Another day, another memory.
Mamoru sat with his hands cupped around the shard of Jadeite, a comfortable heat pressing outwards against his fingers from the stone. This memory was from further back in time.
A blonde haired boy who could not have been more than twelve stood before him, covered in gaping wounds and still holding an aggressive fighting stance. The boy glared at him, some of his injuries so fresh they were dripping onto the gravel below them.
Endymion watched the boy's eyes, so fierce and full of hate. This boy would not surrender until he lay dying.
Letting out a sigh, he sheathed his sword, stepping back. The movement was awkward for him somehow, his leg-span shorter than he remembered even though he did not stumble as he moved. It was a disconcerting feeling, like being transplanted into a body two sizes too small.
Moments of insight were difficult while reliving a memory, but the thought made him realize that if Jadeite were only twelve, he likely was as well.
Before he could process this any further, he dodged a desperate lunge from the boy, who was still intent on battle. Kicking his knees from behind him, Endymion felt a little guilty as he watched him fall.
Sitting across his legs before he could stand, Endymion wrestled to get Jadeite's arms trapped behind him, resorting to a painful lock position when he slipped free twice.
"Enough!" Endymion ducked a backwards headbutt.
"It will never be enough!" Jadeite tried to wretch himself free from Endymion, little arms straining against the more muscled prince. "You bastards killed her!"
Endymion felt a stab of pain that he knew wasn't part of the memory. But what was it from then?
"You burned their entire village to ash! You killed my parents, my sisters! Everyone I ever knew! And for WHAT!" Jadeite was screaming, so filled with anger that his skin was reddening and hot to the touch.
"I didn't kill anyone!" Endymion protested, trying to keep his hold on the boy. "I swear to you on my honor!"
Jadeite threw himself forward, in another ridiculous and desperate effort to free himself. Endymion moved to sitting on his back when he fell forward. The blonde spat on the ground, and Endymion saw it was a slimy brown color.
"You HAVE no honor." Jadeite turned his head as far as he could, glaring sideways up at Endymion with more hate than a child should be capable of.
"I swear it on Elysian," Endymion said.
Jadeite stilled his struggle, still glaring at Endymion. "May the guardian of dreams let your soul be consumed by nightmares for eternity if your tongue lies."
Endymion nodded, releasing Jadeite.
The smaller boy pushed himself up, clenching his jaw instead of wincing whenever he rubbed up against an injury. "If you didn't kill them, who did?"
Endymion's eyes clouded over, and he closed them in a sigh hoping Jadeite hadn't noticed. "I don't know." But he had his suspicions.
Jadeite measured him with his gaze, like he were appraising a slave for potential purchase. Endymion felt uncomfortable under the scrutiny, but he didn't complain.
"If you don't know, you'll find out." Jadeite crossed his arms, eyes still narrowed on the young prince.
"I'll do no such thing," Endymion said, mirroring Jadeite's posture.
"You will," Jadeite said, taking a step forward. "And you'll appoint me as a member of your royal guard so that I can make sure you are true to your word."
"Why would I do such a thing? You are not even capable of defending yourself against me, how could you possibly hope to protect me from a greater foe?"
Shuffling his feet, Jadeite squared his shoulders and glared back up at Endymion "I've a gift for the craft," he admitted and Endymion couldn't help letting slip a tiny gasp. "I'll train with you, every day. I may not be very good now, but its well known that magic matures with age. One day I'll be a great asset to you as a guard."
Endymion frowned. He disliked Jadeite immensely. He didn't trust this boy enough to hold a seat for him, much less protect him with his life.
But he had honor, he was willing to die for a cause he felt justified. He wasn't very skilled as a fighter, but Endymion had enough scrapes to know that he would make a good soldier if he were trained properly. He had so much anger...
"No," Endymion said, shaking his head. "I cannot make you my royal guard. You would be a danger to myself and the kingdom. What's to stop you from killing me in my sleep for some misplaced slight? You have no discipline. And are touched as well...all know dark magic corrupts."
"Don't quote the scriptures at me," Jadeite said, wiping the blood dripping into his eyes off his eyebrows. "The royal family has had magic for thousands of generations, and somehow that makes them above us common folk who have the gift?"
Endymion frowned harder, he'd never thought too deeply about it, but Jadeite had a point. What separated the talents the royal line had been bestowed since written history began from the talents that the sorcerer's possessed?
"I will put you on my royal guard on one condition," Endymion said, not entirely sure he was making the right decision even as he said it. "You swear on the God of Dreams that you shall never harm me or those I love."
Jadeite nodded, "I swear it."
"Say the words," Endymion pressed. He didn't know if the magic in them would work without a direct phrase. He didn't know if there was magic in them at all, but he believed in the scriptures. At least, to an extent.
"I swear on Elysian and the God of Dreams that I shall never harm you or those you love, should you help me bring vengeance on whoever destroyed my village." There was a weight to his words that made Endymion feel more assured that this boy would not break them.
"Your vengeance is your own," Endymion said, but he uncrossed his arms. "But I will help you unmask the culprit. Such a heinous crime cannot be left unanswered."
Jadeite smiled, a vicious smile a bit too wide showing too many teeth.
It unsettled Endymion how much malice was in this young boy's smile.
But he'd made an agreement, and he was not compromise his word and his honor. "Come on, we need to go to the capital if we're to initiate you into my royal guard." Endymion smiled at an inside joke, "My parents will just love this."
Mamoru jolted back to Elysian, panting. He looked down at the stone in his hands. Squinting past blurry sweat-filled vision, he felt it with his fingers, probing. Had it been this large before?
"You have done well," Helios said, helping Mamoru stand. "Let us rest for the day and return tomorrow to the task."
Mamoru sighed, wishing he had more energy so he could continue, but he knew that if he pushed himself any further he would only pass out again.
They made their way to an outdoor pavilion, paved with yellowed grass and a few scattered weeds. Laying down in the grass, Mamoru closed his eyes against the glare of the sun. It burned a hot red behind his eyelids.
Helios sat beside him, and the two maenads had appeared sometime during their trek with fresh bread and water. Mamoru took it from them gratefully, chewing extra to soften the tough bread. It was better than yesterday's bread had been, but not by much. Wondering how they even made food inside the temple was
perplexing.
"I've been dreaming," Mamoru said, swallowing the last bite. "I don't know if its the memories or premonitions like I had when I first put on the mask, but I can't seem to shake these dreams."
Helios looked away, eyes downcast.
"You're the guardian of dreams, Helios. I knew it before, but after reliving today's memory of the silver millennium...I think the words are much more than a title." Mamoru pinned Helios with a searching look. "Are you a God?"
Helios laughed, his golden horn glinting in the bright sunlight. "No, I am just a guardian. There are no Gods, only spirits, guardians and greater beings. Or at least, there have been no Gods for as long as I can remember. Humans have worshiped all with powers greater than their own as holy figures since the beginning...and over time they have ascended us to such great heights as we could never hope to reach."
"Are you sending me these dreams?" Mamoru asked, running his hands over the browned edges of the grass.
"No. I could not even if I wished to. I guard beautiful dreams, I do not deliver them, with the exception of a crisis when I intentionally may breech the boundaries that separate me from the dreamer to transfer a message. I can prevent you from falling into the realm of nightmares, but I cannot give you a peaceful dream unless you are already well within one."
Mamoru sighed, running a hand through his hair.
He laid back down on the grass, watching the clouds amble by. How long would it be before he could see her again? He didn't know, but however long it took...he clenched his fists in the dirt...he'd continue until he was with her again.
******
Minako went with Ami as they visited Mamoru. He was still hooked up to countless machines only Ami could identify, pale and fragile looking compared to the intimidating figure he usually made.
Minako set a few sunflowers down on the table beside him. "I know you prefer roses," she teased, "but I think Usagi would roll over in her grave if she thought I was making a move on her man."
Ami lowered her head, pressing her lips together as she tried not to cry. "How can you make jokes like that?" Her voice was still thick.
Minako rubbed her eyes, sitting down on the edge of the bed since the room was windowless with only one chair which Ami occupied. "I've never been good with loss...I use to run, and run and run until I forgot where I was even going. I ran from Japan when I met Artemis, ran all the way from here to London before I stopped running. Flying to China wasn't enough. Flying from China to Russia wasn't enough. I couldn't accept that I wasn't me, that I was this strange mythical force with the power to call light and scale buildings." She sighed, twiddling with her blonde locks.
Ami was watching the heart monitor as Minako spoke, her mini-computer out taking auto-readings as she listened.
"When I got to London though, I just felt like it was time to stop. London was so miserable, it was cloudy and rained constantly. It smelled like iron and there was almost no warmth to it, just stone and brick and steel everywhere. The food was awful and I didn't understand anything anyone said to me. I felt like the area fit my mood I guess, it just felt more right than anywhere else had. Like I could be messed up and it would be messed up with me." Her lips quirked up slightly.
"But that damn cat followed me. He tailed me all the way to London, and wouldn't stop following me until I accepted who I was. My 'calling'." She shook her head. "I hated him for it. I couldn't bring myself to do anything to stop him, because I mean he's just too cute and furry...but I did hate him for it. With everything I had." She licked her lips. "I was bitter I guess, than this horrible burden had fallen on my lap from nowhere. I had dreams, I had goals, and being Sailor Venus would mean I had to give them up. I was still in denial." She shifted her weight a bit on the bed. "But after a few years there, I realized that no matter where I was, it wasn't going to change the fact that I'd been chosen. Artemis had found me, and there wasn't anyone else who could be Sailor V. London could pour and thunder until the end of time, but the only reason I wanted it to was because of how miserable I felt. And I realized how selfish I was being...I hadn't even told my parents where I was going, just that I wanted to see the world. I basically ran away from home with their money."
"I still have a really hard time accepting things like this," Minako said, a bit choked up. "But I've learned that running away won't fix it. But I don't think there is a fix for something this messed up. You have to do what you can to make it somehow better than it is, to move past it even if you can't ever accept it. Making jokes probably isn't the best way to move forward, but, it makes it less serious, ya know? Like maybe if I say something light enough...he might wake up laughing." She smiled a watery smile down at Mamoru. "At least then we'd have some hope."
Ami shook her head. "Usagi was our only hope. Even if Mamoru woke up, we still wouldn't have much time until the enemy breaks free."
Minako gave her a tortured look. "Please, I can't hear this right now. I know. I know..."
Ami bowed her head, typing on her compact while the beeping of the monitor and the clattering of the keys filled a heavy pause. She spoke quietly when she broke the white noise. "We have to face reality Minako...Usagi is gone and we have at most six months before the seal is too weak to hold it any longer." Ami closed her computer, swallowing a salty lump of fear and sorrow lodged in her throat. "We need to prepare everyone...as best we can."
Minako nodded, sniffling quietly. "I dunno I just feel like...I'm suppose to be the leader, but I failed so horrifically. I can't fail again. And I can't lead a team without any hope. We could use some morale right now. And Mamoru waking up would definitely give us that."
Ami stood from her chair and wrapped her arms around Minako. Minako stiffened against the other girl before relaxing, hugging her as well.
"You aren't a failure as a leader, Minako, you always do your best." Ami said, stepping back as her shyness returned. "We may not have Usagi or Mamoru anymore, but we still have each other. We're still a team." Ami's bottom lip trembled slightly. Minako gave her an equally emotional smile. "Even with Rei-"
Minako shook her head holding her hand up to quiet Ami. "Rei will come around. She's just processing this differently than the rest of us. She has a stronger sense of duty than most."
Ami didn't voice her disagreement, but her expression showed it.
"Come on, we'll visit him again tomorrow." Minako hooked her arm through Ami's, steering them towards the door. "And maybe next time we can get Makoto to come with us."
The door closed with an echoed thud.
AN: Why is a 12 year old Endymion wandering around outside the capital alone? Who burned Jadeite's village to ash? What enemy are the girls facing? What is wrong with Rei? Muahahaha I'll never tell.
