rlm@0: The hiss of metal scraping against metal roused Hotaru from her unconscious state.
rlm@0: Violet orbs slowly opening to view a world that swirled around her, leading her head to
rlm@0: begin pounding, though now all she heard was her own breathing. Groaning lightly, she tried
rlm@0: to push herself up off what felt like the ground, but as she placed her palms to the floor, it
rlm@0: was smooth, too much so to be anything natural, and thought it better to try to see where she
rlm@0: was before risking another swoon. Unable to focus her eyes in the dim surroundings, she
rlm@0: squinted in a vain attempt to see with any kind of clarity.
rlm@0: The room had no visible walls, or ceiling, simply blackness lit with sparsely placed
rlm@0: torches, their shadows slithering menacingly across the ground. Out of the corner of her eye,
rlm@0: she saw a flash as the light from the torches reflected something. Her head turning in that
rlm@0: direction, her eyes rested on two figures, vaguely human shaped, one living midnight, the
rlm@0: other as crimson as blood. Not a word spoken between them as they stared each other down,
rlm@0: with what appeared to be weapons held at the ready, the suspense was almost tangible. The
rlm@0: red figure struck first, and once more they danced before her, the sharp, pronounced cry of
rlm@0: metal meeting in a tango of death, which Hotaru wanted no part of.
rlm@0: 	The figures moved at a blinding speed, ducking, jumping, stabbing, their motion left
rlm@0: streaks of color behind them as they battled harder than she has ever seen anyone, anything
rlm@0: fight before. Whoever they were, whatever they were, they seemed oblivious to her presence.
rlm@0: She thanked the gods for that and tried to hold as still, and as silent as possible, to avoid any
rlm@0: attention to herself, while she continued to watch on. There was simply nothing else she
rlm@0: could do.
rlm@0: 	The figure in red was obviously the aggressor; it gave the black shape no rest as it
rlm@0: hacked at it mercilessly with what appeared to be a pole arm of some kind. Its relentless
rlm@0: attacks were coupled with growls and grunts as the shots were either blocked or dodged
rlm@0: completely. As the sparks from the clashing weapons flew, the black outline continued to be
rlm@0: driven back, towards Hotaru's position on the floor. Was it defending her? Who was it?! She
rlm@0: had to get out of there…
rlm@0: 	Her heart began to race, as she looked around herself frantically for somewhere to
rlm@0: hide, somewhere to get herself out of the open but saw nothing but blurry darkness. Closing
rlm@0: her eyes to prevent the room from spinning, she focused herself, trying to will herself into
rlm@0: lucid sight. Opening her eyes once more, she looked upon the room again, and by some
rlm@0: miracle, her attempt worked. Vision slowly starting to clear, she could see a few details
rlm@0: about each of the figures fighting before her. The black figure was obviously human, or
rlm@0: humanoid and was dressed in dark clothing and what appeared to be a ninja's mask covering
rlm@0: his face. He wielded a black bladed sword, which he handled as if it were an extension of his
rlm@0: body, obviously having been doing it for quiet some time.
rlm@0: 	Hotaru gasped as she looked upon the red figure. It was the same size as a human,
rlm@0: but its face was distorted into a sick mockery of a person. The mouth was full of razor sharp
rlm@0: fangs, dripping saliva onto the floor as it grunted and roared, angry that the man wasn't
rlm@0: going down as easy as it hoped. It's eyes were two dried out sockets, a faint red glow seen
rlm@0: from them in place of pupils, and the thing had no nose; it's entire body was dried, red flesh.
rlm@0: Once more placing her hands to the ground, she pushed with all the strength she could
rlm@0: muster, and barely managed to gain any kind of clearance from the floor before her hands
rlm@0: gave out and she fell back to the ground with a loud thud. Both figures turned to her, neither
rlm@0: of them speaking. The creature took advantage of this and thrust his pole arm at the man
rlm@0: before he could have a chance to ready a defense, slamming him directly in the chest with the
rlm@0: weapon. A sickening crunch was heard as the metal sunk into the man's rib cage, blood
rlm@0: starting to seep over the silver blade and splattered onto floor. The man turned to look at the
rlm@0: creature, his eyes narrowed as he dropped to a knee, the weapon embedded firmly in his
rlm@0: body. Thick, red blood splattered from his wound onto the floor before he too slumped down
rlm@0: motionless.
rlm@0: 	"It lives!" the thing screeched, glaring directly at Hotaru. It's 'voice' was
rlm@0: indescribable, the sound of a million souls screaming out in sheer agony at once. It chilled
rlm@0: her to the bone, causing her to freeze in place; a tiny whimper her only viable action. She
rlm@0: knew she had no defense. She was too woozy and disoriented to fight it hand to hand, it was
rlm@0: just too fast for her in any state. It approached her, leaving the crumpled figure on the
rlm@0: ground about 30 yards, or so, away.
rlm@0: 	Picking up the man's sword, the creature did what could only be described as a grin,
rlm@0: it's jagged, yellowed teeth bared further as it's mouth opened. "Now YOU die, girl." The
rlm@0: creature laughed as it held the sword high in triumph, the black blade glimmered in the light
rlm@0: of the torches. It hissed to Hotaru and began to slice the blade through the air, but was
rlm@0: disrupted by the sound of the man behind them once more standing off the ground.
rlm@0: 	"No…" the black clad man's voice sounded, "You know you can't kill her as long
rlm@0: as I still breathe…" and he winced and grunted as he pulled the pole arm from his chest,
rlm@0: leaving blood to spurt down the open wound. Hotaru's eyes went wide as she saw the
rlm@0: weapon he was holding: The silence glaive.
rlm@0: 	"WHY DON'T YOU DIE!!?" the monster glared at the youth, making an
rlm@0: indistinguishable clicking noise before screaming at the top of its voice as it charged at the
rlm@0: man, who was in no shape to fight it any longer. The man closed his eyes and held the glaive
rlm@0: parallel to the floor. The light suddenly increased dramatically, as the torches flared, the
rlm@0: sudden burst of light blinded the creature, causing it to scream in rage and fall to the floor,
rlm@0: covering its face with it's clawed hands. Hotaru could now understand why the red beast
rlm@0: didn't let the man have any kind of rest at all: he knew it's weak point. All the colors of the
rlm@0: prism swirled from the flames into the glaive in his hands, the blood sizzling on the blade of
rlm@0: the weapon from the intense energy that caused the metal to glow. The youth's eyes opened
rlm@0: then, completely white with the energy feeding from the power of the torches, the light, and
rlm@0: turned to the creature.
rlm@0: 	"DEATH EVERLASTING…" The man screamed to the sky… Death everlasting?
rlm@0: Is that like Death reborn?! Hotaru's head quickly snapped from the creature to the one who
rlm@0: held her weapon. "REVELATION!"
rlm@0: The blade flashed a single time in response to his call, and as he slashed the weapon
rlm@0: vertically through the air, a crescent shaped sickle of energy screamed across the sky to the
rlm@0: vulnerable creature on the floor. As it struck the writhing figure, what sounded like
rlm@0: electricity began to crackle, causing the monster to scream only once before being cut off
rlm@0: into silence. Its body quickly turned into nothing more than a pile of ash on the floor, a
rlm@0: massive scorch mark surrounding its former position.
rlm@0: 	"W—who are you?" Hotaru managed to ask, causing the youth to turn to glance at
rlm@0: her, dropping back to a knee, and as the light from the glaive began to fade, she caught a
rlm@0: glimpse of black colored irises.
rlm@0: 	"You'll see in time…" he feel back into a sitting position raising his hand to the sky,
rlm@0: his palm beginning to glow gently white. "Just go back to sleep, Hotaru…You need your
rlm@0: rest." then all went black once more.
rlm@0: 
rlm@0: 	Red, watery eyes glanced at Hotaru's motionless body, which lay on the hospital bed
rlm@0: in the silence of the night. Usagi hadn't returned from her run to the cafeteria yet, leaving
rlm@0: Chibi Usa with ample time to take in every feature of the sleeping angel. Her hand caressed
rlm@0: Hotaru's slender digits her own smooth palm,
rlm@0: "You'll be okay, right Hotaru?" Chibi turned her eyes to Hotaru's expecting her to
rlm@0: open them and reassure her that everything was just fine…. The only sound that was heard
rlm@0: was the incessant beeping of the heart monitor and the hissing of the ventilator as it forced
rlm@0: air into and out of her lungs.
rlm@0: 	A click sounded behind Chibi, causing her to turn and look at the door, taking her
rlm@0: eyes off Hotaru for a moment. In came Usagi, carefully holding two foam cups in her hands,
rlm@0: and a bag in her mouth, carefully opening the door with her back. Chibi immediately went to
rlm@0: Usagi and took a cup from her, not because she wanted to help, but she knew that Usagi
rlm@0: can't be trusted to carry things… She has a tendency to fall and spill them.
rlm@0: 	"Thanks," Usagi said, after removing the bag from her hand and moving to one of
rlm@0: the three wooden chairs in the room that were stationed by the window. "Careful, it's really
rlm@0: hot." She had already burned her tongue, and didn't want Chibi to do the same.
rlm@0: 	"Ok…" was Chibi's response, as she set the drink down on the window sill, not
rlm@0: really interested in it right now, and immediately turned her eyes back to Hotaru. "You like
rlm@0: chocolate don't you? I know you don't like milk…" Usagi sighed, looking to the pink haired
rlm@0: child speaking to the incapacitated girl on the bed. Silence followed for a moment, the
rlm@0: sounds of the machines were the only things that broke the thick silence until Chibi spoke
rlm@0: again, "Do you think she can hear me?"
rlm@0: 	"I dunno…I think so…." She knew that it was doubtful, since she wasn't conscious
rlm@0: and moving, that the receptors in her brain didn't register the words. "You should ask the
rlm@0: doctor, he would know for sure." Chibi only sighed and picked up her chocolate and looked
rlm@0: at it through the small drinking hole in the lid. "It's a bit on the sweeter side," Usagi relayed
rlm@0: to Chibi, hoping that would coax her into drinking it.
rlm@0: 	"She can hear every word you say," the doctor said as he entered the room via the
rlm@0: door Usagi forgot to close, a few of the staff following suit. "She's not asleep, exactly…she's
rlm@0: in a state of coma, her brain is active, but her body isn't…she doesn't know she can't move,
rlm@0: she doesn't know she can't see, but she can hear you since sound is involuntarily heard."
rlm@0: The doctor sat down on the chair opposite the girls, and crossed his legs, before opening the
rlm@0: chart. The staff, on the other hand began to huddle around Hotaru, Chibi saw that most of
rlm@0: them had needles.
rlm@0: "It looks like your friend has spent a good few days in hospitals before," he pushed
rlm@0: his glasses back and continued, "We have to run a few tests on her skin for feeling, and her
rlm@0: lungs, her brain…it'll be done right now since this is still considered and emergency." Chibi
rlm@0: winced lightly as they stuck Hotaru in her arm to take some blood samples, "We'll have to
rlm@0: take her for another CT scan in the morning…it might take a while to get all the data, and
rlm@0: you two should get some rest."
rlm@0: "Another CT scan…and what is a CT scan?" Usagi looked to the doctor, rather than
rlm@0: the group around Hotaru, not wanting to watch them poke and prod around on her.
rlm@0: "A CT scan is a type of tissue scan…a CAT scan, you've probably heard of that."
rlm@0: He looked at the chart again, then back to Usagi, "And she had one when she came in, and it
rlm@0: showed no abnormalities." Usagi let out a breath that she felt like she had been holding since
rlm@0: she heard that Hotaru was here. "Another one in the morning will confirm the results, as well
rlm@0: as show any damage that might have occurred after the scan. She's not out of the woods yet,
rlm@0: not by far, but if the scan is good she should recover just fine."
rlm@0: