Ebony knew the halls from left to
right; top to bottom as if it were her own creation. The rooms were as familiar
as her own heartbeat, and though they differed from time to time, she could
practically map the entire place from memory.
Coming upon the third door to the right
of the top bathroom on the fourth story of the Crystal palace, right next to
the table left of the right top ballroom, Ebony turned into an opening that led
to a bedroom. It wasn't the bedroom that drew her to the door, for it was only
a spare room, but an eerie purple light coming from the opening. She hadn't
known there to be any odd lights in that room before, and she wondered if it
was Mars practicing her fire of some kind.
"Hello?" she called in the room,
knocking lightly on the frame.
No answer, but the same eerie purple
light.
She now knew it wasn't Mars—Rei always
halted her fire when someone was there.
"Hello?"
she shouted.
Still nothing.
Being the inquisitive woman she was,
Ebony stepped into the carpeted room, where the dark purple karma penetrated
her skin.
"I saw the way you handled that
situation, Ebony. Quite well." A deep, raspy voice rumbled from the dark room,
making her jump.
"Who-Who's there?!?" she demanded.
"Oh, come, now, woman. Don't say you
don't know who I am." It came again, this time sounding a bit more playful, yet
dangerous at the same time.
"You fucking tell me who you are, or
I'll electrocute you! I swear, I will!" she threatened.
"Come closer, Ebony, and you'll see who
I am." The voice rattled again.
"Nu-uh. You come here—hell, I'm not
moving." She laughed-sort of.
"Fine then." A dark figure floated into
the purple light, his cloak flowing around the own light he was creating. AS
Ebony saw him, she gasped and took a step back.
"You get away form me, Wiseman! I'll
fucking scream!"
"No, you won't." was all he said.
"What the hell makes you think that I
won't?" she squinted her eyes in fury and sudden inner fear. She didn't know
the guy, but that made it all more to fear—who knows what he would do to her.
"I've got something to show you-
something you want."
A sudden projector came from the
crystal ball he held, shooting out a realistic 3D hologram of Ebony, wrapped
passionately around Mamoru, both of their bodies entangled in a wave of
passion.
"That's sick! That's my father! What
kind of sick and deluded man are you?!?" she turned from it, her face red-hot
from embarrassment.
"That's not what you think, Ebony. Not
what you truly want. And this-" he
projected another one, this one her and Mamoru were nude, pressed against each
other, Mamoru poised and ready to enter her. Her hands wrapped around his waist
and held hid buttocks fast, pressing him to her. His eyes were full of ardor
and hers of pleasure, his hands joyfully stroking her breasts.
"You fucking sicko!!!"
"Why is that sick, dear Ebony?" he
asked innocently, though knowing what he was doing.
"Do you want to see pictures of you and
your dad having sex?!?" she shot out, not realizing how funny it sounded.
"Not one of my greatest dreams, but
hey." Beneath his cloak, the old man shivered. "Besides, you want him. You know
with all your heart you want him… I could help you get him… You want him so
bad…"
Another image was holographed onto the
wall.
This one was like the previous one, yet
more graphic and detailed.
Ebony had no words, but was unable to
close her eyes, no matter how much she wanted to. It was as if the pictures had
some kind of hold on her; as if they wouldn't let her go until he was done
showing them to her.
"You can't help but want him… you've said before you did."
"I was a fucking child, Wiseman!!! A
fucking child!!!" she screamed, but her eyes didn't leave the picture.
"Well, it seems that now you're a fucking woman. A fucking woman who
desperately wants Mamoru."
As a new image clicked on, it wasn't as
graphic, but it was a moving hologram, showing movement in 3D. Mamoru had his
hands down her shirt, and her head was thrown back in utmost ecstasy.
Ebony shifted uneasily, unable to look
away, but not willing to scream out, either—she would rather watch the torture
than yield to Wiseman.
Diamond strolled down the halls,
searching for anything that seemed to move.
Suddenly, he came in contact with a
purple light gleaming from a bathroom. Glancing in, the bathroom was connected
to someone's bedroom, and an odd purple light shone from it, though it more
glowed than shimmered.
He took a step in to see more, as his
curiosity got the better of him.
Looking further, he took a heaving step
back and a gasp choked his breath, then a low moan emitted from his throat.
Diamond didn't see Ebony, pressed
against the wall in fear and horror and a deadly hypnosis of which she couldn't
move, or hear Wiseman softly chuckling in the background. All he saw was the
moving hologram of Ebony and Mamoru in their wildly passionate embrace. And to
him, it seemed more real than his own breath.
"Oh…" he couldn't say more, as tears
harshly choked his words, and his breath as well.
Covering his eyes, he stifled a sob and
his back heaving in pulsing heartbeats. Of course, he did not cry, but it was
so damn close only Diamond and God could tell that the tears did not fall.
Picking himself up, he shook his head,
not allowing himself to cry, and walked back from the way he came.
"You are an asshole! What the hell
makes you think I want my father when I have someone as incredible as Diamond?"
Ebony spat, finally breaking away from the picture that snapped off as soon as
her eyes turned away.
"Because he's handsome, and sensual…
and sexy…" Wiseman trailed off.
"Then why don't you have sex with him if you find him so titillating." A wise-crack
smile broke out on her face and she laughed.
"Nice try, Ebony, but you know what you
really want."
"Yeah, old man, I do." She pushed at
him snottily and turned to the door. "I want Diamond. And for you to stop
harassing me—what do I have that would do you any good anyway?"
"Power. You have more power than I
could get from Diamond, though maybe that's how much power he would have had I
not been draining him of it for the past ten years. In fact, your power far
suppresses my own, and I need that power to take over Crystal Tokyo. I can give
you anything you want, you know. Whatever you desire." He spoke low, yet not in
a whisper.
"You sick and deluded freak." She shook
her head and jotted up to him, pressing her hands to his cold and hardened
chest.
"YAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she
shrieked, but her force crackled into darkness as the purple light abruptly
cut, and Wiseman's body had faded from the dark.
Taking deep breaths, suddenly terribly
frightened, she spun around and bolted out the door.
Mars sat at her fire, concentrating on
the flickering image that appeared only to her.
Her eyes snapped open and she stood at
once.
"What is it, Rei?" Ami jumped up with
her, alarmed with the sudden movements.
"I feel something, Ami… It doesn't feel
good at all… I don't like it… we should warn the queen…" Rei shivered in the
karma.
"No, Rei, I don't think we should."
Minako interjected.
"Yeah, she's having a conversation with
the princess… only…" Makoto trailed off.
"Only it wasn't the princess at all.
She was a different person, a woman." Ami added and shook her head.
"It was
the princess. She's just been changed." A voice called in from outside.
"Who's there?" Mercury called out to
the door.
"May we come in?" Sapphire's voice
barely managed to penetrate the door.
"It's Emerald and Sapphire! We came
with the princess." She shouted louder, more understood from inside.
"Let them in." Setsuna's voice came
from the back corner of the room. She hadn't spoken a word since the ones to
Ebony, and everyone stared at her as she rose to her feet.
Everyone stared.
"What are you waiting for? I said, let
them in!" she ordered.
At once Jupiter jumped to her feet and
rushed to open the door.
"What do you want?" Venus stood
forward, her golden hair gleaming in the light.
"Please, don't be like that to us.
We're not here to hurt you and I don't like you talking that way to Emerald.
It's offending." Sapphire stated simply, though firm.
"And it's not offending to have you
come here with our princess making her believe that she deserves so much more
than she got? To attack out city, kill us all and our queen, destroy everything
that matters to us, in the near future- so near, in fact, that it was supposed
to be that you attacked in about a month!" Ami blurted, then closed her mouth,
clamping it shut to stop other remarks from escaping.
"Sailors, we have told you… we weren't
the ones who wanted to take over Crystal Tokyo. It was Wiseman, and we have discarded
him. Diamond was the only one who
cared, but only because he was a drunk and he wanted the queen so badly, he
would go along with anything if it meant for him to be able to see her. But
now…" Sapphire closed his eyes for a moment and smiled. "Now he no longer
desires the queen."
"And how are we supposed to trust you
on that?" Makoto asked, feeling uneasy.
"Well, he's in love with Ebony."
Emerald chimed in.
"He has said this?" Rei scoffed with a
look near laughter on her face.
"No, but he has never even said that he
loves me, and I'm his brother. I can tell, though. The way he's acted, the
cleaning of his act, it all came from her. When she came, it seemed all the bad
went from him and he was just left with an incredible love…" Sapphire tried
explaining, but when the word 'love' came up, he couldn't help but glance at
Emerald softly and sigh.
"I just don't know how to trust you.
You and your family has always been bad, and lied, and Rei feels bad karma
here. How are we supposed to know it isn't you?" Minako defended herself by
crossing her arms over her chest, suddenly feeling the need of defense.
"It isn't them, Mina…" Rei said softly,
barely making herself heard, obviously in concentration.
The rest of the scouts turned and
looked to her in surprise.
"It's not?" the asked in crescendo.
"No… I feel it… it's something else…
something bigger… much bigger…" Her eyes were closed now, in utter
concentration.
"Then if it's not you… who…?" Makoto
asked quietly.
Mars swayed back and forth, suddenly
feeling overwhelmed with dark energy.
"Rei!" Minako shrieked.
"What's wrong, Mars?" Sapphire asked in
worry, his grip tightening on Emerald.
"Ow! Sapphire, honey, don't squeeze so
hard!"
Rei's eyes hid behind her lashes,
though they could not hide the immature smile that invaded her face, about to
laugh at the two as she had not seen the circumstances, just heard the "don't
squeeze" comment. Mina, seeing the grin on Rei's face, noticed how odd the
comment would have sounded had she been standing with her eyes closed, and
covered her mouth to keep from giggling.
"Oh, stop, you two!" Makoto laughed.
Sapphire had inched away from Emerald,
his face crimson with embarrassment.
"Rei, what were you concentrating on?"
Ami asked on a more serious note.
Her smiled faded.
"It's here. Whatever it is, it's here."
She whispered, her eyes taking on the hard, dark color of desolatsity.
The senshi shivered, and Emerald backed
into Sapphire's arms once again, though not realizing that she was doing it
until she heard the distinct 'oof' and almost knocked him over.
Diamond was walking through the halls
to clear his mind- the crystal of the place was soothing to his aching heart.
Hearing a sound behind him, he looked behind him. He couldn't exactly identify
what it was, either. But it was eerie enough where he didn't move for a few
minutes, though he was directly in front of a doorway.
Not shutting doors behind her, Ebony
ran blindly, faster and faster by the minute, afraid to look back. She felt
Wiseman was gone, but something in her made her want to keep running. As if
there was something behind her, even though there wasn't anything she could
see. She just wanted to run until she could find someone and not feel so
terribly alone in the place she had called home for nearly 1000 years… well,
over 900, anyway.
Suddenly, she heard a loud 'bang!'
behind her. Letting out a scream, she looked back and turned out of a door.
With that turn, she smashed right into
Diamond. They both screamed at the bumping into each other unexpectedly.
"Oh, Diamond, I'm so glad it's you."
She sighed with relief and threw her arms around him.
"Ebony, please, don't." he bit his lip
and set her from him gently.
"Wha…?" she seemed confused and hurt.
"You know why. I mean, how could you do this to me?" he let
out in a pained voice.
"Diamond, what are you talking about?"
she questioned in agony and bewilderment.
"Why are you acting like this? I saw
you, don't try and hide it from me!" Diamond stated, his voice growing louder.
"Diamond, please! I don't have any idea
what you're talking about!" She pleaded.
"You and Mamoru! You told me you didn't care for him any
more—and I duck into a room and see you two going at it! How could you?!?" he looked away to avoid
her seeing him welling up with tears.
Ebony cocked her head to the side, then it struck her.
"oh-Oh! Oh, Diamond, sweetheart!" she
let out a laugh, not thinking of how hurt he was.
"Oh, now it's funny to you?" His tears
threatened to fall, but he was suddenly filled with anger.
"No, that's not it!" Ebony begged for
his attention. "Wiseman's here! He saw my power and he was threatened, so he
was trying to fill my head with images of Mamoru and I—" she twitched, "—so
that he could say that he could give me what I wanted if I would help him! What
you saw was a hologram!" she laughed and tried to take his hand, but he moved
away.
"Nice try, Ebony. But holograms don't
move." He sneered and tried to walk past her.
"His did! I swear, Diamond! I would never do that to you! Ever! Please believe me!" her eyes went
wide in shock as he kept walking.
"That's what I thought." He mumbled.
"Diamond, please! I don't know how to
prove this to you—you'll just have to trust me!"
The prince turned around to her, and
stared at her, his gaze cold and hard.
"Ebony, I…" He had no words to tell her
how he felt, how crushed and confused he was, or how much he… "I can't lie to
you… I care for you more than anything I have ever… and I can't stand the pain
that's coursing through my blood as I look at your beautiful face…" he stopped
for a moment to ensure that the tears weren't going to fall.
"Diamond." Her breath shook with pain
for him. "I didn't, Diamond… I couldn't… Not even if I wanted to… and I don't…
I… I love you…" Tears streamed down her cheeks, burning as the fell.
"Don't… oh, go… Don't say that to me…
not after…" His Adams's apple visibly bobbed up and down in effort to force the
lump of tears from his throat.
He couldn't say more, he knew sobs
would succeed to escape him if he tried. So, with that, he turned and staggered
away, almost running.
"Diamond! Diamond! Please! Come back!!!" she screamed after him, but got
choked by tears. He kept going, not even looking back to her.
"Come back…" Ebony managed to whisper before he fell to the ground, quivering with sobs.