Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Death and Rebirth ❯ Death and Rebirth 26 ( Chapter 26 )

Death and Rebirth

Chapter twenty-six

Unconsciousness gave Haruka no rest, she was continuously plagued by punishing nightmares. Awake, she only had to endure physical pain, but her condition didn't allow her to remain like so for long.

Suddenly, the pain began to ebb and the short-haired woman felt her health returning. Her feelings of guilt were replaced by those of peace and redemption. When she was able to open her eyes, a heartwarming sight greeted her.

"Hime-chan?" Haruka asked weakly. Hotaru's violet glow faded and a warm smile appeared on her lips. "Hime-chan!!" She sat up and hugged her daughter tightly. "Gomen ne, Hotaru, I never meant to-"

"Ie, it's my fault, Haruka-papa," the pale girl sobbed, "I never should've kept quiet, but I was too afraid of hurting you."

"Hush now, it's all in the past." Haruka raised her sight and saw Michiru at the doorway. The aqua-haired violinist rushed to her love and gave her a second embrace, showering her with kisses. The lovers caressed each other a short while, until Michiru noticed how their little princess was leaving.

"Hime-chan? Where are you going?" The pale girl chuckled.

"Both of you have recovered your loved one," she said, "Now I must go and ensure the safety of mine."

*****

Karasu no shi raced towards Raven as fast as he could; the villain was practically a beacon. Kashaku, back in his avian form, swooped down and flew at his level.

"I don't think I ever read about a threat of this magnitude, not in all the research I've made."

"I know that Raven broke several rules with what he did. But are the consequences really that serious?"

"Not because of the transgression, but because the Silence Glaive is in his possession."

"Explain," the dark-eyed warrior requested as they kept on running.

"What abilities does Lady Saturn have? On her own and with her talisman."

"Umm, her shield, her illusions and her healing power. And the glaive enables her use offensive techniques."

"Precisely, her own power creates, the weapon destroys. The death rebirth revolution consists of the Silence Glaive releasing all of its energy, destroying a planet."

"And once that happens, Saturn drains herself to stop the destruction and heal the planet enough so it may live again." He made a grim pause, "dying in the process." They had finally made it to the drone hive's entrance. "Raven's no creator, if he uses the glaive the Earth will not recover."

"Worse, with creation off the scale, destruction will not stop. We may be facing the end of the entire galaxy."

"And I'm the one who has to stop it," Karasu huffed, "As if the pressure wasn't enough already." They both stood in front of the ravine, trying to come up with a plan. The senshi appeared behind them.

"Any sign of Raven?" Sailor Venus asked. The answer came in the form of a gigantic tremor. The heroes were thrown off their feet as the earth cracked and shifted. From the bottom of the canyon, dark stone rose and took form. When everything became still, Jupiter looked up and saw a mountain a few yards away. It was obviously an unnatural creation, for a stairway encircled it.

"Che, he's still a show off."

"And he's waiting at the top," Uranus added, "Let's get that creep." She sprinted and bumped against an invisible surface. "Ouch!" The wind senshi rubbed her nose, "What is this?"

"A force field no doubt," Ami deduced, "and quite strong, it's going to take a lot to bring it down."

"Probably not," the undead warrior said as he stepped forward and went right through the barrier, "Raven wants this to be one-on-one."

"You're not going to play his game, are you!?" Saturn protested.

"One way or another, it'll come down to that," he gritted his teeth, "it's meant to be." The silent senshi simply placed a hand against the force field and looked into his opaque eyes, she summoned all of her courage.

"I'll be here, until your return," she said. Karasu smiled and ran towards the mountain, more determined than ever in his entire life.

The climb was extremely difficult, the steps became gradually steeper, and fierce winds tried to blow him away. When Karasu reached the summit Raven was there. The undead warlock sat there non-challantly, swinging the stolen glaive in a playful manner.

"It finally comes to this, the antagonists face each other in one final encounter, a battle where only one will come out alive," he grinned evilly, "Of course, in real life the good guy doesn't always win."

"Are you done, or is killing you the only way you'll shut up?"

"Ah, the defiance of youth." Raven jumped off the boulder he was on. "I'll make my offer anew, the chance for a true life, to grow up and grow old next to your beloved Hotaru. It is certainly better than to have her see your head impaled on her weapon."

Karasu responded with action, not words. He made a tremendous leap, bringing Seventh sin down against his foe. Raven blocked and pushed Karasu away, the undead warrior planted his feet and charged again, being blocked and repelled once more.

"Ebon shears!" Just like before, the black blades bounced harmlessly off Raven's body.

"I suggest you hold back a little, otherwise this encounter will be much too brief."

"You should know by now, I never hold back!" Karasu attacked with slashes and kicks, few of which actually managed to reach their target. Raven countered skillfully with the glaive, parrying the katana and forcing Karasu to back away bit by bit.

"You have grown stronger. But what for? There's nothing to gain."

"Qué?" Raven sneered and placed his hand against his opponent's stomach, dark energy exploded, throwing Karasu away. The undead warlock kept on throwing orbs, making the warrior reel back in agony. When the barrage ended, Karasu plummeted to his hands and knees.

"What can you gain with vengeance? Nothing at all. Your family is, and will remain dead, nothing will change that, no matter your efforts." Karasu looked at his enemy with an appalled gaze, then down again. Raven continued, "It was a foolish mission since the beginning, you let your anger control you and allowed yourself to become something inhuman, for nothing. And even if you could defeat me, nothing would change, nothing would be accomplished." Karasu dug his fingers into the ground in frustration. "A useless life, a useless quest and a useless effort, that's what your entire life comes down to." Raven watched with delight as the smaller fighter shook with each sob. He glimpsed at the glaive and tossed it away, "Too easy."

The warlock stepped towards opponent, ready to end him once and for all. He stopped when he was right in front of him, a perplexed look in his face. He couldn't hear it before because of the distance, Karasu no shi wasn't sobbing, he was chuckling.

"Heh, heh, heh…" As he stood up again, Karasu's laughter gained volume, until he threw his head back, cackling like a maniac. Raven went from confused to annoyed.

"What is so amusing?"

"Can't you tell?" the pale hero replied, "I'm laughing at you, at how stupid you are." Raven was taken aback, the tone in his opponent's voice indicated that this was more than a playful insult. "It's true what you say, my family won't come back, I can't change what happened to me and Carmela. But saying that I accomplished nothing, makes you the world's biggest fool." The laughing had stopped and now a solemn silence surrounded the mountain. "If I hadn't come back, Minako and her friend would've been raped and murdered, just like that woman in the alley and hundreds more out in the streets. Wily, Blaze and Chris would still be out there making people suffer, Kara would never have discovered what a creep you are, and chances are you were going to kill her unborn child, and Paul, he gave his all, which makes him victorious no matter the outcome. My sister, Carmela, she would still be a drug-addict, and Hotaru, the one that I love, she and Haruka would never have expelled their guilt." A dark wind began to howl. "Now I realize Rei's words, now I know why this happened to me! I can do nothing for my past, but I can do something about the future of others. That's why crows exist! So that no one else shares our fate!!" The opponents stood there in silence, facing each other.

"How heartwarming," Raven mocked, "But tell me, do you truly believe what you just said?" Karasu took a deep breath and lowered his gaze.

"No, I don't believe it… I KNOW IT!!" He leapt back and took a battle stance, "Ebon shears!" And again, Raven put up no defense.

"Have you no brains? You feeble power is nothing against-Huh!?" He felt a sting on his left cheek. Plus, shrouded by the black blades, Karasu had run up and landed a right hook against his foe. The force of the blow threw Raven back against the wall.

"What did you say about brains?" Karasu taunted. The black-haired villain wiped his lip and growled.

"A moment of carelessness that I won't repeat!" Raven gathered his energy and threw blast after blast. Moving faster than ever before, Karasu avoided every attack as he came closer and closer, and once he was in position, he gave Raven a fierce roundhouse-kick to his face. With a louder growl, the false crow jumped up and grappled his enemy. They struggled, trying to overpower each other by means of brute strength.

"You were careless enough already, pendejo, you revealed your weakness."

"What? Urgh!" Karasu tightened his grip, causing Raven's hands to crackle.

"I should've figured it out when you used those illusions back in hell, your power consists on lies." The dark-eyed teen spun and threw his opponent over the shoulder. "All you can do is lie! You make people believe they're weak and take advantage of them. You hide your true self behind an ornate picture, and the truth of it all is, you hide from your own weakness."

"Weak?" Raven's eyes gave out a dark glow, "I'll show you weak!!" He blasted Karasu away with an intense beam. When the boy fell, he jumped, grabbed him by the hair, black flames on his hands, and started pounding him against the rocky ground. "I am on the verge of godhood! I worked too hard for this, and I won't allow a scrawny brat like you take it away!" He said this as the merciless punishment continued.

"You cannot win."

"Huh?" Raven froze, in his mind he heard a ghostly, and somewhat familiar voice.

"It is time to pay." "For all your crimes and sins." "You can hide no more." "You must now face your doom."

"Enough!" Raven shouted, but the voices kept on haunting him. "What is this, some new trick you learned?"

"Heh, heh, this isn't my doing, Raven, it's your own." Karasu got up. "The ones you hear are your victims, every single person you destroyed throughout a life of greed. They were there all the time, calling out for you, for retribution. You managed to ignore them for long enough, and now," dark mist surrounded the undead warrior, "you will listen."

Raven watched as the mist grew thicker and thicker, faces, faces he knew took shape. Wind blew around Karasu, fanning his coat and hair. Slowly and with his eyes closed, he raised his arms sideways then moved them forward. The wind blew faster, thunderclaps were heard, and Karasu felt a new power surge throughout his body, a power not just his own.

"A THOUSAND SOULS CHOIR!!!"

Take a pause from this story if you will, and try to remember one person who you've purposely hurt. Imagine him or her walk up to you and scream into your ear how much pain you caused. And now, try to imagine every single one of them, screaming into your soul.

"YEARGH!!" Black specters were fired from Karasu's hands, and each of them tore through Raven's entire being.

At the foot of the mountain, the senshi waited impatiently. Saturn hadn't moved from her original position, she stood there, looking at the path Karasu had taken, hoping.

"CAW!"

"It's down!" she shouted suddenly.

"Nani?" Pluto was the first, and even so she reacted too slowly, "Matte, Saturn! Chikuso!" They all ran after the silent senshi, but they didn't go very far when they saw something that chilled them to the bone.

"By the kami!" Sailor Moon gasped, "Is that?" They saw a dark figure falling down the side of the cliff, and were too far to tell who it was. When it reached rock bottom, with a gruesome bounce, the senshi sprinted towards it, and again they came to a screeching halt when a bright light appeared and a multicolored geyser burst out. The cloud that was formed hovered a while before dispersing in all directions, until there were only a few specs trailing behind.

"Those were soul-pearls," Tuxedo Kamen recognized, "and that is Raven."

"If that's Raven," Saturn's eyes brightened, "then that means-" She heard footsteps, the pale senshi spun and saw Karasu coming out of the shadows, he was bruised, he was bloodied…he had won.

"Let's go home," he simply said.

*****

Juban central hospital:

Several doctors, Mizuno among them, were walking down the aisles. Most of the group consisted in visitors who'd come to appraise the work being done.

"And here we have a most puzzling case," the head doctor spoke, "We don't know how he got here nor how he came to such condition. The patient's age is so advanced that we can't determine it. He has no motor skills whatsoever, and is so delicate that even intravenous nourishment is impossible. Despite all this, he still lives, even if vital signs are nearly imperceptive." One by one they looked through the window, Dr. Mizuno was the last. She saw a man so old and pale that he barely looked human, and just like her colleague had said, there was no life support, yet the monitor showed a heartbeat every now and then.

"Mizuno-san, we're moving on."

"Hai." Ami's mother took a final glimpse. Chills ran down her spine when she saw that black whirlpool over his left eye.

*****

New Tokyo airport, evening:

"So, he's not dead after all?" Usagi asked. She and her friends had all gathered to say good-bye to Carmen, except for Makoto who was in Hokkaido with Shigeru, and Hotaru who was attending another parting.

"I do believe death has been prohibited to him," Kashaku answered, "Raven broke far too many laws, and in an ironic twist of fate, was punished with what he sought, immortality."

"Too cruel a sentence in my opinion," the blonde said grimly.

"Justice can be cruel, your highness, but she is always fair. You posses the kindest spirit in existence, but even mercy must be moderated." Usagi thought this over and finally nodded. Harsh as it was, it was a lesson that a future queen had to learn.

"I'm just happy it's over," Minako said, "And happier to know that Paul's pearl was among those that came out of Raven."

"Likewise," Carmen agreed, "It's a bit funny coming from me, but he deserves a second chance." The spiky-haired girl took a deep breath, "Speaking of which, Ami, how is Kara doing?"

"Quite well, and the baby grows healthy and strong inside her." The blue-eyed girl leaned back against a column. "Kara-san decided to give her child up for adoption, and enter a mental institution, she doesn't feel fit to face the real world or motherhood."

"A brave gesture," Mamoru praised, "I'm sure that she'll do well in life." The loudspeaker announced that the flight for Mexico City was now being boarded.

"This is it," Carmen sighed as she picked up her bag, "Say good-bye to Hotaru for me. And Kashaku," she held out her arm for the bird, "please do the same for my brother."

"I shall deliver the message post-haste. Caw!" He opened his wings and took off.

"Caw!" Deimos, who'd been waiting at the roof, called when Kashaku flew by. The male crow made a U-turn and landed next to her.

"Yes, Lady Deimos."

"Guardian Kashaku, before you leave I wanted to say, umm…" The blue-eyed bird looked down and chose her next words carefully. "Let the wind beneath you wings be strong, and the horizon before you be bright." This was an old saying in Coronis, a wish for a safe and fruitful trip.

"I thank you, milady. Perhaps in the nearby future, we shall meet again." Deimos watched silently as Kashaku took off once more and was lost in the distance. Phobos landed next to her.

"You just couldn't say it, huh Deimos-chan?"

"It would've complicated things. Besides, I doubt I ever gave a clear enough signal."

"Liar," the red-eyed crow teased, "But hey, there is a chance of him coming back, perhaps by then," she thought over, "Ie, you'll still be too chicken."

"Hey!" Deimos tried to peck at her twin, but she got away and fluttered around tauntingly. All the way back to the temple they played, as if they were children once more.

"I'm grateful we're family, Deimos-chan."

"Likewise, onee-chan, likewise."

*****

Elsewhere in Tokyo, Carlos and Hotaru were together alone. They stood in the middle of a bridge over railroad tracks, sharing what she believed to be a final kiss, the very thought caused her to sob.

"Hotaru?"

"Gomen," the violet-haired girl said, "I just, I…Oh!" She turned away in embarrassment, "I'm acting like such a baka, I knew this was going to happen, ever since that moment under the balconies." Hotaru leaned on the guardrail. "I really should be happy for you, you will finally rest, you'll be reunited with your parents," she gave a sarcastic laugh, "So why can't I stop crying?"

"I am leaving, Hotaru," he said as he gently wiped the tears away from her amethyst eyes, "but not for the netherworld."

"Nani?" Sighing, Carlos stepped away and explained.

"As I came down the mountain I understood, there are many people like Raven, who have no scruples when it comes to their desires. And even more people like my family, with no defense against the evils of the world. How long until someone else suffers as much as I did, and this nightmare is repeated?" The dark-haired boy looked up at the star-filled sky, "I won't allow it, no matter the cost." He approached his beloved and put his hands on her shoulders. "And I also need to learn, truly know what I am. I don't want to hurt you, Hotaru, but this is something that I-" She silenced with her fingers on his lips.

"Waste no words, just say what truly matters." Carlos took hold of her sweet face and kissed her again. Hotaru closed her eyes and savored the moment.

"I love you Hotaru," he whispered.

"I love you Carlos," she whispered back. The pale girl opened her eyes and discovered that she was now alone on the bridge. Alone? No, from now on neither she nor Carlos would be alone. Sadness was gone, she pressed her hands against her breast and felt her heart underneath, which beat no more, but rather sang. "Hearts can only sing in pairs, Haruka-papa and Michiru-mama thought me so. No matter the distance, no matter the obstacles, the sound will lead us to each other. Always."

THE END

*****

Final words:

When I started this story a year and a half ago, I thought I would never complete it. And I certainly didn't conceive people actually approving my work. To all my readers, I give thanks, for convincing me that this silly little hobby of mine is a talent worthwhile.

"Death and Rebirth" is done, but Carlos and Hotaru will go on, each starring in their own sequel.

"Condemnation", a comic book crossover. As Karasu no shi begins his journey for self-discovery, he encounters the one creature who may possibly have a faith worse than his, the Hellspawn.

"Heritage", a "Sailor Moon" fanfic. Sailor Saturn's first victory was the destruction of Pharaoh 90. Now, three years later, she must face the consequences of her actions.

And now, with ideas drained, sleepy eyes and aching fingertips, I bid you all, for the moment, adieu.

Twinsnake Coatl