Earth
Guardian Prince Endymion
By Senshi
of Ruin and Mizu no Senshi
Act Sixty Seven Recap:
(Usagi’s POV)
“I cannot stay here,” Mamoru whispered softly, realising
the truth of the situation that he was in. The Dark Kingdom was now truly a
place of despair… a place where only true evil could survive. He could feel the
energy hurting him… killing him…
“It will kill me to stay” Mamoru pleaded, tears springing
into his eyes as more pain racked his shaking form.
Mio appeared torn, a wild look in her eyes before they narrowed hatefully, “If I allow you to leave them you will go to her. You will go to her or she will come to you, despite all you have done. My efforts will be in vain after all.”
“Isn’t it better to be alone than to have a false love?”
A bitter laugh escaped her and Mio turned away, “You are a
fool, Mamoru-kun. You do not know what it is like to be alone.”
Despite the fact that he would die, Mio-chan refused to
let Mamoru leave the Dark Kingdom. Instead she channelled her rage at the
situation into her hatred for me.
“You’re such a plain girl,” she stated softly, “Both in
this life and the last. You wear little makeup, and your figure lacks the
maturity of a real woman’s. You are clumsy, a cry baby, still very much a child
at heart and yet you can make him smile. You can make him laugh. You can make
him look at you with a gaze that I have only dreamed of. Why is that? Tell me,
Usagi-chan? Why can you make him smile when you can offer him nothing?”
Because of Mamoru’s command, the Shitennou were unable to
raise a hand to her and this fact angers them and they also still resent my
Senshi, even more so now that they have their henshins restored to them.
“So you’ll invite us to your meeting, but you will not
allow us to help” Makoto shot back furiously, “We can fight and we will. You
can’t stop us.”
“Mamoru is our Prince” Kisho snapped, “It is our
responsibility to free him.”
“And just how do you propose to do that?”
“We’re only bound to Mamoru’s orders when we are
transformed.”
“So what? You’ll go in as your civilian selves? She’ll
kill you.”
I pity her. Despite everything that Mio-chan’s done to me
and Mamoru I still pity her. It is a terrible thing to be alone…
“No. Even when our love was fated I wanted Mamoru to be
happy even if it meant that we were apart. As long as we allowed past demons to
interfere then we could never be happy. It is the same for you, Mio-chan. Until
you let go of the past life then it will always repeat and will keep making you
miserable.”
“It is easy for you to say. You have Mamoru and you have
friends. I have nothing. I have always had nothing.”
“Everyone will forgive you” Usagi reached up with a hand
to touch Mio’s trembling shoulder as a tear slipped free and fell down her left
cheek, “They will be your friends, too, if you want them to be.”
I meant what I said. I know that minna would forgive her,
but she refused to listen to me. Mio-chan would rather allow her hatred and
bitterness to consume her and now… now I fear for the fate of our planet.
******
Act Sixty-Eight:
“Mio-chan, I meant what I said. I forgive you.”
Masaki entered his apartment block, a frown marring his
face as he recalled Usagi’s words. Forgiveness… how could she forgive Mio after
everything? Masaki couldn’t forgive her. He wouldn’t forgive her and a
part of him felt that Usagi was a fool for offering her forgiveness freely. Yet
another part of him felt a great respect for her. Despite this being a foolish
action, Masaki knew that Usagi was a very compassionate person and, even though
he would not allow Mio such compassion, he admired others who could learn to
care for even their greatest enemy.
Even if Usagi somehow persuaded the Senshi to forgive her
also, Masaki knew that he could not. Mio had turned him against his friends
before. Everything that he had done whilst in the Dark Kingdom had been down to
her manipulating him. He could never forgive her for that, not ever.
Aside from anything else, Masaki just couldn’t see how
they could ever trust her. Mio was a snake and was a coward at heart. If she
couldn’t beat them head on in battle then who was to say that she wouldn’t turn
on them in the future?
They could never trust her, Masaki knew, no matter what
Usagi wanted to think.
Shaking his head, Masaki unlocked the door to his
apartment and stepped inside. It was starting to grow dark outside as, before
coming back here, he had walked around for what must have been hours, merely
going over everything that had happened.
That day at Crown… the day that the final battle had ended
four years ago. Masaki had dared hope that it was the end. After fighting for
so long he had been glad to get his old life back… new life, he corrected
himself. His old life hadn’t been that great. In fact, in some ironic way,
things had been better when he had first met Mamoru and awakened his powers.
After years of abuse from Haru, his life had really started to begin, even if
it meant risking it each time he fought.
“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… I don’t know.”
“Our mission. Our mission is to find the Prince.”
The mission… even that had been fraught with difficulties,
whether it had been via interference from the Dark Senshi, Beryl or even the
Prince himself, it had brought them all together in the end.
The Youma screamed in pain and lashed out with a scythe
like arm. Its arm struck Nephrite’s blade and he almost dropped it from the
force of the blow.
“It’s strong,” he gasped as his aching fingers clutched
onto his blade. Jadeite immediately tried to capture it in one of his domes,
but the energy was simply reflected on its shiny armour-like skin and the
magics struck the blonde king, throwing him to the ground.
“What the hell?” he swore as he rolled out of the path of
more deadly magics. Again the Youma struck and both kings found themselves
being forced back down the blind alley that the fight had led them to.
“What kind of Youma is that?” Jadeite demanded as their
backs hit the wall behind them.
Nephrite shrugged, “Lets attack it together, okay?”
Masaki smiled to himself, wondering why he was becoming so
nostalgic. This wasn’t like him at all. Perhaps it was a reaction to seeing Mio
in the way that she was; so twisted with hate and bitterness.
Being alone… he just couldn’t imagine it.
He didn’t want to imagine it, not now. He didn’t ever want
things to go back to how they were before.
“I thought I told you to leave and never come back?”
Masaki whirled around, trying to ignore the sudden
weakness in his legs when he saw Haru leaning against the doorframe, his
features darkened with anger and hatred for his son.
“I…” Masaki trailed off when Haru took a step into the
room, moving surprisingly well for someone who had drunk enough liquor to put a
pub out of business.
“I was just getting some things,” Masaki said at last,
hating the weakness in his voice as he spoke, “I’m going now.”
He struggled to push passed his father, but Haru clamped a
hand down on his shoulder and forced him to stay still. “I told you never to
come back and yet here you are, not twenty four hours later, in my house
again!”
“I had to get my stuff” Masaki answered, trying to push
Haru off of him as he spoke, “I’ll go now, father.”
“Don’t call me ‘father’” Haru snarled, using the element
of surprise to slam his son back into the doorframe, and then placing his hands
on his shoulders pinning him there. Masaki winced as Haru’s fingers dug into
his skin and struggled to push Haru off of him, but the combination of fear and
surprise meant that Haru had the advantage.
“I am not your father! Not anymore! I wanted a big family
and instead I was stuck with you. You are nothing but a disappointment. I had
thought that you would go to college and make something of yourself, but
instead I find out that you’ve been skipping classes in favour of hanging out
with those pathetic losers you call friends!”
“They’re not losers” Masaki couldn’t help but retort
furiously and instantly regretted it.
“Well where are they now then?” Haru demanded, “Why did
they let you come back here alone?”
Masaki again squirmed under Haru’s grip, struggling and
failing to break free.
“This isn’t their problem” Masaki forced himself to reply,
furiously wishing that he had asked Taro to come after all.
“Haru” he continued, “I just wanted to get some things.
I’ll go now and you won’t ever have to see me again.”
“So” Haru seethed, sneering the words right in Masaki’s
face, “You want another chance? You never listen, do you? I warned you not to
come back and you refused to heed that warning. Perhaps if I had taken a firmer
hand with you when you were a boy…but I can see now that I’m going to have to
teach you a lesson.”
Masaki shuddered as he recalled that day. The day that had
torn him apart from the people who mattered most. The people who had come
through for him, even when they were enemies.
Slowly she raised her sword out in front of her and
started to walk towards Jadeite. The heartless look upon her face betraying her
intentions.
Jadeite stood his ground, despite the fact that his
attacks were simply deflected with a flick of her wrist.
“Jadeite!” Nephrite cried desperately as she paused,
powering up for a final attack. He felt so helpless… too helpless to do
anything…
And, more importantly, they had forgiven him, despite
everything that he had done to them.
“With you I have nothing” Tori whispered. This statement
caused Haru to let out an enraged scream and he lunged forwards, wrapping a
hand around Masaki’s throat and slamming him painfully into the inner door of
their home.
The element of surprise had given Haru the advantage and
Masaki could only claw helplessly at his father’s hand and listen to Tori’s
terrified screams. Seeing how the tables had quickly turned again in his
favour, Haru crushed his son tighter against the wall and sneered right in his
face, “When I’ve finished with you you’ll be lucky if you can stand. No son of
mine treats his father with this level of disrespect. I’m going to beat your
fucking brains out and--”
The intense and burning pressure on his windpipe was
suddenly release. With surprising force, Haru was torn away from his son and
flung backwards once more.
“Masaki?” Tori cried, racing to his side. Gingerly, Masaki
reached out, touching his bruised neck with a shaking hand, as he looked passed
Haru to the three men standing before him.
“Kisho?” he whispered, “Taro-kun, Seiichi?”
“Stay out of this” Haru warned, again staggering to his
feet, “This does not concern you.”
“It does” Kisho answered as, moving as one, they stepped
between Haru and his family.
“Because he’s our friend” Seiichi added.
Friend…
Haru again took an unsteady step forwards, but
Seiichi-tachi still barred his way.
“Leave, Haru” Taro warned him, “There is nothing left for
you here.”
“I’ll ruin you” Haru whispered, but his face had lost all
of its anger and fury and was replaced by a look of defeat and acceptance.
Slowly he turned, walking down the path and into the
street, not looking back.
With his departure came a huge sense of relief. Masaki
leaned back against the doorframe, stunned and overwhelmed by his friends’
appearance and support as much as he was revelling in the fact that Haru had
truly left, that he was really gone.
“Minna” he started softly, taking a step towards them as
tears burned in his eyes once more, “I’m sorry.”
I’m sorry for what I did… I’m sorry that I betrayed you…
I’m sorry I didn’t confide in you…
“We know” Seiichi answered softly. “And we forgive you.”
They had forgiven him. The past, his past, to them
was dead and buried and Masaki fiercely wished that Mio could also accept that
of hers.
Slipping off his shoes, he shut the door behind him with a
gentle click and made his way into the front room. There he paused when he made
out a shadow standing by the window. The curtains were pulled and all he could
see was an outline of a figure and this gave him cause to tense and call out
warily:
“Who’s there?”
“Masaki?”
That… that voice… but it couldn’t be. He was still held
captive in the Dark Kingdom… wasn’t he?
Masaki flipped on the light and relief flooded him when
his hopes were confirmed. “Mamoru?”
Mamoru started to take a step towards him, but then
stumbled, one hand coming up to press shakily to his forehead before he fell
further forward. Masaki ran to him as he hit the floor. “Mamoru? Mamoru?”
******
“You cannot change someone’s heart. Mio-chan, please. This
isn’t the way to gain Mamoru’s feeling for you. By killing me and imprisoning
him in the Dark Kingdom until he dies is not the way, can’t you see that?”
Even with the knife at her throat, Usagi’s strong sense of
pity was overwhelming her. When looking at Mio she didn’t see an enemy. She saw
a teenage girl who had suffered just as much as Usagi and her Senshi had done.
All Mio wanted was for someone to care about.
“Shut up! This is the only way!” Mio tried to push the
blade, but she couldn’t… tears were in her eyes and Usagi struggled to find the
strength to continue, ignoring the fact that others were also present and
focused on Mio alone.
“This is not the only way. Mamoru is a kind-hearted
person. He will forgive you.”
“I don’t want his forgiveness! I want him to love me!”
“It is a terrible thing… to be alone, but being with
someone simply by forcing them to stay is even worse. You say you love him, and
if you truly know what love feels like then you want him to be happy, right?”
“You are only saying that because he will go to you.”
“No. Even when our love was fated I wanted Mamoru to be
happy even if it meant that we were apart. As long as we allowed past demons to
interfere then we could never be happy. It is the same for you, Mio-chan. Until
you let go of the past life then it will always repeat and will keep making you
miserable.”
Usagi sighed softly as she rolled over in bed, keeping her
eyes shut so that Luna would think that she was asleep and merely dreaming.
After being taken back home, she had retreated to her bedroom, too heart sick
to think about seeing her parents or Shingo. Ami-chan and Makoto wanted to
stay, but Usagi insisted that she was fine.
I have to keep smiling, she told herself. Mamoru would not
want me to give up. I can’t give up on him, no matter how hopeless the
situation might be.
Until you let go of the past life then it will always
repeat and will keep making you miserable
Usagi hadn’t lied when she had spoken those words. The
past life had caused her a lot of pain but, at the same time, it had allowed
her to meet Mamoru again, even if they hadn’t gotten on at first.
“I’m sorry!”
Frowning, Mamoru sniped back, “You just appear every where
don’t you? And always knocking into me, too.”
“You again!”
“Why are you in such a hurry anyway?” Mamoru demanded as
he retrieved his helmet from the pavement.
“I’m late, of course!” Usagi pouted, “I was meant to be at
the Juuban Kindergarten twenty minutes ago. Its part of my homework to
volunteer somewhere and then write a report on how things went”
“Well then” he teased, “You’d better run, Tsukino Kobuta.
You are still seven blocks away.”
“You are so mean!”
Usagi smiled. Still, even if they had always argued, they
had still managed to have some fun together.
“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.
“Now who’s being immature?” she tried to sound angry, but
a giggle escaped her and Usagi found herself reaching for another paintbrush
and dipping it into some red paint.
“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.
But to find out that Chiba Mamoru was…
“Usagi…” he began, but found himself at a loss for words.
She looked up, her eyes meeting his own as she reached out
with a trembling hand and touched the white mask across his eyes.
For what seemed like an age, she simply kept her hand on
this, as though seeking permission from the man before her.
Tuxedo Kamen simply waited. His heart was pounding so hard
in his chest that it hurt and he could do nothing but return her gaze as,
slowly, she pulled the mask away.
“Chiba Mamoru” Sailor Moon whispered, her voice flat and
expressionless, “Then… it is as I expected.”
She stood, letting the mask fall from her fingertips as
she did so, and turned away.
Chiba Mamoru was Tuxedo Kamen. The Tuxedo Kamen who had
saved her life so many times before, more times than Usagi could count. He had
also appeared when she needed him the most.
Sailor Moon shrieked as the fire shot towards her and she
brought her hands up in front of her face to shield herself from the attack as
best she could. Then a weight slammed into her, knocking her aside. Sailor Moon
gasped as the fire burnt a hole in the wall behind her, even as Jadeite and
Nephrite launched their own attacks at the Dark Senshi. Mars gave them a
detestable glare before hurriedly teleporting away before the attacks could
strike home.
“Tuxedo Kamen!” Sailor Moon cried in disbelief and some
concern when she saw the burn marring his left shoulder.
He had even been hurt because of her because he was drawn
to her; Sailor Moon; the Princess…
“Princess” Venus cut her off mid-sentence and Serenity
winced as her protector started to give her the same speech as before. “You
mustn’t get too close to the Prince of Earth. To do so would result in…
Consequences beyond my imagination…” Sailor Moon whispered
as she opened her eyes. She suddenly felt calm as she climbed to her feet, her
Sailor fuku glowing white for a second and then simply disappearing to be
replaced by a beautiful white gown. She knew this well as she knew what Venus
would have told her.
“I am… Serenity” Sailor Moon whispered, her gaze falling
upon Venus once more.
“Sailor… Venus… the leader of the Sailor Senshi… My
Senshi…”
“Sailor Moon… she has awakened…” she heard Luna gasp, but
Serenity ignored her as she focused upon the fallen Senshi before her. Her eyes
closed once more as a silver light pulsed out from her being and engulfed
everything…
As the Princess, Usagi had hoped to be able to use the
Ginzuishou to help Tuxedo Kamen fight and protect the Prince.
“As Sailor Moon” Usagi repeated, opening the locket to
stare down at the Ginzuishou. The crystal shimmered in the light and Seiichi
could almost feel its power from where he was standing, “As Sailor Moon” Usagi
said again, reaching to take the stone in her hand.
“No” he surprised them both by racing to her side,
knocking the locket from her hand. Usagi winced as it fell to the ground,
clattering loudly on the icy floor.
“I don’t understand… the Ginzuishou could defeat her…”
“This” Seiichi shouted, picking up her locket and dangling
it in front of the Princess’s face, “This destroyed our planet. Are you so
foolish to think that you could control its power? You are only a child!”
“And I have a weak heart” Usagi finished for him, tears
brimming in her eyes as she snatched the locket back from him, “But I want to
use it to save you. What can be so terrible about that?”
Seiichi looked away, setting his voice into one of
indifference, “You should not risk everything for someone you don’t
understand.”
“But I do understand you. You are afraid. You don’t want
the past to repeat itself. You are trying to protect me. If you really don’t
care for me then explain why?”
“I am not the Prince you love.”
But Zoisite was not the Prince. He had been deceiving
Beryl and even the Shitennou. The real Prince was…
Chiba Mamoru had been Endymion in the past life. The
Endymion who Beryl sought to make her own and the Endymion who died to save his
lover, Serenity, and caused her to destroy the planet. And the past always
repeated itself.
“Tamura-san” Usagi whispered as she stared down at the
dead Tennou. They were all gone… Mamoru, Masaki, Taro, Seiichi and Kisho… the
five guardians of the Earth were dead. They had given their lives as they had
vowed they would.
“But I’m afraid… I don’t know what to do with this power.”
“Then prove me wrong about the past life. Prove to the
world that it will never repeat again.”
“I will prove you wrong” Usagi vowed as she lifted the
Ginzuishou up high, casting out its power to the entire world. All those that
lost their lives for the sake of the past life… all would be granted the second
chance that she had.
The past would never repeat again… they would all get to
meet again in this world and live their lives.
No, not always, Usagi told herself with a slight smile.
She had overcome the Princess. She had overcome the Princess in order to be
with Chiba Mamoru in this world. She was no longer a prisoner held captive by
the past life as Mio still was.
Even after all she had done to them, Usagi still wanted
Mio to be happy. She wanted Mio to find her own salvation and to be happy in
this world. Usagi didn’t want to fight someone with that much pain in her
heart.
“Usagi?” she jumped up when Ikuko entered the room and
pretended to rub sleep from her eyes as Luna eyed her critically from the
bookcase.
“Mou, Usagi” Ikuko sighed, “Didn’t you hear me calling?”
“I was asleep, Mama”
“It is only 7.00pm” Ikuko exclaimed and then shook her
head, “Never mind” she held out the telephone, “There’s a call for you.”
With that, Ikuko left room, all the while shaking her head
at her daughter’s laziness. Usagi half smiled. If Ikuko could have seen her
earlier today then she might not be so quick to judge her choice of bedtime
hours. But Ikuko could never find out about her past life and her
transformation into Sailor Moon. It was a part of her life that her mother
could never be a part of and, four years ago, it had made Usagi sad to think
like this, especially when she was getting into trouble at school for her bad
grades and falling asleep in class. Now things were different. Usagi was grown
up and made her own decisions. Tsukino Usagi and Sailor Moon may share the same
identity but they were different and came from different worlds. It would be
dangerous to make Ikuko a part of both.
“Usagi?” Luna prompted her softly and Usagi blushed when
she realised that she was still holding the phone and, to Luna, had appeared to
zone out for a few minutes.
Blushing further, Usagi put the phone to her ear “Moshi,
moshi, this is Usagi.”
“Usagi-san?”
“Masaki-kun” instantly Usagi knew that something was
wrong. The Shitennou had never called her direct. Usually she was given
messages via Ami-chan. “What is it?”
Her heart leapt to her throat when she heard his reply,
“It’s Mamoru.”
******
“Would you like me to get you something to eat?” Ami asked
softly, coming in from the kitchen to stand in front of the sofa that Taro was
sitting on. He silently shook his head, still thinking about Mamoru and the
fact that because of the foolishness of the command that he was forced to issue
them with, Taro was unable to help him… his friend. He still felt a little
shaky from trying to disobey this command earlier today and he wondered if this
wasn’t some sort of punishment. None of them had expected actual physical pain
when going against their Prince. It was a sign that Mamoru’s true self was also
gaining strength, Taro knew. It hadn’t been this way four years ago, this he
was sure of.
“Taro?” Ami said again, this time sitting down beside him
on the sofa and gently touching his hand, “You should eat something. Why don’t
I make us some ramen?”
Taro was hungry but he didn’t feel right in doing anything
mundane like having dinner with his girlfriend, not when Mamoru was still
trapped.
“Taro” Ami gave up pressing the matter and leaned back
beside him, closing her eyes and murmuring, “I’m sorry. I know how difficult
this is for you… for all of you.”
Feeling a trace of guilt, Taro reached up to cup Ami’s
chin in his hand and place a kiss to her forehead. She sighed softly and leaned
against him, now burying her face in his shirt as Taro’s arms slipped around
her slender shoulders, pulling her closer still. Ami only wanted to make things
better somehow. She had always been somewhat of a gentle soul, even when she
had been brainwashed by the Dark Kingdom.
Taro drifted in and out of consciousness. Hazed images of
Dark Mercury flashed before his mind’s eye. Sometimes he would imagine that she
was taking care of him… and other times she would simply be watching him
intently, compassionately.
“I suppose you want to put those back on me?”
“Will I have too? Will you try to escape?”
“I can’t say that I won’t try if you leave me alone, but
do you honestly think I can fight like this?”
When he was conscious enough to speak, he found that he
was at a complete loss. A part of her revolted him, but Taro also felt some
gratitude towards the Senshi. He knew, without a doubt, that she had saved his
life.
He was also very cold. The icy temperature of the Dark
Kingdom and his own blood loss was slowly killing him. Taro could see his
breath when he breathed out and his entire body shook, even under the several
blankets that Mercury had provided for him.
She remained silent; simply watching him, even when he
attempted to ask questions all he would gain was a shy smile. Mercury would not
grant him the answers he sought.
She had been a butterfly lost in the dark, or so Taro had
always liked to think of her as. Her presence had never reviled him as much as
the other Senshi. In fact, to some extent, he had pitied her fate and when she
had come to him that day at the Cherry Blossom viewing in Ueno Park he had
known that, despite all the obstacles, they were meant to be together.
“Why are you really here?”
“I wanted to see you.”
“Why?”
Mercury turned away, “I think you know why.”
Taro sighed angrily, “This is insane! This whole damn
thing is insane! You are my enemy! Why are we even having this conversation?”
She didn’t answer. She didn’t even flinch when Taro
stormed over to her and forced her to face him once more.
“We are enemies,” he repeated, but his words sounded
hollow to his ears.
“So you keep saying,” Mercury whispered softly. “But we
were only told that by our Masters. What do you want, Taro?”
“I want…” Taro took a deep breath and slipped his arms
around her waist, pulling her against him as he murmured in her ear, “You. I
want you.”
And they had stayed together, no matter what had happened.
They had stayed together until the end when Taro gave his life to protect her.
“Mercury” she spoke softly, “You dare to return here. The
dare to return and still you betray us by bringing the Tennou and Endymion also
to our Kingdom. For that you must suffer.”
For Nephrite, the next thirty seconds happened in a blur.
He heard Mercury’s cry of terror as Kuroki Mio accentuated her words with her
magics, letting fly a fatal cascade of black and purple energy towards the
defenceless Senshi. Mercury’s scream rang in his ears as the attack struck, but
not its true target.
The force of the blow propelled him backwards, slamming
into his chest with such ferocity that his transformation dispersed in an
instant. Taro hit the ground; his head making a sickening crack as it struck
the stone floor. Black and red stars danced before his vision, until they were
blotted out by the perpetual agony that seared throughout his body.
He wanted to scream, to make his pain known, but the blood
gurgling up from his lungs to collect in his throat, slowing drowning him,
would not permit such an action thus he silently cried out, his mind being the
only ears to hear his pain.
The phone rang, breaking into his thoughts and Ami,
sensing Taro’s need to sit quietly and reflect somewhat, went to get it and
allowed him to sink back into his own thoughts once more.
Ami… Dark Mercury… Sailor Mercury… she had been so many
incarnations and had suffered as all of them.
Even in this life, when she had been reborn in the
Ginzuishou’s grace, she had continued to suffer. They both had.
Walking through the front room and into their bedroom,
Taro went over to the window and pulled the curtains. Seeing Usagi in such a
way had been a shock, despite the recent events, and now more than ever he
wanted to make Mio pay for the hurt that she had caused and he now had the
distinct feeling that Mamoru would want to as well.
He looked up when he heard the bathroom light go out and
seconds later the bedroom door opened. Ami stepped into the room, still fully
dressed. Her right hand was pressed up against the open door for support and
the other was placed on her stomach. The look of fear and pain on her face, as
well as the pallor of her skin was enough alone to tell him that something was
seriously wrong, even before Ami spoke. Her voice was small, but edged with
fear as she said:
“Taro, there’s something wrong with the baby.”
Mio had caused so much pain and Taro would not forgive her
for her Youma murdering their unborn child. He would not forgive her no matter
what else Usagi might think or feel.
Feeling his pain and anger begin to surface again, Taro
welcome the distraction of Ami coming back into the room. Yet he knew instantly
that something was wrong, even before she spoke.
“What is it?” he demanded, getting up.
“That was Masaki” Ami said quietly, “Something’s happened.
He got home and… Mamoru was there.”
“Mamoru? Impossible.”
Mio would never let him go… never… unless…
“We have to go over there right away” Ami said,
“Usagi-chan’s already with them, but there is something wrong. Masaki isn’t
sure what but Mamoru’s unconscious. We cannot risk taking him to a hospital,
after all who knows he might have been subjected too whilst in the Dark
Kingdom.”
Taro nodded, his heart thumping ten times as fast as he
only paused to put on his shoes and grab his car keys, “Do the others know?”
“I said I would call them from the car, and Minako-tachi –
they need to know, too, Taro.”
“Of course” if Usagi was there then it was only right that
her Senshi were also present, no matter what Masaki-tachi might have to say on
the subject.
Mamoru… just what in hell had Mio done to him?
******
“Usagi was right. Past demons will stop us from
determining our own future and from being with those that we care about. And
you were wrong. I did not hate Venus. I cannot say that I loved her, because
that would be a lie, but I didn’t despise her as much as you think. I had great
respect for her.”
Seiichi felt Minako squeeze his hand in a bid to offer him
some reassurance as they entered Masaki’s apartment. He had left the door on
the latch for them; they were the last to arrive. Mamoru was lying on the sofa,
almost perfectly still and his eyes tightly closed. Occasionally a moan of pain
would escape him but nothing more. Usagi was knelt at his side, holding on
tightly to his hand, tears silently falling down her cheeks. Ami was beside
her, one hand lightly resting in the small of Usagi’s back in an effort to calm
her as she pressed her free hand to Mamoru’s forehead. “He’s cold,” she stated
without looking up, “Taro, fetch me another blanket.”
Taro stepped between Makoto and Kisho to do as Ami asked,
murmuring a greeting to the new arrivals and not even noticing that they were
still holding hands. In fact, Rei was the only one to take note and smiled
encouragingly at Minako. Feeling a little self-conscious, Seiichi debated
pulling away, but he was reluctant to do this, as he didn’t want Minako to feel
as though he was uncomfortable around her.
She seemed to sense his hesitation anyway and moved away
to try and offer some additional comfort to her Princess.
“What happened?” Seiichi asked Taro as he returned with a
blanket as requested. Ami hadn’t said much to Minako on the phone.
“We don’t know” Taro answered quietly, “Masaki said that
when he got home Mamoru was here. Then he collapsed.”
“Have you called an ambulance?”
Taro shook his head, “We can’t risk it.”
“But if he’s in pain.”
“Ami will care for him” Taro assured his friend, “If he
isn’t conscious soon then we’ll call for someone.”
Seiichi nodded, and went into the adjourning kitchen, just
wanting a couple of minutes alone as he could feel both anger and frustration
building up inside of him. Anger at what Mio had done to Mamoru and frustration
that, yet again, he was unable to prevent harm coming to his Prince. Yet it had
always been this way, he reminded himself. That was part of the reason why he
had become the decoy Prince to start with. He had wanted to try and protect
Mamoru from harm.
“Chiba-san! Daijobu?” Seiichi knelt down beside Chiba
Mamoru, his heart beating rapidly as he awaited a response whilst he silently
berated himself for not acting sooner. Then, to his utter relief, Chiba-san sat
up.
“I-I think so” he replied and Seiichi helped him get to
his feet. Unfortunately, the Youma, still as Hina, did not take kindly to his
inference and, with two strides, was beside them. She reached out with a hand
to grab Chiba-san, but Seiichi stepped between them and grabbed a hold of her
wrist before she could touch Chiba-san’s face.
Hina frowned in annoyance and tore her wrist free and then
used her free hand to call upon the Youma powers. White light shot from her
palm and struck Seiichi in the chest. He was thrown back several
metres, and barely felt the blow of the impact as everything around him went
black.
Each time he had fought, he had reminded himself that the
mission had been all that mattered, that his life as he was now was irrelevant,
no matter what the others tried to tell him. Therefore he had alienated himself
from them, even more so when the real Prince was revealed to them.
“You are the Prince,” he confirmed.
At Seiichi’s words, Masaki sprang up out of his chair,
becoming uncharacteristically angry as he shouted: “And when were you going to
tell us this?”
“He wasn’t ready to learn the truth” Seiichi replied
quietly, “I was trying to protect my Master until he was awakened properly and
he could accept what had happened in the past life.”
Masaki shook his head, “And do you think he is ready now?”
Seiichi shrugged and turned to Mamoru, “Are you, Master?”
“Master?”
“We are the Shitennou who protected the Master in the past
life… you are our Master.”
“I’m Chiba Mamoru!”
“Master--”
“Don’t” Masaki shouted, pushing between the two of them,
“You should have told us” Masaki said to Seiichi, making no attempt to hide his
bitterness, “How did keeping it a secret help? You were truly willing to die
today and you wouldn’t even give us a choice!”
“It was not your choice to make.”
“So you would have gladly died today and taken the truth
with you?”
“I don’t have to answer your questions. I did what I had
to do to protect my Master. Why should I have to justify myself to you?”
His every thought and action was determined by the
mission. His father had died because he had not been able to accept who he was
quicker and thus his situation with the Youma that had murdered Zinan. Seiichi
knew now that part of him had not grieved, had merely hidden his pain with the
mission, but, eventually, Mamoru had managed to make him see that the present
life mattered more.
“You can’t order me about. Not
anymore. I answer to Queen Beryl now. She is my Master in this world. Now FIGHT
ME!”
“No--” Mamoru started to reply,
when Seiichi stepped between them. Taking Jadeite completely by surprise he
slammed the blonde back into the wall, forcing him to drop his weapon.
“You will stop this foolishness
right now” Seiichi growled in Jadeite’s face, “Chiba-san is not to blame for
any of this.”
Jadeite smirked, “No? Then who
is?”
Seiichi hesitated slightly
before answering, “I am.”
Jadeite nodded, managing to push
Seiichi away from him as he did so, “I suppose you are to blame, Seiichi-kun,
but why admit it now? You’ve been stringing us all along with your lies from
the start. You could have killed me!”
“I know” Seiichi admitted, “But
Chiba-san is willing to forgive all of that. De-transform and forget about this
stupidity. The Dark Kingdom only seeks to use you, but we’re your friends. Why
can’t you see that?”
By keeping secrets he had thought that he had been
protecting Mamoru but all he had done was make things even more complicated.
Still, even when he was fighting with them and the
Shitennou were united it would seem that they were unable to protect their
Prince and their friend. Seiichi cursed softly, unsure of how best to help
Mamoru now. Whatever it was that Mio had done to him, Seiichi knew that she
must have done it out of spite after Usagi’s confrontation earlier today.
“Seiichi?” he turned around at the sound of his name being
called. Kisho entered the kitchen; Taro and Masaki behind him and the latter
carefully shut the door behind them.
“We need to talk” Kisho stated quietly.
******
Kisho observed the situation in silence, watching Usagi
who was knelt down beside Mamoru, weeping gently and the efforts of the other
Senshi who were trying to comfort her. He felt pity for her, but more so anger
towards Mio for letting Mamoru get into this state. The fact that Kisho didn’t
know what had happened to him made things worse and that he couldn’t think of a
way to help him.
Kisho had been the first person that Masaki had called, as
he had needed some help in getting Mamoru onto the sofa. Kisho had arrived
quickly by calling for a taxi. He hadn’t gone straight home anyway as he wanted
to stay in the City tonight in case there was trouble. When he arrived, he
helped manoeuvre Mamoru onto the aforementioned sofa and then Masaki went to
call Usagi and Ami.
As soon as Masaki was gone, Kisho knelt down beside their
leader and shook him in an effort to wake him. “Mamoru?” he hissed, being as
rough as he dared without fear of hurting him, “Mamoru, wake up.”
The younger man let out a quiet groan and this spurred
Kisho on as he recalled Mio’s words of before.
“Mamoru?” he said again, looking over his shoulder as he
did so. Masaki was still in the bedroom and was still talking on the phone.
Mamoru’s eyes fluttered slightly but did not open. Kisho
hated being this forceful with him, but he had to act quickly. If they didn’t
then Mio could strike and they would be unable to defend themselves.
“Mamoru? I need you to listen to me. Mio forced you to
forbid us from harming her. I need you to take it back. We have to be
able to fight her. Mamoru?”
“K-Kisho”
“Mamoru?” Kisho spoke a little louder and shook him again.
Still he did not open his eyes, but Kisho could tell that
he was listening and pressed on. “Mamoru, whatever Mio did to you… she’ll be
coming after us next… and Usagi. We need to be able to fight. You forbid us
from fighting against Mio.”
“F-forbid?”
“Hai. You must take that order back. Let us fight her
again.”
Mamoru let out a small sigh and shuddered once and Kisho
gripped his shoulders tighter, “Mamoru?”
“I… I take it back… fight her… fight Mio” he murmured
before he lapsed into unconsciousness again.
Kisho exhaled loudly and sat back as Masaki re-entered the
room “Nani?” he asked when he saw the look on Kisho’s face.
“Nothing” Kisho answered, “It’s nothing.”
Now, as he noted that Seiichi had broke away from the main
group and had gone into the kitchen, Kisho realised that they had to talk, all
of them, and motioned for Masaki and Taro to follow him.
“We’ll only be a few minutes” Taro assured Ami as they
followed Kisho’s lead into the kitchen.
“We need to talk” Kisho kept his voice low, lest the girls
over hear and he looked over Masaki’s shoulder to ensure that the door was shut
tightly before continuing.
A part of Kisho felt a little bad about, again, going
behind the girls’ backs but he was still loath to trust them completely,
especially after what they had put Ayame through.
“Ayame! Get out of here!” Kisho shouted, but his sister
ignored him.
“I said leave,” she repeated, even as Jupiter reached her.
Though both girls appeared to be the same age, Jupiter had a presence that
caused her to tower over the small and slightly built girl.
Kisho stood, as Ayame recognised the danger she was in and
attempted to heed her brother’s advice of earlier. Jupiter, however, had
something else in mind and grabbed a hold of the girl’s arm, forcing her to
stay still. A triumphant smirk flickered across her face as Jupiter pressed her
hand, which held the stone, into Ayame’s stomach.
Kisho transformed. He had no choice as Ayame started to
scream as the stone was forced into her flesh. Drawing his sword he swung it at
Jupiter knocking her away from his sister. With no one to support her, Ayame
hit the floor, her body writhing in agony as her tiny hands clawed at her
stomach as though she could somehow reach the stone and pull it free.
Ignoring the fallen Senshi, Kunzite raced to Ayame’s side.
“Nii-san” she whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks as her arms curved
around him, her eyes silently begging him to relieve her of this pain.
“What have you done?” Kunzite hissed as Jupiter stood, her
smirk becoming a delighted grin when she saw the tears in his eyes.