Drops of Starlight

Chapter 12: Not You Again

💫 Drops of Starlight 💫

By StrawberryMoonRose
🍓 🌙 🌹

I wasn't aware of how many cliffhangers I do until you guys pointed it out! Haha. It's not intentional, but now I notice I write them more often than not. I thought about why, and I'm going to blame R.L. Stine. I read all 300+ of his Fear Street and Goosebumps books in elementary school. He ended nearly every chapter on a cliffhanger and I think I subconsciously took that in. I mean, all of your life experiences go into your writing, especially what you read. Well, that's my theory anyway.

And...onto the action!

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Chapter 12: Not You Again
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Splinters of glass cascaded like crystalline rain, scoring Seiya's skin as she hurtled through the air with an eerie grace. Her attempt to writhe free from the monstrous grip was a ballet of motion too fleeting for the human eye to fully capture. One heartbeat, she was suspended in mid-fall, bracing for a jarring collision with the hard floor below; the next, she plunged into the mall's ornate fountain, hitting the bottom so hard, leaving her teetering on the precipice of unconsciousness.

She had hit her head, that much Seiya was certain of. With eyes open, she saw little through the distorted underwater lens. The garbled sound of Usagi's screams reached her ears.

Reality rushed back, as the monster thrashed alongside her in the basin. Its talon-like nails lashed through the water in a frenzied quest for its prey.

An underwater shadow alerted Seiya to its location. She lunged but wasn't fast enough.

Her breath emerged in silvery bubbles, her mouth agape in a wordless release of pain as the creature's jagged claws slashed her abdomen. Flailing, Seiya broke to the surface, bangs slicked into her eyes. A painful prickling sensation all over her skin told her the water harbored shards of glass.

The fountain held enough depth to soften the brunt of her fall. Seiya's frantic scramble to escape was met with a glimpse of the relentless creature. It had spotted her- its malevolent gaze locking onto her as it lunged with predatory intent.

Meanwhile, Usagi watched in horror from her vantage on the second-story ledge as the scene unfolded. Swift as thought, her fingers flicked open her watch communicator.

"Usagi? What's the matter?" Luna's voice, equally concerned and urgent, resonated through the device.

"Luna! Call the others! Call anyone! Seiya's being attacked by a youma! Sakura Mall! Hurry! She's hurt!"

"On it!"

"Luna, what do I do?" Usagi wailed, hugging Chibi-Usa close. The baby's wails were lost to the chaos unfurling around them. People scattered like marbles, fleeing the scene as the attack unfolded in a horrifying spectacle.

"Hang in there, Usagi! Help is on the way!"

"But I-I can't transform! Not with Chibi-Usa!" Usagi sprinted towards the escalator, desperate to help Seiya somehow.

"Makoto's close by, it will only be a couple minutes!"

"I can't lose her!" Usagi cried through blurry eyes. "I can't lose her too, Luna!"

Usagi hurtled down the escalator, her feet barely catching themselves on each riser to avoid an untimely tumble. With a determined pulse, she sprinted toward the fountain, fighting her way through the crown of panicked people descending upon her from all directions.

Seiya's body throbbed with agony, her movements sluggish as she struggled to evade the monster's next attack, though she tried. Each vicious swipe of its elongated nails left a trail of tension in the air, the blades mere fractions away from her face. A burst of desperation fueled her, allowing her to propel herself over the fountain's rim. Seiya cried out as she landed with a wince-inducing jolt to the ground.