The Star of Night | MIYAKO

act twenty-four { a mournful reunion }

To anyone, the future could be the brightest thing to look forward to. It was the land of all impossible unknowns, the results of small and big things we do in the present. To us, in our own times, wherever we are, the future is looked to as one with hope (for some), a time where all our current stresses won't matter. 

The future held the hope we all dreamed of. Held riches and dreams we yearn for. 

The future was...

"Welcome to our home, everyone."

...a dark, hopeless void.

Pulled from all her imaginations of what the future, or the 30th Century, would look like, Sailor Star was stunned to silence at the reality. Instead of the futuristic spaceships Sailor Moon went on about or the cool fashion Sailor Venus wondered about, it was dark, cold, and dry. Every hopeful smile fell from the Sailor Guardians faces; the advisors themselves were hesitant to walk. 

Mako grimaced as the group continued their walk. His voice failed the building hope he wished to convey. Hearing the mushes under their boots as they walked, his hand tightened in Sailor Star's hold. He prayed they all believed the ground they stepped on was soft, not decomposing bodies. 

"This is Neo-Tōkyō?" The trio nodded at Sailor Moon's question. 

Far in the distance was the only source of light across the barren land. It was silver and wide. But before that was a large black crystal standing tall in the ground. Even though they were far from it, its shadow sent frigid shivers down Star's back. 

Miya pressed her lips into a firm line as she looked around her death-stricken home. No light from the sky could show the true horror of its demise--that was the only thing she was grateful for. The only light that could somewhat illuminate a path for them to walk, however, was the very thing that set her into a sudden dash. 

"Miya, wait!" Tuxedo Mask yelled. The girl set all her focus to the large structure ahead. Her feet barely touched the ground in her chase. She was weightless in the air...until her legs froze in place. 

"Wait, what--"

Sailor Moon, Sailor Star, and Sailor Venus were left with their advisors and Chibiusa and Mako, leaving Tuxedo Mask to reach out for the lost girl. But he too was quickly trapped in what looked like crystal. Before he could utter a warning, a sudden barrage of crystals rained on the group. They could only summon their weapons before their assailants uprooted and sealed them all. 

"It's a trap! We need to fight!"

The Boule Brothers, Chiral and Archiral, smiled at their marvelous work. The travelers their mistress tasked them to hunt down, were frozen in time. The brothers white hair flowed in crescent shapes behind them when they listened to the groups frozen screams. Silence returned to Neo-Tōkyō.

"Oh, are they moving?" 

From the depths of the large crystal sculpture appeared Esmeraude. Her emerald hair shone in the crystals glimmer while her amber eyes scanned those before her. 

Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus had jumped in the air, Moon Wand and Chain in-hand. Sailor Tuxedo Mask was frozen in a run with arms stretched wide to Sailor Star and Mako. Closest to Esmeraude was Chibiusa stuck in a run to Miya, who was frozen in front of everybody. 

The Black Moon Clan member tapped her lacquered nails on the crystal, laughing at the wide eyes looking back at her. "Now, which is the one who has the Crystal?" Esmeraude glanced across the frozen statues before eyeing the shorter ones. She pointed to Mako--in Sailor Star's arms. No, he's the weak one.  She barely eyed Chibiusa before her gaze hammered to Miya.