Earth
Guardian Prince Endymion
By Senshi
of Ruin and Mizu no Senshi
Act Sixteen Recap:
(Seiichi’s POV)
“You must keep this quiet. You can’t tell anyone who I
really am.”
Masaki met his gaze, “That” he answered, “remains to be
seen.”
I had always expected to run into the Shitennou sooner or
later, and I did, literally, run into Mamoru at the hospital. He didn’t realise
who I was so I thought my secret was safe, but Masaki’s much more observant,
but what could I do? If I hadn’t of transformed they would have no longer had a
Prince to protect!
“Their Queen, Queen Beryl, resents and loathes the past
life. The Prince is a cause of her bitterness and hatred. She will tear apart
the planet and all who get in her way. As long as my identity remains a secret
the Earth is safe.”
It is only a matter of time before the
tragic events of the past repeat again. Jadeite doesn’t see this, and why would
he? He knows little of the events that destroyed our planet before. It is
better that way. His ambitions, like the others, are unclear. I can’t trust in
their loyalties or friendship in this world.
“A friend? As I said before, you are pretty full of
yourself if you think that we are friends. We have only just met.”
Had I wanted his friendship, then that
remark might have hurt me. Our friendship went up in flames the day that the
past life died.
“When will you grow up and stop taking stupid risks? Venus
would never have behaved in such a manner”
It was probably a stupid risk even going after that Youma
in civilian form and even more so by telling Jadeite a part of the truth, but
they will have to know sooner or later. Queen Beryl is after the Prince… me,
but now I don’t know what to do. If I stay hidden as Artemis wants me too then
Mamoru and the others will suffer for it, but if they are forced to protect me
then they will die. Things were so much simpler when I just had to worry about
myself. Now I just don’t know what to do anymore…
*****
Act Seventeen:
“You must bring me the Prince” Beryl ordered, “You have
failed me too many times to count. I suggest that you do not do so again…
fools.”
“Jupiter” Mercury demanded, halting the ponytailed Senshi
in her tracks, “What are you planning?”
The Senshi of water glowered at the stronger girl, her
eyes narrowed in suspicion at the calm expression upon her face, even after
Beryl’s ridicule. Dark Mars flanked Mercury; whilst Dark Venus opted to lean
against the wall of the cave, a sly smile upon her lips as she watched the
display between the strongest Senshi and the weakest.
“Beryl-sama wants the Prince, doesn’t she? I intend to get
him for her, of course.”
Mercury frowned at this, “I thought we all had an
understanding?”
Jupiter shrugged, “Beryl is the Queen, don’t forget. Do
you really want to go against her orders?”
Mercury looked away. Whereas the thought of being sealed
away again terrified her, not complying with Beryl’s demands scared her all the
more.
“The past is not important” Jupiter continued, “Whatever
happened then is done. It is a different world now. I do not see how one man
can destroy us. The Dark Kingdom is stronger in this awakening. You forget we
also have Beryl’s shadow on the Earth. To fear the past would be a fools game.”
“Jupiter is right” Mars nodded, causing the blue haired
Senshi to turn on the one she had thought that she could rely on.
“So you wish to be sealed away?” she demanded.
Mars shrugged, “Depends. What is your plan?”
“The kings will protect their Prince, won’t they, but we
cannot deal with the four of them and Zoisite as they are too strong. We have
to be clever. My plan is simple. If we distract them then we can capture the
Prince easily enough. He won’t be able to fight all four of us.”
“And how are we supposed to find the Prince?” Venus said
sceptically, “He doesn’t fight with them, remember?”
“Don’t worry. That is all taken care of” Jupiter assured
her, and relayed the rest of the plan to her comrades. Mercury nodded, it could
work. After all, the kings would not be expecting a joint effort. Still, she
didn’t like this notion of bringing the Prince before Beryl, but Jupiter was
right. If they didn’t do something then her wrath would be all the more
terrible.
“I don’t like it” Mars shook her head in disagreement,
distracting Mercury from her own thoughts “I won’t be a part of it.”
“You have too” she warned as a reply, “Beryl-sama was
adamant that we work as a team.”
Mars flipped a stray piece of black hair over her shoulder
and turned away, “I have a better idea.”
“Well then let’s hear it?” Jupiter challenged.
“No. I don’t need any of you messing it up. You can carry
on with your foolish quest if you like, but keep me out of it.” With these
words she teleported away.
“Mars” Mercury whispered, even as Jupiter demanded to know
if she and Venus were still willing to carry on with the original plan.
“Whatever you’re planning… Beryl-sama won’t like it… she won’t like it one
bit…”
*****
“I won’t tell them. I won’t tell them who you are.”
Masaki sighed to himself as he walked away from the
college building. He had a lecture in ten minutes, but once he had got to the
college he decided that he couldn’t face it and had left again.
Or, more accurately, he couldn’t face seeing any of the
others. They would all want to know how he was after the fire at the concert
and Masaki wasn’t in the mood for their concerns. Was he feeling guilty about
having to lie to them? If Masaki was honest, he really wasn’t sure. He didn’t
often feel guilt, but Mamoru and the others were the only real friends he had
and he did feel a little bad about keeping something this important from them.
Seiichi had said that it was for their own safety, but Masaki was sure that
Taro or Kisho wouldn’t see it like that. Kisho didn’t trust the Prince to begin
with so Masaki could only imagine what he’s think if he knew that Zoisite was
asking them to keep things from each other.
Mamoru had already been on the phone this morning, wanting
to know if he was okay. Masaki hadn’t taken the call. He just wanted some time
to think so he decided to ditch college and go for a walk around the city.
“You were the Shitennou, the four heavenly guardians of
the Earth Kingdom. Your duty was to protect the Prince, me, but to do that you
had to learn to work as a team. I’ve seen how close you all are, even in your
normal forms, and already you are strong enough to become a serious threat to
the Dark Kingdom without my help.”
Masaki hadn’t been sure how to take this statement. Was
Seiichi implying that he had no wish to fight with them? Masaki wasn’t
completely convinced at this. Despite his outwardly confident and some times
arrogant demeanour, Masaki had detected hidden sadness in Seiichi’s voice and
he couldn’t help but wonder if being the Prince was too bigger a burden for one
person alone. Of course, this wasn’t in Masaki’s nature to question Seiichi or
his personal feelings towards the mission. Zoisite and Komoro Seiichi, as far
as Masaki could see, were two completely different people and he had to admit
that Seiichi wasn’t the Prince he had been expecting. He seemed almost loath to
give orders and perhaps this was the reasoning behind allowing Mamoru to
continue to be the leader, rather than Seiichi’s earlier explanations.
This didn’t mean that he distrusted Seiichi; it was quite
the opposite in fact. Apart from Mamoru, Masaki could honestly say that he
trusted Seiichi with his life, which was good, he reasoned, as he was supposed
to trust his Prince. Kisho didn’t trust Zoisite and Taro was wary of him at
least. Masaki sighed, despite Seiichi’s want for his identity to remain a
secret, he couldn’t help but think it might be a good thing for the others to
meet him in normal form.
“I told you I met Komoro-san didn’t I?”
“No?” Kisho said curiously, “When did you meet him?”
“At the hospital. He rescued me from the Youma.”
“He did?” Kisho shook his head, when Mamoru added that
they had been having a coffee in the cafeteria when it happened, “I pity you”
he said, “Both of you.”
Kisho didn’t seem to think much of Seiichi anyway and Taro
didn’t either as far as Masaki knew. He supposed his own trust could have to do
with the fact that he had been a fan of Seiichi’s for almost a year now. No,
Masaki decided. This couldn’t be the case. He wasn’t one to like someone just
because of their music. Had Seiichi been horrible he would never respect him
regardless of Masaki’s like for his music.
“You must keep this quiet” Komoro-san said softly, just
before a fireman reached them, “You can’t tell anyone who I really am.”
They hadn’t exactly got off on the right foot to start
with anyway, as Seiichi’s sometimes superior attitude had irked him.
Once they had got talking, things were different. Masaki
suspected that Seiichi hadn’t told him every thing, but as his Prince, Masaki
reasoned that there were some things that Seiichi was reluctant to divulge.
“Their Queen, Queen Beryl, resents and loathes the past
life. The Prince is a cause of her bitterness and hatred. She will tear apart
the planet and all who get in her way. As long as my identity remains a secret
the Earth is safe.”
Queen Beryl… the Queen of the Dark Kingdom sought to kill
him for something that Seiichi, possibly, didn’t even remember doing.
Masaki looked up. Without even realising where he was
heading he found himself outside of Seiichi’s hotel. The Okura was
expensive and Masaki, dressed in his jeans and leather jacket, doubted that he
could get in to see Seiichi and even if he managed to get into the hotel he
supposed that security would stop him. As it was there were police posted
outside the hotel and Masaki walked casually passed so not to arouse suspicion.
He had no desire to see Seiichi so soon again anyway.
Thinking about this Queen Beryl and the Dark Kingdom had possibly directed
Masaki to the hotel just to check that everything was all right. It appeared to
be and so he left.
Masaki crossed over to the other side of the street and
turned a corner before he saw it, but at first he thought he was seeing things.
Blinking a couple of times, he rubbed his eyes to make sure as his gaze
fastened on the Youma standing by a fountain. Already people were running and
the Youma seemed to take great pleasure in frightening the helpless humans, but
this, or even the boldness of the Youma, was not what held Masaki back. He recognised
the Youma… though it couldn’t be… could it?
It was brown and appeared to be made out of a clay-like
substance. It walked on two legs like a human and had arms in the same places,
too. Its head was square and its eyes were cut into slits rather than ovals.
“Jadeite?”
“What is this? What are these memories? Metallia? The
Princess? What is this?”
“I don’t know. I know as much as you.”
“You are--?”
“Chiba Mamoru, Tuxedo Kamen…”
He had defeated that Youma long ago… so what was it doing?
Was he imagining things? Masaki was sure he was not as the dozens of people who
had also witnessed the creature had run for their lives even as it took off in
the opposite direction from the Okura. Moving quickly, Masaki started to
run after it, not bothering to transform as yet. There was no need. The Youma
turned a corner and disappeared. Masaki whirled round, looking for a sign of
it… but there was nothing. It had simply vanished.
“What was that?” he whispered to himself, even as he heard
screams coming from a nearby park. He looked up and saw the Youma once more. It
lunged at a toddler and his mother, but did not steal their energy, as Masaki
would have expected. The terrified parent screamed and grabbed her child to
flee and the Youma let them do so before turning away and bounding further into
the park.
Cursing under his breath, Masaki ran after it once more
wondering what in hell the Dark Kingdom was doing.
*****
“You don’t have to stay. You are obviously hating every
minute of this.”
“Did I say that?” he sniped back, “Why do you have to
start an argument every time we talk?”
“I was only making conversation!”
“Look. If I don’t want to do something, I don’t do it.
Simple.”
Usagi didn’t reply. In a lightening quickly movement she
snatched up a paintbrush and drew a thick black line down the side of his face
and then gasped in dismay at her impulsive and silly action.
“Well” Mamoru said, allowing no emotion into his voice,
“That was immature, wasn’t it?”
“Who are you calling--?” Usagi started but trailed off
when he mimicked her actions, and a bright green line appeared down the side of
her cheek.
“And then I said that I was old enough to wear heels if I
wanted too, but mama wasn’t have any of it and grounded me for a whole week. A
whole week, Usagi-chan! Can you believe that?”
“No” Usagi shook her head, trying to concentrate on what
Naru was saying, but he mind was still filled with the thoughts of Chiba Mamoru.
Sighing she nearly walked into a lamppost had Naru not pulled her out of the
way in time.
“Usagi? You haven’t been listening to a word I’ve been
saying have you?” Naru challenged, some hurt in her eyes, but that faded when
she saw Usagi’s dream-like expression.
“Usagi-chan? Are you in love with someone?”
“Eh?” Usagi blinked as Naru grabbed hold of her arm,
snapping her out of her daze. It was just after 3.00pm and Usagi was going
round Naru’s for a sleep over seeing as it was Friday. She needed the break.
Luna also felt that it was a good idea and would help her to ‘forget about the
Prince and Tuxedo Kamen’. Usagi sighed to herself. She, in truth, had forgotten
about them and could only suppose that her love for them was no more than a
childish crush. Her love for Mamoru, however, seemed different. Usagi’s heart
pounded twice as fast when she was around him and tears almost sprang into her
eyes at the knowledge that he was four years older than her and that he could
never love ‘Tsukino Kobuta’ back.
Now, much to Usagi’s dismay, Naru was standing directly in
front of her, a smile upon her face, “Who is he?” she asked slyly, “Is he
someone at our school?”
“No” Usagi shook her head, silently willing for her friend
to drop it. “I’m not in love with anyone!”
“Let me see” Naru started pacing up and down, obviously
enjoying herself, “You’ve been moping about all day, you’ve been ignoring every
thing I’ve been saying to you and you even failed to notice that ice cream
truck we passed a while back.”
“Ice cream?” Usagi looked round in disappointment,
“Naru-chan! Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because if you eat too much and get fat then your mystery
man will not love you anymore.”
“He doesn’t love me anyway.”
“So there is someone! What is his name? Do I know him? I
can’t believe you been keeping something like this from me! We’re best friends,
Usagi!”
“Naru-chan” Usagi started, trying to get her friend to
drop this conversation. Talking about Mamoru would only make things worse…
Usagi’s line of thought snapped off when the man in question came walking
around the corner. He had obviously just come from college as he carried
various books and seemed to be deep in thought. The frown on his face deepened
when he saw Usagi. She felt a blush adorning her cheeks, but she refrained from
acting upon her nervousness and stalked up to him.
“Where did you go the other day? I was made to clean up
that mess with the paint all by myself! I should have known that a pig like you
would leave me to do all the work!”
Mamoru seemed taken aback and his reply came out almost as
a stammer, “I think you are getting confused as to who’s the pig, Tsukino
Kobuta.”
“It’s Usagi!”
“I know that, but piglet suits you so much better.”
“How dare you? Come on, Naru-chan” Usagi whirled round
with the intention of going back the way she came when her bag flew off of her
shoulder and all the contents spilled out all over the street.
Her blushing deepening, Usagi knelt down and began to,
furiously, collect all of her things up and was stunned when Mamoru-baka knelt
down to help her. He smiled slightly as he handed her, her chemistry book. “You
should be more careful, Usagi-chan” he commented coolly.
Shaking her head, Usagi snatched up the rest of her things
and hurried off down the road, practically dragging Naru along with her.
“What was that all about?” her friend demanded when they
were several blocks away. “Who was that guy?”
“He’s just someone I keep bumping into,” Usagi explained,
trying to conceal her embarrassment and the small smile that had spread across
her face at the memory of Mamoru calling her ‘Usagi’. Just the way he said it
was enough for Usagi to want to smile and forget about the horrible nickname he
had given her.
She sighed dreamily and Naru picked up on this.
“He’s the guy you’re in love with?” she said, a little
enviously, “He’s so kawaii!”
“No” Usagi shook her head, “Why would I ever like him? And
you heard how he treated me!”
“I don’t know” Naru grinned, “You know that old saying?”
and when Usagi shook her head Naru added: “You always hurt the ones you love.”
“Whoa! Now hang on a minute!” Mamoru started as she stood
up and waved it threateningly in his face. The tip of the paintbrush brushed
his nose and Usagi’s giggles became louder, until Mamoru flicked some red paint
down the front of her already paint-stained dress.
“Stop it!” she wailed, “Mama will kill me as it is” but
that didn’t stop her from bursting into laughter and flicking some green paint
down Mamoru-baka’s shirt.
Pretty soon they were covered from head to toe in
different coloured paint, not that Usagi minded. She hadn’t laughed like this
in a long time so it was a welcome release from the stress that she was under.
Usagi smiled at this memory. Mamoru-baka had almost been
nice to her that day. If the Youma hadn’t of interrupted it who knew what might
have happened… Usagi blushed at this thought. Mamoru obviously didn’t feel
anything for her.
“Come on, Naru-chan” she said to her friend, wanting to
just forget about Mamoru and the mission for one night. Luna had told her to
enjoy herself after that disappointing battle against the Youma at the dockyard
and Usagi intended to make the most of the sleep over.
******
Mamoru watched, partly in dismay as Tsukino Usagi all but
ran away from him, dragging her nonplussed friend with her.
“Sailor Moon…” Mamoru shook his head in confusion. He
still couldn’t understand it. Why would someone as beautiful as Sailor Moon be
Tsukino Usagi? Whilst the latter girl wasn’t ugly, in fact if she lost the
ridiculous pigtails she could be quite lovely, Mamoru supposed, he just didn’t
see the resemblance at all and nor did any of his friends.
Mamoru half smiled at the memory of the day at the
Kindergarten. He had, had fun though he would never admit openly to this.
“No. I am looking for her. Luna says I have to find the
Princess, obtain the Ginzuishou and free my fellow Senshi from the Dark Kingdom
and--”
Mamoru took back his last thought. He could see Tsukino
Usagi in the blonde heroine and, had he cared to look hard enough, would have
realised just how obvious it was. Now that he knew her true identity, Mamoru
realised that it didn’t change his feelings one bit. He was in love with her
and how he hated himself for it. He had a fiancée and he loved her very much.
Hina was the world to him and yet he also loved Tsukino Usagi despite her
childish behaviour and clumsiness. She made him laugh and she was so full of
life. Whereas every one held that spark of living in their eyes, Tsukino
Usagi’s shone brighter than most… She was everything Hina was not…
Of course, despite his feelings, Mamoru would not leave
Hina. He loved her too much to hurt her in that way and Tsukino Usagi obviously
couldn’t stand the sight of him and was in love with the Prince. The best thing
to do was ignore his feelings, Mamoru decided. They would go away on their own
soon enough. He and Hina were due to be married soon and he hadn’t even started
wedding preparations! They had a lot to plan for and a future together. Tsukino
Usagi could not compete with this.
“Mamoru-kun?” he jumped slightly when he realised that
someone was calling his name.
Looking up Mamoru saw Masaki approaching him. After
hearing about the fire at Komoro Seiichi’s concert, Mamoru had tried to phone
Masaki to see if he was okay. The other man hadn’t taken the call and Mamoru
had suspected that he was disappointed that he didn’t get to see the concert,
but his concern had heightened when Masaki had failed to show up at college
this morning.
“How are you feeling?” Mamoru asked as he paused to allow
his friend the chance to catch up with him.
“Fine. It was just a little smoke inhalation” Masaki
frowned in annoyance at this question and Mamoru decided to let the matter
drop, instead asking where he had been this morning.
“Chasing a Youma all over town” Masaki replied, a little
angrily.
“A Youma? Why didn’t you get Taro or Kisho to help?”
“I can look after myself” came the rather irritated reply,
“But it was really strange. The Youma was…” he trailed off as Mamoru followed
his gaze and almost gasped out loud.
He slowly looked up at the creature before him. It
appeared to resemble a giant hand, though it was glossy and transparent like
glass. Tiny orange fibres shuddered throughout its being at it towered over the
terrified youth, flickering like flames in a dying hearth.
“What is this?” Mamoru whispered as he stared at the Youma
across the street from them. Schoolgirls and commuters alike ran at the sight,
but the Youma made no effort to sap their energy.
“I take it you recognise that Youma?” Masaki asked darkly.
“That was--”
“The first Youma you faced?” and when Mamoru nodded,
Masaki continued, “It’s almost as though they are not real, though I don’t
understand the Dark Kingdom’s purpose. I was following one for most of the day,
but lost it a little while back.”
Mamoru nodded again, as his Youma moved away, disappearing
only to reappear on their side of the street, almost playfully lunging at some
passers by. They screamed and ran.
Mamoru sighed, “Well we can’t do nothing. Let’s follow it
for now.”
“What about the others?”
“We don’t want to lose it. I don’t think its actually a
threat, it is just frightening people but we can’t take that chance. Come on.”
Masaki nodded to accentuate his agreement and when the
Youma teleported further down the street, they ran after it.
****
Taro was taking a well-earned break when Kisho entered
Crown. It was 3.30 and he had yet to see any of the others, which did give him
cause for slight concern, but he knew that they could take care of themselves.
Taro was sitting behind the counter, leafing through a magazine and simply
revelling in the blissful silence. Motoki had taken the afternoon off to go
shopping for a new tank for Kamekichi after he decided that the old one was too
small. He really did need to get a girlfriend, Taro mused to himself.
“Kimi-kun” he scowled when Kisho used Motoki’s nickname
and sat down on a chair near the counter “Not working? What will Motoki say?”
“Nothing. I’m in charge today” he replied a little warily.
Despite their recent understanding, Taro was still finding it difficult to
trust him and Kisho didn’t exactly make it easy for him to.
The healing beams of light struck the Youma and she winced
under the spell, swiping at it until she finally yielded. She fell, Ayame once
more and Kunzite ran to her side, kneeling down beside her and cradling the
girl in his arms.
“Nii-san?” Ayame whispered groggily before lapsing into a
faint.
She would be ok, this Kunzite was sure of. Sailor Moon
smiled at the concern in his eyes and turned away, content to let them be.
“Kunzite?” Nephrite approached slowly, unsure of what to
say, but the older king cut him off by saying:
“Thank you.”
Nephrite appeared startled at this, but hid it with a
smile and a shrug, “It was nothing.”
“How is Ayame?” Taro couldn’t help but ask and this
startled the older man somewhat.
“Recovering” he replied, not willing to tell Taro anything
more and he was content to leave it at that.
“Where are the others?” Kisho enquired after a moment or
twos silence between them.
“They’re not here yet” he answered, “I was about to ask
you if you had seen them.”
Kisho shook his head, “Youma?” he wondered out loud and
even as he said that there was a scream from outside. Moving as one, they
bolted up from their chairs and raced outside. A girl lay sprawled across the
pavement, sobbing in fright. She was the same age as Ayame and this was the
only reason Taro could think of to explain why Kisho went to her and helped her
to gather her things together. The gentle expression on the older man’s face
startled Taro somewhat. He hid this with a smile. It would seem that there was
lots he didn’t know about Tamura Kisho after all.
“What happened?” he heard Kisho ask the girl.
“Monster” she almost wept in fear.
“Monster?” Taro repeated, taking a step closer, “Where?”
“There!” the girl let out another scream and pointed a few
doors down. Taro’s eyes widened in shock as his gaze followed where she was
pointing. It couldn’t be…
Taro scrambled to his feet, backing away as the silhouette
gradually came into view and he would have laughed, had the situation been
humorous. It was as tall as he was and walked on two legs, its body was grey and
blue and it had arms and legs, but the similarities between it and a normal
person ended there. In place of a head, it had what Taro could only describe as
propellers like that of an aircraft that spun ridiculously round as it skipped
towards him.
Glancing down at himself, Taro noted in disgust the mud
staining his trousers and the blood seeping through a gash to his arm. Now the
monster was reaching out for him, but Taro reacted quicker, jumping backwards
and out of harms way he shouted:
“I don’t know what the hell you are, but I’ve had a really
bad day and you really do not want to make me angrier!”
“My awakening” he whispered, “I destroyed it… what is
this?”
The girl screamed again as a second Youma joined it and
she took off, running back the way she had come and several other passers by
followed suit.
The second Youma resembled a wolf and seemed to have a
profound effect upon Kisho. Taro could only guess that the second Youma was the
same one that Kisho had faced before his awakening.
Both Youma were making off down the street, scaring any
human who got in the way.
“Taro-kun” Kisho ordered, “Come on. We must follow them.”
Taro sighed and quickly locked Crown’s doors. Motoki was
going to have a fit when he came back and found the karaoke parlour closed… but
if they didn’t stop the Youma.
“What do you think they are doing?” he asked as he
followed Kisho as the older man broke into a run in a bid to catch up with the
Youma.
“I don’t know” Kisho admitted darkly, “But I don’t like
it. I don’t like this one bit.”
*****
Seiichi sighed to himself as he looked out of the hotel
window. Being on the second floor he could get a clear enough view of the
streets below and the people hurrying about their business. Seiichi was almost
envious of them. They weren’t cooped up in the Okura for a week. It
hadn’t even been a day. Earlier he had tried to explain to Tetsuya that he was
feeling much better and would like to go to the studio for a few hours to
practice. Tetsuya was adamant that he get some rest, however, and had denied
him this.
Seiichi had to admit, he still felt a little weak and his
back ached where the Youma had thrown him against the piano. He had tried
taking some aspirin when Artemis wasn’t looking. He knew the plushie would only
scold him again.
The mission wasn’t going as well as Seiichi had hoped it
would be now that the four Shitennou had been awakened. The Dark Senshi were
strong, but they were nothing to what could happen if Beryl ever got her claws
into the Shitennou instead. Had the roles been reversed…
He sighed and reached for a glass of water noting that
Artemis was snoozing on the sofa.
Seiichi knew that the cat resented him and he resented
Artemis trying to run the mission for him. Artemis seemed to forget his place.
He was bound to the Senshi, not the kings and Prince. His place was at Venus’s
side, though how he was going to reunite them, Seiichi did not know.
Glancing again out of the window, Seiichi noted just how
quiet it had become. The street was now deserted. He frowned and checked his
watch. It was pushing 4.00pm. Surely there would be late school kids coming
home at least?
Then Seiichi’s gaze focused on the lone
being standing in the middle of the street.
One hand still gripped the microphone tightly as she began
a metamorphosis right before Masaki’s eyes. Her skin slowly changed from pale
pink to black, her nails became longer and sharper as did her teeth. Her
clothes tore from her body as she grew taller and became much more muscled. She
now wore a one-piece satin dress that was wrapped tightly around her frame. Her
eyes had grown bigger and become slit like a cat’s. Her hair turned black and
cascaded down her back, each fibre as glossy as a newly grown shoot. Her teeth
were clearly visible as she drew her mouth back in a sneer as people started to
run. Holding out a clawed hand, streams of smoke shot from her palm and,
whenever it touched a human, that human collapsed, their energy drawn to the
Youma’s body.
He frowned, vaguely recognising that particular Youma as
the one that had nearly killed Masaki and Mamoru at the Kuroki Mio contest. If
he remembered correctly Sailor Moon had healed the woman that the Youma had
possessed, so what was it doing here?
Seiichi was reluctant to tear his gaze away from the
window, but did so to transform, before making to teleport down into the
street. This movement caused Artemis to wake up.
“Seiichi--” he trailed off when he saw that he had
transformed, “Zoisite, what are you doing?”
“A Youma. Outside.”
“You are supposed to be resting. One of the others will be
along in a bit to deal with it” Artemis ridiculed him.
Zoisite frowned, “It’s only one Youma and I feel fine.”
Artemis nodded; “Of course” he jumped down off of the sofa
and looked expectantly at his charge. Zoisite sighed and picked him up before
teleporting outside.
As soon as they materialised in the street, the white
haired Prince dropped Artemis to the ground. The cat landed neatly on all fours
and they both looked around in confusion. The Youma was nowhere in sight.
“Are you sure?” Artemis asked doubtfully, the scornful
edge to his voice was obvious, but Zoisite chose not to hear it.
“It was here” he turned around, looking in every
direction, “I was sure I saw…” he broke off when he caught movement out of the
corner of his eye, “There!” he shouted and sure enough a shadow figure was seen
disappearing around a corner. Zoisite broke into a run and Artemis had trouble
keeping up, not that he cared if the cat had difficulties or not. This was a
welcome distraction to his doubts and fears concerning the mission.
“When did you awaken your powers?”
“A year ago.”
A year ago… and Zoisite’s life before that seemed like
nothing but a distant memory. He frowned at Artemis’s distrust as again the cat
called for him to slow down and let the others deal with it. Of course, Zoisite
knew he had done little to inspire trust in him anyway, but he had learned from
his mistakes. He knew what he was doing. There was nothing to worry about.
*****
“Okay. This is getting stupid,” Nephrite complained and
Jadeite had to agree with him. He and Mamoru had met up with Kisho and Taro
outside of the Juuban Hospital where Youma they had been following had led
them. Now, all four were transformed and doing their best against the Youma,
but the creatures would not stay in one place and kept teleporting away.
Nephrite cursed again and lunged at the nearest one with
his sword, only to have it jump backwards and then vanish.
“We can’t keep this up” Tuxedo Kamen agreed, “There has to
be a way to kill them.”
“They’re not even real” Kunzite said, “They are holograms
of past Youma though why the Dark Kingdom is doing this…”
“Is it possible they want to tire us out and kill us when
we’re weaker?” Jadeite wondered, unaware that he had spoken out loud.
“I don’t know” Tuxedo Kamen again thwacked at one with his
cane, but as the plastic went right through them it did little good.
“Well we have to do something” Nephrite snapped as again
his attack failed, “This is now beyond stupid and I think that--” he broke off
as, suddenly, the Youma surrounding them paused in attacking and stood
perfectly still.
“What are they doing now?” Nephrite hissed angrily.
“Get ready” Tuxedo Kamen warned as silence descended upon
the beasts, “ We don’t know what they are planning to do.”
Jadeite felt his hand reaching for the hilt of his dagger
and Kunzite and Nephrite’s blades were already drawn. He tensed, expecting an
attack when the Youma, as one, teleported away.
“What?” Nephrite snarled in disbelief and some
disappointment, “They won’t even fight us?”
“That wasn’t their purpose” Kunzite replied to this.
“Then what was? They had us running all over Juuban just
to disappear before our eyes?”
Tuxedo Kamen lowered his cane and glanced about. There was
no sign of the Youma anywhere.
“Kunzite?” he turned to the older man, “What do you think
happened here?”
He shrugged, “I don’t know. I can’t sense a trap, but they
must have had some purpose” he frowned, the frustration clear in his voice.
Jadeite relaxed slightly and, he too, looked around.
“Keep transformed” Tuxedo Kamen ordered, as though sensing
Jadeite’s doubts, “I don’t think its over yet.”
“Over?” Nephrite echoed, a hint of sarcasm in his voice as
he added, “I was still waiting for it to begin.”
******
Zoisite came to a halt as the Youma disappeared inside the
concert hall. He had been taken aback when it had led him here. The building
had not been totally destroyed by the fire, but the police had closed it off to
the public just to be sure.
The Youma had torn down the police tape and raced inside
in a bid to get away from him. Now Zoisite sought to follow it, unsheathing his
silver and white sword as he stepped up to the open double doors.
Artemis was close behind him as he entered the hall; the
smell of smoke was pungent even now. The stage had been more or less destroyed
and the tattered remains of the curtains hung off at an angle, the rail
swinging back and forth in the breeze from the door.
The first few rows of chairs had also been destroyed, and
the smoke had turned the ceiling black. The door slammed loudly behind him,
causing Zoisite to jump slightly.
The Youma was standing a few meters away, it back to him,
but as the noise from the door accentuated his presence it turned around to
face him before promptly teleporting away.
Zoisite frowned, unsure of what to make of this when
another voice to his left caught his attention.
“So you’re the Prince? Now that I’ve seen you I can
understand the reasoning behind my orders.”
“Venus” Artemis whispered in a pained voice even before
the Senshi of vanity and unrequited love stepped out of the shadows. Yet
Zoisite ignored his companion as two more Senshi appeared. Dark Mercury to his
right and Dark Jupiter appearing directly in front of him. The latter’s mouth
was curved up into a vicious smile as Zoisite realised what he should have done
from the beginning. This was a trap and he had fallen straight into it.
Zoisite’s first thoughts were to teleport away, though
this would seem like a cowardly act on the surface, the odds here did not weigh
in his favour. But, no sooner had he made to do this did Venus strike. A beam
of yellow light shot from her fingertips and struck him in the chest. Zoisite
gasped and fell to his knees, the blow wasn’t so much painful as it was
dizzying and it had caught him off-guard.
“You can’t leave” Venus grinned, taking a purposeful step
towards him, “Our Queen, Queen Beryl, is dying to meet you.”
****
Act Eighteen Preview:
Zoisite raised his sword, readying to fight all three of
them when Venus attacked again. Her ‘love-me chain’ whipped forwards, faster
than Zoisite could hope to react and wrapped itself around his blade, pulling
it from his hand. A gasp stuck in Artemis’s throat as the weapon skidded across
the floor and out of its owner’s reach.
“It’s useless to fight” Mercury said, the gentle edge in
her voice was unmistakable, even now.
~~~~~
“It was a distraction!” a new voice, one that Mamoru did
not recognise rang out across the street. He turned, in time to see a white
plushie cat race across the road towards them to skid to a halt at Masaki’s
feet.
“Distraction?” Masaki repeated doubtfully, “Who are you?”
“How do you know who we are?” Kisho added, already tensing
as though expecting a fight.
“There is no time to explain that” the plushie cried, “You
must come with me unless you want the Dark Kingdom to capture the Prince.”
~~~~~
“Give up yet?” Venus smirked, “It would be better for you
if you did. It is important to know when to give up. Struggling with only bring
you more pain. We don’t want to hurt you. We are only following our orders.”
“Which are?” he whispered as he got unsteadily to his feet
and Artemis was horrified to see that his charge was shaking with the sheer
effort of doing this simple thing.
“To bring you back alive,” Jupiter replied, “Beryl-sama
has a special interest in you.”
~~~~
“Queen Beryl wants me alive and, I suspect, that death
would be preferable to whatever it was that she had in store for me.”
~~~~
“You won’t succeed” Venus warned, “Our enemies are strong
and Queen Beryl-sama will punish you for failing her.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that” Mars turned away,
walking down the corridor, making no effort to disguise her triumph in the
blonde’s failure. Once she had brought the Prince before Beryl then she would
replace Venus as the leader of the Dark Senshi. It was she who truly deserved
that role and Mars fully intended to get it.