Ch. 7
Whatever pinch you find yourself in,
Never give up without a fight.
That is the lovely maiden's policy…
-Otome no policy,
Sailormoon
Luna looked at the Senshi worriedly.
"You
sure we shouldn't go with you?" she asked. Sailormoon smiled.
"Relax,
Luna. Whiteblaze is going along." Luna didn't relax. Whiteblaze nudged
Sailormoon, as if to say "Shouldn't we be going?"
"In
a minute, Blaze." Mia said. Sailormars clenched and unclenched her hands.
"Ryo,
Ryo..." she kept muttering. She had made sure she had brought plenty of
scrolls with her. She was NOT going to let them hurt Ryo any longer.
Sailorjupiter, on the other hand, was going to make sure that Anubis and Naaza
paid dearly. Mercury was concerned with Touma, and Venus with Seiji. the
Ancient One sensed their anxiousness, but still, he said nothing. He wanted to
wait until the images had faded somewhat. If they went barging in too soon, it
might hurt the Ronins.
Sh'ten gazed at Prizma. She shifted
uncomfortably.
"Uh, Sh'ten?"
"Mmmmm?"
"You
mind looking the other way?"
"You're
not the other way." Oh god, she thought. She thought of something, and
flashed him a killer smile.
"Please?"
Sh'ten totally melted.
"Okay." He looked the other way,
and Prizma heaved a huge sigh of relief. Bertie sat, watching all this. She
stood, and disappeared, reappearing in front of the Ronins. She looked at
Seiji.
"I'm
sorry all this had to happen." Seiji looked puzzled.
"Why?"
He asked bitterly. She sighed.
"Believe
me, I did not want this. It was Rajura' idea."
"Aren't you his girl?"
"Yes, but sometimes Rajura can lack
compassion. Especially when you make him mad."
"And
you don't?"
"I feel sorry for you, don't I?"
"We
don't need your sympathy."
"I'm
the only one who's willing to give you any. Now, if you want to get out of
here, I suggest you shut up and listen." At this, Seiji perked up.
"What do you mean?" He asked
cautiously.
"Just
what I said." she told him. Then,
she turned and threw up. Seiji stared at her.
"Are
you alright?" he asked.
"I'm
fine. Don't worry about me." She started talking in hurried whispers, and
she gave Seiji the chance he needed to escape.
Touma
stared. Part of him was extremely angry. The other part was grateful. He let
out a little gasp as he had the living daylights squeezed out of him by
Sailormercury.
"What
the hell are you doing here???" He asked her angrily after he had hugged
her back. Before she could explain, the Ancient One appeared.
"I
brought them here." Touma hastily shut his mouth. He closed his eyes as
Mercury examined the scar.
"Oh
my god, what did they do to you?" She whispered. Touma opened his eyes and smiled.
"Well,
I'm still alive. More'n I can say for sure about the others.." Venus
winced and looked away. Mercury held his arm.
"They're
alive," she said softly.
"No
thanks to me." Shou put in, causing all heads to turn to him. Even
Whiteblaze looked puzzled at him.
"What
do you mean, Shou?" Sailormoon asked. Shou went completely berserk.
"I
couldn't transform!! No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't!! I..I.."
"Calm
down, Shou." Mars said gently. It was only then that Shou realized that he
had been screaming. He took a deep breath.
"Okay,
I'm better now." He felt so GUILTY. Like the blood of his companions was
on his hands. Like every blow they took was his fault. Part of him knew that to
be complete nonsense. But the other part of him wasn't so sure. Touma hugged
Mercury again.
"We'll
get them out of there..alive. I swear." Mercury nodded. Sailormars took
out a scroll and began playing with it, twirling it between her fingers. The
Ancient One took the lead and together they headed ever deeper into the depths
of the castle.
Rajura
looked royally pissed. That was not a good sign, neither for the Ronins nor for
the other warlords.
"WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING
HERE??" He yelled out. No one dared answer him. No one except Bertie.
"He probably came to get the Ronins
out." Rajura glared at her.
"What are you going to do about
that?" came a perfectly calm voice, one Rajura would have liked to shut up
permanently a long time ago.
"I'll
do what I please, Rubbeus." Rubbeus laughed.
"You
plan is beginning to fall apart, Rajura." Rajura growled. Bertie stepped
up to him.
"You
know, he's right. Maybe we ought to adopt a new plan-" Rajura shoved her
roughly away.
"NO!
Not when I'm so close." He seemed to think about it then said
"With
the Ancient here, we don't have much time. I want those bitches armor stripped
and I want them killed. And I want them killed NOW!!" Bertie was shocked.
"What
about the boy? Ule?" The look in Rajura' eye was pure hatred.
"Kill
him too." Everyone stared at him.
"But
our code of honor-" Anubis began. Rajura turned on him.
"The
hell with any code. I want them killed now!" Bertie rushed up to him, but
he pushed her away from him again and this time raised his hand as if to hit
her. Bertie screamed, and Rajura froze. Everybody did. Rajura slowly lowered
his hand and sat down, burying his face in his hands. "Those Ronins are
going to be the death of me." He murmured.
"They're
driving me nuts. No, don't kill them. Or the kid. Not just yet. We can still
use them as leverage." Bertie breathed a sigh of relief. But she was still
shaken by the fact that Rajura would even consider hitting her. Which meant
stepping up her plan with Seiji a little. They'd have some help now that the
Ancient One was here, which was good. Nobody hit Bertie-or even tried-
and didn't pay a price.
Venus couldn't stop thinking about Seiji.
Where was he? What was being done to him? Was he still alive? These were the
questions she asked herself. Then an unexpected question popped into her mind.
Does he really love me? She stopped and thought about that question, then her
mind(and heart) did a little flip. Do I really love him?
"Venus,
come on." Jupiter hissed and Venus pressed on, more slowly than the rest.
Whiteblaze gave her a little nudge and she smiled.
"Yes,
I'm coming Whiteblaze." Mercury looked at her.
"What
is with you?" Venus shrugged.
"Just
thinking." Mercury nodded and squeezed Touma's hand a little tighter for
comfort. Venus wished she had a strong hand to hold on to.
"Seiji."
She whispered. "I love you."
Seiji
rubbed his wrists. They had been rubbed raw by the cords. He looked as Bertie
worked frantically to free Shin, Ryo and Ule.
"What's
this all about?" Shin asked.
"I'm
getting you guys out of here. Your friends are nearby." Shin nodded.
"When I see Makoto again-"
"She's
here too, as are all the Senshi. No, don't say a word. Just shut up and follow
me." She held Ule in her arms, and motioning for Seiji to support Ryo, she
moved them out of the room without Prizma or Sh'ten noticing a thing. She led
them to a chamber.
"I
can't take you any farther than this. Here, take him. Poor guy. Go straight
through this chamber, you'll find your friends. Now..hurry!!" Bertie gave
them a push and they started running to the other side of the chamber.
"Good
Luck." she whispered. She held her stomach and hurried back to whence she
came.