Earth Guardian Prince Endymion
By Senshi
of Ruin and Mizu no Senshi
Act Sixty Four Recap:
(Kisho’s POV)
“Don’t” he whispered as that only Endymion could hear, but Kisho could see the grim determination in the Prince’s eyes and he mouthed softly: “I’m sorry” before getting up and crying out, as the Youma went for Jadeite next.
“Stop! I’ll go with you!”
Kuroki Mio forced Mamoru into agreeing to go with her by
holding the four of us hostage. Mamoru, thinking that I was already dead, could
not bear it if Masaki, Taro and Seiichi were also killed and gave in to her
demand.
But Mio, even in the past life, had always been the
deceitful one. Even as her teleport took their Prince from their side she
uttered the parting orders that gave Endymion the ultimate despair:
“Kill them.”
He should have known better than to think that Mio would
allow us to simply walk away.
“In the past life the training that we endured as the
Shitennou awakened our true potential. In this world the enemy was considerably
weaker so there was no need for us to tap into the power that lay dormant inside
all of us. I admit I did not even know that such power still existed. As we are
now” he gestured to his civilian self, “I had thought that our potential had
already been reached, that our powers could never be as strong as they were in
our previous lives. I was wrong. My true power has awakened and, soon, so will
yours. Once we have all awakened we will be stronger than we are now.”
I managed to overcome the curse that Mio had put on my
transformation and was also to awaken my true powers, the stronger powers that
the Shitennou possessed in the past life.
Still I was unable to save Mamoru from Mio’s clutches and
now she looks to obtain the Senshi Sword before the girls do.
I admit that I still have serious reservations about the
girls fighting with us once again, but, as it stands at present, and as much as
I hate to admit it, we do need their help.
At the moment her expression changed, did his pain deepen.
Taro was unable to fight back a scream as he felt her powers raging inside of
him. He screamed again and Mio allowed him to collapse to the floor as the
agony that tore through his head became too much. He couldn’t see, the pain
blinded him to anything else, even the fact that Mio was knelt over him, her
hand again on his forehead as she again repeated her demand:
“I want you to tell me the location of the Senshi Sword.”
“The Tokei-ji shrine, Kamakura City.”
Mio’s grin only widened and she stood:
“Thank you, Taro-kun, you’ve been most helpful.”
Kuroki Mio used her powers to force Taro into giving away
the location of the sword and now seeks to obtain it and its power before the
girls can get to it.
******
Act Sixty-Five:
“Taro? What did that bitch do?”
“She knows where the girls have gone”
Masaki finished cleaning up the gash on his forehead,
grimacing at the purplish bruising that was forming round the cut before
tearing his gaze from the mirror and hurrying back into Taro’s front room. He
had to admit he still felt a little shaky as a result of Mio’s attack, but he
had managed to put these feelings to the back of his mind, for now at least.
After Taro collapsed, Masaki had called the others, not
knowing what else to do, and he had Kisho had managed to get Taro over to the
sofa, where he had lain unconscious for a few minutes before coming round.
Seiichi sat beside him, and Kisho was pacing up and down
near the door. When he saw that Masaki had re-entered the room, he beckoned him
to come over before saying:
“You said that Mio knows where the girls have gone?”
Masaki nodded, “She did something to him, but what I don’t
know.”
“He told her?”
“No. Yes. Taro wouldn’t have betrayed Ami” Masaki snapped,
“He’d have sooner let Mio kill him.”
Kisho nodded, not letting on what he was thinking and
saying instead, “After we have spoken to Taro we must transform and teleport to
the Tokei-ji shrine. Usagi cannot protect the girls alone.”
The fact that Kisho was talking about protecting the girls
struck Masaki as ironic but he decided not to comment on this.
Looking back at Taro, Masaki saw that his friend was
obviously still feeling in pain despite his quiet assurances that he was fine.
“What did she do to you?” Kisho asked as they walked back
over to the others, the older man’s face displaying little to no emotion, which
wasn’t unusual in times of crisis, Masaki knew.
“Does it matter?” Taro answered, allowing some anger into
his voice, “We have to go after her.”
“And we will” Kisho assured him, “Once that we’ve made
sure that you’re okay.”
“I’m fine.”
“No. You’re not. Why did you tell Mio where the girls had
gone?”
“I didn’t want too. She did something to me. The pain…
Does this really matter?”
“It does” Kisho answered steadily, “If you betrayed them.”
“I did not betray them!” Taro shouted as he leapt to his
feet and storming into the kitchen, roughly slamming the door behind him.
“Great” Masaki sighed, “Thanks, Kisho. That really helped
matters.”
“You want to know what happened, don’t you?”
Masaki nodded and then took a step towards kitchen when
Kisho stopped him with: “Don’t. Let Seiichi talk to him.”
Seiichi stood and walked towards the kitchen door, clearly
as confused as Masaki was as to why Kisho deemed it better that he should talk
to Taro. Giving nothing away, Kisho merely gestured to Seiichi that he should
enter, which he did but deliberately left the door open a crack so that they
could hear what was being said.
“Are you okay?” he started with and Taro didn’t even both
to grant this with a reply. Masaki was more concerned at this than anything
else. Taro was usually the first of them to lash out, or perhaps it was because
Seiichi had already been through enough himself and Taro wouldn’t feel right
about shouting at him. Masaki quickly dismissed this notion. If Taro was angry
he would give anyone hell about it, their own problems be damned.
“What did she do to you?” Seiichi said next and this time
he was granted a response.
“Nothing.”
“Then you, of your own freewill, told her where
Usagi-tachi had gone?”
“Of course not!”
“Then why won’t you explain?”
“You don’t understand.”
“I might.”
Taro exhaled loudly and sniped out, “I don’t know what
happened. She attacked me. She did something to my mind. It was as though I
wasn’t in control of what I was saying.”
“That magic is complex and very draining” Kisho murmured
to Masaki, “For her to have mastered it means that she is very powerful, but it
would have weakened her considerably. That is why she didn’t kill Taro or you.
She needs to get to the Senshi Sword before the full consequences of using
these powers hit her.”
“So you knew all along what she had done?” Masaki accused
softly, making no secret of the annoyance in his voice. Kisho nodded but did
not reply as Taro continued.
“I wouldn’t expect you to understand any of this.”
“Maybe not completely but I can understand some of your
pain.”
“Your amnesia is nothing like what I went through.”
“All I can recall is the past life. When Mamoru was
captured, I was willing to throw my life away to go after him rather than wait
for the group’s decision. My emotions are dominated by my past self. Even to be
here like this, in my present form, causes me discomfort. I may not understand
what you went through but I understand what is like to be attacked from the
inside and how it feels to be so powerless.”
“Is this true?” Masaki demanded, again feeling irked that
Kisho had omitted to tell them so many things.
Kisho nodded and Masaki couldn’t help but snap:
“And you didn’t think to tell us? If he can’t control his
emotions concerning the past life, then it’ll cause him a lot more pain.”
“Relax. Seiichi can handle it.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“If I wasn’t I would be standing here” Kisho sniped back,
obviously annoyed that Masaki would question his decision, but Kisho hadn’t
really known Seiichi before he managed to overcome the shadow that his previous
life had cast on his present one.
Kisho gave him a wry smile and moved away from the door,
deciding that he didn’t need to hear the rest of the conversation. Masaki moved
away as well, but walked to the opposite side of the room from Kisho. The man
infuriated him in the way that he was so frustratingly calm about everything.
Either he had everything under control or there was something that he was not
telling them and Masaki hated to think that it was the latter.
After a few more minutes the kitchen door opened and Taro
came out, somewhat subdued but still with a certain amount of dark anger in his
eyes.
“Okay?” Kisho asked.
“Yes” Taro snapped, a little defensively, “Are we going to
the Tokei-ji shrine or not?”
“Of course” Kisho answered steadily as he took a rather
crumpled map out of his pocket and indicated the location of the shrine and
then a marked area about a block away. “We’ll aim to teleport there.”
Again, Masaki felt a little annoyed that Kisho appeared to
have planned all this from the beginning.
“Why?” Taro asked. “Why not teleport directly to the
shrine?”
“Because Mio would have guessed that we’ll be coming after
her,” Kisho explained a little impatiently, “If we just teleport straight in
then we could be falling straight into another trap.”
“Well, when you put it like that I’m all for not walking
into another one of her traps” Taro answered.
“I agree” Seiichi added quietly, “She’s dangerous. More so
now, or so Mamoru said, than four years ago.”
“But we won’t be killing her” Kisho said softly before
issuing the order to transform, “If we kill her then we’ll never know where
she’s taken Mamoru and he’ll be trapped. She’ll be weaker so now is the best
moment to strike. Whatever happens she must not get that Sword. I don’t need to
tell you what will happen if she does.”
“At last” Taro said to this, “A chance to strike back. A
chance to finish this war once and for all.”
Masaki frowned at his friend’s words. He couldn’t think
that defeating Mio would be that easy.
******
For Makoto, the past few weeks had been slow and
agonising. She had been forced to watch, powerless, as her friends suffered and
now, when she was finally presented with the chance to regain her henshin and
settle some scores, she found herself growing more and more apprehensive.
The five of them walked through the shrine’s grounds in
silence and relative ease, Makoto having already disabled the security system
in place a good ten minutes before, although the silence was beginning to get
to her, but she did not make an attempt to start a conversation. They all had
the same thing on their minds, Makoto knew, and she couldn’t help but think
that she was not alone in her doubts.
Her concerns were, she couldn’t help but also think, were
somewhat selfish ones and ones that filled her with a kind of sadness. At the
end, before she had sacrificed herself so that Mamoru-tachi might live, Makoto
had silently wished for a second chance, a chance to live as Mamoru-tachi had
done. A chance to be reborn and to cast off the shadows of her former
existence. This had miraculously been granted and, by becoming Jupiter once
again, Makoto felt as though it would dredge up more demons from her past life,
more pain that she had caused and this was not something that she cared to
think of too much.
She was not afraid to face up to what she had done whilst
under Beryl’s control but it did fill her with a great amount of shame and,
Makoto admitted to herself, she was frightened that she might betray Usagi
again.
Of course, privately and unbeknown to Usagi, they had
discussed this aspect of her fears. Minako didn’t believe that such a betrayal
was possible again, but Makoto wasn’t so sure. None of them remembered exactly
what happened right before they were turned. She only had vague recollections of
finding Beryl’s army and Minako, as Venus, issuing the order that they should
not wait for the Shitennou and should simply go in alone.
This was a great mistake, but Makoto knew better than to
voice this feeling. Minako was a great leader and did what she thought was best
for them and the planet. All leaders, after all, made mistakes and Minako’s had
just been more costly than most. Makoto was sure that Minako had punished
herself enough for this over the four years of their reincarnation without
Makoto, or any of the former Senshi, bringing up this subject again. The past
was better left in the past, Makoto had told herself, which was why she had
this niggling feeling in the back of her mind that dreaded becoming Jupiter
again. A part of her also did not feel worthy enough to embrace the power of
her henshin again. Her henshin was something pure from the past, something pure
that Beryl had taken and twisted with her own evil. Jupiter was afraid of what
might happen if Mio were to confront them. After all, she was the essence of
Beryl and who knew just how much of the Queen’s power she still retained?
Glancing at her friends, as though to somehow reassure
herself, Makoto saw that her fears were mirrored in all of them. Minako walked
whilst staring stoically ahead and ignoring the concerned glances that Rei was
giving her. The miko too seemed tense. Her lips were pressed tightly together
as she struggled to appear as calm as their leader was trying to be.
Ami, too, was reluctant to give anything away by her body
language but it also struck Makoto that Ami might be the least hesitant out of
the four of them as, after all, Mio had cost her, her baby’s life.
Usagi, very much aware of the tenseness that surrounded
them, was uncharacteristically quiet and Makoto chose not to say anything to
her.
They were doing this for Usagi’s sake as much as the
planet’s and Makoto was confident that these doubts would leave her, they had
to.
“There it is” Minako said softly, breaking in to Makoto’s
own thoughts. She had been so absorbed in her feelings that she hadn’t realised
that they had reached their destination.
Feeling a little hesitant, Makoto cast her gaze upwards to
take in the sword that they had sought for so long now.
Even only under the shadow of the moonlight, Makoto could
feel the power of the old kingdom encompassing it and all those who were in its
presence or it would have achieved the latter were it not for the oddly
positioned clump of trees directly off to its right, casting a shadow on otherwise
beautiful and perfect landscape. It was half embedded in polished marble, a
silver plaque having been added to this at a later date by the Shrine’s staff
detailing the sword’s story and the mystery of who it had come to Tokei-ji to
begin with.
Around the marble there was a low fence, but nothing more
as no one could move the sword then staff at the shrine had deemed that they
had no need to give it added protection.
For a few moments Makoto simply stared at the sword and
all that it promised, unwilling to make the first move towards it, as were the
others.
“I don’t know. I think… I think we have to find it
ourselves. We have to earn the right to henshin again.”
“Minna” Minako spoke, although her voice wavered a little
as she took a purposeful step towards the sword, “Let’s go.”
Makoto felt Ami and Rei’s eyes on her before the latter
also joined Minako, climbing carefully over the fence and joining their leader.
Usagi was next, eager to show her support and she smiled encouragingly at the
remaining two.
“Mako-chan” Ami said, nodding and allowing the brawny
Senshi to go first and, within a few seconds, they were all standing before it.
Makoto shivered as she surveyed the sword again. The power, if it hadn’t been
evident to them before, certainly was now.
Minako, again, led them. Reaching out with a hand, she
grasped the hilt of the sword. Rei, as always showing her best friend the
support that she needed, placed her hand on Minako’s own. Makoto was next,
followed by Ami, but Usagi held back until Minako requested that she too helped
them. Although she was the Princess and had retained her henshi, it did not
feel right without her and they all knew this.
Then Minako softly gave the command and Makoto, with the
others, pulled but the marble refused to give up its most precious of prizes.
“What’s wrong?” Rei demanded, an almost accusatory tone in
her voice at this unprecedented occurrence.
Makoto became aware that Minako was shaking as she
answered, “I don’t know. Try again, minna.”
Makoto nodded, but as she grasped hold of the sword she
felt a source of power flare up beneath her fingertips. Encouraged by this
Minako shouted for them to try again, but Makoto suddenly became aware that the
power was rising up inside of the sword and this power was not of a positive
kind. Shouting a warning, Makoto leapt backwards, pulling Usagi, who was
nearest her, back with her. The pigtailed girl uttered a small cry as the
entire shrine was lit up in a white light so strong that it momentarily blinded
her.
Hitting the ground, Makoto rolled, letting go of Usagi as
she did so.
Looking up, Makoto’s heart caught in her throat even
before Usagi let out a scream.
The sword was gone, or rather it had never been there to
begin with and in its place stood Kuroki Mio, a triumphant smirk etched across
her face as she took a step towards them, five Youma flanking her left and five
more flanking her right.
The true sword was to Makoto’s right, where the badly
positioned trees were not moments before.
Minako, Rei and Ami lay in front of Mio, unconscious, or
so Makoto hoped as her other train of thought concerning her friends’ welfare
was almost too terrible to contemplate.
Mio laughed softly when she saw the direction of Makoto’s
gaze and even more so when Usagi stepped between them, “Mako-chan, get back”
she cried determinedly, but they both could see just how hopeless the situation
was.
How could we have been so foolish? Makoto cursed to
herself as Mio gave the order for the Youma to attack, just as Usagi called out
her henshin. The odds were not at all in their favour but still they had to
fight. They had no choice. If they didn’t then they would die.
******
When Nephrite’s teleport took him to the agreed meeting
point, a block or two away from the shrine, he instantly knew that there was
something terribly wrong, even before Usagi’s scream cut through the still
night air. Tensing up, he waited impatiently, as did Kunzite for the other two
Tennou to arrive and the fact that didn’t gave him all the more cause for
concern.
Exchanging glances, Kunzite hurriedly teleported back to
Nephrite’s apartment, before doing so complaining about the wasting of time and
energy, and promptly appeared again in a matter of moments.
“Where are they?” Nephrite demanded.
“They’ll meet us there in a little while” Kunzite said
before promptly starting down the road towards the shrine.
Annoyed at this lack of explanation, Nephrite was forced
to run to keep up with Kunzite’s faster gait and demanded a fuller
justification for them not sticking to the plan.
“I said they will meet us there” was all he gained other
than irritating Kunzite further.
Nephrite sighed and decided that, for the moment, he would
be content to leave things be. Usagi screamed again and they broke into a run,
before Kunzite announced that it would be better now to forget about sneaking
up on Mio unexpectedly. Nephrite, who had felt this all along anyway, was more
than in agreement and another teleport took them to the battle.
Glancing around for the girls, Nephrite saw that Usagi was
transformed and desperately trying to hold her own against five or so Youma.
Makoto was also fighting two, using her fists, as she had no weapon to speak
of. Rei, too, fought, although a thin trickle of blood was running down her
face from a gash just above her right eye. She was using her ofuda scrolls to
try and keep another couple of Youma at bay.
Ami knelt behind them with Minako; the idol was
unconscious.
Holding out a hand and intending to blast a path through
the Youma to Ami, Nephrite then happened to see Mio. She was stealthily making
her way towards the sword that stood a few metres away and unguarded.
Changing the direction of his attack, Nephrite hurled his
red energy at Mio, but she easily shielded against him.
Without thinking, Nephrite invoked another teleport, this
one less powerful, to take him to the sword, placing himself between Mio and
her desired prize.
Seeing what he was doing, Kunzite made to go after him but
at that moment a Youma managed to get passed Sailor Moon and went for Ami and
Minako. Kunzite turned away to defend them, and as he did so, the Youma moved
back, deliberately keeping anyone else from reaching the sword.
“Mou” Mio pouted as she conjured a ball of energy in her
hand, “I don’t really want to kill you in front of your lover again. That would
just be tragic if you befell the same fate twice.”
“You won’t have too,” Nephrite answered as he drew his
sword and slashed at her. Mio simply giggled and jumped backwards.
“Perhaps not” her expression then hardened and Nephrite,
for the first time, felt a little afraid as she conjured a sphere of dark
energy in her hand. “If you step aside that is.”
Nephrite glanced to his right and saw that Kunzite and
Sailor Moon were still fighting to keep the Youma from the former Senshi and
would not be able to come to his aid. Ami’s gaze was locked on his own as she
gripped onto Minako, trying to keep the unconscious idol from harm.
If Mio got the sword then it would all be over…
“Step aside” Mio repeated her command.
“No.”
“Have it your way then.” With these words, Mio released
the energy.
Nephrite hurriedly called up a shield, one that surrounded
both himself and the sword. Mio’s energy slammed into it, causing him to step
back a little at the force of the blow. The shield wavered slightly and
Nephrite found himself pouring even more power into it, so much that he was
beginning to feel light headed.
He stumbled slightly at this thought and, as much as he
willed himself to hold on, Nephrite found that he was slowly being forced to
his knees as the shield started to shatter around him, energy flooding the
haven that he had created from himself. With this energy came pain, but
Nephrite bit his lip and refused to cry out, refusing to give in to her as Mio
also struggled to keep her attack going. She was weaker also, he knew, it was
only a matter of time before one of them gave way and the one who did that
would die.
******
Minako awoke with a jolt as the sound of the battle and
Ami’s soft sobs reached her ears. She jumped, feeling Ami’s arms around her as
she crouched behind Kunzite and Sailor Moon as they continued to ward of Youma
attacks.
Sitting up and rubbing at her eyes, all the while having
Ami holding onto her, Minako vaguely recalled what happened.
Minako pulled away from Ami, getting shakily to her feet
as she glanced around and saw, with growing horror, that Mio was only a stone’s
throw away from the one thing that could grant the Senshi their destinies once
more and the only person between them was Nephrite and that his shield was
slowly giving way to Mio’s stronger powers.
“Minako, no!” Ami cried as the idol made a move towards
them, not knowing what she, in her current form could do, but she was the
leader and her foolishness could again cost them their lives.
Ami held onto her tighter, her own eyes shedding tears as
Nephrite fell back further. It wouldn’t be much longer, Minako knew and when
Mio had killed him she would take possession of the sword. That could not be
allowed to happen, no matter what.
“Let me go” Minako commanded softly, but Ami did not
release her grip on her, forcing Minako to struggle. She didn’t know what she
could do but she had to do something to help… perhaps if she could get to the
sword.
Then she was free, pulling roughly away from her friend,
Minako ran from the protection that Kunzite and Sailor Moon were offering and
ignoring Rei’s screams for her to come back, she ran towards the sword.
“Fool” she heard Mio’s soft utterance before the ground at
her feet exploded in an array of colours. Minako screamed and fell back,
hitting the ground with a painful thud that knocked the breath from her body.
Mio, taking her eyes off Nephrite for a moment, called up
another ball of energy before letting it fly straight towards the helpless
idol.
“Minako!” Rei screamed again, no one able to do anything
and all Minako could do was close her eyes and ready herself for the blow.
Minako felt the heat of the attack, but it did not strike
her. Instead she felt herself being lifted up and then pulled against a warm
body. She kept her eyes closed as her cheek brushed soft fabric and she was
aware that she was trembling.
“Is she alright?” Minako heard a voice, a familiar voice,
ask.
She forced her eyes open as the man holding her answered:
“I think so.”
“Zoisite” Minako exhaled slightly as she stared up at him,
unable to believe that the white clad Tennou was holding her and, for a moment,
she dared hope that his memories had been returned to him. This hope was dashed
a second later when he gently eased her to the ground and Minako saw the
confusion and fear in his eyes. Automatically she reached for his hand,
squeezing it tightly as she murmured, “Seiichi, thank you.”
Minako held onto him for as long as she could without
things becoming too awkward and she then forced herself to let go as tears
stung the backs of her eyes. Looking away, she became focused on the battle
once more, a battle that Zoisite now joined as some of the Youma broke away
from the group attacking Kunzite and Sailor Moon, and started towards the two
newcomers.
For a moment, Minako became lost in her own pain as she
watched him fight with none of the grace that he had before when she had
watched him in battle. Each move was awkward and attacks went wild whereas
before each one would strike him with a deadly accuracy.
Feeling a surge of anger directed towards Mio, Minako sat
up as Rei, Ami and Makoto raced to her side.
“Daijobu?” Makoto asked and Minako nodded, taking her
focus off the man she loved and getting up, with some help from Rei.
“I’m fine” Minako insisted after a few moments and then
directed her gaze back towards the sword. Nephrite was now fully on his knees,
the energy crackling all around him and giving him cause to try out.
The remaining Tennou were still fighting and none could
come to his aid and, in their current forms… Minako bit her lip as Ami let out
a small whimper.
This whimper did not go unnoticed by Mio and she turned, a
cat like grin spreading across her face when she saw that the former Senshi
were standing, unguarded, within a few metres of her.
“Perhaps I will kill you first” she announced, without
ceasing her flow of energy into the shield and calling up another attack in her
free hand.
As she did this, Rei stepped forward armed with only an
ofuda scroll. Minako knew that the ward had almost no chance against Mio and
she blamed herself for this. Once again she had taken them to this point and
there was no way out of it.
Then Mio screamed. Gasping, Minako whirled around, even as
the girls took an involuntary step backwards.
Nephrite was standing, shaking very badly but standing
nevertheless.
The shield was gone, but Minako knew that he no longer
needed it. Mio lay sprawled at his feet, remnants of energy still crackling
around her, her clothes all but burned to pieces by the power behind Nephrite’s
attack. His eyes were narrowed dangerously as he gazed upon her and Mio was now
the one trembling.
“Taro” Ami whispered, taking a shaky step towards him, but
Nephrite snapped at her:
“Get the sword.”
Ami hesitated but Minako did not. Taking the lead as she
always had done, the former Senshi leader took hold of the hilt of the weapon.
Rei was next; placing her hand atop of Minako’s and was then joined by Makoto
and Ami. As their hands touched, Minako felt a surge of power rushing through
her and then all she knew was darkness…
******
Where are they? Venus wondered to herself as she craned
her neck to peer between the gaps in the trees, hoping to see any sign of the
Shitennou.
The Senshi had found Beryl’s campsite without any mishaps
and were now waiting for Endymion’s guardians to arrive so that they might
attack. Serenity had been adamant that they wait for them or Venus would have
ordered the attack long before now. They had been waiting for a few hours as it
was and the route that the Shitennou had taken had been the quickest!
“One of us must get to Beryl. We can help each other make
this so. One of us will die so that the others can survive and continue to
serve the Prince and Princess.”
Zoisite wouldn’t let them down. Venus was almost positive
that the white haired guardian would come, even if the others didn’t. But time
was getting on and it was only a matter of time before they were discovered and
if that happened… Venus didn’t want to even think about it.
“Venus” Mars hissed, voicing her thoughts, “We can’t wait
forever. They are not coming.”
“They will” the blonde Senshi replied, more to convince
herself than her friend, “Zoisite said--”
“Something must have happened” Mercury said quietly, her
own face reflecting the worry inside them all.
“They could be dead” Jupiter agreed, “We can’t wait. We
must attack.”
“Serenity-sama said we can’t defeat Beryl without them”
Venus argued, anxious to risk the lives of her Senshi unless she had too, “We
can wait a while longer.”
“No” Mars snapped, “We can’t. We have to go now. Before we
are discovered.”
Venus glared at Mars. The Senshi of fire was always
questioning her decisions and, Venus suspected, deep down that Mars had her own
aspirations of leadership.
“We wait,” she answered, turning away to signal that the
conversation was over. Whatever Mars’s wrath may be later on, Venus knew that
she had to do what was best for her Senshi.
From an early age they had been trained as Serenity’s
guardians and protectors and Venus was not going to throw that all away now.
Glancing at Jupiter and Mercury, Venus was sure that they
agreed with her, even if common sense was telling them that Mars was right.
“I don’t like it anymore than you do” Venus whispered
quietly, well aware that any moment their hiding place could be discovered,
“Whoever heard of men guarding the royal family? This entire Kingdom is
insane.”
Jupiter nodded whilst Mercury replied softly, “I think you
do underestimate them. They are obviously stronger than the men in our world.”
Venus frowned slightly at this. She was not blind and had
seen the way that Mercury had looked at Nephrite and she did not like it one
bit. The Senshi could have no lives outside being the guardians of the Princess
and it was the same for the Shitennou, too. Any such fantasies, no matter how
innocent that they might be, were a recipe for disaster Venus knew. If the
truth were known, she too sometimes wished for a chance to have a normal life.
Being a Senshi was a great honour and a great burden and, as the leader, Venus
tried to carry the weight of this burden for her Senshi.
Now, as the sun got lower in the sky, Venus knew that she
had to make a decision. They had to attack soon or the chances of being
discovered were all the greater, but without the Shitennou success was only a
thin hope.
Venus stood, her gaze locking on her fellow Senshi as she
spoke, “We must go. One of us must get to Beryl.”
“What do you think happened?” Mercury dared to ask,
concern for the Shitennou clear in her eyes.
Venus shrugged. They wouldn’t have betrayed them, would
they? Of course not. Zoisite was not the type and, in any case, he wanted Beryl
dead as much as Venus did.
“They must be dead” she said out loud and, indeed, there
was no other explanation.
“Dead?” even Mars seemed shocked at this prospect.
A guardian dying was unheard of in the Silver Millennium
and, so Venus believed, here, too.
“They are dead” Venus repeated, “They are dead and we must
continue the mission for the sake of both our worlds.”
Jupiter, Mercury and Mars nodded in agreement, now all
turning to their leader as they waited for the order to attack.
So this is… Minako thought softly, as the energy continued
to envelope her and her friends, unmasking the truth that, for so long, she had
denied. This is how it was meant to be… All of this… because of that one
decision… my fault… my guilt and my responsibility…
******
“Minna!” Sailor Moon cried, as her friends fell, the
entire area lighting up in an array of colours that blinded her and forced her
back.
The Shitennou were also forced to retreat, Kunzite
grabbing hold of Nephrite’s arm to pull him away from Mio and the sword,
despite his protests.
Minna… Sailor Moon felt tears stinging at her eyes and she
would have run forward herself had Jadeite not grabbed her shoulders, forcing
her back even further. Sailor Moon trembled, not really resisting his hold, as
her gaze flickered to the spot where Kuroki Mio had been lying just moments
before. She was gone, her remaining Youma having already fled the scene long
before.
Her heart pounding, Sailor Moon could only watch as the
light that encompassed her friends slowly began to get smaller, rapidly
shrinking until, at last, it faded away completely, leaving each girl sprawled
on the ground.
Then she did run, pulling roughly away from Jadeite,
Sailor Moon ran to them, kneeling down at Minako’s side and gently shaking the
unconscious idol.
“Minako-chan, Mako-chan, Ami-chan, Rei-chan” she
whimpered, tears welling up in her eyes.
She recalled, with a pang, how she had lost them. One by one
they had died and now…
Sailor Moon released a breath that she didn’t even realise
that she was holding as, slowly, Minako opened her eyes.
“Minako-chan?”
“Usagi?”
“What happened?” Sailor Moon demanded as she helped the
leader ease herself into a sitting position.
“We” Minako cast a glance to her friends who were, one by
one, coming around. Ami was already in Nephrite’s arms whilst softly reassuring
him that she was okay. Jadeite was helping Rei to her feet whilst Kunzite went
to Makoto. Zoisite hung back, his gaze falling on Minako and the idol quickly
looked away.
Sailor Moon helped Minako to her feet, her heartbeat
increasing its pace as she awaited her friend’s next words with apprehension
and more than a little bit of fear.
“We, in the past life, were taken against our will and
brainwashed to served Beryl because of my decision. It was because of my
actions that we turned against our Princess.”
“Minako--” Sailor Moon started to protest but Minako held
up a hand, silencing her.
As she did this, Sailor Moon noted the henshin bracelet
that hung off her right wrist.
“I have accepted my responsibility for my actions in both
my lives, when I betrayed you for a second time in this world. My acceptance
returned our henshins to use once more. We can now fight to protect this world,
to protect our Princess.”
“Minna…” Sailor Moon trembled and she then drew Minako
into an embrace, allowing her henshin to disappear as she did so. All this… for
her…
Slowly, Usagi drew back, seeing that the Shitennou had
also de-transformed and looking more tired and worn out than she could ever
recall seeing them like before. The strain of fighting was starting to get
through to them, Usagi knew, but now they would not have to bear this burden
alone.
As she processed this thought, her gaze faltered and she
looked around, her trembling increasing as she looked from one to the next
before settling her gaze on Kisho and asking, in a small voice:
“Where’s Mamoru?”
******
Act Sixty Six Preview:
“Mio won’t hurt him,” Ami said gently, placing a hand on
Usagi’s shoulder.
“I know” Usagi drew her knees up to her chest and sighed
heavily, whilst toying absently with a piece of her hair, “But… I can’t help
but worry.”
Ami nodded, her own expression troubled.
“At least now we can fight with you again” Makoto pointed
out in an effort to make her feel more positive where the mission was
concerned, “We can help you get Mamoru back. He won’t have given up so why
should you?”
“Exactly” Rei nodded, “Mamoru is probably trying to think
of a way to get back to you. He loves you, Usagi. I’m sure he won’t give in
that easily.”
~~~~~~
“Mamoru? What is it?” she asked shyly, “What is wrong?”
although her heart now hammered wildly in her chest as Mamoru’s gaze refused to
soften at seeing her tears of joy turn into fearful ones.
“Mamoru? You came back for me, right?” Usagi prompted him.
Mamoru looked up sharply at her and then spoke, “I don’t
want you getting the wrong idea, Usagi.”
“The wrong idea. I don’t understand?” Usagi took a step
forward; her hand clutching tightly at the pendant that she wore around her
neck, a pendant that Mamoru had given her.
“I have not come back for you.”
“What?” Usagi trembled as she felt her fear heighten,
“What do you mean?”
“I have come back to tell you that I don’t love you
anymore.”
~~~~~~
“I care” Minako snapped back, “I want to help you through
this.”
This, coming from the leader of the Senshi, was a strange
concept, and Seiichi again repeated ‘Why?’
“Because I… because we…”
“Because we what?”
Minako hung her head, hiding behind a curtain of black
hair as she murmured, “Because I love you and you loved me. We only got around
to telling each other this right before your accident. What we had was fleeting
and I couldn’t tell you when it became apparent that you didn’t remember me.
How could I tell you?” her voice cracked slightly as she said this, “It
wouldn’t have been fair to expect you to return my feelings and now, as you are
now, I know that you could never feel anything more for me because… because all
you remember is Venus and how much you hated her.”
~~~~~~
“Don’t!”
This shield was so different to the ones that he had used
before. It was built entirely of his energy. If anyone, even one of the other
Tennou, cast their powers into it then it would break down. Zoisite seemed to
realise this and stepped back, helpless as Jadeite felt himself growing weaker
and weaker and his shield wavered. The Youma, sensing this, attacked with their
own energy with a renewed effort.
They would break through… they would break through and
destroy this peaceful city… the city where his best friend grew up…
“Jadeite, stop! If you don’t then the loss of energy will
kill you!”