The Return of the Crystal Senshi
Death in the Family
Savagekitty
"It SHRANK! For the love of God, what am I suppose to do now?!" Emerald held her senshi fuku up from the washer and ground her teeth. Usagi looked around the taller woman's shoulder and giggled, "It will fit my bunny now."
"Very funny." Emerald sighed and tossed it into the dryer, "That was a custom made fuku based off the white dress uniform I wore when I touched the Silver Crystal. I should have had it dry cleaned." She kicked the apartment washer and leaned on it, crossing her arms. It had been a week since she had landed in twenty first century Tokyo. Usagi had taken her to buy some more clothing, Emerald promising to pay her back, but Usagi insisting it's the least she could do. Mamoru was brought up to speed, he was a little put out by having his memories brought back, but he cooled down after Emerald cooked him his favorite dinner. Men are so easy to please, Emerald had thought as she opened the over that night.
Currently, Usagi and Emerald had tried to wash Emerald's white fuku, it had been covered in mud when Emerald landed from the Time Gate. Now, though, it was useless. She could fight in anything, but she found the fuku the easiest the move in. She sighed and pursed her lips, "Well, plan B. Usagi, wanna go shopping?"
Usagi grinned, "Does the Pope live in Rome?"
The darkness closed in around her and she gasped, awaking. Esmeralda panted heavily as she pulled the bedcovers up to her chest. Saphir stirred beside her and put a hand on her thigh, "What's wrong?"
Esmeralda shook her head, "Nothing…nothing. I'm fine. I have to get up." She got out of bed, leaving Saphir to roll back to sleep. She went into the bathroom and stared at herself in the mirror. Since Black Lady had taken over the ruling of the kingdom, Esmeralda was scared she would be the next to go. The Dark Man, she knew, had taken over that senshi they had captured, and now the Black Lady was Demande's plaything. Or at least… Demande was Black Lady's play thing. Esmeralda had been the guardian of Demande since she was old enough to hold a weapon. She looked at her reflection, at the dark circles under her eyes, the crows feet and frown lines at her mouth. She saw silver streaks through her light greenish colored hair and her cheeks weren't as rosy as they used to be. She was the same age of Demande, yet, she looked older. She pulled the skin back from her left eye, looking at the pink and red veins it revealed. She let go, and the skin didn't snap back as quickly as it once did.
After a shower and a round of makeup, she felt she was ready to go down to the banquet hall and eat. Though, when she got there, she wished she hadn't. There sat the Black Lady. She was at the head of the long table, talking softly to Demande. Lesser members of the family sat up and down at the table and Esmeralda sat as far as she could get without suspecting she was eavesdropping. She helped herself to the gruel they always ate and sighed, looking at it. If they did finally conquer Earth, she was looking forward to eating apples. She had heard so much about apples from her mother, the stories had been passed down through her family for so long, she could taste the dark red skin and the white flesh as she ate her gruel.
She turned an ear towards the conversation that the Prince and Black Lady were having. They chatted about the peoples of Pluto and the current goings on, on Earth. Esmeralda noted, that since Black Lady had come, Demande had not lost control of himself. Not that she had seen. Sleeping with Saphir for so long, she knew Demande suffered from a disease that made him think he was one person one moment and another person the next. It was from so much inbreeding. Esmeralda had witnessed the change for herself many times and it made her skin crawl.
Esmeralda was just finishing her breakfast when Black Lady looked up and smiled at her, "My dear, Esmeralda. I have a job for you."
Fisting her hands under the table, she looked towards the new queen and smiled, "Yes, M'Lady?" She had been dreading this. The Sisters had gone out, following the senshi through the silver mists and to the Gates of Time and they never returned. Well, it hadn't yet been a week since they had disappeared, but everyone figured they were dead. Black Lady had to have known they were no match against senshi. They were the poorest of fighters by themselves, mildly alright together, but still. And day before yesterday, Rubeus, the only person the Sisters listened to besides Saphir, had been sent down to Earth to find the Holder of the Crystal. He hadn't reported in yet.
"My dear, I have a very special job for you! Rubeus has just sent a message he suspects that the Holder of the Crystal is in a place called Japan. I would like you to go down and help him find her." The Black Lady smiled, her face a mask of sweetness. Esmeralda knew what was behind that mask. The Dark Man. The one that had guided the royal family for centuries. The Dark Man had twisted that senshi from Earth, turning her into something… wrong. When she first appeared to the public, she had wore a dress so tight, it left no imagination, it had a slit up her upper thigh and flowed out at the bottom. Esmeralda couldn't figure out how she could walk. Her light brown hair was in a mass of curls that had shocks of magenta running through it, and her eyes… the blackness of them with only that tiny speck of white so you knew where they were looking…
Esmeralda stood and bowed, leaving to ready herself for her mission. It only took an hour and she went to Earth. Rubeus was suppose to contact her, so she waited in the area called Park. She was in awe of the greenery, leaves, trees, water. Pluto had none of these, only pictures. She sat in the grass and laid in it, enjoying the softness. The sun rained down on her warmly and she closed her eyes. It was beautiful. As she lay in the grass, she thought, if the Black Lady was a senshi, why didn't they just release the Queen Serenity, and use HER crystal to start their domination of the solar system?
A shadow fell over her and she opened her eyes. Rubeus stood beside her, looking down at her, "A little old to be grass rolling, aren't we?"
She stood, brushing her skirt off, "I've never seen grass before, Rubeus. So where is this Welder of the Silver Crystal? The faster we find her, the faster I can pick out a little spot of Earth and just bask in the warm sunshine."
He sighed and shook his head and they headed off towards the busy street. They walked in silence for a long while as they wandered around the busy Tokyo business district. Esmeralda finally stopped to take a breath, "Do we have to go so quickly?"
"I want to get this over with, Essy. Do you know what Black Lady did to the Sisters? When they returned… oh jeez. I don't even want to talk about it. They were good people and she just…"
Esmeralda blinked, "I thought…I hadn't heard they came back from…"
"They did, they lost, Essy. And she…she skinned them."
Esmeralda swallowed, "Skinned them?"
Rubeus nodded heavily, "Alive."
Esmeralda held a hand over her mouth and closed her eyes. When she opened them, she tugged on his arm, "Come on, we better go."
They walked around the city all day and as the sun began to set, Esmeralda demanded they stop and at least eat. They went into a small restaurant and sat down. She looked at the menu, unsure of what to order, but when she saw apple pie, she ordered a whole pie. Rubeus glared at her as he ordered a hamburger. She shrugged, Rubeus was able to pop between Earth and Pluto for years to do resonance for the Cause, but she was stuck on Pluto all her life. She wanted to enjoy her time on Earth, for as long as she had. She looked around the restaurant, just enjoying the different people that ate there. Her eyes rested on a woman with bright red hair. Esmeralda wondered if it was real or dyed, if it was dyed, it was a good job. The woman stood, revealing a blond and a young man and Esmeralda looked at the man. She felt her chest flutter, "Oh my…"
Rubeus looked over his newspaper he has picked up somewhere and looked at her, "What?"
Esmeralda blinked at him, "What? I'm sorry, I… I thought… I was admiring the…uh…food here…"
Rubeus shook his head as she turned back towards the small group of people. They were leaving! She panicked slightly and excused herself to the ladies room and followed them out into the night. It was chilly and the small couple walked down the street slowly. The blond wrapped in the mans arms and the redheaded woman walking beside them, talking in a low voice to the man. Esmeralda followed slowly, watching them. She had never seen humans before. They acted like… she did, and the others on her planet. She was confused. Why were they trying to destroy them? Couldn't they just live together?
Finally, the three turned a corner and Esmeralda stopped following. She went back to the restaurant and sat back down, her face twisted in confusion. Rubeus looked at her and called the waiter to bag their food to go. He took her outside and back to the park, which was a long walk to go at in silence. When back in the park, he sat her down and kneeled in front of her, "Look…Essy…"
She shook her head, looking down, "I… No… I mean. I don't know what I mean." She started laughing and that turned into crying, "I don't know what I want anymore, Rubeus… I thought I knew but not now, not anymore. This has changed everything. I saw love tonight, Rubeus. Real honest love and it was beautiful. I felt such warmth from those people… it frightened me. I…can't… I can't do this."
She stood and sprinted across the grass in the moonlight, she turned and looked back at Rubeus, and then she disappeared.
She threw open Demande's bedroom door and stalked in. Demande sat up, Black Lady chuckled and lay sideways on the bed, propping her head up on her arm, "So, Esmeralda, find it already did you?"
"No, Black Lady, what I found was far more important. I saw love tonight. First hand. Love. Real love. Why are we trying to destroy the humans? What have they done to us? With you powers, why not just bust the Queen from her crystal coffin and use that crystal?"
Black Lady chuckled louder and sat up, not bothering with covering her nakedness, "My dear…"
"I don't understand why, my Prince. Why take this creature into your bed?" Esmeralda stood closer to the bed, "I love you Demande. I saw what love is and I know that's what I feel. Please Demande…"
Black Lady stepped off the bed and came up to Esmeralda, "You poor thing… You're delusional… time on Earth has rotted your brain. This is what I mean, Demande. We need to purge Earth before we can live there. Come, Esmeralda, I'll take you to your room." She steered her out and closed the doors. Esmeralda, sobbing, started down the hallway. Black Lady stopped her, grabbing her arm.
"You almost ruined it, you little whore." She pulled Esmeralda back, ripping her arm from the socket. She put a hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming.
Rubeus appeared then, "Oh GOD! Black Lady, no!" He strode forward, taking Esmeralda in his arms, "Shhh… It's ok…"
He looked back at the nude woman, who still held Esmeralda's arm. A servant, who heard Rubeus's scream. Rubeus handed Esmeralda over to the servant and Black Lady gave over the arm. The servant led Esmeralda to the hospital wing as Rubeus stayed, staring at Black Lady, "Why would you do that?"
"She was talking crazy. Foolish thing to the Prince. He is in a very weakened state at the moment and could not bear to listen. I did her a favor. She can't just step out of line like that. It was really for her own good."
"Own good? Black Lady, you may have power of the Prince but you can't just…"
"I can't? I can't what, Rubeus?" She stepped closer to him, he took a step back, hurriedly and stumbled. He fell on his back and she bent beside him, smiling, "You too, you too are being crazy, Rubeus and I can not have it. I already have to deal with the Prince." She sighed, shaking her head, as if she were scolding a child. She put a hand over his mouth and leaned down, almost like she would kiss him. Her face hovering over his, a smile spread over her face as she plunged her other hand through his chest, breaking the breast bone and grabbing his heart. She ripped it out as he withed on the floor. She held it up to his eyes and squeezed, squeezing blood from it like an orange. She dropped it on the ground and removed her hand from his mouth when he stopped moving. She stood and started back towards Demande's room. She looked back once and snapped her fingers, the body disappearing. She fixed a smile to her face and licked her hand clean of blood before going back in to her prince.
End Chapter Six
