ATTENTION: The end of this chapter is NOT meant to be a cliffhanger, as you
will hopefully see when you get there. The next chapter will be COMEDY, and
I didn't want to ruin it by putting comedy in this one. Thank you, that is
all.
"He's Beryl's twin brother. Both are children of Chaos."
"What?" Usagi said, shocked. Selenity nodded.
"How did he die?" Ami asked. Pluto glared at the blue-haired girl. Once more, Selenity sighed.
"He was killed by one of the Arashi." she said, looking at Hiiro. "Do you remember, Hiiro?" she asked. He nodded slowly, and began telling them what had happened.
~~~~~Flashback~~~~~
Hiiro ran through the soot and dust that had already began to rise from the remains of the Palace. A bright flash of purple light caught his attention and he quickly ran over to assess whether it was friend or foe. He suddenly stopped in his tracks as he looked at the man in front of him. He had Serenity's eyes and brilliant silver/blonde hair that was long and pulled into a tight ponytail at the base of his neck. Long bangs fell out and framed his face. The man had a large jaw and was very muscular.
"Where's Serenity?" the man demanded.
"Who are you and what do you want with her?" Hiiro replied. The two men stood about ten feet from each other, neither making a move to attack the other.
"My name is Hitokiri. Serenity is my daughter. I want to protect her from my sister, Beryl." he said calmly. Hiiro, despite his training and will, couldn't help but let his jaw drop.
"You're Serenity's father?" Hiiro asked. Hitokiri nodded. "And you want me to lead you to her so you can PROTECT her?" Hitokiri nodded again.
"You're out of your fucking mind." Hiiro said. "If you're her father and you love her enough to want to protect her, where have you been for the last seventeen years, huh?"
"I had to go back to help my sister." Hitokiri replied, his voice raising a bit. "I didn't mean to desert Selenity, and I wanted so much to stay and watch Serenity grow. But I couldn't. We've been planning and strategizing for this day since the day Serenity was conceived. Don't you see? If my sister gets her hands on Serenity she'll be dead. That's worse than what I have planned, don't you agree?" he asked.
"Depends. What did you have planned?" Hiiro retorted. The taller man glared at him.
"She's going to marry my son, as she was meant to anyway." Hitokiri said.
"Who? Why would you want her to marry her half-brother?" Hiiro asked.
"Why? Because he holds the power of the Negaverse, and as soon as they tried to have any offspring, she would hold that power, too. I had him from an accidental one-night stand with another potential queen." he said, laughing a bit.
"Who is it, dammit?!" Hiiro demanded.
"My son? Oh, that's Endymion, of course." Hitokiri said. Hiiro's eyes flashed angrily. "Now, boy, are you going to lead me too Serenity or not?"
"Hell no." Hiiro exclaimed. Hitokiri raised an eyebrow. "I'll fight you. You'll capture Serenity over my dead body." The blonde's eyebrow raised further.
"You want to fight me, the most powerful King of the Negaverse, a child of Chaos himself?" he asked. Hiiro nodded. "And the first to die loses?" he asked. Hiiro nodded again.
"Alright. If you're that willing to die, you must love Serenity almost as much as I do." Hitokiri said, removing the black cape he had been wearing. They circled each other, waiting for an opening to attack.
'Hang on, Serenity. Bunny, hang on.' Hiiro thought as they charged each other.
Thirty minutes later, they were both in bad shape. Hiiro had a deep gash from his shoulder to his elbow on his left arm, as well as one on his forehead and one shallow cut in his stomach. Hitokiri had a large bruise on his jaw, a deep cut on his back and chest, cuts on his arms and legs. He could barely stand by the time that Hiiro managed to pin him on the ground. He had his sword centimeters from Hitokiri's throat, and was preparing himself to make the fatal blow. He looked down into the older man's eyes and faltered slightly. Something in that man's eyes told him of love for a daughter he had really never known, a son he was sorry of having, a need to be forgiven of abandoning his children.
"I'm sorry for leaving her alone. Will you tell Serenity that?" Hitokiri asked, knowing that his time had come.
"Hai." Hiiro said. "I'll tell her. But know this- I love her more than you ever could." he said. Hitokiri nodded, and closed his eyes. Hiiro took a deep breath and brought the sword down. As soon as he was sure that Hitokiri was dead, he backed away from the corpse and ran off to find Serenity.
~~~~~End Flashback~~~~~
"Hiiro?" Usagi said, shell-shocked. "You killed my father?" she asked. He nodded and then opened his mouth to apologize. She stopped him.
"Don't you dare say you're sorry. I never knew the man. He abandoned my mother and me. I don't care if he was my biological father. You did what you thought was best, and I would have done the same if the tables were turned." she said, hugging him. Selenity smiled.
"My musume has grown into a woman." she said proudly. "Wisdom is more important than courage, and the realization of that is the beginning of wisdom." Usagi turned back to her mother.
"I have to go now." Selenity informed them sadly. Mother and daughter hugged, and then Selenity went around and hugged each of the Senshi and the former Arashi. Then she went to stand with Pluto.
"I'm afraid this is where I leave, too." Pluto said, smiling at them for once. "Though I might see you once more." Usagi nodded.
"I certainly hope so." she said. With a last smile, Selenity and Pluto disappeared to their respective dimensions; Pluto through a portal, and Selenity merely vanishing in a flash of brilliant light.
"Are you sure you're not mad?" Hiiro asked. Usagi nodded. She kissed him sweetly on the cheek.
"Let's eat!" she exclaimed.
"Yeah!" Duo agreed. The Senshi, not understanding why Usagi wasn't upset, held her back for a moment while the guys ran ahead to the kitchen.
"Are you sure there's nothing wrong?" Minako asked. Usagi nodded.
"Look, guys, there's a major battle coming up. Aknoi warned me about it, and now I can feel it. I want you to each ride along in a Gundam. That way, if the Gundam's power runs low you can re-energize." she told them.
"But how can we?" Ami asked.
"Simple- draw the energy from the Ginzuishou instead of your own crystals. You won't drain then."
"But then you'll be drained. How is that going to help any?" Matoko asked.
"Odango atama, don't you dare go and do something stupid." Rei told her.
"Guys, remember, I just went through all that training with Aknoi. Don't worry, it doesn't drain me any more. Come on, I'm hungry!" she whined, and ran off to the kitchen. The others giggled and followed her.
The boys had layed everything out by the time they got there, and were doing their usual routine of throwing things at each other. The girls stopped in the doorway.
"This never ceases to amaze me." Minako commented before the girls, with learned skill that came from many practices, joined them.
"Hey 'Sagi pass the mustard." Duo commanded. Without anyone touching it, the mustard bottle rose from the counter and floated to the braided one.
"Whoah." he said. Usagi grinned as she put the finishing touches on her sandwich.
"That's going to come in useful a lot, isn't it?" Minako joked. Usagi nodded, and took a seat on the counter that ran the perimeter of the kitchen. She swung her feet back and forth happily as she quickly ate the sandwich.
"Hey guys do you want to play Playstation? I bet I could beat all of you at 'Spy Game'." Duo said.
"I'm in." Usagi said. She elbowed Hiiro.
"Me too." he said grudgingly.
"I'll play." Quatre added. Duo waited for a moment, but no one else volunteered.
"I guess four's enough since there can only be four playing at once." he said, mainly to himself.
About a half-hour later the four of them sat in front of one of Quatre's bigscreen televisions. The others sat around the room doing various things. Duo turned on the system and the TV. Soon the main menu of the game appeared. They each got to choose names for their characters. Duo choose 'Shinigami', Usagi choose 'Tenshi', and Quatre choose 'Altron'. They sat there waiting for Hiiro to choose his name.
"Daijoubu ka?" Usagi asked.
"Hai, daijoubu." Hiiro said as he entered his name- 'Hiiro'. Usagi snatched his controller before he could confirm it.
"Come on, Hiiro, you have to be semi-creative here." she joked, quickly entering a name and confirming it. Hiiro's face drew together in horror at the name she had chosen for him.
"'Perfectly Pink?'" Hiiro demanded, looking at her in shock. The others were cracking up, laughing so hard that most of them were holding their sides.
"It's just a joke, Hii-chan." she said, pouting. One look at her face and he sighed slightly.
"Alright, alright." he replied. After a few more options the game commenced.
"He's Beryl's twin brother. Both are children of Chaos."
"What?" Usagi said, shocked. Selenity nodded.
"How did he die?" Ami asked. Pluto glared at the blue-haired girl. Once more, Selenity sighed.
"He was killed by one of the Arashi." she said, looking at Hiiro. "Do you remember, Hiiro?" she asked. He nodded slowly, and began telling them what had happened.
~~~~~Flashback~~~~~
Hiiro ran through the soot and dust that had already began to rise from the remains of the Palace. A bright flash of purple light caught his attention and he quickly ran over to assess whether it was friend or foe. He suddenly stopped in his tracks as he looked at the man in front of him. He had Serenity's eyes and brilliant silver/blonde hair that was long and pulled into a tight ponytail at the base of his neck. Long bangs fell out and framed his face. The man had a large jaw and was very muscular.
"Where's Serenity?" the man demanded.
"Who are you and what do you want with her?" Hiiro replied. The two men stood about ten feet from each other, neither making a move to attack the other.
"My name is Hitokiri. Serenity is my daughter. I want to protect her from my sister, Beryl." he said calmly. Hiiro, despite his training and will, couldn't help but let his jaw drop.
"You're Serenity's father?" Hiiro asked. Hitokiri nodded. "And you want me to lead you to her so you can PROTECT her?" Hitokiri nodded again.
"You're out of your fucking mind." Hiiro said. "If you're her father and you love her enough to want to protect her, where have you been for the last seventeen years, huh?"
"I had to go back to help my sister." Hitokiri replied, his voice raising a bit. "I didn't mean to desert Selenity, and I wanted so much to stay and watch Serenity grow. But I couldn't. We've been planning and strategizing for this day since the day Serenity was conceived. Don't you see? If my sister gets her hands on Serenity she'll be dead. That's worse than what I have planned, don't you agree?" he asked.
"Depends. What did you have planned?" Hiiro retorted. The taller man glared at him.
"She's going to marry my son, as she was meant to anyway." Hitokiri said.
"Who? Why would you want her to marry her half-brother?" Hiiro asked.
"Why? Because he holds the power of the Negaverse, and as soon as they tried to have any offspring, she would hold that power, too. I had him from an accidental one-night stand with another potential queen." he said, laughing a bit.
"Who is it, dammit?!" Hiiro demanded.
"My son? Oh, that's Endymion, of course." Hitokiri said. Hiiro's eyes flashed angrily. "Now, boy, are you going to lead me too Serenity or not?"
"Hell no." Hiiro exclaimed. Hitokiri raised an eyebrow. "I'll fight you. You'll capture Serenity over my dead body." The blonde's eyebrow raised further.
"You want to fight me, the most powerful King of the Negaverse, a child of Chaos himself?" he asked. Hiiro nodded. "And the first to die loses?" he asked. Hiiro nodded again.
"Alright. If you're that willing to die, you must love Serenity almost as much as I do." Hitokiri said, removing the black cape he had been wearing. They circled each other, waiting for an opening to attack.
'Hang on, Serenity. Bunny, hang on.' Hiiro thought as they charged each other.
Thirty minutes later, they were both in bad shape. Hiiro had a deep gash from his shoulder to his elbow on his left arm, as well as one on his forehead and one shallow cut in his stomach. Hitokiri had a large bruise on his jaw, a deep cut on his back and chest, cuts on his arms and legs. He could barely stand by the time that Hiiro managed to pin him on the ground. He had his sword centimeters from Hitokiri's throat, and was preparing himself to make the fatal blow. He looked down into the older man's eyes and faltered slightly. Something in that man's eyes told him of love for a daughter he had really never known, a son he was sorry of having, a need to be forgiven of abandoning his children.
"I'm sorry for leaving her alone. Will you tell Serenity that?" Hitokiri asked, knowing that his time had come.
"Hai." Hiiro said. "I'll tell her. But know this- I love her more than you ever could." he said. Hitokiri nodded, and closed his eyes. Hiiro took a deep breath and brought the sword down. As soon as he was sure that Hitokiri was dead, he backed away from the corpse and ran off to find Serenity.
~~~~~End Flashback~~~~~
"Hiiro?" Usagi said, shell-shocked. "You killed my father?" she asked. He nodded and then opened his mouth to apologize. She stopped him.
"Don't you dare say you're sorry. I never knew the man. He abandoned my mother and me. I don't care if he was my biological father. You did what you thought was best, and I would have done the same if the tables were turned." she said, hugging him. Selenity smiled.
"My musume has grown into a woman." she said proudly. "Wisdom is more important than courage, and the realization of that is the beginning of wisdom." Usagi turned back to her mother.
"I have to go now." Selenity informed them sadly. Mother and daughter hugged, and then Selenity went around and hugged each of the Senshi and the former Arashi. Then she went to stand with Pluto.
"I'm afraid this is where I leave, too." Pluto said, smiling at them for once. "Though I might see you once more." Usagi nodded.
"I certainly hope so." she said. With a last smile, Selenity and Pluto disappeared to their respective dimensions; Pluto through a portal, and Selenity merely vanishing in a flash of brilliant light.
"Are you sure you're not mad?" Hiiro asked. Usagi nodded. She kissed him sweetly on the cheek.
"Let's eat!" she exclaimed.
"Yeah!" Duo agreed. The Senshi, not understanding why Usagi wasn't upset, held her back for a moment while the guys ran ahead to the kitchen.
"Are you sure there's nothing wrong?" Minako asked. Usagi nodded.
"Look, guys, there's a major battle coming up. Aknoi warned me about it, and now I can feel it. I want you to each ride along in a Gundam. That way, if the Gundam's power runs low you can re-energize." she told them.
"But how can we?" Ami asked.
"Simple- draw the energy from the Ginzuishou instead of your own crystals. You won't drain then."
"But then you'll be drained. How is that going to help any?" Matoko asked.
"Odango atama, don't you dare go and do something stupid." Rei told her.
"Guys, remember, I just went through all that training with Aknoi. Don't worry, it doesn't drain me any more. Come on, I'm hungry!" she whined, and ran off to the kitchen. The others giggled and followed her.
The boys had layed everything out by the time they got there, and were doing their usual routine of throwing things at each other. The girls stopped in the doorway.
"This never ceases to amaze me." Minako commented before the girls, with learned skill that came from many practices, joined them.
"Hey 'Sagi pass the mustard." Duo commanded. Without anyone touching it, the mustard bottle rose from the counter and floated to the braided one.
"Whoah." he said. Usagi grinned as she put the finishing touches on her sandwich.
"That's going to come in useful a lot, isn't it?" Minako joked. Usagi nodded, and took a seat on the counter that ran the perimeter of the kitchen. She swung her feet back and forth happily as she quickly ate the sandwich.
"Hey guys do you want to play Playstation? I bet I could beat all of you at 'Spy Game'." Duo said.
"I'm in." Usagi said. She elbowed Hiiro.
"Me too." he said grudgingly.
"I'll play." Quatre added. Duo waited for a moment, but no one else volunteered.
"I guess four's enough since there can only be four playing at once." he said, mainly to himself.
About a half-hour later the four of them sat in front of one of Quatre's bigscreen televisions. The others sat around the room doing various things. Duo turned on the system and the TV. Soon the main menu of the game appeared. They each got to choose names for their characters. Duo choose 'Shinigami', Usagi choose 'Tenshi', and Quatre choose 'Altron'. They sat there waiting for Hiiro to choose his name.
"Daijoubu ka?" Usagi asked.
"Hai, daijoubu." Hiiro said as he entered his name- 'Hiiro'. Usagi snatched his controller before he could confirm it.
"Come on, Hiiro, you have to be semi-creative here." she joked, quickly entering a name and confirming it. Hiiro's face drew together in horror at the name she had chosen for him.
"'Perfectly Pink?'" Hiiro demanded, looking at her in shock. The others were cracking up, laughing so hard that most of them were holding their sides.
"It's just a joke, Hii-chan." she said, pouting. One look at her face and he sighed slightly.
"Alright, alright." he replied. After a few more options the game commenced.