Absence � By Kirika
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2 Chapter 2 � Forms of Pain
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Its dark
That was Sailor Mars� first thought when she returned to consciousness. At first she was afraid something had struck her eyes and blinded her, but then the memory of what had happened returned. That was when her body made its pain known.
�Uhh� god�� Sailor Mars gasped.
Hurts� all over� hurts to breathe� must of cracked or broke some ribs
This was not a welcome revelation for Sailor Mars. She prayed that if she had broke any ribs that they weren�t in danger of piercing something vital. Broken ribs were bad enough; she didn�t need a punctured lung too. Carefully, Sailor Mars flexed the muscles in her legs. They ached, but since there was no piercing pain, she assumed they weren�t broken. Mercifully, it seemed the paralysis in her leg had worn off. Mars then tried to move her arms and winced. Her left wrist hurt pretty badly.
Great, must of fractured that too thought Sailor Mars.
She lifted her right arm up in front of her face and felt into the darkness in front of her. She felt something rough, like the grain of wood. She continued to feel around in front of her as she confirmed her suspisions.
Looks like I�m in a hollow created by the building collapsing� there�s got to be tonnes of stuff above me� how the hell am I supposed to get out? The others know what happened, I�ll just wait until someone rescues me�but that could take a while. Wonder how much air is in here? Sailor Mars tried her best not to panic.
Think, damnit, think! There�s got to be a way out� I can blast my way out! �no, that would bring everything down on me� come on, come on! Your using up air time! �my communicator! I�ll call the others and maybe Ami can pinpoint my location and get me out of here!
Sailor Mars quickly fished out her communicator and tried to remember all the button locations. She didn�t dare try to use her powers to light the area for fear of burning up all the oxygen, not to mention burning her up as well. Mars pressed several buttons on her communicator that she thought should activate it. Nothing happened. Mars pressed some more buttons. Still nothing happened. She finally resorted to mashing the entire keypad with her palm.
This should be working! What�s the matter with this piece of junk?!
Mars shook the communicator in her hand fiercely, trying to make it work. Something fell on her chest. Putting the communicator down, and hoping that is wasn�t some bug or a rat or something, Sailor Mars felt along her chest till she touched an object. She picked it up and felt it. It seemed metallic and rectangular� and slightly warped, like it had been bent. Realisation set in�
Oh no, it�s the front casing of the communicator! I guess I landed on it when I fell� it�s broken! It�s useless!
Sailor Mars threw the casing away in disgust. She heard it clatter along the floor and hit something metal in the distance.
Oh god� there�s no way out� it would have been better if I was killed when the place fell, not suffering like this. Uh, I think my head is bleeding� I hope Usagi made it out alright� it was all worth it if she did� she�s probably angry at me for throwing her� heh, I�m� wait a minute�
Sailor Mars picked up her broken communicator and threw it hard in the direction the casing went. She was rewarded with a clang of metal hitting metal far off to her right.
This hollow is bigger than I thought Mars thought with rising hope, maybe there is some way I can get out of here
Steeling herself for the task ahead, Sailor Mars carefully oriented her body so that she could use her legs to push herself along on her back towards her thrown communicator, since the hollow was too low for her to even crouch. She had to be careful not to disturb any debris, in case it caused the hollow to completely cave in. She then began the hard and painful task of pushing herself inch by inch along the floor on her back.
After what seemed like a lifetime of pushing, she reached a wall. Mars� senshi fuku was soaked through with sweat from the effort it took to get there.
I�m probably filthy too
Sailor Mars felt along the wall until she touched something cold, hard and metallic. Further feeling revealed the object to be part of a series of metal bars. Mars pushed her hand through the bars and tried to feel what was behind them. She felt only air.
Hmm� now where is that piece of junk� there Mars found her communicator next to the end bar on the right side.
Sailor Mars dropped her communicator through the metal bars and listened. After about one second there was a splash.
This must be a drain� the only way out, and it�s through the sewer� terrific� well I�m already pretty dirty anyway� may as well complete the package with some raw sewage
Sailor Mars used her good hand and pulled on the grill. It wouldn�t budge. Mars swallowed her frustration and controlled her now returning panic, and reoriented her body so that she could use her legs to kick the grill. Summoning all of her strength, she kicked out furiously at the grill.
Open� open� open� was Mars� mantra.
Sailor Mars let out a cry of rage and frustration rolled into one, and kicked the grill for all she was worth. She felt it finally loosen a little. Letting out another cry, she kicked the grill again, sending it flying outwards and down to the water below.
Finally�
There was a disturbing creaking sound as Mars lay on her back, exhausted. Sailor Mars realised she didn�t have time to rest. She quickly squeezed through the drain opening and fell face first into the water. Spluttering, and gritting her teeth in pain, Mars got her face out of the water as the hollow collapsed, sending debris through the drainage hole to splash in the water around her.
�That� was� far too close,� panted Sailor Mars, wincing as she found out talking and damaged ribs don�t mix.
Thankfully, the drain area she was in was large enough for her to stand upright. She didn�t want to think what was in the ankle deep water she was standing in though.
Please just be rainwater�
It was still pitch black around her, but at least she could now use her powers for a light source.
Hmm� don�t sewers have methane gas or something in it? Isn�t that explosive? But I would smell methane� except I don�t know what it smells like. Probably horrible. I knew I should have payed attention in chem. class! Who would have thought the stuff they taught would actually serve a purpose in the real world
With that last thought, Sailor Mars began her long, painful and dark trek towards the nearest manhole.
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It took over an hour for Sailor Mars to find a manhole, an hour of pure pain due to her injured ribs. Plus climbing up the ladder with a fractured wrist was not a pleasant experience either. When she finally made it out she was just about ready to collapse and sleep for a week. She ducked into a nearby alley and detransformed. Unfortunately all the grime from her little �adventure� transferred to her street clothes.
Great. Just great. The first thing the doctor will probably do is order a bath, stat
Rei leaned lightly against the alley wall so not to disturb her ribs. Though they still hurt like fury no matter what she did.
Got to get to a hospital� even hurts when I blink
Preparing herself for another painful journey, Rei set off for the hospital.
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It took everything Rei had left to make it to the general hospital. Not wanting to have to explain where she got her injuries from, or who she was, Rei feigned temporary amnesia from a head wound she sustained. It wasn�t difficult � when she saw herself in the mirror she realised she could say she had just about any injury. It turns out she had fractured her wrist and cracked two ribs, not to mention all the numerous scraps and bruises she had received. All in all she had actually got off lucky. Once the doctors had cleaned and patched her up and she rested herself for a while, Rei discharged herself, despite the doctors� protestations. Rei looked at her watch: 5.20am.
Whoa, this took all night. The others are probably worried� what am I supposed to tell Grandpa and Yuuichirou about where I got my injuries? My left arm is in a sling and my ribs are all bandaged and taped up� plus they still hurt
Rei sighed and made her way back to the scene of the fight. Her friends were probably all trying to dig her out.
I bet they�ll be surprised when I just show up like nothing happened, hehe� Rei amused herself with what she imagined their faces would look like as she walked.
However, when she arrived at the ruins of the clothing store it seemed that the local authorities had taken over the area. Several people had gathered around the police barricade that had been set up to look at what happened. Rei wondered why they weren�t in bed like normal people. Rei scanned the crowd for her friends. She spotted them grouped together near the edge of the barricade.
They all look pretty worried grinned Rei, taking a perverse pleasure in watching them anxiously wait for her to be dug out. Time for my miraculous return�I wonder how worried Usagi is� maybe she�ll be so relieved to see me that I might even get a kiss>
Bolstered by that thought, Rei made her way towards them� and stopped abruptly. There was Usagi. But with him. She clung to him like her life depended on it and he held her just as close. Who was Rei kidding? Nothing�s changed. Seeing them together was an instant reminder of how she would always be alone, that her princess will never love her like she loves Mamoru. It hurt more than the wounds she sustained.
Better if I just left. She probably thinks I�m dead by now anyway. We don�t even get along. I just can�t take this anymore� seeing her everyday and not able to be with her is like some horrible nightmare. How can destiny be so cruel?
Rei masochistically continued to look at the couple. It was their destiny for them to be together. Who was she to question it?
Yes� it�s better this way� Rei Hino died here today. She died protecting her princess� her only love�
Rei swallowed the lump in her throat and wiped away the tears that were gathering in her eyes. Slowly she turned around and walked away.
Part three |
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