Title: Of Crystal & Ice
Pairing: Ami x Zoicite
Genres: Romance, Tragedy
Summary: A thousand years ago the White Moon fell in a battle between the forces of good and evil. The light succumbed to the darkness. But One of several points of light remained within time to be reborn. Let us come together now to examine this thread of time and space, so closely intertwined with others, and see what became of the soldiers of the war, and, perhaps, we can give new meaning to the events that occured.
Author note: this story is set within the Silver Millennium and examines the suggested bond between Sailor Mercury and Lord Zoicite, and due to the setting there is inevitably character death (though if they were re-incarnated is it really death?)
I am also appealing to you, the reader, to help me with a decision. I am unsure of whether to leave this as a stand-alone one-shot or to do the same in turn for each Inner Senshi, and perhaps include the Shittennou's points of view as well. If so do i write each seperately or join them into one, in which case the main title will probably change, though this story will keep it's title. I leave the decision in part with you.
This ficlet is a stand-alone, but is related to my long-standing story "To Grasp At Quicksilver"
Enjoy!
Eb x x x
She looked at the crystalline rose in her hand and sighed.
It was nearing midnight in the Moon Kingdom, and Amelia, Sailor Mercury and Princess of Mercury, could not sleep. Instead the warm night found her sitting beside a fountain that had fast become her favourite spot, holding the last thing He had given to her before he had left.
She reflected on Lady Mars' collapse earlier today and her heart filled with foreboding. The Queen's physician claimed that she had been struck down by something which even Princess Serenity had found hard to believe.
Serenity had claimed differently; she claimed that Mars' ailed from a broken heart.
Of course, then the whole sad and sorry tale of their forbidden love had come to the fore. The court was scandalised, Serenity and her Senshi were stubborn, the Outer Senshi were not so shocked as they should have been; Amelia reflected that perhaps they knew all along. Queen Selenity was grave but accepting of the circumstances.
Serenity was sitting with Lady Mars now, she knew, hoping her friend would recover quickly, for there had been unusual stirrings among the peoples of the Silver Alliance. The prophets and augurs spoke of darkness approaching them fast, of betrayal.
Serenity did not like their talk.
But they all knew what had happened to Mars. The bond between her and Lord Jadeite had snapped like a piece of elastic stretched too far. Their connection sundered, her heart had broken with her grief, for surely he must be dead?
A guard turned a corner and watched her, whether keeping her from harm or observing her for signs of treachery she did not know, but it irked her greatly. They had all been watched closely lately, especially Serenity. The poor princess was beside herself with worry.
Another sigh passed her lips, and Amelia got up and returned to her quarters, the guard following behind like her own personal shadow.
…...
That had been a little over a month ago, and things had gone from bad to much, much worse.
Venus had been the next to collapse, much to their surprise, and now locked herself in her room and would see no-one.
Prince Endymion, sent to the Moon by Nephrite and Zoicite in a last attempt to save something of their kingdom from falling into enemy hands, had explained everything he could to the Moon Queen and her court. A great evil had befallen Terra, the Earth, and had slowly but surely corrupted all it came into contact with. Within the Terran royal court there was unrest; who to trust? And two of his Shittennou had disappeared without a trace.
He had been there to witness first Lady Jupiter, then Lady Mercury collapse screaming and crying as their bonds to their loves were torn asunder one after another. He himself felt the snapping of the connection he had with the two remaining Shittennou, his brothers and friends, and he shared the women's grief.
Queen Selenity had granted the prince asylum in her kingdom, and they tried to come up with a plan of action, for the enemy would next turn its sights to the moon and the alliance.
"Amelia!"
The Mercurian looked up from the waters of the fountain as her leader approached. They had taken to calling each other by their personal names, rather than by their planets, in an attempt to gather some form of comfort from each other in their time of need.
Mina looked like a broken shadow of her former self, the bright blue eyes a little dull and dark, but at least she was moving around and giving the appearance of life rather than of a corpse.
"The Queen has called a council of war." Mina said, standing nearer to Amelia than she might once have dared. "We are to convene in the council chambers within the hour." the Venusian swallowed thickly. "She has ordered the teleport link between Terra and the Alliance broken, and it has been done."
A tear made its silent way down Amelia's pale cheek, but otherwise she gave no outward sign of her sorrow; now there was no way He could return to her. He was truly dead.
"Raechal is still trying to get the fire to show her." Mina knew she didn't have to speak of what Raechal wanted so desperately to see. "She won't give up, even though every time she is shown only darkness and shadow."
Amelia nodded. "Shall we walk to the chamber together?" she asked quietly, "Or do you still need to tell Rosalita?"
Mina shook her blonde head. "I caught her on my way here. She had a feeling you'd be here." she paused, her hesitancy due more to cautiousness than to anything else. "You miss him, don't you."
Amelia nodded her head despite it being said as fact not query. "And you, you miss . . ." she didn't want to say the name; Mina had only started coming out of her room in the last few weeks; the loss of her beloved was hard on the Senshi of Love and Beauty. Instead she chuckled mirthlessly. "We have that in common."
Mina gave a small smile too. "Shall we?"
Together the two women entered a room heavy with burden and worry.
Selenity's council chamber was large, with a high ceiling, but no windows. Paintings of scenery from all the other planets adorned the walls instead, and a crystal light was positioned above the large, circular table in the centre of the room. There were various charts and maps on the walls as well as in various cupboards, and there were bookshelves in an alcove. The table could easily seat fifty.
Lady Jupiter, Rosalita, was already seated, as were Queen Selenity and her daughter Princess Serenity. Prince Endymion was pacing along a wall. The two young women took seats on either side of Jupiter, a gap between the Senshi leader and the weapons and fighting master, as Rosalita was known. Mina sat nearer the Queen Serenity seated beside her mother opposite her. Luna sat primly a seat away from the Princess, Artemis behind his love's chair.
Raechal slunk into the room next and took her seat silently between Rosalita and Mina. The loss of Jadeite had been hard on her, and she had traces of ash and soot in her violet hair from the fire she had been desperately consulting.
"Endymion, please, sit down. You'll only work yourself up even more." Serenity pleaded. The young man nodded grimly and sat down beside her.
Amelia was saved from wondering why they had still not begun when the doors admitted one final group of people; Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune and Sailor Pluto walked in with their heads high and faces grim.
"Please," began Selenity, "be seated. We shall begin shortly."
The three took their seats, and everyone ignored the remaining chair within the group of Outer Senshi; Saturn was only to be awakened in the event of a severe crisis.
"As you are all aware, Terra has come under attack from an evil force. I must confess that I know this force's identity, for my family fought with it long ago and believed it destroyed. Never had we dreamed," she now addressed Endymion directly, "that it had merely gone into hiding within your planet."
Endymion nodded, his face set.
"This force is one that many within the Alliance have heard of." she paused, as though steeling herself, and uttered only one more word. "Metallia."
Raechal jumped at the name. Rosalita stiffened. Amelia gasped, blue eyes wide.
"What?" Uranus stood and slammed her palms down onto the wooden table. Pluto, as always, looked serene, though there was a touch of alarm in her red eyes. Neptune placed a hand over her mouth in shock.
"But she was destroyed thousands of years ago by the first White Moon Queen! How can she still be alive after all this time?" Mina looked shocked and horrified.
"It is the fault of my ancestor." Selenity conceded. "She did not check to make sure that the witch was truly dead. However, there is good news in the bad. Metallia has no physical form. She is reduced to a mere spirit that must feed off the energy of the living in order to survive."
"Forgive me, majesty," Raechal's tone was sardonic, "But I wouldn't call a force that has proven capable of taking over an entire planet with little to no resistance or detection a mere spirit."
Again, Selenity inclined her head, ignoring the shocked gasps of those convened at Raechal's tone. "Forgive me, Lady Mars, you are quite right." when Raechal only shrugged it off she continued, though keeping a close eye on the unstable fire Senshi. "Unfortunately, we also know that Metallia is not alone in her quest for vengeance and domination. She has a human ally. A woman called Beryl."
Endymion stood so sharply that his chair fell. Serenity clasped a hand to her mouth. The Inner Senshi shifted uncomfortably, but otherwise showed no signs.
"You two know this woman?" Uranus all but demanded of the prince and princess.
Endymion swallowed and looked from his love's terrified gaze to Uranus. "Yes, she was a Lady in my court. She came from a very highly respected and influential family." a sigh. "I can't imagine why she would do this. She was always ambitious but . . ."
"It is because of me. This is my fault." Serenity said miserably. "Nephrite told me." everyone looked away in pity when Rosalita flinched at his name. "He said that she loved you, Endymion, but that you did not return it. I thought that once she saw you were not hers, but mine, that she would give in. She appeared to give in." Serenity let out a small sob. "I should have said something. I did not realise she would go this far for you." she buried her face in her hands.
Endymion embraced her in an attempt to calm her and looked to Selenity pleadingly.
"What this woman felt was not love." Mina said suddenly, her voice strong and certain.
"It was lust." Raechal finished."The fire reading from the night of the ball, this is what it meant. This is what it foretold."
None disputed their claims; Mina could almost instantly tell a connection between people and held the power of empathy, while Raechal's predictions with fire were never wrong. Both had met Beryl in passing on 'visits' to Terra in order to retrieve their Princess.
"But you said there would be a betrayal before this kingdom fell." Neptune spoke slowly. "There has been no betrayal, and yet the attack that will fell us has begun."
Raechal said nothing. Her violet eyes were downcast.
After a minute's silence, Selenity coughed lightly and drew attention away from the depressed fire Senshi. "We must come up with a plan of action. I want all the Senshi to remain on the White Moon until further notice. Lady Mercury, you are to make frequent and intense checks of Terra using surveillance technology that is available to you. The soldiers were able to take care of the few youma that came through the teleport before it was disabled, but we cannot take chances. Lady Venus, Lady Jupiter,"
Both women stiffened and sat attentively.
"I want you both to begin intensive training of the armies immediately. I shall send out a high-level alert to the other kingdoms. Lady Mars, I understand that it upsets you, but I want you to return to the temple and consult the fires. Watch for the signs you know are coming."
After a pause, Raechal nodded.
"Sailor Pluto, I have never asked this of you or of your mother who held your post before you, but I ask you to watch the time-lines for the slightest change. Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune, I want you both to scan the entire system regularly and intensely." she sighed. "If the worst happens, be ready to awaken Sailor Saturn."
Ignoring the uproar from the two more vocal Outer Senshi, Queen Selenity left without another word.
There was a few minutes awkward silence and then the meeting disbanded.
…...
Sailor Mercury drew in a heavy breath before coming out of her attack stance. As the mists of her cloaking bubbles dispersed the extent of the attempted attack on her was revealed. She raised an eyebrow; she had thought there were more than that.
She focused on the visor that hadn't left her face since the attack had begun and looked around. Nothing. Good.
"Sailor Jupiter, come in."
Static.
Frowning, she tried again. "Jupiter, please come in,"
More static. She was about to try another of her comrades when she thought she heard a noise. She held her breath and waited.
"Hey." Jupiter's voice was weak, but hearing it released a weight Mercury hadn't known she carried.
"I was ambushed in the front courtyard trying to convene with Mars and Venus. The Outer Senshi left a message stating that their own kingdoms have been attacked and assistance will be a while in coming here. How are you holding up?" Mercury told her, already typing on the mini-computer she always carried.
A humourless chuckle made her pause.
"Honestly? Not so good." there was a gasp and then Jupiter's voice came over again, slightly stronger now. "I was ambushed in the garden. I won the battle but . . ."
"But what?" Mercury felt a dark feeling in her heart. It intensified when she heard what was almost a sob escape the other woman. "Are you alright? Are you hurt? I can come to you and-"
"No." the word came out in a rush. "no, I'm . . . there's no need, Mercury. Call Mars and Venus, try to get to them before they do." how curious, Mercury thought, that the emphasis was on the word they. "Protect the princess at all costs. Promise me you'll survive this and keep her safe."
"But Jupiter-"
"Promise, Sailor Mercury."
Mercury bit her lip. She had the most awful feeling. "I promise."
"Good girl." another painful gasp. "I'm sorry, I know you're not the best fighter of us, but I know you can beat him." her voice got softer. "Goodbye, Amelia. I'll see you . . ." the cough sounded wet. "In another . . ."
Static.
In a sudden rush Mercury felt it; the connection between her and her sister Senshi, Sailor Jupiter, severed like it was nothing more than a piece of string. She knew what it must mean; Sailor Jupiter, Princess Rosalita, was dead.
A tear slipped down her dirt-stained cheek, but she ignored it and began to make her way through to the next courtyard instead. She could grieve for her sister later; she had a mission to complete first.
But she couldn't help but ponder the meaning of Jupiter's last words.
I know you can beat him . . .
She rounded a corner and her blood froze, contrary to her pounding heart.
"Mercury, I came as quickly as I could."
"Zoicite!" she flung herself into his arms. "Oh, my love I thought you were dead. When our connection severed-"
"It was necessary, I am sorry. I could not have survived otherwise."
Something felt off, not quite right. He felt not quite right. A little part of her soul niggled at her with this feeling, but she brushed it aside, simply glad that he was not dead, that he was breathing and living.
"But you are here now, and we must find the others. Come quickly, they are-"
"I cannot let you do that, sweet Mercury."
She froze once more, her blood turned to ice. His voice, it sounded . . . wrong.
"But Zoicite, the prince and princess . . ."
They are being taken care of as we speak." his eyes glittered strangely, and if Mercury had not known any better she would have said that they glittered with madness. "I dare say that Malachite has found them by now."
"Lord Malachite? Then you are all . . . ?"
"Yes, we are all alive."
"Oh but that is wonderful! I must . . ." she trailed off. "But Jupiter, she is . . ."
"I know."
Her eyes widened and she took a step back, somehow, suddenly, he was not her love. "You do? But how could you know unless-"
"Unless I was there? I was. In a way. The connection between myself and my brothers is as strong as it ever was. It is only we that have become stronger, better than we were."
Suddenly, with terrible urgency, Mercury understood far more than she would have liked. Jupiter's cryptic last words, the words Lady Mars had spoken over a year ago, Zoicite's strange behaviour. She knew. And the thought of it made her heart ache and her mind whirl.
"You . . ." she took a step back. "You were the one she was warning me of! You killed her!"
He laughed then, and the sound chilled her to the core. "No, my sweet naïve Mercury. I did not kill her. Did you not hear what I said? One of my brothers killed her." his expression became sombre. "Do not fret, she avenged herself. My brother Nephrite paid dearly for daring to attack her."
Her mind spun in an attempt to bring her world back into focus. "Are you going to kill me too?"
"No," she thought she saw a flash of her Zoicite, the real Zoicite, but it passed too quickly to be sure. "My Queen has an offer for you, one I advise you take, sweet Mercury, if you wish to live."
"Which is?" she held her breath, but her mind worked nonetheless. His queen? But his queen was dead, and he did not call Selenity of the White Moon his queen.
"To join us." the words were simple but his expression was manic. His boyish charm and vigour was warped. "Pronounce your loyalty to queen Beryl and to Metallia, and you shall live. Think on it, my love. We shall be together, you and I."
She took a step back, shaking her head slowly from side to side. Amelia swallowed hard but the tears did not stop falling. "No, no please, Zoicite please tell me you did not join that witch."
He frowned then, his whole façade darkening with the motion. "She is no witch, sweet Mercury, she is a powerful, beautiful queen. We have all been lied to, my love. Free yourself. I implore you, please, I have no desire to kill you tonight but I will if I must."
Mercury closed her eyes and turned her head away, barely registering that her hands were now clenched into fists. The tears fell faster. Her whole body quivered, but she did not know whether it was rage, guilt or sorrow.
"My Zoicite is dead." the words were unsteady, but she was happy that they were spoken aloud at all.
He seemed taken aback by that. "What? No, Mercury, don't you see? I'm standing right here!" he was trying to stay calm, but it was becoming more difficult; the four Shittennou had insisted upon being the ones to confront their loves, though Beryl had strongly opposed it, saying that they were still too unstable. "Mercury look at me. I am Zoicite who else could I be?"
"I don't know who you are sir," her voice was now steady, her tone of ice. Her gaze turned to meet his and her eyes were hard as jewel-chips, twin frozen tundras in a pale, porcelain face. "But you are not my lover. He died, I felt our connection break, and it broke my heart. You are an imposter who looks like him, who has warped everything he was and stood for."
Zoicite grit his teeth; this was not how he had planned this to go!
"I am sorry, good sir, but you will have to kill me now." she got into a fighting stance. "I have no intention of betraying my Queen, my Princess, my friends and my kingdom, for an imposter such as you."
The blond man bent his head so that his bangs covered his eyes. "You will not change your decision."
It was said as fact, and she took some comfort in knowing that not all of her love had been destroyed, though it meant little now. "If there is anything of the man I once loved left within you, you should know the answer to that."
She locked her broken heart away, returned it to the ice and snow in which it was buried before he ever came into her life and brought sunshine to melt it.
He was silent for so long, and when he started shaking she thought he cried, but then he threw back his head and the laugh that came from his mouth, now a twisted, cruel parody of what it once was, was so insane that she nearly stepped back out of shock.
All traces of Zoicite's boyish charm fled his form as he summoned a crystalline sword to his hand. "Then let us dance, little Mercury, and pray you last longer than your sister and that you land the final blow first." he now looked as cruel and dark as his soul had become.
And with that, before she could even think about what she should do, her visor flashed a warning as he moved to strike.
Mercury blocked him clumsily with her ice sword as she summoned it, still deep in shock from what she had heard from him this dark night.
"Come on, sweet Mercury," he sneered. "I know you can do better than that. Surely your precious leader taught you better than this?"
Venus had taught her better, but even Venus could not have known that they would wind up fighting for their lives with their lovers as their opponents.
She blocked him again, and again and again, her mind screaming at her to strike but her heart, still struggling against her control, screaming at her not to kill him.
'Uranus was right, love makes a Senshi weak.' she thought helplessly. Her visor alerted her to a possible point of entry and she struck.
He laughed it off, barely even feeling her blow to his side. "Very good Sailor Mercury, you have some guts after all." his smirk sharpened and he looked cruel once more.
"What did that witch do to you?" she gasped out, blocking a heavy strike that could have taken off her arm.
"Why, she only opened my eyes, my dear." he said casually. "Queen Beryl and Metallia revealed the lies I had been told." he looked at her, and she thought she could see some trace of her Zoicite left."There is still time to change your mind, sweet Mercury. You know the words."
"Never." she blocked another. She knew she was backing herself into a corner, but she had to make sure that there was no chance that her Zoicite still resided within this dark shell.
A hateful glare marred his handsome features. "Then so be it."
His hand moved quickly and she couldn't understand the gesture. Then she heard the whistling rush of air behind her and turned to look over her shoulder in time to see a crystalline shard hurtling towards her back.
"Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!"
The water jets knocked the shard off its course and pushed her attacker back. But a second hurtled towards her and slipped by them, slicing deep into her lower back. The gasp that escaped her was one of shock and pain and utter betrayal.
There will be a betrayal . . .
Neptune's lovely voice floated through her mind as she sank to the ground. "But you said there would be a betrayal before this kingdom fell."
'That is because they had not arrived then.' she thought bitterly. 'Now they have, and we shall fall.'
"Now that was hardly fair, sweet Mercury." his voice mocked her as she lay dying, his features mocked her. "You would use your powers to escape to your ridiculous princess. Not very sportsman-like." he tutted.
"I will not let you get her." she choked out. "Serenity is our hope and light for the future."
"A poor hope then, for she shall shortly perish with her witch of a mother." he said dismissively. He cocked his head to one side as though listening and a sickening smile found his lips. "Ah, Jadeite has found Sailor Mars and Venus flees to her princess with Malachite close behind her."
Nearby lay a crystal rose, the one Zoicite, the real Zoicite, had given her when he had left for terra, never to return. She mused that it must have fallen from her sub-space pocket on her way to the front courtyard as she had pulled out her transformation wand. A miracle that it was not broken. It sparkled pitifully, and within it's delicate reflections she saw her life, and her memories of what was once hers.
His boot-heel crushed it to powder a moment later. The rose carelessly trodden on without a thought as he carelessly killed her and tore her soul and heart now.
"I regret that you did not see things our way, my love. But I will grant you one final mercy." he stood over her and raised the sword, the point aiming for her heart. "i will kill you now, quickly, so that I do not have to see your eyes any longer."
The sword began to slice down through the air.
She let the power of Mercury flood her every pore and explode from her body. All that power aimed at one man with one intention.
"What the?" he snarled, stepping back and shielding his eyes from the intensity of the ice-blue light.
"Mercury . . . Ice . . . Storm . . ." her head fell to one side, her life all but spent, but the action was done. Her final attack, one she had been taught never to use without the utmost urgency lest it kill her, tore mercilessly towards him.
With a final scream it hit, encasing him in solid ice as her final act for him. For the briefest of moments his eyes flashed clear of all darkness and hate, and then he was trapped in her spell.
"Forgive me, my love." she whispered. One last gasp of pain and then she was still, falling into sweet, dark oblivion alone.
A solitary tear made its way down her pale cheek from closed eyes.
…...
Ami Mizuno jerked awake, still feeling the sting of the crystal shard piercing her side and the pain of her heart breaking.
She sat up and gasped, not willing to believe what she had seen for a long while yet. It was still night, and she couldn't have slept for more than an hour. She had a medical exam tomorrow . . . err, later today, and she couldn't afford to not sleep.
The memories, for they couldn't be anything else, flooded through her, unlocking even more memories, and they in turn revealing more, until she felt she was drowning in the torrent that her heart and mind had become.
But with calmness, with the silence, came the realisation of what had happened. What she had had and destroyed.
And with the realisation, came the tears.
She barely noticed the crystal rose that lay on her bedside table as though just placed there by gentle fingers, nor the whisper of his voice through her mind as he spoke her name.
"Ami, my sweet Mercury . . ."