Chapter 1: Day 1
In a flash, the seven senshi and Chiba Mamoru found themselves in a lush, grassy glade. Each had experienced something different in the transition. For Makoto it was like having lightening flash before her eyes. Ami sensed something akin to pixilation morphed with water, and Raye and Michiru felt like fire and water, respectively, had swooped down upon them and brought them here. Wherever "here" was, that is. Mamoru had not felt a sense of movement, just the observation that between one blink and the next the world had utterly changed. A few staggered, but most stood as if nothing had happened, and gazed about curiously.
Ami was heard to gasp. One hand covered her mouth, and the other tremblingly pointed across the meadow. There, not so far away stood eight enemies that they could have sworn had been defeated. True, Cosmos had warned them that the Shitennou and the Black Moon Clan were back, but most of them hadn't truly believed it… not until now.
Raye hissed. "Jadeite. I thought your smug face had been forever reduced to moondust."
"Ah, Sailor Mars, a pleasure, as always." The blond Shitennou gave a military half-bow and raised his voice just enough to be clearly heard by the entire group. "I see that our little 'contest' shall be far more interesting with such worthy opponents." His voice dripped with sarcasm upon uttering the word "worthy."
Makoto had to be held back. Although she did not recognize this Shitennou personally, at least not from this lifetime, she had heard enough stories to make the hair on the back of her neck rise. "Interesting words coming from people who we already defeated!"
"Pure luck!" exclaimed Rubeus, hot color already flooding his face. "Try again, and see how your luck holds up this time!"
Haruka and Makoto were clearly ready to charge when a group of five materialized between them. There stood Sailor Cosmos, along with the human forms of Helios, Luna and Artemis. A dark shadowy form also stood there, its outline wavering, unsure of its final form.
"Contestants," said Cosmos, "you stand here before us fighting for the fate of a very special person and the fate of the world. You will form two teams, and compete together to win prizes. There are two kinds of challenges, Reward Challenges and Immunity Challenges. Those that win the Reward Challenges receive a reward to make survival here in Elysion easier. Those that win Immunity Challenges do not have to attend Tribal Council. Those that lose the Immunity Challenge will attend Tribal Counsel that evening, where the tribe will vote a member out. As one's tribe dwindles, it becomes harder to survive. For energy must be spent on food and shelter and in challenges. At challenges where the numbers are uneven, either members of the larger tribe will sit out or members of the smaller tribe will take extra turns. Either way, it is important to win as many challenges as possible.
Mina nudged Raye. "This sounds vaguely familiar. Isn't there some American TV show like this?"
The shadowy figure now drew forward, its form coalescing into something surprisingly feminine. "For those who do not recognize me, I am Chaos." She smiled appreciatively as there were several muttered oaths and gasps from the senshi. "I am glad to see that I am not forgotten. Your prizes are the life of Sailor Moon, also known as Tsukino Usagi and the future Neo-Queen Serenity, and the destiny of the Ginzuishou." She nodded at the dark warriors to her left. "You, especially know what that might win you."
Haruka took off her coat and began rolling up her sleeves. "Bring them on. The eight of us can take the eight of them any day of the week."
"Not so fast, Wind Warrior," said Chaos. "No one said you'd be fighting as you are! There are few more ground rules, and these three will be your enforcers." She gestured to the immobilized forms of Helios, Artemis and Luna.
"Whatever rules there, can be gotten around," smirked Zoicite to Kunzite.
"Oh, and just in case anyone thinks to think they can cheat," Chaos said, in obvious response to Zoicite's aside, "that will also result in automatic expulsion from the game."
Cosmos picked up where Chaos had left off. "Here are some more ground rules:
1) No magic. Only physical and mental abilities will be utilized. We decided that in some contexts your more unusual abilities would provide unfair advantages.
2) As you will be teammates with some of your enemies, physical combat outside of the contests is disallowed.
3) Attacks during the contests designed to severely hurt, maim, or kill another contestant is forbidden.
4) You must build your own shelter and provide your own food.
5) Sabotage of another tribe or teammate's equipment or personal property is forbidden.
6) You may not conspire to share the prize. If you break any of these rules, you will be automatically removed from the game."
"Of course, there's more to losing the game than just not being able to win anymore. One that loses the game also loses that one's life and star seed." She gazed pointedly at each contestant, allowing the seriousness of the competition to sink in. This was definitely no mere "game."
"What proof do we have that you truly have captured Sailor Moon?" asked Setsuna. "Before we agree to these terms, how do we know that we are truly fighting for her?"
Diamond piped up for the first time. "I demand to see the future Neo-Queen Serenity!"
He received several glares that, if the old homage "if looks could kill" was true… he would have been dead several times over. Chaos had to resist rubbing her hands together in glee. Already the tensions were building! This was going to be very, very entertaining.
After a moment to collect herself from her unholy thoughts, she acquiesced. "As you have requested. Behold! Sailor Moon!"
Above them appeared Usagi still in her form as Sailor Moon. She was bruised and battered, but still whole. Initially, she appeared unconscious, but slowed opened her eyes. They seemed bleak for a moment, hopelessness reflecting in their depths. Upon gazing upon Mamoru, she murmured the most painful words he could have heard: "Mamo-chan, I'm sorry I let you down…"
"Usako!" Mamoru cried in tortured tones. He felt to his knees, eyes welling with tears. "Give her back to me, give her back! Take me instead! Usa…"
Beside him, Setsuna and Makoto comforted him, gently laying a hand on an arm or shoulder. By their mere presence he was reminded that his pain was not a lone one, but that others shared it and in that sharing was bound together in a common goal. Running hands through his unruly hair, he looked back up at his love. Tears ran down his cheeks, but he was not ashamed. Love and grief were not emotions to suppress or ignore, because while those same emotions meant admitting vulnerabilities they also made one stronger in unseen and often surprising ways.
Through her pain and immobilization, Usagi was finally able to focus sharply on her friends. And although it clearly cost her a great deal, she smiled. "I'm okay," she said, obviously lying, but wanting to offer some solace, "Mamo-chan, I love you." And with those words, she once again was whisked away to some unknown place beyond sight and sound, but not beyond love.
He stood and faced his enemies. "Bring it on."
"Yeah right," taunted Nephrite. "What, six girls and two pansies against seven men and a lady? We'll take you down."
Six girls and two men? For a moment Mamoru looked back blankly. There were seven women and him… Oh right. Haruka. He was about to respond when Chaos broke through his thoughts abruptly.
"Not so fast. There's another twist to our game." With a gesture, Luna and Artemis each stepped forward, eyes blank. They were clearly under the control of Chaos as well. They stood with what looked like a bowl that contained colored stones. "The colored stone you pick indicates what team or tribe you will play for. Step forward and learn your fate."
The sixteen people stepped and chose a colored stone.
"Now, on this side, I want everyone with an orange stone, and on the other, everyone with a blue stone."
Mamoru was relieved to note that Diamond was on the other team as well as Kunzite. Unfortunately, Ami and Makoto were also on the other team. On his team, he was pleased to note that they'd have the benefit of Haruka's strength and Setsuna's stability. But the worst thing was that the most annoying person in the whole group was also on his team… Esmeraude. Already her grating laughter was making him itch to stuff something in her mouth or seal it closed. Something, anything to just shut her up!
"Damn," muttered Haruka, "what I wouldn't give for some duct tape." Mamoru silently agreed.
The two teams or "tribes" gathered together at the appropriate starting mat. Although they didn't want to, it seemed pretty important to do a quick meet and greet. On the blue tribe mat were Mamoru, Haruka, Setsuna, Sapphire, Nephrite, Raye, Esmeraude and Jadeite. The orange tribe consisted of Michiru, Makoto, Kunzite, Ami, Zoicite, Diamond, Rubeus, and Mina.
Chaos and Cosmos led the two tribes down a path to a lake. In the lake, but closer to the far side was an island of sorts with two odd boxes or chests on top. Leading from their side of the shore to the island were a couple of odd "ladders."
Mina clapped her hands with excitement. "Monkey bars! I love the monkey bars!" She danced about earning herself a glare of disapproval from Kunzite.
Cosmos gestured at Chaos. "From here on out, we will be observers. Never think that you can do anything without our knowledge, for we will be looking for any violations of the rules. From the point forward, any questions may be directed to our proxies," she motioned to Helios, Luna and Artemis, "although what they may answer too, is restricted!"
Chaos clapped her hands once and dark magic spiraled around the three, returning them to their animal forms. They blinked, finally broken free from the terrible restraints upon their spirits.
"Remember my dears," Chaos purred, without the slightest real affection, "we'll be watching!"
In a flash of light and a swirl of smoke those two supreme senshi were gone, leaving 16 puzzled humans, now devoid of mystical powers, two talking cats and a horned Pegasus. The horse bowed its head, shaking its mane. "It will be nice to fly again, but being human is definitely more convenient," he was heard to murmur to the cats. They laughed softly and agreed.
"All right. This is your first Reward Challenge. The reward? It is the choice of shelters, and where you will sleep and find your food will be very important to maintaining your strength in the coming challenges."
"Your challenge is a relay race," said Artemis. "You are to cross the monkey bars to the island, one at a time, retrieve a puzzle piece from the correct chest and return it to here, tagging your next tribe member. Once you have retrieved all of your puzzle pieces you must assemble the three-dimensional puzzle." He indicated the convenient tables behind their starting mats. "The first tribe with the puzzle intact and all of its members on the mat wins choice of shelters."
Luna now stepped forward. "There are a few special rules as well:
First, every member must complete the course. No one may run the course a second time in place of a player who is physically weaker.
Second, you may only bring back one puzzle piece at a time.
Third, if you drop into the water on the way to the island, you must come back and start again. If you fall into the water on the way from the island, you may climb the ladder on the side of the island and try again from that point. You may not swim instead of use the bars to cross to the island platform.
Fourth, any attempts to cheat will be prevented. If you drop an opponent's puzzle piece in the ocean, it will magically reappear in their chest. If you drop your puzzle piece on the way back, that dropped piece will also return to the correct chest and you must turn around and go back to retrieve it again. Are there any questions?"
There were, but everyone was so dazed by all of the rules that they just shook their heads "no."
"All right," said Helios, "take a moment and figure out your strategies." The two groups began placing their members in order of attempts, and after a bit of squabbling, gained some order. Before their nervous energy could explode, Helios announced, "Survivors on your marks, GO!"
Chosen first for their team, Ami mounted the monkey bars. Directly beside her, and going fast was Haruka. She had chosen to go first to get it over with. Ami wasn't very strong at things like this; shed' prefer a good puzzle instead. Slowly, one at a time, but still as fast she dared, she swung from bar to bar until she was almost halfway. She swung again but miscalculated, lost her hold and fell into the water. She had to swim back and try again.
In the time it took Ami to swim back, Haruka had made it to the platform in the center and had her piece in hand, stuffed into a pocket, and was on her way back. Jadeite was next for their team and praised the gods that he had been diligent in his training. He was slower than he had been however; still getting used to having his body back. It was strange moving about again and his muscles felt tight. He only hoped he could work up to a decent pace. He had to at least match the Wind Warrior's speed; he couldn't let a woman beat him, even if she was on his side.
Again, Ami mounted the bars but took a brief moment to calculate the distance to the platform, the distance between each bar, the angular momentum required to swing between each bar and the optimal velocity in which to move based upon her physical strength. Prepared, she grabbed a bar and again swung one by one, this time using her calculations to accurately grab each bar and make it to the other side. She made it just seconds ahead of the stiff Jadeite. They grabbed their pieces almost in sync, stuffed them in pockets and remounted the bars.
The others on the shore cheered loudly for their teammates, but Ami's team cheered with slightly heavier hearts because knew they were behind. They would have to make up some serious time. Ami and Jadeite both made it back at the same time and tagged the next runners: Makoto and Mamoru.
Mamoru didn't want to beat Makoto, chivalrously feeling beating a girl was wrong, but he also knew that she could hold her own fairly well. He had a game to win and he had to do it fast, for Usako. Determination and love for her beat out his pride and he flung himself from bar to bar as fast as his body would allow him without falling.
Makoto could indeed hold her own and was matching him almost rung for rung. She was almost tempted to let him get there first, after all, he had both his beloved and future daughter at stake, but she knew that Ami had cost them, although not purposely so. Anyone could fall from the bars, even the most athletic. The other side was one up on them. She had to make to the other side before he did. Her incredible strength allowed her get a burst of momentum and she pulled ahead of him at the middle of the course.
Mamoru chided himself for thinking for an instant that he should go easy on Makoto simply because she's of the "weaker sex." Makoto was now beating him, without any weakness or leniency on his part. He forced himself to move faster. His arms hurt and his hands burned with the cold of the metal bars. But he made it and grabbed his piece several seconds after she had taken her own.
Makoto's teammates cheered for her as she made it back to the other side without any issues at all and tagged Zoicite, next in line. Zoicite made it a third of the way before losing his grip on the bars and falling with a splash into the lake below, forcing him to start again.
Mamoru's team also cheered for him (or rather screamed very loudly for him to move his butt) as he touched down on the other side and tapped Sapphire next.
Sapphire, although had been nearly as stiff as Jadeite, had prepared with some stretches and now nimbly flung himself from bar to bar. He remembered climbing trees with his brother when they were children; racing each other to the top of the tree. This was no different, he told himself and he had no trouble getting decent momentum to cross the bars.
Zoicite fell twice more before finally making it to the other side, cursing himself for forgetting so much of his abilities in death. Physical coordination should be much easier to organize than this! This shouldn't be that hard, but then acrobatics had never been his forte before. He preferred ground sports to flinging himself about like a chimp. But he knew if he didn't do this, he'd never win the competition and he was scared to find out just what Chaos would do if he attempted to cheat.
"COME ON ZOICITE! COME ON!" his tribe cried from the shore. Oh he would be so screwed if he was the one to make them to lose this. That blue-haired man had already made it back to his team and another, the senshi of fire if he didn't miss his guess. Determinedly, he gripped each bar one by one swinging himself until at last he too touched down on the shore.
Diamond took the next turn. But really this wasn't his thing either. Just like Sapphire he forced himself to pretend this was just like when Sapphire would make him race to the top of the trees in the garden. He practically cheered with joy when he made it to the platform. This was cake, he thought to himself. However on the way back, he made a fatal error. Where all of the other contestants had stuffed their puzzle piece into a pocket, gripped between their teeth or otherwise secured, he had tried to hold his in his hand. Crossing monkey bars with something in one's hand is not helpful. So, due to his lack of observation, his piece slipped from his hand and into the water, forcing him to turn around and swing back. Once he had it back in his hand he began the trek back again. He glanced over to the other side, that miko was already back and another was halfway across. A man with long, wavy brown hair swung himself across with relative ease. He saw Esmeraude still had yet to take her turn. He smirked, perhaps her turn would give them the chance to catch up. While looking over to them, his attention was diverted from the monkey bars and he swung too late and fell into the water. He had to swim back to the platform and start again. Okay, not good, he thought as he started again. Third time was certainly the charm as he touched down again just as the other man, the others called him Nephrite in their cheering, did. This was very bad.
Kunzite knew they were in some serious trouble. He had thought Ami was bad, but this white-haired pansy had totally screwed up, even worse than Zoicite. At least Zoicite had really tried, but this sissy could not have cared less. He jumped up to the first bar and began swinging as fast as his training had taught him to, not once losing sight of his goal. He wasn't the leader of the Shitennou for nothing.
Esmeraude was on her turn. As Diamond had predicted, she had a lot of trouble with the course. She couldn't help it, she thought to herself. She was a lovely woman, but she wasn't made for physical tasks such as these. But she pushed herself to finish, just to get it over and done with. She was in the center of the bars when the silver-haired man from the other team passed her. He certainly was handsome, but not as handsome as her Prince Diamond. Her hands started to slip and she fell in the water. She swam back to shore to start again. She couldn't fall again, she couldn't afford that. She wanted to be done with this so their last runner could go and they could win.
Kunzite barely noticed the other runner at all. He had to keep focused on his task. He made it to the other side and picked up his piece and began the trip back.
Esmeraude finally made it to the other side, and with her piece stuffed in her décolletage, swung from bar to bar. She was just behind her handsome opponent. She touched down half a minute after he did and she tagged their final racer, the Guardian of Time, Setsuna or Sailor Pluto.
Setsuna fairly flew from bar to bar, racing for her piece. Mina had started a minute before her, but if she could still get this last piece and put the puzzle together first, it wouldn't matter. And they still had Michiru and Rubeus left to race on their side. Setsuna was confident that their team would win this. She grabbed her piece and dashed back across the monkey bars to the other side.
Her team members joined her at the table, struggling to see how their pieces fit together.
Michiru was on the platform when she saw the other team already putting the puzzle together. They still had one racer to go. She was beginning to doubt the possibility of success, at least for this challenge. She began swinging herself back, determined to at least finish.
"Okay, now this goes here." Mamoru spoke aloud. He had always liked doing puzzles; he was good at them.
Sapphire pointed to a spot. "That one goes there."
That was the last piece; they had their puzzle fully assembled. It was a model of their prize, a large chest. They stood, jumped to the mat and cheered.
The other team hung their heads in disappointment. They had given their all. Rubeus kicked the ground, he hadn't even gotten a turn.
"Congratulations to the Blue Tribe." Helios told them. "You get to choose between the Palace or the Temple. The Palace is a better shelter, but the Temple area will have a much better food source. You will also receive a chest full of supplies. The chest contains pots for boiling water and cooking food, a fishing spear, knives and machetes, a bag of rice, a bag of beans, a spice rack for making your food taste better and some flint for starting a fire. Orange Tribe, you will also receive supplies but only the bare basics and no flint, I'm afraid."
Mamoru and his team talked it over, with several people, notably Nephrite and Haruka arguing for the shelter with the better food source. "We'll take the temple," he said.
Luna nodded. "Your chest will be waiting for you at the temple then. Here's a map for you to follow and the key to your chest." She back-flipped in the air, and a map appeared.
"Wait," said Helios, his golden horn glowing more brightly, "before you go… a gift."
A bright bluish light sprung up and coalesced in to an odd fabric band on their right arms. The bands were blue and had a logo that indicated that they belonged to the temple. "You are now the temple tribe, as identified by your buffs. You must wear them at all times. Artemis will go with you. He will be there for two reasons: To offer you aid by warning you of dangerous items or poisonous plants, and he will also act as the eyes and ears of Cosmos and Chaos. You will be under watch all of the time, so be sure to follow the rules!"
Mamoru nodded. Somehow he had become the leader and spokesperson for their tribe. "We will." The tribe turned and walked down through the forest in search of their new, temporary home. Artemis followed circumspectly, as a cat would.
Once the Temple Tribe had disappeared from sight and out of earshot, Helios turned his attention to the remaining group. "By default, you will make shelter at the Palace. As such," he paused his horn lighting up again, this time with a hot orange glow. Once again, buffs appeared on their right arms, this time orange and with a "Palace" logo on them. "Be forewarned that although it is warmer and more secure than the Temple, you will have to work hard to find enough food to keep up your strength. Luna will accompany you for the same reason that Artemis followed the Temple Tribe. Palace tribe I suggest you get a move on. The sun sets in a few hours."
They grumbled, with Kunzite and Makoto picking up the meager supplies provided, and made their way "home."
On the way to the Temple, Esmeraude had once again identified herself as by far, the most annoying member of the tribe. No one could bear her laughter and vanity for long, not even the long-suffering Setsuna or silent Sapphire. The more volatile Jadeite, Nephrite and Haruka were ready to strangle her when she let out another screech behind them.
"I'm so hot! Are we there yet? Aiieee!" her piercing shriek sent daggers threw everyone's eardrums. "My nail!"
Jadeite spun on her. He couldn't take the incessant chatter of this ninny any longer! "Can't you just shut up? Just for five minutes? Please!"
Her response? She laughed. "Five minutes!" she crowed, "Why I've been silent for hours and days! I'm the best at being silent there ever was!" She didn't have a fan, but she tried to hide her face coyly behind her hair and shoulder, laughing obnoxiously.
Jadeite was not amused. His eyes narrowed, he turned from her and stomped angrily away to the front of the procession. Maybe, just maybe her voice wouldn't carry quite so clearly at the front of the line. Jadeite could hope, couldn't he?
Somehow at the front of the group, Mamoru marched silently. On his back he had a haversack holding the beans, and he paused now and then to make sure he was going in the right direction.
"Endymion," Jadeite said.
Mamoru ignored him. This did not help Jadeite's mood. Although it was true that he was often cold, calculating and admittedly arrogant, today's events had just about pushed him over the edge. He was ready to fight, to take his frustrations out on someone, anyone, and here someone was… ignoring him!
Jadeite couldn't hold back anymore and slugged Mamoru hard on the shoulder. Mamoru dropped his sack of beans in shock and surprise. The surprised expression on Mamoru's face didn't soothe Jadeite's temper any. Mamoru behaved as if he hadn't even seen the blond Shitennou!
Mamoru held up a hand placatingly. He reached up to his ears and withdrew something… two small somethings, one from each ear! They were white and slightly fluffy. He smiled sheepishly. "Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were there. Esmeraude's laughter got on my nerves, and we passed some weird plant with fluffy stuff on it like cotton. I picked some up and made earplugs." He dug into his left pants pocket and withdrew a handful of the stuff. "Do you want some?"
It was Jadeite's turn to be surprised. Was this his enemy offering him something to make their journey more comfortable? How… utterly unexpected. Without his realizing it, Jadeite had reached out and plucked a small amount from Mamoru's hand, rolling it into balls to form makeshift earplugs. "Thanks," he muttered.
With a sigh, Jadeite noticed something remarkable! Although the sound of Esmeraude's laughter was still audible, it was now so distant that it only bothered him on a subconscious level. If he tried hard enough to think about something else… something like ruling the world, that is… it was almost like she wasn't even there. He sighed with relief, and bent to pick up the fallen sack of beans. He shrugged at Mamoru as if to say "it's my turn now." Typically, Jadeite made no overt gestures to show friendship, but he demonstrated something unexpected… gratitude.
Mamoru was about to speed up to catch the Shitennou before he disappeared into the forest underbrush when they suddenly broke through into a clearing. Before them stood a beautiful temple, but it looked neglected or abandoned. True, there were no broken pillars or fallen walls, but the entire structure looked… sad. Behind him, Mamoru heard a faint clanging. Now that they had stopped, he surreptitiously removed the fluff from his ears, somehow knowing that it would be invaluable tonight. In a group of eight people, half of whom he didn't know, someone was bound to be a snorer, fitful sleeper or worse… sleepwalker. He grinned wryly to himself, his expression thankfully invisible in the darkness. With their luck, Esmeraude would turn out to talk and laugh in her sleep.
Slowly, one by one, each member of the tribe broke through the brush into the clearing. Haruka arrived side by side with Sapphire. Strangely enough, the strong woman and quiet man had found a little bit of peace in each other's company. She carried another bag of supplies, while he carried the lighter, but bulkier utensils, which had been source of the earlier the clanging noise. Setsuna had offered to carry a load, but had been "chivalrously" prevented from doing so, surprisingly by Nephrite. It was odd, but the "bad guys" of the group didn't seem all that bad.
Next was Raye, carrying one of the most important pieces of gear, the flint. It had seemed appropriate somehow that their fire priestess carried the flint used to make fire. There was symmetry to it.
After Raye stumbled into the clearing, nearly dropping from fatigue, there was nothing for a long time. Mamoru sighed. Esmeraude. Wonderful. Would he have to go back through the forest, in the dark, looking for a person who he found frankly obnoxious? A high pitched shriek brought both relief and resignation. There she was. At least she hadn't gotten herself lost, but darn it, as Haruka said, where's the duct tape?
In the meantime, Raye had successfully started a fire, and Sapphire had begun dinner. Nephrite, Jadeite and Haruka had gathered fire and had made makeshift torches to explore their new "home."
It turned out that when Helios had said that the temple would not make a good shelter, he hadn't been temple was beautiful, but largely a structure consisting of pillars and a roof. With no walls, it would be very difficult to protect themselves from the elements or any aggressive animals.
On the plus side, Setsuna had discovered that the food situation was even better than they had hoped. While there was no pantry, refrigerator or minimart down the road, they were surrounded by an orchard loaded with fruit and there was a nearby lake where they could likely catch fish.
After their meal of surprisingly good rice and beans, the eight curled up around the fire to sleep. Everything else could wait for tomorrow and daylight.
On the other side of Elysion, the other tribe made their way to the Palace. Losing had already ruffled quite a few tempers, and petty arguments were beginning to erupt left and right. Diamond was picking at every suggestion or decision that Kunzite made, suggesting subtly that Kunzite's poor leadership was the reason why they had lost. This was particularly ironic, since their loss could be directly attributed to Diamond's pathetic performance on the monkey bars.
Meanwhile, Rubeus, being the ladies' man that he believed he was, had tried to hit on every woman, particularly annoying Michiru, who was already in a committed relationship with Haruka, and Makoto who refused to be treated like "a piece of meat."
He even made a few semi-fake passes at Zoicite telling him that he'd be "awfully cute in a dress and pair of heels."
That comment made Zoicite's fingers itch to hurl a nice crystal shard the size of a tree branch through Rubeus' torso. Of course, he admitted, doing so would break more than one of those silly rules. He'd not only be using the forbidden magic, but he would also severely injure a fellow player on purpose and outside the realm of one of the competitions.
Makoto, on the other hand, had to be forcibly held back from beating Rubeus to a pulp, or at least "changing his gender," as she said. Ami and Mina carefully ushered their thunderously angry friend away from the presence of that annoying redhead. In reality, they were protecting Rubeus, although he never would have admitted it.
Rubeus was also beginning to get on the nerves of Diamond, throwing outraged glares and not-so-subtly stated hints that he would have his revenge. The head of the Black Moon clan ignored his subordinate. This game was a bore and his tribemates were a bore and Elysion was a bore. All he could think of was the delectable Sailor Moon.
The group continued trudging along. Those towards the back of the queue did not know nor care where they went; only that they got there soon. Oddly, there was no moon that night. Usually, even a new moon gave a hint of light somewhere, but the night was utterly black. Suddenly, Kunzite stopped. Those who would not looking where they were going plowed into the one directly ahead. He could see it. He could see their palace.
Their palace. He could suddenly remember Beryl's voice, commanding him whether he wished to or not. He remember teaching his protégé Zoicite, dealing with the bickering of Nephrite and the fierce intensity of Jadeite. But this palace was different. It looked just like the Dark Kingdom palace, but this one had a different feeling to it. There was not the heavy, dank rot here that had hung about that other palace. No, this one was empty and lonely, if such a word could be used to describe a building, but it was neither dark nor evil in spirit.
Something deep inside resonated inside that broad chest. A heart which had been blinded was beginning to see again. The veil was lifting and he was beginning to feel confused. His eyebrows drew together as he forced his physical body to not respond to the insecurities his mind and heart were experiencing. Without a word or explanation or apology, he forged ahead, toward that palace of memories.
Despite the hunger experienced by the group, there was little they could eat without first being cooked among their supplies. So, they simply made camp inside the foyer of the palace. Tomorrow, when light broke they could figure out what to do next.