Earth
Guardian Prince Endymion
By Senshi
of Ruin and Mizu no Senshi
Act Sixty Recap:
(Mamoru’s POV)
Yesterday I met Taro at the hospital. At first I thought he
was here to see Seiichi, but then he told me about Ami.
“I’ve already blamed myself and so has Ami. At first all I
could think of was who to place the blame on, but, whilst doing that, I wasn’t
there for Ami when she needed me the most. It is easier to concentrate on
blaming someone or yourself, but we need to forget about that. Mio wants us to
lash out, to hate ourselves and each other, and we already have enough of that
as it is.”
Already so much pain has been caused and I can’t help but
feel somehow responsible as it was whilst rescuing Usagi that Ami was attacked.
Taro, I know, would not want me to feel any guilt but I do anyway. Although
Taro would never admit it, he could have made a great father. They both would
have been wonderful parents and to have this snatched away from them. All they
had wanted was to be together as a family.
“It’s done. We cannot change that, but if we let her,
she’ll just keep on causing us more pain.”
The only good thing to come out of the situation is that
Taro has forgiven all the secrets and, more than ever, wants us to work
together to rid the Earth of this new threat.
“The memories are just the beginning. They will begin to
doubt you. Not yet, of course, but when he dies they will start looking for
someone to blame. They will start to think ‘what if Masaki had called for help
sooner?’ They will blame you.”
“No--”
“Yes. They will blame you because you are a liar and a
traitor. Instead of helping him you put yourself first and now you cower here
and wait for Mamoru-kun to call you, to tell you that none of this is your
fault and you want him to. You want him to because then you can become the
victim. We are the same, Masaki-kun, deep down and you know this as well as I
do.”
“Shut up” Masaki whispered. He couldn’t take this… it was
as though she was tearing through his very soul, finding all the little doubts
that had been building up in the back of his mind and magnifying them until he
began to feel as though she was right. He should have helped Seiichi sooner. He
had reacted as though he was the victim when all Mamoru-tachi had wanted to do
was protect him from the truth because they knew that he wouldn’t be able cope
with it and they were right. He couldn’t cope with it. How could he? He had
murdered his friend and betrayed his Prince.
“How does it feel?” Mio whispered, her face now inches
from his own, “How does it feel to suffer as I have done? How does it feel to
be alone?”
The next step will be to make amends with Masaki. After
speaking to Kisho, I have decided that it would probably not be wise for me to
speak to him. Masaki already hates and blames me, but, perhaps, he will listen
to Kisho. I hope that this will be the case. We cannot fight whilst we are
divided.
“Shina?” Mamoru felt his heart skip a beat when he looked
up and saw Seiichi’s mother making her way, a little hurriedly, towards them.
He felt Taro’s hand on his shoulder and Mamoru was very much aware of just how
much he had tensed up at her approach.
“How is he?” he asked, hoping that his voice betrayed none
of the apprehension that he was feeling.
“He’s awake”
At last, some good news. Seiichi is
awake. I haven’t been able to see him yet, but from what Shina tells me the
doctors are very positive about his progress. Usagi and I will probably go to
see him tomorrow. That will give him a bit of time to be with his family and I
know that he will be asking about Mio and the mission. Him being able to fight
will be out of the question at the moment at least, but I do know him too well
and I feel sure that he will feel otherwise. I just wish that I could give him
a more positive update on things.
******
Act Sixty-One:
“Do you think he will mind me being
here?” Usagi asked as they made their way down through Minato and towards the
hospital.
“Of course he won’t mind” Mamoru
reassured her, whilst frowning slightly as Usagi, for the forth time, dipped
her hand into the paper bag she was carrying and broke off another piece of
chocolate cake before daintily popping it into her mouth and then smiling
sweetly at Mamoru.
Mamoru hadn’t heard anything from Shina
since yesterday and nor had any of the others. He was just assuming that it was
all right to turn up at the hospital and Usagi, always full of concern, had
asked to accompany him. Taro was at his apartment making sure that Ami was
resting and he had promised to come down a little later on. Before setting out,
Mamoru had given Kisho a call and requested that he go over to Masaki’s later
and see how he was. They had given him some time and Mamoru wanted to put
things right but he just didn’t know how to go about it. Kisho was better at
this sort of thing, he had told himself, but this excuse sounded weak to
Mamoru’s ears and he couldn’t help but think that he was just avoiding another
possible confrontation.
“He’ll be glad to see you” Mamoru added,
switching his focus back onto the situation at hand and the apprehensive look
that still marred Usagi’s face and her hand promptly disappeared into the bag
again.
“Stop that” Mamoru then scolded her
lightly and Usagi blushed.
“I’m just testing the taste,” she
protested, but Mamoru took the bag from her and sighed when he saw that a sizable
amount of the cake had been eaten by his fiancée.
“Maybe he doesn’t like cake” he said
hopefully.
Usagi’s eyes widened at this, “How can
he not like cake?”
“I was just saying-- Never mind” Mamoru
sighed as Usagi leaned over to break another piece of the cake off and put it
in her mouth.
After this Usagi went back to fretting
again, “Perhaps I should have asked Minako-chan if she would like to go with
you? Has she called you at all to see if it would be okay for her to visit? I
know that Minako-chan wouldn’t just want to turn up unannounced.”
“Usagi” Mamoru paused as they reached
the hospital, “Minako will see him if she wants too and Shina-san won’t have a
problem with that. If you are really that apprehensive then I don’t mind going
in alone.”
“I’m sorry” Usagi sighed and leaned
against him slightly, “I’m just a little nervous that’s all.”
Mamoru raised an eyebrow, “A little,
ne?”
“Mou” Usagi pouted and Mamoru wrapped an
arm around her as they entered the building. Still holding onto her, they made
their way onto the ward in silence. Mamoru knew that Seiichi wouldn’t mind
Usagi being here as well. Usagi was still feeling a little insecure and fragile
after her ordeal, though Mamoru hoped, for her sake, that this wouldn’t last
much longer. He hated seeing Usagi in such a state.
“Makoto went looking for the Senshi
Sword” Usagi said finally, breaking yet another silence that had fell upon
them.
“The museum” Mamoru had heard what
happened from Kisho. He had been alarmed to learn that, despite being unable to
transform, Kisho had fought but if it gave his friend back the confidence that
he needed then Mamoru wasn’t sure that it was altogether a bad thing.
He did, however, receive mixed views
from Kisho regarding the former Senshi and the sword. Kisho felt, as it was the
Shitennou’s duty to protect the Earth in the past life, that only they should
do so again. He still had little trust in the girls and was loath to see them
regain their henshins. Mamoru also had mixed feelings about this. Whereas he
was glad that Usagi would have her guardians to defend her, a part of him felt
that he should be the one defending Usagi as he was her fiancé. Of course,
also, as they were currently, Mamoru knew that they needed all the help they
could get, especially whilst Seiichi was still in hospital.
“Mako-chan is amazing” Usagi was saying
when Mamoru broke from his thoughts to take some note in this one sided
conversation again, “She fought that Youma even in her civilian form. It makes
me wonder how much of our powers are connected to our henshins and how much
come from in here” she placed a hand over her heart after speaking.
Mamoru, too, had often wondered this,
but had refrained from commenting as he was unsure of the answer and would be
very reluctant to guess one. However, Usagi was looking at him expectantly and
he said at length:
“Our powers were reborn with us from the
past life and will continue to do so with every incarnation.”
Usagi frowned, not really understanding,
“But what if there is no need for them in the next life?”
Being unable to answer this, Mamoru
laughed and pulled her into another embrace, “Stop worrying about such things.”
Usagi nodded and then pulled away
suddenly, “Shina-san?”
Mamoru followed her gaze, his heart
skipping a beat when he saw Shina seated on one of the plastic chairs opposite
Seiichi’s room. She stood up when she saw Mamoru and Usagi approaching.
“Is he okay?” Usagi blurted out, without
giving Mamoru a chance to speak.
Shina looked as though she hadn’t slept
for days and Mamoru suspected that this was the case and requested to know if
there was anything that he could do for her.
“I’m fine, thank you” Shina shook her
head, “I just needed a moment or two out here that’s all.”
“We can come back later,” Mamoru
offered, thinking that, perhaps, Seiichi was sleeping again.
“No, no” Shina smiled, “That won’t be
necessary. I don’t want you to leave, certainly not on my account, but” she
paused for a moment or two before continuing, “Before you go in, there is
something you should know. Yesterday when Seiichi woke up there was a
complication.”
“A complication? He’ll be alright, won’t
he?” Usagi asked, making no secret of the concern that she and Mamoru were both
feeling.
“I hope so. He went for several scans
and they came back clear this morning but he’s having trouble remembering
things. I am sure that his confusion is temporary, but please don’t concern
yourselves if he doesn’t recognise you both straight away.”
“I see” Mamoru nodded, unsure of how to
react as Shina was trying to brush this off as normal, but he could also see
the worry in her eyes. Saying no more on the subject, Mamoru decided that it
would be best to just go in and see Seiichi for themselves.
Usagi followed him towards the room, but
Shina held back, explaining that she was sure that they would to see him alone
and that she would go and get some fresh air for a while.
Apprehensively, Mamoru knocked on the
door and awaited indication that he could enter before pushing it open and
walking into the room.
Seiichi was sitting up in bed when they
entered and had been leafing through a magazine, but looked up when he realised
that he was having yet more visitors. To Mamoru, he looked very well, but considering
that the last time he had seen him Seiichi had been unconscious for days with
various lines and tubes sticking out of him, Mamoru decided that he wasn’t the
best person to judge how he looked. Amending his thought, he decided that
Seiichi looked better. The monitoring equipment was
mostly gone and so had the lines he had been connected to them with. He still
had bandages around his hands, and a discreet smaller bandage round his head.
He obviously found moving about a little difficult and Mamoru went over to help
him when he attempted to sit up a bit better to properly greet his guests. He
was cold and his skin was pale, even for him, but everything considered, he
looked far better than before.
The room itself seemed to have lightened
in mood. The curtains across the
windows were pulled back and he had a nice view of the streets and Tokyo Tower
in the distance, not that he would be able to see it from sitting down in the
bed, Mamoru added to himself. The windowsill was home to several rows of get-well
cards and several more were placed upon the cabinet next to his bed.
There were two chairs by the bed and
Seiichi motioned for Mamoru and Usagi to be seated, which they did. Seiichi set
the magazine aside, but not before Mamoru caught a glance at it and realised
that it was a music magazine and that the particular article that Seiichi had
been reading was one about himself. Mamoru saw, with a slight chill, that it
listed several facts about him and the man had been absorbing this attentively
before his guests arrived.
“How are you feeling?” Mamoru asked,
breaking the silence.
“Better, thank you” was the reply and
Mamoru couldn’t help but think it was one question that everyone was constantly
asking him and one that Seiichi was growing tired of answering.
“I’m Chiba Mamoru” Mamoru said suddenly
when he saw the lack of recognition on Seiichi’s face and decided that it would
best if he introduced them rather than make Seiichi ask out right. “This is my
fiancée, Tsukino Usagi.”
“Shina, my mother, mentioned that you
might be coming” Seiichi said to this, clearly unsure of whether to respond as
though he were meeting them for the first time or not.
“I’m glad” Mamoru replied, trying to do
his best to make Seiichi feel less uncomfortable, “We weren’t sure if you were
up to visits from friends yet.”
“We also brought you a cake” Usagi piped
up and held up the box, “We thought you might be tired of receiving cards and
grapes.”
Seiichi smiled slightly and raised a
hand to gesture to the table behind them, “You’re not alone in that thought,
Tsukino-san.”
Usagi’s eyes lit up when she took in the
fact that the entire table was full of different kinds of cakes and other
sweets. Mamoru could literally see his fiancée begin to drool and discreetly
nudged her, embarrassed at her lack of restraint where food was concerned.
Seiichi, however, noted the direction of
her gaze and the loud rumbling of her stomach and added, “Tetsuya-san explained
about my popularity, and I’ve been sent quite a few cards and presents. You can
help yourself, Tsukino-san.”
As soon as he said that, Usagi got up
and raced over to the table and selected a cake and then another and another.
Mamoru had to look away whilst shaking his head in embarrassment.
“A nurse is going to arrange for it all
to be taken to the children’s ward this afternoon” Seiichi said, “If there is
anything left.”
“I’m sorry” Mamoru apologised.
“Don’t be. I won’t be eating any of it.”
“You don’t like cake?” Usagi asked in
amazement, in between mouthfuls.
“Not according to in here” Seiichi
nodded towards the magazine, “It says that my favourite dessert is Jonainagashi.
It also says that my favourite colour is white” he laughed
softly, “I don’t even know if it’s correct.”
“What do you remember?” Mamoru asked,
unsure of how to broach the subject of his amnesia, but seeing as Seiichi was
volunteering the information and, from what he had seen already, this was much
more than the simple confusion that Shina appeared to hope it was.
“Not a lot” Seiichi admitted, his voice
now taking on a serious tone, “Nothing before waking up here.”
“Nothing at all?”
“No. I sometimes dream, but even then
they are mostly dark, except for…” he trailed off, “You’d think I was crazy if
I told you.”
“I wouldn’t”
Seiichi refused to elaborate and, at
that moment, Usagi suddenly declared that she felt ill and raced from the room
in search of a bathroom.
Mamoru laughed at her antics, although
inside his mind was in complete turmoil. His friend knew nothing of his life,
his past life or the mission. How Mamoru would begin to explain the latter two
he did not know. What could he say? He couldn’t even tell Seiichi how they met,
how they became friends, at least not without lying to him and Mamoru certainly
wasn’t prepared to do that.
Just then Usagi returned with a glass of
water and a pitcher. She had cleaned the crumbs off from round her mouth and
did not go back to the cakes. Instead she offered to pour Seiichi some water,
which he obviously appreciated. Where as he had never been as talkative as Taro
or Kisho, Mamoru could easily tell that he was tired. He hadn’t asked any of
the awkward questions that Mamoru had felt sure were coming and his gaze wasn’t
as attentive as it had been when they first entered the room.
“Would you like us to leave?” Mamoru
offered, “We can come back later if you’re feeling tired.”
Seiichi shook his head, “I would like
you to stay for a bit longer.”
“That’s good” Usagi beamed and went to
set the glass pitcher down when she gave a startled cry. Following her gaze,
Mamoru saw, with some shock, that Artemis was sitting on the cabinet, his
expression one of concern.
He didn’t utter a word as Usagi picked
him up and glanced at Mamoru in confusion. Seiichi also saw her look and said
as an explanation:
“I think he must have been a gift, but
I’m not sure who gave him to me. Although he’s never in the same place when I
see him. I suppose the nurses might have moved him.”
“He’s kawaii” Usagi declared and put
Artemis back down again.
Mamoru half smiled at this, realising
that Minako must have requested that Artemis come down here to keep an eye on
Seiichi, although the plushie would have to be a bit more careful about moving
around the room.
Deciding that the less focus on Artemis
the better, Mamoru hurriedly changed the topic of conversation.
He was surprised at how calmly Seiichi
seemed to be dealing with things. Had the situation been reversed, Mamoru
wasn’t sure that he could carry on a normal conversation without feeling
panicked or afraid. Then again, he reasoned, Seiichi had always been strong
emotionally and had yesterday to try and come to terms with the current
situation.
Also, Mamoru couldn’t be sure how much
of this was a front for them and, with Usagi present, he didn’t really want to
ask and he wasn’t sure if, given the fact that Seiichi had no recollection of
them ever being friends, Seiichi would even confide in him.
Still, he couldn’t leave things as they
were now and Mamoru decided to speak to Shina before they left the hospital.
*******
“Your Tennou forms are not invincible either, as we have
been proved of late. With the enemy growing stronger we need everyone who can
weald a sword to fight. Your transformation does not dictate how well you can use
a sword, Tamura-san. We were masters of our respective worlds in our former
existence and have lost none of our techniques. Civilians have died here today.
You can see the seriousness of the situation.”
Kisho stared up at the apartment block,
still thinking of Makoto’s words of yesterday combined with his conversation
with Mamoru this morning and recollection of Masaki’s fury and pain.
Kisho, having made his decision to
fight, had informed Mamoru of the events yesterday and, whilst his friend was a
little apprehensive of the prospect, he knew Kisho all too well and knew that
Kisho would simply ignore whatever sensible advice it was that he had to offer.
For Kisho, this was a chance to protect the planet and prove to Mio that she
hadn’t won and he intended to take it.
Why must you keep up the pretence, even now? I remember,
Mamoru! I remember everything! I remember what I did. Why didn’t you tell me?
Why didn’t you tell me that I killed him?
Mamoru had said that he hoped that Masaki would have had
time to think about things and calm himself down a little, but Kisho was not at
all confident that it would be that easy.
Kisho couldn’t altogether blame Mamoru for not wanting to
speak with Masaki. After witnessing what Metallia, as Masaki, did, Kisho knew
it would be very hard for his friend to convince Masaki that it wasn’t him who
had done those things. That was assuming that Masaki had come to the conclusion
that he wasn’t to blame and Kisho wasn’t sure if he had or not.
Still, with things the way they were, Kisho did know that
they were simply giving Mio what she wanted and he hated this.
He punched in the code for the outer door of the apartment
block and went in, following the directions to Masaki’s apartment as, before
setting out, Kisho realised that he had never actually been there.
Coming to the right door, Kisho knocked once, not really
expecting Masaki to answer but he did. He had obviously been expecting Mamoru
as he appeared slightly taken aback.
“Can I come in?” Kisho requested quietly.
Masaki nodded, suspicion marring his face as he stepped
aside to allow Kisho entrance to the apartment.
Kisho was surprised at how neat and tidy the place was. He
had, in all honesty, been expecting it to be in a state considering what had
happened. From what he gathered, Masaki also hadn’t been to college in a few
days or to see Tori and his mother was becoming concerned.
Masaki did, however, look well. Neatly dressed in jeans
and a casual shirt he sat down on the sofa before lighting a cigarette and
lifting it to his lips. His hand trembled slightly as he did so but it was the
only outward sign that anything was wrong.
Kisho waited in silence for him to finish his cigarette
and speak. Finally, stubbing the end out in the ashtray on the coffee table
between them, Masaki started off by saying:
“I suppose Mamoru asked you to come here?”
Kisho smiled recalling, four years ago, when the situation
had been reversed. That it had been Masaki standing on the threshold of his
home, at Mamoru’s quest, to attempt to smooth things over and see if he were
alright.
“I was concerned about you. We all are.”
“I’m fine.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“You can believe what you want.”
Kisho frowned at this stoic wall that he had built up and
attempted a different approach, “Seiichi’s awake. Mamoru told me last night.
He’s going to see him today.”
“I know.”
“You do?”
“Of course” Masaki lit another cigarette, “I went to see
him late last night, but he was sleeping.”
“Mamoru didn’t mention it.”
“No one knew. It was passed visiting hours.”
“You teleported in?”
Masaki smirked, “Don’t tell me you disapprove of us using
our powers for trivial things? I didn’t want anyone to see me, that was all.”
“Did he see you?”
“No. Like I said he was asleep. I didn’t want to wake him.
Kisho briefly wondered why Masaki would go to all this
trouble of hiding his presence when he realised. He didn’t want Mamoru-tachi to
see him there. He didn’t want the confrontation, which Kisho could understand.
Kisho also knew that Masaki wouldn’t feel ready to actually speak to Seiichi
yet, knowing what had happened before.
Kisho was not prepared to call Masaki on this and asked
instead if he would be going to see his friend today.
“Probably not. I have a essay to write for college.”
“You haven’t been in days.”
Masaki paused, frowning slightly before shrugging this off
and saying: “Then I will need to catch up won’t I?”
“So this is your answer? To carry on as normal?”
Masaki leaned back on the sofa and studied the table in
front of them for a moment or two before replying: “What else can I do?”
“You could talk about it? You could try to accept the
situation.”
“Why should I? I think it would be better if I didn’t
fight. If I didn’t see any of you.”
“You want to let Mio win?”
“She came to see me. She told me that I was weak, that I
should have helped Seiichi sooner. That I was a traitor.”
“And what do you think?”
Masaki took a deep breath and looked away, “I don’t know.”
“You must know what you are feeling. Do you agree with
Mio? Was it your fault?”
“The memories…” Masaki frowned, “I don’t know. At first I
did… but… it was my fault. If I hadn’t of allowed Mio to turn me against you
from the beginning then this wouldn’t have happened.”
Kisho nodded; content to allow Masaki to do most of the
talking as he felt that it was important for his friend to come to his own
conclusions regarding who was to blame.
“But she used this. She knew my every fear and doubt and
used this… but I let myself be used. Time and time again I allow this… I just
don’t know. I just can’t shake these feelings. These feelings of anger, hurt,
of being used.”
“Then perhaps she’s right. Perhaps you did betray us”
Kisho shrugged, “Perhaps you wanted to hurt Seiichi. Perhaps you shouldn’t
fight anymore.”
“Is that how you feel? Is that what you want?”
Kisho shook his head, “What do you want?”
Masaki got up, moving over to the window, he looked out in
silence for five minutes, allowing Kisho time with his own thoughts.
He could see how much his friend was hurting, but Masaki
had a choice. He could either continue to torture himself over events that he
had no control of or he could accept what had happened and move on. The threat
of Mio would not go away and she would continue to look for ways to hurt them
and, if Masaki continued to let her, she would have succeeded in just that.
“It’s too late to go back.”
“True, but when I saw you that last time, when Metallia
had claimed your body for her own, do you know how I felt? What I saw?”
Masaki raised his head, his look saying that a part of him
wanted to hear what Kisho was about to say, but a part of him dreading hearing
it.
“I knew that we couldn’t save you. That we were too late.
I looked into your eyes and I knew that there was nothing left of the man who
had become my friend. You were Metallia through and through. You had died the
moment that she was infused inside of you. Think back and you will know that I
speak the truth. You didn’t kill Seiichi or Mamoru. How could you when you were
already dead?”
“I still have those memories, those memories of what I
did.”
“So do I” Kisho answered softly, “And I forgave you. Why
can’t you forgive yourself?”
“I can’t” Masaki whispered, turning from Kisho once more.
“Mio gave you back those memories for a reason,” Kisho
said to this as he got up and headed for the door, “Think about what I’ve said.
At least do that, and then, if your decision is the same, we will not hold it
against you.”
Kisho then left. He could say no more. He had said his
piece and the rest was up to Masaki. He truly wanted his friend to make the
decision that was right for him, no matter what that decision might be.
******
Taro, Ami knew, had been against her going over to
Makoto’s for the afternoon. Concerned that she was still not up to much, he had
insisted on driving her there and then going on to the hospital. He had then
said that he would be back in an hour to pick her up. Ami, grateful as she was
for his concern and support, had been a little disappointed at the shortness of
her visit as she wanted to focus her attention on the mission rather than think
too much about her pain.
Tears sprang into her eyes as she knocked on the door to
have Makoto answer it and silently pull her into an embrace.
Ami brushed away a few tears from her eyes, not wanting to
break down again for fear that she wouldn’t be able to stop crying again once
she had started.
Makoto led her inside her apartment where Minako and Rei
sat opposite each other. Both girls appeared drained, both physically and
emotionally.
Makoto had filled Ami in on the phone as to what had taken
place the day before and how Rei’s powers had failed her. No, failed was the
wrong word to describe this, Ami knew. Rei herself had acknowledged that the
sword would not be easy to find and Minako had agreed with this, stating that
they had to earn the right to henshin again. None of them were entirely sure
what this meant, but all they could do, Ami supposed, was find the sword as
quickly as possible. Especially as it was beginning to look like Mio had also
decided to go in search of it.
Ami sat down next to Minako, giving her a slight smile as
she did so. Minako smiled back and asked her how she was feeling. Ami replied
that she was bearing up and left it at that. She couldn’t discuss this… not
when the pain was so raw.
Makoto, who had taken a detour to the kitchen, appeared
with a tray with some green tea and rice cakes on it. She set this down on the
table and proceeded to pour the tea into four bowls.
“Is Usagi-chan coming?” Ami enquired softly.
“No” Luna, who had been nestled in the crook of Minako’s
arm, answered her, “She went to the hospital with Mamoru.”
“Artemis is there, too” Minako said as she took the bowl
of tea that Makoto offered her.
Ami, fleetingly, wondered why Minako wasn’t also at the
hospital, but knew better than to comment on this. Something’s were more
complicated than they first appeared, Ami knew.
Deciding to move on to the subject at hand, Makoto briefly
reported back that she had, had little luck in locating the Senshi Sword at the
local museums. She explained that she had hoped that, as the sword had been
cast down to Earth so long ago, it could have been mistaken for a relic and be
on display in a museum. This seemed like a logical assumption to Ami, also, but
it had appeared that they were wrong.
“What about local temples?” Minako suggested after Makoto
finished speaking, “Perhaps the sword was hidden there as they are sacred
grounds?”
They turned to Rei for an answer. The Miko shrugged
lightly, “It is possible. I am certain that the sword is not at the Hikawa
Shrine. If it were I would have sensed it. Of course, there are other shrines
but it would take time to visit and check them all. Time that we do not have.”
“What about online?” Ami suggested, “Your shrine has a
website, doesn’t it?”
“It is featured in a local guide, yes” Rei answered, “Most
shrines are.”
“Then we can check them that way. If one has a sword then
I’m sure it will be mentioned in a write up.
I can run a search for shrines in Tokyo and, if we come up with nothing
then we can look a little further afield.”
“I’ll help you with that” Makoto volunteered.
“And we’ll keep an eye on Usagi” Minako added, nodding to
include Rei in this, “With Mio’s jealousy this strong, who knows what she is
capable of.”
“She would try to get to Usagi again?” Makoto questioned.
Minako nodded, “At the moment her revenge has been focused
on the Shitennou, but when she realises that she is unable to come between
Usagi and Mamoru-san again, she will target Usagi. We must obtain our henshins
before that happens. We must be ready to protect our Princess.”
“And we will be” Rei assured her, “We will. No matter
what.”
******
Mamoru gently shut his apartment door behind him, before
taking his shoes and jacket off and making his way to the front room with the
morning’s post clutched tightly in hand. Sitting down on the sofa, he proceeded
to open each envelope, mostly finding that they were either bills or junk mail.
He had, as he had hoped, managed to speak to Shina after
leaving Seiichi to get some rest. She admitted that she had hoped that
Seiichi’s confusion was temporary, but the doctors were now afraid that his
memory loss would be more long-term. Mamoru also mentioned that he thought that
Seiichi was dealing with this incredibly well. Shina confided that he hadn’t
done so well last night, but that she believed that he was strong enough to
overcome what happened. Mamoru didn’t doubt this. He was just concerned that
his friend would feel alone, but Mamoru just couldn’t tell him of the mission
and the past life for he would never be able to understand or take this in, in
his current state. Usagi had advised that he leave things be for a few days
before making any decisions. Mamoru knew that she was right. It was too early
yet to tell how temporary his amnesia would be. It might well be a case of a
few days rest and his memory would return. No one could really tell and that
was what frustrated Mamoru the most.
Setting the bills down on the table, he stood up, suddenly
feeling uncomfortable and as though there was someone else in the room. The
hairs on the back of his neck started to tingle and Mamoru whirled around, his
eyes widened slightly when he saw her.
She was leaning casually against the doorframe, one hand
toying with a lock of her dark hair, whilst the other rested delicately against
her thigh. She was wearing a simple black dress and matching shoes, her hair
falling loose down her back. She gave him a smile, but it was cold and reminded
Mamoru of a cat when cornering a mouse, although he did not feel afraid.
She had hurt so many people… Taro, Ami, Seiichi, Kisho…
Hina… Mamoru fought the urge to transform, the want to wipe that smile from her
face, but to do so would be a fool’s game, he knew and, in any case, he felt
almost pinned to the spot by her stare alone and continued to stand stock still
as she made her way towards him.
“It’s been a long time, Mamoru-kun” Mio said as she came
to a stop in front of him, reaching up to place her palm on his cheek.
Automatically Mamoru brushed her away and her gaze
darkened and she turned away so that he was unable to see her expression.
“It’s been a long time,” she said again, “I’ve missed
you.”
“I thought you died that day,” Mamoru answered, making no
secret of his hatred towards her.
“In some ways I did. Do you have any idea what it has been
like for me these past four years? Alone in the remnants of the Dark Kingdom I
have been replenishing my strength. For four years I’ve been in pain and
torment after what the Shitennou did to me, to my Dark Kingdom. Despite them
giving their lives they were able to be reborn and be given a second chance.
Whilst I struggled for my very existence, they were able to live their lives
with the people that they cared about. They were given a second chance and had
no knowledge of my suffering.”
“They suffer now” Mamoru said to this, again letting her
hear his anger, “And I suffer also because of this. Does that make you happy?
Will you be satisfied now that you have achieved your revenge?”
“My revenge?” Mio echoed, turning back round to face
Mamoru, her eyes narrowed into slits and her fists clenched tightly in balls at
her sides. “You think my revenge is complete? Then you are very much mistake.
They have yet to feel the full extent of my suffering and there is nothing they
can do to protect themselves for me. I know them better than they know
themselves. Jadeite’s insight was useful four years ago. I know exactly how to
hurt them and I will, together with your precious Usagi-chan.”
“You won’t hurt them. I won’t let you cause anymore pain.”
Mio laughed bitterly, “And what about my pain?”
“I’m sorry that you’ve suffered, but you are nothing but a
shadow of Beryl’s former existence from the past life. You have no place in
this world and so you try to glorify what you are doing to convince yourself
that you have a purpose when, in actual fact, you have nothing.”
“I’ll have everything!” Mio all but spat at him, “I’ll
have everything that Usagi-chan has and more. I’ll have the planet on its knees
before me.”
“No. You won’t. We’ll stop you.”
“Perhaps you will try but you will fail. My Youma are
stronger than the ones you faced four years ago, Mamoru-kun, and you only have
one Tennou able to fight with you. With Usagi-chan, that makes three of you.
The three of you against the thousands of Youma that I have at my disposal. All
of them waiting for me to issue the command to attack.”
“You are bluffing” Mamoru shook his head, his heart
pounding “You said yourself you have spent the last four years rebuilding your
strength. You couldn’t have created thousands of Youma and still be as powerful
as you are now.”
Mio shook her head, “Do you really want to find out?”
Mamoru continued to weigh up his options. He, in truth,
did not want to find out if Mio was bluffing but what else could he do?
“What do you want?” he asked at length. If Mio were lying,
which Mamoru had reason to believe she was, she would want to end this war as
soon as possible. Why else would she come to see him now? She was here for a
reason, to even negotiate in her own roundabout way of doing things. As much as
it galled Mamoru to even consider such an agreement, he knew that he would have
to hear her out. Even if she only had a hundred Youma, they would easily be a
match for him and the Shitennou as they were now.
Mio smiled slyly and came to stand before him, obviously
pleased at his decision, “You. I want you. You can come back to the Dark
Kingdom with me now and this will end. The Shitennou will not suffer anymore.”
“And I can have your word on this?”
Mio’s smile widened, “But of course.”
They wouldn’t suffer… Mamoru knew that this
could never be true. They would suffer the more if they knew that all they had
been through were for nothing, that they were unable to protect the planet
after all.
It wasn’t, Mamoru knew. Kisho would never accept it and
neither would the others. Then there was Usagi and the life he had promised her
that they would have together. If he gave into Mio then he would be breaking
his promise and Mamoru did not want this. He wanted the future, the future that
he had given his life to ensure that he and the others had it. If he gave in
now then it would mean that all they had done was for nothing. All the
suffering would amount to nothing and Mamoru couldn’t bear this. This was worse
than all the Youma that Mio could send after them combined.
“No” Mamoru slowly shook his head, and Mio’s smile slowly
faded.
“Nani?”
“No. I’m not going to throw away the future that I fought
for, not when there is still a chance. Send as many Youma as you can, we’ll all
fight you until we die if necessary.”
“You are making a mistake. I am offering you a chance to
end this war before anyone else gets hurt.”
Mamoru shook his head, “No. You care little for who gets
hurt as long as you get your own way and I’m not going to be fooled by you
anymore. Leave now, try to get your revenge; we’ll all be ready.”
Mio scowled, her look darkening until Mamoru could
literally feel the hatred radiating from the girl, but this hatred was not
directed at him, rather it was for Usagi and his friends.
“You have made a mistake, Mamoru-kun,” she said as she
teleported away leaving a showering of black petals in her wake, “A big
mistake.”
“Maybe I have” Mamoru whispered to himself as he leaned
back against the door, “But I know I have made the right decision.”
******
Ami stifled a small yawn as she again clicked back to the
list of temples and then selected the next link, scanning attentively through
the text before again clicking the back button on her browser before moving on
to the next one.
Makoto lay to her left, stretched out on their burgundy
sofa, every so often her eyelids slid closed before she would jerk slightly and
force them open again. Taro sat looking over her shoulder, and even her
boyfriend’s eyes were growing heavy. Glancing at the clock on the computer she
saw that it read quarter to twelve. Ami had long since finish looking at
shrines and temples in Tokyo and come up with nothing so she had moved on the
surrounding Prefectures, determined to have some positive news to bring to the
former Senshi’s meeting tomorrow.
“Ami” Taro murmured softly as her latest search brought no
results, “Why don’t we call it a night?”
She shook her head, “Just a little longer.”
“You said that an hour ago” Makoto said, yawning and then
saying, “Do you mind if I sleep over? I’m exhausted.”
“You’ll have to sleep on the sofa” Taro answered her.
“Fine” Makoto replied, “Right now I could sleep on a bed
of nails.”
Taro had to agree with her and again attempted to get Ami
to call it a night.
“Just one more” Ami insisted, clicking on yet another
link.
“Last one” Taro agreed, but allowing some degree of
annoyance into his tone. Ami sighed. She knew that he was only looking out for
her. She should be resting, but the idea of sleep did not appeal to her at the
moment, not when she constantly dreamt of the child that they had lost.
Getting up, Taro went to get a drink. Ami leaned forward
in her chair slightly, her vision now getting a little blurred. Yawning, she
took off her glasses and rubbed at her eyes before putting them back on and
scrolling down through more text. As she did so her heartbeat started to
quicken.
The Tokei-ji Temple situated in Kita Kamakura was
established as a women’s refuge in 1285 at a time where only men were allowed
to request divorce. It was established so, that if a woman spent three years at
the temple, she could be allowed a divorce from her husband. Today, the
Tokei-ji Temple is a popular tourist attraction, its most memorable landmark
being a sword that has been embedded in the temple grounds for more than ten
centuries. Even today, archaeologists remain baffled as to how the sword was
embedded in the rock and no one has ever been able to release it from its stone
prison.
“Makoto, Taro!” Ami called, as she stared at the
photograph under this paragraph. It was the Senshi Sword; it had to be. She had
found it.
******
Act Sixty Two Preview:
“The Tokei-ji shrine” Mamoru repeated quietly as Ami
handed him the information that she had printed off from the web regarding the
shrine. Mamoru stared intently at the photograph of the sword hoping that this
would trigger some kind of memory, but there was nothing. Sighing he passed the
papers on to Kisho who looked through them for a few moments before, rather
grudgingly, handed them to Makoto.
“I found the information several days ago” Ami continued,
“But, due to everything that has happened, we felt it best to wait for things
to calm down a bit first.”
“No one can remove it from the stone, but it would be best
to make a move for it as soon as possible.” Makoto added to this.
Mamoru knew why they had held off doing anything. Ami
still didn’t look that well and Taro had confided to him that they were both
finding the loss difficult and Ami often cried at night. This made Mamoru even
more determined to win this war as quickly as possible.
“What are you proposing to do?” Kisho asked of the girls,
breaking Mamoru’s chain of thought.
“We need to get that sword” Makoto answered, “And as soon
as possible.”
“We’re going to Kamakura. Tonight” Rei added.
~~~~~~
“We won’t speak of this again,” he said, making his
decision, “Visions, even Rei’s, can be wrong. I don’t want the others lose
hope. We’ll keep this between ourselves.”
It was obvious that Kisho did not agree with his decision
and Mamoru was steeling himself for a confrontation when the meeting room door
opened. The girls’ excited chattering died and Mamoru looked up, unable to hide
his surprise when the young man carefully shut the door behind him and stepped
fully into the room.
“Masaki?” Mamoru started but his friend silently shook his
head before saying:
“I’ve made my decision.”
~~~~~~
Again, Endymion attempted to ward off the Youma’s next
attack, but Kisho again stepped in front of him, parrying before forcing the
Youma back, whilst also snarling at Endymion:
“Get out of here!”
Endymion couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Had the man
gone completely mad? Ignoring Kisho’s request, he again attempted to fight but
Kisho refused to give him any opening. Was he trying to prove some sort of
point? Endymion wondered to himself. Kisho always had, had a reckless streak
but this was taking it a little too far.
“Get out of here” Kisho ordered again, keeping the Youma
back from the door with a well-placed strike.
“No” Endymion snapped, “I’m not going to leave you to
fight alone. I don’t care if you’re trying to prove a point, you can’t
transform!”
“You baka! Do you think I am that foolish?”