Pretty Guardian Sailor Lilith #8 – « Encountering »
Kasumi’s conscience emerged slowly. She was in some kind of a sleepy state. It had to be another one of those weird dreams. But rather than the misty caves she usually came across, she was standing in the middle of a dark alley. There wasn’t the slightest hint of life around. Worried, she strode quickly along the passage. The sound of her footsteps echoed strangely in the lifeless city. It took her some time to find a crossing road. As she came closer and closer, she started to hear footsteps other than hers. She opened her mouth to ask who was there, but couldn’t hear her own voice. Somehow, it seemed that she was mute.
Then, the footsteps stopped, and someone spoke. A girl who was asking her way, apparently. A woman answered her. Kasumi has a hard time determining the origin of the voices, because they sounded like they were right next to herself. Oddly enough, though, she had the feeling that she couldn’t go the wrong way, as if there was only one path anyway. The thing was, she hated it when there was only one path to walk.
As the footsteps rang again, the girl decided to go on. She was wondering what she was going to find this time. Since she didn’t seem to be in the maze of her own mind, at least there was little chance for her to come across some creepy doppelganger. After walking through the dark streets for a time that felt like eternity, she suddenly froze in terror as she heard a piercing shriek. It had felt very close to her, but she couldn’t seem to find anyone around her. Another cry echoed in the night, and Kasumi started to run. She was trying harder and harder to keep her cool. Not only did the situation give her the creeps, but she also didn’t understand anything as to what was going on. And she couldn’t say which was the most frightening to her.
She eventually found a backstreet, with an entrance to some club. A woman stood there, terrified, her limbs shaking all over. In front of her was a human form. Indeed, Kasumi couldn’t think of any better term to qualify the creamy, white-skinned dummy that was slowly approaching her. As it had been since the beginning, she could hear his muttering very clearly.
‘Protect... I must protect you...’
Her heart pounding, the girl tried to rush forward, but it felt like her entire body was stuck in place. It occurred to her that, for some reason, she seemed restricted from interfering with the events which were taking place under her very eyes. She clenched her teeth, as the dummy was drawing closer and closer to its prey.
Then a loud voice called, out of nowhere:
‘Stop right there!’
The dummy obeyed the order, and for an instant she thought that the person who had spoken was its master. But the speech that followed soon changed her mind:
‘Attacking innocent people in the middle of the night like this is something I cannot forgive! I am the champion of love and justice! I am Sailor Moon!’
Sailor Moon?
‘In the name of the Moon, I shall punish you!’
Kasumi looked around her, desperately searching for the one who called herself Sailor Moon. Then she spotted a silhouette, moving in the shadows, leaping forward. The creature stayed idle for a few seconds, then simply turned away from the newcomer, going at the shaking woman again. It raised its arm and delicately brought it in contact with its petrified victim. The woman opened the mouth in order to yell, but before any sound could come out, a giant crystal-like structure quickly built around her, making her into a living statue, her face frozen in terror.
Meanwhile, the one called Sailor Moon had run towards the dummy and, though she was too late to prevent it from imprisoning the poor woman, she came soon enough to throw her foot at its face. The white creature toppled and hit the ground hardly. As it lay there motionless, Sailor Moon carefully moved out of the shadows to examine it. Only then was Kasumi able to see her clearly. And she was struck by how she bore a resemblance to her friend Usagi. She shook her head. It was probably because of the hairdo. Usagi didn’t have this kind of self-confidence, and she couldn’t possibly pick a fight on some sort of surreal creature like that. Besides, while Usagi was a rather plain young woman, that Sailor Moon had something surreal to herself, too.
As Sailor Moon went round the white dummy, its arm suddenly shivered, and its hand firmly grasped the girl’s leg. A small cluster of crystal instantly formed at her feet, sticking it to he ground. She screamed and started to randomly kick the creature in panic. As a result, she soon had her other leg trapped in crystal.
‘I will... protect you...’, the dummy endlessly repeated.
Then, a bolt of fire shot out of the darkness, throwing it away. Kasumi gasped, as the creature roughly landed a few feet from her, but she remembered it was a dream, and the way things looked, it was unlikely that anything could harm her. A second bolt followed, hitting the crystal clusters, which started to melt. Her feet released, Sailor Moon leapt away with a shriek.
‘Can’t you watch your aim, Mars?!’, she yelled.
‘Can’t you just watch your step?’, another voice angrily retorted.
Another silhouette showed and came into the light. That one had the same face as Rei, the girl who had been in a bad mood earlier. Kasumi shivered as she saw her. Even a mere avatar of that girl from a weird dream would give her goosebumps. Then, one by one, avatars of Usagi’s friends emerged from the shadows. They were naming each other after planets. At that very instant, Kasumi felt amazed how much imaginative her subconscious could prove.
One after one, each of those Sailor warriors threw attacks at the dummy. It didn’t seem to get any upset at how mistreated it was, because it kept standing back and slowly approaching the girls, moaning its eternal motto: ‘Protect... I must protect you...’.
‘It doesn’t seem hostile’, Venus said hesitantly. ‘Maybe we shouldn’t fight it like this...’
‘He trapped that woman in a giant crystal!’, Sailor Moon reminded her.
‘Any idea what that thing could be?’, Mars asked, turning to Mercury.
‘No. But I’ve got the feeling that we’d better handle it very carefully.’
With these words, Mercury touched her earrings, which summoned some kind of visor. While her friends were busy repelling the creature, she seemed to examine it thoroughly in he distance.
‘Got anything?’, Mars called.
Mercury remained silent for a while. Mars was getting impatient.
‘Well?’
‘I don’t quite understand... This is not a monster.’
‘Then what is it?’
‘That’s what I’m trying to determine... Strange... It seemed inhabited by the power of...’
Before Mercury could finish her sentence, the creature suddenly let out an awfully loud moan. Everyone turned their eyes to it. It was... encasing itself in a crystal. But, contrary to the young woman it had imprisoned earlier, it didn’t prevent it from moving. Startled, the Sailors tried even more attacks, but not only weren’t they any more efficient, they also wouldn’t knock it back.
‘It’s about time for plan B!’, Venus called with a worried voice.
As the Sailors stepped back, Sailor Moon produced a scepter out of nowhere.
‘Don’t, Sailor Moon, it won’t feel anything!’, Jupiter said.
‘I’ve got to try my luck’, the girl replied with determination.
‘I don’t think that...’, Mercury began.
But Sailor Moon had already initiated a strange, graceful dance, while the creature was slowly coming closer and closer. Then she pointed her scepter at it, yelling a formula. A beam came out and hit the dummy head-on. The creature stopped, and for a moment, Kasumi thought that Sailor Moon had found the right weapon to get rid of it. But, as soon as the girl lowered her scepter, something unexpected happened. The crystal in which the creature was enclosed grew, adding a new layer of protection.
‘What the hell...?!’
‘That’s what I’ve been trying to say!’, Mercury pleaded. ‘This dummy seemed like it’s empowered with the power of the Moon!’
The now giant creature went on, walking heavily. The ground was vibrating under each of its steps. The Sailor warriors were desperately trying to hurl their attacks at its face, but they would all crash against the clear crystal shield, without even leaving a crack.
As all hope seemed lost, a hovering shadow suddenly started to reflect in the crystal. Almost instantly, the dummy stopped and raised its eyes. Then a gloomy, syrupy voice echoed.
‘Protecting people, are you? Don’t make me laugh.’
The Sailors looked around.
‘Who’s speaking?’, Mars fiercely called.
‘Who, you ask? But it’s me, Mars darling... The guardian of illusions and dark sides... Your devoted friend... Sailor Lilith!’
Another silhouette appeared. She was dressed very much like the other girls. She wore a dark skirt with a silvery ribbon, heeled boots, and a golden tiara with a shining crescent in the middle. But, as she gradually came into the light, something about her struck Kasumi even more.
She had exactly the same face as her.
Kasumi suddenly woke up. She was trembling and covered with sweat. It had all been another of her nightmares, after all... She laid back, trying to control her breath, cursing her subconscious for giving her such awful nights.
If my mind wants to tell me something, it’s definitely gotta speak more clearly.
Kasumi tried to go back to sleep, but her nightmare was bothering her too much, so she eventually decided to go and have a walk. The Tsukino house was completely silent. Somehow, it made the girl feel secure. That kind of moment was her time of freedom, when she didn’t need to be concerned with other people. With the softness of a cat, she went down the stairs. She then heard noise in the kitchen. She carefully walked forward, and slipped her head through the doorway. There was Usagi, in her pajamas, picking food from the fridge. As she saw Kasumi, she screamed, dropping a bottle of milk, which shattered on the floor with a deafening noise.
‘Kasumi-chan...!’, she said.
‘Just hush up, you’re gonna wake up the entire house! I’m going to help you...’
Usagi acknowledged, and both girls cleaned up silently.
‘Couldn’t go to sleep?’, Usagi finally asked.
‘Nope. Had a bad dream. What about you?’
‘Same here... heh heh!’
Kasumi didn’t consider seriously the possibility that her dream could have been reality. Yet she couldn’t help but think there was something odd about Usagi’s behaviour.