Earth
Guardian Prince Endymion:
Part Three:
Present Day
Mamoru sat in the crowded concert hall, listening to
Komoro Seiichi’s rendition of Moonlight Sonata whilst trying to keep his
friend Kimura Taro from falling asleep and fight off the waves of sorrow that
battered at his soul as he listened to the music. Hina had been an avid Komoro
Seiichi fan and just listening to his music was enough to remind Mamoru of how
she died and how he hadn’t loved her as much as she deserved, and that he
missed her terribly.
Sighing, he leaned over and poked Taro in the ribs,
causing his older friend to jump slightly and jerk back into full wakefulness.
Ueda Masaki sniggered slightly at Taro’s complete inability to keep an interest
in what was going on. Mamoru had to admit that he didn’t really like classical
music, but he was as determined as ever to make Seiichi feel a part of the
group and since the older man refused to meet them for any other reason than
the mission, Mamoru had deemed that they went to see his next concert to show
that they were taking an interest as him as a person and not just as the forth
Tennou of the old Earth Kingdom. After the Princess had awakened Mamoru knew
that, more than ever, they had to be united, but he was also secretly concerned
about Seiichi. There was more to his dedication for the mission than he was
letting on and this made Mamoru uneasy. He didn’t think any obsessions were
healthy and Seiichi’s fixation on the past life could not be good for him.
Finally the music came to an end and the curtain fell
down. Mamoru stood up, joining in the applause that followed.
“You know” Taro shouted over the cheering fans, “That
wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.”
“Only because you were asleep for half of it!” Mamoru
retorted, making no attempt to hide his amusement of this.
Taro blushed slightly and quickly made up an excuse about
Motoki forcing him to work late. Taro hadn’t been that keen on going to the
concert at all, not because he didn’t like Seiichi, but because he felt that
they should just let things be. ‘If he’s got some sort of problem let him work
it out in his own time’ Taro had said when Mamoru mentioned his concerns. This
had confused Mamoru as he thought that Taro was the most concerned, indeed he
had said on a number of occasions that he felt that there was something wrong
with the quietest of them. Still he hadn’t really spoken on this lately and
Mamoru was a little unsure of how far he should try and push things.
“Do you think he noticed?” Taro asked, referring again to
his falling asleep.
Masaki shook his head, “I doubt it.”
“Good”
Mamoru smiled slightly as they started to file out of the
concert hall. He had wondered if Seiichi would feel a little uncomfortable as
this was the same place that the Senshi had attacked him in months ago, but
Masaki didn’t seem to think that anything like that would bother him. Mamoru
sighed to himself. He just wished he knew his friend better at times. Unlike
with Masaki or Taro, you could never tell where you were with Seiichi, even
though he was always insisting upon his loyalty to Mamoru.
“If he didn’t notice that Taro had fallen asleep, what
makes you think he even noticed we were here?” Masaki pointed out as they
neared the exit.
Mamoru shrugged, “Does that matter?”
“Well I thought that was the whole point, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, but--”
Taro and Masaki exchanged amused glances and Mamoru was
starting to feel like they were mocking him.
“Didn’t you enjoy the concert for what it was?”
Taro shrugged, “From what Masaki-kun tells me, his
fiftieth concert was so much more eventful.”
“Eventful” Masaki repeated, obviously not liking to be
reminded of the Youma attack and then the difficult position he had been placed
in and Taro had the good sense to let the matter drop.
They had now exited the concert hall and Mamoru was left
feeling as though the morning had been a failure after all. He was just
desperate to understand where his friend was coming from and most of the time
Mamoru did not have a clue.
“Masaki-kun!”
They paused when a voice rang out across the street and
when Mamoru turned he was surprised to see Ikuhara Tetsuya hurrying towards
them. Tetsuya was Seiichi’s manager.
“Tetsuya?” Masaki seemed as surprised as the rest of them
as they paused and waited for Tetsuya to catch up.
“How are you all?” he asked, “Did you enjoy the concert?”
“Very much” Taro shot Mamoru a half grin as he said this,
“His music is very soothing.”
Tetsuya nodded, “I’m pleased you came and I’m sure Seiichi
was, too.”
“He said that?” Masaki asked.
Tetsuya shook his head, “You know Seiichi. Won’t say
anything of the sort, far too stubborn for his own good. He did request that I
come and see you though” he added as an after thought, “Would you like to come
back stage and talk to him? He’s got an press interview in twenty minutes, but
I’m sure he’d like to see you all first.”
“We would” Mamoru answered, secretly pleased at this.
Seiichi agreeing to see them for any other reason than the mission must be, at
last, a step in the right direction.
“I wouldn’t hold your breath” Taro murmured at Tetsuya
proceeded to lead them past the crowd of screaming fans who had gathered
outside the hall in the hopes of catching a glimpse of their star. Mamoru noted
the fans’ disappointed faces as they were led passed and recalled that,
usually, Seiichi was known for coming outside to sign a few autographs.
Evidently not today, Mamoru thought as they were shown back inside.
They followed Tetsuya down a corridor off from the main
stage and all the while the man continued to talk how much of a success
tonight’s concert had been and then complaining about the reporters outside.
“Tetsuya-san doesn’t like the media” Masaki whispered to
Mamoru as an explanation.
“Why not?”
Masaki shrugged, “There was some scandal involving a
married woman when his career had just started out.”
“Really?” Taro said, a little too loudly as Tetsuya looked
back over his shoulder at them, a slight frown on his face as he said:
“I’ll let Seiichi know you’re here” and with that he
disappeared into one of the rooms that they had come too.
“Go on” Taro urged once Tetsuya had gone, “What happened?”
Masaki shrugged, a little uncomfortably, and Mamoru had to
admit that he didn’t feel right about listening to tabloid sensationalism as
though they were a couple of women.
“This was before we were born” Masaki said at last, “I
don’t really know the details. All I heard was that there was this scandal and
Tetsuya’s career was nearly ruined before it had began. Then, thirteen years
later, he became Seiichi’s manager and the rest is history.”
“Seiichi was only thirteen?” Taro asked, “But his career
didn’t really start until a year ago, right?”
“Why are you asking me?” Masaki snapped, definitely
irritated now.
Taro grinned, “You are his number one fan.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Masaki muttered and Taro,
sensing his sudden agitated state, decided to leave things be and change the
topic of conversation.
Mamoru tuned the other two out as he leaned back against
the wall next to the door and thought back over his decision to come here. With
Kisho’s absence, he knew they had to come together now more than ever if they
were to stop the Dark Kingdom from gaining strength and since Princess Sailor
Moon awakened…
“No” she whispered in a small voice and then louder, “No!
Endymion!”
As she screamed, the entire field was lit up in a blinding
white light… the energy suddenly pulsing out from the locket on Sailor Moon’s
fuku. Mamoru stumbled backwards, and even Beryl uttered a stunned cry as the
sheer power of this new energy shattered the dome surrounding the kings.
“Usagi” Mamoru whispered as the light started to fade as
quickly as it had come, withdrawing back until it was but a shimmering
crystalline glow, silhouetting Sailor Moon.
She stood, carefully, staring down at her transformation.
The bodice of her fuku had changed. Now, underneath was a thin layer of lace, a
very similar lace bow was attached to the back of the fuku, trailing down like
butterflies wings almost to the ground. Her skirt was still royal blue, but was
made of silk; as was the light pink bow she wore on the front of her fuku. A
tiara made of pearls now sat upon her head. Though Mamoru had never seen this
transformation before, he recognised it.
“The Princess” he whispered, even as she held out a hand,
a pink sword appearing in her palm as she took a composed step towards them.
“Usagi” he whispered out loud. Her transformation had
pained him. It pained him because Mamoru knew; deep down, that Kisho had been
right. The Princess was capable of truly becoming the destroyer of worlds and
Mamoru desperately wanted to prevent it. This was another reason for him
wanting Seiichi on side. Whereas Seiichi wasn’t, perhaps, as adapt as becoming
a leader like Kisho, he was able to make the decisions that Mamoru felt that he
was unable too. This was a selfish reason, Mamoru knew, and that he shouldn’t
have to burden any of them with his duty but Mamoru could fast feel things
start spinning out of control. He really wanted Seiichi to get a reign on this
because, at the moment, Mamoru felt a little powerless to make any decisions
alone.
“Mamoru?”
He blinked slightly when an amused Taro waved a hand in
front of his face to get his attention.
“Nani?”
“Tetsuya-san said we can go in now,” Taro explained,
nodding to the retreating form of Seiichi’s manager disappearing down the
corridor.
“I don’t think our presence is very welcome” he added in a
whisper when he saw Mamoru’s confused expression at Tetsuya’s sudden departure.
“It’ll be fine” Mamoru answered and, taking the lead,
pushed open the door and hurried into the room. Taro followed him and Masaki
came in last, somewhat hesitantly, and pulled the door shut behind him.
To Mamoru’s surprise the room they were in was a little
small to say the least as they only all just fit inside with it being
uncomfortable. The walls were painted cream and had photographs of various
theatre groups in black and white hanging on them. There was a small window on
the wall in front of them and the net curtains were pulled closed. There was a
desk underneath this with some sheet music and an ink pen set down on its
surface. Seiichi sat at the desk, obviously being in the middle of writing when
they had come in and, noticing this, Masaki quietly asked if he would prefer it
if they left him alone.
Mamoru got the distinct impression that Seiichi would
prefer this but he refrained from saying anything of the sort and gestured to
the red sofa in the corner of the room, asking if they would like to sit down.
He also nodded towards the coffee machine and said that there was change on the
top of it if they would like a drink. Masaki and Taro both declined, but Mamoru
went over to it and got himself a black coffee and started heaping sugar into
it just for something to do other than sit around waiting for Seiichi to finish
what he was writing.
Walking around the room once, Mamoru noted that the
pianist had discarded the black jacket he had been wearing for the concert on
the arm of the sofa, most probably as soon as he had gone off stage, together
with his tie and was only wearing the black trousers and white shirt. His hair
had been slicked back, but he had now brushed it back into its usual fluffy
style thus giving Mamoru the impression that his attire made him uncomfortable
to say the least.
Finally, Seiichi set the ink pen down and turned around
his chair to greet them properly. Mamoru winced at being called ‘Master’ and
Taro, seeing this, spoke up quickly with:
“I enjoyed your concert, Seiichi.”
“You were asleep for most of it” was the star’s reply.
Taro bolted off the sofa absolutely mortified that Seiichi
had noticed this let alone point it out.
Seiichi smiled slightly and shook his head, explaining
that this hadn’t bothered him at all. This amusement only served to raise
Taro’s ire and Mamoru cast a pleading looking in Taro’s direction, willing him
to let the matter go. Mamoru did suspect that Seiichi was a little annoyed at
them being here, hence his reason for calling Taro on this.
Taro sighed and sat back down, though he glared daggers at
the pianist who promptly turned his back on him to once again become absorbed
in his writing.
“What are you doing?” Mamoru ventured after another period
of silence.
“Writing my new piece, Master” Seiichi answered straight
away, setting the pen down to face Mamoru as he spoke.
“You’ve only just finished one” Mamoru replied to this,
thinking of Kinzuru.
“I compose best after a concert, Master.”
“I would have thought you’d need to be at a piano” Taro
huffed loudly, causing Seiichi to again glance up at him with a slight smile.
“In the past life I could align my thoughts with the music
and in this world I am able too also. I do not need a piano to write my music.”
“Show off” Taro muttered, his pride still very much
bruised by Seiichi’s comments of earlier. Mamoru chose to ignore this and
instead marvelled at how well Seiichi must have practiced with his powers to
become so in tune with his past self. Still, Mamoru was sure that this couldn’t
altogether be a good thing.
“Is there trouble?” Seiichi enquired next, breaking into
Mamoru’s thoughts.
“Trouble?” he repeated softly, “No. We wanted to see you
perform.”
Seiichi nodded, disappointing Mamoru with his lack of
acknowledgment, “I see.”
“Do you?” Masaki asked. He had been quiet up until now,
but Mamoru could feel the growing tension from his other two friends and he had
half a mind to diffuse the situation as quickly as possible had he not been
keen to see where Masaki was heading with this.
Seiichi kept Masaki’s gaze and said, almost flippantly,
“Had you told me that you wanted to come I could have given you your tickets
for free.”
“Had we told you then you would have tried to stop us from
coming” Masaki shot back.
Seiichi shrugged, “Why would I do that?”
“I don’t know. You tell me?”
Seiichi did not answer this question and instead said:
“Speak to Tetsuya and he’ll refund what you paid to get in.”
Masaki sighed and promptly left the room, Taro following
this and leaving Mamoru alone with the forth Tennou.
“There was no hidden agenda,” Mamoru stated quietly after
he had clicked the door shut behind him.
“I know.”
Mamoru nodded, trying to chose his words carefully but
still allow the annoyance he was feeling into his voice, “Do you?”
“I worry that we will get distracted, Master. The mission
is what matters.”
“What about you?”
Seiichi smiled but didn’t reply and Mamoru, despite his
resolve, suddenly had the want to leave the matter be, for now at least.
Saying that he would see Seiichi at Crown tomorrow, Mamoru
turned to leave and was surprised by Seiichi’s next words:
“Master, thank you for coming to the concert. I did
appreciate it.”
Mamoru held Seiichi’s gaze for a few moments, wondering if
perhaps he had simply said this to keep the peace but, despite the secrets
regarding the mission, there were few things that Seiichi said that he didn’t
mean.
“I’m glad” Mamoru answered simply, content to leave it at
that. At last, perhaps, he was finally getting somewhere. He only wished that
Seiichi hadn’t managed to alienate Taro and Masaki further in the process.
******
“There was no hidden agenda,”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“I worry that we will get distracted, Master. The mission
is what matters.”
Seiichi had to
admit he was glad when the Master left. Masaki-tachi turning up at his
fifty-first concert was unprecedented and, if Seiichi were truly honest, he was
secretly glad that they had done so. As soon as he processed this thought, he
berated himself for it.
“What about you?”
Seiichi had to admit he had never given himself a thought
in all of this. This was not because he was being selfless, but simply because,
in this form, he did not matter and the fact that the Master seemed to think
that he did was ever the more curious.
“Master, thank you for coming to the concert. I did
appreciate it.”
This thanks had not been said to get the Master to leave.
He could appreciate that the Master seemed to care more for the present than
for their true lives and this gesture of friendship was not completely lost
upon him, even though Seiichi had no intention of returning it.
“Seiichi?” Tetsuya paused in the doorway, glancing around
in confusion when he saw that the pianist was once again alone. “Have
Masaki-tachi gone?”
He nodded and Tetsuya came further into the room and shut
the door behind him, before handing Seiichi an envelope.
“What is this?”
“The flight tickets” Tetsuya gave him a nervous smile,
“Surely you haven’t forgotten?”
Forgotten? How could he forget when Tetsuya was constantly
pushing him?
“I told you, I’m not going. I have too much to do here in
Tokyo.”
“I see, but the tickets are all paid for.”
Seiichi shrugged, “That’s not my problem.”
Tetsuya scowled and slammed then down on top of his sheet
music in frustration, “What am I supposed to tell Shina?”
Seiichi exhaled softly and looked away, “I don’t know.”
“It’ll only be for a few weeks. Surely Chiba-san will
understand.”
“Tetsuya, please” Seiichi stood up and moved towards the
door but his manager stood in front of him blocking the way.
“At least consider going.”
“Why do you continue to push this? I pay you to manage my
career, not my family life.”
Seiichi regretted those words as soon as they passed his
lips and he looked away in shame when Tetsuya refused to even flinch, no matter
how much it must have hurt him, but still… this was too much.
“Seiichi?” Tetsuya said, his voice suddenly changing its
demeanour completely, and becoming almost deadly serious. “There’s something I
haven’t told you. It’s about Zinan.”
“Don’t”
“Seiichi--”
“Tetsuya, don’t” even the mention of his father’s name…
Seiichi turned away, not wanting to meet Tetsuya’s gaze.
“Okay” his manager said finally, “I’ll leave things be…
for now.”
The slam of the door was the only indication that Seiichi
was finally alone.
“What about you?”
That didn’t matter, Seiichi told himself. Nothing but the
mission… the mission was the only thing that mattered now.
******
“Is this the burden of the past life? Will she continue to
suffer for it? Even in this world?”
“The burden of the past life” Taro mused to himself as he
and Masaki made their way through the crowds of fan girls still waiting
hopefully outside of the concert hall for a glimpse of their star. Taro shook
his head in amusement at this as he recalled the heated conversation of before.
If only they knew what their precious idol was really like, he thought to
himself. The craziest thing about all of this was that Taro liked Seiichi.
True, he grinded his nerves, but what friend didn’t? Kisho’s sarcasm, Masaki’s
standoffish-ness and Mamoru’s sometimes weak leadership all managed to get his
back up at one point or another, but Kanaye was always telling him that he if
knew someone well enough to recognise their bad points, too, then it showed how
close his friendship was. In fact, thinking back on it, Taro now couldn’t
imagine his life without any of them, granted that it had been a lot less
complicated before he met Mamoru-tachi.
But yesterday…
“I am…” Usagi whispered, a single tear running down her
cheek as she glanced up at Mamoru, “The destroyer of worlds…” with this she
turned and ran.
“Usagi!” Mamoru called after her, but Zoisite reached
forward and grabbed his arm, stopping him in his tracks as he made to run after
her.
“Master…” he trailed off when Mamoru shook himself free,
rather roughly, and turned on them all:
“Is this the burden of the past life? Will she continue to
suffer for it? Even in this world?”
This was different… things had changed and Mamoru was
still unable to see it.
“How are you feeling?” Taro said, speaking to his
companion partly through concern and partly through his own desire not to dwell
upon what had happened to Tsukino Usagi that day.
Masaki shrugged, “Better” he allowed, referring to the
injuries that he had sustained when the Shitennou had tried to stop Queen Beryl
from capturing Endymion.
Again, silence ruled and Taro found himself staring up at
the darkening sky. There were no stars and perhaps this was the sudden cause
for his nostalgia as he thought back over the mission and those more carefree
days. Taro never once dreamt that he would look back in fondness at his first
proper battle. He never thought that he would suddenly long for the days that
had now passed them by. He wasn’t the type to dwell on the past and preferred
only to look to the future, but lately both ways had been blocked to him. He no
longer recalled the past life and the future was a road that had not yet been
built and that may not be open to any of them.
Such stupid thoughts, Taro berated himself angrily. If he
started to have doubts then Mamoru would be alone in his thinking and Taro had
resolved to stand by his friend no matter what.
“That’s weird” Masaki said suddenly as they paused outside
of the younger man’s house.
“What?” Taro started to ask but trailed off when he
followed Masaki’s gaze and saw the ‘for sale’ sign in his friend’s front
garden.
“What is this?” Masaki asked out loud, although not
directly talking to Taro, “Why did they not tell me?”
“You didn’t know?” Taro demanded, wincing at this obvious
question but he just couldn’t believe that Masaki’s parents would put the house
up for sale and not tell him.
“Of course I didn’t” Masaki sniped back, his brows
furrowed together in concern as he took a step towards the house.
“Do you want me to stick around?” Taro asked.
“Iie” Masaki shook his head; “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
Taro nodded, only half watching his friend walk slowly up
the path. As he reached the house, Taro became increasingly agitated for
reasons that he couldn’t fathom. Nervously running a hand through his hair he
could swear that he could hear music borne on the summer breeze and drifting
down the road towards him.
“A harp?” he muttered softly as Masaki opened his front
door and stepped inside, pausing to take his shoes off on the threshold, but
Taro’s attention was now completely distracted from the other male. Frowning at
the mournful and delicate notes, Taro found himself starting to relax, despite
his previous disquiet state. Leaning back against the fence, he found that he
could barely keep his eyes open which was crazy as it wasn’t even that
late.
The music continued and with it Taro found himself losing
his fight to keep his eyes open. He felt his wild heart beat slowing, his head
dropping forward onto his chest and all he could hear; all he was consciously
aware of was the sound of the instrument playing out its mournful melody.
Then it ceased. As quickly as Taro had become aware of its
presence, the music stopped although its profound effect it had on the male
continued to pin him to the spot and it was a good few moments before Taro felt
himself to be steady enough on his feet to move away from the fencing.
“What was that?” Taro wondered to himself and,
subconsciously, he raised his head to stare upon the full moon in the night’s
sky. Just gazing at the barren satellite gave Taro an uneasy sense of
foreboding.
Forcing himself to tear his gaze away, Taro turned away
and hurried back down the streets, although, even with his back to the Moon
that sense of unease failed to go away completely so he forced it to the back
of his mind. After the events of the past day or so, Taro wasn’t surprised that
he felt jumpy. He just needed to get home and sleep and then, perhaps, he would
be able to put this restlessness aside.
******
Masaki pushed open his front door and stepped very
hesitantly inside. The house was dark, which added to his apprehension. Usually
at this time Tori was sat on the sofa watching a film on television or reading
a book under lamplight, but tonight this was not the case. Leaving his shoes
and coat in the porch, Masaki found himself shivering slightly at the cold
temperature of the front room which, in itself, was crazy because the evening
was warm.
He flicked the light switch on at the wall, but nothing
happened.
“A power cut?” Masaki stated softly, hating the emptiness
of the house and the sudden waves of anxiety that were coming over him. For a
moment, he debated calling Taro back but dismissed this just as quickly as he
had processed this thought. Haru must have had a work social event that he had
forgotten to mention.
Assuming that this must be the case, Masaki moved further
into the front room and pulled back the curtains to allow the moonlight to
illuminate the room somewhat.
Comforted by this small light, Masaki sat down on the sofa
to await both Haru and Tori’s return or for the power to come back on.
“What is this? Why did they not tell me?”
“You didn’t know?”
Why hadn’t they told him that they were moving? How could
they be moving on again this soon? It was only 6 months since they moved from
Kyoto. Haru couldn’t have got another promotion this quickly, especially as he
was on a warning from his drinking. Also, more importantly, Masaki didn’t want
to move away. How could he with the threat of the Dark Kingdom still hanging
over them? How could he just leave?
Still, it was more than that, Masaki thought to himself.
He didn’t want to move because, for the first time, he was happy here. Despite
his family problems he had never felt more settled in a place than he did in
Tokyo. He had friends in Tokyo and did not want to move away from them.
“Haru is always complaining that this house is too small,”
Masaki reminded himself, in a bid to find another explanation to this, “Perhaps
we’re just moving to a bigger one?
But, again, why hadn’t they mentioned it to him? There was
something wrong, Masaki thought and, when he glanced up again out of the
window, another realisation stopped him cold. The house across the street still
had its electricity on.
“What the hell?” Masaki whispered, getting up and hurrying
over to the window. It was the same for all the other houses in his
neighbourhood. Each one had its lights on so why was his house still cloaked in
darkness?
Masaki, growing increasingly concerned, tried the light
switch again and nothing happened. Just to be sure, he also tried a few more
and even the television, but nothing.
“What is going on?” he said out loud, the sound of his
voice comforting somewhat in the gloom.
Then he happened to look back at the sofa and his
confusion deepened. A large dustsheet covered up that piece of furniture and
every piece in the front room.
“Haru? Tori?” Masaki called, although he didn’t really
think that they were behind this and indeed all he gained from the house was
silence.
Hurrying over to the phone, Masaki decided to call Taro
back because, a small part of him, was becoming frightened at the strangeness
of this all. He snatched up the receiver and started to dial but froze when he
failed to hear the familiar dial tone. The phone was dead.
Masaki slammed the receiver down and picked up his mobile
phone instead. He called up Taro’s contact details and pressed ‘call’ and
sighed in relief when he heard it ringing.
“Hello?”
“Taro-kun, it’s Masaki”
He paused, suddenly feeling slightly foolish for ringing
his friend for something as normal as a power cut.
But what about the phone? And the dustsheets and the fact
everyone else in the neighbourhood has electricity except you?
“Hello?” Taro repeated, his voice taking on an annoyed
tenor now.
“Taro, it’s Masaki” he replied, a little impatiently.
“Hello? Who is this?”
“It’s Masaki!” he shouted, making his frustration known.
“Look, I don’t know who this is, but you could at least
say something and stop messing around.”
“Taro, it’s Masaki” Masaki snapped, getting annoyed now.
Was this some kind of joke?
“If you don’t say something I’m going to hang up.”
“Baka!” Masaki all but yelled, “It’s me!”
Seconds later Taro hung up.
What had happened? Was there a fault on the line? Masaki
wasn’t sure and hurriedly called Taro’s number again, but there was nothing.
Glaring angrily down at his phone under the moonlight, Masaki was furious to
find that the signal had completely gone.
Seized by his panic, Masaki dropped his phone and all but
ran towards the front door. Something was really wrong here and he was not
going to stay in this house for a second longer.
As his hand touched the doorknob, Masaki suddenly became
aware of a harp playing. The notes were gentle and yet sad at the same time and
this tune kept him from leaving. In fact, he suddenly felt rooted to the spot
and Masaki doubted that he could move even if he wanted too.
With these words echoing in his mind, Masaki whirled
round.
“You…” he choked out before white light engulfed him.
******
“I am…” Usagi whispered, a single tear running down her
cheek as she glanced up at Mamoru, “The destroyer of worlds…” with this she
turned and ran.
Usagi walked slowly towards her school, her book-bag
weighing heavily on her shoulder as the events of yesterday continued to repeat
themselves over and over in her mind. She had destroyed the planet before and,
had Mamoru not stopped her, she might have very well done it again.
Such power… she thought to herself as she glanced at the
steady stream of young girls entering the school building. How she yearned for
her mundane life again. To be free of this burden. The locket containing the
Ginzuishou felt cool against her skin, another reminder of her destiny. A
destiny that terrified her.
“I can’t believe it” Usagi whispered to herself, “There
has to be a way for me to control the Ginzuishou’s powers and defeat the Dark
Kingdom.”
The pigtailed girl hung her head as tears sprang into her
eyes as she drew closer to the school. With Naru-chan still in hospital and her
classmates avoiding her school had become a trial that she could really do
without were it not for her one friend.
Usagi suddenly brightened, thinking of her quiet
companion. Ever since her awakening as Sailor Moon, she had yearned for someone
to share in her burden. Someone to cheer her up when she was feeling down,
someone to confide in… Usagi smiled and pushed open the door that led into the
school building.
“Ohayo!” she called cheerfully to two students in the
class above her. Both gave her funny looks and then continued in their private
conversation.
Most mornings this would get Usagi down, but not today.
Today was different. For the first time since her awakening, Usagi felt
completely positive and confident that she would, one day, master the
Ginzuishou.
“The Ginzuishou is affected by the heart of the wielder.
You have a weak heart and will only bring destruction to this planet.”
A weak heart… perhaps I had once but now I have someone to
trust in I can become stronger. The Ginzuishou will no longer control me, I
will control it. I will use its powers to destroy the Dark Kingdom.
Strengthened by this resolve, Usagi paused by her locker,
the smile upon her face widening when she saw the girl poised beside her own,
in the act of taking out several books, but starting in surprise and dropping
them onto the floor as Usagi waved and called out cheerfully:
“Ami-chan, ohayo!”