When the Water Comes

Written by Sailor Berchest

It was growing dark as Seiki Nihen walked towards her house. A slight wind had picked up when the sun began to set and it was tossing her long, flowing red tunic around her legs. She wrapped both arms around herself and shivered a little. It was colder tonight than she'd expected and her bare arms were starting to feel a little numb. She began to walk faster, clacking her wooden sandals against the cobblestones that lead to her parents' house.

She could hear the rushing of the icy river that flowed through Calius saj Leeloo - Berchest's capitol city - as she arrived at the door. The dark-haired girl knocked softly on the door jam before putting her hand in a well worn groove. The door slid open silently and she entered. Keeping watch inside was a large statue of a seadragon with mouth opened and sharp teeth displayed. Seiki turned to the statue and put her hand on its paw before bowing and saying a prayer under her breath. She removed her shoes and sat them beside the statue.

"Seiki? Nimar?"

The girl turned around quickly. That was her mother's voice, but the older woman had not used Seiki's childhood nickname in years. "Mother?"

Her mother engulfed Seiki in a huge hug, clinging to her as if she had been gone for years.

"Mother?" Seiki tensed, worried. Her mother was wearing a tunic of light blue randomly streaked with a much darker shade. Traditionally, the combination was only worn when someone was in mourning.

After a few moments, her mother spoke. "Your best friend - Mari - was found dead this afternoon. She was drowned then drug to the top of a hill and left for the an'tre to feast on her dead body." She took a moment to gather her strength to keep talking. "Your ex-boyfriend - Hoshi - he was found there too. Dead."

Seiki hoped her mother could not tell that she was smiling.

"I'll be home fore dinner," Seiki shouted as she ran out the door. She hoped that she wasn't lying, but the thought was brief. The girl glanced at her watch and ran faster. According to the plans she'd overheard, there wasn't much time. There didn't seem to be much time for anything anymore, she reflected ruefully.

The girl was on her way to the cabin that the senshi used for a headquarters of sorts. The senshi would be there, and she could warn them. If she hurried.

A heavy fog was settling in the valley as she approached. It was unusual, but Seiki could not be distracted. She began to pick her way down a rock strewn path. As she made steady progress towards the belly of the valley, the fog seemed to be making equal progress towards her. She ignored it as it twined around her feet and began to move up her legs. By the time it reached her waist, she began to pay attention.

It was growing ever more difficult to walk, much less run. Her legs were feeling more and more heavy. Finally, the mist had engulfed her completely. Surprised, the girl realized she'd somehow transformed into her Sailor persona - Sailor Berchest. Also, there were thick chains around her legs and arms.

Sailor Berchest struggled against the chains. "Hello?" she shouted. "What's going on?"

A gentle breeze brushed over her, accompanied by the sound of windchimes. It sent a shiver up her spine. "Hello?" she asked again, a little more timid.

The mist began to coalesce in front of her, winding into a long, muscular shape. When it was finished, the senshi found herself face-to-face with a giant nihan - a sea dragon from Berchest's cold oceans. "You are here to be punished," the creature informed her. It's voice was like a harsh ocean wave bursting over the crystal shoreline - terrifying and melodic.

"Punished?!" the senshi exclaimed. "For what?" Her voice was demanding and angry. "What have I done wrong?"

The nihan moved through the mist to place a giant webbed paw on her chest. "You have killed two senshi of planets that had no other protector. You have killed two guardians of elements that are left defenseless. You have taken the power and guardianship you were granted and sorely abused these powers." It roared in anguish. "The events you have set in motion will not come to fulfillment for generations, but they will be our demise."

"No, you don't understand!" Berchest said, sounding unaware that she was arguing with an embodiment of the Force. "She betrayed us all! She was going to deliver us into the hands of the Dark Senshi. She had Turned!"

Again, the nihan roared. It's breath was icy cold like a stiff breeze over the ocean. "You are unrepentant for the death you have brought to two innocents."

"They were not innocent!"

"Because of this," the creature continued, through her protesting. "Because of these things you have done and the unrepentant spirit you hold, you are to be punished." There was the sound of windchimes, and a cold wind.

The nihan spoke again. "This generation is complete. No senshi will survive the end of the cycle - save one." It fixed its eyes on the captive girl. Her voice had left her, and she trembled for the first time.

"You will not be allowed death until the end of your natural life. You will see your friends cut down around you and you will grow old and unable to bear the weight that would allow you to save them. You will die an old woman, broken and alone."

Sailor Berchest wanted to scream her indignation, but something had closed her voice.

It shook its huge head. "This has shown us that the power of the senshi is too great and must be limited. Else, you are unable to bear it and be come corrupt and unworthy of the trust and faith we have put in you. Senshi will no longer be afforded this power, nor this trust."

Berchest stared at the beast, unbelieving. "No... you can't... I have to leave. The others don't know there's a trap... Asteroid set us up. She deserved what she got. She deserved it!"

"Then what about Tuxedo Starlight?" the nihan asked, a deep sadness rumbling through its voice. "What had he done that earned him his brutal death?"

"No, see, he had Turned. He had Turned with her. She had corrupted his mind and he believed he was in love... with her..."

The beast chortled deeply, the sound shaking the surrounding area. "And not with you?" it retorted as it began to fade away.

"You don't understand!" Berchest shouted after the fading phantom. "They don't understand."

She fell to the ground as the restraints faded. The girl rubbed her sore arms as she stood on shaky feet. Suddenly, a feeling of intense dread poured over her and she got the feeling as if she needed to throw up.

A few long minutes later, she had revisited breakfast and wiped her face. "Oh no." She began to run towards the senshi's hide out, knowing it was already too late.

"Seiki, nimar?"

There was no use pretending. Seiki braced herself and turned towards her mother.

"Oh, nihen. What happened?" Her mother was torn between clasping the girl to her chest and recoiling. She stood between the two, staring at her bloodstained daughter.

"They're... they're all gone. I went to the hide out... and they were all dead. It was awful." Seiki's voice trailed off, and she collapsed to the floor. "It's not fair, mom. I should have been there. I should have been there to help. They didn't have a chance because they didn't know how evil she was."

"What? Who? Nimar ..." Her mother bent down and gathered the girl in her arms. "Look, nimar, you need to sleep. I know it's hard to take - all of this. You just need rest." The woman scooped the suddenly frail child in her arms and carried her to her room.

"Mom?"

Her mother smiled gently, "Yes?"

"Do you think they'll come for me?" Seiki looked frightened as her mother pushed her towards the bathroom. "I'm the only one left."

"Sweetie, no. No one's going to come for you. I'm here to protect you." She smiled. "I know it's hard. The police think it was some kind of bizarre ritual. If you weren't there... then they probably don't know about you. You're fine."

Seiki's mother closed the door to the bathroom and Seiki let her robe fall to the floor. She sunk herself deep into the water, and closed her eyes. "If it hadn't been for them... the nihan..." she mused. "I would have been able to get there. I could have saved them. Did they..." She laughed. "That's silly." But, silently, she finished the thought. Did the Force Guardians want the senshi dead? Seiki started crying.

Several Weeks Earlier

There were two girls standing on the hill over looking Caluis. At night, the entire city glowed red-orange because of the salt deposits it was built on and from. The glow extended tendrils out into the ocean that disappeared in the murky depths.

None of this was interesting to the native of Berchest. She was too busy quickly advancing on the other girl. A stiff wind had built up from the ocean and was throwing her pigtails behind her. "Asteroid!" the girl screamed into the wind. "I know what you're doing! Asteroid!" The wind scoffed at her, throwing her words anywhere but at their target. "Asteroid!" she screamed again.

Finally, the other skirted female turned. She was silhouetted against the glowing skyline, and seemed to glow herself. The gray scales that covered her body gave off a gentle glow in the night. Her body was covered by a white leotard and skirt. Two black almond eyes peered without pupils from behind her stark white hair. "Ssailor Berchesst," she spoke, her voice sounding like dry leaves. Standard was not her native language and she still spoke it with a lisp.

"I know what you're doing," Sailor Berchest accused again, within earshot but still screaming. She stood, pointing a long staff at the other girl. "I know." Her skirt was short, like Asteroid's, but without the jagged hem. She had ribbons flowing down around her legs and from the bow on her chest.

Asteroid pointed to the sky with the pointed staff that she wielded. "Then you know thiss hass to be done."

"It does not!" There was a flash of lightning behind Sailor Berchest. "Call it off and renounce the Dark Side. They are going to do nothing for you but eat you from the inside and kill you!"

The other woman shook her head. "No. The Light Ssensshi are too powerful. They are desstroying themsselvess and the universse. They no longer have any resstraintss on their powerss."

"You lie!" Berchest clenched one of her gloved hands. "The senshi are not destroying themselves! We are fighting against evil! We need to be as strong as we can so that evil doesn't win!"

"What evilsss?" Asteroid retorted. "They are fighting agiansst themsselvess! Evil iss no longer a consideration," Asteroid said, shaking her head. "Thiss musst be done."

Berchest swung her staff at the other female. "You're giving your friends up to be killed!"

Catching Berchest's swing with her own staff, Asteroid's black eyes glinted. "Perhapss. But thiss iss for the resst of the people who are being taken advantage of by the sso-called protectorss!" The girl kicked Berchest, making her fall. "Asteroid Stone Encase!"

"Berchest Seawall Defense!" Berchest ducked behind her shield until the other attack lessened. "I'll kill you before I let you take anything else from me!"

Asteroid laughed softly. "Berchesst, it iss too late. What hass been sset in motion cannot be sstopped. The ssensshi will die. If not all of them, then the oness who mosst desserve it. If any live, they will be that much sstronger."

"What gives you the right?!" Berchest formed a crystalline dagger between her hands and flung it at the gray scaled senshi. The attack was dodged. "You can't decide for everyone!"

"No one elsse could make the decission, sso we made it." Asteroid bowed her head and called up another attack. From the stone set in the middle of her forehead, a blinding light shot forth, blasting Berchest to the ground.

She fell, hard. "We?" the senshi barely managed to say before erecting another shield around herself. Bright flashes of light hit the shield over and over, weakening it.

"We can't let you tell them," a new, masculine voice said. He sounded sad, yet determined.

"No," Berchest said, her voice suddenly quiet and no longer trying to shout over the wind. "No." She stood up, shakily. The voice was familiar, and filled her with dread.

Standing beside Sailor Asteroid was a man in a dark suit and a cape, speckled with white. "I'm sorry, Seiki," he said softly.

"Hoshi..." Sailor Berchest's voice cracked a little. "You can't be serious. You can't want all the senshi dead."

He shook his head. "No, I don't want anyone to die. But I can't leave Mari. We were destined to be together. That's something that can't be overcome."

"No... but..." Berchest stepped backwards, taking stock of the situation. "You can't believe that. She's evil now. The... rules changed."

The boy shook his head. "Seiki... I hate to do this to you. But you and I have known from the start that Mari and I were destined to be together forever. And if she choses this, then I've got to choose it."

Sailor Berchest braced herself. "If that's what you want..." Her voice choked up a little, but she closed her eyes and composed herself. She raised one of her gloved hands above her head. "Berchest Guardian Transform!" As if from nowhere, water spilled over the girl. She raised her arms to it and let it engulf her. The water swirled, lengthening her skit and changing the colors to blues instead of the red-oranges she'd been wearing. Her gloves had fins down the side, and her face was now masked as if she were a real seadragon.

"Ssstar Gaurdi..." the scaled girl began, stretching out her arms.

"Nihen Attack!" Guardian Berchest shouted before Asteroid could even finish her phrase. The attack was a waterspout that took the form of a roaring, slashing dragon. It separated Asteroid from Tuxedo Starlight and slashed into her.

Tuxedo Starlight swung his lightsaber at the water beast and it roared again before vanishing. Asteroid lay on the ground, gasping for air. Her home planet was much dryer than Berchest and the water attack was not helping matters.

"Berchest Tides Rise!" the attacking senshi screamed. This time, the attack came from beneath. Water oozed up around the fallen senshi, completely encasing her. Berchest held her hands out and concentrated as hard as she could to keep up the attack through Tuxedo Starlight's attempts. It was not long before Sailor Asteroid ceased to struggle. Water seeped into the ground as Berchest relaxed the attack. As the water rushed off, the skirt and top that Asteroid had been wearing faded into a pair of trousers and a cut off shirt. She looked much more vulnerable, and Berchest had to close her eyes. The living senshi started panting, her breath coming in shallow, short gasps.

"What..." Tuxedo Starlight looked at Berchest in shock. "No, what just happened?"

Berchest gasped for breath. She was tired, suddenly. "She was evil."

"No." Tuxedo Starlight strode over to Berchest and forced the hilt of his unlit saber under Berchest's chin. "She was right."

The girl stared into the boy's eyes. "I don't believe that."

"It doesn't matter. She did. I did." He shook his head. "Is there no better way to decide things than to fight?" Tuxedo Starlight grabbed the back of her head and pressed the unlit saber hard into her throat. "I'm sorry that I have to do this."

Berchest's eyes went wide as she coughed and started to struggle. "Hoshi, no!" She wrapped her hands around his wrists. "Please, don't do this. You know she was evil."

"She wasn't evil! She..." He looked away. "She was the only woman I can ever love."

The look of horror in Berchest's eyes went unseen as Tuxedo Starlight was still looking away. "No... there was... me. I... loved you," she said softly, pressing one of her hands to his heart. With all the Force power she could muster, Berchest spoke a quiet attack phrase. "Electric Pool... Seize!"

Tuxedo Starlight's hands clenched and released as he fell, convulsing. Berchest felt like he had been convulsing forever when he was finally still. There was no light left in his stunned eyes as his suit faded to the typical cargo pants and tight shirt that he usually wore.

Berchest fell to the ground beside him, her outfit fading to her normal Sailor suit, then to her typical gown. It took her a long time to work up the strength to stand and survey the damage. Gently, she closed Hoshi's eyes. "I'm so sorry," she breathed. "But... it had to happen. The others needed to be safe."

The sun was starting to rise over the horizon as she began to walk to the cabin in the Berchest woods that the senshi often used as a gathering place. The sun hit her bare back as she walked, warming her. She thought that it almost warmed the cold spot in her heart, as well.

Many Decades Later

It was raining as a very old woman sat by the window stitching bead work onto a small hat. Her skin seemed to be draped on her bones and her hair was thin and white. Her house was dark and empty. There were no pictures on the wall and no friendly dishes in her kitchen. Everything was painted in the stark blues and grays of the home that she'd been sent to once her caretakers had decided they were no longer responsible for an old, senile woman. She'd never had any children to take care of her. No one knew why the woman had never married; she had enough suitors in her younger days. But she shunned them all, throwing herself into whatever job she had at the time.

There were rumors that she'd been implicated in several murders, but there was never any proof. Still, there were many who gave her a wide berth. Even now, as an old broken woman, she continued to be alone.

In the past decades, there had been no visitors to her lonely room and she never left. She'd spoken when she'd first arrived, but it was always nonsense - she would claim that she used to be a superhero. Everyone would laugh at the old woman because she could never give proof.

She stopped talking shortly after that, wrapped up in her own world. Sometimes, people would hear her chanting nonsense phrases under her breath. The old woman died alone, with no one. Her funeral was conducted by a single Nihen Priestess and was attended by none. Had the priestess been able to see, she would have also noticed that there were no Force Ghosts in attendance, when the customary funeral was filled to capacity with those who had crossed over.

Time had not been kind to Seiki Nihen.

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