he'd killed only yesterday. "Did you call me?" Said the voice of the girl, standing behind him. He spun to her, angrily. "What are you doing here? Why aren't you in the church?" "But I was bored.... Is there anything to eat?" She looked at him, hopefully. He gritted his teeth as he clutched his head. "Go back to the church. You are dead. Leave me!" "But I don't want to go back.... I've seen what lies beyond the door, and I chose to return to this world." The girl stepped forward, smiling. Holding out his hand, the verger started to murmur a prayer. The girl looked sad as he did this. "Having slaughtered me so violently, you could have, at the very least, given me the opportunity to partake in your existence for just a little while." "Go back, girl. I demand it." The verger stepped forward, making the girl back away from him. She closed her eyes and turned, then disappeared. The verger swallowed, the allowed himself the luxury of taking an easy breath. it wasn't long, though, before the sounds of angelsong started ringing through his head once more. "Dammit! Why must you torment me like this?" He shook a fist in the air. "I shall join you, soon.... And when I do, I shall silence you, once and for all...." END OF PART 13 ------------------------------------------------------------------- S T O P ------------------------------------------------------------------- Next Chapter - "Ship in the Clouds" Notes *Looks both ways to see if it is safe to write notes at the end of a fic once more. Relaxes* Yes, people.... I managed to get myself into the mood to confound, confuse and lead astray.... Mostly myself, but I'm probably taking a few people with me for the ride. Although I don't like to admit it, I have to put myself in some strange moods to write UID.... Not that difficult when you consider the many long, dark periods I go through. It's always easy to counter it with a few jabs of black humour. I hope this chapter has lived up to UID's reputation, because I'm going through a rather dark patch at the moment, and that will probably mean more UID2 and less SIU. Not that SIU isn't dark, or anything.... I'm just not as tempted to casually doom the human race with that story as I am with this one. This fic was brought to you by a lot of packet noodles, food for the new generation of fanfic writers. ^_^;; Well, almost food. Oh, and please read chapter 9 of nIGHT rIDER's "Not a God" series. Jim and I worked for seven hours straight to get that one as right as we could, and Jim always likes to receive responses on his work. But please be constructive if you have any criticisms.... Because Jim is REALLY big, and has a bad temper. Ocean divides won't save you from his wrath. Well, don't say I didn't warn you. ^_^;; _________ / @ \ DDFA (The Right Dishonourable Mark A Page) / / ^ ^ \ \ darkdayforanime@hotmail.com /\ Chief Propoganda Officer of the \/ \/ AustrALIEN Alliance \___________/ "I want only two things from you, your /_/ \_\ PU submission, and your obedience to my will"! Version 1.0 - Monday, 1st March 1999