Earth Guardian Prince Endymion
By Senshi
of Ruin and Mizu no Senshi
(Mamoru’s POV)
“It’s all Kimi-kun’s fault” Motoki complained and Mamoru couldn’t recall ever seeing his friend looking so angry. “He was supposed to be here at 9.00am! He knew we had some parties on and I would need his help.”
“Did you try calling him?” Mamoru wanted to know.
“Of course” Motoki rolled his eyes, “There was no answer.
This is probably pay back for making him clean until the small hours, but what
did he expect after he locked up early and cost us an afternoon’s custom?”
When Taro failed to show up for work, I assumed it was
because he was angry with Motoki and decided to keep away out of spite.
“What good would that do? What in hells could you tell
him? That we were fighting to save our Prince from the Dark Kingdom?”
“I was just saying…”
“Well don’t”
I think he was also upset that he is the only one of us
that doesn’t remember anything from the past life. I had wanted to call him and
talk to him, but I had also promised Hina that I would take her for a picnic
and Motoki said that Kisho was going to see Taro I decided that he could handle
things.
“Get him out of my sight” she commanded, “I was wrong. I’m
going to find a use for him after all.”
What we didn’t realise was that the Dark Kingdom had
captured him and now seek to use him to force Zoisite into surrendering.
“At sunset you will come to the Ueno Park, alone, and give
yourself up. If you do not then we will kill him.”
“Queen Beryl wants me alive and, I suspect, that death
would be preferable to whatever it was that she had in store for me.”
“What would you have done had we not come to your rescue?”
Kunzite mocked, “Kill yourself?”
Now we’re at a loss. How can we ask Zoisite-sama to give
himself up? He’s our Master from the past life and, even now, I feel a duty
towards him. If we don’t then Taro will die… I know, as the leader, I have to
make difficult decisions but this is one decision that I am not prepared to
make…
******
“Get up!” Mercury repeated.
He shook his head and, hating the defeated and agonising
tone of his voice, Nephrite whispered, “I can’t…”
He heard Mercury’s sigh of impatience, before he felt her
kneel down beside him…
Nephrite felt a gloved hand gently probing his burn and he
bit his lip to bite back a cry of agony. He heard her drop the chain and it
clattered loudly upon the stone floor. Then, to Nephrite’s astonishment, she
wrapped an arm around his good shoulder and hauled him up so that he was
leaning against her. Mercury stumbled slightly under the excess weight, but was
able to help him to walk down the corridor.
“What are you doing?” Nephrite whispered dully, as Mercury
stumbled again. She did not reply and Nephrite had to marvel at the strength
and determination of the Dark Senshi.
“Get him out of my sight. I was wrong. I’m going to find a
use for him after all.”
Nephrite trembled at the recollection of these words and
his reactions. Dry tears still marred his cheeks and he hated this. How could
he have broken down like that? Weaknesses would always be exploited and Beryl
would be no exception. This cut through his physical pain and Nephrite barely
noticed that they had reached their destination.
Dark Mercury allowed him to slump to the ground once more
as she pushed open a wooden door, leading into a small room. It was dark except
for the light of a candle in one corner. Nephrite shivered at the coldness of
the room and offered no resistance when she helped him up again and practically
dragged him inside.
Pale blue curtains were pulled across barred windows and a
stone table sat in the middle of the room. A bed was in one corner, adorned
with a pale blue silk coverlet. It was the bed that Mercury dragged him too and
Nephrite all but fell upon it, suddenly losing what little strength that had
remained in his body. His eyes slid closed, and the last image that registered
across his hazed vision was that of Mercury staring solemnly down at him.
******
“Zoisite. Since the past life I have sought to make you my
own. You might have eluded my Senshi, but your Shitennou cannot protect you
forever. We have one of your Shitennou, Zoisite, and, unless you give yourself
up, we will kill him.”
Queen Beryl’s terrible words echoed in the minds of the
three remaining kings who gathered in Crown. It was early evening and the sun
would soon be setting in the sky. Masaki sat on a grey plastic chair in the
corner of the room, his guilt that it was he who knew Zoisite’s identity and
not Taro weighed heavily on his mind thus forcing him to sit away from his two
friends. Kisho had come to Crown straight from Taro’s house after hearing of
his capture and Mamoru had been next to arrive, after driving Hina back home.
Masaki had been last as he had wanted to make sure that Seiichi wasn’t going to
give himself up before he left. The Prince had assured Masaki that this would
not happen and Masaki believed him, adding somewhat bitterly to himself that
Seiichi did not know Taro and the loss would not weigh as heavily upon his
shoulders. As soon as this thought was processed, he had regretted it. Beryl’s
words seemed to affect Seiichi deeply and he hardly said a word before Masaki
left.
Now, with his friends, Masaki had to bite his tongue and
listen in silence to Mamoru and Kisho, knowing that he alone knew where to find
the Prince.
“We have to rescue him,” Kisho was saying as he paced up
and down, already tensing for a fight. Mamoru was a little more reserved,
sitting alone on the sofa, his guarded expression and sadness in his eyes
displaying his own sense of loss.
“How?” he also seemed defeated, which alarmed Masaki
somewhat. “How can we get into the Dark Kingdom?”
“Then we agree to her terms” Kisho said, “We’ll give her
the Prince.”
“What?” Mamoru bolted up from his seat, “How can you even
suggest that? We can’t betray him!”
“I know” Kisho’s angry expression softened slightly, “But
Taro is… we can’t allow him to die.”
“I didn’t know you cared so much about him” Masaki
commented quietly, “The way you always go on at him I would have thought that
the situation would please you.”
This was unfair, Masaki knew, but he felt as helpless as
the rest of them and as though he was betraying them at the same time.
“I was merely pointing out that Taro is one of our own”
Kisho snapped, “The Prince… he had a part to play in the destruction of the
past life.”
“What do you mean?” Mamoru demanded.
“I’ve been having flashbacks” Kisho admitted grudgingly,
“The Prince and the Princess were lovers. It was their love that destroyed the
planet… not the Dark Kingdom. The Prince killed Taro before! Are you going to
allow him to do so again?”
“No” Mamoru replied, “But we can’t betray him. I think you
already know this.”
Kisho nodded, “As much as I hate him, I can’t betray the
Master.”
Mamoru smiled sadly, “Then we must find another way. I am
sure that Beryl knows by now that we know nothing about Zoisite-sama either. If
she does then she must also know that there is no way that we can comply with
her demands, even if we wanted too.”
“She wasn’t talking to us,” Masaki pointed out, “She was
speaking directly to him. There is nothing we can do.”
“I can’t accept that” Mamoru argued, “There must be
something!” the desperation in his eyes was clear, but nothing Masaki or Kisho
could say would make any difference. The fact remained that only Zoisite could
help Taro, but he had said himself that he would die before Beryl captured him
alive.
******
“We have one of your Shitennou, Zoisite, and, unless you
give yourself up, we will kill him.”
Seiichi sat in his hotel room, staring out of the window
as the sun sank lower in the sky. It would be sunset before long.
Masaki had left soon after Beryl had issued her ultimatum,
but only after he had made sure that Seiichi wasn’t going to hand himself over
to the Queen of the Dark Kingdom. Seiichi smiled bitterly at this. He had no
intention of letting Beryl get hold of him. If she did then the mission would
fail, but how could he sit here and watch the sun set? How could he allow one
of his guardians to die?
“You are doing the right thing,” Artemis said. The plushie
nuzzled against his hand in a gesture of comfort after speaking and this
surprised Seiichi as Artemis, usually, could barely stand to have him hold him.
“You knew what was at stake from the beginning. There is nothing you can do to
save him.”
“Isn’t there?” Seiichi replied, even speaking of it was
painful to him and reassuring Masaki of this and trying to appear impartial had
been the hardest things that he had ever had to do.
“No, there isn’t” Artemis insisted, “Even if you
surrender, Beryl will not let Nephrite live! Surely you know that?”
“I do” Seiichi stood, making a decision, “But I can’t just
sit here. If I do and he dies then what sort of Prince does that make me?”
“A sensible one!”
“No. There has to be another way,” Seiichi argued,
transforming as he spoke these words.
“Seiichi--” Artemis protested as Zoisite invoked a
teleport and disappeared from the room.
When he reappeared in the middle of the room at Crown, the
remaining kings were arguing.
“I can’t accept that!” Mamoru was practically shouting,
“There has to be something…” he trailed off when he saw the Prince.
“Zoisite-sama” the black haired man gasped, almost in
disbelief and he automatically knelt before him. Masaki followed suit, though
he dared to gaze questioningly up at his Prince.
Only Kisho refused to acknowledge his present and glared
disapprovingly at him. Zoisite met his gaze, holding it until the older man was
forced to look away.
“You heard about Taro” Mamoru stated softly, when Zoisite
told him that there was no need for the proper decorum now.
“I did” Zoisite nodded, his voice suddenly taking on the
leadership and authority that they desperately needed right now as he added,
“Queen Beryl wants the Prince so let’s give her what she wants.”
******
Dark Mercury had been beside herself with fury when Beryl
had ordered her to take the prisoner away. Had Beryl truly been so displeased
with her that she would no longer entrust her plans to her? Mercury didn’t know
and when the fool had fallen down her anger had deepened. This was why she had
all but dragged him back to her quarters, or so she told herself. If she had
left him where he had fallen then he might have died.
Now, as she watched him de-transform into his normal self,
Mercury felt a stab of pity in her heart as she saw the gruesome extent of his
wounds. His clothes, black trousers and shirt and red overalls, remained
untouched by the fire, but blood was already leaking through the cloth and soaking
the material. His wrists were swollen where the metal shackles cut into his
flesh and were weeping slightly.
Tentatively, Mercury got up from the bed and collected a
cloth from the small basin in the corner of her room. She soaked this with
water and then went back to his side. She sat upon the bed and brushed Taro’s
hair back from his eyes. The man muttered something, but did not wake. Mercury
smiled slightly and leaned forward and tore the sleeve and arm of his shirt,
wincing as the burn became visible. It was deep and fresh blood still bled from
it, though slower and, judging from the paleness of his face, this was not a
good thing.
She leaned forward and pressed the wet cloth to the wound,
wincing at the half moan Taro made in pain at this contact. Gently, she
repeated the process. Dabbing lightly at the dried blood, knowing that if the
wound wasn’t cleaned then it would become infected, if it wasn’t already so.
Why was she helping him? Mercury did not know. She tried
to tell herself it was because if he died before Beryl had finished with him
then it would be her who would suffer the consequences. Yet, Mercury couldn’t
help but wonder if it were more than that. She hated seeing Taro this way. The
usually so fiery and hot-tempered man had become muted… the fire had gone out
and Mercury hated that.
Now that his burn was clean, she turned her attention to
his wrists. Mercury, again, dabbed at them with the cloth, but with those
shackles on there was a limit on what she could do for him. Her gaze drifted to
the key set upon the stone table and then, gazing upon his agonising
expression, she made up her mind and grasped the key in her right hand, before
carefully undoing the shackles.
A hiss of sympathy escaped her lips as Dark Mercury
unlocked one and then the other, gently removing the shackles and setting them
aside. His wrists had swollen and dark bruising marred the pale flesh. Blood
seeped through shallow cuts where the edges of the metal had dug in.
As she clasped his left wrist tightly in her palm in order
to clean the wound, Mercury felt Taro stir. She gasped slightly and held her
breath as his eyes slowly opened. He stared at her dully for a few minutes,
seemingly unable to register the situation.
“What… what is this?” he whispered softly and then,
realising how close she was to him, Taro struggled to pull away.
“Don’t move” Mercury commanded, not as a warning, but
simply because she was afraid that he would hurt himself more. Taro was not as
strong as he was in his Nephrite form.
He obeyed, mostly out of fear, but partly, Mercury hoped,
because he understood that she was trying to help him.
Taro settled back against the pillows and Mercury resumed
the task of cleaning his wrists, despite the occasional moan of pain from her
prisoner.
“Why are you doing this?” Taro asked, his voice strained
and wavering in places. Mercury did not reply. How could she when she didn’t
even know herself why? She raised her head to look at the man before her and a
shy smile spread across her lips. When she gazed upon him… Mercury blushed and
dipped her head as she finished her task.
“To be taken alive would be even worse” Taro whispered as
she stood back, feeling a little afraid now that he was awake.
“What did you say?” Mercury demanded, her eyes narrowing
at this particular phrase.
“Zoisite-sama… he said it would be worse to be taken
alive” Taro clenched a fist as he spoke, obviously trying to transform. He
failed and slumped back down, the exhaustion clear in his eyes.
“I won’t hurt you” Mercury said, startling them both with
this statement.
Taro considered her words for a few minutes before
replying, “But your Queen will.”
Mercury had nothing to say to this. It was true. Once
Beryl had the Prince, then Taro would die. For some reason she felt a pang when
thinking of this.
Taro turned away, focusing his attention on the discarded
shackles. “I suppose you want to put those back on me?”
Mercury shrugged, “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?” his voice wavered again and
Mercury saw his eyes sliding closed even as he spoke. Before she could reply,
unconsciousness overtook him once more.
Nervously, she hurried to his side and laid him back
against the pillows, pulling the blue coverlet over him. Pressing a palm to his
forehead, Mercury was horrified to feel just how cold Taro was. At this rate he
would die… but he had said himself that Beryl would kill him long before the
blood loss did. Mercury knew this to be true and sat back down at his side.
“Get him out of my sight. I was wrong. I’m going to find a
use for him after all.”
It was only a matter of time now…
******
Dark Venus, Dark Jupiter and Dark Mars knelt before her,
all staring intently at the image of the Ueno Park that Beryl had her crystal
project onto the back wall of the throne room.
The red haired Queen was nervous. It was a little after
sunset and there was no sign of the Prince. Had Beryl actually expected him to
come? If she were honest with herself she would say that she did not know. The
Prince, from the little she remembered of him from the past life, was kind and
gentle and would never have allowed one of the guardians to be hurt. In this
word, were things different? What if he didn’t come? Beryl had not been
prepared for that prospect. She supposed she would kill Nephrite and possibly
Dark Mars for good measure. The latter knew this, too, and gulped nervously
when Beryl’s gaze settled upon her.
“Zoisite. Since the past life I have sought to make you my
own. You might have eluded my Senshi, but your Shitennou cannot protect you
forever. We have one of your Shitennou, Zoisite, and, unless you give yourself
up, we will kill him.”
Surely he cared enough for them to give himself up, but
Beryl had seen the way he fought against the Dark Senshi. So proud… she sighed
softly. The Prince… the only man that she had ever felt worthy to be by her
side.
Beryl’s smile turned into a frown. Where was he? Was he
truly going to allow Nephrite to die?
“Dark Mars--” Beryl started when movement in the
projection caught her eye.
“What is this?” she demanded when Jadeite stepped out of
the shadows. The blonde held Zoisite tightly in front of him, one arm wrapped
around his chest, keeping his arms pinned to his sides whilst the other held a
dagger, which was pressed tightly to the Prince’s throat. Beryl’s heart skipped
a beat at the wild panic in his eyes. He struggled slightly, but Jadeite
pressed the knife harder against his throat, forcing him to be still.
“Beryl!” Jadeite called to the empty park, “I have your
Prince! No Master of mine would allow one of his guardians to die. Take him and
keep your end of the bargain.”
“Go” Beryl commanded the Senshi, “Retrieve what is mine.”
“What of Jadeite?” Jupiter questioned.
Beryl’s smile widened, “Kill him.”
*****
Tuxedo Kamen ran down the dimly lit streets, Kunzite
keeping an even pace at his side as they raced towards their destination. It
was nearly sunset and time was running out. Already transformed, they both knew
that this would be their one and only chance at rescuing Taro. If they failed
then he would die.
Tuxedo Kamen shuddered at this thought as he pictured his
fiery friend. Taro… he felt so guilty. Had he taken his disappearance a little
more seriously…
“It would have done no good,” Kunzite said, as though
guessing his thoughts, “It was too late by then. Nothing you could have done
would have made any difference.”
“I know, but…”
“Keep focused on the plan” Kunzite advised, “Though I have
to admit, I do not like it.”
Tuxedo Kamen smiled, recalling Zoisite-sama’s words.
“Queen Beryl wants the Prince so let’s give her what she
wants.”
“You’re not going to surrender?” Mamoru had questioned
worriedly. He didn’t want to lose Taro, but he couldn’t allow such a sacrifice
from his Prince, either.
“No” Zoisite-sama smiled, “We’re going to rescue him.”
This was part of the plan. Tuxedo Kamen
and Kunzite hurried towards the Tsukino residence, though the former knew that
Kunzite had his own doubts about getting Sailor Moon involved.
“Sailor Moon opened a portal that enabled you to rescue
Taro once before” Zoisite-sama had reminded them and Mamoru was shocked to
realise that his Prince knew of that day, long ago as it seemed, when Taro
awakened his powers.
“We need her help again.”
Zoisite-sama had not been keen on
allowing Tuxedo Kamen to go. He wanted him to go with him and let Jadeite and
Kunzite speak with Sailor Moon. Tuxedo Kamen knew that Usagi would never trust
them and voiced this protest. Zoisite-sama had been reluctant and then decreed,
after Mamoru had explained, that it was the best thing to do. Tuxedo Kamen
could only suppose that it was because his own magical abilities had yet to be
awakened, but his heart told him that Tsukino Usagi would only listen to him.
Now outside the door, Tuxedo Kamen
knocked, thanking the gods that Motoki, as they were leaving Crown in their
civilian forms, had happened to mention that Usagi had been in Crown earlier
and had said that her parents and brother were going to be out that evening.
This made things a lot easier and when Usagi answered the door, her eyes
widened.
“Tuxedo Kamen?” she stumbled back as
Kunzite, rather roughly, pushed his way into the house. Tuxedo Kamen followed,
wishing that his friend would be a little more diplomatic.
“Sailor Moon” he said, “We trust that
you heard of Queen Beryl’s ultimatum?”
“I did” she admitted shyly, “But how do
you know who I am?”
“There is no time for explanations”
Kunzite snapped, “The fact of the matter is--”
“We need your help” Tuxedo Kamen cut him
off.
“Jadeite and I will distract Beryl” Zoisite-sama had
explained, “You must be ready. We can only keep the distraction going for
fifteen minutes at the most. You must find Nephrite and get out of the Dark
Kingdom as soon as you have done so.”
“My help?” Usagi repeated softly, “What
do you want me to do?”
“We need you to open a portal to the
Dark Kingdom” Tuxedo Kamen explained, “Zoisite-sama is providing a distraction,
but we need to get in to rescue Nephrite. Can you do it?”
“I don’t know…” Usagi trailed off, “I
did before, but I…”
“The Moon Wand is the source of your
powers” Kunzite replied, repeating what Zoisite-sama had told them, “You can
use it to focus your powers and open gateways if you will it.”
“Please, Sailor Moon” Tuxedo Kamen said,
imploring with the kindness of Tsukino Usagi and not the Senshi of love and
justice.
“Okay” she nodded, “I will…”
“Thank you”
“No!” another voice cried out and Tuxedo
Kamen turned to see a black cat plushie bounding towards them, “Usagi-chan! You
mustn’t!”
“But… they need me to help rescue their
friend” Usagi protested, even as Luna stepped between her and the kings.
“You must keep away from them! They are
the enemy!”
“Demo…”
“Please” Tuxedo Kamen pleaded, “Just
open the portal. We will do the rest.”
Usagi nodded slowly, “Luna, I’m sorry,
but I can’t refuse to help them, especially if it means saving a life.”
Luna nodded sadly as Usagi reached for
her transformation locket, “Usagi-chan…”
“Moon prism power… make up!”
******
“Beryl! I
have your Prince! No Master of mine would allow one of his guardians to die.
Take him and keep your end of the bargain.”
Jadeite was well aware that he was shaking as he uttered
these words and, true, his hand that held onto the dagger wavered against
Zoisite’s throat. He knew that this had to seem convincing in order for the
plan to work, but it felt so wrong….
“Do not hesitate” Zoisite-sama said, handing Jadeite the
dagger, “Beryl must believe that you intend on handing me over. She will surely
send the Senshi to take me back to the Dark Kingdom. When they arrive we must
start a battle with them. This will distract Beryl and she will not sense
Sailor Moon opening a portal into the Kingdom.”
Still… Jadeite couldn’t help but tremble slightly. He was
holding a knife to his friend’s throat and, to anyone watching, had the intent
on slitting his throat if Zoisite struggled in the slightest. Of course, they
both knew that Jadeite would never do anything to hurt his Prince… hells
Seiichi was even a friend and Masaki would not hurt him… It had to appear real
and he tightened his grip somewhat and forced his hand to steady.
“Don’t struggle, Master,” he hissed in, what he hoped,
was a mocking voice, “I really don’t want to hurt you.”
“Jadeite” Zoisite pleaded, “Don’t do this… I didn’t say I
wouldn’t help him. I only meant that I wouldn’t---”
He broke off when three different teleport signatures
appeared in front of them. Jadeite felt Zoisite tense as Dark Venus, Dark
Jupiter and Dark Mars stood before them. The blonde supposed that his Prince
was a little concerned. If the Senshi beat them before Tuxedo Kamen and Kunzite
could get to Taro…
On queue, Jadeite pulled away from Zoisite, throwing the
man to the ground as he hurled an attack of red energy directly at Dark Venus.
She cartwheeled to safety and retaliated with her ‘love-me chain’. Jadeite
blocked this and sent the attack right back at her. She jumped backwards and cursed
under her breath.
Dark Mars had already attacked Zoisite and the two were
blocking each other’s attacks, even as Jupiter took a step towards them.
Jadeite stepped between them and blocked her ‘supreme thunder’ only to have
Venus cartwheel past and fire a second attack at Zoisite.
“Tuxedo Kamen… hurry up,” Jadeite whispered as he ran to
defend the Prince once more. He wasn’t sure how long they could keep this
going…
*******
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.
As the metal made this contact, Nephrite was horrified to
find tears leaking from the corners of his eyes, no matter how strong his will
was he just couldn’t… he wept silently, even as the knife was removed from his
throat.
The greatest humiliation… it brought tears to his eyes,
even now. He had cried openly for the first time since he was a child. Beryl
had made him feel so helpless, so pathetic and Taro hated her for that.
What did she mean by this? Again, Taro had tried to ask
Mercury, but she would not give him an answer, either not knowing or unwilling
to tell. It had to do with Zoisite-sama, this Taro was sure of and the thought
of Beryl getting her claws into his Prince was enough to strike an icy shard of
dread straight into his heart. If Beryl got Zoisite-sama…
He could feel it… his consciousness was slipping away
again… even as Dark Mercury leaned forward, her lips brushing against his ear
as she whispered softly:
“Just hold on for a little longer… your friends are
coming…”
*****
Kunzite looked apprehensively on at Sailor Moon. The
blonde heroine stood, her arms outstretched, her hands clenched tightly around
the Moon Wand, and her face contorted in concentration as she struggled to open
the portal. They had been trying for five minutes and they were all anxious as
Zoisite-sama and Jadeite could not risk keeping the distraction going forever.
They had gone back to Crown. Tuxedo Kamen had a spare key
and there, at least, they could remain undiscovered and who knew what sort of
state Taro would be in when they finally reached him.
Kunzite felt a pang when he recalled the hologram and the
image of his friend lying nearly unconscious on the ground. He might not have
really gotten along with Taro to start with and Kami-sama knew that they had
their differences.
“You are watching this store in case the Prince turns up
looking for the Ginzuishou?” Kisho asked.
Taro nodded and Kisho snorted in contempt at this,
“Fools.”
“What?” he growled angrily, “What do you mean?”
“That bar across the road” Kisho indicated a small
building with a nod of his head.
“What about it?” Masaki wanted to know.
“The enemy are harvesting energy from the people inside
even as we speak.”
“Impossible!” Taro protested, “I would have sensed
something!”
But after what happened to Ayame.
Kunzite knew that there was more to Taro than just the angry frontage. Taro had
a sensitive and vulnerable side and Kunzite was secretly afraid. The enemy would
exploit that… in truth, Kunzite was dreading finding Taro at all. Who knew what
they might find?
A cry of joy from Sailor Moon
interrupted his dark thoughts, “I did it!” she cheered in a childish fashion
and Kunzite saw a small silver rotating portal hovering just in front of her.
“How do we know that it leads to the
Dark Kingdom?” he asked, a little scornfully. He did not trust Sailor Moon at
all.
“We don’t” she admitted sheepishly, “But
there is only one way to try it out, right?”
As she stepped forwards, Tuxedo Kamen
grabbed her arm, “You’re not coming with us.”
Sailor Moon smiled, “But I have too. I
want to help rescue your friend, too, and I think the portal will close once
you step through it. How will you open one from the other side?”
Kunzite had to admit that he hadn’t
thought of this and scowled. Tuxedo Kamen, too, obviously had not thought of
this slight detail and nodded to show his agreement that Sailor Moon should
accompany them.
Still none would take the chance that
the portal did lead where Sailor Moon thought it did. Kunzite sighed to himself
and stepped forward. If they hesitated any longer…
He took a deep breath and stepped
through the portal.
*****
When Tuxedo Kamen stepped through the
portal, he was first aware of the vertigo that crashed into him as they made
the transition into the darkness. When he regained his senses and was able to
look around, he was in no doubt that they were in the right place.
The first thing he really noticed was
the cold. Even in his tuxedo, he could feel himself begin to shiver. Glancing
at Kunzite, Tuxedo Kamen saw that he, too, was finding the bitter temperature
hard to adjust too and Sailor Moon, in her sailor fuku, had wrapped her arms
around herself in a bid to keep out the cold.
It was so dark, hence the name ‘Dark
Kingdom’ Tuxedo Kamen thought to himself. The Kingdom seemed to be made up of a
network of caves and, naturally, they had appeared right in front of a fork in
the caves, each leading down a different path.
“What now?” Sailor Moon wondered, “Do
you know where your friend is being held?”
“Of course not” Kunzite snapped as a
reply, “If we did we would have gone there by now.”
Sailor Moon’s face fell and she mumbled,
whilst blushing with embarrassment, “How silly of me…”
She trailed off when there was a flash
of blue light and Dark Mercury appeared before her.
“So” she said nonchalantly, “You found a
way in.”
Kunzite growled at this and drew his
sword, charging it with his magics, but Mercury’s next words stopped him in his
tracks.
“If you kill me then you will never find
your companion. The Dark Kingdom’s cave network is immense and the chances are
that Beryl will find you long before you find him.”
She spoke the truth, that much Tuxedo
Kamen knew, but this didn’t stop Kunzite from lunging forward again and, before
Mercury could react, he had his sword pressed against her throat.
Her blue eyes widened in shock and she
uttered a small cry when Kunzite pressed the blade in deep enough to draw
blood.
“Stop!” Sailor Moon cried, tears
springing into her eyes at Mercury’s pain.
“Luna says I have to find the Princess, obtain the
Ginzuishou and free my fellow Senshi from the Dark Kingdom and--”
“Kunzite---” Tuxedo Kamen started, but his friend cut him
off with:
“It’s all right. I won’t hurt her -yet- She is going to
lead us to Nephrite.”
Mercury nodded, confirming that, when corned, the Dark
Senshi were nothing but cowards. Though Tuxedo Kamen was surprised at her
willingness to co-operate and Mercury quickly indicated the tunnel to Sailor
Moon’s right.
“Down there” she whispered.
Kunzite nodded and suddenly thrust the Dark Senshi towards
Tuxedo Kamen, “Hold her,” he commanded, “I will go ahead and see if she is
telling the truth.”
Tuxedo Kamen did as asked, holding Mercury by the
shoulders, gently but firmly as Sailor Moon looked anxiously on.
“Please don’t let him hurt her,” she pleaded with the
masked man, “She was my friend…”
“If she is telling the truth then she will live” Tuxedo
Kamen assured her and Sailor Moon lowered her head, knowing that she could
expect no more than that.
The seconds ticked by and then he heard Kunzite calling
them. “He’s here!”
Still holding onto Mercury, Tuxedo Kamen hurried down the
corridor, a journey that seemed to last a lifetime though in reality could have
only been a few minutes at the most.
As he flung open the door at the end of the corridor,
Tuxedo Kamen heard Sailor Moon gasp, this emphasizing his own shock and
disbelief as his gaze locked on his friend. Taro lay on his side on the floor,
his hands shackled together behind his back. Tuxedo Kamen hissed under his
breath at the burns on his shoulder. Kunzite stood over him, unsure of what to
do.
Angrily, Tuxedo Kamen shoved Mercury aside and raced to
his friend, ignoring even Sailor Moon’s shocked whisper: “Kimura Taro?”
He raised his head weakly; his eyes were dull and muted,
lacking the spark of life that Tuxedo Kamen had admired so much in his friend.
Shakily, the masked man knelt down beside him, “Taro-kun?”
he whispered even as Kunzite growled in fury and slammed Dark Mercury up
against the wall, placing his sword once more to her throat.
“You bitch!” he snarled out, “What have you done to him?”
“Kunzite” Tuxedo Kamen said warningly, “We promised that
we wouldn’t hurt her.”
The black haired king nodded reluctantly in agreement to
this but did not remove his sword from Mercury’s throat.
Sailor Moon, seeing that her former ally was not in any
danger, stepped forward and knelt down beside Taro, shakily placing a hand to
his forehead. She had not seen the true terror of the Dark Kingdom and what
exactly they were fighting against, Tuxedo Kamen realised and, even he had not
understood the danger of the war that they were fighting.
“He’s cold,” she stated, her voice trembling as she spoke,
“We need to move him.”
Tuxedo Kamen nodded and saw the key to the shackles lying
discarded on the floor near to Taro’s head.
Snatching it up he quickly freed his friend’s hands and
hurled the cursed shackles across the room, satisfied as they clattered loudly
to the ground.
Taro gave no sign that he had even heard this or realised
that he was free.
“Taro-kun?” he repeated softly, trying to pull the man
into a sitting position. All that Tuxedo Kamen gained was a slight moan of pain
and Taro refused to move from his position on the floor or even register that
they were trying to help him.
“They’ve broken him,” Kunzite stated, keeping his voice
steady as he did so, “They’ve crushed his spirit.”
“No” Tuxedo Kamen cried, horrified at the implications of
what Kunzite was saying, “He just needs to get out of here. Taro-kun?” he knelt
down beside the fallen man once more, “Taro? We have to get you out of here.
Zoisite-sama and Jadeite are distracting Beryl, but they can’t keep her
attention forever.”
“Zoisite-sama…” he whispered, and Tuxedo Kamen was
horrified at the plaintive voice of his once vibrant friend, “They wanted to
know who he was… I couldn’t tell them… I didn’t know…”
Tuxedo Kamen nodded, “None of us do, not even now.
Kunzite.” He turned to the strongest of the kings, “Let Mercury go. I need you
to help me.”
Kunzite was reluctant to do this. Torn between his want to
help his friends and his want to keep a hold upon the enemy.
Then Sailor Moon stepped towards them, smiling at Mercury
as though offering her a gift. “It’s okay” she said softly, “I don’t think
Mercury will try anything, will you?”
The Dark Senshi shook her head and, slowly, Kunzite
released her. Mercury fell back against the wall, keeping her head bowed so not
to look upon Sailor Moon.
“So” she said nonchalantly, “You found a way in.”
There was more to it than that, Tuxedo Kamen knew. Mercury
was too submissive… He shook his head and, with Kunzite’s help, he managed to
haul Taro to his feet.
Sailor Moon stepped forward and once more used the Moon
Wand to open a portal out of the Dark Kingdom. As Tuxedo Kamen and Kunzite
helped Taro towards it, the masked man heard the blonde girl’s plea to Dark
Mercury.
“You can come with us… as I told you before, you are
fighting for the wrong side. Please…”
Dark Mercury snorted in contempt and simply teleported
away. Sailor Moon’s face fell and tears shone in her eyes, but Tuxedo Kamen was
more concerned about the welfare of his friend to offer her any more comfort
than a sympathetic smile.
*****
“Flower… hurricane!” Zoisite dodged Dark Jupiter’s attack
and Jadeite countered it and quickly sent the petals rushing back against the
Senshi. It slammed into her and knocked her to the ground, thus earning a glare
from the brown haired Senshi. Still, Dark Venus stepped in front of her to send
her own attack against them.
Zoisite blocked this, though he was well aware that they
were all tiring. He could feel his own attacks becoming weaker and Jadeite
fought with less enthusiasm and his attacks went wild rather than striking the
Dark Senshi. Zoisite was reluctant to escape, but they had been fighting for
nearly half an hour and both sides were equally matched.
“Just five more minutes” Jadeite hissed in protest to this
as Zoisite relayed his orders to the blonde. He was reluctant to push the
matter, but this was getting ridiculous. Sooner or later one of them would slip
up and if Queen Beryl captured them…
“No” Zoisite hurled a ball of green energy in front of the
Senshi, causing the ground to explode in front of them. “Now” he ordered,
grabbing hold of Jadeite’s arm and allowing a teleport to take hold of them
both.
He heard Jadeite gasp slightly in shock and at the vertigo
that came with the sudden jump. They reappeared down the other end of the park,
safely away from the Dark Senshi. Jadeite leaned against the metal fencing for
a few moments to catch his breath before sniping:
“What the hell did you do that for?”
“I told you that we had to pull back. Half an hour was
long enough and we couldn’t have held out for much longer.”
“I know, but---”
“It was long enough” Zoisite insisted. Still not at full
strength after the last attack, he was too tired to argue with his friend and
was slightly annoyed that Jadeite would question him to begin with.
“You should go,” he added in a softer voice when he saw
the look on Jadeite’s face, “You want to see how your friend is, don’t you?”
“He’s your guardian” Jadeite pointed out as Zoisite turned
away, “Don’t you want to come?”
“It would probably be better if I didn’t.”
“Better for whom?” the bitter edge to Jadeite’s voice was
unmistakeable and Zoisite felt bad about it.
He did not add anything more to the conversation and made
to teleport away.
“Seiichi!” Jadeite called, halting him in his tracks, yet
he trailed off, unable or unwilling to voice his thoughts.
Zoisite teleported away, reappearing in his hotel room.
Artemis gave him a cold look as he de-transformed and sank down onto the bed,
massaging his aching temples.
“You didn’t have to do that,” the cat observed quietly.
“Didn’t I?” Seiichi demanded, not wanting to talk about it.
If that were true, then Seiichi knew that he should have
protected him in the first place.
*******
Usagi winced as she opened the front door and was met by
Ikuko’s angry glare. The portal had taken them back to Crown and there she had
parted company from Tuxedo Kamen and his friends. It was now passed midnight
and Usagi had trying to sneak into her house. Unfortunately, Ikuko had waited
up for her and was beside herself with fury.
Still, the parental anger and concern washed over Usagi as
she recalled those terrible moments in the Dark Kingdom.
Usagi was only familiar with the part-time cleaner in
Crown, but with this knowledge and that of Kunzite’s true identity, she was in
no doubt… Motoki was Tuxedo Kamen.
*****
“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?”
Dark Mercury shuddered to herself as she and her fellow
Senshi knelt once again before Beryl. The red haired Queen was beside herself
with fury that, not only had the Prince escaped her, but also Tuxedo Kamen,
Kunzite and Sailor Moon had somehow broken into her Dark Kingdom and rescued
the prisoner.
Mercury had never seen her Queen quite so enraged before
and this terrified her more than the other Senshi, as she knew that it was her
fault. She had allowed them to take Kimura Taro out of the kingdom. Why had she
done this? In truth, Mercury did not know. If Taro had stayed in the Dark
Kingdom he would have died. Mercury didn’t want this. Of course, she had to
appear to put on a front. Why else would she have shackled his hands behind his
back once more and left him on the floor in a, seemingly, uncaring fashion. Why
else appear in front of Tuxedo Kamen with the frontage to trying to confront
them and, in reality, knowing that they would use her to lead them to Taro.
Now they all had to face Beryl’s wrath for the failure and
it would be terrible.
“You fools!” Beryl shouted, whipping around to face them
with her furious countenance. “How could you let him escape? You out numbered
them!”
“My Queen” Venus tried to protest, “We weren’t expecting
an attack and the Prince is…”
“I will hear no excuses! You have all failed miserably and
for that you will be punished. I want--”
A crash of thunder tore through the still air of the
Kingdom, cutting Beryl off in mid-sentence. The Queen gasped and stumbled back
slightly as the kingdom started to shake and dust particles fell down from the
ceiling. Mercury fell down as the ground shuddered and groaned under this
onslaught. Venus and Mars immediately leapt in front of their Queen, to shield
her from this new attacker.
“Sailor Moon?” Jupiter questioned, but Beryl’s triumphant
laughter stopped her in her tracks.
“No… it is the awakening!”
“Awakening?”
“At last” Beryl crowned in delight, “The Great Ruler stirs
from her slumber after a thousand years.”
“The Great Ruler?” Mercury gasped in disbelief.
“Queen Metallia!” Beryl cried.
*****
Act Twenty One Preview:
“Usagi?” Naru whispered, clutching onto her friend’s arm,
“What is this?”
“I don’t--” Usagi was about to reply when a scream at the
far end of the hallway cut her off mid sentence.
A gasp caught in her throat as she looked up and saw a Youma stan