[Narrative/Open end] Will we vanish to the sky?
Characters: Minako Aino (Sailor Venus), Elaine... Open to people finding her.
Time: Evening of February 17
Location: Near the Hard Rock
Content: Minako gets her chance to meet Elaine
Warnings: Mmmm, some blood.
Format: Prose
Nightmares.... Uneasiness around mirrors... Minako hated how easily spooked she was becoming over the simplest of things. Even the storm spooked her, which seemed silliest of all to the young warrior. In more of an attempt to calm her mind, she gave in to wandering as Venus, allowing her past persona to take the reins.
Venus was not as easily spooked. And it was because of this that Venus allowed the rain to drench her uniform, her blonde hair sticking to her face as her stern gaze patrolled the area. Passing a window, she could have sworn she saw the reflection move... Venus spun towards the reflection, her fingers at her lips, ready to attack at a moments notice....
Except nothing was there except her own two eyes looking back. Venus swore under her breath and went to lean against the wall, closing her eyes. Minako’s fear was getting to her... Seeping and blurring the line of reality and a ridiculous imagination.
The rain continued to pour in thick, gray sheets, a constant roar often accompanied by the deep rumble of thunder or split by the silvery-white flashes of lightning. It was only because of those flashes and the orange light of the streetlamps that anything was visible at all in the stormy night - including the other blonde woman standing directly across the street from Venus, her emotionless gaze falling on her, uncaring about the tempest around her.
Venus dismissed the idea that someone was watching her as another figment of her imagination, at first. Still, when the feeling didn’t go away, she opened her eyes again, ready to move on... To look around a little more before returning to the hotel. Her gaze fell on the woman, standing directly across the street from her.
Venus took a step forward, one of her hands casually undoing the chain belt around her waist. It wasn’t as threatening as the sword, but she didn’t want to threaten the woman if she wasn’t a threat herself. “It’s not safe out here, you should find shelter,” she advised the woman, stepping to the edge of the side walk without making any motion to cross the street.
Was that a hint of a smile?
"The rain doesn't bother me." Despite the steady roar of the storm, her voice was as clear as if she had been standing next to Venus.
Venus’ grip tightened around the chain. Her own expression remained calm, even as the way the woman spoke so clearly in the storm spooked her. “Nor will it bother anything that wishes to harm you... It is safer inside.”
She wouldn’t argue it any further, but at least by doing this she wouldn’t feel guilty about not giving it a proper try. She was not sworn to this unknown woman. If she wanted to endanger herself, it was her own choice.
She laughed. "There's hardly a reason to worry about that."
A few of the streetlamps flickered as a bolt of lightning streaked overhead. Behind Venus, unseen, the glass began to fracture, sharp little cracks unheard over the roar of the storm.
"Although the question begs to be answered - why are you here?"
“In the hope that questions will be answered,” Venus replied shortly. The conversation was beginning to unsettle her. The careless way the other woman was dismissing her worries... The way she was able to be heard over the storm without raising her voice. “And why are you here?”
For a very long moment, the other woman didn't say a single word, as if she were judging Venus's question...and then the streetlights flickered again before dying completely, plunging the street into the darkness.
"One reason only, child."
At the same time, the window behind Venus - looking more like a spider's web than an actually window anymore - finally shattered, shards of glass flying with deadly precision, the sound of breaking glass filling the air.
Venus took a step back as the lights died, her fear suddenly increasing as the darkness plunged around her. Her reaction was slow, trying to decipher the woman’s words while the glass broke. It wasn’t clear whether the Venusian flung herself to the ground in a preventative measure or if it was a result of the glass, ripping the back of her uniform, slicing bloody cuts into her skin.
Venus cried out at the pain before gritting her teeth. She would not give the woman the satisfaction of hearing her pain.... Even if she was not sure where the woman was anymore. Tears brimming the warrior’s eyes, she summoned the legendary sword with a flash of orange light.
What a fool she’d been, to talk with the woman so casually. Sure, she had not acted in a threatening manner... But Venus mentally cursed at herself for not being more on guard. For not being better prepared.
As if summoned by Venus's thoughts, there was a cold and almost gentle touch on Venus's sword-wielding wrist. But the ice that bit through even the cloth of her glove was numbing, and the woman, now kneeling next to Venus's sprawled form, casually reached for the sword.
"Whatever were they thinking, sending children here? Pathetic."
Her eyes widened when her hand went numb, her heart racing. No. Grinding her teeth, Venus clenched her eyes and let out a small whimper. The pressure of the rain on her cuts were searing, even as they washed away the blood as soon as it surfaced.
She couldn’t let the woman take the sword. With all the strength she could muster, Venus drove the heel of her shoe into the woman’s calf in a hopeless attempt to stall her. It was awkward and drove the warrior into rolling into more of the fallen glass shards.
The blow didn't faze the woman at all - in fact, it was almost as if it didn't even land. The woman neither frowned at Venus's desperate struggle nor laughed at the futility of it - instead, as Venus collapsed into wet, dagger-edged glass, she only reached for the sword again, picking it up and examining it with a completely unimpressed look in her eyes.
For a moment, it seemed as if she might have found it worthless as she turned it over and over again in her hands. Closing her eyes, she murmured something so quietly that there was hardly any sound at all and then the sword wavered a moment...and then vanished into golden dust, falling on the blonde soldier's prone body, and then disappearing into nothingness.
When she spoke again, all humor had seeped from her voice as she laid her chilling touch on the girl's throat, "This is a warning to you, child. Retreat from this battle while you still can." Magic swirled around those words, a dark spell that sunk deep into Venus's mind, sending her into the same unnatural sleep that had fallen on both Thomas and Galahad, sending the nightmares scurring into a black oblivion.