(Chapter Nine)
"Another one?" asked the golden one as she sat up from where she'd been lounging on a huge pillow-sofa draped in silks. Merelu looked nervous under the cat-woman's searching gaze. She leaned back, "But she is not like us. She is not a 'Gold and Silver Twin'." She looked rather bitter as she pushed back a lock of the said golden hair. Naria smiled, "Some would call us lucky, Sister."
"Anyone who isn't one of us." answered the golden cat-woman softly before shaking her head and said in a different tone altogether. "Why is she here?"
"She is a captive of Gandor."
She snorted, lying back, "A bother, and a poor excuse for a spy." Naria smiled rather wearily, "And he has hurt the little one when he captured her… I hear you and your friend put up a good fight. He is an idiot, but a very strong idiot." She added this to Merelu, who looked up at her with wide eyes. "You were there?"
"No… but more than one spy is always situated together… the last thing we need is information a dead soldier has." Naria led Merelu to a small pillow and seated on one close to it, and began bandaging the several wounds she'd managed to get in the tussle with Gandor. "This is Aeria, my sister. Sister, this is Merelu… she was with the prince and the girl from the Mystic Moon."
"She is one of the enemy? Will Lord Folken allow it?" asked Aeria, startled, and looking suspiciously at Merelu who shrunk away from her gaze. Aeria blinked at stared at her again, even more intensely now, "You… you're that cat that stopped us from killing that prince." She remembered suddenly as she took in the now-ragged clothes that she was wearing. Merelu bit her lip. She would normally not have been scared of Zaibach enemies… but these two were of her own kind, and she felt intimidated by them. Naria shook her head, "I have not gone to him yet… he's still receiving orders from Donkurk." Aeria scrunched up her nose at the sound at that man's name. "Do you believe his Fate-Alteration machine will work?"
"It has worked before… but the ending will not be as he wanted it, I don't think." replied Naria seriously, as she looked thoughtfully at the ceiling. "Then… why do you follow him?" asked Merelu rather quietly, bold enough to ask a question. Both of the twins turned to her, "We do not follow Donkurk, little one, we follow Lord Folken alone." Merelu bit her lip, "He betrayed Finaalia. He ran away from the task of dragon-slaying." She knew instantly she shouldn't have said this because both of them looked enraged. "Lord Folken would never run away, little one. He found another path to take other than the one that your princeling chose."
Merelu remained silent before saying softly, "Then why did he leave Lord Van? He loved his brother… even if it was so long ago, I remember them… closer than twins." She shook her head, "But then Lord Folken left and Lord Van became obsessed with trying to be better than his brother ever was. He wouldn't run away… and Hitomi tells me that he would've died when he went on the dragon slaying if she hadn't had a vision. He didn't run away…" she suddenly clapped her hands over her mouth. She was spouting more words than she should have!
But Naria smiled kindly, "You are one of us, little one… it is hard not to talk to those of the same kind in a strange world of humans." Merelu looked even more nervous. "It is better not to talk now little one. We will not hurt you, and you must sleep… tomorrow, we will see what will happen to you." Merelu nodded slowly, as she stood up, following Naria into a separate room. "I will have to lock the door," she said apologetically, "but the room is not entirely uncomfortable." On the contrary, it was a lot better than many a night she'd spent with the horses. It suited her just fine. "Thank… thank you." She finally said.
"It is not harmful to befriend those of your kind, little one… but perhaps we should not become too attached to you, one of the enemy…" she paused, "but it sometimes is hard when you're one of the only ones around." She closed the door and Merelu heard the click of the lock as it slid into place. She curled up on the huge pillow and licked her paws surreptitiously. I'm loyal to Lord Van… he'll come and save me. And maybe those two will forget about Folken and come with me… they're so nice…
Outside, Aeria was eyeing her sister carefully. "You like her." she accused. "Sister, she is one of us… I've always longed for others like us… you have too."
"But she is one of the enemy. Don't let your guard down."
"I know."
~*~*~*~
"And what does this little dot mean? And the arrows?" asked Usagi quizzically as she stared the green screen of the small circular object that Bulma had lent them. Gohan sighed, "Come on… we're going to fly." Usagi looked flabbergasted. "Um… what about Mamo-chan?"
"And me?" asked a dignified cat-guardian. Trunks looked like he'd have a headache. "Damn, I don't like this idea at all… I am not carrying a grown man on my back!"
"I second that." commented Mamoru as he eyed the violet-haired boy in distaste, "No offense, but you're not at all like my motorcycle." Usagi groaned. "Not on about that thing again, are you?"
"I'll have you know—"
"Listen, we'll manage as we are okay? Gohan and I will go and you two can bicker, or make out or do whatever the hell you two do, except anything that will damage the apartment." Usagi and Mamoru turned bright red, before Luna leaped primly down between them. "You'll have nothing to fear in that section." She told them and Usagi sighed, shaking her head.
To make a long story short, Mamoru and Usagi (more Usagi than Mamoru… or Luna) ate away anything edible in the week that passed, as the two teenage saiyans collected the precious orange spheres with the red stars.
Finally, in the end, they returned carrying the small spheres and laid them out before Usagi's eyes. She blinked as she gazed at them. There was one problem now… "Um, Luna?"
"Yes?"
"How do I get the Rainbow Crystals out of them?" she stared at the ten spheres. She picked them up and examined them, rather carefully. "I don't see anything… it's just like the Rainbow Crystal carriers! We can't get them out!" she would've smashed them against the ground in frustration had she not been smart enough to know that would only end in breaking the floor. These things hadn't lasted for centuries for no reason.
"Dear, let me do it." the inevitable flash of light blinded them all as they were too shocked to register the Queen's coming. The tiny fairy appeared again, a miniscule crescent moon glowing on her forehead. In front of them, the Dragon balls began to sparkle, and their forms seemed to liquefy, wavering as if a mirage, and from the wavering, intangible forms, seven bright sparkles of different lights shot upwards, hovering over the ten Dragon balls. With a swift movement of her hands, they melded into a bright white light, and a shining crystal appeared in the air. "The wand! Quickly!" she said as Usagi held up the pink plastic-looking wand. It floated out of her hand, and the crystal floated into its place in the crescent moon of the wand.
This time, she didn't even need to think about it. Usagi was brought to her feet, as the magic seemed to crush her mind, before she appeared as Serenity-hime, the princess of the moon.
"Wow… I've seen you so many times looking like that… and you still amaze me every time I see it."
Usagi grinned at him her hand on the moon wand. "I did it!" she yelled triumphantly. Queen Serenity sighed before getting back to business. "Mamoru-san, become as you were when you courted my daughter on the moon. And you two," she grimaced as she looked over their rugged appearances, "you are not royalty, nor do you look it, but please, impress King Yemma as much as you can."
A finger-snap later, they were in a huge hall, with a huge man sitting at a huge desk with huge stacks of paper surrounding him. The little fairy that was Queen Serenity was gone, and they stared looking like ants in the middle of the large hall. "Oh, come now little ones, please, present yourselves." sighed a voice recognized as Queen Serenity's, as the now-huge queen loomed over them with an amused look on her face.
POP!
The four (and one feline) stared at each other as they reached the gigantic size Usagi's mother as well and presented themselves in front of King Yemma. With a lot of persuading, they finally managed to be allowed to get to King Kai's. After this, Queen Serenity was cursing under her breath as she followed them all to the edge of Snake's Way. It was hard to believe this kind woman cursing, but cursing she was, and all knew that King Yemma had been putty in her hands, but that didn't mean he hadn't tried to persuade her to marry himself (even if she was dead) and stay with him for all eternity. It had been quite amusing to watch this and how Queen Serenity and practically screamed the word "NO!!!!!!" in his face. He got the message soon enough and grudgingly let them go.
Usagi grinned changing out of her princess dress into normal, everyday Sailor Moon. They were off with a wave and a goodbye and Queen Serenity stomped back in the palace before disappearing entirely when she saw King Yemma coming towards her. No one noticed the tiny figure of a fairy slip through the doors and towards the moon with a shower of small, miniscule sparkles.
And along Snake Way (which neither Sailor Moon, nor Luna enjoyed running on something as narrow, without railings, and sharp-edged as Snake Way), the five beings were running across the twisting, turning, silver walkways of Snake Way. After about fifteen minutes of running, Sailor Moon stopped. "WHOEVER DECIDED THAT SAILOR SENSHI HAD TO WEAR HIGH HEELS SHOULD BE SHOT!" she yelled rubbing her foot. "Deal with it… we have a long way ahead of us."
"Damn this whole bloody mission," she grumbled, "we have the crystal, so why the hell are we going to this stupid planet for?!"
"Because… Dad said so. And so did your mom." replied Gohan easily as they raced along. "Unlike you, I am not used to killing myself in a marathon."
"I'm surprised, you do very well when on your way to school."
"I do get tired, y'know."
"Hard to believe." teased Mamoru, slipping into the old banter the two of them always exchanged. (K: Usagi got way to lovey-dovey after the R series… *sigh*)
"We're there!" yelled Gohan suddenly coming to a sudden stop. So did Trunks. So did Mamoru. So did Luna. So did…
…
Er, so didn't Sailor Moon as she wobbled and fell quite quickly towards the green-covered planet.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Mamoru sighed, shaking his head. "She has no idea whatsoever about delicacy."
"Nope."
"Don't think so."
"Assuredly not."
With a sigh, the three males, and the cat, leaped for the green planet, falling towards it just as the sailor-suited figure of a girl had moments earlier. Now, as anyone who've ever known anything about our friend, King Kai's little planet, knows how small, how dense, and how much gravitational force is on it. So, when they'd landed, they found Sailor Moon, her butt high in the air, and her face buried in the grass. "MMMFFF!!!!!!!!!!!" she was yelling into the dirt. They of course, were not much help. Gohan and Trunks fell to their knees and poor Mamoru found himself squashed against the ground. Luna was not much better off and she was lying on Mamoru's head, unable to get up, and unable to move and get off him.
Something poked Sailor Moon's head. Then poked it again. "MMFF MFF FF MFFFMFFF MFF MFF MMMMFFFF!!!!" (Translation: I'm not bunny in a cage!) In other words, she didn't like to be poked and prodded. She found herself, being turned over and she wrenched her squashed eyelids upwards, to see who had so kindly allowed her to breathe again… "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she shrieked and Gohan and Trunks (with better viewing capacity than Mamoru) looked up suddenly. "IT'S A MONKEY!" the monkey shrieked along with her dancing lightly away, leaving all else to gaze in wonder at its ability.
"Ah, so I see you've all met Bubbles! Welcome!" came a (slightly) squeaky voice and she found herself staring at a huge blue face complete with round sunglasses. "AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" she shrieked again, leaving sweatdrops trailing from behind the heads of all present. "Hey Usagi, relax, it's only King Kai."
"ONLY King Kai?! Why you little whelp, I'll have you know—"
"Hey, Dad told us to come and train here… you mind helping us out?" Gohan asked, interrupting whatever sarcastic comment was about to fly from Trunks' mouth.
"Your dad? Well, that's not much business… wait. Your dad is Goku isn't he?" he asked inquisitively as he stared at Gohan's hair, and Gohan self-consciously tried to flatten it back down on his head.
"Yes, please Mr. Kai, sir, it would be a great help." called Usagi from farther off where she couldn't get up.
"'Mr. Kai sir'?!" shrieked the blue-skinned blob. "Yeah… isn't King your name?" The fat alien stared at her for a few seconds looking like he might explode and Gohan and Trunks (as well as Mamoru for all he could do) attempted to get up to their feet in order to stop whatever this guy was planning.
King Kai exploded into a series of high-pitched giggles. "You pass! You pass!" Usagi looked confused, "Great… I think."
He then turned to the rest of them, "Now it's your turn. Make me laugh and I'll train you!" Gohan finally managed to struggle to his feet (to King Kai's amazement) as well as Trunks. Mamoru made it to his knees. And Luna… well Luna made it to her feet and to her own amazement, managed her way just as lightly as if she were still on the moon. She blinked and realized something, "A Moon cat has her own balance of gravity… I was simply too used to Earth's gravity." King Kai grinned down at her, "You're a smart little kitty… oh dear, you've got a bald spot on your forehea—ah!!!!" he yelled as Luna leaped for the kill if Trunks hadn't reached out and grabbed her by the tail. "Luna, don't kill the guy before he tells us what to do."
"It's NOT A BALD SPOT!" she yelled, completely undignified now as she raked at the air with her claws, despite Trunks' restraining hold on her tail. Trunks sighed before picking her up and placing her on the ground, "We all know that, and it's a very nice crescent moon and all, but this guy doesn't know you well enough yet." Then he, Gohan and Mamoru managed one way or another to make the guy laugh.
"All right… now your training begins." Sailor Moon, with one arm on Gohan's shoulders, one arm on Trunks' shoulders, and half-leaning on Mamoru (who was quite strong enough to stand up and walk… heavily) she was able to get up. "Your first task…" began King Kai as they waited with mounted suspense, "is…" they listened even more closely, "to catch Bubbles!" he announced happily, and giggling at his own wit (or so he thought) as they all face-vaulted.
"You… you can't be serious."
"I am serious. Catch him."
"Okay…"
"GOT YOU!"
"YOU'RE MINE!"
"THERE!"
When all males had finished, there was only Usagi left, who was struggling to even stand up straight, never mind move. "Your turn."
The monkey lightly danced around her, making unintelligible little hooting sounds or something, mocking her. She stood completely still, seeming to ignore the monkey. It danced a little closer, wondering what was wrong with this pig-tailed human. He came closer and yanked at a ponytail that had flipped over her shoulder and fell in front of her. She still did nothing. Soon enough, the monkey began playing with the gold hair—WHOMP!
Muffled squeaks and shrieks came from the monkey, trapped under Usagi's body, flattening it. "I GOT IT!" she yelled back at them, releasing the monkey (who resembled a pancake) and standing up again. Luna dropped her head on her paws. Her charge would never grow up to be a graceful young lady it seemed.
And so, the training wore on…
~*~*~*~
"Go! Go! Go!" yelled Alan to his troops as they boarded the floating ship. "We've got to find Merelu!" murmured Hitomi, her face in her hands as she stared at them from the Crusade, floating close by. Rei screamed, as she was knocked forward by someone flinging her out of his or her way. The impact thrust her into Van, who's back was towards her. She knocked them both off balance, and both fell to the floor. As if out of nowhere, a narrow hole appeared, and they fell through the ground itself, and the hole closed itself, as if nothing had been there at all. Alan turned just in time to see them fall. "Shit." he muttered as he whipped his sword around to face another opponent. After the young boy fell, he turned and ran back to where both Rei and Van had disappeared.
The ground was solid but he desperately kicked at it with his boot. He suddenly grunted in pain when a solid object connected with the back of his skull. He turned to face another soldier with a sword in hand and a triumphant look on his face. It was too late to slash with his sword and the hilt of the sword knocked him out cold.
"Rei? Rei! Hey, Rei-san, wake up!" a voice sounded in her head. She groaned and her eyelids fluttered open. She blinked and focused on the blurry image of Van's anxious face, as it became clearer. She sat up and looked around, rubbing the side of her head. "What the hell happened?" she asked. He shrugged and his tense face relaxed only a little now that he knew Rei was all right.
Rei stood up, leaning against a wall. She was holding her head again, but this time the sudden flashing pain was familiar and her eyes widened as she stared into nothingness, breathing heavily as Van watched her, amazed. When finally, she snapped out of it, she began to look around as if half mad. "She's close by!" she whispered, "Merelu, she's close by… and with her own kind."
"With her… own kind?" Van gaped, "You mean… those two twins? The Good-luck soldiers?!"
"They had, gold… and silver hair."
"Naria and Aeria then." He said, looking grim as he held tightly on to his sword. Rei nodded as she turned to lead the way.
Unknown to them, deep in the recesses of the fortress, the Fate-Alteration device was doing the same thing that it had done to bring apart Hitomi and Van before… and bringing Alan into the picture.
"Wait!" yelled Van as he grasped onto her arm. "What?" she asked confused as she found herself strangely drawn back towards him. "I don't want to go anywhere… not yet." Rei looked at him, amazed. "What?! We're in the middle of an enemy fortress and you say this?!" Van said nothing, but brought her lips to his and she stood there, shell-shocked as she felt a strange emotion running through her. "No…" she gasped as she yanked herself away. "This is not going to happen." She said breathlessly as Van stared at her, confused. "You don't care about me, you love Hitomi!" she said quickly, explaining.
"I don't care about her—"
"Yes you do! I don't know what—" she narrowed her eyes as she felt that strange surging of that tingling emotion run through her again. Van, coming closer, and the nearing proximity was such a heavy temptation that she hesitated for a moment, letting him make his way in front of her. "No…" she whispered, grasping for something. "Stay away from me!" she yelled, and her voice echoed through the halls. Donkurk, watching the scene unfold looked in shock. It had worked perfectly before with the other girl from the Mystic Moon… what was happening with this one. "Rei-"
"AKURYO TAISAN!" she yelled, shoving a piece of paper at his forehead. He stopped in his tracks, and Donkurk looked in horrified amazement as sparks flew from the fate-alteration machine, and the image wavered, before disappearing. "NO!" he yelled, "The Dragon is not under our influence any longer… kill him!" he yelled, and the orders were immediately obeyed as extra soldiers ran for the abandoned corridor.
Van blinked as he looked up at the piece of paper sticking to his forehead, and then Rei, breathing hard and looking as angry as hell. "What happened?" he asked before she turned. "Nothing. Something about this place creeps me out, and you were under someone else's influence. I hold no blame on you." She continued on her way and he followed, rather slowly, staring in confusion.
~*~*~*~
Sailor Moon suddenly stopped, still as can be. She'd found out, somewhere during her training that she was just like Luna. The gravity didn't have to affect her like this. So she had been currently sparring with Trunks. "No!" she shrieked, stopping and not avoiding or blocking a hit from Trunks who didn't notice anything until she'd flown for several yards. Mamoru immediately made his way towards her. "Usako!"
"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" she shrieked, pushing him away. But as always, it was too late. The others had gathered, (except for King Kai who was too slow as he waddled over). "STAY AWAY!" she shrieked again, even as a red light enveloped them all, and turned into a huge bubble. It flew up and out of the small planet's atmosphere, bypassing Snake Way completely. "What the HELL?!" yelled Trunks as he looked at the surrounding galaxies and shooting stars that they were passing. Gohan was trying to punch through the red globe, but it was harder than glass (which is what it looked like) and he succeeded only in injuring his fist. Usagi had collapsed in Mamoru's lap… they both remembered this. "No, it won't work like that…" she said looking up suddenly. She took off her tiara as it became a glimmering golden disk. "MOON TIARA MAGIC!" she yelled, flinging it at the wall. To her surprise, it broke through, the entire ball shattered around them, and gravity took hold of them again.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" she shrieked as she fell through the air as a peculiar feeling of déjà vu came to her. But this time no Goku would be catching her… well, here goes nothing… "MOON ETERNAL MAKE-UP!" she yelled, hoping it would work. Pluto had once told her about this transformation and she'd never tried it, knowing it was way out of her league. Could she handle it?
She looked, and felt different. It was exhilarating, this new power… but it was also draining. She folded her wings into a dive as she raced to catch up to Mamoru, and perhaps Luna. Gohan and Trunks were out of sight, and since they could fly, she hoped that they were. Flying that is.
"MAMO-CHAN!" she shrieked, beating her wings harder as she caught Luna in one arm, and continued in the fast-paced spiral dive in order to catch up to her lover. "Usako!" he yelled back as he continued to fall helplessly towards the quickly nearing ground. With one final burst of strength, she grabbed his hand, and stopped her downward suicide spiral in midair, jerking both of their arms till she wondered if she could hear her bones rattling. She was already feeling faint, and as she made her way towards a sturdy tree branch, she found the dizziness overwhelming. As soon as they landed, her fuku disappeared, not Eternal Sailor Moon, nor Sailor Moon. But Tsukino Usagi.
She was too weak to keep up the transformation. And at the worst of times too, she thought distantly as she heard the shrieking of youma. They're coming… but she slipped thankfully into the peaceful darkness and felt nothing more.
"Usako! Wake up!"
"Usagi-chan!"
"Yo, Usa, come on snap out of it! Those things are coming!"
"Usagi!"
All of them took turns shaking the unconscious girl as Mamoru watched the quickly approaching army of youma. "Dammit, this is going to be one hell of a fight." His already pale face looked even paler than usual, and he fell back against the trunk of the tree in a fit of coughing. Usagi winced at the hacking coughing and she hugged him, gently, not as hard as she usually would have. "Oh, Mamo-chan… you should've told me."
"You'd have been sad, just like you are now." He said, brushing a lock of hair out of her eyes and grinning rather ruefully, "I didn't do a very good job, did I, Usako?"
"Thank goodness for your bad acting skills." she joked rather weakly, as the ever-approaching army had most of her focus. Trunks looked with a raised eyebrow, "They can't be too hard to beat can they?"
"Normally they wouldn't… but they've got the power of time on their hands… and that's not a good thing."
"No, hime it's not." agreed a voice behind them, and Usagi whirled, and ducked just in time to avoid getting her head sliced off her shoulders along with the top half of the tree trunk.
"So I've found you finally, cowering behind your friends. Again." Usagi bit her lip and looked rather nervous. "And you Beryl, are hiding behind a greater power than your own. Again."
"Why you pompous little—!"
"I'll fight you then, and we shall see who wins." Interrupted Usagi and she pressed something into Mamoru's gloved hand. She held up the glimmering crystal in her hand. "With this, Beryl… with this I'll send you back to the Underworld!" she screamed, thrusting her fisted hand in the air. "MOON PRISM POWER!" a bright flash of light later and the sailor-suited heroine appeared in front of her.
"This is a suicidal battle little girl… there's no way you'll win."
"I know… but if it'll stop you, then I have no regrets." Beryl hesitated for only a second as a sudden visage of Neo-Queen Serenity in all her glory appeared in front of her, disappearing in a split second, but enough for Sailor Moon to send her first "MOON TIARA MAGIC!" flying at her face.
"You're a pathetic pest and you know very well who's going to win—hey!" she yelled, as a ball of some glowing blue energy singed her auburn hair. "What is this?!" she surveyed the damage to the lengthy cloak that was her hair. She glared at Gohan who'd unleashed the blast. "Stay out of this," she hissed before smashing the small golden tiara-discus with her staff away like it was nothing.
The battle was over quickly. None of them could really remember what had happened. Gohan found a brilliant red light illuminating Sailor Moon's body, Trunks saw Beryl choking the life out of her, Luna saw only the flare of the moon crescent on the princess's forehead and disappear slowly, and Mamoru… Mamoru saw the red cord that tied her to him in some other space entirely snapped, sending him into streaks of pain.
Whatever happened, Usagi fell to the ground, her body smashing against the rocks, battered and bruised. The screams of all of them echoed over the rocks as the evil Queen laughed, and her laughter rang triumphantly throughout the land, and all of her own youma trembled in awe at the power in her voice. "See how well you can defeat me now, Moon brat!" she yelled disappearing in a fold of darkness that appeared out of nowhere.
Mamoru couldn't believe it. In that small, insignificant battle, his love, his salvation, and his future wife had disappeared from him. "NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" he yelled skyward as he leaped down from the tree, ignoring the scraping of the crags beneath his feet as he raced to her sprawled body. She was already gone. No last gasping words like any of the manga heroines that she loved to read. She was already gone. The tortured yelled of a lover torn from his only loved wrenched the heavens apart, and in response the moon turned a blood red somewhere in the distant past, to mourn its mistress.
~*~*~*~
End of Chapter! Finally! You proud of me? You'd better be! Review!
