Through Their Eyes
Chapter 26: Delivery from the Moon
By: trusuprise

Disclaimer: Naoko Takeuchi owns Sailor Moon.

A knock at his door shook Zoicite from the world he entered when he was at the mercy of his music. His hands slammed down on the keys and the piano issued a dissonant chord.

"What?" Zoicite barked.

A young guard poked his head into his chambers. He was as white as a ghost, as though death itself were trailing him. Zoicite suspected he was the cause of the man's fear.

"A… a delivery from the Moon," the guard said tentatively.

Zoicite leapt to his feet. The legs of his piano bench stuttered across the flagstone floor. The heels of his boots clicked in double time as he strode across the room, his cape fluttering behind him. He snatched the small box from the guard before slamming the door in his face.

With shaky hands, Zoicite tore the package open. When he saw the first corner of the orgel, packed neatly between styrofoam cylinders, his suspicions proved correct.

He hurled the box at the floor. The orgel he had sent to the moon bounced and then skidded across the stone. Despite the impact, it did not break. He stomped towards it, crushing the packaging pellets scattered across the floor, and his boot hovered over the orgel.

Zoicite paused when his eye caught a small, folded piece of paper that stuck out from under the orgel's top. He leant down and pulled it free.

The note was short and penned in precise, yet artistic handwriting. He had only unfolded the paper halfway, and already, he had read the message in its entirety.

[The orgel is not strong enough to sway her memories. We fear nothing is. Abort this mission. –Venus]

Zoicite crushed the piece of paper in his gloved fist. His teeth ground together as he threw it at the floor. He tossed his cape over his shoulder and strode back to the piano.

"If I can't sway her memories," he spat, "then I have to sway his."

Zoicite's fingers took off over the keys. The piano responded to the emotions he poured into it, and soon, a green light swirled and pulsed around the instrument, ebbing and flowing to the spell that he wove.

He was expecting the knock at the door, and he never looked up from the keys he played. "Come in, Master." He said knowingly.

Endymion opened the door, his hand falling limply at his side after the door had swung beyond his reach. Zoicite looked up into Endymion's dull and listless eyes.

"Master," Zoicite said breathlessly. His fingers faltered on the keys and he struggled to maintain the cadence and volume of the requiem he had created. It took the shitennou a moment to collect himself. "This song is for you," he said softly, a small smile on his thin lips.

Wordlessly, the Prince approached, his movements slow and cautious, as though he were intoxicated. His expression was an empty mask; stiff and unreadable. He stood at Zoicite's side - watching him, but not really seeing his guardian play.

Zoicite chuckled. "Do you remember, Master? Do you remember your lessons, here with me, in this room?"

The Prince frowned. His brow furrowed. His voice was muffled, as though he were speaking from behind a curtain. "You taught me courtly manners." He said distantly. "You taught me etiquette and finer things."

"I also taught you the joys of music." Zoicite said, adding extra reverb to his requiem with his foot on the damper pedal of his piano.

"You taught me deceit, also"

Zoicite's fingers faltered again. He rushed to resume the tempo of his song. When he looked up to Endymion, he saw that the man's expression was unchanged. He decided to interpret the comment literally. He had taught Endymion the tactics of deceit on the field of battle. He would not look into his Master's words any more thoroughly.

"You used to spend a lot of time in this room with me," Zoicite said, "listening to me play."

"I haven't, lately." Endymion replied.

"Why not?"

"A girl," the Prince paused. "A girl from the Moon."

Zoicite increased the pressure his fingers applied to the keys. "What was her name, Master? Who is this girl from the Moon?"

Endymion's brows furrowed. His mouth opened. His tongue poised behind his teeth with an answer he couldn't seem to find.

"What was her name, Master?"

The music filled the room entirely. Endymion's hands clenched at his sides, opening and closing. He did not see the ghostly apparition standing at the doorway.

Zoicite did.

"No…" He whispered.

"Her name…" Endymion's frown became a grimace, his eyes sightless and squinted.

The glowing white figure that stood in the doorway stepped into the room, the heels of her small shoes echoing beneath the roar of the music. She was no longer an apparition. She was real.

"Serenity." The name that came out of Zoicite's mouth was a desperate breath of air.

"Who?" Endymion asked, looking to his shitennou.

Serenity's eyes glowed brighter. She looked only at the Prince. "Endymion," she said.

The voice did not belong to her.

Minako leapt to her feet as Ami came tearing down the hallway, breathless and panicked.

"Ami-chan?"

"Serenity!" Ami shouted. "She's disappeared! She was right in front of me, and then-"

"Rei!" Minako barked. She turned to her second in command, startled to find that the Martian had already slipped into her senshi form and was already tapping into her senses; her brow creased, her eyes darting back and forth under her eyelids. Minako waited impatiently as Mars consulted her spiritual powers.

The crimson warrior's eyes shot open. "She's activated the youma."

"Which ones?" Minako demanded.

"Both of them. The light and the dark."

Enveloped in a golden light, Minako became Venus. "Where are they?" she demanded. "I'll send damage control ahead of us."

Mars shook her head. "It's no use. They're on Earth."

Ami inserted herself between Venus and Mars. "How did she get to the surface? I was just with her!"

Mars frowned. "Her powers are increasing ten-fold."

"We have to go." Venus said. "We have to get to the shuttle bay-"

Mars grabbed her by the wrist. "I can get us there faster."

"How?" Venus snatched her wrist away from Mars and cocked her hand on a hip.

Mars smirked. "Zoicite's stupidity."

"Eh?"

Mars shut her eyes. Her nose wrinkled as she opened her senses and channeled the power she had detected, the power that had undoubtedly called to Serenity, as well.

"Zoicite." Venus spat. Her eyes narrowed as she strained to hear the faint, tinny notes. "His piano."

Ami frowned, panicked. "I can't hear anything."

Mars put her hand on Ami's shoulder. "Venus…" she trailed off and then found her voice again. "Venus is like me." She said with a definitive nod. Her free hand clenched at her side. The Mars dagger appeared in her gloved fist.

Venus smiled softly. In response, the Venus dagger appeared in her hand in a brilliant, golden light.

Mars released Ami and reached out to her commander. Venus didn't hesitate in slipping her fingers between Mars'.

Venus offered Ami her best interpretation of a smile. It looked more like a lopsided grin. "Don't worry," she said, "Mars and I will bring Serenity back."

Carried on the waves of Zoicite's song, Mars and Venus vanished in a golden-crimson flash of light.

It wasn't the first time they had traveled via Zoicite's song, but the distance from the Earth to the Moon was no small jaunt, and once they'd materialized in the Earth Palace, Mars and Venus had to choke back the nausea and weakness that affected them. Despite the groggy sickness, they had no time to waste on recovery. They had suspected as much, and eagerly leapt into battle the moment they became fully corporeal.

Six black youma threatened Zoicite, and the silver haired man retracted his hands from the piano and drew his sword as they approached. He was barely off the bench before the first one reached him, wrapping its claws around his neck.

Venus' chain wrapped around the youma's arm as a pillar of fire held the others at bay. The golden warrior tugged sharply, and Zoicite's attacker was pulled away, although its claws raked across the shitennou's neck and drew a bright trail of blood. Zoicite stumbled to his knees, grabbing his neck with his gloved hands.

Venus' momentum pulled her opponent within striking range, and with one efficient lunge, she gutted the youma with her dagger. She ran to Zoicite, kneeling next to him and trying to determine the extent of the wound he suffered.

Mars' fire only incinerated one of the five ghouls and as her pillar of flame weakened, she rushed forward and stabbed one of the monsters through the neck. She was only vaguely aware of another dropping to the ground next to her, the tip of a long, broad sword protruding through its middle. She identified the weapon as belonging to Kunzite, but did not take her attention off her opponent until she had slit its throat and dropped it to the floor. Two youma remained. These were immediately circled; one by Kunzite and Nephrite, and the other by Jadeite.

Kunzite lanced the youma before him through the shoulder while Nephrite lunged forward and beheaded it. Mars would have appreciated the humans' ruthless efficiency, but she was too busy rushing to aide Jadeite. The youngest shitennou was being driven back by the last remaining monster.

Jadeite's dagger was short, and as he hesitated to get within striking range, the youma took advantage of his weakness, grabbing the blond youth by the shoulder and pulling him into his grasp.

"Kunzite!" Jadeite screamed for his commander's help, stiff and afraid in the youma's hold.

Kunzite barked an order at his subordinate, giving Jadeite a plan of attack, but the stiff boy would not move. Blood poured from where the creature had sunk its claws into his middle, and a sickly green light surrounded them as it readied to suck the very life out of Jadeite's body.

The gold and crimson tip of Mars' dagger appeared next to Jadeite's smooth cheek. She withdrew her weapon that had pierced the creature through its back and the youma twitched, and then fell. It was only Jadeite's quick reflexes that kept him from being crushed under the still-warm corpse.

Kunzite narrowed his eyes at Mars. "He could have defeated it on his own."

Mars spun toward the leader of the shitennou. "This is not a training exercise." She spat.

"Where is Serenity and Endymion." Venus' demand halted any further argument.

With one hand still staunching the bleeding that had turned his gloved hand red, Zoicite pointed to a door that led to a courtyard. Venus took off and Mars followed, the shitennou trailing behind them.

In the early twilight of the falling evening, Serenity's white youma were a shining beacon. Six of them surrounded Serenity and Endymion, the Princess slowly pulling the Prince behind her through the garden, his movements slow and listless, his gaze vacant.

"Master!" Nephrite's panicked voice rang out, and with his speed, he overtook Venus and Mars.

"No!" Venus called. "Don't attack them!"

Nephrite was acting on instinct alone, running right into the line of ghostly, dancing creatures. He lunged at one with his blade, but its ambiguous body dodged at the last second, a barely perceptible movement that had Nephrite's cold steel slipping harmlessly between folds of white cloth.

Serenity paused and looked over her shoulder. The white youma halted their aimless, twisting dancing and went rigid, as though they were listening to a command that only they could hear. A split second later, they convened on their attacker. Nephrite barked for help as he was driven back by the creatures, barely avoiding impalement by their long scimitars.

As the leader of the shitennou sprinted past her, Venus tried to call out to Kunzite to tell him that the white youma couldn't be fought. Her plea fell on deaf ears. She continued running, the toes of her sandals digging into the sandy path as she dodged around the skirmish, trying instead to intercept Serenity and Endymion.

As she passed, three of the white youma broke off their attack on Kunzite and Nephrite. These were intercepted by Mars, who skidded to a halt and blocked the narrow walkway to buy her commander time. Venus sprinted faster, knowing that the shitennou, and even Mars, could not hold off the white youma for very long.

Not without sacrifices.

"Serenity!" Her impassioned cry didn't seem to reach her Princess' ears, and Serenity kept on walking, nearly gliding on the air, dragging Endymion behind her.

"Usagi-chan!" Venus cried.

The Princess stopped moving. Endymion bumped into her, and then stood numbly at her side. When Serenity looked back over her shoulder, the crystal-white light behind her eyes had dissipated. Venus clung to the hope of drawing Serenity's other personality out. She stopped ten feet away from her Princess, panting heavily.

"Usagi-chan,"

"No." Serenity said, her voice icy.

Venus recoiled. She knew she was dealing with the personality of Serenity's most ruthless side – the light that imprisoned the darkness within her. Venus' only consolation was that it was easier to work with this personality than the one that commanded the dark youma.

Venus took a step closer. "Princess," she tried, "Endymion is-"

Serenity's eyes narrowed, and the light behind them threatened again. "Endymion is what? Step aside, Venus. You are my guardian, not my mother."

Venus straightened. "Surely, Princess, you can see that Endymion is not himself."

Serenity looked behind her, at the man that stood at her side, as though she had never seen him before. "Endymion." The name was a cold demand.

The golden warrior closed the small amount of space between them and put her hand on Serenity's arm. It took all of her willpower not to pull away from the icy fire that threatened to scald her. "Usagi-chan," she said, "will you help me to bring Endymion back to himself?"

"Endymion?" This time, her voice was small and lost, and Venus knew Usagi was trying to speak.

"Endymion!" Serenity reached out for the Prince's hands, clasping them in hers. Venus stood tense as Serenity threw her arms around his neck, crying and pleading for him to remember her.

Venus listened with baited breath as Serenity reminded Endymion of how they met, of the love they shared. Even when Venus learned more than what she found appropriate to know, she did not turn away, her gaze locked on Endymion's cloudy eyes, willing him to remember her Princess.

"Endymion," Serenity cried, "you have to remember me! I need you by my side, I'm scared of myself!"

Suddenly, the Prince stood ramrod straight, and slowly, as if fighting the confusion that veiled his memories, his limp arms encircled Serenity's waist. The Princess cried, a strangled exclamation stuck in her throat.

Venus knew then that Usagi had emerged, and finally, she dared to look away. On the path not far behind her, Mars's foes disappeared into nothingness. The crimson warrior collapsed to her knees, her gloved fingers digging into the sand as she struggled to catch her breath.

"Serenity," Endymion spoke with his own heartfelt voice.

With the price and the princess back to themselves, Venus might have been put at ease if she hadn't known that they'd only postponed the inevitable. She watched as Mars pulled herself to her feet, her stance compromised by a wound to the thigh that had doubtlessly been delivered by a youma blade. Her face was as white as a sheet. She and Venus shared a brief glance that said one thing;

For how much longer can we delay this?

The sound of footfalls on the path behind her forced Mars to pull herself together; she would not allow the shitennou to see her so weak. She hurried to Venus' side and pointedly kept watch on the Prince and the Princess.

Kunzite and Nephrite hurried to them, both bleeding and panting from their skirmish with the white youma. Venus inserted herself in the middle of the path to block their approach.

"You will let me see my Prince." Kunzite's voice was hoarse and strong, but the hesitance in his body language was easily read by Venus; the man had fought on many battlefields, but the monstrous youma had shaken him to his core.

"He is back to himself." The golden warrior said coldly, refusing to give.

"No thanks to you." Mars scowled at the leader of the shitennou. Kunzite drew his sword and Mars stepped forward, her dagger materializing in her hand.

"Enough!" Endymion shouted. He glared at his guards over Serenity's shoulder. Kunzite remained tense and on alert, and only scowled at Mars, who had not so much as flinched.

Endymion unraveled himself from Serenity's hold, the Princess still sobbing and clinging to him. Jadeite and Zoicite arrived, both of the injured men supporting one another and holding the line with heir comrades.

"Serenity is not a threat right now." Endymion ignored his guards and rubbed Serenity's back in small circles. "But we must get her back home." He finally raised his gaze to look at Venus. "I will go with her."

"Master-"

"Endymion-"

The Prince halted the argument with a gesture of his hand. "I am the only one who can hope to help her. I will not leave her side any more." He nodded at Venus. "We will take one of your shuttles, and we will leave immediately. I fear that time is of the essence."

He lifted Serenity into his arms and stepped between Venus and Mars. The golden warrior nodded and lead the way. The landing pad wasn't very far away, but she knew that haste was necessary.

"I'm sorry," Serenity said, her voice choked. She repeated herself over and over, her face buried in Endymion's shoulder, and he shushed and soothed her as he hurried, completely ignoring the protests of his shitennou behind him.

The four men continued to tag along behind them, Zoicite and Jadeite leading the charge like worried hens, and finally, Mars had had enough. She spun on her heel and ignited a wall of flame that spanned the path.

Hearing the commotion, Endymion turned, and saw his guardians on the other side of the angry flames. Kunzite and Nephrite stood behind the pensive and worried Jadeite and Zoicite, and despite the crossed arms and angry glares of his most martial shitennou, he knew they were all equally worried.

Endymion tried to see beyond what he knew he felt, tried to swallow the bitterness of the words he knew he had to speak. His face was a rigid mask, and he came to stand before the flames in between Venus and Mars.

"I release you of your service." He said to his shitennou, his words spoken without inflection. He nodded sharply, and then turned and walked away.

The shitennou echoed a chorus of his name, and again, Endymion turned to them. He could not maintain his stony expression, and a bittersweet smile tugged at Endymion's lips. "I must go where my heart leads me," he said, "and I'm trying to make this easy on all of you."

The popping and crackling heat of the flames distorted the appearance of his warriors. Zoicite stepped forward until the heat of the fire turned his white complexion red.

"Master," he said, "Don't presume to know where our hearts will lead us."

The shitennou and their Prince watched each other for a long moment, the tongues of fire leaping and dancing between them. Finally, Endymion nodded, and again turned away.

Venus followed him, and Mars released her hold on her element. The walls of flame disappeared, the black, scorched earth across the trail the only remainder of its intensity. She offered them an unreadable look before hurrying after her commander. The landing pad was just over the rise of the hill, and Endymion was moving with haste.

After a moment though, Mars snorted. She sensed the continued presence of the shitennou and she looked over her shoulder and smacked her lips. Venus raised a questioning eyebrow.

"I admire their loyalty, if little else." The crimson warrior said gruffly.

Surprised, Venus looked behind her and she offered the shitennou who walked behind them an honest smile.

"How do you think they feel about you?" Endymion's lighthearted chuckle might have lightened the mood, if it weren't for a unit of the Earth army heading in the same direction on the main path. He stumbled to a halt, turning Serenity so that she wouldn't see the massing force that was doubtlessly searching for him.

"Beryl is all but leading the armies now. They know the Lunarians are here." Zoicite said, looking between the soldiers, his Prince, and his commander.

Kunzite crossed his arms over his chest and smirked at Endymion. "Cut through the woods." He said sharply. "We'll intercept them on the main path and hold them at bay until you launch." In the wake of his confidence, Nephrite, Zoicite, and Jadeite stood tall next to him.

Endymion paled. "But if you engage against-"

"Do not question me!" Kunzite shouted. He drew his sword and marched away. Over his shoulder, he called, "You don't have much time, if you are going to follow your heart. Come what may, don't hesitate now."

The leader of the shitennou took off at a dead run. His subordinates offered their Prince one, last, longing look before they took off after their commander.

Endymion watched them go. Finally, he tightened his hold on Serenity, and then dove into the woods behind Venus, and Mars filed in behind him.

The forest floor slowed them down, but they gained time by taking the more direct route. Venus climbed the rise of the hill and crashed through the tree line ahead of them. Her eyes scanned first for soldiers. She could hear them; around the corner and down the hill, there was a skirmish. Failing diplomacy, if Kunzite had even tried for it at all, the shitennou were holding their own against the large force.

She turned her attention to the shuttles on the landing pad and chose the one she knew to be the smallest and fastest of the bunch, a gunmetal grey craft built for forward scouting missions.

Endymion was still laboring up the hill. Serenity was a small woman, but the forest floor was wrought with dangers. Mars pushed him from behind. To the crimson warrior, Venus shone like a golden beacon at the top of the hill.

"Get the shuttle started!" Mars barked.

Venus shook herself and sprinted across the landing pad. Her fingers flew over the shuttle's exterior control panel. The craft had been given to the Terrans as a peace offering, but her security commands still overrode all others installed. The door slid open and she threw herself up the small flight of steps and initiated the start sequence. In the wide opening of the windshield, she watched as Mars pulled Endymion up and over the edge of the hill, but the sigh of relief she wanted to exhale became a strangled gasp.

Even from this distance, she could identify the one, human woman who approached on the path that the shitennou were supposed to have blocked.

Venus abandoned her post. She jumped out of the shuttle and ran to the Prince and the Princess, and to Mars.

Endymion was slow and weak, but with the shuttle firmly in his sights, he did not falter. Not until he heard Beryl's voice.

"Endymion!"

The Prince froze. His heart pounded in his chest, as much from his exertion as from the woman who had called his name. When he turned, he saw Beryl standing twenty feet from him, her frizzy red hair tumbling around her shoulders, her chest heaving from her own exertion. Behind her, a troop of soldiers approached at a run. Even with their weapons pointed at the off-worlders as much as they were pointed at him, Endymion still thought of what fate his shitennou might have suffered for his sake.

Beryl took several shaky steps forward. "You're going to the Moon, aren't you?" The soldiers came to a hesitant halt, holding a line behind her and Beryl seemed not to notice. To her, Endymion was the only one that existed.

The Prince shifted Serenity in his arms. "I am." He replied quietly.

Beryl straightened her shoulders and stuck out her chest, her show of bravery compromised by the manner in which her hands clenched at her sides.

"If you leave, you will loose what little trust your people still hold in you."

Endymion gestured at the armed troops with a nod of his head. "I think it's already too late for that."

Beryl looked behind her, her brows raised and her mouth parted in surprise as though she hadn't known that a hundred soldiers had followed her, waiting for her command.

Endymion's expression softened. "My people don't know how hard I'm trying to save them, and you don't understand why I need to go."

"I don't want you to leave me!" Beryl's voice was a desperate plea, and she rushed forward, but then recoiled, as if she hadn't realized that Serenity was in Endymion's arms until that very moment.

"I can't help you, Beryl." Endymion looked to the ground. "I don't even know you anymore. I'm sorry."

Beryl's mouth hung open. Her lower lip trembled and her hands shook. She looked like she might cry when she suddenly blanched white.

Only she heard the thunderous, sickening voice of Metallia.

"Let him go. The humans are ready for your command. Your Prince is deserting his people and you have become their Queen."

Beryl's jaw shut with a snap of her teeth clicking together. She stepped backwards and drew herself to her full height. An angry sneer tugged at the corners of her mouth.

"You may leave, Endymion," her wavering voice betrayed her. "But you may never return."

"Beryl-"

The troops raised their weapons, aiming them at their former Prince and the other off-worlders, their fingers poised over their triggers.

"So be it." Endymion said hoarsely. He turned and led the way to the shuttle Venus had prepared. Several heartbeats passed before Mars could wrench her gaze away from Beryl.

As the shuttle reached escape velocity and they left the blue-tinged atmosphere of the Earth and plunged into the dark void of space, Mars turned to her companions and spoke with a quiet voice,

"Beryl is only a tool, but she will be the trigger that will activate the beginning of the end."

Preview, Chapter 27: Prophecy Fulfilled

"How is Serenity?" Rei asked.

Endymion's shoulders slumped. "She's not woken up since we returned." He examined his hands. "I guess it's for the best. The longer she sleeps…"

Rei's gaze hardened. "I know what you're thinking."

Endymion scoffed at the cryptic warning. "They say you can see the future."

The two of them watched one another in strained silence; Rei not deigning to provide an answer, and Endymion not willing to ask the question a second time.

"I think it's the only option I have left." His eyes grew unfocused. "She'll come. Somehow, Beryl will get here, and she'll bring war with her."

"Yes." Rei replied evenly.

Endymion scowled. "Then what does it matter what I chose to do? It sounds to me like our destruction has been foretold and will not be altered, no matter what we try to do."

"You're correct." Rei shrugged. She rose to her feet and slowly walked to the door. "But it won't make your chosen actions any less futile in the end."

She paused at the door, her hand on the knob. She did not turn to look at him. "The future doesn't favor martyrs, Endymion. And rarely does the person for whom you've sacrificed everything appreciate your selflessness."