|
Unwelcome Sign
Written by Sailor Berchest
"I've got you; I've got you!" Her grey-gloved hand was wrapped tightly around the other being's hand. "I'm not going to let you go."
There was fear in the woman's eyes. She was young -- without the stress that future years would bring. She was also being sucked into what seemed to be a giant, localized black hole. "Who are you?!" she yelled.
"Sailor Berchest," the senshi responded, tightening her grasp on both the woman's arm and the pole that was tethering both of them. "I'm one of..."
The woman was screaming now, her eyes filled with unimaginable terror. She was now clawing at Berchest's arm with both of her hands. "You're going to kill me! Don't let me go! I'm too young to die!"
Her hand was slipping and the woman's frantic motions were not helping. "Please, work with me..." she begged. "I'm losing..."
With a scream of absolute terror, the woman's hand slipped from Berchest's grasp. The senshi reach out, desperate for purchase but just missed the woman's limb.
Berchest screamed in frustration and reached out for another citizen of Coruscant, only to see yet another youngster sip through her hands. She didn't see the next one—her eyes were closed tight against the tears welling up.
Suri was sitting in what she thought of as the first plane of the other dimension. She'd stopped thinking of it as 'Peace' the name that Seiki had given it. It was a blank, empty place that held doors to chaos. The other plains opened seemingly at random. There was a pattern, she was sure, but couldn't understand it.
The most recent plain held a silent woman in a full cloak, her face nearly completely covered. All Suri could see was the woman's mouth -- a sad, disapproving mouth etched in black shadow.
Suri hadn't even entered the plain. The woman had lifted a shrouded hand to stop her, as if she knew that Suri would never pass whatever test was required. From the doorway, Suri could see a dark, polished wood staff in front of Nyrett etched in the wall, as if it were holding the staff in its talons.
"Seiki?" she whispered, calling out to her guardian. "What's happening?"
There was no answer.