Cosmic Warriors
Disclaimer: All non-original characters in this story are copyrighted to Naoko Takeuchi and Toei respectively. I also do not own the mythological beings you'll read about throughout the story.
Note: Making some minor changes to Yuuichirou's character, I decided to ditch the rockstar personality, and he'll be referred to as Sado by other characters now, Chad = Sado. Thank you to ecriaphoenix16, LoveinTheBattleField, DonovanX, and Guest for reviewing and thank you to Timeless Dreamer Neo for adding the story to their favorites and to the-neonbunny for adding the story and me to their favorites. Guest thank you, I'm glad you like the OCs. I had fun creating their characters, can't wait until I can show off more of them. Enjoy!
Also, you'll be seeing a little bit more of the Shitennou's power in this chapter and if anyone cares to know, I'm basing their powers off their colour-scheme and four Chinese constellations. There's an in depth Tumblr post about it that helped me work out some of their character details: sailor-scribbles(period)tumblr(period)com/40175940772/
Chapter Thirty Six - Heavenly Kings
North Pole
"As much as Queen Beryl wants you dead," Zoisite said before his body vanished from its place, after a zephyr he appeared beside Nephrite. "I want you dead a thousand times more!"
The men then moved in sync and turned in towards one another. Zoisite's sword appeared in his grasp, but the blade was blocked from reaching Nephrite's neck as the men's arms collided first.
Zoisite slipped his arm over Nephrite's and pushed forward, only for Nephrite to weave out of the blade's path and allow it to pierce the wall behind him. Zoisite doubled back as Nephrite swung out to him, and left his sword behind, before wrapping one arm around Nephrite's and clamping down on the hold with the other.
The strawberry blonde Shitennou brought his leg back before he swung it up and kicked off the wall in combination of twisting Nephrite's arm, kicking at his head, and freeing his sword as he grabbed the hilt.
Nephrite staggered back and managed to free his arm as the whoosh of a foot passed before his face. As he continued to stumble back he threw his hand out and his pole arm materialized. While Zoisite spiraled around, Nephrite took the opportunity to swing his weapon at the man. After a twirl around his body for the added speed, Nephrite brought the spade end of his pole arm down, but Zoisite's leg jutted out and kicked off the thick shaft.
Nephrite rebounded and spun to slash out again, but Zoisite had already landed and thrown himself back into the air, flipping overhead.
The burly man jabbed his weapon into the floor and threw one hand up. Once he felt his fingers graze fabric he took hold of a handful of Zoisite's uniform jacket. Nephrite gritted his teeth and roared out as he snatched the man out of motion and slammed him down.
Zoisite hit hard and his head bounced off the stone like a ball. Without missing a beat Nephrite ripped his pole arm from the floor, twirled it over his back and swiftly cleaved through Zoisite's body.
Following his blade was a trail of flesh, blood, stone, and then fire as Zoisite's bisected body ignited.
Nephrite stepped back and cast a skeptical eye on the body as it burned. To no surprise the body began to waver within the flames until it was gone from his sight. "Illusion." he said. Without an object to burn the fires Nephrite conjured sizzled out and he turned his attention forward.
Zoisite stood in front of the entryway, as if he had never moved for his first assault just a moment ago. The man was breathing heavy and a smirk began to form on his face before the spade blade of Nephrite's pole arm was thrust through his chest. Zoisite gritted through the pain and placed his hands around the wound. "F-Fast."
Nephrite, who had appeared behind the Shitennou, tightened the grip on his weapon and twisted it sideways, retching a hole in Zoisite. "What is your plan, Zoisite?" he panted.
Zoisite regained his smirk and rested his hands onto the blood drenched blade. "What's the point in telling a corpse about the future?"
Nephrite pushed on through Zoisite so that the blade completely passed through him. "From where I'm standing, you're the corpse."
"You don't think I could have dodged this?" Zoisite asked, coupled with a low groan as the movement caused his blood to began to seep out.
"What is your plan?" Nephrite asked again and pushed further through him. "If I have to force the ball end of this through your back I can guarantee, not even you will survive."
"An illusion world." Zoisite said finally, his hands now gripped around the shaft, slick with blood, in hopes to stop Nephrite from doing more damage. "Where happiness is eternal, and despair is an old friend to only those that deserve the torment."
Nephrite snorted lightly. "You don't strike me as the kind to wish for bliss."
"I was wronged!" Zoisite bayed with a turn of the head. "By Beryl."
"Has being her ever-obedient lap dog not worked out like you wanted it to?" Nephrite asked smugly.
"Working under Beryl has gone exactly how I planned, on my end at least. I can't say I predicted losing Jadeite, or having you betray us, but no, my betrayal is centuries old." Zoisite said. "A love I was determined to have was taken from me, the love of Endymion."
Nephrite gawked, that name was so distant to him, buried so deep in his memory that his mind barely registered hearing it again. "Endymion never loved you." he responded bluntly.
"But I hoped he would." Zoisite said. "I was by his side every day for over seven thousand years! I was there when he awoke, I served and protected him in and out of battle and would have done so no matter what! If I lost my arms, I would charge into battle for him, if I had lost my legs I would use my teeth to crawl in place before him. Even if it meant I would only be of use to him as a stepping stone, my life would have had purpose. Do you remember, the day we were granted immortality by Serenity?"
Nephrite nodded slowly. "Yes, I remember attending your ceremony. It was just before mine."
Zoisite tilted his head to the ceiling and smiled. "Do you remember what you saw, in the light of the Crystal?"
"My future. In a matter of seconds I witnessed what I assumed would be the rest of my life as a Guardian of Earth." Nephrite replied.
"I saw only Endymion." said Zoisite followed by a hacking cough. "He was in every glimpse and every moment of my existence. I knew from that day on he would find love for me someday, and it was then my life truly began. Before then, in battle, Endymion gave us a speech, never to risk our lives for him as he couldn't bare the thought of living without us. He gave that speech even after we became immortals, but never had I taken it seriously. I would have been reborn a million times if it meant dying for him."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"You wanted to know my plan." Zoisite retorted with a sneer. "I loved him, but he loved the Princess of the Moon, Serenity's daughter – what was her name?"
"Selene." Nephrite replied quickly and noticed the blood coming from the wound wasn't letting up. It was then he knew he had pierced another illusion and Zoisite was sustaining it only for the sake of his story.
Zoisite almost visibly fumed at the mention of her. "He confessed his love for her to me and I died that night from the sheer heartbreak. But I had already died long before that when I realized another human lusted for him, Beryl! That ignorant witch bitch! She dared lay her mortal lips on his, even for a moment! If she hadn't been so heavily revered by the humans of that time I would have poisoned her, strangled her corpse, diced her body into chunks and given the bones to Hades' dog as a present!"
Nephrite's eyes widened, he could see Zoisite shaking the more and more he spoke. "You have Kunzite now, why are you still fixated with the late Prince?"
"Kunzite was only a distraction for me, as he was no better. He had always longed for Princess Venus." he said. "I was one of the few he spoke to personally about it, though everyone knew. I was also the one to comfort him after we received news the other Princess' had been killed. We were both grieving, him for Venus, and I for Endymion and the realization I was now working for Beryl, that that witch had control over me! We were both hurt and need comfort, comfort that we found in each other. So we've remained together for the last one thousand years."
"So why remain under Beryl?" Nephrite asked. "If you despise her so much, why stay? Why turn on me for doing what you wish you could do?"
"Because she's the only one!" Zoisite said with a hint of sadness. "The power inside her, it has given her everything she needs to control this planet. For me to be happy, she must succeed. For once she has what she wants, I will kill her."
"If she has enough power to take over the world, are you any match for her?" asked Nephrite.
"I have a trump card that will ensure my victory." Zoisite said. "It's ironic, isn't it? I am powerful enough to destroy her, but not to control the world as she can."
"The power Beryl has, don't you think most of it is because of the work we, Jadeite, and Kunzite have done? Along with what remains of Queen Metalia, without her Beryl is nearly nothing. Even back then, without humans and the others she never would have won against the Moon Kingdom.
"That is exactly it." Zoisite admitted. "But I cannot control Metalia, nor can I command the army of Youma as she does. We're all that remains of the Shidaitennou and while I may hold fear over the workers in our Kingdom, they are weak and die easily. Beryl holds the key of being the leader and the only one Metalia truly trusts. Only after she is awakened and Beryl takes control can I put my plan into action."
"Just what is it?" Nephrite asked impatiently. He then yanked back on his pole arm, sending the spade blade ripping back from Zoisite's intestines.
The Shitennou collapsed onto his knees and cupped his stomach. "Heh, with my trump card – I will be able to cast an illusion over every mind on this planet. Meaning I can make someone as happy as they ever dreamed to be, or I can trap them in a never ending nightmare. The latter option is reserved for Beryl."
"If you just want Beryl to suffer why wait?" Nephrite asked and stood his weapon up beside him.
"Beryl's torment would give me immense pleasure, but nothing in the universe could compare to the ecstasy of seeing Endymion again, to hold him, to tell him 'I love you' and hear him say the same." he fawned.
Nephrite cleared his throat roughly. "He's dead Zoisite, unless you plan on loving an illusion copy."
Zoisite whipped around and stared daggers into the man. "I know he's dead! But, the Prince, just like the rest of us, had a Star Seed and when he died it returned to its place of origin until it found a suitable replacement. After I overthrow Beryl, with her power and control over this planet, finding his reincarnation will be a small matter. But Beryl would also like to find him, as she too longs for happiness, to have what she could never have any other way! I need her, she will lead me to Endymion and she is my ticket to power and in return I will trap her in Hell for all eternity!"
"Selfish." Nephrite said. "Then obeying her every wish and command has everything to do with you being on her good side, for when that time comes that you plan on assassinating her, you will need to be as close to her as you can get."
"Exactly." Zoisite breathed. "You turned yourself into a tool for my plan when you began developing feelings for the human. Your death is your own fault!"
Zoisite body vanished with a gust of wind and at the sound of a footstep behind him Nephrite grabbed his weapon and turned. He gripped the shaft like a javelin and hurled it forward. The weapon whizzed past Zoisite's head and stuck itself in a wall.
"Close." Zoisite sneered.
Nephrite flared his nostrils. "You can maintain illusions longer than I expected." he said.
"I told you, I would fight limbless if it was for my Prince." Zoisite said and swung his arm out. "To me, everything I've done so far has been for him. I will use the last reserves of my power to end your life tonight Nephrite, and if I end up as just a head lying on the floor I will devour your heart if that is what it takes. Don't look at me like I'm crazy!" he bayed across the room after he caught sight of Nephrite's expression. "You love the human and you've loved before. You know what it feels like!"
"No." Nephrite shook his head slightly. "I've never loved another in that way, I was fond of Princess Jupiter, as I am with Osaka Naru. But I've never wanted to die in the place of another. You do seem demented for thinking that way. But at the same time, I believe a love like that can exist, and maybe if I live long enough I'll experience it. It's for both of those reasons I will live on."
Zoisite plucked the pole arm from the wall and whirled it back to Nephrite. "Then let's start the real battle."
Nephrite caught and spun it around before he brought it to rest at his side. "Prepare yourself."
"You prepare yourself." Zoisite cautioned before he raised his arm above his head and swung it down, in front of him, and then back up. At the height of its swing his sword flashed into existence in his hand and caused Nephrite's attention to be focused in on it.
When Zoisite dropped his arm he was no longer alone. Standing by his side were numerous copies of himself, all in the same stance, with blades pointed at Nephrite.
The brown haired man readied his pole arm for the onslaught and after a deep inhale he lit the tip of the blade on fire.
Zoisite smirked and raised his sword, a silent command for his copies to charge. An unseen clone from behind the original attacked first, it darted out and charged Nephrite.
Though he knew them all to be illusions, that alone didn't make them any less dangerous. Nephrite wasted no time in cutting down the approaching clone and was pleased to see it fade away instantly. The several copies that came after were all fled just as easily. Only when Zoisite commanded them to attack in groups of five or more did Nephrite begin to have trouble.
It was no problem for him to cut down two or three at a time, but in the second it took him to do that the fourth would take to the sky and a fifth would find their way behind him. All the while another group from the never ending army was already on him.
Nephrite never relented though, his cuts, slashes, and waves of fire never stopped and it became an involuntary response to fight back. After cutting down upwards of fifty clones he prepared to come in contact with one that was running for him head on.
He went to stab through it, but his wrists were clutched by a pair of very real hands, it was then he realized the copies were gone and the original was holding him, or so he thought.
From behind the current Zoisite came another, with his blade held at his side he charged forward and cut through his clone to get to Nephrite. The man moved his pole arm between to block the blade and resorted to slamming his foot into Zoisite's gut.
The smaller man flew back and slammed into the far off wall, sending a crack up the partition.
Before had even hit the ground Nephrite had ignited his pole arm and sent it spiraling towards the man. Zoisite tipped his head up in time to see the pinwheel of fire coming for him and raised into a crouching position. As it came closer he noticed the flames growing before a second wheel of fire appeared under the first.
"Huh?" Zoisite's eyes widened, the distance between the two was incredibly small for him to evade through. "Nice try!" he snapped before swinging his sword upwards, a wall of water followed the swing and intercepted the wheels of fire. Zoisite rose to his feet and cast his arm out which caused the wall of water to curl over and crash down onto the floor like a wave.
Nephrite pointed a hand sign in towards the wave and his pole arm – trapped within – became ablaze again and flew out to him. He caught it and began to rotate it before him, he picked up speed and created a wheel of fire that turned the incoming wave to steam instantly.
On the other side of the steam cloud Zoisite pointed his sword forward at an angle as streams of water overtook his arm. The streams of water formed together into the body of a snake. The water serpent shot off his arm and grew in size it traveled through the smoke, absorbing the haze.
Once it reached Nephrite it had cleared all the smoke and had grown to the size of an anaconda that clamped it jaws down on the man's shoulder.
"Gah!" Nephrite tried to jerk out of the snake's grasp but the serpent took advantage of him moving and began to coil around his body. Nephrite continued to struggle before his entire body was trapped within the muscle bound coils of the snake.
Before Zoisite could begin his approach the snake was blown into chunks and as two red wings unfolded from the center of its bind. Nephrite stood at the center of the wings and smirked at Zoisite as the wings began to grow and flap behind him.
"Suzaku's wings." Zoisite muttered. "You plan on transforming into that?"
Nephrite threw together a series of hand signs before he leaned forward. "No, just borrowing some of its power." he panted before a stream of red fire burst from his mouth and shot towards Zoisite.
Zoisite's head twitched about as the skin on his neck and cheeks began to get rough and scaly. After he pursed his lips his cheeks quickly bloated beyond human capacity with water that he then spewed out onto the stone floor. It lapped over itself before the miniature waves grew in size into one large wave, big enough to challenge the stream of fire coming his way.
The two elements did nothing but clash and fill the room with steam as the two Shitennou kept the supply of their power coming. Nephrite took to the air with his wings and began to flap them and caused the heat of his flames to increase and their coloring to change from red to a reverberant blue.
Zoisite put in one more burst of water before he darted out from behind the clash of elements. As expected the fire quickly overtook the water and singed the floor and wall.
As Zoisite ran the perimeter of the room Nephrite kept him in his sights and spewed out several balls of white hot fire. Each one nearly missed Zoisite and sizzled out on the stone walls before one connected with the man's foot.
Zoisite fell forward and began kicking frantically to extinguish it before the flames overtook his body. He bellowed out in pain as the flames reached his head and clawed at the ground trying to escape the pain.
Nephrite's wings vanished and he fell back onto the floor and quickly charged for the fallen Zoisite. His pole arm appeared in his hand as he approached and slashed at Zoisite's raised head. Like before, he cleaved through it with no problem and sliced into the wall in front of him as well.
Nephrite quickly lunged back though as the body before him vanished. "Another illusion!" Once he landed he scanned the room, but saw no sign of Zoisite, but unexpected noise did gain his attention. Water.
Water was leaking into the room, from several spots. Nephrite turned to each of the walls to see spouts of water shooting in from each wall. The stone around one of the spout began to crack and crumble which allowed for another stream of to push through.
From a puddle of water growing opposite Nephrite, Zoisite's body emerged. "I'm ready for the finale." he said.
Nephrite continued to glance at the walls, more spouts of water were breaking through and the entire floor was now covered in a thin layer of water. He gawked however at Zoisite's appearance, the smooth skin the Shitennou took so much pride in was nearly gone, hidden under black scales.
"Hmph!" Nephrite leaned forward and darted towards the exit of the room as another spout of water broke through. In his run he stomped across the liquid and some splashed onto his ankles, the freezing water on bare skin felt like a large needle jamming through his bone.
Once he was in the hallway Nephrite only glanced back once to see the water in the room growing rapidly, but not passing the threshold of the door. "Do you plan on drowning me?" he called back.
Zoisite cackled as he exited the room. "No." he shouted. "This water is just above the point of freezing thanks to you superheating up the stone and as a result unthawing the ice around us! All I have to do is submerge you and you're done for! Did you know, Nephrite, that it was me who suggested Beryl use this as our base? The fallen Castle of Serenity!" He continued to cackle as the water surrounded him and he shot down the hallway after Nephrite. "After she dropped it from the Moon it burned in Earth's atmosphere and became charred beyond repair, but it still serves our purposes. But here, submerged nearly three thousand feet below the surface of the Arctic Ocean, surrounded by arctic water, this entire lost kingdom is a trap for my prey!"
Zoisite zipped by an open door and his trailing water flooded in, instantly freezing the workers who were inside. "You can't escape me!"
Nephrite turned back again before he took a sharp left at the next corridor. "This isn't a trap Zoisite, traps don't have exits." he said to himself. Once out of Zoisite's eye sight he turned his body and ran straight through a wall, his form merging with it instantly.
While he transported, his body was pinched, stretched, skewed, and distorted through the darkness before he popped back into physical form in a circle of light. He inhaled heavily and glanced around him, nothing but dark stone walls all around him in a circle and a hallway at his back.
He stood at the base of a tall tower that led to the surface, and to his freedom of the Dark Kingdom. At once his flame covered wings sprouted again and he shot upwards into the tower and towards the surface.
Not long after Nephrite had begun his ascension, Zoisite shot down the hallway that led to the tower and used his water to propel himself up. "YOU WON'T ESCAPE!"
Tuesday October 27th 12:05 am - Azabu Juuban
"Rei, Sado, what are you two still doing up?!" Grandpa Hino shouted as he peeked into Rei's room through the open sliding door. The two teens were sprawled out on the floor surrounded by a mess of papers. "You have school in the morning young lady, and Sado, you need to be up at dawn to help me prepare the temple grounds!"
"Relax grandpa, this is important." Rei said as she opened and closed a few folders, in search of something.
"More important than your school work?" Grandpa snapped.
Rei tilted her head in his direction. "Yes." she said sternly. The amount of what she could say in front of their newest temple employee was limited, but she knew he would take the hint eventually.
Grandpa's fury quelled and he straightened his shirt. "Rei, can I uh - speak with you in the hall?"
Rei rolled her eyes and got to her feet. "Sado, look through those folders to find the reports I was talking about, okay? Don't get anything out of order!"
"On it Miss Rei!" Sado saluted as he shimmed into the space Rei had been laying on.
Once they were both outside Rei slid her door shut and headed down the walkway. "I know I shouldn't be asking him for help, but it'd take me forever to find what I need on my own. I told him it was for a school history project anyway."
Grandpa waved his hand in the air. "It's not that, I know you wouldn't involve a civilian, but what I'm worried about if what's got you so wrapped up lately? You've been spending more time at the university than usual and you came home with all those folders and now you're up late working. You're as dedicated an agent as anyone, but you've never shown this kind of initiative, what's gotten into you?"
"I'm just looking into something for a friend." Rei said as she hugged herself. She was still in her school uniform and the late night air was biting cold. "If I'm right then she might be an ally to the Guard and someone who can help take down the Shitennou. Either way I'm responsible for her."
Grandpa gave her a wary look through his nearly closed eyes and hummed. "Alright... I trust you, but try and get some sleep okay? You're no fun to be around without enough sleep!" he yapped before he strolled off around the grounds.
"Hmph!" Rei snorted as she turned. Before she could take a step, Yuuichirou's head poked out of her door and scanned around for her. "Oh, Miss Rei, I found what you wanted!" He teetered out of the door and met her halfway with a stack of folders in his hand. "That girl, other than her mom the only relative I could find was some old lady living in Saitama."
Rei furrowed her brow as she looked over the information. "But what about her dad, she has to have a dad, isn't there something on him?"
Sado took back the first file and handed her another. "I found a hospital report for an Osaka Mitsu. He was admitted after he fell down a hill near his home when he was eleven, they found large claw marks on his back. They thought it was from an animal, but they were too big to be anything living to Tokyo. After he graduated from college he moved out to Saitama and got married, had one kid, and then there's nothing after that."
Rei took the file and ran her finger down the papers inside, underlining the hospital report with her nail. "Naru's father was attacked when he was a kid, and her mom was treated for a severe case of trauma after falling in a lake." Rei closed the file and pushed it back into Yuuichirou's chest. "They both fit..."
"Fit?" Yuuichirou asked as he followed after Rei who was returning to her room. "Miss Rei, this all seems a bit extreme for a history project. Shouldn't you be doing it on your own history?"
"What did you find out about the old woman in Saitama?" Rei asked as she settled down on her bed and pulled a piece of paper from her jacket pocket.
Yuuichirou dropped off the files onto the floor and searched through the mess for a notepad he was writing on. "Uhhh... She lives in Chichibu, alone, her husband died two years ago. They had one kid, Mayumi."
"Any strange events happen around her?"
"Lots of small stuff..." Yuuichirou muttered. "Says here the police used to come to her house every couple of weeks checking in on her after her husband died. Neighbors reported strange noises and lights coming from her house. And there was a fire back in '84."
"At her house?"
"No, there was a house behind her house, it caught flames." Yuuichirou read.
"Anyone die?"
"Nope."
"The report says the both of the houses were set away from the center of the town. They said that's the reason it took so long for a fire engine to get there and that the house hadn't been serviced in a long time." Yuuichirou said as he ripped off the top path and handed it to Rei. "I guess it was an accident.
Rei took the paper and pressed the eraser of her pencil to her lip. "Hmm..."
12:33 am
The chill of the cellar was unsettling. Umino would have stuffed his hands into his pockets, but the darkness he'd descended into required all of his senses to travel through. Hunched over to avoid running into a low hanging light fixture, again, and with his hands trailing the curved stone walls around him Umino wandered through near darkness to an unknown destination.
His foot connected with something unmovable in the path and he flew forward, falling on his face onto the path of ice cold stones and dirt. He groaned as he pushed himself onto his feet and slapped his hands onto the wall to his right. The stone under his hands suddenly changed into something colder and complex. He could identify the feeling of small circular objects protruding under his fingers, a latch some kind and several bar handles.
After several minutes of blind groping and try and fail attempts at pulling on the bars Umino was rewarded with the sound of something sliding open. A door, a large one, judging by how long it slid. He was eventually greeted by a pale light, the moon, escaping from the room he had revealed.
He squinted in the less than pitch black darkness and ventured inside. From memory he moved to the left wall and ran his hands along it until he found a bulky box fixed to the wall. His fingers fiddled around a small switch before he pushed it up and the room was flooded with artificial light. Several cylinders of light flickered on hanging from the ceiling and a few improvised light stands buzzed into power around the room.
Something stirred in the center and a knot of uncertainty Umino had between his shoulder blades relaxed. Amaya, the strange woman his father and his friends had brought him was still chained there.
He quickly stepped out in the hallway, glancing down both ways. He hoped no one would notice he'd snuck out from the house and would be coming to look for him. As he looked in the opposite direction he realized the tunnel he'd come down went much further, fueling the curiosity and uncertainty of what else might be kept down here.
Umino returned to the room, sliding the door shut behind him, and approached the board Amaya was hanging from. He approached her, warily, and ventured to touch her stomach to wake her.
At the slight touch Amaya's lids fluttered open and her eyes flashed a dim red as she glared down at Umino.
"Scary..." he muttered as he took a few steps back.
"Have you come to torture me too?" Amaya asked groggily.
"Is that what my father does to you?" he croaked as his eyes fell on a series of welts on the woman's thighs.
Amaya scoffed and narrowed her eyes down at him. "Don't play dumb, you hunters are all the same."
Umino cleared his throat. "I'm not a hunter." he said as he adjusted his glasses.
"I heard what they called you, Umino, that is the family name of the huntsman clan." Amaya said. "You won't fool me simply because you are a child!"
"I'm really not one of them! My name is Gurio, yes Umino is my family name, but — I didn't know about any of this until the other day." Umino scratched his head in frustration. "And now I'm confused, about everything... I just want answers, that's it."
Amaya hissed at the boy in response and bared her fangs. "Come near me and I will shred your flesh from your bones and bathe in your blood!"
Umino dug a hand into his pocket and revealed a large rusty key. Amaya's demeanor shifted at sight of the key. "Where did you get that?"
"My father's jacket." Umino said as he examined it. "It unlocks the cuffs, doesn't it?" he asked, but he was already moving towards the board and sticking the key into one of the restraints.
"What are you doing?!" Amaya hissed.
You don't believe me, so I'm going to set you free."Umino grunted as he twisted the key and unlocked one of the cuffs around her ankle. "But on one condition."
"I don't make deals with humans!" Amaya snarled as she rotated her ankle, enjoying the freedom.
Umino pushed his glasses up on his nose. "The way you say that, you're not a human are you? Well, that answered one question I had, so I'll unlock another one." he said as he undid a series of chains around her knee.
"Why are you doing this...?" Amaya asked as she bent her knee and stretched it out. "I won't tell you anything."
"Why not?" Umino asked impatiently. "I'm setting you free, why can't you just tell me what I want to know?"
"Because humans cannot be trusted!" Amaya shouted. "You are dishonest and corrupt creatures with far too much power in the world! I was once human, I know all about the art of deception and lies. You want me to share information and as soon as I'm free, on the other side of the door the rest of your family will be waiting to kill me!"
"You used to be human, another question down." Umino moved around to the woman's left side and undid the lock on the ankle. "I can get you out of here faster if you would trust me, I don't want to hurt you."
"HUMANS CANNOT BE TRUSTED!" she bayed, spraying Umino's face with spittle.
Umino scoffed and removed his glasses to rub them on his shirt. "Gross..." After rubbing the lenses he squinted and held the glasses up into the light to ensure they were clean. As he was about to put them back on his face Amaya hissed.
"Wait!"
"Huh?" asked Umino as he put the glasses back on. "What is it?"
"Your eyes." Amaya whispered.
Umino touched his glasses. "I can't see too well, so I wear glasses, you know what they are don't you?"
"Of course I know!" Amaya snapped. "But your eyes, they are natural?"
"What other kind of eyes are there?" he asked back. "Well, I guess of course there are ocular prosthesis, but I've never looked too much into that..."
"Silence your babbling!" Amaya rasped. "Remove your glasses, I must see your eyes again."
Slowly removed his glasses and folded down the sides to slip into his shirt pocket. He squinted and blinked in the near darkness. The woman's jaw with slack at sight of the wide and round downturned dark syrup coloured-eyes staring up at her, illuminated by a block of moonlight. They appeared to her like deep vats of caramel swirling around a deep chocolate center, the sight filled her with warmth. For a moment she'd forgotten the reason she needed to see his eyes and became transfixed by the attentive and charming face before her.
"Y-Your eyes—" she stammered.
"What about them?" Umino asked before he slipped his glasses back on. "Much better." he murmured.
"They're natural, they haven't been replaced yet." Amaya said, able to focus clearly now that the distractions were gone.
Umino raised a brow in confusion. "I don't understand, what does that mean?"
"Hunters, as part of the initiation they replace one of their eyes with the eye of a demon they've captured." Amaya said. "That is why your father has kept me alive, my eyes will be transplanted into you and the other boy during initiation."
"Wha-What?" Umino gawked, his mouth going dry. "That's terrible, then my dad and all the others...? That's impossible, my dad's eyes are normal."
Amaya shook her head. "You cannot see them, but I can. One of your father's eyes is natural, but the other is a vibrant green. No doubt stolen from the Goblin Queen."
"Goblin Queen..." Umino whispered. "Wait — you're telling me all this, do you trust me now?"
Amaya nodded slowly. "If you retain both of your eyes you are not yet a hunter and are not bound by The Code."
Umino undid two more locks, freeing her leg and her waist from the board. "What's The Code?"
From the entrance to the chamber came a powerful voice that startled Umino. "The Code is a set of ancient principles followed by this family." Takeo said from the doorway. "It is memorized at the time of initiation for each hunter and never to be repeated unless in initiation. That keeps our enemies from gaining knowledge about our institution."
"Dad..." Umino quivered as Takeo approached him and clamped a hand onto his shoulder.
"I knew you were defiant, but did I think you were stupid enough to set this hybrid free?" Takeo said before he dug his hand into his jacket pocket. "Never, not my son."
"I — I just had questions, I thought she could answer them." Umino replied feebly.
"So, you weren't going to set her free?" Takeo asked.
Umino quivered and glanced over to Amaya who had her eyes trained on Takeo. "I was..." Umino said before something jabbed him in the neck. He recoiled from the prick and stepped out of his father's grasp and cupped his neck. His vision quickly became hazy and he found his father's hand and a large syringe in his grasp. "D-D-Da—..." he muttered as his legs became jelly and he hit the floor. He watched his father progress on Amaya and pull out another syringe.
Amaya howled at him and Umino watched her launch her lower body at him and wrap her legs around his neck. His father made a sputtering sound before several bodies rushed in through the door before he faded to black.
12:41 am - Keio University
"I'm beat." Artemis groaned as he flopped down onto his bed.
Unlike his comrades he chose to renovate his room at the university/headquarters to the fullest. He ordered for the the room adjacent to his to be connected to his, giving him twice the space.
But he refused to turn his living quarters into a second office like Ilargi had done. Instead he chose something more casual and homey, a plush white carpet, a long curved white couch and king sized bed. Several dressers that held his casual attire, uniform, and battle armor. On the walls surrounding his bed stood several bookcases, all filled with his favorite books he'd collected over the decades as well as remnant from his home and some bestiaries.
Noticing his door was still open he lifted his head to see Luna standing there. "Are you coming in?" he laughed. "I don't mind if you want to stay the night."
"My room's right across the hall, is it really called staying the night?" Luna asked sweetly as she stepped inside and closed the door. "I don't know how much sleep I'll be able to get though."
"Oh?" Artemis asked as he shuffled to one side of the bed.
"I'm nervous," Luna said as she checked the digital clock on his bedside. "the princess from Wales will be here in less than twelve hours."
"We've been over this, we're practiced and gone over the plan. What's there to be nervous about?" Artemis asked as he folded his arms behind his head and closed his eyes.
"What if she's the real deal and fail to protect her?" Luna asked as she sat down on the edge of the mattress. "The Warriors haven't been training like they should and we just got them all home, they'll be exhausted when it comes time for the event. Mako is spending the night at Usagi's, I know they'll be up all night chatting..." Luna dropped her head into her hands and rubbed her eyes.
"Hey, don't worry, our girls will do their best."
"But they have school in the morning," Luna groaned, sounding like Ikuko. "they'll be drained when the time comes. Not to mention we just got back along with some of the others."
"The blessing in disguise here is that the Shitennou were out with us, and they were breathing in Soma's poison, they're going to be handicapped tomorrow as well." Artemis said before a yawn." Besides we'll have the upper hand, there's twelve of us with shards of the Crystal. All we need is for one of us to get close enough and activate it."
"And what if she's not our Princess?"
"Then it's back to the drawing board, looking for clues, and protecting the city."
"That's not what I meant. If she's the Princess the Dark Kingdom won't waste any time in killing her, and even if she's not they might just kill her for fun, or at the very least kidnap her for energy. We have more to lose here. We're dancing on ice here while they're bulldozing their way through. I'm just worried, if she is real this could be the answer we've been looking for, this war would be over soon."
Luna jolted as Artemis' hand landed on her back. "Relax, everything will be fine. We just have to stick to the plan, the Warriors aren't a big part of this operation anyway. They can't detect the Princess, that's our job. What they're there for is keeping civilians alive and the Shitennou at bay, or captured. I say we put Minako in charge tonight, next to us and Nikkal she's the best at restraining someone."
"I agree." Luna said as she swung her legs onto the bed and laid down, resting her head on Artemis' chest. She closed her eyes slowly and let herself drift off to the sound of his heart beating.
North Pole
"Dammit!" Nephrite swore and bashed his fist against the ice. He arched forward in pain as a gash that ran from the back of his neck to halfway down his back began to gush blood. At the feeling of the ice under him rumbling he turned back, Zoisite was approaching.
He forced himself to turn away from the approaching threat and snapped his eyes shut. Flames began to grow on his body, starting on his arms before they quickly spread until he was just a man of fire. In his mind he was presented with images of other fires from all over the world.
Naru. He thought as he tried to find a fire burning somewhere in Japan. To his delight he could see a wavering image of Naru sleeping in bed. He focused all of his efforts on that scene, he embed the sight into his mind and was soon able to smell something sweet burning.
Before he could completely capture the moment a stream of water shot through his thigh and caused him to fall forward. "Nnn!" he groaned and cupped the wound. The rumbling on the ice was closer than expected, his focus on the scene had numbed his senses to the scene around him.
Nephrite gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes tight and began to focus so intensely on the scene the veins in his neck bulged and his head began to tremble uncontrollably.
Blood dribbled down his nostrils as his body burned away on the ice and he vanished from sight.
Half the planet away the candles burning way in Naru's room were all overtaken as their flames grew in intensity. The wax began melting away quickly as the flames grew tall before they momentarily vanished. In the darkness that followed the soft thud of a body landed beside Naru's bed and the wick flames reignited in their normal size.
End of Chapter Thirty Six
Next, a princess and her famed jewel come to Tokyo and both the Silver Guard and the Dark Kingdom have their sights set on the event. Chaos ensues, ending in a high body count and a fateful encounter between Tuxedo Mask and Usagi, what will the masked man have to say? How will Naru react to facing the man that tried to kill her? Find out next time.
Chapter Thirty Seven - Blood Diamond 1