Hi everyone! Sorry this is a bit late going up, sometimes life gets in the way. I hope you all enjoy!
/
Ever since she was a child everyone told Chibi-Usa that she needed to be patient. A virtue that never came easily to her. Her heart was always searching for something, longing for more. She never understood why she had to wait, why they told her to be patient. The world outside the crystalline palace called to her. Its threads wrapped around her, pulling her forward. There was so much life to be had and she couldn't wait to see it.
But the others never understood.
While her parents did their best to gently guide her through her life her rashness worried them. Their arguments filled the palace halls, not going unnoticed by the other, despite her parents' best efforts.
Why couldn't she go to the Moon Palace and see the land of her ancestors? Why couldn't she return to the past to complete her training? Why couldn't she visit Neptune and Uranus? But each time she was met with the same refrain, when you are older, when you are stronger, when we know you are ready. Be patient.
So she'd cut the threads that drew her forward and bound herself into the mold of the Princess she thought everyone wanted: smaller, quieter, the epitome of a proper lady, so that one day she wouldn't have to wait any longer. The day she could grab those threads again and follow wherever they led. Her wild heart set free.
But today she clung to her parents' lessons. Patience would serve her well here.
Chibi-Usa crouched down in the dark mist that enveloped Pluto's domain, waiting. Her mother and the Guardian of Time stood motionless. The fog which clouded her crystal blue eyes vanished. Serenity wavered for a moment and grabbed Pluto's arm.
"Are you alright my Queen," Pluto regarded her mother with worry as Serenity steadied herself. "Are the visions coming more frequently now?"
"Yes, I will be fine. For now." Her words did nothing to calm the storm building in Chibi-Usa's chest. There had only been one other time she's seen her mother falter like that. "The visions are more frequent. It will not be long before the others start to notice. The last wave did not only affect myself but Small Lady was pulled in as well."
Pluto stiffened, her maroon eyes narrowing, "Is Small Lady alright?"
"Yes, she is fine. But the fact that she is being pulled into the waves is concerning. Ever since Small Lady first returned to the past the future has been subtly shifting. Thus far, we have been able to manage and control the changes but I'm not sure how much longer I will be able to so."
Pluto gave a sharp nod, "If things keep progressing the way that they have been we may only have weeks until our timeline has been replaced with another future."
The Queen released Pluto's arm, "I have had my time Pluto. This life has been a dream I never could have imagined. We have restored the peace that was stolen from us by Beryl, I married the Prince who sacrificed his life protecting me, and Small Lady, she is a gift beyond anything I could have hoped for."
Her mother stopped. The golden emblem on her forehead gleamed through the mist, starlight dancing atop the cool edges that surrounded her, "With everything I've seen, with what she's already sacrificed for me, she deserves the same chance that I was given. A chance to live without the restrictions of her birth… but things are not that simple anymore." Her mother slowly paced, unnamed burdens rustling beneath the layers of her dress.
"To do that you would have to give up Small Lady." Pluto's crimson eyes locked on the ground as she spoke.
"I cannot lose her Pluto. I will not."
"My Queen, unless you are willing to take drastic measures there is no way for us to alter the past. Even I cannot meddle in the flow of time."
The Queen raised an eyebrow at Pluto who bowed her head at the silent accusation.
"I cannot, again." Pluto corrected, her voice quiet.
"I know, nor would I ask it of you. Usagi may yet still return to the path that would lead to our present. My memories of the past keep shifting as time rewrites itself. She has yet to make her choice. She knows what she could lose. But I can see it, Pluto. I can feel her heart changing,"
Her mother pressed her hand against her chest, a gentle white light shown through her skin. "Usagi doesn't love him the same way she once did, her soul is drawn to another. I know my husband once sent his past self dreams, when the Black Moon Clan attacked, to test his love for Usagi. There are still options open to us that would not compromise the vows you have made." Her mother looked up, her cerulean eyes gleaming with the fire of a newborn star.
"Your power is not what it once was, my Queen. You may be able to save Small Lady but you will not be able to protect everyone," Pluto's immutable face unreadable.
Serenity sighed and looked down at the pink heart-shaped wedding ring on her finger before raising her gaze back to Pluto, sadness circling in her eyes. "It does feel, sometimes, that time has been cursed to repeat itself. Our lives trapped in an eternal palimpsest between our hearts and our duty. Now, it is my turn and I shall have to choose between my family and the safety of my people as my mother once did before me. I do not know if we will ever be able to make the right choice... Maybe there never was one." Her eyes steeled, "But I will not lose my daughter. Even if this timeline disappears and everyone else here along with it, she will be safe."
Pluto bowed her head, her dark green hair falling over her shoulders as she placed her right hand over her heart, "Yes my Queen. Shall I inform the other Guardians?"
"No, I shall speak with those who are currently here. Please recall Uranus and Neptune to the palace. We all will be needed for this. I shall discuss this matter with the King as well."
"Are you sure they will return? It has been years since Neptune and Uranus left."
"For this, they will." There was no doubt in the Queen's voice. "They will not abandon Usagi."
"And what about Small Lady?" Chibi-Usa's heart stopped at her name.
"No Pluto, no one may tell her. I don't want her to carry this with her as well. She has barely forgiven herself for the part she played in the Black Moon's attack on Crystal Tokyo. If Usagi does stray from the path we took before I don't want my choices added to Small Lady's conscience."
"Your Majesty, I think Small Lady has a right to know. If she doesn't understand-" A shake of the Queen's head cut her off, Setsuna's words drawn back into her mouth.
"Someday Pluto, she will find out the truth but now is not the time. She is not ready. Or perhaps this is my own selfish desire to keep these burdens away from her just a while longer." Her tone ended their conversation.
"Of course, Your Majesty. I will not say anything to Small Lady."
Chibi-Usa's heart thundered in her ears, drowning out the rest of Pluto and her mother's words. Not that she could stand to listen to anymore. No matter how she turned it over in her mind and examined every facet of what they said, the pieces wouldn't fall into place.
Why was Setsuna talking about Usagi like she wasn't here? Usagi was her mother, not some stranger.
Why was her mother willing to forsake her people to only save her?
Why didn't Usagi love Mamoru anymore? She was always fighting with her for his attention. They were always so in love.
But the name from last night, the unconscious man that Usagi had cried over, whispered in her mind. Seiya.
She couldn't wait any longer. If her mother wasn't willing to do anything to protect their people she would. She wouldn't sit by to watch them suffer and fade away.
Chibi-Usa ran. Her silhouette blurred by the fog. The mist around her drenched in blood-red as Setsuna summoned her power and called out after the unknown intruder. But she paid her friend's warning no attention as she flung open the door, her feet pounding against the alabaster marble floors of the palace.
Her lungs burned with every step. The air unable to quench the fire that stitched itself into her body. A voice inside called out to her to stop; to turn back and talk with Pluto and her mother; to trust that they had everyone's best interests at heart. But her anger drowned out the shrinking voice. She wouldn't be swayed.
The throngs of staff thinned as she reached the east wing. Replaced by a growing number of guards. Sabers swinging at their sides, encrusted with her parents' royal insignia.
At the end of the hallway, a lone stairwell vanished down into the underbelly of the palace. She had only been allowed to venture down once before with her parents. Standing at the top of the steps she hesitated; her fists clenched at her side. There was still time to turn back. Her heart thundered in her chest. This was madness. Utter madness.
But what would happen if she turned around? More secrets she was not allowed to know, her parents always shielding her from the world. A life where she stayed behind the walls of the palace forever, only venturing out within the cover of her dreams. Her hands released, but the unease in her chest wouldn't leave.
She had to try.
Alone, she raced down the steps, weaving between the guards that stood at each landing. Flanking endless hallways that stretched out into the web of dungeons. Over the past hundred years, crime and evil had slowly seeped back into Crystal Tokyo, despite her mother's best efforts. A secret only a few knew.
By the time her foot hit the end of the staircase, sunlight had long since faded from the clear crystal walls. The corridor tainted with an austere grey hue.
Two guards stood sentinel at the last cell at the bottom of the palace. Black steel wove in barbed lines in and around itself, a dark monument to the indestructible evil contained within.
An eternal prison that even the Death Phantom could not escape.
But his essence couldn't be fully contained. Tendrils of darkness seeped out and grazed across her skin, goosebumps tracing up her neck.
"Open the door. I'm going in to see the prisoner," Chibi-Usa commanded, attempting to emulate the same airs that her mother exuded so effortlessly. A tone that offered no room for questions. But even here, she could not measure up to her mother.
"I'm sorry Princess, no one but Neo Queen Serenity is allowed to go beyond this point. You cannot enter." The guard with light green eyes and a blonde mustache said as he stiffened. His face too young to guard such a dangerous evil. Clearly unnerved to deny a request from a member of the royal family. The two golden keys at his waistband clanged against one another as he shifted.
She felt her gaze soften, a small smile curled on her lips.
"I am here at the Queen's request," The lie flowed like honey from her mouth. "I know you are just doing your job but it is so far back up to the palace halls and my mother is busy with other state affairs. I offered to take this task to help lighten her load. I will be Queen one day and it is only right that I help lessen her burdens." She looked down and back up the guard through her long lashes, a trick that she'd discovered often got the young men of the palace to do what she wanted.
But he was unaffected, slowly shaking his head. "I'm sorry Princess, I cannot let you in. Please come back with the Queen and I will be happy to let you both in but without her I cannot let you pass."
"I do not need my mother." Her temper flared as she dropped her veneer. They would not keep her from her goal. "I am your Princess and the heir to the throne of the second Silver Millenium. You will do as I command." Her voice rose, recoiling off the blackened crystal walls, the broken cry of a bitter god.
Before either guard could respond her hands reached up to her chest and the lotus outline of her Pink Moon Crystal materialized in her palms. A velvet heat pricked against her forehead, the crescent moon emblem that marked her as a descendent of the Silver Millenium burst through her skin.
"Princess! What are you-" but before they could finish she reached out, a wave of power pulsed through her hands. The two guards suspended in the air before her, their eyes crackled with confusion and pain before crumbling to the ground. stood between her and the answers that could save her people. She'd had no choice.
Recalling her crystal back within herself, she froze. Sprawled out on the ground before her the men looked no more than young boys. The blonde's hair disheveled about his face. A hand flung to her mouth. They weren't her enemy, she was trying to save them. To save everyone.
Chibi-Usa wanted to run, to turn back and fling herself into her mother's arm, begging for forgiveness. She couldn't let herself slip, to fall back into the darkness that'd consumed her before - Black Lady sleeping just below the surface. But she wasn't her, she wouldn't let herself become that again.
She didn't want to hurt them; she was trying to save them.
Her crystal pressed against her breast, wanting to release itself, to heal the two men she'd knocked aside with so little thought. But she couldn't. They were the last obstacle that stood between her and the answers that could save her people. She'd had no choice.
Reaching down she plucked the keyring from the guard's belt. Her hand stopped for a moment against each of their wrists, their pulses still strong below her fingertips. A sigh escaped her lips. They would be alright. But this knowledge did nothing to lessen the tightness that had dug its way into her chest.
She slid the key into the horn-toothed lock and pressed the gate open.
A chill clung to her skin, permeating down into her bones. She shivered, wrapping her arms around herself. A gesture she knew was futile.
He knew she was here.
His dark tone reached out from beneath the silver dome of cracking energy that confined him, smoke that caressed her ear, "My Small Lady, I didn't expect to see you here so soon, and alone, without your Mother, nonetheless. Did you miss me?" The form of a man slowly emerged from the darkness. "I would offer you a refreshment for your stay but I am not allowed anything here other than what entertainment my mind can provide. How is it that I may be of service to you?"
He stood before her, no longer the creature of shadow covered in a shroud, but in the guise of a young man. Soft waves of black hair cascaded over his forehead. His sharp jaw framed his curling smile that tightened the knots in her stomach. A suit in shades of grey and black covered his lean body. Almost everything about him changed from the last time she'd seen him when her mother trapped him here. Except his eyes. The irises of his eyes, two deep rubies, cut through the dark, calling her back to the power that once consumed her completely.
"Do you like my new form? I prepared it especially for you." He spread his arms and slowly turned, showing off every angle and curve of his frame.
"Tell me what you know." She demanded, not wanting to give him a chance to twist her as he had before.
"What? No pleasantries? None of our usual tat a tat," he swayed back and forth with the preternatural grace of a predator.
"I am not here to listen to your deception. You said that you knew why everything was changing. Show me. I need to see what Usagi does that will destroy this world."
He raised his eyebrow and cocked a smile in her direction that made her skin crawl. "Ahh, so you believe me now. Why the sudden change?"
"That is none of your concern. I am here for one reason and that is to save my people. Now either you will show me what happened or I will leave you back in this darkness for eternity and find another way."
"You wouldn't be here if there was another way," smug pleasure shone from his eyes as he laughed, reading through her bluster with ease.
Her hands wrung at her sides as she glared at him. The truth of his words from the other night rattled within her, a truth she couldn't shake. He knew her too well, she couldn't hide her secrets from him. And she hated him, and herself, all the more for it.
"I would find a way." She hissed through clenched teeth, unwilling to bend to his game so easily.
His laughter faded into the darkness, "Of course you would, my Small Lady. But don't fret. I will not go back on my promise. I can take you to the moment our world fell into peril. But I cannot do that from here. You will need to release me from this prison your Mother has confined me to."
Now it was her turn to laugh. "Even if our world were on the brink of destruction I would not let you out. I am not here to willingly walk into another one of your traps. I will find another way to save my people." Chibi-Usa sighed and turned to leave. Each step echoed in her head as her only hope faded.
"No," The calm ease gone from his tone, an edge of desperate frenzy cutting through the air as he snarled.
She stopped and smiled. His desperation was a gift that relit a flame in her. She had the upper hand and they both knew it.
"No," He repeated, smoothing his black hair as he recomposed himself. "There is no time, as you say, our world is now standing on the brink of destruction and that makes us allies in this. You are right to not trust me but for once our interests are aligned. If the future changes, I will fade as well. Ripped forever from existence. I cannot say that is a fate I look forward to."
He stepped closer to her, his face tinged with the silver light emitted from the dome that surrounded him, "I can offer you an alternative, a chance to earn your trust and prove my intentions are what I say they are. Let me into your mind and I can take your consciousness back to when the world diverted. I will not need to leave my cell and you can see for yourself that I am telling you the truth."
Everything in Chibi-Usa's world stood still as thoughts raced through her head. She should have never come down here, seeking help from him was beyond madness. But there were no other options. Her mother had said she would forsake her duties to protect her people and the other Guardians would never question the Queen's will, at least none of the ones who were here. She could speak to her Father, but even if he agreed it would be the two of them against the Goddess of the Silver Millennium and her legendary guardians. They wouldn't stand a chance.
Chibi-Usa had never been patient.
She walked forward, her eyes square in his gaze. Her feet stopped only inches away from the boundary that separated them. No matter what he said she would never trust him but for her people, for the children she protected every night in their dreams, she would make a pact with the devil.
"What do I need to do?"
He smiled and clasped his hands together, wisps of midnight swirled around them. He slowly separated them, a mass of sparkling energy forming between his palms. Plucking a dark rose that floated before him, he held it out to her. Its petals gleaming in the darkness.
"You only need to trust in me."
/
They pressed against the black crystal door, the weight heavy against their hands, as they entered their bed chamber. Night had fallen on Eoros and a cool breeze filled their room. The scent which had haunted them when they first arrived was now nothing more than a momentary distraction. The aroma of spicy plums seasoned the air.
Their walk was unsteady as they made their way to the open terrace and surveyed the horizon. A lake, whose water mirrored the darkness of the midnight sky, stretched out around their castle. Beyond the lake, untold rows of black crystal cases lined the horizon. The people inside slumbered, their life forces fueling the recovery of the Malefic Crystal.
They turned and retreated for their bed, their body aching for sleep. The next steps of their plan set in motion. They sent Princess Miyo and her Guardian back to return Denamde to them. He had been right, they would still need that treacherous prince. But he barely occupied their thoughts.
They had seen him. They had given him the key. And he took it.
Now, they could only wait.
A sharp knock at their door was the only warning given before their advisor entered. He was the only one who would dare to enter with such a casual air.
"I see you have returned. Was your trip as successful as your last plan?"
They bristled at the bite in his words but let it go, exhaustion quelling their temper. "I do not doubt that things will play out in my favor this time. I cannot force them to come so instead I offered him the truth. He will not deny me when he sees it for himself."
"Not that I doubt your intuition but is it wise to waste what little power you have left on him? The Malefic Crystal's power has been all but spent with the failed attack on Kinmoku. Until you allow it to merge with your own power it cannot regain its true strength."
"Don't you think I know that? Need I remind you it was your plan that got us into this mess in the first place. And now my power has sealed itself away from my reach. And of all people, I do not need you reminding me of that."
"Of course." He bowed his head. But instead of retreating, he stood there, the silence in the air pulled at them, demanding to be acknowledged.
"Why are you still lingering?"
"I must insist that you consider my suggestion again. The power that once sought to rule the universe has reawakened. This is our chance." His voice rose with hunger. "With their power, you would be able to rule the cosmos and take back what is yours. This is not the time to hesitate. Claim what should have been yours by right of destiny. Chaos will be yours."
"I gave up on destiny the moment it turned its back on me." They shot back. Destiny was nothing but a child's bedtime story to keep the monsters at bay.
But he was right. Their power was fading. Soon, even if they drained every Elorian of their lifeforce to within an inch of death, they would not be able to hold it all in place much longer. Despite their need, they couldn't take more than they had from these people, this wasn't their fight. And they hadn't fallen so far. But time had never been on their side and now every delay put everything at risk.
"I will consider your offer once my champion has arrived. With him, I will have the power I need to continue. I shall take back what has been stolen from me."
"Do not allow your fear to keep you from this chance. I will lead you to everything you could ever want."
"It would lead to everything you've ever wanted. I have only ever wanted one thing. Do not confuse our current partnership for shared goals. I will keep you here until your usefulness has run out."
A slow smile crossed his lips. The same predatory grin that they'd seen many times before. "Of course."
/
Setsuna was always watching. As the Guardian of Time, there was very little that escaped her notice. Her quiet facade was an impenetrable gate that held many lifetimes' worth of secrets.
She had been a child when Queen Serenity first charged her with her duty as the sacred protector of the Realm of Time, a job she had been born to fulfill. For eternities on end, she waited and watched.
She watched as the Inner Guardians grew and lived a life of happiness and peace in the Silver Millennium. She watched the Outer Guardians as they struggled to protect the solar system from threats both from outside and those that slumbered behind friendlier doors. She watched as her Princess transformed from a child to a young woman, filled with love and hope for a future that was never to be. And she watched as it all crumbled to dust and ash before her, unable to stop the destruction. The time she came from, a hieroglyphic memory only she truly understood.
For years that stretched into millennia, she watched and waited until her curse was broken and she no longer was bound to a lifetime of solitude. For a time she was free to choose her own destiny. But she knew that her freedom, like all other things, would come to an end and she would either return to her post, carrying out the promise she had made to Queen Serenity.
Until that time came, Setsuna was happy to live with her friends. Though, even now, she found herself often falling back into the patterns that had always defined her existence - watching.
She watched as Haruka carefully guided Michiru to their bedroom, her arm slipped protectively around Michiru's waist, a quiet reassurance of their bond. She watched as Michiru's eyes darted from Usagi to the door at the end of the hallway that seemed to hold her attention for a moment too long. A smile tinged with sadness lingered on the Neptunians' lips as she leaned her head against Haruka's shoulder, the two of them disappearing into their room. She watched as her Princess entered her room alone, her body tired and worn but her eyes gleaming with a protective blazed, fueling the light that she and the others always saw burning within her.
And now, Setsuna watched in silence as the amethyst glow that radiated from Hotaru roused her from a troubled sleep. The youngest Guardian sat on the end of their bed enthralled by the galaxies of stars that floated between her hands. The lights flickered and faded one by one in her grasp until everything went out. The room, once again, lit solely by the twin moons' rays.
But the darkness was not what caught her attention but the small silver bracelet with a single charm that hung from its chain, a tiny pink heart gleaming in the moonlight. Hotaru looked down at the void that rested between her hands and vanished the image, her fingers fiddling with the charm.
Setsuna sat up slowly, not wanting to surprise the other girl, "Hotaru, what are you doing this late? You have pushed yourself too much today with the battle and healing Usagi and the others. You need your rest."
Hotaru's gaze rose to meet her own. But instead of being greeted with the light violet eyes she expected, two irises outlined in a ring of gleaming silver stared back at her. No longer Hotaru but Saturn, the Guardian of Destruction and Ruin.
"Daughter of Choros." Her old friend greeted her, as she always had, with her family's name.
"Daughter of Cronus."
"Our time is coming, daughter of Choros," Hotaru said, her voice laced with an ancient tone of an age that could rival her own. "You saw it as well. Her crystal is damaged, the shield she left around Usagi is fading. They will be searching for her soon."
Setsuna nodded, her gaze not breaking from Saturn's, "Yes, soon we will have to fulfill the role we were promised to. But we do not need to add this to her burdens yet. No matter how troubled the present is, we should let her have this time before she must carry the weight of her birth again."
There was still time. She would find a way to shield her Princess.
Time stretched out as the two women stared at each other. The air heavy with the knowledge that only the two of them possessed.
"We can wait, but it won't be for long." Saturn's gaze drifted away from her own. Out over the iridescent colors of the shifting sea. "She is coming… Cosmos… She has been waiting since the Silver Millennium to claim the next who will carry her torch. We won't have long."
Saturn's eyes flickered shut for a heartbeat before fluttering open again, the pale violet color returned.
Hotaru shook her head and looked at Setsuna, "She was here again wasn't she?" The question did not require a response.
Setsuna shifted, repositioning herself at the end of the bed next to the young girl. Hotaru fiddled with the charm at the end of her bracelet again. "We'll find her again, right? She's going to be okay?"
Setsuna wrapped her arm around Hotaru's slender shoulders, though she was almost a young adult herself, far older than she was when she had first been charged with her duty, she always seemed far too young for the weight that had been placed upon her.
"Of course we will. I'm sure Chibi-Usa is searching for a way to find us as well. I can still feel the pull of her crystal. She will be alright."
Hotaru bobbed her head and stared at the floor. Her mouth opening and closing several times in silence, the words she searched for trapped somewhere deep inside. "I could feel them too, the stars are rumbling again. It's the same as it was three years ago when Galaxia first came to Earth."
"I know," the brief answer was all she could manage for now.
"Setsuna-mama, what are we going to do?" Hotaru asked her as Setsuna wrapped her arms around the young girl, pulling her into a hug.
Setsuna shook her head to herself, "I don't know."
Because for all that she had seen, for all the untold number of lifetimes she had witnessed, and for all her knowledge of the future, she didn't know what was to come.
/
Usagi kicked the white sheets off her body and rolled onto her side, readjusting her pillow. Unsure of how long she'd been chasing sleep, unable to catch it. Even her breathing exercises offered no relief.
Not that she entirely minded the bout of insomnia. There was a malice to the night that she had come to dread, since arriving on Kinmoku. A deepening unease haunted the welcoming sheets of her bed. First, the nightmares refused to leave her, and now visions of an unknown woman, who seemed to know her, being warned off by her mother from another life.
And tonight, Seiya would not appear on the other side of her door to comfort her, to chase away the red-eyed ghost. Tonight she was alone.
She gazed about the room, determined to distract herself, looking for a way to evade the eyes of the spectors that followed her. But only the crashing waves below kept her company as they beat back the deafening silence. The others offered to stay with her, Haruka insisting on it before Michiru interceded on Usagi's behalf, steering her girlfriend away towards Yaten's room. If anything happened they were only two doors away, she told Haruka. Usagi didn't need them sleeping like guard dogs at the end of her bed. She could handle a few hours by herself.
And maybe after everything that had happened in the last forty-eight hours, some time alone was exactly what she needed.
Since the Outers arrived they'd all avoided directly asking Usagi why she was here and what was going on between her and Seiya. Carefully skirting the topic after they left the healing pools. Even Haruka, who knew more than the others, had questions bursting behind her sapphire eyes. Their patience wouldn't hold out much longer. But Usagi needed more time.
Things that had seemed so clear while she and Seiya danced together under the Night Plumblossom tree, that gleamed like their own private galaxy of stars, now were muddled and murky. Her footing no longer on solid ground.
The future was gone.
She tossed her arm over her head, eyes fixed on the vaulted ceiling. Her mind raced with everything that had happened. Each moment that replayed in her head dragged her down further. Below her skin the Malefic crystal hummed, the darkness threatening to creep forward. Maybe she hadn't made the right choice in being alone tonight.
How had it all gone so wrong?
The images of the past day and a half still haunted the world behind her eyelids: the Malefic Crystals slipping through her fingers; Seiya laying lifeless in the healing pools; Galaxia's sword impaling Fighter as she begged Usagi for forgiveness.
Odango, I'm sorry. I keep failing you. I can't protect you. I'm sorry. I can't be good enough.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I can't be good enough.
Each word hung like a chain around Usagi's neck. The weight of Fighter's guilt pulling the dark crystal further and further into her.
Seiya was wrong, she didn't deserve any of the blame. This was all her fault. These were her demons to slay. Ones that should have been long dead.
Her mind stopped as time seemed to stutter around her as Demande's face appeared before her eyes. How on earth was he back? He'd perished protecting her from the Death Phantom's blast years ago. Protecting, her mind scoffed at the word. There were only ever two options for Usagi in his twisted mind: she would either stay by his side as his puppet queen, her free will stripped from her, or perish at his hands, no one else's. Either in life or death, he would possess her.
She had always been his goal. She must be the reason he was here again, the reason he attacked Kinmoku.
And now, they were all flung back into a battle that should have ended years ago. Forcing her friends, after years of peace, back into their role as her Guardians again.
Why? Why do they always have to protect me?
It's their destiny. A faceless voice called to her, filling the room. Destiny. That singular word echoed in the rafters of her mind. Its harsh red eyes gripped at her body.
Destiny had been her constant companion since Luna had found her all those years ago. A young naive fourteen-year-old girl, whose only concerns were how to keep her parents from finding out she'd flunked another test and how to sneak some more time away with her friends to play video games. Now, she wasn't just Usagi, her identity had stretched and morphed around all that she had to become: Sailor Moon, the reincarnation of Princess Serenity of the Silver Millenium, and the future Queen of the Second Silver Millenium. All of these people swirled around inside her.
Her thoughts floated around the glass spire of the Crystal Tokyo palace, which pierced the sky. How old had she been when they first gone to the future? Fourteen… Fifteen? After everything that had happened, it seemed like much longer. But her body hadn't forgotten, her chest tightening at the memory.
Back then, her heart was still aching as she and Mamoru attempted to repair their relationship for the first time. For her, seeing a world where they could be together, where they would have a family, where they would be happy, she had been willing to do anything for it.
But as the years went by she wasn't sure anymore. The Crystal Palace that had once been a beacon of hope, morphed into an impending glass cage.
Now and then, she would catch herself looking back at those few memories of her future self, studying every angle and aspect of Neo Queen Serenity. The silver hair that was dressed in the same style as her own, the same dress she'd worn, the same smile she'd seen a thousand times in mirrors and glass skyscraper windows as she'd passed. But, no matter how closely she'd looked, she'd never found traces of herself in that identical face. The eyes that gazed back at her held a shimmer that belonged to someone else. All signs of herself gone.
The thought terrified her.
You can never escape destiny, Neo Queen Serenity's voice, her own voice, rang in her head, bearing down on her.
Haruka's words, in a voice that seemed to gain strength with every passing day, calm and steady, pushed back against the Queen, We have to choose our own destiny.
Usagi opened her eyes, the darkness that lurked in her mind worse than the emptiness of her room. Her vision cleared, the blurriness fading out as her eyes adjusted to the night. It was then she saw it, unsure how she'd missed it before. The promise ring Mamoru had given her. It sat silently on her nightstand, waiting, watching. The pink heart-shaped diamond glared back at her in the electric night.
No one was allowed to have everything they wanted, and she was no different. She would have to choose. Or would destiny intervene as it had before?
Usagi pushed herself up out of bed and grabbed the ring. The halo of tiny diamonds scratched her palm. One step after the other, she made her way to the balcony doors. She stopped. Her hand hovered above the waiting handle.
She turned away. Pulling open her closet doors, she placed the ring on the top shelf, behind the teal taffeta bag, still brimming with jewelry. Away from anyone who might mistakenly find it again.
Closing the doors Usagi made her way back over to the deep green velvet chair. Pulling her legs up against her chest as she sat, arms wrapped around her knees, letting the chair engulf her in its feathery embrace. A soft scent encircled her as she disturbed the dense fibers. It pulled at her mind, digging, searching for the right memory to place with it. But it wouldn't come.
She knew what she should do. There was still time, there had to be. She could still walk away from whatever silly notions had led her here and go along with what had always should have been. To a future filled with peace, all of her enemies vanquished, a lovingly mischievous child she adored, no matter how many times they had frayed each other's last nerve.
She couldn't give Chibi-Usa up.
But she wouldn't give Seiya up either. The possibility of something that was hers. Something, someone, she wanted for herself. No grand destiny, no tragic past, no predestined romance. Just theirs, just Usagi's.
But at what cost? What price was she willing to pay to have a choice. Usagi twirled an errant gold strand of hair through her fingers. She still didn't know.
Somewhere in the space between Seiya finding her in the cave and their dance beneath the Night Plumblossom tree something within her had irrevocably shifted. And she wasn't sure if she'd ever be able to go back to the way things were before.
Deep in her mind pieces of a puzzle, she hadn't known she was trying to solve, clicked into place. The memory of the scent that blanked her burst through. She was back in Seiya's arms, her head resting against her chest, the rhythm of her heart a constant reassuring drum in her ear.
Seiya. It was Seiya.
The smell of the earth busting to life after a summer's rain. The warm rays of the sun breaking through the clouds, the ground drenched in life-giving water. A glorious mix of earth, heat, and water rippled through her, wrapping around her and pulling her close. A scent that, the movement she realized who it belonged to, was something she didn't want to have to part from again.
Her head leaned back against the chair, eyes shut and she drank it in.
But nightmares roared back the moment she closed her eyes. Fighter kneeling before her, the life in her eyes gone as the refrain started again.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I can't be good enough.
Usagi pushed herself upright. Her heart raced under her breast.
She couldn't stay here. She couldn't sit here in this chair steeped in Seiya's scent, in this room where those red eyes followed her every move. She had to do something.
Usagi bolted out of the chair, ignoring the throbbing protests of her legs, and stepped out into the hallway. She stopped for a moment, her gaze caught on the closed door at the end of the corridor. She tore her eyes away and started down the stairs.
/
Warm steam-filled Yaten's lungs, mingling with the cool night air, carried in on the currents below. The two opposing forces left her with a sense of unease. She glanced down at her sister who still slumbered in the pearly water. Seiya's face unchanged.
"Why is it I always end up having to look after you?" Yaten huffed.
Seiya offered no reply.
Yaten sighed and stared up at the stars that glimmered under a veil of mist. Each one surrounded by halos of light that bled out from their burning core, dotting the sky with their effervescent radiance. Any other night the quiet serenity would have lulled Yaten to sleep. But tonight, she knew sleep wouldn't find her.
This time when Taiki tried to send her away Yaten refused to budge. There was no point having them both exhausted. She finally convinced Taiki by proposing that Kakyuu should have one of them stay with her tonight. Even though Demande was locked away, neither of them felt comfortable leaving their Princess alone. Taiki had relented and gone off with Kakyuu, hopefully, this time, till morning.
Yaten laid down on her back, opposite of Seiya, the porous stone below warming her skin. The heat of the hot springs below permeated nearly everything in the room.
She turned her head to face her sleeping sister. The rhythm of her breath unchanged, her brows slightly pressed together, the muscles around her lips tensed. There was no peace to be found in her expression.
Yaten tilted her head away, letting her mind drift. Memories plucked her in and out of the present at will. Her consciousness untethered in the swelling night. The darkness that gathered in the dome above was replaced with a blaring sun.
Waves sprayed her and the others as they ran across the shoreline, diving in and out of the jagged rocks that lined the path. The path started to veer upwards, narrowing along the cliffside. She was only ten, only halfway through her training, and none of them were supposed to be there without their instructors. Seiya had challenged Yuki to see who could dive off the highest part of the cliff into the sea. Proving, in the way that contests like these do for children, who was the bravest among them.
She and the others plodded along behind the two leaders, partly curious to see who would win but mostly excited to have a moment of freedom away from training. Seiya had even roped Kakyuu into tagging along for the fun.
"Yaten! Hurry up!" Seiya called back for her as Yaten stumbled over a few loose stones on the path. They fell off the side of the cliff and into the rising tide below, lost pebbles to the greedy waves.
Stopping with the others on a landing below the towering ridges, she watched as the two girls started their climb up the cliffs. She had wanted to spend her break in the fields, playing with a new litter of kittens, but Seiya wouldn't hear of it. Everyone needed to be there or it wouldn't count.
"Hey, do you remember the time you challenged Yuki to see who could dive into the sea from the highest spot on the cliffs?" Yaten asked her sister, knowing full well she wouldn't respond.
"I was so mad at you two for making us all go along during our break to watch your stupid contest. But you would stop pestering me to come." Yaten laughed to herself and shook her head, a bead of sweat rolling down her forehead.
"The two of you were always going at it. If you beat her at staffs one day she'd challenge at riding the next and on and on until we were all begging you to stop. But neither of you ever did. I think she's the only person I've ever met who's as competitive as you are. Once you'd decided on doing something there was no reasoning with either of you. It drove me mad." Yaten sighed, "Not that much has changed."
The sun flared in Yaten's eyes and she squinted, searching for the contoured black shadow above as Seiya pulled herself up to the next ledge. Yuki had just dove in from the highest point any of them had ever reached. Beaming when she popped up from the waves and rocks below, sure she'd won. That Seiya wouldn't be rash enough to go further.
"Seiya, you can't go higher than that," Taiki's voice echoed up the ridges. "It's not safe, the cliffs aren't stable up that high."
"I'll be fine," Seiya's voice called down to them.
Seconds later they heard her steps on the stone above — one, two, three, jump. Everyone stood and watched, screaming and clapping as Seiya somersaulted in the air before splashing into the water below, Princess Kakyuu yelling the loudest next to her. Yaten rolled her eyes. Seiya could never resist a chance to show off.
"You can't beat that Yuki. I won!" Seiya taunted Yuki who was making her way up the ridges again. Her fingers warped around the crumbling stone.
"I haven't given up yet, Seiya," Yuki called back.
"I told you guys you shouldn't have gone there," Yaten said to herself.
She didn't see what happened next. Yuki's shadow had been lost to the glare of the sun but she could hear it. The rocks shifted and clattered against the cliffs, breaking free. Yuki's limp flew past them and slammed against the waves.
"None of us knew what to do. It all happened so quickly. Yuki slipped and fell into the water. I just remember seeing her face staring up at the sky. Floating for a few seconds in the waves before she started to sink.
"Everyone was yelling, Taiki and Kakyuu ran down to the small inlet to try and pull her out before the tide pulled her away. But you, you dove back into the water without a second thought. I was sure you'd hit one of the rocks but you popped back up and swam out to her."
Yaten hadn't stayed to watch the rest unfold. She'd run back to the palace to grab one of the trainers who bolted for the beach, cursing the entire way.
By the time they arrived most of the other trainees had fled, afraid of being caught disobeying their teachers. Taiki and Kakyuu were both drenched, dragging Yuki up the sand. Seiya limped behind them. After their weapons instructor checked that Yuki was still breathing they scooped her up and her took the infirmary.
Kakyuu reached out and touched Seiya's leg and she yelped at the light pressure.
"I think you broke it," Kakyuu said, the light red of her crystal glowing as she called it forth. "Don't worry, I can fix it."
"No," Ran, their overseer commanded. They all flinched at his tone, the red light retreating back into Kakyuu. "Seiya has to get back herself. You cannot heal her."
"Why not! That's not fair," Kakyuu's tears poked out at the corner of her eyes as she stamped her feet. Her red hair burned like fire in the noon sun, "She'd hurt and I can fix it. She's saved Yuki."
"Seiya broke the rules. She's the one who challenged Yuki to this ridiculous contest. She's the one who brought all of you down here and put not just all of the trainees but herself as well Princess in danger." The others shot Yaten a look, knowing she must have told the instructors.
"Seiya will not die of a broken leg. You can heal it in a few weeks but now she needs to learn that there are consequences for putting the people she's supposed to be learning how to protect in danger. If she has any chance of becoming one of your Guardians she'll have to learn that others' safety is more important than her own wants and desires." Ran turned his head, capturing Seiya squarely in his gaze. "If you are going to become a Starlight you'll need to control yourself. Your life won't be your own then. If you can't do that you should leave and go back to your parents."
"But I'm your Princess, you have to listen to me." Kakyuu glared back.
"I'm sorry Princess, until you are old enough to pick your Guardians they are mine to train. Now let's head back. The healers can manually set your leg when we get to the hospital." Ran started back towards the palace.
Kakyuu's red eyes still glued to his back. If her gifts had been fire-based instead of healing Yaten had no doubt Ran would have been a smoldering pile of ashes before he'd made it three steps away from them.
"Princess don't worry," Seiya's voice still carried a smile, "I'll be fine, besides it doesn't hurt that much. See." She tried to put weight on her foot again but instantly winced, falling to the ground.
"Here," Yaten went over and grabbed Seiya's arm and pulled it around her shoulder. "Taiki get her other side." The taller girl ran to Seiya's left, mirroring Yaten's actions as they pulled Seiya up, balancing on one leg between them.
"There, now we'll all make it back. Princess, you can walk ahead of us and check that the path is clear."
"You know," Yaten said as she twirled a strand of her silver hair above her face. "I think that was the day Kakyuu decided to pick you to be one of her Guardians. I'd never seen her so mad as when Ran told her she couldn't heal you. Not that she was wrong, he was a royal prick. Always going on about the legacy of the Starlights. How all of the Guardians before us gave up everything for the sake of our Princess and our people. He would never shut up about it.
"But you know… he might have been right. There's a lot that we've given up to fulfill our duty as Starlights." Her gaze blurred as a short blonde with a bright red bow in her hair appeared in her mind. A mischievous smile pulling at the corners of her lips.
Yaten raised her hands above her head and swung them forward, the momentum propelling her slender body up. She sat with her back to Seiya. "I don't know why I was thinking about that time. It's been ages since we've even talked about our trainee days. But, I guess you really haven't changed much since we were kids. Always running headfirst into anything regardless of the rules or what others think. Throwing yourself into danger to protect everyone."
Her mind flashed back to the ball, Fighter flinging herself in front of Demande's spear, Usagi frozen behind her. Yaten trapped on the other side of the chasm on the floor, unable to do anything. "You know Seiya, maybe he was right. Maybe to do this, to be a Starlight, you do have to give up everything. To only have one goal in life."
Yaten leaned back on her hands. Her thoughts drifted away again: Minako chasing after her, grabbing her arm and pulling her off on some half-baked scheme, "Or maybe we can have both. Maybe we don't have to give up everything. Maybe we can have some things for ourselves…" The memories of her time on Earth faded away, replaced by two silver eyes staring back at her, their trusting look bearing into her as Saori smiled. Yaten shook her head, banishing her friend's face.
Yaten sat as the sound of the waves blanketed her. "I know we aren't in the best place right now and there are still a lot of things I'm mad at you about. But you have to come back. We need you back. I need you back, you idiot." Yaten laughed quietly, needing to lighten the thick melancholy that had fallen over the room, "If you leave then I'm left with only Taiki to argue with and she's impossible to deal with. I swear, not only does she remember everything but she always keeps it ready in the front of her mind to throw back at you to prove she's right."
Yaten laid back down against the warm stone, "Oh, do you remember when you hid all of Taiki's notebooks in the weapons room..." She started in on the next memory as the night engulfed the world around them. Yaten made sure her sister knew she wasn't alone.
/
Haruka couldn't sleep.
Her body was exhausted and she hadn't had more than a few hours for sleep since they'd arrived. Michiru barely managing to change into a pair of pajamas they found in the closet before she collapsed into bed. Haruka'd laid there with her eyes shut, listening to the rhythmic pull of her girlfriend's breathing, hoping it would lull her to sleep like it did on most nights when her mind wouldn't quiet.
But tonight it refused to settle.
She slowly rolled over and sat up. Checking over her shoulder, wisps of Michiru's aqua hair shifted around her face as she breathed, still asleep. Haruka felt a smile cross her lips as she fought the urge to lean over and kiss her. Instead, she reached over and brushed the rouge strands behind Michiru's ear and stood.
A breeze swirled in through the doors open to the balcony. Haruka filled her lungs with the sa, stretching her body as unease bristled under her skin. The night air was thick with an oncoming storm, an electric undercurrent pulsed on the wind.
She knew the reason for the discord that encroached on the world around her. But this wasn't the moment to deal with that. Tomorrow would be filled with enough problems.
She opened the door and slid out into the hallway, inching the door shut behind her. At least one of them should get a good night's sleep.
The halls of the palace were mostly abandoned, the majority of the staff sent away while they dealt with the danger at hand. But still, Haruka managed to find a wayward guard, who after some confusion, was able to give her directions to the kitchen.
As she strolled, the stone walls of the palace gave way to an open-air courtyard. The sea here was so different from the one on Earth, filled with swirling pastel hues that gave the night an ethereal glow. Had Michiru not been so exhausted, Haruka would have loved to bring her down to the shore and watch her dive through the cresting waves. No matter where they were, the sea always sang to Michiru in a way she never understood but whole enthralled her.
But even if they weren't so tired there wouldn't be time. When they left Earth they had known that something was brewing, with the timestream gone, but to meet an enemy who had perished before she had awakened wasn't what she, what any of them, expected.
So much seemed to have changed since she'd last seen Usagi in Tokyo, frantically running away from an unnamed pursuer. They were barling towards a new fight that shouldn't be. With Chaos defeated they had all assumed their time as Guardians was over until the Second Silver Millenium came. But the winds of their destiny had changed.
Destiny didn't seem to be the only thing that changed, their Princess wasn't the same as before. A fire that had been dimmed over the past few years flared again in her azure eyes.
Haruka groaned at the thought. Seiya wouldn't have been her first choice for Usagi but at this point, there didn't seem like much she could do.
A clang of what sounded like a mountain of pans smashing to the ground pulled her from her thoughts. An exasperated cry followed not far behind.
Haruka pulled open the wooden door to the kitchen and was bombarded by a cloud of flour. A thin coat settled on her shirt as her lungs spasmed against the assailant.
"Arg, I've made this before so many times," Usagi whined to herself, her face covered by patches of white flour; her hair a few shades paler. Unaware of Haruka's intrusion. "Why can't I get it right this time. The others should have brought Makoto along too."
"Next time I'll make sure to bring her along with a cleaning crew." Haruka laughed and wiped the flour from her light blue shirt. "What on earth are you doing, kitten? You should be sleeping."
"I couldn't sleep so I came down here for a bit," Usagi looked at the ground, her two index fingers pressing together.
Haruka raised an eyebrow, "There have to be better ways of dealing with insomnia than destroying their kitchen. Or did you want to wake the rest of the palace up too?"
"I was trying to make some cakes…" Usagi looked up, exhaustion clear across her features as she pouted, "Don't give me that look. I'm not as bad as I used to be. I made these for the others at hanami and they all liked them." She crossed her arms.
Haruka wasn't sure how to respond. The absurdity of their situation was not lost on her. "I'm sure you have but that's really not the question kitten. Why did you decide to bake right now? And in this bloody heat of all times." She walked over and grabbed a bronze pan from the floor.
Usagi muttered her reply, looking away. The words lost in the shuffle of metal.
"What did you say?" Haruka tilted her head.
Usagi sighed, "I was making them for Seiya… She told me that she'd wake up again since she hadn't tried my cooking. And I, I thought she might like some when she woke up." Usagi smiled.
But Haruka knew what lay behind the cheerful persona Usagi clung to when she was overwhelmed. The look on her face was one she'd come to know well over the years. The corners of her mouth not reaching up high enough. The sparkle in her eyes still dimmed.
Haruka walked over to her princess and tousled Usagi's bangs, a light cloud of white dust shaking free from her hair. "Maybe Seiya is a bit braver than I give her credit for if she'd willingly try your creations." Usagi started to protest but Haruka put a finger against her lips, silencing her. "I recall being on the end of your last round of improvements and I couldn't leave my bed for the next two days."
Usagi looked away, her hand rubbing the back of her neck, a slight shade of pink rising to her cheeks. "Yeah… sorry about that."
Haruka walked to the corner of the room the guard had told her about and opened the cupboards, searching for her prize. Seeing a row of bottles filled with a swirling brown liquid she selected the closest one and uncorked the stopper. Her nose burned at the sweet scent. Walking over to the long wooden table in the middle of the room, she set the bottle down.
"What are you doing?" Usagi asked as Haruka found two mismatched glasses and set them on the table beside the bottle.
She pulled out a chair and sat down, pouring herself a drink. "Why don't you take a break kitten and come have a drink with me. I think we could both use one."
Haruka filled the other girl's glass when Usagi put down the last of the pans and dusted off her pants. She lifted the glass out towards her friend.
"I would love one." The gesture earned Haruka a smile.
Usagi reached out and took the glass from Haruka's outstretched hand, sitting down across from her. Haruka raised her glass, Usagi mirroring her motion in a wordless cheers, and took a sip. The sweet, smoky liquid warmed its way through her body; her muscles instantly relaxed. The scent of burning oak washed over her.
"Now," Haruka said, looking over at Usagi who was still sniffing the liquid in the glass suspiciously. "Tell me what's going on with you kitten."
/
Finally back to "normal" length chapters lol. These past couple of weeks have been exhausting for me so for once I don't have much to say in my note at the end lol. As always, thank you to everyone who left a review! I love, love reading them. They truly make my day. If you are enjoying this story I would love to hear from you :D
Unfortunately, things most likely won't be slowing down for me until we hit fall so it's going to be another three-week break until the next chapter. Hopefully, soon I'll be able to get back to posting every two weeks!
I hope you all had a good weekend and are staying safe and healthy!