View source for 2239/Let Me Explain Your Narrative To You

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2025/01/16
|Location=Juuban Public Library
|Synopsis=Emi confronts a Nightmare at the Juuban Public Library only to receive -- thanks to Hinoiri -- a timely assist from the Sailor Moon herself and Tuxedo Kamen, only the this Nightmare isn't going to go down so easily.
|Cast of Characters=176,43,38
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:176|Emi Hoshino (176)}} has posed:'''<br>It is the appointed time and the appointed place. Sailor Moon and Tuxedo mask arrived at the library and soon enough were called into action. Storming the heart of the library, they were confronted with the youma they expected to find here, a monstrous book of tales from which minions all drawn from mythical Japan spilled out of, not to mention the aggravation of it controlling the paper in the library as weapon and shield to defend itself.<br><br>But it is no match for Sailor Moon and Tuxedo mask, how could it be? The might of the Moon and True Love quickly spell its defeat. It's all so fast it's almost a blur, and they are thanked by the girl -- Emi -- that they were sent here to save. Just another day in the life for two of Tokyo's defenders, and another thankful citizen for whom the veil will fall over the eyes of soon enough. There was even minimal damage to the library!<br><br>And yet, as the two stand triumphant, a growing sense of unease begins to settle into place. Just when *did* they start fighting that youma?<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:'''<br>Just another day in the life for two magical warriors, that's all it was. The warning - request, really - to come to the library and help had suggested that this was going to be ''hard'', but honestly? <span style="color:#FFFFFF">E</span><span style="color:#F9F9F9">v</span><span style="color:#F3F3F3">e</span><span style="color:#EEEEEE">r</span><span style="color:#E8E8E8">y</span><span style="color:#E2E2E2">t</span><span style="color:#DDDDDD">h</span><span style="color:#D7D7D7">i</span><span style="color:#D1D1D1">n</span><span style="color:#CCCCCC">g</span> <span style="color:#C1C1C1">h</span><span style="color:#BBBBBB">a</span><span style="color:#B5B5B5">d</span> <span style="color:#AAAAAA">g</span><span style="color:#A4A4A4">o</span><span style="color:#9F9F9F">n</span><span style="color:#999999">e</span> <span style="color:#8E8E8E">p</span><span style="color:#888888">r</span><span style="color:#838383">e</span><span style="color:#7D7D7D">t</span><span style="color:#777777">t</span><span style="color:#727272">y</span> <span style="color:#666666">w</span><span style="color:#616161">e</span><span style="color:#5B5B5B">l</span><span style="color:#555555">l</span><span style="color:#505050">.</span> <span style="color:#454545">W</span><span style="color:#4A4A4A">h</span><span style="color:#505050">a</span><span style="color:#555555">t</span> <span style="color:#616161">w</span><span style="color:#666666">a</span><span style="color:#6C6C6C">s</span> <span style="color:#777777">H</span><span style="color:#7D7D7D">i</span><span style="color:#838383">n</span><span style="color:#888888">o</span><span style="color:#8E8E8E">i</span><span style="color:#939393">r</span><span style="color:#999999">i</span> <span style="color:#A4A4A4">s</span><span style="color:#AAAAAA">o</span> <span style="color:#B5B5B5">w</span><span style="color:#BBBBBB">o</span><span style="color:#C1C1C1">r</span><span style="color:#C6C6C6">r</span><span style="color:#CCCCCC">i</span><span style="color:#D1D1D1">e</span><span style="color:#D7D7D7">d</span> <span style="color:#E2E2E2">a</span><span style="color:#E8E8E8">b</span><span style="color:#EEEEEE">o</span><span style="color:#F3F3F3">u</span><span style="color:#F9F9F9">t</span><span style="color:#FFFFFF">?</span> <br><br>Sailor Moon turned to Tuxedo Kamen, smiling, goofy and thrilled and happy as she always was when they made it through a fight together and nothing all that bad happened, and laughed, "Is it just me, or was that a lot easier than we figured it would be?" <br><br>And yet. <br><br>There was the strangest, niggling feeling that something was... off. She couldn't see anything wrong, couldn't hear anything wrong, and yet, it just - was. Turning to Emi, the girl they'd been called to help, she asked, "So uh - how are you? And what was that thing, anyway?" <br><br>It had been a book, sure, and it was fighting them with paper, and spilling out all those... monsters... right?<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba (38)}} has posed:'''<br>The inimitable Tuxedo Mask dusts off his sleeve, where there's actually a dust smudge on the black fabric, gasp! His gaze goes from Emi (who he does remember!) to Sailor Moon--<br><br>--and Mamoru watches Usagi's face change, and he's got on his usual faintly sharp, strangely regal hard-to-read expression that can flicker in and out of a smile in no time. It ''does'', in fact, because he can't keep a smile suppressed when he sees that goofy and thrilled happiness...<br><br>"It was extremely easy," he says in a low voice, turning to look around them before he looks back to Emi. "Please pardon me. I'm feeling very paranoid and so, I need to kiss my fiancee ''right now'', I'm so sorry, you don't have to look--"<br><br>And then he turns to kiss Usagi and in it there's psychic communication because of course there is.<br><br>''Something's wrong, something's wrong, something '''feels wrong''''', kiss in b4,'' he thinks at her, looking for her feelings on the matter, her perception that something's horribly off. It's not the words, it's a feeling with a question mark attached. Do you feel it too?<br><br>It's fast! It's not uncomfortably long with noplace to look but the ceiling. It's fast and then Tuxedo Mask's standing next to Sailor Moon, coughing lightly into his hand.<br><br>"Oh my god yes, how are you? Were you injured?" ''Now'' he's blushing, very faintly. His bad.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:'''<br>There's a kiss, Mamoru's hand on her cheek, his lips on hers, and it's nice, sure, but there's the thought-feeling, running through his head, running through hers - ''something is wrong, something is wrong, something is'' '''very wrong'''. She feels it too. She doesn't know what it is. <br><br>And then the kiss is broken, and she's blushing a tinge too, but the Spiral Heart Moon Rod is still in her hand, ready, instead of vanished back to where it goes when it's no longer needed.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:176|Emi Hoshino (176)}} has posed:'''<br>"Daijobu desu!" roll the words off Emi's tongue, as she smiles at them. Everything is okay. <br> <br> "Everything is ok," she repeats, as blood begins to run down from her eyes in fat streaks along her cheeks. <br> <br> "Everything is okay," she repeats again, stuck in a loop, as a shadowy, inky blot begins to ooze out from underneath her. <br> <br> "Everything is okay," she repeats, as the two notice that such a puddle has formed beneath *them*. <br> <br> And the pallid, white hands that emerge from it, latching onto their feet, their legs, all shaky like someone's scribbling brought to life before they voth receive a sharp *yank* and are pulled into the abyss. <br> <br> Next they know, they are standing at the entryway to the library again, but the walls on either side of them are composed purely of books and the way ahead seems to extend far further than the dimensions of the library itself should allow for ... and there is no door behind them. <br><br> They can hear a sound, like pen hard on paper, scraping away at their senses.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba (38)}} has posed:'''<br>Tuxedo Mask is taking his glove off like it's no big, like it's routine, so maybe it is; he's stepping forward to offer his bare hand, but 'daijobu desu' -- so he starts to pull his hand back.<br><br>Then Emi starts crying blood and repeating, and Mamoru's heart flips over in his chest. Could it be-- no, it couldn't be. It couldn't be her, she's moved on, she can't be haunting them. Emi says it again as darkness spreads out from under her, under them, and Mamoru drops his glove and reaches for Usagi's hand as he starts to try and step back away from the growing ink puddle--<br><br>"It's not her!" he reassures Sailor Moon. "It's not, I would know, it--" Pallid hands. They catch at his backpedaling feet and Mamoru takes in a sharp breath before they vanish into the darkness.<br><br>There's no scene break. They're just there, in the library, probably still holding hands, even if the library is large like the warehouse in Indiana Jones. Mamoru is frowning hard. "This isn't a Witch. We're not cut off from Earth," he says.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:'''<br>As Tuxedo Kamen takes off his glove, Sailor Moon is turning around slowly, looking out for the Something that's wrong, be it a monster or a dark general waiting to gloat about their amazing plan and how they're totally going to get away with stealing energy/best friends/that secret magical sock that someone left behind - <br><br>But there's no enemy. There's just the girl, saying that everything is okay in a voice that echoes oddly, for a second, and she whips around at Mamoru's startled inhale, and she sees blood - <br><br>"Wh, what happened to you?!" <br><br>But she repeats herself, and there's something creeping out from under her, and Sailor Moon stumbles back, horror catching in her throat. <br><br>"Then who is it - " <br><br>And then there are hands, and she shrieks - shrieks in a pitch that vibrates the air, the glass, that threatens the stability of the wooden shelves, that echoes in their ears, as her odango-caps carry the waves as she's dragged under - <br><br>And then they're at the library entrance, and she clamps hands over her odango caps to try and block the sound as she gets herself under control. <br><br>"What was that?! What was THAT? What in the Ringu Slender Monster Twisted Hand was that!?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:176|Emi Hoshino (176)}} has posed:'''<br>That scribbling sound keeps getting louder, louder, and then it abruptly stops. <br> <br> There is a voice, a feminine whisper that seems to seep from every page of every book. <br><br> "...And the story---ugh, don't even get me started on the story. It's all been done before, hasn't it? Plucky protagonist, handsome devil of a partner, brooding rivals with mysterious pasts. Check. It's all so half-baked." <br> <br> It doesn't SOUND directed at you, it's the tone of voice someone uses in self-directed rambling. <br> <br> The hallway suddenly goes from long to short, the end of it a wall of books that suddenly crumble into a pile with the cacophany of a ... pile of books falling over. <br> "Time to go back to the beginning again." The books on either side of them rattle on their shelves, sounding almost as if they were giving a disappointed sigh.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:'''<br>Scribbling, louder and louder, and Sailor Moon lowers her hands from her odango caps, listening as the noise picks up and up - <br><br>And then it's just a feminine whisper, and she frowns, and there's logic but there's also terrifying horror movie time, and she calls, "What's wrong with a plucky protagonist and a handsome devil of a partner, huh? Just because something's been done before, doesn't mean it's not great!" <br><br>Look, she LOVES a mysterious brooding rival and a plucky protagonist and a handsome devil of a partner, okay? She is a teenaged girl who loves being catered to when it comes to endless options of romantic dramas and mangas and novels. <br><br>Then, she realizes maybe she shouldn't have called out to the strange whisper in the distance, and winces apologetically at Mamoru. <br><br>Oh the books themselves are rattling about what a bad idea that was. Not good.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba (38)}} has posed:'''<br>"Oh no, we are ''never'' doing Dark Kingdom again," Tuxedo Mask calls back to the whispering voice, and then he flinches as the pile of books clatters and thuds and tumbles, "or the Younger Dryas--"<br><br>And the boy takes off his other glove, then reaches, barehanded, for a book. His hand hovers over the spine and he glances at Sailor Moon again. There's a quick twitch of a grin at Usagi's wincing apology; he shakes his head.<br><br>"Shhhh," he tells the books comfortingly, and unless it bites him somehow, when he takes the book down he opens it up.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:176|Emi Hoshino (176)}} has posed:'''<br>As Tuxedo Kamen picks up the book and opens it, it reveals ... nothing. Nothing on any of the pages. They're all blank. Every last one. And then a blot ink forms on page before scribbling starts on it. A little manga style chibi that looks like a a cute little dog person with a sword. <br> <br> ... It starts animating on its own, making cute little chops as it practices its swords techniques, followed by yips of joy as it makes each one. <br> <br> ... until it notices it's being observed and it turns to stare at Tuxedo Kamen from the confines of the page before it *starts to crawl off the page*, it's hands gripping the sides of the book now to try to keep him from closing it, all the while that whisper starts again. <br> <br> "Unoriginal. Boring. You'll never succeed at this rate. Restart, do it again, write and draw until a callous forms, maybe then it will stop hurting." <br> <br> "It never stops hurting." <br> <br> As he holds the book, Tuxedo mask can feel the blackest of despair emanating from it. Shame. Disgrace. Failure. No good to anyone. Never succeed, never will. No one will ever know your name. <br><br> There is a cold wind blowing down the way ahead.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba (38)}} has posed:'''<br>"... there's someone in here," Tuxedo Mask says with another frown, absently trying to lift the drawing from the edge of the page and put it back in the middle. He'd like to close the book, but he doen't want to be rude about it. "Don't stab me, sword doggo," he tells it. Then to Usagi, "No one's ever even held this book before. And listen to what they're all saying--"<br><br>A half-step closer to Sailor Moon, then, and he's still trying to close that book. "Someone's got art block. This still isn't a Witch. This book is full of despair and a chibi sword puppy. I sound so stupid right now, but it's true. Maybe it's like that cursed mangaka."<br><br>But he looks up and down the shelves-- "This is alive. We're in an alive thing. Hello! Do you need a, a beta reader?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:'''<br>Sailor Moon shuffles her feet, looking at the book, twisting around Tuxedo Kamen to try and look at the book. <br><br>Well. That was adorable. <br><br>"You don't sound stupid. You sound like - well, like you're describing something from our lives," she admits, and she doesn't like it mostly because she's still expecting more terrible hands. <br><br>"If we're in something alive, then we just... need to find the someone who's here, and get them out, right? Probably. I think that would work. And if they're full of despair, we can shine a light!" <br><br>And then she turns around, looking at the shelves too. <br><br>"Hey! Do you want an enthusiastic commenter? Don't be so hard on yourself!"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:176|Emi Hoshino (176)}} has posed:'''<br>The chibi stares at Mamoru from the book, still hauling itself up. It's fingers stain the page red with blood. <br> <br> ".. I can see you," it says, "A great loop. No beginning, no ending. A narrative ouroborous. Every good story needs a finale: what say we author one together?" <br> <br> A gust of wind kicks up again, harder than before, followed by pages of paper hurtling down the doorway before them, striking at them and delivering, with but a touch, that most grievous of injuries... <br> <br> ... paper cuts.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:'''<br>"I am going to forget how to read," Sailor Moon decides, looking in utter horror at the chibi hauling itself up by fingers that bleed the page red. "Maybe then this kind of thing won't get to me." <br><br>She can practically hear Ami's screams of horror in the back of her mind, and firmly puts them aside. <br><br>"Little chibi, sad author, just - I want you to know that we're ''not'' in a loop. We have a beginning! We have two, even, and we had a sad ending once, but now? Now we've written our ''own'' happy ending. So why don't we figure out an ending for yo-" That's when it happened. A gust of wind that picks up, knocking against them, ruffling skirt and bow and cape alike, and then - <br><br>"Ow! Who weaponizes ''papercuts''! This isn't fair! We were being nice!" <br><br>Out comes the Spiral Heart Moon Rod - she's a little scared to try launching an attack right here in the library, but she's absolutely swinging the rod around, trying to knock paper out of the air before it can slice her. Her cheeks and upper arms are littered with tiny, bleeding cuts.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba (38)}} has posed:'''<br>"Yeah!" Tuxedo Kamen agrees when Sailor Moon says they'll shine a light-- but she's calling out again and the book is ''talking to him specifically now'' and getting blood on the page, and the tall masked boy scowls at the book. Sailor Moon's still being nice, so he doesn't do anything yet.<br><br>Then the wind picks up. This time he slams it shut, regardless of whether the cursed sword puppy's fingers are caught in the edges or not. And then he--<br><br>He ''shelves'' it!!<br><br>"I don't write well with others," he says disparagingly as the wind gets louder, stronger, whips them with hair and fabric. "Especially not hacks who think grim deconstruction is the only way to treat genre fiction!"<br><br>Instant karma for his sauce: here comes the paper, and Tuxedo Kamen grimaces, getting papercuts on his hands and face as he swipes his cape off and wraps it around Usagi. "Just purify the whole place!" he calls out over the wind, cringing a little as he gets cut up but trusting that his mask will protect his eyes.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:176|Emi Hoshino (176)}} has posed:'''<br>"Deconstruction was out with the early twenty-teens. Today, it's all about *subversion*." <br> <br> Once again, the landscape seems to shift and the hallway widens up ahead of them. A single light illuminates what appears to be a study, containing a woman at a writing desk, head bowed almost to the piece of paper on it. Blood oozes from her fingertips. Drawing, drawing, drawing, writing, writing, writing. Like the scribbles they heard earlier. The ground is littered around her with crumpled up sheets of it and he throws another aside like she clearly has many times before. <br> <br> She doesn't seem aware of them, and yet, inexorably, its like the ground is sliding under their feet to draw them closer -- like a camera zooming in.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:'''<br>"Subversion is just a cheap trick to play on an audience's feelings! A real author writes something beautiful and true! That's what lies at the core of your heart, so don't go tricking yourself into chasing trends!" <br><br>The landscape shifts around them, melting away into something new, something that's almost as though it was always there. There's a single light, illumtinating a study with a woman at her desk, and blood is oozing from her fingers, and papers are crumpled, and has she been writing until her fingers bled? Has she been working herself to the bone, hating it all the while? <br><br>They're getting closer and closer, and rather than fight it, Sailor Moon swings the Spiral Heart Moon Rod around them, carving circles and ovals and curls of golden light in the air, and then she leaps to close the oblong and awkward shape - <br><br>Silver light begins to flare out, shining an array of purifying beams in every direction. <br><br><span style="color:#FF8CFF">"</span><span style="color:#FF94F8">M</span><span style="color:#FF9CF1">o</span><span style="color:#FFA4EB">o</span><span style="color:#FFADE4">n</span> <span style="color:#FFBDD7">H</span><span style="color:#FFC6D1">e</span><span style="color:#FFCECA">a</span><span style="color:#FFD6C4">l</span><span style="color:#FFDFBD">i</span><span style="color:#FFE7B7">n</span><span style="color:#FFEFB0">g</span> <span style="color:#FFEFB0">E</span><span style="color:#FFE7B7">s</span><span style="color:#FFDFBD">c</span><span style="color:#FFD6C4">a</span><span style="color:#FFCECA">l</span><span style="color:#FFC6D1">a</span><span style="color:#FFBDD7">t</span><span style="color:#FFB5DE">i</span><span style="color:#FFADE4">o</span><span style="color:#FFA4EB">n</span><span style="color:#FF9CF1">!</span><span style="color:#FF94F8">"</span> <br><br>Let's see how whatever this place is feels about purifying light.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba (38)}} has posed:'''<br>"Wait-- wait." This time the landscape shifts in front of him; Tuxedo Kamen's frown deepens as the attacks cease, and then they're...<br><br>In that study, with the slow pan-in and the woman working her fingers to the quick, Sailor Moon purifies everything and while the light's going on, Tuxedo Kamen's bare hand lands on her bare arm. There's a suffusion of gold glow around him, and a connection to something ''wide and deep and true and old'' that bleeds through the reality around them, and the papercuts are all erased.<br><br>The boy leans down to murmur near Sailor Moon's head, "You're ''so lovely''." Then he straightens up a little, and his voice is affectionate, "I love seeing the shapes you make in the air, too. But I think this is a dream. I think this is someone else's dream. Because it's not mine, and it's not yours, I know what yours are like~"<br><br>He crouches down to put his bare hand on the floor, now, and that glow shows up again, and he ''pours in'' healing energy, warm and golden and ancient, solid as bedrock and as welcoming as a true home, encouraging calm and peace and sturdiness.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:176|Emi Hoshino (176)}} has posed:'''<br>The world shatters. <br><br> As the purification begins, things just flake away, dissipating into prismatic shards of light and things fat into white for a moment, accompanied by a high pitched wrathful screaming -- a voice that fades out as the pair realize thar they're /still/ at the doorway. <br><br> It has been less than a minute since they arrived.<br><br> Their perceptions are clear, now, and they're able to hear a voice up ahead of them. <br> <br> "... wake up. You can just wake up, Gin. I know you're in there, I -- " /Crash/. More sounds of books toppling and a girl's pained groan. <br><br> It's the kind of thing that causes one to rush ahead, no doubt. <br><br> As they arrive, they seem a young girl -- Emi -- in a Radiant Heart school uniform pushing herself back up to her knees with a pained grunt and then back to her feet. She wields a baseball bat, just like Hinoiri said she would, which certainly can't be anything but painful given the cloth bandages she must've wrapped around her palms and the blood oozing down the bat. Her uniform is torn, too, little cuts and furrows in it that they don't need to take a guess as to the source of. Papers lay all around them, and open books too with distorted, shifting drawing on them. There's an ephemeral, hazy feeling in the air, but it seems they have finally found the source of the darkness. A woman, long red hair, in a flowing white dress. She turns towards the arriving pair to face them... <br> <br> ... in a manner of speaking. <br> <br> Because it has no face. Where one would sit, the flesh bleeds into an open book, kanji characters scrawleing endlessly across it that read two blood red words again and again. <br><br> 'HELP' and 'ME'. <br> <br> It raises its brush and floats higher above the ground, papers swirling up around it that it throwards towards Emi, cutting her again and flinging her into a bookshelf and *gluing* her there beneath the papier mache. <br> <br> "One dream ends, another begins," echoes a voice from all around them, as if the books themselves are speaking to them. <br> <br> "Do you now how you end an ouroboros? You sever the head." It points towards them with its brush, sending a twirling papier-mache serpent directly towards them, intent on severing the heads in question while the papers around them begin to give birth to little horrors that crawl out of them: the product of a would be mangaka who specializes in 'dark fantasy'. Twisted visages, external organs, pulsating horrors in sharp and crisp black and whit designs. <br><br> Looks like it's gonna be a fight after all.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba (38)}} has posed:'''<br>"Oh shit--" goes Tuxedo Mask as his eyes widen behind his mask and his cape comes up to cover them -- comes all the way up like a tilted black curtain, Mamoru ducking his head behind it too.<br><br>There's a crackling of energy, and it's a Prince swiftly saying to Sailor Moon, "Do that giant spinny--"<br><br>WHOPH! goes the snake into what looks and sounds like silk but acts astonishingly similarly to magical iron.<br><br>"--heart one! Do you want me covering you, healing Emi-san, or comboing?"<br><br>When the cape lowers, it's got a sword swinging out of it, hunting the head of the papier-mache snek and meanwhile cutting through the little horrors. "Emi-san! Are you dreaming or is Gin No-Face-san?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:'''<br>The world shatters and they're at the doorway, like they never left, and there's a voice calling out and a girl in pain, and they run in to see an unbearable horror in front of them, a sight straight from the kinds of movies Usagi always hurriedly rushes away from seeing trailers of. <br><br>The girl isn't the horrible sight, even though she's most certainly in trouble, wielding just a ''bat'' and in as much trouble as Hinoiri said she would be. But the woman? The woman with long red hair (she's going to develop a complex about women with long red hair at this rate) is the horror, because she HAS NO FACE. <br><br>The voice echoes all around and then sends a serpent monster at them and Sailor Moon forgets herself for a moment and ducks behind Tuxedo Kamen, all terror and fear - <br><br>And his cape takes the brunt, shielding them both, reliable as an oak, the protector he was named for, and then he is the prince of her dreams, &lt;s&gt;the king of her future,&lt;/s&gt; and he's making a ''good fucking suggestion''. <br><br>"Comboing with me," she says firmly, pushing back all the fear in favor of channeling the need to get the job done. "It doesn't look like Emi-chan got a critical hit, better we take this thing down and ''then'' you fix her up, so she doesn't get hit again." <br><br>She backs up a step, and then takes another to the side, and Spiral Heart Moon Rod comes out, and Sailor Moon twists, and then spins, channeling every bit of grace she can pull together, and she turns, once, twice, three times, and as she does so, pink hearts begin to pop into existence, ranging in size from a chicken egg to a basketball, whirling and twirling with her. <br><br><span style="color:#FF8CFF">"</span><span style="color:#FF9BF2">M</span><span style="color:#FFAAE6">o</span><span style="color:#FFBADA">o</span><span style="color:#FFC9CE">n</span> <span style="color:#FFE8B6">S</span><span style="color:#FFF7AA">p</span><span style="color:#FFE8B6">i</span><span style="color:#FFD9C2">r</span><span style="color:#FFC9CE">a</span><span style="color:#FFBADA">l</span> <span style="color:#FF9BF2">-</span><span style="color:#FF8CFF">"</span> <br><br>And an enormous pink heart manifests in front of her, nearly as tall as the bookshelves, as wide around as both her arms spread, not translucent at all but solid and ''pink'' and spinning, faster than Sailor Moon ever was, picking up speed. <br><br>Sailor Moon stops spinning and grabs Tuxedo Kamen's hand, pushing her power into him, and taking his power into her. The pink heart gains a swirl of gold, like a blooming vine come to life within it's depths, and it rockets towards nightmare that's taken over Gin, aiming to crash through with all the force of a speeding train. <br><br><span style="color:#FF8CFF">"</span><span style="color:#FF9BF2">H</span><span style="color:#FFAAE6">e</span><span style="color:#FFBADA">a</span><span style="color:#FFC9CE">r</span><span style="color:#FFD9C2">t</span> <span style="color:#FFF7AA">A</span><span style="color:#FFE8B6">t</span><span style="color:#FFD9C2">t</span><span style="color:#FFC9CE">a</span><span style="color:#FFBADA">c</span><span style="color:#FFAAE6">k</span><span style="color:#FF9BF2">!</span><span style="color:#FF8CFF">"</span><br> <br>

:'''{{#var:176|Emi Hoshino (176)}} has posed:'''<br>Emi has questions. <br> <br> Who are these people, what are they doing here, what's with all the hearts, why is that guy so tall. <br> <br> Unfortunately, she doesn't get to ask any of them, let alone answer, because it seems decided she should not be allowed to. <br> <br> A piece of paper flies over her mouth, gagging her. <br> <br> "Ah, young love. The oldest tale. They say that whether it is happy or not depends on where they story stops, because one day they will grow old togethes, one will watch the other fade, forget, falter." <br> <br> "Die" <br> <br> As it speaks through the pages all around as the many little black and white drawing surge towards them in a follow up to the paper mache serpent's biting fangs being fended off by the cape, they can feel themselves ... aging? Joints start to throb, eyesight falters. <br> <br> Instilling a different kind of nightmare in them. <br> <br> Emi squirms in her papier-mache prison, her bat havving clattered to the ground. <br><br> "Heart attack," muses the books, "perhaps. Perhaps not." <br><br> It wields its paper, swinging its brush arpound to brng it up to shield itself in a twirling swirl of its own, dancing in the air. <br> <br> But it was not prepared for the sheer power behind *the* Sailor Moon's attacks and its shielding cracks and forces it back. <br> <br> The serpent, severed by simply being in the way, breaks down and collapses into similar multicolored shards, flaking away... <br> <br> ... but the scribbly horrors surge forward in its place towards them.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba (38)}} has posed:'''<br>It's Endymion's hand that grabs for Sailor Moon's, and he pulls her along behind him for a couple of steps-- "Come on--" he starts, and then there's... too much pain to walk? Withering hands? But he's Mamoru, he's seventeen. He's Endymion, he's seventeen.<br><br>Even though they're only just seventeen when all the worlds end, Selene and Endymion persist through all the ages, through all the cultures: the goddess from the sky, and the shepherd king of Elys, and eternal youth.<br><br>He's still holding Serenity's hand, and they are ''still on Earth'', and Once Upon a Time he was King for a few hours, and then they are ''young'' and running toward Emi, and his aim is true and honest when the tip of his sword slices just through the binding, because, it's all because their love is something that transcends time and space and that means,<br><br>"Legends never die!"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:'''<br>Joints throb, eyesight falters, skin crinkles, but ''love never dies'', and so even as the withering power of time presses down, Sailor Moon does not surrender. <br><br>"Death doesn't always have to be a tragedy," Sailor Moon says, and she would know, she the girl who died for, with, from love. She, who put a sword through her chest rather than live without love. "And no one knows better than us that it doesn't have to be the end of a story!" <br><br>Through their joined hands she can feel Endymion calling for her, Endymion loving her, Endymion, Endymion, Endymion, and there is a flood of love and a surge of light and then Sailor Moon is Serenity, she with the moonlight hair and the skin aglow with the Moon's pale light, her long white dress trailing at her feet. <br><br>He races forward and she races with him, and perhaps they are aging and perhaps they will grow old either way they will be Endymion and Serenity, the moon goddess and the shepherd king, the Soldier of the Moon and the Guardian of Earth, the school girl and the bad boy with a heart of ''gold'', they are in love in every life and form. <br><br>And while he cuts Emi free, she grips her rod and fires a sweeping beam of pale light at the sweeping crowd of monsters coming to replace the snake. <br><br>"Emi-chan, do you have any ideas on how to stop this thing for good?" Princess Serenity asks.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:176|Emi Hoshino (176)}} has posed:'''<br>As they reestablish their own definitions, they feel the burden of age lighten. It does not become entirely absent, but it's a clear success in turning it back. <br> <br> Emi makes a strangled sound and a scream behind her gag as the sword comes towards her and ... frees her from her binding. She drops down from the wall, then leans on it heavily for support. Tha girl is tired. <br> <br> "The brush. Destroy its brush," she says, taking a few deep breaths of her own as she reaches for her bat and bashes a scribble with it that's come too close to her and Edymion. It splattes into ink all over them. Seems those things aren't *too* strong, or perhaps its been weakened. <br><br> More of them explode into ink under the weight of Sailor Moon's light, turning to ash and then flecks of more of those colorful shards alongside popping into splatters of ink. <br> <br> Calloing down more papers with a twirl of its brush, the Nightmare Made Real screams in frustration, sounding like its coming from all around you. <br><br> "No! That's not how this story goes! It's MY story! ALL OF IT!" <br><br> It draws a circle with its brush, which illuminates with numerous kanji around it that dissipate too quickly to read but as it completes it, the air within the black ring that has appeared begins to splinter and crack.<br><br>Whatever it's going to do, it's probably not good.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:'''<br>Princess Serenity offers Emi a sheepish look as she offers that muffled scream - yes, it would have been terrifying for a sword to be coming right at her, wouldn't it? But credit to her, she doesn't let it stop her - and even as she's giving them useful information, she's continuing the fight! <br><br>Serenity can do no less. "Endychan, your rose!" <br><br>Se doesn't have her tiara, and there's nothing that breaks magic like ''his'' roses. The second one is produced, she reaches out, touching it with delicate fingers, and presses a kiss to the petals - and they begin to glow, as she passes her power, the glittering light of the cosmos, to the flower. <br><br>"Our legend will never end - but this case of writer's block ''will''. You should have known the second you brought us in, that this would become a collaborative endeavor!"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba (38)}} has posed:'''<br>"You wouldn't know how our story goes, it's not finished yet and it's ''ours,''" Prince Endymion says quietly and firmly, armor dark, but with gleaming gold highlights; he doesn't shield Serenity yet. He draws a bloodred rose out of the air with a flick of his wrist, even as his princess is prompting him for it.<br><br>His gaze shifts to Serenity with a tilt of his head and a rakish little smile, Endymion's confidence a rich thing like his power, like palaces and wild tangles of roses, like traders' gold--<br><br>--and he holds the rose exactly where she needs it to be. It's silver and gold, glowing glittery and shifting from red to pink, and it's got the sharpest stem, and he has the most ridiculous of aim, and<br><br>"<span style="color:#FFE603">E</span><span style="color:#FFDB0E">l</span><span style="color:#FFD119">y</span><span style="color:#FFC625">s</span><span style="color:#FFBC30">i</span><span style="color:#FFB13C">a</span><span style="color:#FFA747">n</span> <span style="color:#FF925E">T</span><span style="color:#FF876A">i</span><span style="color:#FF7D75">a</span><span style="color:#FF7281">r</span><span style="color:#FF688C">o</span><span style="color:#FF5E97">s</span><span style="color:#FF53A3">e</span> <span style="color:#FF3EBA">A</span><span style="color:#FF34C5">c</span><span style="color:#FF29D1">t</span><span style="color:#FF1FDC">i</span><span style="color:#FF14E8">o</span><span style="color:#FF0AF3">n</span><span style="color:#FF00FF">!</span>"<br><br>Endymion throws the rose with a backhanded under-throw, whipping it iridescent through the air and leaving a glimmering streak behind it.<br><br>It has their combined power behind it, Earth and Moon, and pointed directly at the brush.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:176|Emi Hoshino (176)}} has posed:'''<br>The brush shatters, snaps clean in two before dissipating in more of those shards that they've seen throughout the night, like an aurora borealis in miniature. With their combined attacks, they weaken it further but what finishes it off is the explosion of the magic it was attempting to wield. That glowing splintering circle shatters, incomplete in whatever it was doing, its shards go everywhere ... including into the youma. It sends it flying back into the shelves, collapsing into a heap on the ground. <br><br> Emi quickly springs towards the fallen youma. <br> <br> "It's okay, Gin. You're going to be okay. Just a bad dream." <br><br> She kneels down with a little strain and glances up at the two strange warriors who have appeared from nowhere to her rescue, but then just busies herself with Gin. No time to lose before it starts nightmaring again. She places her hand on Gin's shoulder and a ... palm sized spider crawls out from under her sleeve. It too is colorful. Not unlike the colorful shards that had been on display before. And the spider *bites Gin*, as if it were feeding on prey. <br><br> But the magic surrounding Gin begins to dissolve, break apart. The darkness emanating from her fades, and her form seems to return to normal before the spider detatches and crawls bacssk up onto Emi's hand. <br> <br> She rises back up to her feet and stares at the pair of them, bewildered for a moment.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:'''<br>The literal glittering-glowing space princess that stands before Emi smiles at her as she rushes to help Gin, staying back so she isn't hovering, and mostly not flinching when the colorful spider ''bites'' the victim. <br><br>Mostly. <br><br>Still, it sounds like Emi has this under control now, so she waits until the other girl is done, and then says - <br><br>"It's good to meet you, Emi-chan. A friend said you were in trouble fighting this youma, so we came to help. I'm Serenity - but you can also call me Sailor Moon. And this is Endymion, also known as Tuxedo Kamen. Will Gin-san be alright now?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba (38)}} has posed:'''<br>The absolute second that colorful PALM-SIZED SPIDER crawls out, Endymion looks straight up at the ceiling, eyes scanning, skin crawling-- then he hurriedly looks at the floor, like he's checking for spiders there too-- this isn't his dream, this isn't his dream, this is *not his dream* and Emi is the one they are here to help and even if the message was from Hinoiri ''the message was from Hinoiri and gods know what she's up to ever,'' and is it over yet?<br><br>It's over and he can avoid looking at Emi's hand, everything is literally fine, this is also this has to be a dream this is fine--<br><br>His hand slips back into Serenity's for a moment, and his shoulders go back, pauldrons and all. He glances towards her for a second, though, before he lets go of Serenity's hand and takes a step forward after checking and sheathing his sword.<br><br>"Are we awake?" he asks, kind but businesslike. "Are you injured for real? I'm a healer, I can help, but it should be soon because I'm running out of juice."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:176|Emi Hoshino (176)}} has posed:'''<br>Emi is, in fact, injured for real. And her uniform is torn for real, it seems, and her palms are hamburger from *something* if the bit peeking out from her hastily tied bandages are any indiaction. <br><br> When he offers to heal her, she steps back a little. Girl clearly doesn't fully trust the just yet, and how familiar they seem to be with *her* is clearly unsettling her, but she does glance down to Gin and then back up. <br> <br> Is she fine? <br> <br> "I dunno," answers Emi with just so much confidence in her voice. Confident that she has no earthly clue. "I think so. She doesn't seem injured and she's still breathing. I don't suppose either of you would have a smoke would you?" They don't look like the kinds to have a smoke or anything like that, but she had to try. How did you .." She looks up at Endymion. She is short. He is very tall and its just *annoying*. <br><br> "... yes. You're awake," she finally answers. "IT was just her nightmare." Her eyes drift towards the ceiling as thoughts occur to her. <br><br> "Knew it was *possible* but I'd never se--" <br> <br> "...you know what, I don't wanna be here when she wakes up and if we made enough noise the cops are on their way," She pauses, stops, collects her bat. She almost forgot! Phew! That would have been bad. <br><br> A glance back over her shoulder towards Gin. She raises her hand to cover one eye and just peers at her through her fingers. <br> <br> "Yeah, she's okay."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba (38)}} has posed:'''<br>The storybook Prince laughs, and drops his transformation-- down to Tuxedo Mask, as advertised-- and then he lets out a sigh and drops right down to eleventh-grader Mamoru Chiba. "Sorry. We've met. And Hinoiri told us you needed help, I'm presuming you know her? And your hands look like hamburger, ''please'' let me help you, you don't want them to heal like that--"<br><br>He is visibly fretting, dress shoes and skinny jeans and argyle sweatervest and leather jacket and glasses and fluffy hair and all.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:'''<br>"So all of that was her nightmare," Princess Serenity murmurs, and there's a look of true sympathy on her face, gentle and kind - and then as Emi steps back, she supposes they ''are'' strangers, and she says, "Sorry if we scared you. A friend said that you were in trouble and we'd find you in the library." <br><br>And then there's a flicker of light - she tries to go back to her Sailor Moon form, but the fight has taken entirely too much out of her, between three different finisher tier attacks and her jump to Princess form, and before she knows it, there's just Usagi Tsukino in the library, dressed down in pink pants, a green-and-lighter-green striped shirt, and a blue jacket with a popped color and white bunny-head logo on the left breast side. <br><br>Emi might know of Usagi Tsukino, actually - she's in grade 10, and she's pretty well-known for being familiar with most people around the school, friendly (too friendly, according to some), and generally considered harmless. <br><br>"Well, I wasn't planning for that to happen," she sighs a little, and rubs the back of her head. "No smokes, sorry! You don't have to if you don't want to, but your hands look like, super messed up. If Gin's okay, we can definitely get out of here as soon as you're all fixed up."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:176|Emi Hoshino (176)}} has posed:'''<br>And then they change, both of them, and become recognizable. <br> <br> "...wait, I know you! I had taiyaki with you once I think! And you... you.... you're that tall guy!" <br><br> Her hands curl into little fists as her wounds are called into question, but she's too busy gawking at them a moment longer to answer with any kind of capacity for rational, or even irrational thought. <br><br> "... Get out of here *first*, then we'll talk about your 'healing'," she counters, just uncomfortable with proximity.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba (38)}} has posed:'''<br>Mamoru spffts, then gestures in the direction of the door before taking out his phone and texting while walking.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Mamoru TXT Hinoiri: we helped her ty<br><br>"Chiba Mamoru," he reintroduces himself. He doesn't sound offended. Just tired. "I live offcampus, and you have missed your window of opportunity. The next window is in two hours."<br><br>And he keeps walking.<br>He needs a nap.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:'''<br>I had taiyaki with you once I think! <br><br>It's a sentence that echoes in Usagi's tired mind, and then - <br><br>"Oh! That day we were all ducking club recruitment, I remember now! I... honestly couldn't have guessed you'd be magic, there are lot of people here who aren't, but it's good to know you are, and now you know ''we'' are." <br><br>Another smile, and Emi's hands are in little fists and she's gawking a little, and then - well, okay, yeah, that's fair. <br><br>"Fair," Usagi says, just to confirm her own thoughts. "Let's go then, we'll skedaddle, and then - well, and then in two hours, Mamochan will be juiced up enough to heal you. Here -" and she starts walking, but also digs out a little notepad from her jacket pocket with an attached tiny pen, and writes out a few phone numbers. <br><br>"This is my number, and this is his, okay? Call us if you want healing, or to hang out, or to really tell us what the heck that was all about, okay? We're down to be back up too! We can connect you with a lot of people!" <br><br>The little paper is folded into a tiny paper airplane and flown Emi's way, so she doesn't have to get close enough to touch, and then Usagi is following after Mamoru.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:176|Emi Hoshino (176)}} has posed:'''<br>And then skedaddles commences as Emi passes one last look at Gin while accepting the papers. Gin is already stirring, so it's good they're getting out of there. Poor dear has been working too hard. She must've passed out from exhaustion and knocked over a whole lot of books ... somehow.<br> <br>
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