Violent Storm


After she had left, the compulsion that had kept him immobilized vanished with her, leaving him with a mixture of rage and helplessness. Returning home, back to the mansion that Mia had left for them, a sanctuary that provided the Ronin Warriors a place to retreat and to train, Rowen had immediately gone to the basement, pounding the training bags until his fingers and hands bled, furious that she had managed to overpower him. Why was he never strong enough to stand up against his enemies without having to call on Ryo or the others? After what Suzunaki had done, he doubted that Ryo would ever fall asleep without the fear that they'd vanish again. It wasn't that they had quite abandoned him, but the messages that he had played back to them had all left them with a sick feeling in their stomachs. What had possessed them to make those calls, and how had Ryo still managed to search them out after they had subconsciously been forced to abandon him to face her on his own?

He was angry that he might have no choice but to involve the others, and Ryo couldn't even sleep on his own without one of them in the same room. The role of leader had somehow shifted to Rowen, and as much as he didn't want it, he didn't reject their need for him either. It should have been that way in the very beginning, but Ryo had seemed like a fitting choice and he was never one to invite a power struggle when they needed to work as a team instead. Sage spent the most time with Ryo, and it wasn't in a sexual or perverted way, but like a brother that wanted only to comfort and protect. After the encounter with Suzunaki, they had all agreed that it was simply easier if they stayed together at that point, knowing that every time they tried to go their separate paths, they were involuntarily pulled back together for another fight. They had almost lost Sage in California, Ryo had lost a girl he had barely gotten to know.

His loss only strengthened their resolve that any relationship with a normal human would only result in them dying like Runa had. Ryo was hurting so much, and they had no idea how to help him anymore, not even Cye, the one that was often more attuned to their emotions and state of mind. No, Ryo didn't talk about the days after they had vanished, or how those phone calls had ripped him mentally apart. He often woke screaming, and Mia had fled back to the United Nations in order to escape the guilt that she felt for not believing him and asking him to keep away. She had thought that it was what they had wanted, not understanding that it was out of character for them, truly leaving Ryo without the emotional support he needed from one of the two humans that had any knowledge of their lives and the roles they had played to keep the world from annihilation.

Not that her presence would have made a difference. Ryo had refused to talk to her, his relentless anger and bitterness putting a slight chink in their friendship. However, despite their pleas for her to tell them what had happened, she refused to say anything; she said it wasn't her story or right to tell. Normally, the cool and collected one of the five Ronin Warriors, Rowen's rage continued to spiral out of control. He pummeled the kicking bag so hard that it went flying through the basement window, and he turned to another bag that was mere inches away. He didn't see or hear his friends appear, quietly waiting for him to calm down enough to approach, sensing the storm, and the violence being directed at the training equipment and the room around him.

Performing several spin kicks, four more punching bags went flying, chain links and sand slamming in whatever it connected with. Suddenly, a hand swallowed one of his strikes, but Rowen was beyond reason and let loose with a drop kick and a spin that knocked Kento onto his back. At the moment, Rowen could only see his enemies, wave after wave coming at him as he struggled to survive, his eyes turning from his calm aqua color, to a deep and frighteningly cold mercury. If anyone was familiar with the color, they would know that mercury was a mixture of blue, gold, and silver, and Kento barely avoided the blow that followed after he had been swept to the floor, cracks being left mere inches from where his head had been.

A pair of arms wrapped around him, and Rowen froze, the storm inside of him hesitating, struggling to recognize friend from foe. "Rowen, my friend, please calm down." He knew that voice... it was familiar... the one that preferred peace over combat. Cye repeated his words over and over again, hoping to reach through to Rowen's half-crazed mind. Minutes passed, all of them holding their breaths as Rowen gradually returned to normal, his eyes once again regaining their aqua color. Whimpering, clearly stressed and confused, he released the last of his anger and rested his head against the water warrior's shoulder. He wanted to protect them, but didn't know how. Ryo... he couldn't let him fight again, not right now. His friends, they were the only thing he had that he called a family, and he hated the guarded look that had come into Ryo's eyes. He had once been so happy and optimistic, now he jumped at the slightest noise or movement of the shadows. The bonds that had once made them so strong, had weakened, and he didn't know what to do or how to repair the damage.

Cye wrapped his arms around the blue haired fighter, feeling him holding back the torrent of anguish and desperation. Something had really set him off, and none of them had managed to figure it out. Mia had mentioned she was on her way back, but none of them had felt any negative energy. Rowen's encounter with that woman had proven just how weak they all still were, and he'd never allow them to get involved, or he'd die trying. Rowen would keep them alive.

"No!" All eyes shifted towards Ryo. One of his stronger abilities was to sense something off about them, often coming in the form of dreams. His psychic abilities were frighteningly accuracy, and they always trusted him and his strong intuition. Ryo's eyes had taken on a volatile fire, one that heated the room around them, and Cye felt Rowen's rising anger to match it, startling him that Rowen wasn't backing down this time. "I know that look... That's the one where you're going to take off again... I don't need or want your protection Rowen. Whatever enemy you think that we can't handle; well you're wrong. I don't want you going."

Snarling, the momentary calm that Cye had managed to draw out in him, faded like the light from a setting sun. Pushing him away, Rowen stood to his full height, his eyes once again that terrifying mercury color, stalking the wildfire like a predator would it's prey. Ryo wanted to stand his ground, but he instinctively moved back, inch-by-inch, until he flinched at the striking of Rowen's palms against the wall trapping him. He was caged in, Rowen giving Ryo no choice but to fight for his freedom, or to submit. And in Rowen's current state of mind, all of them had their doubts that Ryo could stop the star warrior. "The four of you are the only family I have... I know that I've always hesitated to step up and lead; I thought that if I just followed, everything would work out. I was wrong then, but I'm not now. You and the others will not fight 'her.'" Storming out of the house, he powered up and took off, his armor far too fast for any of them to track or follow in a car.


She had sensed the awakening and frighteningly destructive power in him, the way the other Ronin's had accepted his decisions. Ryo's acceptance was reluctant, but he had had no choice, Rowen asserting his dominance. Following him for several hours, she found a hint of amusement that he now might prove a match for her past-self... well now that she thought it over, he was definitely more powerful if they managed to clash. As Sailor Cosmos, she had the combined power of the other Sailor Guardians, making her far more superior than him in every way. Rowen was the one that Sailor Moon needed to stay alive, the one that she needed to lean on for emotional support as she faced off against the enemies that had always targeted her friends. Now that he understood what he had and must do; she had no qualms about allowing him close to Sailor Moon. Serenity might not want love at the moment, but only their true soul mates had the ability to awaken and heal them from their slumbering states.

The more she studied him, the stronger her curiosity became. He was unlike anything she had ever encountered or would again. True, he wasn't human and neither were his friends, but his powers were not like the other planetary ones. Unlike Ryo of the Wildfire, Cye of the Torrent, Kento of Hardrock, or Sage of Halo; Rowen's powers were beyond any of their comprehension. It was quite possible that he didn't know the full extent of his powers either, the changing of his eye colors a hint that she didn't understand. Would anyone have the answers she was looking for? Would Mia? She knew so much about the legendary armors, but did she know about the Sailor Guardians that were somehow connected to them?

Unaware that she had caught up to him, Cosmos grazed Rowen's hand with the tip of her wings, laughing as she dodged one of his arrows. He only proved that he wasn't a normal archer. "You..." he growled, determined not to let her get to him this time, her voice affecting him far more than if she had just attacked him or some other random human.

Spinning behind him, her wings caged him in, making it impossible to grab another arrow. "I'm curious," she taunted, her lips dangerously close to his ears again, her small hands sliding down his arms; "you're so determined to fight, and yet I've done nothing to indicate that we're enemies."

His anger made no sense to him either, but one look at her and he felt so much rage simmering at the surface of his emotions, that the intensity of those emotions startled her long enough for him to gain the upper hand and break free of her hold, twisting until he now had her in the position she had had him in moments ago. She had been right, the awakening of his powers had made him a force to reckon with, and she felt a flicker of fear before she shoved it to the back of her mind, her entire body trapped against his stronger one.

"Let go," she hissed.

Rowen could have ended the fight between them at that exact moment, but he hadn't failed to notice the vulnerability in her expression when he had turned the tables against her, the uncertainty and fear. Perhaps she wasn't an enemy, but she had never said anything about wanting friendship either. Unless she chose to use her razor sharp wings to cut her way free, he had her exactly where he wanted her, Rowen lowering his head until all she could hear was the sound of their breathing and the wind whistling by them. "I know no other way... From the moment I opened my eyes, from my very first steps; I knew my life was not my own... that I'd face enemies that had no remorse about killing innocent people, destroying the mortal world... I've watched my friends almost die, suffer as those around him abandoned him one-by-one... and you ask why I don't trust you? How stupid do you think I am, lady? And don't get me wrong; you're beyond being one of the most stunning creatures I've ever laid eyes on, but Tulpa had a way of corrupting beauty, until all that beauty did was destroy everything it touched or laid eyes upon."

"Shut up..." she gasped, trying to tune his voice out, not wanting to feel the warmth he was generating with his words, the way it felt to have her so close to a man for the first time since that terrible war had begun... Endymion's touch and embrace had always felt safe and calm; Rowen's would consume her like the stars did the sky. Breaking his hold on her should have proven a simple matter, and again he surprised her at the coldness seeping into her, her senses being overwhelmed by something that made her feel like pitting herself against him was like facing space itself, the darkness and loneliness swarming around her.

What was he and why was he so strong? Breaking herself free should have been an easy enough task, but he was only growing more powerful as they continued their little encounter. Fear started to override her sense of calm and certainty, and it was at this moment that Rowen felt the anger turn to calm, his gaze still as cold as the air around them. Something about her was familiar, and he had a strong suspicion that this wasn't her original state of being? What had created her and why did she seem so filled with despair? Where he had hesitated at engaging her before, holding her the way he was now, he felt a primal and familiar instinct consume him. He knew he was stronger than her, and he wanted her to acknowledge that fact.

"You want to protect the innocent?" she demanded, surprising him with her question. "Why? Why is it so important to sacrifice your lives, desires, hopes, and dreams for the humans that will never thank you?"

"Simple... we chose..." She stilled against him, no longer struggling for freedom, but trying to wrap her mind around his honest answer. "We don't want their thanks, nor do we wish for them to know that we even exist. If the five of us have to stand between the darkness and the mortal world; to allow them to remain in their ignorant, blind little fantasies, then that's fine."

Perhaps Sailor Moon was right, Cosmos thought. The future could change and she smiled, her heart breaking all over again. She knew if that were to happen, she'd disappear, but that also meant that humanity would survive and she'd not have the lingering regret that never seemed to leave her. "You sound so much like her..."

Silver light wrapped around them, and before he could stop her, they were no longer on Earth, but the old ruins left behind after the fall of the Silver Millennium. "Perhaps the future will change after all," and she was gone, leaving Rowen stranded on the moon, staring at the large, blue sphere that spun several thousand miles away. A silver light came from within, and without hesitating, he made his way towards it.


The mountain beneath the earth trembled, and lavender eyes opened briefly in an effort to figure out where she was and why she was surrounded in a red sphere of light. "Serenity... we need you..." and she slipped back into dark oblivion, sensing the weariness in her Princess, and wishing she had the ability to tell her that fighting was never an obligation, but a sense of belonging to something and someone that would never abandon her. She knew her choice... it was simple... and she had no regrets. She had known Crystal Tokyo was a dark future, but she had never wanted to force Usagi to decide against it; she had to make that discovery on her own and now it seemed that she was close to turning her back on them all in order to prevent them from dying or sacrificing their happiness for her.