Pretty Guardian Sailor Lilith #11 – « Arguing »
‘There she is again!’ Mars cried out angrily.
Yes, there she was. Sailor Lilith had appeared out of nowhere, in the now-familiar battle scene between the Sailor Guardians and the crystal golem, claiming she was the Guardian of illusions and dark sides. Kasumi peeled her eyes, reminding that Lilith was supposed to be her subconscious avatar.
This is a dream. Nothing can happen to me. This is a mere puzzle I must crack. I must not panick. I must not wake up.
Sailor Lilith took a few steps between the battlers, calmly looking around with her sly smile as if there was nothing to fear. The three Guardians watched her with an obvious distrust – that night, Jupiter and Venus weren’t there.
‘Ya all havin’ good fun, ain’t ya?’ Lilith called with an insolent voice.
Mars clenched her fist.
‘Some people are trying to get things done here – not slacking around like you!’
‘Oh, really? Why is it that ya can’t do it without my help, then? Oh, and please stop trying and analyze me’, she told Mercury, ‘just feels gross, really.’
‘Do you fear we understand who you are?’ the girl said, still tapping at her computer.
‘Fear? Whatcha talkin’ about? I’m just tryin’ for us to be good friends...’
‘Good friends? You must be kidding...’
While they were chatting, the crystal golem was silently approaching Sailor Lilith from behind. The other Guardians said nothing, probably wishing the unwanted visitor would end up trapped in a giant crystal. But she slowly raised her hand and pointed a finger to the creature, and softly spoke, without even turning back – ‘Solar Eclipse!’. Then, the golem’s crystal skin started to change from its pure shade of translucent, light blue to an opaque, dark purple tone, as if some sort of poison was spreading through it.
‘Just as last time’, Mercury commented in bewilderment. ‘Any trace of moon energy is gone from the creature – it’s like she... corrupted it.’
Mars instantly rushed forward and harassed the darkened golem with fire attacks. The creature howled with pain and flinched.
‘Ah, ya always so passionate, Mars darling’, Lilith smiled. ‘But don’t waste yer efforts too much, dear – only Sailor Moon can finish the job.’
The blonde girl gave Mercury an uncertain look, who nodded.
‘I think it’s safe now.’
Then, Sailor Moon focused, summoned her scepter, and shot a blast of blinding light at the creature, which melted away into thin dust. The Guardians had a sigh of relief. As for Sailor Lilith, she clapped her hands loudly.
‘Ah, I love a happy ending!’
‘How did you do that?’ Mars asked with an aggressive tone.
‘Why, that’s my power – remember, I’m the Guardian of...’
‘Deceit and stuff, yeah we know that. So what?’
‘Dark sides’, Lilith learnedly corrected.
‘It’s like I said earlier – she can corrupt powers’, Mercury coyly reminded.
‘Scary...’ Sailor Moon said with a shaky voice, ‘Is that true, Lilith?’
Sailor Lilith shrugged and cracked an innocent smile with her head dipped.
‘Sorta!’
‘Then you’re an enemy of ours!’, Mars shouted.
‘Oh, Mars darling, I feel so sorry ya always have to take things like that...’
‘What’re you talking about? I’m sick of your coy carelessness now! You’re either with us, or againt us! So what side are you on?’
‘Well, both of course.’
Lilith laughed heartily, as if she had just come up with an hilarious joke.
‘If you claim you’re my enemy, that’s good enough for me!’, Mars declared.
She stood ready for battle and summoned a fire lance, which struck Lilith right in the heart. The girl fell to the ground without even trying to defend herself, still laughing.
‘What’s so funny now?’
‘Oh, nothing – just to see how ya never changed in all these years...’
‘Stop it! You don’t even know me!’
‘Ya don’t know yerself, either...’
‘Shut up!’
Mars fired another bolt. Lilith startled as if the fire was tickling, and didn’t stop laughing, despite the burns that were showing on her arms and her features turning to black.
‘You stupid coward! Shut up and stand and fight back!’
Lilith suddenly stopped laughing and stared at her opponent with a vicious smile.
‘Alright, ya asked for it.’
Mars had already summoned a fireball when Lilith turned around, with a finger pointed at her, yelling ‘Solar Eclipse!’. The girl in red trembled a bit, but other than that, there was no visible effect from Lilith’s attack. Kasumi came closer to examine her, and when she saw her face, her heart leaped. Mars’s usual expression, proud and burning with determination, was gone. Instead, her eyes had become blank, and her lips were shaking with rage.
‘You... You...’, she stuttered, unable to control her temper anymore.
‘Come now, Mars darling!’, Lilith called cheerfully, throwing her arms to her side, offering her chest in the process. ‘Come on! Hurt me! Make me suffer!’
The girl’s provocation was more than enough to trigger Mars’s wrath. A storm of fire started to rage around her, and she took repeated blows. Kasumi was starting to feel numb, as if her condition was linked to Lilith’s, even though she did not feel any pain.
I must hold on. I want to see how this ends.
‘Stop it, Mars-chan!’, Sailor Moon anxiously called.
‘That’s right! Stop that!’, Mercury exclaimed.
As the short-haired Guardian reached out to stop her friend, she was pushed back and blown away by another fire bolt.
‘Mercury!’, Sailor Moon yelled, alarmed. ‘Lilith, what on earth have you done?’
Lilith couldn’t answer, for she was laying on the ground, trembling in pain. Mars finally stopped and stood there, panting heavily.
‘Ah... fucking brute...’, Lilith moaned.
She was instantly rewarded with a hit from a fire whip.
‘You... fight... back!’
The girl did not answer. She simply raised a trembling hand and waved it in front of her, gathering her strength to utter ‘GRUDGE SPIRAL!’. Suddenly, the air began to vibrate around them, as a beam of energy form at Lilith’s arm and shot in Mars’s direction, striking with tremendous power. The fire Guardian was hit so hard that she flew over several yards, and was pushed away even farther after falling to the ground.
‘No! Mars!’
Sailor Moon left Mercury and ran to her, then held her dislocated body. Lilith fell back with a content smile, and Kasumi felt like she was losing her grip. She tried to resist, but she soon woke up.
The girl was feeling uncomfortable under her bed sheets. Her limbs were painful, just as if she had been running a whole marathon and had not recovered yet. She slowly sat up, massaging her shoulders and arms. Her skin was hurting more than her muscles, so she peeled back her sleeves and turned on the lights to see what that was about.
It can’t be.
Her skin, usually pale, was burned, like she had put her arms in a fire. Like she had been attacked by Sailor Mars, as Lilith had been in her dream...
Calm down. There must be a rational explanation.
She had already heard about that strange phenomenon... People being persuaded that something was happening so much, that their body made it happen, even though the cause was non-existent. Just the same way one could restrain from feeling pain when there was, one could also feel pain when there was not. Perhaps her mind had taken her dream too seriously.
‘Hey, you okay?’
‘Oh, Shingo... you startled me.’
‘Didn’t mean to... just heard you crying, thought I’d check if everything was alright...’
‘Yes, don’t worry...’
There was a moment of silence.
‘So... You’re gonna leave?’
‘Well, that’s the plan, yes... I can’t keep depending on Usagi like that... I’ve got to build a life of my own...’
‘You’re gonna visit us sometimes?’
‘Sure, I’m not going far away...’
‘Wanna go out with me?’
Kasumi stared at the young man in disbelief.
‘S-Sorry?’
‘Nah, forget about it.’
Shingo turned away and walked down the stairs. The girl stayed there, a dumb expression on her face. She did not even consider cracking a smile when he turned his head to take a last look at her.