Don't flame me! I'm still alive! I'm *still*
writing...surprisingly. whew...this has been a
difficult few months...mizu gets struck by
writers block, then school rears it's ugly
head... trust me, minna, you do *not* want to
write essays that are enough to satisfy a
thesis point of view! ::receives blank
stares:: never mind...wrote other stories
though, like "Liberi Fatali" and Patch's
and my co-fanfic called "Cupid's Wayward
Arrow"...::gleeful look:: we're going to have
fun with *that* one...

e-mail: Tokiya_ensui@yahoo.com
URL: http://www.geocities.com/mizuno_kagami
Mailing List: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mizuno_updates/


Disclaimer: sailor moon belongs to naoko
takeuchi. I don't own it. (sound familiar?
;) )

Fate's Will
Chapter 8: Indigo

"USAGI!" Mamoru arose abruptly, sitting
up stiffly. His hands grasped sweat soaked
sheets instead of the familiar asphalt ground
he remembered collapsing on. "What the…?"
"Yeesh, Mamoru, you scream loud enough…"
A muffled female voice came from behind a white
screen door. Where was he, anyway? Seconds
later, Rei popped her head through a crack
between the screens. "Hold on, I'll go change
your sheets," she muttered, scurrying to a
nearby cupboard filled with stacks of folded
linens.
"Rei?" Mamoru uttered, giving the Shinto
priestess a questioning look. At this point,
the answer hit him squarely in the face: he was
in the Hikawa Shrine grounds. No wonder why
the place smelled like cherry blossoms…
"Mako-chan and I found you near
Takumashii. Although, I don't think we'll ever
understand why you decided to take a nap on the
ground. I guess when Usagi said that you were
a mystery, she was pretty much correct about
that…"
Mamoru chose that point to intervene,
"Usa…" He murmured, the memories flooding back
to him. Sailor Moon was pinned to a
tree...helpless, if he recalled correctly.
Transparent-looking figures…an explosion of
glittery pink ribbons…red haired woman…Usagi…
"Usagi?" Mamoru cried, grasping the sheets
tightly about frantically. "Where is she?!"
That very name seemed to make Rei go
pale. Her violet depths darkened in concern,
the burning light within reduced to a mere
flicker. She whispered something, however, it
was out of earshot for Mamoru.
"What was that?" He asked, eyes wide.
"You know something? About her being Sailor
Moon?"
She shot him a smoldering look. "How do
you know about that?!" She demanded, striding
next to him and standing imposingly over his
sitting form.
A distant look appeared on Mamoru's face,
as if retrieving memories from what seemed like
five minutes ago. "I saw the ribbons…there
were so many of them…pink, glittery…" He
glanced up at Rei, eyes vacant of any
expression. "Then there was Usagi,
unconscious."
Rei nodded mutely in response. "So you
know now," she pondered her situation. "Do you
know where they took her?" She asked
hopefully, almost pleadingly.
To her dismay, Mamoru shook his head,
which was still foggy from the afternoons
incident.
"Rei? Did you see it too? Sailor Moon
turning into Usagi? Did you see what
happened?" He prompted.
Rei shook her head, "I felt something
today though, during meditation…it felt like I
was losing someone who I cared deeply about."
Her vision became a watery blur of the world
about her. "I didn't think it'd be her." She
wiped away the tears forcefully, trying to bury
her fickle emotions once more as she often did.
"I know she's Sailor Moon. Always have,
Mamoru. It could be because I'm Senshi Mars,"
she smiled wryly, the tears threatening to
spill down her cheeks once more. She was
entrusting him with a great secret, one that
that threaten her security. However, if she
didn't tell Mamoru, he might just rebel in
ignorance and spill Usagi-chan's secret to the
world. Gaining his trust was her priority at
this moment.
Mamoru seemed to be pondering. Slowly,
he lifted his right hand, palm facing upwards.
Whispering a few words, the purest aroma of
roses invaded the gentle cherry blossom scents.
A single, half-opened rose laid on his open
hand, fitting perfectly in his palm.
Gracefully, he lifted the rose to his eyes,
allowing its crimson hue to reflect in his
indigo eyes.
"Now you know," he murmured to Rei. "A
secret for a secret."

***

The crystallized sound of water dripping
resonated throughout the dark chambers. If one
would trace the sound to it's original
location, one would find an odd sight. It's
source seemed to fall from a perpetually wet
rocky surface, following the pull of gravity
and making a single, eerie dripping sound
before disappearing into the depths of
oblivion. Another would follow its place,
performing the exact same activity, following
the pull of gravity into oblivion, as if it
knew nothing else but that oblivion.
Such an analogy could be compared with,
say, the blond figure sprawled across the damp
ground. Perhaps she was just another one of
those little drops…they were little ecosystems
on their own. However, when they fell into the
void of nothingness, they ceased to exist.
As if in sync with the rhythmic dripping
sounds, images formed in her subconscious mind,
each reappearing and disappearing with every
drip. Her first image was of a group of young
girls around her age, with their arms hooked,
faces beaming with unbridled mirth. Their joy
seemed to be captured in that single moment, as
if it would last forever in it's snapshot
prison.

*DRIP*

Another frozen image…the handsome
Gyokuren, winking his signature wink. How
handsome he is…the sparkling eyes, the blond
curls that tumbled unceremoniously over his
eyes…

*DRIP*

Now, this was an interesting image. A
girl in cotton candy pink hair, with oval buns
strangely akin to hers. She looked rather
familiar, but this was a new image. Who was
this person?

*DRIP*

Ahh…specimen C…a handsome person indeed.
Hmm…how might we identify this little image
here? Different from Gyo-kun's sparkling
personality…very different indeed… Three words
came to mind: Tall. Dark. Handsome. Need we
say more? A rose, perfected in everyway,
drifted into the image, unraveling it's velvety
petals in a firework-like pattern. Wait? It
smells like roses…
Another drip resounded when Usagi arose,
limbs and digits feeling incredibly cold.
"Roses…" She croaked, lips parched. She
blinked, the heady scent of roses disappearing
just as quickly it had arrived. Why in the
world did it smell roses?
"Awake? Already?" A voice drawled
somewhere from above.
Usagi tore her gaze from the ground and
replanted it to the figure hovering over her.
"Who are you?" She asked softly.
"Now, how did I know you were going to
ask that?" The figure grinned in amusement,
crossing her legs to sit in mid-air. She
lowered herself to float just above Usagi's
height. "You don't remember me?" She frowned
mockingly. "I'm hurt," she murmured, voice
filled with hate, edged with anger. "Typical
of you Lunars. Forget the names of all the
souls that you've harmed. I wasn't going to
even dignify that question with an answer," she
scoffed, "but all you need to know is that I'm
you're worse nightmare..." she planted herself
solidly on the ground. Her demonic red lips
curled up in a Cheshire cat-like smile.
"Lunars? Harm? What on earth are you
talking about?" Usagi croaked, throat dry for
some unknown reason. That water dripping was
making her thirsty.
Her captor's face darkened as she
narrowed her eyes. "Millennia ago, there was a
star system on the outskirts of Martian
territory. It housed a single, independent
naation; *my* nation," she said firmly, eyes
gleaming for the briefest of moments.
Usagi just nodded mutely in her position,
absorbing every word her captor spoke.
"The habitable worlds there were so
beautiful, with their lush green forests and
gently sloping hills." She looked up
wistfully, as if reminiscing about a faraway
land that was just out of reach, but within her
line of vision. It was taunting her.
"There was one thing that made our economy,
no, our *world* thrive in prosperity. It was a
certain mineral; coronithe. An excellent
source of engine fuel for ships. Very
efficient...however, unlike most sources, it
wasn't volatile."
She pursed her lips, "I always thought
that it's greenish hue looked pretty..." A
faraway look, almost...childish? "In fact, it
was rather healthy for people to absorb small
amounts of the mineral everyday; it made them
live longer."
Her gaze darkened and that youthful spark
within vanished without a second thought as she
turned her vision toward Usagi. She sneered,
twisting her once beautiful face into one of a
jealous figure. "But then the Lunars came,
proposing peace and prosperity to join their
silver millennium alliance." She laughed
harshly, voice echoing into the void. "We'd
stand together, I remember the first line of
the document." Her voice seethed with sarcasm
and hatred.
"What happened?" Usagi murmured, almost
afraid to ask the question. Her captor looked
at her pointedly at first, eyeing weakened form
and golden hair that spilled in golden pools
from either side of her.
"You tricked us," she whispered slowly,
giving Usagi a smoldering look. "You fooled us
with your kind words. You came with your
armies and battalions, slaughtering our people,
taking our precious mineral that was the
foundation of our existence! Damnit! It was
what we *LIVED* on!" She screamed, snaky locks
swirling around her shoulders as she shook from
side to side. Even the echoes seemed to havve
silenced themselves at her fury, leaving her
voice to project itself alone.
Leaning downwards, she blocked Usagi's
vision with her face, livid eyes boring into
Usagi's crystal blue. For an instant, Usagi
actually feared for her life.
"But you know what, little princess?"
the woman hissed. "It's not there anymore. My
world is gone. *YOU MINED IT OUT OF
EXISTANCE*!" Her speech quickened, but every
little drop of hatred and anger that had built
up during her years of existence were still
present. "Jealous of us, weren't you? Liked
our resource so much that you wanted it all for
yourself? So, you come along, *WITHOUT* regard
and destroy our planet, fueled by your never-
ending greed."
"Then why are you still alive?" The
blonde below asked gently.
"I was away at the time, on a diplomatic
mission. I, crown princess and arch mage of
Coronolis, Corona VII."
Usagi bowed her head, as if revering the
name itself, but deep within, she knew that the
title meant more than it sounded.
"It no longer matters. There is no
Coronolis, only a princess left to inherit an
empty empire..."
An uneasy silence settled down between
the two women. Only the sound of water
dripping dared to intrude upon the quiet
moment.
A liquid jewel-like tear slipped down
Usagi's milky-white cheek, and landed with
gentle padding sound on the ground, out of
sight. Slowly, she rose upon her still aching
feet, legs wobbling slightly. She lifted her
golden head to meet the eyes of the princess of
the lost empire of Coronalis. Usagi reached a
hand to touch her face, as if consoling her in
a motherly fashion, however, her help wasn't
received with an open heart. Instead, Corona
batted away the hand, pushing Usagi away from
her.
"I am from Coronalis, untouchable to you
Lunars. I want no pity from the people who
mercilessly destroyed my home," she gritted
between perfectly white teeth.
"Corona..." Usagi heaved, another tear
slipping silently down her face.
"Stop it! I want none of your tears!
None of your useless pity!" Corona shouted,
lifting herself in the air once more, appearing
much in the same fashion that she did when
Usagi caught a glimpse of her.
"Poor Corona...poor lost princess..."
Usagi's eyes glistened with unshed tears that
threatened to fall at any moment. She kept
murmuring words, hoping that it would comfort
the woman floating above.
"Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!" Screeched
Corona, shutting her eyes tightly. Her arms
came up to cover her ears, as if Usagi's pity
was some terrible music that invaded her ears.
Usagi quieted herself, abruptly stopping
her comforting murmurs at the sound of Corona's
screaming voice.
Corona balled her fists at her side,
glaring loathingly at the blonde below. "What
do *you* know?! You, who proposed peace and
brought war! You, who destroyed my HOMELAND,
my FRIENDS, my FAMILY! All those I held
dearest to my heart, you DESTROYED!" She began
to writhe in agony, as the memories forcefully
resurfaced themselves as she shrieked. Tears
of sadness, revulsion and disgust rolled freely
down her cheeks from her hard, glassy eyes.
"They're GONE! NEVER to be SEEN AGAIN! I
want none of your pity, moon princess! NONE OF
IT AT ALL!" With one last sob, Princess Corona
the VII vanished into thin air, leaving Usagi.
"Poor princess..." Usagi murmured again,
not knowing if it was for Corona's benefit or
for her peace of mind. Even though she
couldn't have possibly done something that
horrible, Corona was still blaming her for a
nation's past deeds. Usagi couldn't help but
pity her; her compassionate heart required her
to do so.
Then, Corona's final words finally
connected with her conscious mind, penetrating
into her very being.
"She called me the...moon princess?"
However, Usagi was only left with a nation's
guilt and broken pieces to her identity.

***

Yes, I know, some of it doesn't make sense.
Ask me not. I'm in a fuzzy state of mind
again...and not
the *WAFFy* state!

e-mail: tokiya_ensui@yahoo.com

ja!
mizu-chan

Dec. 25/00