Hello! This story is about the Generals and it
is related to the Manga, taking place not long after the
Dark Moon Kingdom.
This story is rated PG (Nothing serious, so don't worry) ^_~
Everyone please email me, I really really would like some input on
this story. Besides, I love to receive emails from ya' all! ~_~
Usual disclaimers: Sailor Moon and all its characters and likeliness
belongs to Naoko Takeuchi, Kodansha/Toei. English translation is made
possible by DiC.
My email address: ml_eclipse@hotmail.com
= thoughts
[ ] = author's note
All right, on with the show!
============================================================================
GEMSTONE'S OATH
========================= By Cosmos ==================================
Chapter 5: Premonition
"Jeez, it's sure quiet without that little kid running around," Venus sighs
dejectedly.
"Don't worry Venus, they'll be back within a week," Mercury assures her.
She turns from Venus to the majestic royal garden spread out before them.
They are sitting on a large veranda made of unusual marble adorned with
magnificent white décors. A grand garden fills their view as they sat
sipping some lemonade and watching Aurora with her soft brushes paint colors
of carmine, pale orange, violet, yellow and gold on the petals of beautiful
flowers growing in the garden. Surrounding white lilies and irises,
daffodils and blue bells, poppies and sunflowers, are breathtaking bushes of
roses the color of blood and snow.
"Up early today aren't we?" a strong warm voice asks them from behind. They
both turn to see their friend leaning lazily against the frame of the grand
doorway leading to the veranda, the one where Nephrite passed through the
night before.
"Couldn't sleep," Venus replies.
"Wow," Jupiter whistles then adds with a grin, "Never thought that would be
a problem of yours."
Venus grumbles an inaudible response. "It's because of the dream she had
last night," Mercury explains.
"Oh?" Jupiter raises an eyebrow, then turning from Mercury back to Venus
says, "You've never dreamt of anything since the creation of Crystal Tokyo
years ago. We thought that you could no longer dream, but I guess we're
proven wrong. So, what did you dream about?"
She does not reply immediately. A gentle silence hovers over them as Venus
gazes at the dawn with mournful pale blue eyes. Jupiter can barely see
sparkling droplets of tears forming in the depths of those blue skies.
Slowly, her full lips part to whisper just a single word, a name that not
only affects her, but also her friends as well. "Kunzite," she whispers.
Jupiter gasps and took a step back. She reaches out to hold onto the
doorframe to steady her knees that have suddenly felt too weak to support
her. "You mean…"
"She dreamt of the Generals," Mercury finishes Jupiter's sentence.
"Tell me," another voice whispers from the shadows within the palace, "your
whole dream."
"Mars!" Venus gasps, "You look so pale. What happened? Didn't you get any
sleep last night?"
"Are you sick?" Jupiter asks with great concern for her friend.
She raises a slender hand and shakes her head slowly. "I'm fine. Venus,
you said you dreamt about the Generals. Please tell me about your dream."
"It was only a dream," Venus shakes her head sadly, "Nothing important to
tell. Why do you want to know?"
"Let's just say out of simple curiosity."
Venus looks hard at Mars's face. She could not see anything that would
reveal to her Mars's unusual behavior, but then Mars has always been good
at hiding her emotions. She shrugs her suspicions off and replies, "All
right."
The others gather around her as she begins her tale of a dream she wishes
would never end and yet she wants to never have begun:
"I didn't dream about all of the Generals only of Kunzite. It has been so
long since I had last dreamt of anything, especially of him…ever since the
battle millennia ago. In my dreams I found myself facing against an
incredible monster. I couldn't see its face, but strangely it sounded a lot
like Queen Metallica."
"Queen Metallica?" Jupiter interrupts, "but she's dead!"
"Shush Jupiter!" Mars chides, "Let her finish her story."
"Sorry," Jupiter mumbles under her breath.
Venus looks at Mars for a moment. Her pale blue eyes scan her friend's face
as she thinks, Why are you so interested in this dream, Mars? She wants
to ask her that question, but decides against it. She trusts Mars. Venus
knows that if she knew something important that concerns them all, she would
tell them eventually when the time is right.
"I know Jupiter," Venus continues, "I know Metallica is dead, but that is
why this dream was so strange. Against my logic, I still believe I heard
Metallica's voice coming from that dark shadow. That's all I saw, a shadow.
I did not know what I was up against, but I knew that it was evil. I
called upon my powers to fight against the monster but somehow nothing
happened. I was helpless to defend myself. The dream blurred for a moment
and when it cleared I found myself trapped in a spider's web. The shadow
was floating in front of me, looming over me like a gigantic tidal wave. I
knew then that this would be the end. I could not fight. I could not
scream. I could do nothing. I felt disheartened at the hopeless
circumstance that had befallen me, so I simply closed my eyes and hoped
that the end would be swift. I know that action does not seem like
something I would do, but in that dream I felt so alone and so full of
despair that death did not seem like a bad alternative.
As I waited for that final blow that would end all my misery, I heard him
call my name…
[dream]
"Venus!" he screamed, "Sailor Venus!"
My eyes flew open at the sound of a familiar voice screaming my name with
such grievance. Who is it, I wonder, who could be calling my name right
now? Then through the misty darkness in front of me the silhouette of a
tall figure appeared. I saw strong gray-blue eyes looking at me, watching
me with mournful silence. Again, he called my name, "Venus!"
"Who are you?" I cried, ignoring the immense shadow that stood between him
and me. "Tell me who you are!" I screamed again. At that moment, I was
only determined to know his name. It had never crossed my mind to ask for
his help, or to know how he knew my name, but that was answered in due
time. He just stood there, hidden in shadows as if held captive by the
darkness surrounding him. He constantly screams my name, each time more
distressed then before. I could sense him struggling against the shadows
that held him. In my mind I knew he would never escape his captors, but
my heart thought otherwise, and it was my heart that was correct. Before
I knew it, he was free. He escaped the darkness that imprisoned him and
was struggling toward me. Once in the light, I saw who my unknown savior
was, Kunzite…the man I have loved…and the one whom has betrayed me; and
yet I had forgiven him…forgiven the wrong doing I knew he did not
intentionally do, though I knew not how I came to that conclusion.
Nonetheless, it was he. I was so sure it was him, running toward me with
mournful eyes that revealed a tattered soul.
"Kunzite!" I called to him, "Stay back! It's too dangerous! Stay back!"
But he did not listen to me. Instead he continued to struggle toward me
with all his strength. I saw the dark shadow launched out a long black
blade straight for me. I gasped in fear as I struggled to free myself from
the strange web that entrapped me, but my struggle proved to be useless; the
web was too strong. Unexpectedly, I saw two bright beams of light flash
before my eyes. At that moment, I thought it was a vision of my life
passing before me, but it was his strength. His light blades sliced through
the web and set me free.
I fell to the ground in a heap. I looked up to see him battling against
the shadow, but it was obvious that he was losing. I tried to stand up so
that I could help him fight, but my legs just would not listen to me. I
slammed my fist against the dark ground in frustration. Tears of anger
spilled down my cheeks, anger against myself…against my helplessness. No
matter how hard I struggled I just could not move my legs. I looked up at
him and through tear blurred eyes, I knew I could not help him. All I
could
do was watch him lose the fight…and lose his life.
"Why can't I move?" I asked myself. "Move damnit!" I yelled at my immobile
legs, "I must help him! Kunzite, hang on! Damnit, get up! Get up! I
MUST…HELP…HIM!" Uncontrollable tears flowed down my eyes, but that was all
I could do…was to cry.
I watched helplessly as the dark shadow overpowered him. He fell to his
knees, his light blades landing beside him. Slowly, as if time itself was
struggling to flow, he turned and gazed at me with such sad eyes that I
thought I heard my heart cry. I realized what he was about to do. I don't
know how I knew, but I knew. He was going to sacrifice his life in order
to save mine.
"Kunzite! Nooooo!" I yelled, "Don't do it!" But my cry went unheard because
just then he threw himself into the dark shadow and disappeared from view.
[end dream]
"And that was all I saw."
Silence enveloped them all as Venus ended her recount of her nightmare.
Mars stands up and strolls silently toward the wood railing of the veranda.
She leans against it while her gaze fell upon the rising sun so far away.
For some time no one spoke. Each deep in thought about what Venus had just
recounted. Then quietly, like a shy little child, a small soft voice says,
"I, too, dreamt about the Generals."
Mars' eyes widen in surprise as she quickly turns around to look at the
owner of that voice. They all gaze at Mercury, whom is staring vacantly at
the treetops rustling quietly in the morning breeze.
"You dreamt about the Generals too?" Mars inquires.
Mercury nods her head and replies, "Zoisite."
"I must also add my little night encounter as well," Jupiter says, "for I
too have dreamt a similar dream last night. I dreamt of…"
"Nephrite," Mars finishes for her.
"How do you know?"
"Well, the trend is pretty obvious."
"You have probably dreamt of Jadeite, I would guess," Mercury says.
Mars's gaze turned back toward the sun, now slightly above the horizon.
For a moment she does not answer. The others wait patiently, allowing Mars
to regain control of her emotions. They know how this affects them all.
They have loved these men for as long as they could remember. No matter
what past mistakes were done, or what destructive misdeeds were carried out,
the soldiers still love them. Before the creation of Crystal Tokyo, this
love was hidden from them, perhaps to protect their fragile young hearts
from the knowledge that is now slowly eating away at their souls. But love
cannot be hidden for long, and once Crystal Tokyo was formed, their entire
past history was revealed to them all.
Slowly, Mars replies, "I did not dream."
"No?" Jupiter gasps. "But it seems we all encountered a similar dream.
Surely you've seen something last night Mars. The coincidence of our dreams
cannot be what it is, mere coincidence."
"I did not dream of anything or anyone!" Mars exclaims, turning angrily
around. "Is that so hard to comprehend, Jupiter? Just because you all
dreamt of your loves, doesn't mean I would too!"
"I-I'm sorry," Jupiter is taken aback by Mars's sudden flare in temper. "I
just thought…" but she left her sentence unfinished.
"No, I'm the one that's sorry," Mars manages to whisper through her tight
throat. "Sorry to have ever believed that he would one day return."
"Oh Mars," Venus says sympathetically, "You shouldn't say that. You must
believe."
"Believe in what, Venus?" Mars yells angrily, hot stinging tears rising to
the surface of her raging violet eyes. "That he would all of sudden walk
through the palace gates one day? That he would appear out of thin air in
the middle of the night? He is no longer here. He is dead, and so is his
promise. I have held onto the hope that he would return to me one day, so
much so that I even found myself hallucinating last night believing that I
actually heard his voice conversing with me, but now I realize there was
nothing there except the empty air and my disillusioned mind. There is
nothing left to believe in, Venus. I should have let him go long ago
instead of holding onto a fading memory as I have done."
Jupiter listens to Mars with a heavy heart. She knows exactly what Mars is
going through. After all, how long can one wait for someone that no longer
exists.
Many have wondered why we retain the pain of a past long gone. Some told
us to remember only of the happiness and forget the tragedies, but for us
there is no choice in what is to be remembered and what is to be forgotten.
Another hand is dealing the cards and we are only the blind players of this
unmerciful game. We did not choose our destiny; we did not choose our
future. We take what is laid before us and hope that fate will be kind to
us. For those who envy us as soldiers, be advised to rethink your choice.
We have the power, we have the strength, but we do not have the love or
peace that many harbor in their innocent souls. We envy you, who do not
know the pain that we know so well.
"But *we* have returned," Mercury speaks up. The others turn to look at the
quiet blue soldier. The soft rays of dawn bathe her face in warm colors
giving her a look of pure innocence and hope, which is a reflection of her
good heart. She returns their gaze with her sparkling blues filled with so
many dreams and hope. She continues, "We've returned…why can't they?"
================================================
[Chapter 6 up next!]
is related to the Manga, taking place not long after the
Dark Moon Kingdom.
This story is rated PG (Nothing serious, so don't worry) ^_~
Everyone please email me, I really really would like some input on
this story. Besides, I love to receive emails from ya' all! ~_~
Usual disclaimers: Sailor Moon and all its characters and likeliness
belongs to Naoko Takeuchi, Kodansha/Toei. English translation is made
possible by DiC.
My email address: ml_eclipse@hotmail.com
= thoughts
[ ] = author's note
All right, on with the show!
============================================================================
GEMSTONE'S OATH
========================= By Cosmos ==================================
Chapter 5: Premonition
"Jeez, it's sure quiet without that little kid running around," Venus sighs
dejectedly.
"Don't worry Venus, they'll be back within a week," Mercury assures her.
She turns from Venus to the majestic royal garden spread out before them.
They are sitting on a large veranda made of unusual marble adorned with
magnificent white décors. A grand garden fills their view as they sat
sipping some lemonade and watching Aurora with her soft brushes paint colors
of carmine, pale orange, violet, yellow and gold on the petals of beautiful
flowers growing in the garden. Surrounding white lilies and irises,
daffodils and blue bells, poppies and sunflowers, are breathtaking bushes of
roses the color of blood and snow.
"Up early today aren't we?" a strong warm voice asks them from behind. They
both turn to see their friend leaning lazily against the frame of the grand
doorway leading to the veranda, the one where Nephrite passed through the
night before.
"Couldn't sleep," Venus replies.
"Wow," Jupiter whistles then adds with a grin, "Never thought that would be
a problem of yours."
Venus grumbles an inaudible response. "It's because of the dream she had
last night," Mercury explains.
"Oh?" Jupiter raises an eyebrow, then turning from Mercury back to Venus
says, "You've never dreamt of anything since the creation of Crystal Tokyo
years ago. We thought that you could no longer dream, but I guess we're
proven wrong. So, what did you dream about?"
She does not reply immediately. A gentle silence hovers over them as Venus
gazes at the dawn with mournful pale blue eyes. Jupiter can barely see
sparkling droplets of tears forming in the depths of those blue skies.
Slowly, her full lips part to whisper just a single word, a name that not
only affects her, but also her friends as well. "Kunzite," she whispers.
Jupiter gasps and took a step back. She reaches out to hold onto the
doorframe to steady her knees that have suddenly felt too weak to support
her. "You mean…"
"She dreamt of the Generals," Mercury finishes Jupiter's sentence.
"Tell me," another voice whispers from the shadows within the palace, "your
whole dream."
"Mars!" Venus gasps, "You look so pale. What happened? Didn't you get any
sleep last night?"
"Are you sick?" Jupiter asks with great concern for her friend.
She raises a slender hand and shakes her head slowly. "I'm fine. Venus,
you said you dreamt about the Generals. Please tell me about your dream."
"It was only a dream," Venus shakes her head sadly, "Nothing important to
tell. Why do you want to know?"
"Let's just say out of simple curiosity."
Venus looks hard at Mars's face. She could not see anything that would
reveal to her Mars's unusual behavior, but then Mars has always been good
at hiding her emotions. She shrugs her suspicions off and replies, "All
right."
The others gather around her as she begins her tale of a dream she wishes
would never end and yet she wants to never have begun:
"I didn't dream about all of the Generals only of Kunzite. It has been so
long since I had last dreamt of anything, especially of him…ever since the
battle millennia ago. In my dreams I found myself facing against an
incredible monster. I couldn't see its face, but strangely it sounded a lot
like Queen Metallica."
"Queen Metallica?" Jupiter interrupts, "but she's dead!"
"Shush Jupiter!" Mars chides, "Let her finish her story."
"Sorry," Jupiter mumbles under her breath.
Venus looks at Mars for a moment. Her pale blue eyes scan her friend's face
as she thinks, Why are you so interested in this dream, Mars? She wants
to ask her that question, but decides against it. She trusts Mars. Venus
knows that if she knew something important that concerns them all, she would
tell them eventually when the time is right.
"I know Jupiter," Venus continues, "I know Metallica is dead, but that is
why this dream was so strange. Against my logic, I still believe I heard
Metallica's voice coming from that dark shadow. That's all I saw, a shadow.
I did not know what I was up against, but I knew that it was evil. I
called upon my powers to fight against the monster but somehow nothing
happened. I was helpless to defend myself. The dream blurred for a moment
and when it cleared I found myself trapped in a spider's web. The shadow
was floating in front of me, looming over me like a gigantic tidal wave. I
knew then that this would be the end. I could not fight. I could not
scream. I could do nothing. I felt disheartened at the hopeless
circumstance that had befallen me, so I simply closed my eyes and hoped
that the end would be swift. I know that action does not seem like
something I would do, but in that dream I felt so alone and so full of
despair that death did not seem like a bad alternative.
As I waited for that final blow that would end all my misery, I heard him
call my name…
[dream]
"Venus!" he screamed, "Sailor Venus!"
My eyes flew open at the sound of a familiar voice screaming my name with
such grievance. Who is it, I wonder, who could be calling my name right
now? Then through the misty darkness in front of me the silhouette of a
tall figure appeared. I saw strong gray-blue eyes looking at me, watching
me with mournful silence. Again, he called my name, "Venus!"
"Who are you?" I cried, ignoring the immense shadow that stood between him
and me. "Tell me who you are!" I screamed again. At that moment, I was
only determined to know his name. It had never crossed my mind to ask for
his help, or to know how he knew my name, but that was answered in due
time. He just stood there, hidden in shadows as if held captive by the
darkness surrounding him. He constantly screams my name, each time more
distressed then before. I could sense him struggling against the shadows
that held him. In my mind I knew he would never escape his captors, but
my heart thought otherwise, and it was my heart that was correct. Before
I knew it, he was free. He escaped the darkness that imprisoned him and
was struggling toward me. Once in the light, I saw who my unknown savior
was, Kunzite…the man I have loved…and the one whom has betrayed me; and
yet I had forgiven him…forgiven the wrong doing I knew he did not
intentionally do, though I knew not how I came to that conclusion.
Nonetheless, it was he. I was so sure it was him, running toward me with
mournful eyes that revealed a tattered soul.
"Kunzite!" I called to him, "Stay back! It's too dangerous! Stay back!"
But he did not listen to me. Instead he continued to struggle toward me
with all his strength. I saw the dark shadow launched out a long black
blade straight for me. I gasped in fear as I struggled to free myself from
the strange web that entrapped me, but my struggle proved to be useless; the
web was too strong. Unexpectedly, I saw two bright beams of light flash
before my eyes. At that moment, I thought it was a vision of my life
passing before me, but it was his strength. His light blades sliced through
the web and set me free.
I fell to the ground in a heap. I looked up to see him battling against
the shadow, but it was obvious that he was losing. I tried to stand up so
that I could help him fight, but my legs just would not listen to me. I
slammed my fist against the dark ground in frustration. Tears of anger
spilled down my cheeks, anger against myself…against my helplessness. No
matter how hard I struggled I just could not move my legs. I looked up at
him and through tear blurred eyes, I knew I could not help him. All I
could
do was watch him lose the fight…and lose his life.
"Why can't I move?" I asked myself. "Move damnit!" I yelled at my immobile
legs, "I must help him! Kunzite, hang on! Damnit, get up! Get up! I
MUST…HELP…HIM!" Uncontrollable tears flowed down my eyes, but that was all
I could do…was to cry.
I watched helplessly as the dark shadow overpowered him. He fell to his
knees, his light blades landing beside him. Slowly, as if time itself was
struggling to flow, he turned and gazed at me with such sad eyes that I
thought I heard my heart cry. I realized what he was about to do. I don't
know how I knew, but I knew. He was going to sacrifice his life in order
to save mine.
"Kunzite! Nooooo!" I yelled, "Don't do it!" But my cry went unheard because
just then he threw himself into the dark shadow and disappeared from view.
[end dream]
"And that was all I saw."
Silence enveloped them all as Venus ended her recount of her nightmare.
Mars stands up and strolls silently toward the wood railing of the veranda.
She leans against it while her gaze fell upon the rising sun so far away.
For some time no one spoke. Each deep in thought about what Venus had just
recounted. Then quietly, like a shy little child, a small soft voice says,
"I, too, dreamt about the Generals."
Mars' eyes widen in surprise as she quickly turns around to look at the
owner of that voice. They all gaze at Mercury, whom is staring vacantly at
the treetops rustling quietly in the morning breeze.
"You dreamt about the Generals too?" Mars inquires.
Mercury nods her head and replies, "Zoisite."
"I must also add my little night encounter as well," Jupiter says, "for I
too have dreamt a similar dream last night. I dreamt of…"
"Nephrite," Mars finishes for her.
"How do you know?"
"Well, the trend is pretty obvious."
"You have probably dreamt of Jadeite, I would guess," Mercury says.
Mars's gaze turned back toward the sun, now slightly above the horizon.
For a moment she does not answer. The others wait patiently, allowing Mars
to regain control of her emotions. They know how this affects them all.
They have loved these men for as long as they could remember. No matter
what past mistakes were done, or what destructive misdeeds were carried out,
the soldiers still love them. Before the creation of Crystal Tokyo, this
love was hidden from them, perhaps to protect their fragile young hearts
from the knowledge that is now slowly eating away at their souls. But love
cannot be hidden for long, and once Crystal Tokyo was formed, their entire
past history was revealed to them all.
Slowly, Mars replies, "I did not dream."
"No?" Jupiter gasps. "But it seems we all encountered a similar dream.
Surely you've seen something last night Mars. The coincidence of our dreams
cannot be what it is, mere coincidence."
"I did not dream of anything or anyone!" Mars exclaims, turning angrily
around. "Is that so hard to comprehend, Jupiter? Just because you all
dreamt of your loves, doesn't mean I would too!"
"I-I'm sorry," Jupiter is taken aback by Mars's sudden flare in temper. "I
just thought…" but she left her sentence unfinished.
"No, I'm the one that's sorry," Mars manages to whisper through her tight
throat. "Sorry to have ever believed that he would one day return."
"Oh Mars," Venus says sympathetically, "You shouldn't say that. You must
believe."
"Believe in what, Venus?" Mars yells angrily, hot stinging tears rising to
the surface of her raging violet eyes. "That he would all of sudden walk
through the palace gates one day? That he would appear out of thin air in
the middle of the night? He is no longer here. He is dead, and so is his
promise. I have held onto the hope that he would return to me one day, so
much so that I even found myself hallucinating last night believing that I
actually heard his voice conversing with me, but now I realize there was
nothing there except the empty air and my disillusioned mind. There is
nothing left to believe in, Venus. I should have let him go long ago
instead of holding onto a fading memory as I have done."
Jupiter listens to Mars with a heavy heart. She knows exactly what Mars is
going through. After all, how long can one wait for someone that no longer
exists.
Many have wondered why we retain the pain of a past long gone. Some told
us to remember only of the happiness and forget the tragedies, but for us
there is no choice in what is to be remembered and what is to be forgotten.
Another hand is dealing the cards and we are only the blind players of this
unmerciful game. We did not choose our destiny; we did not choose our
future. We take what is laid before us and hope that fate will be kind to
us. For those who envy us as soldiers, be advised to rethink your choice.
We have the power, we have the strength, but we do not have the love or
peace that many harbor in their innocent souls. We envy you, who do not
know the pain that we know so well.
"But *we* have returned," Mercury speaks up. The others turn to look at the
quiet blue soldier. The soft rays of dawn bathe her face in warm colors
giving her a look of pure innocence and hope, which is a reflection of her
good heart. She returns their gaze with her sparkling blues filled with so
many dreams and hope. She continues, "We've returned…why can't they?"
================================================
[Chapter 6 up next!]