Monomaniac
Disclaimer. By now, you all know the drill. This story takes place after 'The Child is yours.' Omigod! This is the shortest disclaimer I've ever done!!! Thanks to Saint Erythros for helping me out with 'The Child is Yours.' There is now only one more story to go with this. Three guesses what that is. You have anything to say to me at all e-mail me. Lucca@I-o.net.au
Hair as gold as the sun…the images flashed through my mind, pushing me deeper and deeper into their web of desire. Eyes of a clear, sky blue… I pictured her in front of me: taller than average, long and slender with curves in all the right places. Her long golden hair in one long braid down her back. She had been wearing black. It had suited her well, though she looked as if she would still look good wearing rags. Her eyes had opened so wide when she saw me, as if she were afraid. But why then, did she let me touch her?
"Who are you?" I whispered to myself, shifting in my throne. It was green, and intricately patterned, with a large diamond placed near the top. Although not the most comfortable chair, it suited me well. Hard, and cold. Which is why it had the padding in the seat and back. Behind the throne, the pillar throbbed as mystical energies ran down it, sometimes throwing pink or yellow light about the throne room. The throne room itself was made of black crystal. It portrayed a certain beauty and deadliness with the light shining off it. It suited me as well, for it too, was cold and hard.
It has been two years since I have seen her. My angel. My beautiful angel. For that is what she must be. How could anything be that beautiful, unless it were celestial? But her cheek, when I had brushed it with my fingers, was warm and glowing with life. I could have stayed like that forever; touching her face, her hair, smelling her scent. But then she ran from me. I called for her to stop, but she did not. The fools at the doors had let her go, and they failed to catch her when they did go after her. Idiots. When asked, they said she had been to see Rubeus, my general.
I took a sip of the rich, red coloured wine in my glass. It helped me to relax. I changed position again: sitting straighter, leaning into the back of the throne, and crossing my legs, right over left. The memory of our conversation came back to me, playing out in my mind.
He came into the throne room looking slightly annoyed, but displayed the common courtesies non the less.
"How may I serve you, my Prince?" he asked, bowing at the bottom of the throne dais.
I wasted no time. I never did see the point of drawing things out. "Who was the woman who came to see you?"
His eyes widened in surprise as he looked into my cold gaze and he paused. "Why is this of any importance?"
I glared at him. "Who was she?"
He smirked. "Since when do you wish to know about my private life, Demando?"
I could feel a slight irritation on my brow where my black crescent moon: my family insignia was. I knew it wasn't court protocol to delve into my cousin's private life, but I didn't care. Besides, I was Prince, and whenever I wanted something done, it was done. I just wanted her, and the fact that he knew who she was and was keeping her identity from me infuriated me to the point that I could unthinkingly blast him where he stood.
He must have noticed it beginning to warp for he suddenly looked slightly on edge.
"She's just a girl I used to know," he shrugged.
"The guards said that she called herself Crystal," I supplied, wanting him to keep talking.
He looked at me for a long time before simply saying "yeah," and running a hand through his unruly hair.
I gripped the edge of the arms of the throne and leaned forward slightly. "Tell me about her." This was an order, and he knew it.
He sighed. "I met her in a bar a while back. She was by herself and some dickweed was sleazing all over her. I got her out of there and we went somewhere and had a bit of fun." I knew what he was implying, but it didn't make a difference to me whether or not it was the truth.
"Why was she here to see you?" I demanded.
He put his hands on his hips and his stance turned slightly aggressive. His face was gaining redness as his fury grew at my probing. "What, you really want to know?" he snapped.
I didn't move, just continued to stare down at him, my expression colder.
"Fine! She wanted a fuck okay? That's why she came to see me." He waited for that to settle in before continuing. "Is that it? Can I go now?"
I disapproved of his insubordination but nodded. He bowed once more and took his leave, stalking angrily out of the throne room. I had no doubt that someone would pay. Whenever he was angry, someone always got hurt. I didn't care. I had better things to think about.
Crystal. Who are you really? There were only a handful of Crystal's on Nemesis, and she wasn't one of them. I had had my servants search for her, of course, but they always came back empty handed, much to their dismay. So it came down to this. Either she had given a fake name, or she was not a Nemesian.
Two years… This aura of mystique that was wrapped so tightly around her identity only made me more determined to find her. To claim her. To make her mine.
I always get everything that I want. Everything.
I felt a shift in the atmosphere inside the room and recognised the aura instantly. Saffir, my darling younger brother, had decided to come and bother me with some useful trivia. I do love my brother, but he can be annoying at times. He is a savant, the most intelligent, the best.
"Oniisan," he greets from my right.
"What is it Saffir?" I ask morosely.
"You're thinking about her again, aren't you," he states after a while.
"How can I not?" I ask him.
"She was beautiful oniisan, but she is not worth it."
I jump to my feet, ready to strike him, but I stop myself just in time. "She is worth everything!" I snarl.
"What about your people? Or do they mean nothing to you now?" he asks pointedly.
I turn my back on him, ignoring him.
"She has changed you Prince Demando, you are not the same man you once were," he sounds unhappy.
I turn and wrap my arms around him. He is my brother, and I hate to see him upset. He hugs me back and we stand on the dais like this for a while. It is me who pulls away first.
"What about Earth oniisan?" he asks tentatively.
I smile down at him. I am a few inches taller then him after all. "I shall speak to Endymion now," I say. "I'm feeling generous enough to give him one last chance to surrender Earth to us before we attack."
He smiles back. "Yes. Everything is ready. It has been for a while now."
I nod, and together, we teleport to the control room.
She was beautiful, my daughter. I laughed down at her as she played with the little grey kitten that was her friend: Diana, the daughter of Luna and Artemis.
The two were quite a couple, chasing each other around. Chibi-usa was now three years old, her hair just long enough to put into tiny odango's with little curls coming out the ends. She laughed happily, a sound that was music to my ears. I never did grow tired of watching my daughter. She had only just started to talk properly, and was practicing at every opportunity.
The familiar beeping of an incoming message could be heard throughout the palace from the control room. Assuming it was Endymion, who was calling me from America where General Kunzite was, I ran excitedly to the control room and hit the transmission button so I could talk to him. But it wasn't Endymion who was staring back at me from the screen. I stared in shock as imperial purple eyes quickly assessed me, his own expression mirroring mine.
"You…" we gasped simultaneously.
I covered my mouth with my hand, still staring at him. He got over his shock before I did.
"You are Neo-Queen Serenity," he breathed.
I reached for the transmission button, determined that I was going to end it.
"Wait!" he pleaded.
I paused. "What do you want?"
He stared at me, his composure fully returned. "Earth… and it's Queen."
I hit the button, jamming the transmission and the screen went blank. I leaned against the control panel for support. So this is how it happened. This is how it began. His obsession with me, that killed hundreds, and ruined most of the Earth. It was my fault. I never should never have gone to Nemesis. It never should have happened.
The screen went blank and her face faded from view. I pounded the control panel with my fist.
"Dammit!" I yelled.
Saffir watched me apprehensively from the door. He had never seen me like this, and I don't think he knew quite what to do.
"Leave me," I ground out.
"But-" he began.
"Go!" I roared.
He obeyed me, nodding stiffly and retreating out the door, closing it carefully behind him.
"So, you are Neo-Queen Serenity…" I said to nothing in particular. "Soon you will be _my_ queen…"
I was shortly back in my throne room, seated in my throne. I had sent the Wiseman to gather all the soldiers and savants that would be needed in the war ahead. He had done so, and quickly. The room was full of bodies, all waiting expectantly for what was to come. I looked at each of them in turn before I spoke. Saffir stood on one side of me, the Wiseman on the other.
"We have lived without the sun too long," I began. They stared up at me, faces full of agreement. "For generations, our ancestors have lived on this asteroid since Serenity banished them. We shall take our revenge, and stake our claim." I paused. "Earth will be ours."
A year later, Earth nearly was ours. We had reclaimed all of it, except for one, small section. The Palace of Crystal Tokyo, and my queen. Saffir tried to reason with me. He stated that we had all the Earth, why not let them stay there and rot. But I bade him keep quiet. And so, the war continued.
The Wiseman had let loose a sleeping spell that put all things living to sleep. Reportedly, my queen went down with her people. But Endymion, curse him, was unaffected. Neither were the Senshi. And to keep her from me, they wove a protective crystal casing around her. No matter. As soon as I take the Palace, she will be mine.
I smirked as I heard the news that Endymion had been wounded, but my expression turned cool once more when informed that the Senshi were taking the King's brat and the Ginzuishou and attempting to flee the present.
"Don't let them escape!" I told Esmeraude, my admiral. But unfortunately, the child and the crystal disappeared through the gates of time. Idiot. I should have realised that she wasn't capable of anything.
The Wiseman materialised out of the floor in front of me, informing me that they had traveled to the past.
I transmitted a signal to Rubeus' ship. I had need of him, and he was just the man for the job.
"Yes, Prince Demando?" he asked as his face showed up on the view screen.
"Rubeus, I have a task for you."
He waited expectantly for me to command him.
"You are to go back into the past, to the late 1990's. There you will capture the rabbit, and the ginzuishou. When you have her, kill her."
His jaw dropped, and for a minute he was quiet. "But…my Prince…"
I glared at him. "Do you have a problem with my orders Rubeus?"
"Not at all." He recomposed himself. "But perhaps the rabbit would be better to our course if she were alive."
"He has a point, Prince Demando," the Wiseman said.
"Very well." I told him and ended the transmission.
"Soon…" I said to myself. "Soon…"