With Serena on my back I wasn't as fast as the others and soon found myself falling behind, when they finally disappeared around a corner I tried to call to them but they didn't hear me. There wasn't anything for me to do but continue trudging on. Then I came to an open room with three doors facing me, I didn't have time to waste standing there so I chose the one in the center and continued on. Now I was running through a hallway, probably a guest hall for those who were staying on the moon during parties and trials and such. It was then that I felt Serena begin to stir on my back, I gently laid her on the carpeted floor and rested her head in my lap. Her eyes finally fluttered open and she smiled up at me.
"Oh Endy, where are we?" she asked.
"Don't you remember Serena? We came to the Moon to fight a battle with the dark prince, you found your mother on the battlefield and took the silver crystal, then you fainted. Mercury said she knew where the others are and we started after her, but with you on my back I slowed down and now I don't know where I am."
She sat up and looked around the hall, then stood up and walked over to one of the doors.
"We're in the dignitaries hall, they stay in these rooms when they are at the palace for meetings" She said. "Do you know where the others were headed?"
"Yes, Mercury said Mina and the others' were in the basement in what looked to me like a closet. Serena, it was terrible I don't want you to have to see them, please stay with me and we'll wait for the others to bring your friends back."
She looked at me with confusion plainly written in her eyes and I turned my head away, I didn't want her to have to see the horrible things the dark prince had done to her friends.
"Well, there's more than one way to get to the basement Endy, so follow me." She then started off toward the end of the hall, there was nothing I could do to stop her, all I could do was follow her to the basement. She led me down a series of hallways like those of the dignitaries and then came to a large metal door, she took a key from a pocket concealed in her dress and pushed it into the lock. She twisted and the lock clicked, the door swinging slowly out to reveal a pitch-black opening and a flight of stairs. Serena touched the crescent moon symbol on her forehead and the gold halo above her head began to glow with a soft yellow radiance. She started down the stairs and I followed, eyes wide in surprise and awe of the beautiful creature before me. We reached the bottom of the stairs and Serena continued down a hall to our left, the hall was narrow and hard to manage but we came to the end of it and Serena walked down the corridor and opened a door to her right. It was obviously a storage closet, but since I was on Serena's right I couldn't see into the room, but when she opened the door water flowed like a river through the doorway. She screamed and fainted again and I ran to catch her. I took her to the room next door and laid her out on the bed to rest, I wished I had opened the door first, she had not been prepared to see her friends like that. I went back into the other room and saw that the people in the room had not even acknowledged Serena's scream. I turned back toward the door and looked at the chains holding the boy Adam to it, they were thick steel chains and I had nothing to break them with, so I settled with trying to wake everyone. I said Adam's name and gently patted his head so I could wake him, I didn't want him to think I was the dark prince come to hurt him again. He lifted his head a little and stared at me for a moment, then his head began to drop and I went on around the room gently waking everyone inside. When they were all awake I told them the others were in the palace and coming to rescue them as I spoke. I expected to see a spark of hope light their eyes but all I saw was a few heads bob once or twice in acknowledgement. They had lost all hope I realized, they weren't broken but they were so close it was scary, I hated to see anyone like this but there was nothing I could do to help. I left the room and went back to sit by Serena, she woke again just as the others walked into the room. She sat for a minute to prepare herself, tears coursing down her face and then stood up and wiped them away, she led the others to the room next door and told them to stay out here when the door was open. She opened the door and the others gasped at what they saw, even though they had seen it before, it was still to horrible to imagine.
"Alright guys, they need to get free and I'm afraid that one of my attacks might kill them as well, so I need you guys to break their chains so that we can have Mercury do her best to treat them in the other room. You guys ready? Then go ahead, set them free."
What followed were a series of explosions as the soldiers broke open chain after chain, freeing their friends. When they had finished they ran inside to bring their friends out of the dark flooded room. Mercury Knight came out holding Lita, Mercury was carrying Raye, Neptune was holding Adam and I brought out Mina. We set them all on the bed in the next room and Mercury began to scan them to discover how badly they were injured and if she had the proper tools to cure them. The rest of us sat in various chairs throughout the room, I looked over to my left to see Uranus holding Neptune to her as they cried, Mercury knight paced around the room trying not to cast little glances in Mercury's direction. I sat In a comfortable love chair holding Serena, her tears soaking my black T-shirt as she cried, holding her head to my chest. I didn't know these girls but somehow I felt a kinship with them and I hated to see them this way, even I was crying.
I held Neptune close to my chest, it killed me to see her endure such pain, she was such a feeling person this had to hurt her terribly. I bent my head to hers and wiped away a tear with my thumb, even through this tragedy we had a job to do. We stood up together and walked out of the room to stand guard by the door. We watched vigilantly through out tears and hoped that our friends would be alright.
I was scared, my friends were hurt and I couldn't stand to see them that way so I curled myself into a ball on the sofa I occupied. After a few moments I heard footsteps behind me and looked up to see Endymion's handsome face smiling down at me. He'd left Serena in the love seat to come see me, he loved her but he wanted to help me, poor little Hotaru he must think. I hated to be thought of as the little kid in the group but Endymion's smile seemed to wash the worry and anger away, he came over and sat down next to me on the couch. He didn't say anything as I crawled into his lap, just wrapped his arms around me and rocked me back and forth as I let loose a flood of tears I'd been holding inside me. I looked up expecting him to be trying not to look at me as I disgraced myself in front of the other soldiers but he was still looking at me, that gentle smile teasing at his lips.
"Thank you Endymion, you're very kind but why did you leave Serena all alone over there?"
"Serena is fine Hotaru, she's had a big scare and is still hoping, but I saw that you needed me more than she does. Trust me, she doesn't mind."
I smiled up at him, he was so sweet and gentle I could see why Serena had fallen in love with him. He understood me I realized, I thought no one cared no one even knew I existed, was a sailor soldier, but here was Endymion comforting me instead of his love. He really understood me, I was amazed no one had ever done anything like that for me before and I thought I was alone, but this gentle man holding me, showing me every kindness knew that I needed to cry. He'd come over to help me, I hadn't let myself cry until he had picked me up and now we were both crying again, and I knew I was not alone in my grief, I had friends all around me who cared as much as he. I laughed quietly and sat up finally someone who knew what I was feeling, Serena and Mercury were already conferring over who needed to be healed first and I felt so much better knowing that my friends were alright. Already Serena was holding a glowing silver crystal over Mina's tired body and I watched as Mina sat up to embrace a crying Serena. She continued to do the same for each of her friends as we all watched crying and hoping they were truly ok. When she finally came to Raye she held the silver crystal over her as It began to glow but, but the blood continued to drip from between her thighs and the teethmarks on her breasts had not faded away. Something was wrong, Mercury began to fill in the others on what was happening and they immediately transformed, ready to fight with us, but Raye just lay there on the bed still injured. Mercury gathered Raye in her arms and was looking at her through her visor, when she was finished she whispered something to Serena and Serena sat down hard on the floor, new tears bursting from her eyes. This time Endymion put me down and went over to pick up Serena and carry her away from the bed, the stood in the corner whispering back and forth and when they turned back to the rest of us both of them were crying. Serena walked over to the center of the room and cleared her throat.
"Raye has been raped several times by the dark prince and somehow his dark energy is keeping her from healing, sh- she." At that point she broke down into a sobbing heap and Endymion came over and picked her up, finishing her sentence for her. "She may not survive, the dark energy is slowly taking over her entire body and disabling her. We have to keep going and find the dark prince, destroying him may be the only way we can save her life." The others wiped their faces and stood up, ready to follow their princess to battle. One by one we all left the room, Endymion carrying Serena and Mercury carrying Rayes' unconscious body, Mercury Knight walked beside her trying to comfort her. As I walked out the door Uranus and Neptune fell in beside me and we continued down the hall. Something was wrong. I turned around just in time to see a ball of black energy headed straight toward Serena and Endymion. "NOOO!" I yelled.
I turned just in time to see Hotaru jump in front of me and raise her staff to shield us. Her small shield didn't last long and the energy ball she'd seen hit her full force knocking her small body backwards into us. I left Serena on the ground and ran to Hotaru, she was still breathing but barely.
"And so the warriors numbers dwindle!" The evil voice cackled in a sing-song voice.
I was enraged, I held to Hotaru as her eyes fluttered and finally opened, she stared up at me without a trace of fear in her eyes.
"I-Is the princess alright?" she asked, forcing the words out.
"Yes Hotaru, you saved our lives." I replied tears beginning to well up in my eyes.
"Please-Please don't cry Endymion, I did my duty now you must protect her, tha-thank you for understanding me. Darien?" she whispered the last word with a surprised twinkle in her eyes. "I know who you are." she said " It's just like you to want to help someone like me, I thought I recognized those eyes. Please Darien, protect the princess f-for me I…" she didn't get to finish the last sentence as the light faded from her eyes.
"NOOO!" I sobbed holding her to me, too young and to sweet to die like this, if the soldiers couldn't beat this monster with their powers then by god I swore I would go after him with my bare hands! I picked her up and began walking back towards the others, I walked right past them and headed back down the hall, towards the voice. The soldiers didn't even try to speak to me, I was enraged, they fell in behind me, not even knowing where I was going. Darien she'd called me, why did that name sound so familiar, why couldn't I place it. None of the others had been close enough to hear her say the name, they hadn't heard her final wish, but for some reason I was glad they hadn't.
Back to Part Two Chapter One
Part Two Chapter Three
