Part 2/Chapter 3
Link to Part 1
ETA: Part 3
Link to this chapter on AO3
Also, a warning that there’s stronger violence in this chapter.
Word Count: 2692
Makoto had wanted to believe there was just some part of this that she hadn’t understood, that Mina was still Mina, even having made her unfathomable choice. But now Setsuna was dead. “Mina. Mina, what did you do?”
Minako blinked, looked up at her, and stood. She held Mako’s gaze and said flatly, “I killed her.”
“That’s not true.” Haruka stumbled towards her. Makoto felt equally impressed that she had managed to scale the building and ashamed at how bad her face looked. Her right cheek had split open, and the skin around her eye was already purpling.
“Stay out of this, Uranus. I killed her.” Minako walked towards Mako, her shoulders loose and slumped like she was drunk. “The question is,” she said, pushing hard against Mako’s chest with one hand, “what are you going to do about it?”
It was wrong, everything was wrong. This had to be some crazy warped nightmare, she got those after people died, she must have fallen asleep next to Usagi and if she could just wake up, things would be back to… still horrible, but Minako wouldn’t have gone this far, she’d be recognizable, she’d–
“I said, what are you gonna do about it?” She lashed out with her chain across Mako’s face. Pain exploded in Mako’s left eye; its vision went red and dark.
She put her hand over it. Dampness she knew to be blood soaked through her glove. The instinct to hit back was squashed by the sheer horror that this was Minako, one of her best friends, who had been there for her for a thousand years. It couldn’t be real. Makoto refused to believe Minako could do any of this.
And yet.
An older memory, the sort she’d avoided all her life because they didn’t matter, nagged at the back of her mind. This wouldn’t be the first time Venus had maimed another senshi. This was Minako, not that Venus, but maybe they had never been as different as Mako had wanted to think. She’d killed Chibiusa, she’d killed Setsuna. She was the same general who’d tolerated no opposition.
And Usagi was the same queen as that lifetime’s mother.
Venus raised her arm to strike again, but Mako just sank to the rooftop. She knew she was different from the Jupiter who haunted her dreams, the efficient but fearful soldier. But was she the only one? That Jupiter remembered Mercury’s coldness. Mako thought Ami to be warm, yet she defended the murder of a child.
Everything was wrong.
She grabbed the chain as it swung towards her face again. The end whipped against the back of her hand, splitting the skin, but it didn’t matter. She pulled Venus to the ground. “When did this happen?” Mako yanked the chain out of Venus’s hands. “When did you take over?”
“I’ve always been the leader.”
“No, when did you take over her? When exactly did Minako die?”
Something akin to horror crossed Venus’s face, but in the blink of an eye it was gone. Mako couldn’t be sure she’d seen it at all. The pain and the blood made her head feel cloudy.
“Are you going to kill me?” Venus hissed. “Or are you that Jupiter now too?”
“Minako, what the hell?”
Rei was there, suddenly, Mako was not sure how, but she was on her blind side. Perhaps she had been there the whole time.
“Haven’t you heard? I’m Venus now. Cold, bloodthirsty Venus. Look what I’ve done, Rei. I’m everyone’s worst fear realized.”
“Stop this before you make it any worse.” Rei knelt next to Mako and looked at her face. “Goddamn it.” She turned to someone to the left. “Can you do anything for her?”
“I should be able to–”
“No,” Mako stood and backed away from Mercury. “Stay away.” She looked at Rei. “I don’t want her touching me.”
“You’ll lose–”
“I’ll live.” Her head felt light and her knees weak, so it might be a lie, but she couldn’t let whatever lived in the shell of her wife that close.
“They’re not Venus and Mercury, Mako,” Haruka said softly. “She’s still Ami.”
“She can’t be.” Mako saw Mercury’s face fall. It had to be an act. “They can’t do these things and be the people we’ve always loved. They can’t.”
“So kill me.” Venus stood. “You know I deserve it.”
“Why are you doing this?” Haruka asked with a cautious step towards her. “I know you’re Minako.”
Venus raised one hand and aimed a finger at Haruka’s forehead. “I told you to stay out of this.”
Rei’s arrow appeared. “Stop it, Mina.”
“You stop it. Shoot me.”
Rei lowered her bow. Mako put her hand on her shoulder. Of all the ways they could have lost their loves, she never imagined it would be like this.
But then Venus’s shoulders slumped. Her whole body shook as she started to cry. “Why won’t you just do this? Any of you!” She dropped her hand to her side. “You hate me, I hate me, it would be better for everyone.”
Mako’s chest felt tight. Relief that this was still Mina, that she’d been wrong, battled with the terrible realization of how hurt she was.
“She fucking saved me, how could she die saving me? I made the wrong choice, and you’re all keeping me alive, for what?”
“Mina…” Mako stepped, ready to hug her…
And was stopped by the large, sharp crystal suddenly emerging from Minako’s chest. Minako looked down at it, surprised as Mako, and then turned. Neo Queen Serenity stood behind her. She clutched the silver crystal so tightly that blood ran down her arms from her hands.
The crystal in Minako’s chest disintegrated into the air as she collapsed.
Serenity knelt and shut her eyes with a gentle caress of her thumb. “You’ll make a better choice next time,” she whispered. A single tear fell from her cheek. She looked up to the rest of them with dead eyes. “I need Saturn.”
Rei shook and Mako put her arm around her. Haruka fell to her knees.
Serenity stood up, her face too stern for the woman who had once been Usagi. But if Mina had stayed Mina, however broken, this had to still be Usagi. She had to be reachable. “I said I need Saturn.”
“She’s not here,” Ami said.
“Then help me find her.”
“Y-yes… my queen.”
“The rest of you, too. I need her soon.”
Mako nodded. The reset was the only way to make any of this right. They couldn’t end like this. Mina couldn’t end like this. But Rei grabbed her arm. “Don’t.”
“Excuse me?” Serenity stepped towards Rei.
Rei ran. Haruka followed.
“Do not let those two find her first,” Serenity said.
Ami nodded. Mako followed suit, but looking at Ami she wondered if this was really the right choice.
Haruka’s head pounded with every step. Between the blood and the phlegm from her tears she couldn’t get a good breath. “Rei… stop… I can’t…”
“Do you want Setsuna to have died for nothing?” Rei whipped around. “The reset can’t happen, she made that clear.” A few passerby looked at them before hurrying along. They were used to seeing the senshi in action around town, and had long ago learned to get moving before they saw anything more.
“You go find Hotaru, but I need…” Her head swam. She leaned against the corner of a building. “I need a minute.”
The ferocity dropped from Rei’s face. “Shit. Do you have a concussion?”
“I’m not sure.” It wouldn’t be the first time, riding a motorcycle for a thousand years had gotten her into more than one accident, but she couldn’t remember if it had felt quite like this. “I might just be shaken up.”
“Dammit Haruka, she’ll never forgive me if you die on my watch.”
It took Haruka a long minute to realize she didn’t mean Michiru. “I dunno, she might be glad we’re reunited sooner.”
Rei might have slapped her if she didn’t already have head damage. “That’s not funny.”
“I know, sorry.” But Rei had started crying in earnest.
“If I had stayed with her last night…”
“No.” Haruka ignored her own tears. “We can’t do this, not right now.” She was the one who should have noticed Serenity and stopped her, anyway. She was the one who should have been able to talk Mina down sooner. “You said yourself we need to find Hotaru.”
Rei nodded. “If you can’t–”
“I can.” But she stumbled on her first step. Nausea rushed over her; if she had eaten breakfast that morning she surely would have lost it. “Shit.”
“Sit down,” Rei snapped. Haruka did, resting her back against the stone corner of the building. She was surprised when Rei squatted next to her. “How could things go so wrong so fast?”
“Mina didn’t mean for it to go like this. She just…”
“I know.” Rei put her face in her hands. “God, if only she hadn’t done it. If only we’d detected that demon in time.”
Mina’s face played in Haruka’s mind. She wanted to remember her as she had been, glorious ridiculous Mina, but her brain kept reverting to those last moments. Haruka should have stopped her. Should have saved her. “I’m sorry.”
“Haruka!”
Michiru’s voice seemed to echo through the streets. The few people who remained around gave a start. Haruka couldn’t see her, but then she felt a touch on her shoulder. “Michi…”
“What happened?” Her fingers moved lightly over Haruka’s face, deftly avoiding the bruises.
Haruka caught her arm and pulled her down closer. She pressed her face into her shoulder. “Mina… and Setsuna…”
“They’re dead,” Rei said quietly. “And she has a concussion.”
Michiru knelt down and pulled Haruka even closer. She nestled her face into her hair. Haruka felt a few drops of water make their way to her scalp.
“And Serenity’s looking for Hotaru. She’ll do the reset if she can.”
Michiru’s hands clenched on Haruka’s shoulders. She pulled away slowly and looked at Rei. “Hotaru doesn’t want to do it.”
“I wouldn’t trust Serenity to not force her right now.” Rei swallowed hard. “She killed Mina.”
Michiru took a deep breath. “You need to hide out and rest,” she said to Haruka.
“Michi, I’m fine. We need to find Hotaru.”
“Haruka, if you value your life at all… If you love me at all, you will stay put and rest and not make your concussion any worse.”
“I love you.”
“I know.” She put Haruka’s arm around her shoulders and walked her across the street to a donut shop. It had been one of Usagi’s many favorites. “Excuse me,” she said to the bewildered man behind the counter. “You’re closed now. I need you to watch her. Don’t let her leave. Don’t let her talk. She needs to rest. You may feed her if she gets hungry, and make sure she always has water. Do you understand?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Good.” She laid Haruka down on the floor. The man scurried to place a bundle of aprons under her head. “I’ll be back for you soon.” She kissed her very lightly. “I love you, Haruka.”
“I love you too.” Haruka watched as she shut the blinds and walked out the door with Rei. She’d join them as soon as she could.
Hotaru ran. She wasn’t sure where or even entirely why anymore. She didn’t care if Michiru caught her. Maybe it would even be better that way. She could feel pieces of the world unravelling.
She’d thought, briefly, that she could end it all for Chibiusa. That it was worth the sacrifice to bring her back. But she could hear, almost, Chibiusa’s protests. She wouldn’t even stand by Hotaru ending her own life, much less millions of others.
And in Hotaru’s heart, she knew she couldn’t do it anyway.
She rounded a corner. There was Makoto, peering down another street. Hotaru stopped. Mako’s left eye was nothing but a bloody gash. Hotaru’s stomach twisted. Someone had done this to her. “Mako…”
She gave a start. “Oh. There you are.”
“What’s going on?”
Mako pressed her lips together. “You… There are some things you should know.”
“Who’s dead?” She swallowed down her fear.
“Minako… and Setsuna.”
Mama. It wasn’t fair, of all the people in the world to die, why were those closest to her going first? She tried to think of the last time she’d told Setsuna she loved her. She was bad about that, sometimes she honestly believed she didn’t, but she must have recently, hadn’t she? What had been the last thing she’d said to her? When had she last hugged her?
“That’s not all.” Mako shifted her weight from foot to foot. “Serenity wants you.”
“I won’t do it. Chibiusa would never have wanted it. The rest of the people here wouldn’t want it.”
“But you…” Mako’s eye went soft. “You should hide, then. Things aren’t… no one is acting right. And I’m not the only one looking for you.”
Hotaru nodded, turned.
“Oh there you are.”
She sounded like Usagi, the big sister figure rather than the mother. There was blood on her hands, blood on the crystal, but she looked so happy that Hotaru was there. “I’ve been trying to find you.”
“I can’t do this for you.”
“You can. You need to.” She came closer and stroked Hotaru’s hair. “We need them all back. Chibiusa needs to live.”
“And what happened to the girl who wouldn’t sacrifice even one person?”
“No one is being sacrificed. They’ll all come back. I’ll make it so. No one has to stay dead.”
“Having another life isn’t the same as not dying.”
“It’s our only choice.”
“No.” Hotaru backed away. “She would want us to live our lives. These lives, as best we can. We can’t destroy the kingdom in her name.”
“The kingdom is already destroyed with her gone.” She gripped the crystal so tightly that Hotaru was sure either it or her hands would break. “Saturn… Hotaru please.”
“I will not kill all these people for you.”
And like a snap, the resemblance to Usagi was gone. “Jupiter. Destroy… that building.” She pointed to a large apartment complex.
Mako’s eye widened. “What?”
“We need to remove whatever moral objection Saturn has. If she won’t kill people, we will. She can be the savior instead of the destroyer.”
“Usagi…” Mako shook her head. “Don’t do this. Don’t make me do this.”
“I want my daughter back. Are you going to deny me that?”
Mako looked up at the building, then back at Serenity. There had to be hundreds of people in that building alone. Hotaru could feel the conflict of Mako’s love and Mako’s values. She understood it too well now.
“Now, Jupiter.”
Mako sank into a genuflect, fading into civilian form on the way down. She threw her transformation stick down an alleyway. “I’m sorry, Usagi.”
Hotaru saw Serenity’s hands move along the crystal. She saw the anger in her eyes and knew what was coming. So she moved first.
She drove the glaive into Mako’s back between her shoulder blades. My job is to end suffering. “Usagi loves you,” she whispered. “She always has and always will.”
“Hotaru… how could you…” Blood sputtered her words.
It’s better you hate me than die feeling she hates you. “I have my own agenda.” She swallowed hard at Mako’s disappointed face. Hotaru guided her to the ground gently. She wondered if this was how Haruka and Michiru had felt all those years ago. Though she’d thought she’d cried far to much to have any tears left, she felt them start to roll down her face.
Mako turned her head toward Serenity. “Tell Ami… I’m sorry.”
I will, Hotaru promised silently. She doubted sorry remained in the queen’s vocabulary. As the last breath wheezed out of Mako’s chest, Hotaru ran.
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