Dark Kingdom: Shattered Moonlight

Bound by Shadow

Drowning darkness pressed down on him, thick as smoke, hard as stone, suffocating every cell. Mamoru floated, suspended between waking and oblivion, in a void where time held no meaning. The world was blurry and distant, like watching a dream through foggy glass.

No matter how he struggled, he remained adrift, untethered, a ghost in a realm where shadows whispered and light was a forgotten memory.

The only thing that burned dimly was the spot behind his ribs. Usagi's pull remained a faint warmth in the overwhelming cold. Desperately he grasped at it, suddenly starving for her.

He tried to move, to breathe, but his limbs felt like lead, heavy and unresponsive. Nothing felt solid. His lungs frantically tried to inhale enough oxygen. Fingers hungered for something to grasp, but they remained isolated. Straining, his ears searched for even the faintest sound, desperate for anything to pierce the suffocating silence. His skin ached for a touch—something warm, something real—but the air felt numb and empty. Blurred vision made it impossible to see through the thick, cloying darkness surrounding him.

Am I dead?

He tried to move, to breathe, but an unbearable weight pinned down his limbs, making them heavy. Everything felt too solid, pressing into him from all sides. His lungs strained, struggling against the oppressive air, every breath a laborious fight. His fingers curled, desperate to release the crushing pressure closing around them. Deafening sounds rang in his ears, each one a sharp crack in the suffocating silence. His skin burned under the force of it all, the air thick and stifling against him, smothering every inch. His vision was clouded, distorted by the overwhelming presence of darkness closing in.

Did Kunzite kill me?

Does that mean... is Usagi mourning me?

Something akin to panic drifted through his mind, but even that felt distant, disconnected. There was a sense he was on the edge of something—teetering between life and death, caught between the pull of warm, radiant light and the cold embrace of the stone enveloping him.

That black nothing was both comforting and terrifying, a paradox that held him captive. It cradled him in its abyss, yet threatened to consume what little remained of his fading consciousness.

But I just got her back.

He struggled against the paralysis, desperate to reach out to Usagi, to return to her. A faint ache stirred within his chest, an almost imperceptible longing that pulled him toward the light. It was a delicate thread, barely there, but it resonated with a familiarity that sparked a flicker of awareness. Images of Sailor Moon, of Usagi flashed in his mind. Her eyes shimmering with determination, her smile like the dawn breaking the night.