The anime/manga characters belong to Naoko Takeuchi, the story and other characters are mine.

A/N:I'm not english native speaker, so you might find some typos or grammar mistakes, I do apologize for that.


Duty – Ayumi Hamasaki

Everyone is convinced
that that "thing" they're searching
for is in the future.
But how many people have realized
that "it" is actually in the past?
I can't even guess.

I saw the end of an era
with my own eyes.
But I didn't want to know
that it's my turn next.

If, after simplifying it
a bit more, you think that "it"
merely connects and arranges memories,
then wouldn't everyone
already have "it?"
I want you to realize that.

I saw the end of an era
with my own eyes.
And in truth, I actually
do know that it's my turn next.

You'll find me, won't you?
I'm betting that
you'll find me.

I saw the end of an era
with my own eyes.
But I didn't want to know
that it's my turn next.


Flashback

Golden Millennium

"How could you order that? Epios was my son!" said Apollo enraged to Zeus

"Your son was a threat"

"To who? To you? Who's said to be above the other gods?" he spoke with sarcasm

"No. to the whole system and you know that as a god of the prophecies…you shouldn't be so alarmed, Kiron's daughter had warned you this day would come!"

"My son was no evil and he would never bring the evil… the evilness is in decisions like yours! Ordering to kill your own grandson!" he yelled

"He's not my grandson!" Zeus yelled back

"No, he's not. He doesn't deserve a "grandfather" like you! Shameful god of the gods!"

Enraged after the loss of his son, Apollo invoked his ultimate power and destroyed the cauldron Zeus kept his reservation to invoke his powers

"Apollo!" Zeus screamed outraged and tried to get into a fight with the sun god but it was in vain

"You think you're the wisest, the strongest, the greatest? You're not! You think you stopped the evil? You're wrong!" Apollo spoke kneeling to the defeated god, "You just sentenced this system to its end by killing the light of hope, the Sacred Guardian. My son!" Apollo's eyes shone red as he held Zeus by the neck, "You just committed your greatest mistake! You killed a piece of me. My son was the most pure and better part of me! Of the sun!"

"You're not better than me Apollo! You killed Coronis! Your own guardian and the woman you said you most loved and the mother of your beloved son! You failed seeing who she really was! Even the greatest gods make mistakes! Your father was proof of that with that Martian!"

Apollo frowned in confusion, letting go of the thunder god's neck, "What are you talking about?"

"You're bind Apollo. Blind and stupid! Do you really see any relation between us? How pitiful you are!"

"What are you talking about?"

"You're so naïve! Did you ever stop to reflect why I don't rule the sun but you do? Apparently not because you spend your time chasing nymphs and mortals! Oblivious to your own roots. So pathetic!"

That moment, the doors of the special chambers opened abruptly, "Zeus, No!" screamed the moon goddess, Selene, "Don't do that!"

"Do what?" Apollo asked

"He has to know. It's about time to reveal the secrets of the Sun!"

"No, please…"

"Say it!" Apollo demanded

"Apollo, he's just teasing you…" said the moon goddess in an attempt to ease the sun god

"Shut up Selene! It's about time for him to know his true origins! After all, we are all fallen gods by now! The disgrace has been made, so he'd better know it all!"

"Just say it!" Apollo yelled and his angry energy release, made the chambers tremble

"Helios was your real father! He and I made a pact long ago in order to keep the Golden Millennium because he had seen the prophecy that you and the guardian of the sun would fall in love and that would cause the end of the Era of Gods! So as me being your father, you had no rights living in Heliopolis and that way you would stay away from the guardian…"

"And that's why he didn't bring Bennu's soul back when Arietis killed her… he thought that Bennu's spirit release would unchain her from her duty and I became the guardian of the Tear of Bennu which contains solar powers because the sun cannot live without a guardian; so you two could finally live your inevitable love story because that was the prophecy… You two would meet someday and fall in love…and have a special child…"

"But you killed your own guardian… Bennu's spirit attached herself in Coronis' seed and the two became one! Bennu finally obtained her so dreamed freedom to love but you… You committed the greatest crime a solar could ever do! You killed the Sun's Sacred Guardian, the real guardian of Regeneration! Selene is powerful and Helios himself taught her some special solar techniques in order to give her some excellence using that crystal…"

"But I'm not a Solaris. I have limits because I'm not really connected to the sun like Bennu… I'm the Earth's moon goddess, I protect the moon and the Earth. That's my original duty… you can see that due to the real position of the Moon in the system…"

"The end of the Golden Millennium is inevitable. Epios had no chance without his mother's knowledge…"

"He still had a father!"

"A father that has no knowledge in the specialties of the Phoenix! You yourself needed the Phoenix. Selene is in her place to team up with you but for how long? You destroyed the order, the already disrupted order of the events! It's just a matter of time until we all disappear and be undignified to rule our own planets! Our fate is already designed… we will all be fallen gods and we are miserably condemned to live forever in the Abyss of the Horizon… do you have any idea where that is?"

Apollo swallowed

Zeus laughed with mischief, "Of course you don't! But it's exactly where I ordered to send your son in an attempt that we, the original rulers of the planets of the Solar System, might leave that place someday when a parallel dimension of light, crosses paths with ours and we receive the mercy of the universe and can finally return to where we belong…"

"You killed him…"

"Apollo, stop being so stupid! How can a mere god like me or anyone else kill the Sacred Guardian of Life? Only he has such capacity! Dammit!"

That moment Apollo's eyes whitened and he had a disturbing vision

"You're so stupid and selfish Zeus! How could you send him to that place? Where all the exiled gods and enemies live? They will try to appropriate of him, of his abilities to release themselves! How could you be so stupid!"

"Because the fate of all of us is to join him in the Abyss of the Horizon! We can protect him there!"

"No one will possess my son's seed! He will be no darkness domain! Bennu's spirit is still out there and she…"

"She will need you to make your son reborn! If you go to the Abyss of the Horizon… that will be impossible!" Selene spoke

"You talked about a dimension of light to cross paths…"

"So we will make that happen…"

"How?" Zeus asked

"With the Mirror of the Horizon… We don't have much time, the sun is already bleeding, I can feel my powers leaving me as the darkness surround us as it leaks from the center of galaxy cauldron where the entrance to the Abyss of the Horizon is…"

"And for that Epios needs to be saved in some dimension…some timeline…" Zeus commented

"How do we do that?" Selene asked

"We need to divide his star-seed with a special technique…" Apollo spoke taking the star-seed of his son from his suit's pocket to Zeus and Selene's surprise

"The Divine Prism…" added Selene

"In our current conditions… we don't have the powers for that…" Zeus replied frowning

"But I do!"

They heard a female voice and the silhouette of young and beautiful Antares leaving one of the pillars of the chamber

"You were there the whole time?" Zeus asked slightly surprised

She nodded in confirmation, "Yes I was… Even the light becomes dark or shadow at a specific massive point"

"You have to teach me that!" Apollo spoke mesmerized

She laughed, "You should've had learned already! But you will learn someday…"

"We don't have much time… Algol is leaving the cauldron!" Selene warned them

As the regent of a binary star, Antares proved how powerful and wise she could be. In a matter of seconds, she cut the sacred star-seed and showed her mastery in lapidating the seed as if it was two slices with the same size, the proportions and the same shapes.

One slice she delivered to Apollo who immediately rushed to the forbidden location. In the Prism of the Horizon… where he hid and sealed his son's star-seed, there was also a location where Antares could watch and protect from outsiders. That slice of the seed remained there in silence until the proper timeline would awaken him when his parents wouldn't fail to protect him and he could invoke the Mirror of the Horizon.

And the other slice travelled to the galaxy cauldron and had a different fate where Epios' parents failed to protect him from a dimensional kidnap the enemies had machinated in order to possess his special abilities. Enemies that took him directly to the Abyss of the Horizon…

That turned out to be the Prophecy of Hope that Apollo envisioned.

End of Flashback

Zeru observed the sky from the balcony of the condo he lived. Distant, thoughtful and concerned, he knew something bad would happen any moment. It did happen before and so many times, in different forms, invoking the eternal duties of the sailors. There was never rest. As a former god, he knew so well that feeling. That routine. Never ending routine. Being a god was nothing like some people imagined. It demanded extreme discipline, extreme sacrifices, extreme devotion and commitment. Not rarely, it caused a sense of solitude. Emptiness. Questionings. Tiredness… Were they always right? Were they wise enough carrying on so many fates and lives under their responsibilities?

The evil seemed to never get tired. The gods could never stop. They were servants of the wheels of the time. And the same happened to the sailors – their replacements.

For a moment he did see the hope in The Promise, after all… the Savior had traced and dedicated all his life and existence to make that happen, to turn that possible. The promise that the gods could have a chance to redeem and take their places and old duties back – even temporarily – and the sailors could take the so wished break.

However, that didn't seem to be possible – again – as the new threat was showing its intentions and to take over "it". Whatever the "it" meant… What could be this evil real intentions? The Savior extinguished himself with his ultimate sacrifice. He wouldn't return. He wouldn't reborn. He abdicated of it for The Promise. Despite all intentions, the universe has law and strict rules and he was aware of that. He chose The Promise.

So what the evil wants now?

"Zeru?" he turned his attention to the female behind him standing at the balcony's door

"Good morning sleepy beauty" he greeted smiling to the blonde girl

"What time is it?"

"Does it matter?"

"It does! I don't want my parents to know I slept in a boy's house!" Serena spoke in concern

"We didn't do anything wrong… I didn't even touch you!"

"I know! But people wouldn't really believe that, isn't it?"

He shrugged, "Let's have breakfast and then you can go home"

"No Zeru… I'm sorry to decline your invitation but I really need to go home…"

"We can have dinner then…"

She smiled, "Sounds like a great idea, but I can't promise it will be today…"

"I know Se…I understand your reasons"

"Promise you won't feel hurt?"

"I promise…I already used to waiting for you…"

"Huh?" she frowned puzzled

He laughed, "Never mind… I just meant that I'm used to waiting"

"Alright and thank you for the great stories! You're a real good story-teller!"

"I know… you even fell asleep"

She laughed, "And you still owes me the Zeus and Selene's ones!"

He smiled, "I know and next time I'll tell you!"

"Promise?"

"I promise!"

Zeru watched the blonde girl leave. Saddened. Concerned. He wished there will have a next time.


Unknown Location

"Dammit! That moron managed to rescue her! Even with reduced powers he managed to escape!" shouted angrily a dark figure

"He had help… Apollo and Antares intervened…" Arietis commented

"And Epios!" the dark figure spoke bitterly

"I didn't know he was still here…"

"He's not, you idiot! He managed to intervene as well from wherever he is!" the dark figure yelled loud

"How is that possible?"

"He might have managed to dominate the Prism technique!"

"No one ever did that…not even Antares!"

"Apparently he did!"

"No… that's not possible… their stupid son cannot be that great…"

"He's the son of a phoenix…do never doubt their capacities!"

"So what's the plan now? If the stupid savior is still out there, he won't allow us to invade!"

"We shall force himself to show up and not his hologram!"

"How?"

"That's something we have to think wisely…"

"We know he's stick to The Promise…"

"Yes, but promises can break…"

"And that could be his weak point…" she pointed out with mischief

"Yes. You have a point…"

"Killing them is easy…they're normal humans now…"

"You fool, the gods are protecting them! After this failed attack, Helios won't let his guard down! You should've know him better! Ah and much less Antares who's clearly close to them!"

"That old moron! She's always in my way!"

"We need to discover who the gods are now. Their human identities and their locations"

"A simple task that doesn't seem so easy to do..."

"Patience is a virtue my dear… I have waited all this long, I can wait more if necessary! Those traitors will pay me!"

"And revenge is a dish best served cold…" Arietis spoke mischievously


Hikawa Shrine

Rei woke up, nestled into Darien's arms.

"How are you feeling today?"

"I'm better… I had a weird dream, I'm still a bit tired, but way better"

"Calmer?"

"Yes. Thank you for staying with me… for your concern and support these days"

"You don't have to thank me… it's a natural thing to take care of the ones we love"

"Do you really love me?"

"Yes I do!"

"Do you desire me?"

He giggled a bit, "Yeah…"

"Do you want to get married and have children?"

"Yeah, all of that with you! Why all those questions?"

"What if I don't want?"

"What if you don't want what?"

"If I don't want to have children, or get married nor give myself to you… will you still love me?"

He remained in silence for a while, but not in a hesitant way. He was just reflecting, "Yes. I will still love you if you don't want any of that…my love for you is beyond that…"

"But you want children, a family…"

"I want that with you! But if you don't want it, I'll still have you and that will be just the two us together and that's what matters to me…or you don't want me anymore?"

The rhetoric question. She should be ready for that, "Kiss me" she demanded

"Firstly you answer me"

"That's why… kiss me"

He leaned his face and kissed her. Gently. Warmly. Passionately.

Even after all her sudden questionings and no proper answer, he kissed her the same way he always kissed her. She guided his hand on her body, letting him touch her whenever he wanted. Whatever he wanted. No hesitations.

His feelings didn't change with the doubts or questionings from her side. He wasn't afraid that could be their last kiss. No. It didn't even cross his mind that could be their last kiss. They stopped kissing.

They exchanged gazes. She smiled to him lightly.

"This is over"

The panic in his eyes, "What?"

"You heard me. This is over"

He was motionless. Confused. What had he done? What had happened?

"No Rei… you don't mean that…"

"I do! It's over"

Despite her words. She remained still at his side.

"No, it's not over!"

"It is over!"

"What is over?"

She smiled largely. He was puzzled.

She rolled over, bent on him, and kissed him. Initially he was hesitant. Obviously confused, but soon he ceded and kissed her back. Corresponding to her rhythm. Their tongues danced in synchrony. Their kiss even wetter. Her hands rubbing his hair. His hands rushing her back through her clothes. They kissed for long minutes. No hesitations. She could feel his excitement beneath her. Through their clothes. One had to stop. But none wanted to stop.

A fire increasing. His hands now touched her back's skin. Her thighs. He rolled over her and kissed her neck. Licked it. Nibbled it. Low moans escaped her. His hand rushed her waist. Her stomach. He lowered the handle of her dress, exposing her red bra.

One had to stop. None could do it. They were on shivers of fire. Their skin burning in desire.

He kissed her collarbone. The top of her chest. Slowly he lowered the strap of her bra. He saw it… his eyes widened in scare as he turned his face to look at the door of her bedroom opening. Rei immediately covered herself. But they weren't fast enough.

"I'm sorry…" Ryuji spoke awkwardly. The despair on their faces still glued in his mind and the moment Darien fell off her bed

One had to stop the two. And the one to stop them was her brother!

Their hearts pounding in their hearts. They exchanged gazes. Both catching their breaths. Both very embarrassed. That was definitely a nothing-smart moment to let their feelings flow; her home could never be the place for such intimacy, especially during the day, when everyone could be awaken.

They exchanged gazes again. They laughed. That was the best they could do. Ryuji's inconvenient act made them stop their lust, but not Rei's pending answer.

"What's going on here? One minute you break up with me and the next we…almost passed the limits…"

"Who said I broke up with you?"

"You just did it!"

"I didn't break up with you"

"No? you said it's over!"

She laughed, "Yeah and it is over!"

He made a confused face

"My doubts…my fears… they're over! I'm ready for you Darien. For us!"

He made a face, "You mean…?"

She nodded in confirmation, "I want it all with you Darien!"

He sat next to her and took her grip, smiling largely.

"I love you Darien! I have waited for you for so long… That I won't stop us anymore!"

"Rei… I'm glad to hear that but…"

"But what?"

He inhaled, letting out a slow sigh, "I don't want 'this' to be the focus of our relationship. I don't want you to feel pressured to do 'that'. I really do love spending time with you and I love you for who you are, with the qualities and flaws"

"I know love…I know your love for me is real, just like mine is for you"

They played with their hands. Soft and warm skins. Gentle touches. They smiled. She rested her face on his shoulder.

"I don't feel pressured by you, Darien… But I want you know that I'm ready and whenever it happens, I know it will be special for both of us…"

"It will…" he replied caressing her arm


Fruits Parlor Crown

"So you two were caught doing 'that' by your brother?" said Mina taking a sip of her juice

"We weren't doing 'that', but almost…" Rei replied taking a bite of her pie

"Awkward moment… but since then you still didn't do 'it'?" Mina replied making a face

"No we didn't!"

"But you're ready?"

"I am, but…I want that day to be special and not just a consequence of the heat of the moment… it's a special occasion…"

"Not so special Rei! When you do that you'll know that it's not really that much of a big deal"

"Well, the "act" itself may not a big deal, but what I mean is the moment to unite me with the one I love! For some minutes we will be one! We will exchange fluids and energies… it will be just the two of us at the highest delivery of our love…"

"You're so romantic Rei… when you want…"

"I know I may sound pathetic, but…"

"But you're right Rei. I say these things and I don't think you're pathetic. I defend love and romance with all my core! So I understand that you feel that way and want it to be meaningful to both of you… because you said he's a virgin too, right?"

Rei gave a shrug, "Yeah, that's what he said… True or not I can't really say…"

"When you said the first time I didn't believe him, but now I do!"

Rei laughed, "Why?"

"Because of the way he treats you. How he respects you… I've observed him all these months you're together and I noticed he's definitely a decent guy and so honest about all the things he does, that it's unlikely that he's lying about it… you're a lucky girl!"

"Just because he's a virgin too?"

"No… because you found your soulmate!"

Rei smiled. Proudly.

She did find her soulmate. She wanted to live it all with him. The good and the bad. The ups and downs. The happy moments, the difficult times. His dreams were her dreams too. She wanted to build a life at his side. She wanted to be his wife. She wanted to be the mother of his children. His parents approved her and as days passed by their union only became stronger.

On New Years Eve the step to the next level of their commitment was made by Darien. The families were reunited to celebrate the approach of the New Year and Darien in his so strong romantic side surprised her and everyone else with that proposal. Those four words:

"Will you marry me?"

She smiled largely, excited, emotional and nodded, "Yes!"

They kissed and the fireworks welcoming the New Year burnt as if blessing their union as well. Their new start.

They married during the Spring Season, when Sakura flowers blessed the venues and the season colored the town and people's lives. They lived moments of peace...