Chapter Twenty Four: Trumping Time

Lyra's body reacted out of pure instinct. Sailor Moon's frenzied cry had hardly finished before Lyra felt herself fall to her knees with a jolting drop. She crouched there, arms thrown over her face, eyes screwed tightly shut, willing it to be over. But even as she braced for impact, she felt her heart fall into her stomach for up to now she hadn't realised how afraid she was. The only emotion she'd been aware of before this was anger- because right now just about everything made her want to break things. And that anger; that resentment and rage, had seemed to outweigh everything else.

She was angry at the creeps who had done this in the first place. The one's who had sent Tokyo into a time frenzy and had sent her into a tailspin when she was just regaining her footing. She was angry at Mina for not admitting who she was and nearly as angry at Serena for going along with it. But the more she thought about them, the more frustrated she became with herself. She was the one who had charged right into this trap blind. She was the one who would now be a burden to the Sailor Guardians. She was the one who had created the situation which resulted in Mina and Serena having to lie to her. And she was lying right back to them. Playing the part of an innocent soul that she had never been. Tempting them and pushing all the right buttons to try to make them break. Knowing that even if they came clean, she might still have not told them that she already knew who they were- let alone that it was her that had done this to them.

But as she shielded herself pathetically in the warped universe they were now trapped in, she became distinctly aware that nothing seemed to be happening at all. Lyra couldn't hear anything else but that infernal out of sync ticking, so chastising herself for her own cowardice she forced her eyes back open and took in the surroundings which had just gotten stranger. What she first noticed was where Mina was now standing. She'd positioned herself right in between Lyra and the threat, her bejewelled compact tight in her fist. Sailor Moon was welded to her cousin's side, her tiara in hand which now spun rapidly in a glowing disk a few inches above her finger tips.

Their focus was now on the creature, who remained still, hovering eerily about twenty meters away. It was as if she was made by someone who's only knowledge of people came from a 1920's horror movie and as a result the colour pallet was all wrong. Her billowing hair was a deep indigo, her skin powdered white. She had long scars running vertically over her yellowing eyes and engraining a shadowed cross into her forehead. Her nose was contoured green and her lips painted blue. Her dress flowed like sticky blood and in her hands was an ancient weapon which she held lazily in her clawed hands.

Lyra stared at the weapon not sure what else to do, quite frankly it seemed like the only overly menacing thing about her. It was somewhere between a staff and a spear. A Guisarme probably, she recalled after a moment but dully reflected that it probably wasn't important right now. She kept waiting for something to happen, but the creature just floated there silently.

'Why isn't she doing anything?' Sailor Moon asked between her teeth.

'She'll probably swoop at us any moment, stupid things like to time their dramatic effects perfectly.'

As she heard Mina reply, Lyra tried and failed to correct how she thought of her. She had to think of Mina as Sailor V right now. She had to separate the two in her mind or she may never keep this charade up. But her brain refused to accept the correction. She just stared at her best friend, who looked so fearless and strong, so battle worn and so ready. The girl who stood protectively in front of her, shielding her from all harm was the same one she saw every day. It was the same girl who had threatened Toby when he tried to insult her and held her so tightly when she revealed all that she lost. It was the same girl who fell asleep on her during late night Skype calls and passed her Oreos under the table during study periods. This was Mina. She couldn't think of her as anything else.

Cowering behind Mina, she watched through the gap between her legs as the monster slowly floated forward. The thing settled a few feet from them, smiling at them gently with fanged teeth before she spoke. It was a voice unlike anything she had ever heard before, it was soft and mystical and practically all echo.

'My name is Ramua. I am the keeper of this realm.'

Mina's eyes darkened, 'You serve The Dark Kingdom.'

There was no question in her words, but she needn't have asked for the creature merely shrugged, 'As all wise creatures do. My masters have presented me with this realm to do with as I please. Loyalty is always rewarded by the masters.'

'Masters? As in plural? You mean Jadeite right?' Sailor Moon yelped, 'Please tell me there's not someone else!'

Ramua's smile only grew at the panicked attempt to sound authoritative. She seemed quite amused. Like she had already guessed the question was coming, and for some reason the thought filled Lyra with dread.

'I would tell you if it were up to me. This realm is destined to become your eternal graveyard,' the creature replied ever so casually, 'But I have my orders to not risk giving you any information in the case of complications. But in this realm, where I command all, there is no such chance of this.'

'More powerful Youma then you have tried and failed to destroy us— what makes you think you'll fare any better?' Sailor V snarled.

'Oh don't worry my dear, you'll understand, in time.'

Too afraid to wait for answers, Sailor Moon flung her tiara at Ramua with a shout of, 'Moon Tiara Magic!'

But the tiara never made contact and only an inch from Ramua's face it stopped dead in the air. For a moment Sailor moon felt a shard of panic fill her system, mind in a constant replay of Jadeite's telekinetic dismissal of her own attack. She could just see his smirk when he had blocked it atop the radio station, but this time it felt different. She had heard something she was yet to understand, as the youma had gently uttered "stop," and when she had the out of sync ticking had melted away. But with a shuddering gulp she finally understood as she heard the gently uttered:

'Reverse.'

The clocks started ticking backwards and Sailor Moon was forced to drop to her knees as her own tiara came pelting backwards at her head. A trickling heat spread through her body as it occurred to her she had probably just narrowly avoided decapitation which lead her to two thoughts. The desperate hope she was immune to her own powers. And the horrible realisation of just what she was doing every time she threw that thing.

'Replay.'

With a yelp she dropped again, but her tiara now seemed to be stuck on repeat with no sign of stopping. She had nothing else to attack Ramua with and even if she threw herself at the beast she couldn't even get close- the out of control tiara had become a shield for the Youma. Realising her comrades peril it became Sailor V's turn to spring into action- her energy blasts could not be halted so easily.

'Crescent Mega Beam!'

Ramua took the attack full in the face and her head snapped backwards with a sickening crack. Grinning victoriously V prepared a follow up attack, beginning to raise her crescent compact once more above her head when she caught sight of her face in the mirror. She looked older, at least in her mid-thirties and aging fast. Ramua hadn't bothered to halt her attack she realised with a sick feeling, the youma's head rotating back to face her. She'd been planning something far more sinister. As her skin began to tighten over her face she knew she only had a limited window to attack, so she channelled all her energy into powering up her next attack.

'Crescent Boomer-'

'Stop.'

But she never got the words at, because as Sailor Moon and a terrified Lyra watched Mina's entire body froze. She was stock-still. Only her eyes and quivering lips moved as she tried and failed to force the remainder of the attack phrase out of her mouth. The glowing compact illuminated her face as it began to wrinkle and crease like a damp paper bag. Her voluminous locks began to fade from blonde to silver and her back arched with pain.

Screaming in shock, Sailor Moon stumbled to her feet, narrowly missing the whizzing tiara she threw herself a Ramua, vainly trying to strike her. But the youma didn't have to raise a hand to defend herself as the tiara spun mid-air and dug itself into its owner's back. Serena fell to the floor as the back of her fuku began to turn red. She didn't move either as the tiara clattered to the floor. From her position behind Mina's shrivelling legs, Lyra couldn't tell if Ramua had froze her or if Serena simply couldn't move, but pulsing through her body was a fear like nothing she'd ever experienced.

The Senshi were down, and she was god-damn useless in this fight. She looked desperately at Mina but her friend, who seemed to have aged into her late eighties just stared down at her apologetically- the spark of life draining from her eyes.

'It's rude not to great your hosts,' came the eerie voice of the youma, 'Stand girl, tell me your name, tell me who will be the next to fall. The next to give their entire life's energy to the great ruler.'

Lyra had no intention of complying, but Ramua commanded, 'Reverse,' and like a sentient marionette she felt herself pulled from her huddled position and retracing her steps to where she had stood before Sailor Moon had yelled at her to get down.

She was now in full view of the creature, to call this thing even humanoid now seemed like a sin against nature. In this realm this monster was the god who controlled all. In this realm nothing could be done against it.

And yet she found herself croaking out in a pathetic, pleading tone, 'Let them go.'

Yet she knew it was pointless, it was a worthless effort. It was actually quite pitiful. Why would a god listen to the pleas of lesser mortals? Yet she caught the creature smile at her, and she gave off a chiming laugh that made her feel sick.

'It's such a shame I have to kill you. You're so young, you have so much energy to live,' Ramua smiled simperingly, 'You didn't come to my realm willingly like they did. You never attempted to attack me in my own kingdom. You're an innocent. When my master's claim the Earth as their own I'm sure you would have accepted your servitude. But I must do as I've been ordered. Perhaps I shall kill the Senshi first, give you a moment longer to come to terms with your own end. In my realm, as in all others, every creature must run out of time.'

There was no malice in Ramua's tone. There was only something akin to pity or sympathy. She sounded like it was all simply inevitable, that there was no point resisting what was to come. But such a thought rekindled the burning rage in Lyra's lungs, and a twitch of her fingers was all she needed to confirm that she had been underestimated. For Ramua seemed to have seen no point in keeping her frozen in time as she had Mina. She was a normal human. What would have been the point?

But Lyra had a single, primal urge in her that couldn't be ignored. One that often caused her far more trouble than good. Yet it was enough to convince her to do something that was both incredibly brave, and incredibly stupid. Seeing Ramua was now distracted, raising her Guisarme above Sailor Moon's head, preparing to strike down, Lyra's made her move. In one swift movement she ripped the crescent compact from Mina's arthritic fingers and threw it at Ramua's chest.

Lyra felt the compact rip into her flesh and and a burning sensation enveloped her entire hand. A deep cut was forming from the tip of her ring finger to the base of her palm, and Lyra doubled over in surprise at the sudden pain. All Lyra seemed to have done was distract Ramua from her original target, for she now turned to face her, unaffected by the blow. Her face contorted from gentle to furious as she processed Lyra's feeble attempt at defiance. A snarl breaking out across her lips she puppeted Lyra back into her crouched position, before raising the point of the Guisarme between her eyes.

'Why do you dare defy me in my own realm? Why do you dare force my hand? Why? When you know your death will only come quicker and more painfully? I would have given you a merciful end.'

Lyra's gaze was unwavering even as a trickle of blood leaked down her nose, 'Because witch, I choose the circumstances of my own demise. Not you. Not anyone else. Me.'

With a growl like an angry hyena, Ramua drew her weapon back, concentrating all her strength into a death blow. he felt a strange calm wash over her, a dull acceptance of what was to come. She took a last deep relaxing breath, and gently closed her eyes, it would all be done soon.

But the pain never came.

She didn't know at first what had happened, perhaps that was what dying was like. You didn't feel the finishing blow. You just stopped altogether. Maybe she'd died so quickly that her brain hadn't had time to process pain. Perhaps that's what it was. But then she heard something, something strange, and much to her surprise she found herself able to open her eyes and that's when she saw it.

She was still in the timeless realm. The guisarme was millimetres from her forehead, but holding it behind her back, having only been able to move just in time, struggling to pull it from the hands of Ramua, was Mina. Her face was tinged purple with exhaustion, but she was showing less and less signs of her advanced aging. Her hair was becoming more blonde, her skin uncrinkled and became softer. With a powerful twist that sent the youma tottering back a few paces, Mina wrenched the guisarme from Ramua's grip. Staring down the creature whose chest, in the very place Lyra had hit her with the crescent compact, was now welling with a spinning light.

Her own weapon now aimed at her, the Youma seemed at loss for what to do. She spat out command after command as she attempted to use her abilities but when they remained ineffective she began to sound like a broken tape recorder.

Lyra was in such a state of shock of being alive, that Mina had saved her, she hardly processed Sailor Moon stumbling to her feet. She didn't notice when she scooped up the now obedient tiara and destroyed the now weakened youma. She didn't even react when the realm around her began to ripple and explode. It wasn't until she felt Mina shaking her shoulders in the ruined clock store and calling her name that she realised where she was. That she realised she was still alive. That they'd made it.

'Lyra, Lyra answer me? Are you okay? Please Lyra, talk to me!'

Feeling woozy Lyra nodded and looked up confusedly as the sprinkler system was triggered by the smoking remains of the grandfather clock. As her brain began to catch up she took note of the shattered display cases and upturned shelves. It looked nothing like the bustling store she'd seen only a few days ago. But it looked so far off from the realm of terror of two minutes ago that she didn't find that she cared.

'What happened?' she managed to choke out.

'When Sailor Moon destroyed her it made the realm unstable, it couldn't sustain itself without Ramua so it imploded, we got out just in time,' Mina explained hastily.

'No… got that, how did you…' Lyra stopped to catch her breath for a long moment, 'How did you break her spell? I don't understand.'

Lyra went to wipe some of the sprinkler water from her eyes, but made the mistake of using her injured hand and smeared blood across her forehead and into her hair. Mina's eyes widened behind her mask, and quickly pulled Lyra's hand away from her face and began examining the burnt and bleeding gash across her palm.

'I guess when you threw my compact you did more damage then you thought- both to yourself and the youma,' she murmured, looking highly concerned, 'When you hit her I felt my strength returning but it was coming back so slowly I almost didn't stop her in time… I'm sorry.'

'It's okay,' Lyra said quietly.

But for some reason Lyra couldn't help but feel sick to her stomach for a reason she couldn't explain. Her ears were still ringing and the wound although small was causing her some pain, although she didn't think that was it. Perhaps it was the fact that she knew how quickly she had accepted her own death after all she'd been through. But that still wasn't it, she still felt more sick than she could find a way to explain. Then Mina started talking again and she was jutted out of her thoughts.

'Sorry about the cut as well, my crescent compact isn't supposed to be used by anyone but me. Even I have to use gloves with it,' she apologised before smiling at her and saying quickly, 'But I don't think it'll scar.'

Lyra looked at the wound sceptically, she would've said it would need stitches but under Mina's gaze her flesh seemed to be knitting itself back together. She was even more surprised though when Mina undid her hair bow and wrapped it tightly around her hand.

'Keep it tight, it should be better soon enough.'

'Thank you… Sailor V.'

Mina froze slightly, as if it hadn't occurred to her that she still remained masked to her friend. She hadn't dropped her henshin, she hadn't removed her mask and a few feet away Serena stood as Sailor Moon trying to give them as much room as she could. Perhaps she was waiting for the same thing Mina wished with all her heart was possible. If only she could tell Lyra the truth. And unbeknownst to her, Lyra was silently pleading with her to do the same.

Lyra had figured out what was making her so sick.

Mina had called her by her name, something Sailor V had no reason to know. She silently willed it a hundred times over "tell me so I can tell you, tell me so I can tell you." But she knew before Mina even opened her mouth that it was never going to be that easy.

'You can't tell anyone what you saw today,' she instructed in a level voice, having dropped Lyra's hand from her grip, 'No one can know. If the people of Tokyo find out, then it'll force the city into a panic, we can't let that happen.'

'I don't want to lie to my friends.'

The phrase had come out of her mouth so quickly before she had time to process how cruel it was. She knew this wasn't Mina's fault and the heartbreak in her eyes was overwhelming. Lyra closed her mouth with a snap, before forcing a pained breath and speaking again.

'But… I guess… certain things need to stay secret. To protect people,' she gave her a strained smile, 'Sailor V… you can count on me, I promise, I won't tell anyone your secret.'

A look of relief crossed Mina's face and she fixed Lyra with a steely gaze, 'Thank you, not just for your silence but for everything you've done today. You showed great resilience when you chose to strike Ramua rather then accept her twisted mercy. We're alive because of you… We're in your debt, if you ever need anything I will be there. I-I'll protect you… Scout's honour.'

She seemed to be on the verge of the tears, and she straightened herself out trying to appear enigmatic. The sprinklers continued to rain down on her and for a long moment no one spoke, they just stood there, blinking water from their eyes and inhaling the scent of smoke. But in the distance they began to hear a commotion approaching them.

'We need to go if we don't want to be discovered,' Sailor Moon spoke frantically, remembering Mina's warning from when they'd first been in this store, 'I can hear sirens, the Police can't know we were here.'

'What is it with cops and getting in my way?' Mina murmured before shaking herself out, 'Let's get out of here.'

She turned around and with a single kick she broke down the crumpled roller door before peeling Lyra from the floor and to her feet. Wordlessly Lyra stepped out of the doorway, casting a conflicted gaze back to the two Sailor Senshi before slipping into a side street and disappearing. Sailor Moon and Sailor V made their way back to the rooftops, and ran away into the setting sun.

But while Mina was weighed down by guilt, Serena couldn't help but let out a small, secret smile. For she had seen what no one else had. Embedded in the centre of the grandfather clock that contained the dimension had been a single red rose. Lyra hadn't struck the book that freed them. It had been the man she still only knew as Tuxedo Mask.

She had considered pointing it out to V. She had never mentioned her mystery man to her new partner in crime. But as she watched Lyra and Mina speak she realised that both of them needed this. To think that they had helped each other. That maybe knowing that Lyra could handle herself in a crisis would eventually convince Mina to tell her the truth. And on that day, maybe Lyra could finally understand that today Mina had needed her, just as much as she had needed Mina.

Okay, so not my longest gap between updates, but still nothing that I'm proud of, my bad guys, I've kind of been going through hell the last couple of months. Plus my computer broke, I wrote this entire chapter in February technically, but never got around to typing it up. Really sorry, but what can you do.

Thank you to Tropical Remix, Jesi Ki Kage and Natashasurgurl for your reviews, and also thank you to Jesi and Natasha for both messaging me to motivate me into posting another chapter, I really appreciate it guys. Thank you to Queenofthemoon and Lstilwell24 for favouriting.

Read, Review, Favourite and Follow!

xxo

Princess Selina