Chapter 2: A Moment of Peace
It was an exceptionally beautiful day in the city of Tokyo, Japan. High above the busy streets of the city's central core, the bright sun shined down upon the land warming the early autumn afternoon air. The clear baby blue skyline was lightly filled with white fluffy clouds which gently and slowly moved across the vast expanse of open space. Every so often, a small flock of black-tailed gulls would appear as they flew overhead before disappearing into a group of trees or around the corner of one of the tall buildings. The black and grey colours of their feathers made them very easy to spot among the bright natural light of the afternoon.
In Riverside Park, the picturesque scene was no different. Many people had taken to the outside to enjoy the day's warm weather. Quite a few were inside the park doing a variety of activities such as walking dogs, having a picnic on one of the grass covered hills, or tossing a frisbee with some friends. In the centre of the park was the area designed for the younger children. This was the spot where the swings, slides, water jets and spring horses were located.
A group of young children were laughing and frolicking about as they climbed and explored the various large and brightly coloured playground apparatuses. They raced each other up and down the chain-link ladder and back and forth over the arched wooden plank bridge. Every once and awhile one of the braver kids would attempt to slide down the fire pole or climb up one of the two slides. They ran up and down in a continuous loop. They slid down the slides and broke into an excited run as soon as their feet touched the sand covered the area before climbing back onto the equipment to do it again. Their endless amounts of energy and bright happy faces made it impossible for anyone with a gentle soul to not smile and feel good about life in general. For Makoto Kino, who was one of the several observers watching the children as they played, she was certainly no exception to this feeling.
She was sitting on a park bench facing the playground. Her legs were crossed at the ankles and her hands rested lightly in her lap. Her long curly brown hair was tied back into her usual ponytail with two thin strands of hair hanging loosely down either side of her face. She was still dressed in the uniform of her high school, Tenth Street High. Her school uniform consisted of a navy blue skirt and a loose white long sleeve shirt that had matching navy blue wrist cuffs. Her shirt had a large square collar and bow that also matched the navy blue. A dark red line ran along the interior of the collar and horizontally through the middle of each of her wrist cuffs. A pair of black slip-on shoes with a small heel wedge completed her outfit.
As she continued to watch the children play her mind drifted, remembering previous times where she had taken a moment from her busy life to appreciate such simple pleasures like this. She had found herself coming to places like this more recently than she had in the past. She felt that she knew the reason why but for the moment, she gently shook her head and refocused her attention on the nice tableau occurring before her. She re-positioned her body on the bench by shifting her body weight. The hard wood of the bench was pressing into the back of her thighs causing her minor discomfort.
After she found a more satisfactory position, she returned to the postcard and photograph lying in her lap. She had been staring at them before the laughter of the small children caught her attention. The postcard had been mailed from Cape Town, South Africa. On one side was a beautiful image of the city with its mixture of large office buildings and smaller structures lining the vast sandy shoreline of the southern Atlantic Ocean. The other side of the card displayed a short note written in perfect Japanese.
Makoto
I miss you and can't wait until my task is finally completed. The reported occurrences of this demonic species are becoming less and less. I hope that means that I am nearing the end of my journey and I can finally come back to your loving arms. I hope you and the girls have been continuing to receive the care packages that I have been sending. I have enclosed a picture of some of the young people that are still around today due to my timely involvement.
Eternally yours,
Sean
Makoto sighed and closed her eyes as she let those words echo in her head for a while. The image of the ocean-side city appeared behind her closed eyes and her imagination began to take over. She wanted nothing more than to travel the world with Sean and visit places such as Cape Town with him. She had always been a romantic at heart and longed to have a boyfriend hold her tight in their arms as they looked out over a majestic piece of landscape.
One of the places she wanted to see was Rome, Italy. She had seen pictures of it when she was younger. The architecture of the buildings, both new and old, made the city seem simply incredible. She knew that Sean had been there several times during the time he had been a nomad before meeting up with and joining the Sailor team. He had told her in great detail about the city itself, the remains of the Coliseum, and the preserved ruins of Ancient Rome. The way and manner he had described the city only served to strengthened her resolve to see it for herself before her time was permanently up on this planet.
She had never had the opportunity to travel outside of Japan so the dream of seeing faraway lands, and the romantic settings that they provided, greatly appealed to her. However, her paralyzing fear of airplanes was the one major obstacle that stood in her way of experiencing this beautiful dream. Ever since her parents were killed in a plane crash when she was very young she had been unable to be near any sort of aircraft without suffering a severe panic. Her fear had grown to the point where even having a plane fly in the sky above her would cause her body to violently tremble and shake.
She and Sean had talked about her crippling fear several times in the past. He had promised to help her overcome her aerophobia when he returned from completing his final task for the Illuminati. The Illuminati was the central organization in charge of personally defending the Earth. She wasn't sure if Sean would be able to succeed in that particular vow but she had total faith that he would try everything possible to return to her as soon as he could.
She turned her attention to the photograph. A group of small young boys and girls were huddled around Sean in his full Carnage costume. His frightening appearance did not seem to bother the young children some of them even embraced him and wrapped their small arms around his arms and neck. The children looked to be around the ages of six and seven. There were a few adults in the picture as well. Makoto guessed that they were the mothers of some of the children in the picture. They were standing to the left and right of the main group of children and Carnage. The smiles on their faces showed that they were enjoying the happiness of the moment as much as the children and Makoto hoped they were also grateful to this special person for saving their precious little ones.
Makoto tilted her head up and closed her eyes again as a smile stretched across her face. She was proud that Sean was making such a difference in the world and helping so many people at the same time.
"What have you got there in your hands Mako-chan?"
Makoto's head snapped forward as the sudden question cut through her quiet reflection. She recognized the voice as belonging to her dear friend, Usagi Tsukino. She turned her head and saw that not only was Usagi there but all of her close friends. Minako Aino, Ami Mizuno and Usagi were all dressed in their school uniforms, the same navy blue and white assemble from Tenth Street High. Rei went to a Catholic high school so her uniform was completely different from the others.
Makoto's smile grew as she looked at the smiling faces of her best friends. She held the picture and postcard out for them to see knowing that they wouldn't leave her alone until she did so. Usagi and Minako eagerly snatched the items from her and stared intently at them. Rei and Ami peered over their shoulders as their interest and curiosity had been peaked. Makoto remained sitting on the bench and continued to smile as she let her friends' infectious enthusiasm wash over her.
"Ohhh… South Africa! That is a change. Wasn't he in Switzerland last month?" Minako chirped.
"Oh yes, that Swiss chocolate he sent me was incredible!" Usagi beamed with a wide smile.
"Usagi! You haven't finished the whole ten pounds already, did you?" Rei sighed, knowing the answer already.
"Of course! I finished that after three days!" Usagi stated proudly.
"You are going to gain weight and then Mamoru will be sad!" Rei countered.
"Ohhh… what is that supposed to mean Rei?" Usagi replied with surprise and clear annoyance.
Ami turned her head away from them and Minako rolled her eyes. They both knew what was about to happen. As Rei and Usagi squared off for another one of their shouting matches, Minako grabbed the postcard from Usagi's hand so that it wouldn't get damaged in the rapidly approaching version of their usual comedy routine. Ami took a second look at the photograph when Minako returned to a spot beside her.
"Another group of kids he saved from the War Wolves?"
Makoto nodded her head to answer her question. Sean's final task for the Illuminati Council was the complete extinction of the demonic species known as the War-Wolf. These were demons were much like the classic interpretation of the werewolf, completely covered in coarse black fur with razor-sharp claws. This specific breed of demon hunted in packs and became bipedal when they reached adulthood, unlike their smaller cousins. The traditional version of werewolves, often featured in many works of literature, depicted them as retaining some small shard of humanity from their human hosts. These War-Wolves were pure demon, and very savage and feral. The main reason they had received the full attention of the Illuminati was their primary choice of food: children under the age of seven.
Alistair, the liaison charged with assigning Sean this specific mission, had misled them when he had agreed to let him take a permanent position in Japan after completing this final assignment. When explained at the airport, they believed it would be a one stop search-and-destroy type of task. This genre of operation usually meant finding the nest/lair of the targeted enemy and killing all the occupants that were present.
However, the War-Wolves had actually spread to several different locations around the world. There were confirmed sightings as far north as Moscow, Russia and as far south as Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It had been extremely frustrating for all of them when Alistair's deception had been revealed. Makoto and her friends came to understand that these children needed to be protected, and that she couldn't ask Sean to turn his back on them just for the sake of their individual happiness.
It had been a very tough year and a half, but they had managed to stay in frequent contact with each other. He had sent them gifts from the different countries that he visited and had not missed any of their birthdays and did whatever he could to stay involved in their lives despite the great distances between them. So in a way, he was still with them, even it was only in spirit.
"How was cooking club today Mako-chan?" Ami asked to break the silence.
"It was ok. We made apple pies today. Though the teacher's recipe was not as good as mine." Makoto said with a hint of pride.
Ami giggled at Makoto's comment. She was happy that her friend was coping enough to retain her sense of humour. She couldn't imagine what it must be like to be in a long distance relationship like Makoto was. It was true that she had previously had something similar about two years ago when she had gone on a few dates with a young boy named Ryo Urawa. He had moved away shortly after their second date because of his father's work. They had remained in touch through phone calls and letters, and even occasionally visited each other when their busy schedules allowed. The last time they had seen each other in person was just under a year ago when his scheduled visit to her ended with him involvement in their battle with Apsu and the Opposito Senshi. When that threat was defeated they lost touch and she was now beginning to worry about him.
"There was talk about making me captain of the volleyball club today!" Minako reported with some playful smugness.
"That's awesome Minako. You will do great in that role if they choose you." Makoto said.
Minako smiled and blushed a little at Makoto's vote of confidence. True to her nature she quickly recovered and made a peace sign with two of her fingers. Her smile changed from sweet and innocent to confident and proud.
"Of course I will! I am the best!" Minako stated.
Rei and Usagi finished their petty argument and tongue-lashing to rejoin the group. Minako handed the postcard and photograph back to Makoto, who quickly glanced down at them again. Usagi and Ami sat down on the bench on either side of her while Minako and Rei took positions behind them in the open spaces between.
"So…what are we going to do today? Usagi inquired.
"We could go to the Crown Game Centre and have a driving game tournament." Minako suggested.
"Mina-chan… you just want to beat all of us again so you can brag about it" Rei countered.
"Not true Rei! Ami almost beat me last time. Today could finally be the day that I get dethroned!" Minako shot back.
The girls looked at her with rolled eyes. It was crystal clear what their expressions were saying in response to her comment. Minako saw the looks from them and maintained her composure. She gave them a wide grin and held her hands up in a dismissive gesture.
"Your right. I would still win. So what are our other options then?"
The girls were silent for a minute as they each thought about possibilities. It was a late autumn afternoon, and too cold for the beach. The Crown Fruit Parlour was the obvious choice as it had become their new hangout following the destruction of the Death Buster organization. However, the girls wanted to do something more fun than sit around slipping fruit flavoured tea or smoothies for the rest of the day.
"Hey! There is that new movie starring that dreamy Reynolds guy. We should go check that out!" Minako said after some silence.
"Oh my god… that sounds great! I love that guy!" Makoto chirped.
"He is cute but my Mamoru is way cuter!" Usagi proudly said.
"Ohh Usagi! Enough already." Rei loudly sighed, putting her hand to her face.
"Are you in Ami?" Minako asked, trying to avoid another square between the two friends.
"Sure, he is a good actor and very easy on the eyes." Ami quietly replied with a smile.
The girls stopped their individual conversations to stare at Ami. They were completely surprised by her unexpected comment. It was rare for Ami to talk about anything that wasn't related to school, chess, or academics. The girls' intense staring made Ami's face blush bright red. She covered her face with her book bag, and her blue eyes widened with embarrassment as her shy nature broke to the surface again.
"Ok, so let go then! If we hurry, we can catch the next showing."
Makoto carefully tucked the postcard and photograph back inside her book case before standing up. The girls stood from the bench at the same time. They grouped together and began to walk towards the Juban movie multiplex. They continued to laugh and talk as they walked. These moments helped Makoto push any thoughts of Sean and her loneliness from her mind.
7 years ago … December 26th 2004
It was pitch black in every direction. A strong wind blew across the rough ocean water. It moved at a stronger force than normal for the time of year. It was the day after Xmas for many of the people on Earth a day laughingly called Boxing Day.
He hovered over the ocean water as the waves licked at his brown boots. He did not pay any attention to them as he prepared himself for the sole purpose of him coming to this spot. Queen Beryl had told him to take his assignment to the next level. She had been very pleased with his past successes in creating global unrest among the Earth's population thus far but now wanted to further increase the feelings of fear and sadness among its inhabitants.
Over the past eight years his careful manipulations of the so called War on Terror had bred some delicious fruit. The confidence he had instilled in the Al-Qaeda organization had caused them to launch successful attacks on two United States embassies in Africa and a daring assault on the United States warship: the U.S.S. Cole. Their latest act was a series of explosions in the subway system of Madrid, Spain. He had been especially pleased with that specific operation it had resulted in 191 deaths.
Queen Beryl had felt it was now time to change strategies. He and his minions needed to be extremely careful now. Up until then, they had used cloaking spells to provide and plant falsified information to the people in power and eliminated anyone that could directly identify them once they had out-lived their usefulness. There could be absolutely no suspicion of the Dark Kingdom's involvement or the world's leaders would turn their attention on them. That would make their lives unnecessarily difficult.
It had recently dawned on him that influencing the forces of nature would be a perfect way to both further distract the Earth's people, allowing the Dark Kingdom to continue to operate un-noticed as well as kill more people that could eventually pose as opposition for them when they finally took direct action against the people of Earth.
His lieutenant, Danburite, had found a location that would allow him to cause a massive tidal wave that would spread outwards to the nearby landmasses. Those countries had very high populations, meaning number of casualties would be very high, which is exactly what he wanted.
He outstretched his arms while extending his fingers and flexing the large muscles underneath his uniform. It was time, he thought to himself. He brought his arms out in front of him. As he tilted his body forward his hands aimed down towards the water. He focused his mind on the satellite pictures that Danburite had provided him and visualized the Sunda Trench located far below the ocean's surface.
As he firmly concentrated on his target he felt his telekinetic power take hold of either side of the trench. When he felt his psychic hold was secured he slowly began to spread his arms outwards, widening the gap between the two pieces of the Earth's crust. It was taking all of his concentration and effort to perform such an awesome display of raw magical power. Beads of sweat started to form and drip down the side of his face, and his hands trembled a bit as the physical toll on his body began to take effect.
Once he felt the gap was wide enough to suit his overall purpose he quickly switched his attention to the part of the Earth's crust known as the India Plate, which made up one side of the trench. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He brought forth the image of the underwater photograph of the plate that his other servant, Lagos, had given him. He intensely concentrated again as he used his inhuman power to push down on the plate. The incredible downward push from his magic caused the plate to slide under the other side of the Sunda Trench, known as the Burma Plate.
He felt the physical resistance ripple through his brain as the rough surface of the ocean floor pushed past the underside of the Burma Plate. He grunted loudly as he forcibly willed his power to continue to move the land mass more and more, inch by inch. Loud thundering cracks and snaps could be heard from somewhere deep below the ocean's surface. They echoed off the rolling waves and sharply blowing night air. With one final burst of raw mental power, he drove the plate even further beneath the Burma Plate. A single earsplitting thunderclap sound, much louder than before, pierced the quiet night air.
The water underneath him rippled and began to violently churn as the natural forces released from his actions began to take effect. A few seconds later, a gigantic air bubble erupted from the water as it splashed upwards with seemingly incredible force. He quickly surrounded himself in a sphere of semi-transparent purple energy to protect himself from the unbelievable amount of geological energy released from the collision of the two tectonic plates.
The air bubble's surface break, when added with the churning of the water caused by the shift in the land masses underneath it, created a series of large waves that spread out in a perfect 360 degree circle from his location. As he watched the waves flow at high speeds away from him he saw that they were getting bigger and picking up speed as they raced towards the nearest land mass.
It is done, he pleasantly thought to himself. Now he had go back to his base and watch the news reports about the devastation those waves were going to cause in the short amount of time they would make landfall. He was very confident that Queen Beryl would be pleased with the results of this operation. Perhaps his success here would finally be enough to secure his position as the Grand General from that pompous upstart, Kunzite. It always brought him great pleasure when he was able to take that arrogant blow-hard and his clingy protégée, Zoisite, down a peg or two.
He watched the waves as they disappeared over the horizon to the north and east of him. It was just after midnight which marked the start of a brand new day. In just a few hours the people in this part of the world would be waking up from their deep sleeps. They would open their eyes and see their way of life washed away by the unforgiving power of the ocean. That delightful realization was very amusing to him and his smile grew wider as he thought about how the people of Earth would never know the real truth behind the tidal waves and the massive earthquake that had caused them.
He began to laugh loudly as he disappeared in a glimmer of white light which briefly lit up the dark night sky before returning to the dead and quiet calm that it had been a few minutes before.
End of Chapter 2…