Chapter 11

He woke in a pool of sweat.

At least it wasn't another vision. It wasn't as comforting a thought as it should be. At least in the visions, he could see her. If they were stuck like this forever, at least he could watch over her. It was what he'd wanted when he left, right? Just to…stand back and watch. He could see her, enjoy the music of her ridiculous laugh, and never come close again. Never touch her. Never speak to her. Never again.

He pushed the tears around with bloodied hands, hating that it had come down to this. She could feel the bond, but there was nothing else. It couldn't break him free. It couldn't save her. All it could do is show her that he cared. Was that what he wanted? When he'd seen her that day with Unazuki at his back, he'd just wanted to rip the bandages off in one clean stroke. He wanted to make it as painless as possible in the long run. He wanted her to move on.

Why was now any different? It was the one thing he would have kept hidden away until his dying day. There had been so many lies after they broke up that this one truth was the only important thing.

Then he could die. The white prince could rip his body apart, and it wouldn't matter. She'd know.

"Somber thoughts for one so young."

The disembodied voice floated from every direction, but it wasn't his enemy. Instant recognition had him surging to his feet, the molten rage answering again with a slither down each arm. The dreams that had torn them apart shared the same ominous tone, the same pattern. His hands pulsed with warmth as he stumbled to his feet.

Instead, the anger fizzled out as a figure came into view. The unmistakable shape could have been a mirror image, though paled and distorted despite the darkness. It was maddening, just another vision sent by the enemy to drive him from the brink.

"Oh, here we go again. What now, an attack on my manhood? Seriously, you twisted jackass!" The figure was clothed in soft lavender, with a white mask despite the fact it was obvious who it was meant to be. Even the cane he held had been beautified, slender and encrusted with gems. The white shoes were perfectly clean. The cape was still fluttering.

As if it wasn't bad enough he had to endure visions of Usako living with that freak.

"Calm yourself, Mamoru. I'm here to help." The man raised a gloved hand as if to placate him, but it was just too much. The voice, the ridiculous getup, the exhaustion.

"Fuck you," he growled, turning his eyes anywhere but the purple bedecked buffoon. If Diamond wanted to fight, he should get himself down here and quit hiding. That was the point he was trying to make, wasn't it? That Mamoru was less than a man?

"I'm hardly the one you should worry about. Follow me." The figure turned with his cane toward the glass, revealing the expensive flutter of his cape, the sheen of his suit. The thought was revolting.

"Right," Tuxedo Kamen all but hurled the word out there, so disgusted with the show, so lost in his own head that the possibility no longer registered. He would have settled back down on the cool floor had a hand not ripped his shoulder back, forcing him to face the doppelganger's hard glare.

"Would you rather wallow here while Serenity is taken against her will?" His quiet rage was so familiar, so like Mamoru's, that it left him dizzy. Long after he'd spoken, the question slowly bled through his brain enough to make sense.

"Taken?" The word felt dirty. Hard midnight eyes stared through his own like a freight train. The mask was a pathetic attempt to cover the raw intensity he now recognized as Endymion. This wasn't some love-struck teenager; the face was older than him by years, and the gaze melting through his own could have made that difference by centuries. Despite himself, despite facing off with some of the worst the underworld had to offer, it was intimidating.

King Endymion bit back a snarl, staring at the befuddled youth currently having his ass handed to him on a platter. "I really was this stupid," he muttered hopelessly before tightening his grip. "Listen, you fool. Serenity will be your wife–do you not care if she is raped by another man? Do you think so little of her that she should be passed around before even you have had the chance to love her yourself?"

It was an interesting bit of introspection Endymion would have to reflect on later. The gears which had slowed to a near-halt moments before were beginning to grind together at an exponential pace. The bland, stupid face he'd borne before quickly smoothed to cold, calculating rage. After watching this nonsense unfold in his memory, it was good to see he hadn't wasted too much time in coming. The experience would do Mamoru some good in the future, when Serenity would be the one he answered to, rather than himself.

"I'll kill him," the hero growled quietly, gathering the strength up through his feet and into the core. Something had changed. The strength of his bomber had never wavered since receiving the power, but now felt it felt more like a smoldering volcano ready to burst. The tatters of his uniform fluttered momentarily as he regained himself, sewing together like the bits of his mind that had been cut loose. The feel of steady, solid earth beneath his feet brought with it a sense of reality, a sense of purpose.

"Good." Endymion offered a snide pat on the back and swung away. "Let's go."

The cane lifted just enough to tap the glass. The concussive shattering slid like knives through Mamoru's ears and nearly knocked his feet out from beneath him. He had to mentally pull his jaw up again as the figure ducked through the opening and into the private rooms Usagi had used during their stay. Curious and hesitant, he came forward as well, fully expecting the glass to block his way. The broken remains cut into his palm as he slid through.

His legs were jelly. The silver scissors she'd nearly stabbed herself with still bore remnants of blood on the handle. Impossibly long strands of silver hair trailed away from an ornate brush still laying on the vanity. He stepped down to the floor, where iron brown speckles stained the grey stone.

It was real.

Shit, the whole thing was fucking real.

"Coming?" the voice asked sharply, bringing Mamoru's eyes to the door. The wood burst outward in a shower behind the old king, raining against the stone hallway beyond.

"M…maybe it's the purple," he muttered in disbelief before following.

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The sound of footsteps pounding through the darkness was a come-hither call. Her prey lie just beyond the edge of the cancerous yellow glow, coated in shadows, waiting. It was how he had always operated: slinking away from the light. She ground a heel down into the flagstones, took a long, calming breath, and bunched together in preparation. The fog offered little for sight, but her ears were straining to catch every sound of him. Blue eyes narrowed and hardened into shards of murderous intent.

A flicker hit the foggy lamplight's edge, and she snapped forward like a gunshot.

They grappled there on the ground like animals, clawing, screaming curses, and biting. She kicked viciously, catching his chin in a blinding upward strike, but he'd already pinned the other calf to the floor. She flipped, knocking his weight free long enough to wrap one leg around his shoulder with the arm stretched long across her torso. It was instinct alone that saved her as the palm charged and exploded just as quickly.

The two rolled away from each other. She had enough time to see the grimace, the bloody nose, and a rose forming in his hand before the night swallowed him whole.

Bastard. She crouched low against the wall, following suit into the darkness. He'd pay, damnit. Venus flicked the tress of golden hair back over her shoulder, all the while searching the shadows for her enemy. He would use this to his advantage, just like everything else. Like he used her princess. Like he used the Senshi. The heels at her feet betrayed her position before she could think to counteract it.

The weapon shot out from the darkness too soon, her thoughts hadn't allowed her a chance to ready her attack. The sharp stem hurdled forward just in time for her to raise an arm in self-defense.

The pain never came. The blond blinked, peering through the cross of her arms the see what had become of the projectile, but it was gone. At her feet lay the broken stem, the fallen petals.

And an ace of hearts stuck firm in cement.

"Ace? But how..." she stuttered, no longer caring that Tuxedo Kamen could hear her.

"Fight first, V, you know that." The ghostly suit bled from the night, his white hair gleaming yellow. He held a gloved finger to his lips, motioning to the left. "He's coming,"

It was odd. She didn't dare dwell on the strange feeling, but it seemed for a moment that his warm green eyes flickered violet.

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It didn't take long to find the morgue. Crystalline structures formed like coffins stood at attention along wall. One had been shattered already, and chunks of sparkling light coated the ground before it. Endymion stepped over the mess without stopping, but Mamoru was more hesitant. What had broken out? Shouldn't they be watching for guards, or monsters? It made him nervous walking straight into a fight without surveying first.

Obviously, his calculating nature had eased over the years.

"Come out, pig! I know you're here!" The freakish clone in purple had marched into the middle of the room, but stood scanning the walls despite his bad position. Tuxedo Mask never would have announced his presence. With only two attacks available to him, he had to be more cautious than this.

"We should keep moving," Mask tried quietly, but it was no use talking to himself. Endymion slammed the butt of his cane sharply against the stone, shattering the piece in one move.

"Diamond!"

"Cut the dramatics, your highness, it makes you look like a fool." One coffin slid open to their left, and the duo turned as one. The white prince was smiling as he approached, the kind that made Mamoru's skin crawl. If Usagi was back in that room, so help him, he'd tear the wall down just to get to her.

"It's Majesty. Some of us actually ascended a throne instead of simpering off to be a magician's lap dog," the king snarled. Mask turned to view the lines of coffins along the wall again; something was tugging at him not far away.

"Not for long. Soon, Serenity won't even know your name. She…." He was cut short, jumping away as a silver dagger slammed into the wall beside him, buried to the hilt. Diamond grinned, raising a solidifying glass in mock solute. "I see your aim hasn't improved."

A long, slim blade drew from the cane, and Endymion stepped forward with murder in his eyes. There were no words needed. He lunged, catching the stone wall with the tip of his blade as the white prince skittered out of reach. Diamond chuckled ominously, swirling his wine in one hand with casual grace.

"No need to think ahead when she's around, is there? Just point her at an enemy and watch them wither away." The ruler swung again with a surgeon's precision, yet Diamond seemed two steps ahead. "You can't use her like that anymore. Not here." His infuriating smile was engineered to be a distraction. Endymion knew it, and yet it was difficult not to allow that rage to show. Once Diamond was chained in his cellar, he could scream and rage and hack the little creep to pieces, but now was not the time for emotional response.

The Dark Moon Clan's leader was already celebrating his victory. It was an amateur mistake.

Mamoru took a moment to look at the closest coffin in greater detail. Dread was growing low in his spine the longer he stared at them, and this one made his chest feel hollow and sunken in. The royals continued their banter behind him, but he was too busy scrubbing the surface of the rock in the hopes of peering inside. There had to be another way in, because somewhere inside wind was billowing against white fabric. The quartz was clouded, but beneath the smoky layers, a human hand was suspended. He could barely trace the line of an arm, but there was no need to keep searching. Usako's long, slender fingers and tiny palm were unmistakable. A flash of soft silver burned through the haze, long enough that there was no denying who lay locked away. He fought the raging crush of relief that nearly brought him to his knees long enough to search for a seam anywhere on the rock.

At his touch, the glowing figure pulsed within the stone, lighting the surface until Usagi's tiny silhouette fluttered against the lid. He scrambled along the ridge, scraping and cursing when there was no break. She wasn't moving, damnit! Was she breathing? Would his bomber work on it? Did he dare try with her locked away inside? If anything were to happen to her, he'd never forgive himself.

"What would you do? Take her away from this horrible place, only to break her further once your pathetic life shriveled to nothing? Would you go back to your ginger lovers and push her memory aside? She has given me every weapon against you, and I will use them." The icy prince gloated from his safe haven above the ground. His twisted view should have been more cutting, but centuries at her side had forged an understanding of his wife that left no room for doubt. Despite the enemy's laughing smile, he'd misunderstood the most primal part of the Queen. Her heart.

The king snorted, flicking his wrist. The wine goblet shattered, throwing shards back in Diamond's face. The prince howled momentarily, but recovered in time to block the next lunge. The scratched and bleeding face wasn't enough. For taking his wife, Endymion would deconstruct this little piece of shit. Serenity forgive him, but at least she'd be safe.

The plan had been so simple. Jumpstart the bond that kept them together by forcing a momentary absence. It was the only thing he could think of to push both of them into seeing the coming danger. It was all he could do to protect Chibiusa from so far away. It had backfired the second Diamond slipped through the time gates. He'd have words with Pluto about that.

"Don't worry, Usako, I'm coming," Mamoru grumbled, forming a rose with his fist. The steel-tipped weapon slammed against the rock, etching a thin mark as it slid down the surface. It was maddening being separated from her again, always, the woman he loved permanently just out of reach. This would never happen again. Even if he had to time travel and kick his own ass. He grimaced, winding back for a full swing against the stone.

"Serenity." The king's voice seemed to ripple in the air as Tuxedo worked, the words were hard like diamonds. Each swing rebounded off the coffin with little effect. "You've seen what happens when you give in. Do not repeat history for us. You must be the strong one."

"Yes, talk to the stone. That will surely bring her back to you," the hollow chuckle rumbled between them as Diamond swirled his wine. The dark, hungry eyes were amused at the show. It was as if he had already done enough damage that no words could change it.

"Usako, please listen," but the words wouldn't break free of his mouth. The woman he had loved from the moment he saw her was a stranger. The long silver hair floated behind glass, her pale skin shimmered. Was his Odango finally gone? Had he waited until sweet Usagi had been swallowed up by her past? "Odango." The word, a cherished nickname from a time when things were less complicated, fell from his lips with sacred reverence.

He could still see the righteous anger in her eyes when they met. That girl would never allow this to happen. It was everything he loved about her and more. Changing his goddess was a crime; to say she wasn't enough was sacrilege. He'd been so afraid to tell her before, so terrified that she'd leave or die, just like everyone else. He didn't want to be scared anymore. It didn't matter that he wasn't good enough for her, and he didn't care if he had to scream it from every rooftop. She wouldn't leave this world without knowing exactly how he felt.

"Let her go. Your games with the timeline have done enough damage." Endymion stepped forward, his dark hair all but sucking in the blackness around them. The king would harbor no such weakness as his past self did.

"Let her go?" the demon laughed, his face shifting, sharpening as he spoke. "My dear king, I am not the one keeping her here. Am I, Serenity?" The quartz stone shattered and fell. Shards ripped across Mamoru's face, imbedding in the skin like fiery hate. The golden sparks blinded him and drove him back a few steps. The sound of falling crystal was lost in the sight of her. Even the feel of rock slowly being worked out through his skin couldn't distract him.

Her hair no longer blew in an unseen wind. The purple and green gossamer dress she'd worn that night in the park shifted with every breath. The strange lavender eyes twitched and opened, a ring-adorned hand rose to touch the side of her head. There was something wrong. The sightless eyes didn't blink. The pale skin seemed grey and sickly. His heart clenched and shuddered, horrified at the abuse she must have suffered already.

"What would you say to our guests, my dear?"

"Leave."

"I do believe you've heard the lady. Venus, take care of them," Diamond snarledAnother crystal coffin shattered from the back, shards of rock painting the scene as golden shoes clattered onto the stone. Hell-fire blue eyes narrowed on the prince, her chain snapped hard between both fists.

White hot rage and pain slammed into Mamoru's skull as the chain whip cracked. The bulk of him went flying, hazing the air with red mist and bone as he slammed into a wall. Nothing but white fog existed. No sound, no pain, nothing but a terrifying light that blinded every other sense. He must have screamed. He must have landed in a pile of grey matter and blood on one side of the morgue.

"Venus, stand down!" Endymion snapped, never allowing his eyes to stray. Even the image of Serenity slowly making her way to Diamond's side was not enough to pull him from the course. He'd seen this before years into the future, and he wouldn't allow it to continue.

When the haze cleared, only the vision of Venus could be seen. A halo of gold enveloped the familiar girl, but there was no recognition in the cornflower eyes, only hate. Mamoru struggled limply to stand, his fingers grazing along the edge of his wound in dumbfounded horror. They came away dripping and sludgy. The chain had ripped through his skull and left him bleeding and cursing. Venus had never attacked him before. Why was she taking orders from their enemy?

"Shall we, Endymion?" Diamond's smooth lacquer voice was gloating. The glimmering silver princess now stood at his side, her eyes dark and turned away.

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Chappie-chappiness! Chappies for everyone!

Hope the holidays were good! Credit to slightlyxjaded for the editing, as per usual. We've got two more measly little chapters left on this baby and they're mostly written. That said, this is the time of year when my job basically eats me alive, so…yeah…

Pharmacy. Bleh.

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