Clotho stood at a distance from her sisters as they observed the unconcious boy. Lachesis, her second oldest sister stood over him like a champion in a boxing ring. Her once greyish skin seemed to have become revitalized as she stroked his face. A smile was present from ear to ear and she randomly would laugh with a twisted happiness.
"The power of destiny is flowing within me!" She seemed to radiate power. "Oh! It feels so good to be able to decide someone's fate!" Clotho turned away from the scene.
Lachesis and Clotho had descened upon the boy and Clotho had struck out with her spindle rising him into the air. Her sister had then raised her staff, and a power had flowed through her. She had looked into his soul and saw the two beings fighting for control, and then, she had interceded. She had used her power to decide his fate, just like she had done when they had ruled. It seemed to have revitalized her, but Clotho, she had watched with mixed feelings.
Her oldest sister pried Lachesis' hands off of the boy and scolded her.
"He is Deep Blue, and not some pet to play with." She said bitterly. "We must leave him here to heal and awaken fully from his seal." She explained leading her sister away and leaving the boy on a stone bed. "Once Deep Blue is awakened, I will reach in and cut the life of the boy who now has control of the body." Lachesis laughed wickedly.
"And then you will feel this awakening of power as well!" Clotho closed her eyes in order to block out their words. Why did she feel this way? She should have a relentless feeling of joy within her just like her sister, but the joy was replaced by some new feeling. She looked back at the boy who lay awaiting Deep Blue and death to overtake him. She glanced as her sisters left the room and slowly she descended to be closer to him. He looked as if he were waging a feirce war inside him and Clotho felt a sharp pain in her heart. Was this how it felt to take a life? Her sisters had always decided the fates of others, but Clotho had only helped them live. The boy reached out in a mad furry.
"Ichigo..." He murmered and Clotho stared at his fevered face. The image of the girl who had tried to stop them flashed within her memory and Clotho fetl another sharp pain. She had cried out with such anguish when she had seen the boy being taken. Clotho shivered as her voice echoed in her ears. "You'll pay for this!" A tear streamed down her face as the boy cried out once more. She quickly wiped it away. NO! She must not feel this way! This guilt... the name of the feeling came to her and she turned away from the boy.
She had murdered him. She had lead her sisters to him, and now he lay on the stone slab waiting for a new power to over take him and then her sister, The Fate of Death, would reach in with her dreaded shears and cut out his life. Her hands balled into fists. "Stop!" Her mind demanded. "It is your duty to you father! He must die!" She looked over her shoulder and back to the boy. His hand had moved closer to hers and she felt the urge to grab onto it, but she resisted. She turned away once more and began walking out of the room. Another cry filled her ears and she paused without looking back.
"Don't leave... Ichigo..." Clotho stood unmoving, but her heart beat violently in her chest. How could she just walk away?
She did though. She walked away and as she saw her sisters working she turned to her own work. She began to spin, but without any power awakened within her, she would not spin any new life threads. She stopped spinning as this struck her. She would never again spin a life thread. She wouldn't be able too. She had just soiled her hands with death, and without giving life, she would not be able to reawaken her powers of life and her thread would just remain a simple thread. She sat starring at the white thread before her and slowly her vision began to blurr with her tears... ever since they had been freed from their eternal prison, she had went along with her sisters' every move and on the outside she had seemed to enjoy it, she had made herself enjoy it. Now though, Clotho realized, she saw the truth of how she felt. Clotho glance to make sure her sisters were not watching her and she dried her eyes. A loud yell filled their realm and the two oldest fates ran to where the boy was transforming, and Deep Blue was awakening. Clotho remained at her spindle and worked still. The spiders, her new symbol of death crawled around her and she hated them. Aother scream reached her and she stood up covering her ears. "Stop It!" She screamed at herself, but she could not shake herself out of this terror. One more scream broke her and she slowly moved her hands off of her ears.
She could not stop it, this was who she was, The Fate of Life, and not anything else. She rushed after her sisters. She had to stop them! They could not kill the boy! She reached the cavern just as her sister cut out his life.
Ichigo sat at the table while everyone around her, both Sailor Senshi and Mew Mew, rushed around her live a swarm of bees. She only caught park of what they were saying, and in truth she did not care. Words were passed around the Senshi as they seemed to try and reconcile Aoyama's true identity with their own knowledge. Names like Moonlight Knight and Mistress 9 held no meaning to Ichigo, but only the fact that Aoyama-kun was missing and Deep Blue had awakened. Ichigo put her head on the table and her tears began to flow once more.
"Aoyama-kun... Come back to me..." She whispered. Suddenly her soul felt as if it were being torn in two and a sharp pain went through her entire being. She grasped at her heart and began to take in sharp breaths. "Aoyama.." She gasped.
"Ichigo!" The girls around her rushed to her side and so did Ryou.
"Ichigo, what is it?" He asked and Ichigo found that the pain prevented her from speaking. She collapsed forward and he caught her mid-fall. "Ichigo!" The pain ripped through her chest and it felt as if half of her soul was being destroyed.
"Aoyama-kun!" Her soul screamed out. A soft voice echoed within her calling out her name as well, but it began to fade as the pain increased. "Masaya!" She gasped for air as she felt his light go out. "Aoyama-kun!"
The severed life thread was removed and her oldest sister closed the body's heart. "Now all we have to do is wait for the body to fill with the soul of Deep Blue." The oldest's body seemed to e revitalized once moe, just like Lachesis'.
Clotho stood breathing heavily as she starred at the body. He was dead, and she was his murderer, as sure enough as if she had cut the thread herself. The two sisters looked at the body with expectation while Clotho looked at it with dread. How could she have just stood by and let this happen? The oldest sister grabbed Lachesis' arm and began to lead her away. "Our work is done, all we must do is wait." They walked past Clotho who could ony keep starring at the boy's defeated body. Once her sisters were gone she walked up to the boy. Tears began to stream down her face as she felt that his once fevered hands were now stone cold. She picked up his severed life thread and held it close to her heart. She had done this, she had killed him. A tear fell onto the life thread and slowly it began to glow faintly. Clotho's tear-filled eyes stared in disbelief. He was still there!
Her mouth opened slowly as she began to realize she still had a chance to save him. She took the two strands and began to interweave them. He was clinging onto life, and Clotho would give him his chance. The girl who had tried to save him screamed in her mind once more, the boy's name: Aoyama. The girl was the key to saving him, her desire to save him would keep his soul there. If they were true soulmates, her love would keep him there.
"Aoyama-kun..." Clotho whispered onto the threads. "She wills you to live Aoyama-kun. She needs you to live! Don't give up on her, Aoyama-kun!" She knew that his soul would be stirred to live on with this purpose, Clotho just had to help him keep this desire alive. The thread's glow went in and out like a florencent light unsure of whether to shine fully or to stay dim. "Aoyama-kun!" The girl's scream seemed to revirbirate within the thread and as Clotho united the two threads completely it shined brightly as one, but then dimed as Clotho went to place ito back within his body.
Deep Blue woudl still have control, but Aoyama would lay dormant within his body, waiting for the girl's voice to reach in and pull him back to reality. A power surged through Clotho as she reunited his thread and body. Her pale, grey skin seemed to glow and her colour returned to her. She was the Fate of Life once more, and Aoyama lived on sealed away, deep within his own mind.
Clotho returned to her spindle and chased away all the spiders. Those creatures of death had no place beside her and she began to work at her spindle once more. She glanced at her sisters to make sure they were still too preoccupied with their work to notice her. She looked back to her work. She still would never create another life thread, nor would ever control the lives of the people on Earth, but this old power and new understanding could help her give the heros above a fighting chance against them. She grabbed the paper she had the name of the next victim written on and read the name once more. "Tomoe Hotaru" She whispered and the thread reacted with a small purple light. She could the powers her sisters had wished to use for destruction and use them for what they were meant for; for life.
Hotaru stood within the large group of heroes as they crowded around Ichigo who had just fell unconscious into Ryou's arms. She looked pale, but after a few minutes her skin colour returned to normal and her eyes opened slowly. She seemed to take in the group around her, and then slowly she began to cry again. She covered her face with her hands once more and the man held her close.
"You're okay, its okay." He said. "We'll find him! We'll bring him home, and he will be just the same." He assured her and she jerked her head downwards in a quick nod.
"I felt him slipping away from me." She whimpered, "but something kept him there." After several minutes Ichigo seemed to be calmed down and Ryou looked upwards at the Senshi.
"Of coarse he couldn't leave." Ryou comforted her. "His soul is linked to yours, remember, he created the Blue Knight to protect you, and when Deep Blue took control, he had stayed on to keep on protecting you. He wouldn't give up now would he? After you two have gone through so much, he wouldn't give up now." A small smile formed on Ichigo's lips.
"I guess not." Ryou sat the girl down and Hotaru took this chance to step forward.
"If the enemy is breaking seals within people, then I might be their next target." She said and the other Outers nodded.
"She is right, if they wish to revive Pharaoh 90 then they will need Mistress 9 to create the portal to his dimension." Setsuna agreed. Chibiusa leaned forward.
"What about me?" Usagi placed her hand on Chibiusa's shoulder.
"I think you're a bit different Chibiusa-chan." She said. "You were under hypnosis and we had to break your curse, whereas everyone else was possessed and we had to break them free of either a past incarnation or an entirely different being."
"She's right, Chibiusa-chan." Minako chimed in. Chibiusa looked at Setsuna who nodded in agreement, and Chibiusa seemed to let the topic slide. They all returned to the subject of Mistress 9.
"Recently I have felt a bit down, but it only felt as if it was a cold. According to Ichigo and the Mew Mews, Aoyama had been acting in the same way."
"At the end though, he seemed to act like a different person." Ichigo said sniffling. "His eyes revealed the conflict within him." Hotaru smiled.
"I have defeated Mistress 9 before, and that was before I was Sailor Saturn. I think I will be able to do it this time before she even awakens." She mused. "I know she is coming this time, and I can destroy her." She looked up at Setsuna. "You said you were getting closer to replicating Clotho's portal correct?" Setsuna nodded and Hotaru looked at the rest. "We know that they will come for me in order to awaken me as Mistress 9. I think we could use this to our advantage. If we use me to lure Clotho in, she will find herself in a more dire situation than she had planned." Haruka smiled.
"And if she does get away, Setsuna will be able to keep her portal open, and we can follow her to wherever she took Deep Blue." She agreed. The group seemed to be inspired by this.
"We can do it!" Minto agreed. "We just have to plan it well enough." The girls seemed excited and even Ryou had a smile on his face. Ichigo sat on her chair silently though not looking any of them in the eyes.
Chibiusa rang the doorbell of Ichigo's house and her mother, Sakura, opened the door in surprise.
"Can I help you?" Usagi bowed slightly and began the introduction.
"I am Tskino Usagi, and this is my cousin, Chibiusa!" She said. "We have come to see our friend, Ichigo." Sakura seemed to examine the two of them.
"I'm sorry, come on in." She said moving out of their way. "I just didn't know Ichigo had college friends." She said refering to Usagi. "Can I get you anything?" Usagi shook her head.
"We just wish to talk to Ichigo." She said. Sakura sighed and looked up the stairwell.
"She hasn't left her room since last night. I can't get her to eat or do anything." Sakura looked back at the girls. "She won't talk to me. Did something happen with Aoyama-kun?" She asked. "I called his house, but no one answered." Usagi nodded.
"Aoyama-kun has gone missing." Usagi said and Sakura gasped and looked back up the stairs.
"She should have told me!" She went to go up the stairs but Usagi stopped her.
"I think its best if I go up there alone." She said. "I've had experience in this, and, I think I may be able o get her out of her stupor." That was the reason she had come. To help Ichigo realize she needed to pick herself up and fight. She left her mother and Chibiusa downstairs waiting and she knocked on Ichigo's door. No answer came from the room and she cracked the door open slowly. "Ichigo?" The girl lay on the bed facing the wall. Masha sat on her shoulder looking over her, and seemed to be trying to comfort her. "Ichigo?" Usagi called out again, and Ichigo's head turned upward and her right eye caught sight of Usagi. Then she looked back at the wall.
Usagi stepped into the room and Ichigo did not speak to her. Sitting on the bed, Masha flew up into the air above them.
"Ichigo, do you want to talk?" Ichigo shut her eyes and burried her face into the bed. Usagi touched her back and attempted to give her a comforting support. "Why don't you just listen then, okay?" No answer came from her and Usagi looked to the side of her bed. A picture of Ichigo and Aoyama lay on the nightstand and Usagi reached up to touch it. Their smiling faces made it obvious that they were having a good time together. "You two are really in love." Ichigo seemed to burry herself deeper into the covers. "When I first awoke as Sailor Moon, I was facing the same enemy that had destroyed my previous world and life." Usagi explained. "I was Princess Serenity of the Silver Millenium, and engaged to be married to Mamo-chan, Endymion." Usagi picked up the picture and looked at it more closely. "We were destroyed though, and sent here to live out our lives. We were eventually reunited, but when we realized the truth it was too late and Endymion was stolen away and possesed to become Dark Endymion." A tear formed in Usagi's eyes, but she pushed it away. This had happened so long ago.
"I didn't leave my room for about a week." Usagi leaned over Ichigo. "I was, and still am a crybaby, but you, Ichigo, you are not a crybaby at all. You're stronger than me in the fact that in a situation you follow your heart and can keep your head." She looked back at teh picture. "I have so many breaking points, but you, you can over come each thing that is thrown at you. I can eventually pick myself up, but not after a long struggle." She paused and Ichigo still refused to look up. Usagi sighed. It seemed that Ichigo had met her own breaking point. Usagi stood up with the picture in hand and placed it back on the night stand. At the sound of the picture being put down Ichigo's head revealed itself from the bed and she lay starring at the wall.
"That picture is from the first date Aoyama-kun and I had went on." She said quietly. Usagi looked at her, still standing. "It was the same day I became a Mew Mew." Usagi looked at the picture. It was a tribute to Ichigo's last day as a normal girl. Ichigo rolled over and she viewed Usagi starring at the image. "It was the day I became destined to save him from himself." Ichigo looked as if she might cry again. "The last thing he said to me, the true Aoyama-kun said to me, was to not leave him." Ichigo began to sit up. "I heard him in my heart crying out for me to help him, but I couldn't." She hit the bed with her fists. "I left him there in the hands of the enemy, and there was nothing I could do." She looked up at Usagi. "You tell me what I am suppose to do with that image in my head?! How am I suppose to fight when I know that they have him and could kill him if I interfere?!" She closed her eyes and shook her head. "You're right, I am not crybaby, but with this I cannot overcome it." Her eyes opened and they seemed to be full of anger, "How can I protect him like this?!"
"You fought last time, correct?" Ichigo starred at his image agian and did not answer. "Why did you fight the last time when you knew he could be destroyed?" Ichigo seemed to have the fight taken out of her.
"I fought to protect the Earth he loves. I fought to see his warm smile again." Usagi sat down beside her.
"Those two things can be your strength once more. Aoyama-kun needs you to fight, to protect the planet and to protect him from himself. If he returns to see that he has caused so much pain then how do you think he will feel?" Ichigo looked down at her hands.
"I know." She said. "I just wish I hadn't let this all happen in the first place. I wish I was able to protect him from going through this again." Usagi smiled.
"You've helped him defeat Deep Blue once before, you can do it again." Usagi began to fix Ichigo's hair. "Just believe in your love." Usagi laughed a bit. "I know you can do it, when I saw you two at the airport for the first time, your reunion was so sweet. It gave me courage to know that my reunion with Mamo-chan would be just as fond, if not more." Ichigo blushed.
"You saw us at the airport?" Usagi laughed.
"Of coarse! With the commotion you caused when you rushed into his arms was impossible to ignore! You two didn't seem to notice the rest of us though you, you looked so in love." Ichigo's blushed deepened. "I recognized you the first time I saw you with him, the day you saved Chibiusa."
"We didn't look as in love as much as you and Mamoru." Ichigo whispered. Usagi looked at her in amazement. Ichigo looked up and she smiled a bit. "Usako..." She said with a laugh.
"You were there?" Ichigo laughed this time and nodded.
"You were so concerned with one another, you didn't even notice me crying beside you! I stood there thinking about how I hoped Aoyama would look at me that way when I saw him again!" The two girls began to laugh wildly. They had both stood there envying one another not knowing they were destined to become teammates and friends, and now here they were, sitting together on Ichigo's bed. Ichigo hugged Usagi.
"Arigato, Usagi." Usagi hugged her back.
"I know its difficult, but I know you and Aoyama will overcome anything that comes between you." Ichigo stood up and Masha cuddled up between her neck and shoulder.
"Ichigo, Ichigo..." He chirped and Ichigo laughed. She turned back to Usagi.
"Lets get Aoyama-kun back!" She said and began to rush to the door.
"Wait!" Usagi laughed. Ichigo poked her head back in the door. "Your clothes!" Ichigo looked down at herself; she was still in her pajamas.
Notes:
Aoyama-kun:
Did I scare you Aoyama fans out there? Did I encourage you Kishu fans? Ha! HE'S NOT GOING ANYWHERE... yet... dun dun duunnnn!
Ichigo:
It's pretty much a given that their souls are now linked. Aoyama-kun could transform into the Blue Knight when she was endangered because of this, and he could sense in A La Mode that Ichigo and the Mew Mews were going to need to fight. Also, earlier in this fanfic, Aoyama had combined their souls to keep Ichigo alive without her Heart Crystal. So, yeah, she can sense that he was dying.
Clotho:
I began thinking into her character and I realized that she really wasn't a killer. So, here she is... our background hero. What's going to happen with Hotaru? Who knows?!
Other:
I'm working on getting into the mysterious Senshi, and Mistuko's part in all of this. Its gonna take time so that when things get revealed you understand them better and I get to write less notes! Also, I hope you're surprised, convinced, and pleasantly pleased by all of it when it is revealed.
Please Review!
