Author's Notes: As usual, I do not now, nor have I ever, owned Sailor Moon or her world. The plot is mine.
I hope you enjoy this installment.
Neptune had no sooner leapt from the rooftop to the ground than her path was blocked. She hadn't expected an entirely clean get away, but the black cat staring up at her was a surprise. She really shouldn't have been. Neptune knew better than to expect that everyone else had been brought back and found each other but she hadn't.
"Luna, how nice of you to show up to the party. You missed fashionably late by two months." She didn't bother warming the ice in her voice. She would be civil to the cat, but going further would be asking too much.
"Sailor Neptune, I'm impressed you and Sailor Uranus are still with us. Queen Serenity granted you more leniency than you deserved." The coldness from the cat's tender voice was almost comical.
Had Neptune not been fully aware of how old the cat was or how influential, she might have enjoyed the dissonance between form and tone. As it was, she smiled coldly. The advisor was lucky that she had an agenda that wouldn't allow for distractions. Either the two lunar advisors had been in contact with each other or Luna had just admitted to being the one who had reported their treason. Uranus would find out the answer soon enough, she was sure, and the other soldier deserved her chance to avenge her honor. "I know it's hard for you to contain your disappointment. However, as entertaining as I'm sure a conversation with you would be, I have more pressing business to attend to." She leapt over the cat only to end up with Luna perched on her shoulder, digging claws into her. "What is it you want, Luna? I was not joking about being pressed for time. A reprieve you should be grateful for considering your position."
"What were you doing in the princess's room?"
Neptune rolled her eyes, the only outward display of her irritation at being summarily ignored, and returned to her mundane form, continuing to walk. She might as well get somewhere during the lecture. "Leaving her something to help her realize her true self."
"That's not your choice!"
"I didn't make it. I'm simply providing a catalyst. The decision was made by the war the Terrans are about to declare on any citizen from the Moon Kingdom awakened or not." When the cat didn't move from her shoulder, Michiru took that to mean she believed her, or couldn't believe the situation. Either way, the cat didn't seem to doubt her loyalties currently which was best for the cat. "The prince and princess broke up. He's been having dreams of Beryl but claims he's not cheating on Usagi-chan."
"I don't understand."
Michiru chose to ignore the confirmation that Artemis hadn't been the one to tell Luna about them. Instead, she glanced up, hearing movement. When she didn't see anyone, she shook her head, "That's what happens when you show up late." The accusation wasn't entirely fair. This development had been a shock to them all, but Michiru had little sympathy for the advisor currently hitching a ride on her shoulder. "The Shitennou are awake, at least two from what I can tell, and have decided that we are trespassing."
The audible gulp was far more satisfying than it should have been. "Now," she paused at the edge of the park. "You can either run back to hiding and watching from afar or go and actually serve the princess. I will warn you, however, that this time the Outer Senshi are not waiting to be called. We have taken charge of this mess and if you stand in our way, it will not end well for you."
"All of you? But―"
Michiru had had enough. She ducked behind the gate and grabbed Luna by the scruff of her neck. "But nothing. This time we will not be left behind to do nothing more but clean up the mess and die for a cause we weren't allowed to fight for." Blue eyes narrowed unforgivingly even as the cat's eyes widened. "You can think what you like of Uranus and myself in regards to our private affairs, but understand this, we gave up not only each other but our very lives for a royal family that has only ever asked sacrifice of us so don't you dare stand in judgment." She released the cat and stood up.
Luna slinked back but didn't run or find a higher perch from which to look down on Michiru.
"Now, if you don't mind, scamper off before you get caught up in something you aren't ready for."
"I think, perhaps, it might be a bit late for that."
Michiru closed her eyes briefly before turning around to face the owner of the voice. Her head tilted back somewhat to look him in the eyes. He was still in civilian form, dressed neatly in tan slacks and a button down shirt only two shades darker. He was looking at her bemusedly, which she supposed was fair enough. She had been vague, saying only that they'd needed to discuss their arrangement and to agree to meet him here at his request. While he probably knew her loyalties, they'd never discussed her identity and now he was looking not only at the transformation pen in her hand, but also one of the royal advisors, whom he probably recognized given the way his eyes flickered toward the cat.
"Maeda-san, you're early."
He smiled and Michiru decided definitively that she could not understand what Venus might have ever seen in him. She hoped he hadn't treated the blonde soldier that way in their past lives but forced her thoughts back to the present and to the predatory way he looked at her. He was lucky Uranus wasn't here to see that look.
"Only slightly." He bowed to her slightly. "I'm relieved to find that you took my offer seriously."
She returned the bow with only a slight inclination of her head, "I recall it being a very persuasive offer." She heard rustling in the bushes and hoped that meant Luna had figured out she needed to leave. Her agreement had been limited to herself. Luna was a variable Uranus and Pluto didn't need to factor into their actions.
Katashi shimmered before her, leaving Kunzite in his uniform. It was the same uniform she'd seen in her mirror several times but there was a brooch she hadn't seen before, a golden lotus where there had once been a blue and green mottled gem. She tried to recall what he'd worn over his chest when they'd met in war, but she'd never gotten a close look at him then. He held out his hand expectantly.
"Let the cat go. She's of no use to you."
He tilted his head quizzically, then chuckled, "That's not your decision to make."
Michiru smiled her own cold and deadly smile, holding her transformation pen up enough to gain his attention, "We can do this the easy way or the hard way."
He laughed, "Do you honestly think I'd let you go? No, you'll come willingly because you agreed to do so."
Michiru shrugged. "I never said I wouldn't."
Kunzite's laughter slowed and he shrugged. "The cat's already gone."
Michiru turned to look around, but Luna was in fact already gone. She hoped the cat had been intelligent enough to actually leave as opposed to hide. No matter what agreement she might have garnered with the Earth general, Luna was a prize that would be far too tempting. She was a worthless prize currently, given that any of the Moon Kingdom's useful secrets had died with it and its crown princess wasn't even aware of her advisors' existences, but she was sure that wouldn't deter the Terrans.
"To make it crystal clear, I am surrendering my transformation pen to show my intent for peace, not resigning my post." Her words rang out despite the conversational volume of her voice. She was not offering to swear fealty to the Earth prince. She was a soldier heading into enemy camp for what she hoped would be negotiations but knew would be a much longer stay than that.
She felt empty the moment he took the pen from her hand. It wasn't that she'd given up being Neptune, and even her guardian planet seemed to understand, but with her pen went her hopes. Sailor Neptune had been the only constant between her two lives, the only thing she could continuously hold onto.
Kunzite stashed the pen and motioned for her to lead the way. Without knowing where they were going it was a foolish gesture but he wanted to make certain she understood her position. He didn't trust her. She couldn't say she blamed him. Had their positions been reversed, she wouldn't have.
He guided her from behind, mostly through verbal directions and occasionally with a hand on her back and the other pointing, to the center of the park. Michiru shuddered inwardly as she recognized the fountain from their first date. Her training held firm, however, and none of the tension currently tightening a vice around her chest was visible to the world. She paused and looked back expectantly. They were standing at nearly the same position they had been when he'd trapped her between the railing and his arms that evening. He nodded at her silently. Eyebrow raised, Michiru turned around to watch the railing vanish and a stairwell appear beneath the fountain apparently superimposed on the reality she thought she knew.
The first step was the hardest, mostly because part of her wanted to make him earn her capture, but the diplomat in her knew that her position would be stronger if she never lifted a finger against him today. So she led the way down the staircase, feeling the world shift around her.
At the bottom of the stairs was a door. Well, Michiru presumed it was a door. It was a sheet of rock studded in gemstones. Kunzite reached around her and placed his palm on a pink crystal. It glowed briefly and the wall shimmered. Beyond the hole was an inky blackness. None of the light that was fading as the entrance to the stairwell closed made it even half a step past the newly opened door. She apparently waited too long because before she had lifted her foot completely, Kunzite nudged her forward. She stumbled through the doorway, hands out to catch herself. The moment she passed the threshold, the blackness dissipated. She was in a large empty room. Looking over her shoulder, Michiru just caught Kunzite stepping out of the blackness that was now the other side of the doorway.
He stepped past her now, a show of confidence that she could not run from him. Instead of attempting the foolish task, Michiru watched him as he stood in front of the door. They must be in an antechamber, she decided. The question was, who was on the other side? She'd been certain it would be Endymion, but the underground location gave her pause. She'd never known the Terran to be that skilled with magic and if she'd unwittingly given herself to the originator of the war between the Earth and Moon Kingdoms, she would have to adjust her behavior on short notice.
The door before them opened conventionally, even mundanely from what she could see. Her eyebrow arched delicately, still she followed silently, wishing she were taller or he weren't so broad as she couldn't see anything really but his back unless she wanted to give away the depths of her curiosity. When Kunzite motioned for her to stay where she was, she rolled her eyes. However, it was only a few more steps before she saw Endymion standing and embracing Kunzite warmly.
Michiru's relief was mixed freely with concern. Endymion remembered, but then why was he so furious at Serenity? They had been in love before. What had happened? Her reflections were interrupted as she noticed the pair was referring to her, motioning at her, not for her to approach, she wasn't that stupid, but discussing her as if she were an object. She supposed being a trophy was better than prisoner of war. Either could apply to her position.
She straightened slightly, inclining her head to Endymion as he approached.
He held out her transformation pen, "I've never seen one of these before."
"They did not exist in our previous lives, Prince Endymion." There was no point in lying about it, and she wasn't entirely sure the item wouldn't return to her in a time of need regardless of its physical location. The additional danger to herself or her comrades was minimal.
"You know who I am and Kunzite told me you offered yourself as hostage in exchange for the continued freedom of a Moon Kingdom servant. Yet all we have of you is a civilian identity, the knowledge that you are more than you appear, and now this trinket."
As he spoke, Michiru could see the charisma that had been bred into him, as well as the control and leadership he'd been taught. The man had been the heir to the most populous planet in the Solar System. She heard the unspoken request, the hidden command to prove to them their hostage was worth what they'd given up for it. That in the end she was a worthless hostage, they didn't need to know. Uranus and Pluto knew what she was doing and would ensure that if it came to it, the princess and their future would be protected. It was why Michiru had come and not Minako. The young leader of the Guardian Senshi was too valuable and too naive. She would have expected to be rescued. Neptune did not.
"I am Neptune, princess of that planet and soldier of affinity."
"Princess Neptune," he bowed slightly. "Be welcome in Elysion."
Michiru watched as Kunzite opened his mouth to protest but was silenced by his liege's upheld hand. Endymion didn't even spare a glance for his right-hand man, though Michiru could see he was contemplating the implications, as if they were having a silent conversation.
"You are right, of course, Kunzite." Telepathy was not one of the talents Michiru had heard the prince sported, so was it a well-kept secret or just that the two had known each other that well? "My apologies, princess, however, I am sure you understand. You are a guest, but," his voice trailed as he waved his hand slightly. Her throat tingled and Michiru's hand darted to it to feel a necklace form on it. "We can't have you reporting back to your mistress."
Michiru contented to trace her fingers across the warm crystal chain around her neck. It was snug but not tight, yet there was no getting it over her head and as it was born of magic, she knew she wouldn't be breaking it. After a moment, she lowered her arms, noticing as she did so that her clothes shimmered. That wasn't new to her now, though the clothes that reformed around her were almost as foreign to her past self as they were to her current life: a teal floor length gown with matching heeled slippers. She was the Princess Neptune, but she'd rarely dressed the part.
He nodded, apparently satisfied with the results and looked to Kunzite who nodded with obvious reluctance. With another firm nod, Endymion turned his back to her and stepped away. She was dismissed, though where she was to go, she had no idea. The surly general, however, seemed all too happy to be left alone with her.
"If you attempt to leave, that," here he paused for dramatic effect, indicating her new piece of jewelry, "will kill you. You are treated as a guest according to his pleasure. I will be waiting for you to screw it up."
Michiru smiled at him, eyes cold and hard. She might be a prisoner, but he'd just as much admitted that he couldn't touch her unless she did something to make his prince revoke his protection. "Until then, Kunzite, if you'd be so kind as to show me where my chambers are?"