The Star of Night | MIYAKO

act twenty-nine { one goes in darkness, many will follow with hopeful light }

"Oh, I hope everything is alright..." Boots clacked against the stone floor. "They're taking too long out there."

Sailor Venus wrung her gloved hands together. The sound of her boots and worried mutters were the only thing anyone could hear in the Command Center. The security system's soft beeps went off the minute King Endymion left, and Mako stopped explaining the plot of his book ages ago. Across the chaise, Miya and Chibiusa held each others hands, leaving the boy to lean on their far side. 

Once the door to the room was locked, the group of four were completely blocked off from the outside world. In case the enemy were the hack it, Endymion warned before he left. 

"They're going to be just fine, right? Nothing bad is going to happen to them because they have Sailor Star and the Legendary Silver Crystal and Sailor Moon! No one is going to die, no one is going to get stuck in crystal, everyone is coming back just--"

The door to the Command Center bust open. Miya's jaw hung open with hopeful words that evaporated once the first person stormed in. Sailor Moon was all a blur: a mess of blonde, tears, and weak limbs crashing into her friend. 

Hope of the group's return quickly turned to ash when the quartet watched King Endymion and Mamoru trudge behind. Their heads were bowed and eyes downcast. Whatever they saw out there, or were forced to witness, hung like a blanket of shame over them. 

Mako flew off the chaise first and ran to his father. Just a second, the boy lost his mind in books and rambles of whatever he read. It was the only thing to keep his mind steady against the girls outward panic. His eyes were wide with anticipation. 

"What happened, papa? Did you win?" The boy moved his head around. "And where's Sailor Star?"

Endymion was heartbroken looking into his son's matching eyes. It was like watching himself look for answers. Answers to his life's biggest mysteries. Answers to why his favourite person wasn't with them. Answers to why...why everything felt so sad. The king cast Mamoru a glance before taking off his own mask. 

"She--"

"She's gone!" Sailor Moon cried out. 

A blizzard blew through the Command Center. No one found the strength to move, let alone say anything. Every hand that held others were cold to the touch. Every tongue prepared to ask questions ran drier than the dirt outside. A shiver worst than outside, or the coldest north in the world, froze over in the room. 

Mamoru looked down to see Mako fallen on his rear. His bangs covered his eyes. His hands balled against the floor. 

In all his centuries of living, Neo-Queen Serenity is--was-- the only constant in Mako's life. Ever since he was babe, his life was lived in the comfort of his mother's arms. When he took his first steps, Mako stumbled into his mother's arms; when he passed his first National Exam, Serenity was the first person he told. When the Imperial Physician brought the news that the prince's body could not hold him up like others his age--that his condition matched that of the Queen's younger state--and that leaving the palace would jeopardize his health and safety. 

Serenity was there with him, holding his hand, and reassured him that everything would be all right. 

As long as the Moon shines, you will be the same yesterday, tomorrow, and forever.

"W-w-we can find her, right? Sailor Star isn't going to be go-gone for long, right?" Mako trembled under the bright lights. His voice was rough under his breath, shaking just like his body. "She's going to be safe, right?!"

The answer to the boy's weakness could never be answered. In a world where all sicknesses and diseases went extinct, the body that carried Mako grew weaker the more he exert himself. And just like her son--like her younger self from centuries ago--the immortal queen fell into a weaker state.