Author's Notes at bottom - Enjoy!!
@------
No Greater Love
Chapter 8 - The Price of Freedom
By: Bethany
Editor: Meara
Rated: PG
@------
"Usako?" he whispered, his eyes boring into mine. They looked the
same, so full of emotion like they were every time he looked at me. But
that could be duplicated, right? I couldn't think, didn't know what to
do and he saw that.
"We have a daughter," he said and I felt my heart start to break.
"And Shingo, we are in the process of adopting him. We haven't been
married but for two months." He faltered, obviously trying to reason
with me through his gestures as well as words. "Chibi-Usa will be two
years old in May...."
I dropped my scepter down and tried to gather my thoughts. I
couldn't attack him, yet I also couldn't believe him. With a sob of
frustration I turned and ran as fast as my legs would carry me. Behind
me I heard him call my name, the sound echoing in my ears.
Through the darkness I fled, trying to keep my balance. I bumped
into a wall, slapping my arm roughly against the metal. I stopped, my
side on fire with sharp pains and my breath coming in jagged gasps. My
chest ached with the need to just sit and cry, but I refused to give in
and allow a single tear to leave my eye. I had to be strong, for my
children if for no one else.
Behind me I felt something or someone touch my shoulder and I
gasped and spun around. "Sailor Moon?" a voice whispered in the
darkness.
"Venus?" I replied, just as soft and yet hopeful. The light of a
flash light shined in my eyes, causing me to cower away from its
stinging brightness. "Is that you, Venus?"
"Hai, Sailor Moon," I heard Venus reply and let out what seemed
to be a breath of relief. "I didn't know if that was you and I should
turn this on or if it wasn't and I should attack," she explained,
holding the light up so that both our faces shown like ghost images in
the darkness. Her face went from relief to concern when she could see
my features. "Doushite no, Usagi-chan?"
"I.." I faltered, my emotions still twisted in knots. My body
felt like it was pulling me in two different directions and neither
seemed the right one. My arm pounded with the remaining sting of my
earlier impact with the metal wall and my side was afire with the
reminder of how hard I had pushed myself to get away from that man. But
all the physical pain seemed nothing compared to the pain in my heart.
"Nothing," I mumbled, looking away so that my eyes wouldn't reveal my
true feelings. "Did you find anything?"
"Just a flash light," Venus mumbled, still looking concerned.
"What happened to you? Who took you? How did you get away?" Venus fired
her questions quickly, all in one breath.
"I don't know, I... I bit him and ran away," I replied, again
casting my eyes down. It was just as good as a confession of evil to
the leader of my guardians. For once, however, the Solider of Venus let
it go. I couldn't have been more grateful.
She took my hand, leading me along with the flash light in the
other hand as we searched through a number of rooms, all barren and
empty. Our footsteps seem to echo around us, warning any enemies that
we were approaching. Just when I was about to think we were walking in
circles, we came into a different room. There were computers, and
televisions screens lining the walls all showing different angles of
the hallway and then switching to rooms like the ones we had been in.
"A surveillance room?" Venus questioned aloud. I couldn't stop
staring around, it was just as Mamo-chan had said. Had I made a
horrible mistake?
"Look," Venus gasped, bringing me out of my thoughts and back to
reality. She pointed to a screen that showed a room with large water
tanks lining the walls. In each tank there seemed to be a body. At the
far right hand side of the room were six empty tanks.
I sat down in one of the chairs at the control board and began
looking over buttons and small computer. "If I can get that camera on
the larger screen, maybe we can see who is in those tanks," I mumbled
to myself. Even so, Venus heard me and shined her flash light on the
television screen. "There's a number thirteen on this TV. - maybe
that's the camera number?"
"I'll try it." With a small prayer, I selected the number on the
computer and clicked select. A second later the image came up on the
larger monitor. "Yes!" I cried, standing up to get a better view. I
studied it for a minute before coming to the same conclusion that Venus
did.
"Just as we feared," she said before I could gather my thoughts.
"The other Sailor Senshi are in those tanks." She walked over to where
I stood and brought the rest of the screens up on the larger monitor
one by one. "There's Neptune and Uranus!" she exclaimed, pointing to
the screen. There was trapped inside a metal cage identical to the one
Jupiter was in. I felt my heart stop in my chest.
"Now that we know where they are, we can free them." I began
looking around the room, there were large filing cabinets behind us, as
well as drawers in the desk. "Quick, search these drawers for keys, or
something that could help us," I commanded as I began rummaging through
the desk.
Venus tried to open the filing cabinet, but couldn't get it open.
"It's locked," she mumbled angrily and hit her fist on the top. Just as
I turned around to suggest looking behind it for a key, she pressed her
finger to the lock. "Crescent Beam!"
The lock exploded, sending the drawers flying open. "That works,
too," I mumbled, going back to my search.
"You won't find anything useful," a voice suddenly came out of
the shadows near the door. Both Venus and I spun around at once to see
who had caught us. I expected a youma; a hideous being that was at the
core of this entire evil operation. Instead I saw Mamo-chan, his eyes
locked with mine as soon as I turned. "I've already searched in all of
those drawers and found nothing."
"Mamoru-san!" Venus exclaimed with relief. She looked to me in
puzzlement, probably wondering why I only sat and stared at him.
But I couldn't make myself move. How could I face him after what
I done? Everything he had said we just proved true, and I hadn't
believed him? I looked down in shame.
Venus looked back and forth between us like a confused mad woman
about to jump off her own personal ledge of insanity. I swallowed hard,
forcing myself to ignore her as I stood up and pressed my sweating
palms against my fuku. My head seemed to spin unmercifully for a
moment, the out line of my vision began to grow darker until all I
could see was black. I closed my eyes, reaching out for the desk to
balance myself on. My stomach began turning, coming alive it seemed
with burning fluid that rose in my throat.
"Usako?" Mamo-chan asked worried, springing towards me and
wrapping his arm around my waist.
I turned away from him, trying to push down the nausea in my
stomach. Needless to say it didn't work. I shoved away from him and ran
across the room just in time to save the tuxedo he wore from the
recycled version of everything I had eaten today. I vomited for minutes
it seemed, and when I thought I couldn't possibly have anymore in me, I
began dry heaving. My knees weak and body trembling, I backed up to the
opposite wall and slid to the floor.
Venus looked around, at Mamo-chan's bewildered face, and at me.
"Well," she mumbled, trying to keep her eyes from wandering across the
room where I had just let loose. "Feel better?"
"Ha ha," I retorted, not even bothering to look up at her.
Mamo-chan knelt beside me, cupping my cheek in his palm. "Are you
okay?"
The love and worry in his eyes touched me so deeply, that I
couldn't even think that this wasn't my husband. If it wasn't, I'd
cross that bridge when I got there. With a small smile and a flip of my
hand, I brushed the incident off. "Hai, it's normal for pregnant woman
to spew at a moment's notice," I quipped.
"Oh," he mumbled, actually looking a little relieved at my
answer. As I watched in astonishment he stood up and offered me his
hand to assist me off the floor. I stood up, watching his blank eyes
curiously. Behind him I seen Venus' face falter as she tried to
suppress a giggle. Just as I was about to question him, he turned back
to me, his mouth wide open. "Wait... did you just say pregnant?"
I rolled my eyes. Venus busted out in fits of laughter, almost
doubled over. I nodded my head, "That's what I said." Before I could
blink, let alone prepare myself, he wrapped his arms around me and
swung me up into the air. I grasped my arms around his neck tightly, my
stomach not liking this little ride in the least bit. "Mamo-chan..!" I
protested.
He stopped instantly, placing me back on my feet, but not letting
go. "You're sure? Everything's okay?" he whispered wistfully, pressing
his forehead to mine. If there was any doubt in my mind that this was
truly my Mamo-chan, it was gone now. No one on this Earth would ever
love me the way he did.
"Ami-chan told me I'm about a month along and that everything is
okay," I replied. Instantly I felt his lips on mine. With them came a
deep feeling of calmness that I hadn't felt since this whole situation
began. Everything would be okay; it had to be.
How wrong I was.
@------
Just as Mamo-chan predicted, we found nothing of any help in the
surveillance room. We brought up all the rooms on the larger monitor
and did find all the Senshi, as well as some other areas that might
have information in them. It was obvious that not every room had a
camera, though, since we saw everyone but ourselves. Which still meant
we were no closer to the enemy than before.
Armed with a flashlight, Tuxedo Kamen led Venus and me through a
series of rooms. At first I was just glad that we weren't back in the
hallway, but as we crept through the darkness, I began missing the
light it provided. The darkness lingered around the small light of the
flashlight like a creature awaiting its opportunity to swallow us.
Involuntarily I shivered and moved closer to Sailor Venus.
"If my calculations are correct, the next room is the one where
the Outer Senshi are," Tuxedo Kamen said in a near whisper. He flashed
the light towards the walls, looking for another door, but it was
solid. He said nothing, but I could tell he was getting nervous.
"Umm," Venus began, but didn't get the chance to finish.
"I know, there isn't another door," Mamo-chan completed for her,
letting out a deep breath of frustration. Again he flashed the light
around the room, only this time the door we came in was missing as
well. "Shimatta..."
"Wait," Venus said suddenly, putting her finger up to her lip. We
all stopped, keening our ears for any unusual sound. It came in the
form of a small hissing that resembled air being let out of a
balloon... or into a room.
The thought must have come to all of us at the same time because
Tuxedo Kamen shined his light up to the ceiling at a vent. A light mist
was flowing in the room, lingering towards the ceiling until it was
forced downwards.
"Mamo-chan, what is that?" I let go of Venus' hand and started
towards my husband, but I never made it those few steps. My head began
pounding and my vision blurred so that I couldn't judge my steps and
fell flat on my face.
"Usako..!" I heard Mamo-chan yell my name and then begin
coughing. Gas, I thought just as all went black.
@------
"Why don't you just kill them?"
In my mind I stood at the end of a long black tunnel, a small
light at the far opposite end. From there came voices, two persons
arguing back and forth. I tried to move closer to them, but it was a
fruitless attempt. The more I moved, the longer the hall seemed.
"Where is the fun in that?" the reply came in a booming voice.
"Why not kill them slowly instead of making it so quick and painless?"
"Why give them the chance to escape?" the first person demanded
angrily. I fought against the darkness around me, running as fast as I
could towards the light. As I raced headlong into that brightness, to
my surprise it suddenly flashed towards me with a speed not unlike a
streak of lightening jolting from the ground to the sky. I had the jerk
of falling backwards, though when I opened my eyes I found myself lying
on a metal floor.
"Most of the evil masterminds don't strike when they should, and
therefore face defeat. You should kill them now," the second man
continued. I turned my head to the left slowly, trying to focus my
eyes. As everything became clearer I could make out one man standing in
front of a tank that looked similar to the one that the other Senshi
were in. Only in this tank instead of a person, there was a black
liquid mass that seemed to be concentrated in one area.
"I have my reasons, and if you want to live, you shouldn't
question them," the booming voice replied. As I watched I saw the black
liquid in the tank seem to move in sync with the voice. Was that small
black liquid in that tank the being responsible for our problems? It
seemed too outrageous, but then again, I've seen weirder things in my
life time.
As if the man standing in front of the tank could hear my
thoughts, he turned towards me and took a step forward. "Looks like
you're awake," he said. I wondered what gave it away? "That's good," he
continued, more to himself than to me. "You'll need to be awake for
what I have in store for you."
"What's that?" I asked, forcing myself to sit up and stare him in
the eye. My challenge must have looked ridiculous from inside my metal
cell.
"Come here," he commanded. I wanted to rebel, but since he was on
the outside and was motioning me over, I wasn't about to look a gift
horse in the mouth. Slowly I walked over to the door of my cell where
my opponent brought out a pair of handcuffs and motioned me to turn
around. As he fastened them behind my back and I wondered why Luna had
never taught me the trick for getting out of these. Saving the universe
had sure been in her teachings....
"Sit down over here and all will be explained," the man said,
using his middle finger to push his glasses back up the rim of his
nose. He had a particular large rim around his right eye, and what
looked to be a metal devise behind it.
I sat in the offered chair and faced the large tank he had
earlier been conversing with. I looked over at the cell I had just been
taken from and seen Tuxedo Kamen and Sailor Venus lying close to where
I had been, still unconscious.
"Well?" I demanded impatiently, still trying to find a way out of
the handcuffs. The black liquid in the tank moved towards the front,
and before my rather astonished eyes, the form of a mouth took place.
Around me the same booming voice began talking again. "All in due
time, Princess, all in due time," it said. I looked around, but there
was no where else the voice could be coming from.
"What are you?" I asked, trying to shake off the feeling that
came with talking to a black blob. It was hard to do.
"One thousand years ago I escaped from my imprisonment in another
galaxy and traveled to this one. My intention was simple, take the
Silver Crystal and rule this galaxy. Alas, this wasn't to be. The
people of the Moon fought me, and in the end my body was destroyed by
the same crystal I wished to possess. My essence, what you see now, was
sealed in a fossil deep inside the Earth's core. For a thousand years I
slept inside the fossil, thinking that my ultimate destiny until one
day a team of paleontologist set me free. I immediately influenced them
through my powers and began once again to enforce my plan."
I glanced out of the corner of my eye and saw Tuxedo Kamen
starting to stir. "What is your plan, then? You have me captured, the
holder of the Crystal. Go ahead and gloat about your evil genius, most
of your kind do anyways." I the man standing beside me stare at me in
utter shock. He looked so strangely familiar, but I couldn't place from
where. Instead of dwelling on it, I turned my attention back to the
tank.
"You are right, of course," it said. "I needed to create a
diversion to see if indeed the Sailor Senshi from the Moon Kingdom had
been recreated in this time. Low and behold, I was correct. I told
Heioko how to create a devise that made time travel possible, but
instead of bringing the youma I wanted it to, an explosion occurred.
Either way the result was the same, I found that there are indeed
Sailor Senshi. Besides, I can rule one time or another - it doesn't
matter. Of course, there was the other scientist to deal with, Daiki.
But his own obsession with you did him in."
I shivered and glanced over to the cell again. Mamo-chan was
awake, and listening to every word being said. He seen my eyes glancing
towards him and motioned for me to continue talking. "And what makes
you think that I'm just going to hand over the Silver Crystal?"
"You are bound by handcuffs, all your guardians are captured -
what makes you think you can fight me?" it gloated, obviously taking
pride in having come this far.
He had a point. I just hoped that Mamo-chan had a good plan. I
was running out of ideas on small talk. I looked over again to see
Mamo-chan doing something with the lock on the cell. Venus was awake as
well, and standing next to him with her finger stuck in the lock. I
seen her mouth something and a small spark light up the lock.
What happened next transpired so quickly that it seemed a blur.
The man standing beside me, Heioko, sAW my gaze travel to the cell.
"Hey!" he yelled, rushing over, but he was too late. Venus had used her
crescent beam to open the lock and before Heioko reached them, I heard
her again.
"Venus Love-Me Chain!" a golden line of hearts flew out and
wrapped around Heioko and Venus tugged, sending him flying to the
ground.
Mamo-chan rushed out of the cell after her, straight for me.
"Venus! Hurry!" he called, pulling me to my feet so that Venus could
get to the handcuffs binding my arms together off.
The Senshi of Love released me and simultaneously we looked at
the tank. "Break it?" Venus suggested, popping her knuckles.
"It wouldn't do any good, it's possessed people when free. I
think we should leave it in the confidents of that tank," I explained,
going towards the door. "Let's go find everyone."
I backed up towards the door, giving one last glance around the
room before following Mamo-chan and Venus. Just as I walked away, I
heard Heioko mumble: "I told you to just kill them."
@------
I assume it didn't take long for Heioko to break free from the
chain after we left the room. It wasn't three minutes later that
suddenly the entire building that had once been pitch black was lit
from corner to corner. We continued to run through rooms, not paying
too much attention to which way we were headed or even to our surroundings.
In the bright lights that now illuminated every room, we found
that most were completely empty. There was nowhere to hide, only room
to run and even that didn't last long, as I was soon to find out the
hard way. This concept was brought to my attention in the form of
Tuxedo Kamen, turning so quickly I thought he may fall flat on his
face, and running back towards Venus and I. "The other way!" he
shouted, grabbing my hand as he passed and tugging me along. Coming out
of the room behind him was a large youma.
"Oh great!" Venus spat, turning on her heel and following us.
"Mamo-chan... we can't just keep running!" I insisted, feeling my
side burn with anger at my constant state of feeing. "We'll have to
fight, hide - something!"
He didn't even glance back at me. I rolled my eyes, I knew him
better than he knew himself. Somewhere in his warrior side, he knew
what I said to be true. But then at the same time, in the part of him
that worried about me first and the world later, he was thinking of
getting me out of here. The latter was just not going to work.
That would take some quick convincing on his part, however. I
pulled my hand from his grasp and stopped running. Venus nearly slammed
into me and I seen her fly by in a streak of yellow fuku and blonde
hair, mumbling a few choice words under her breath all the while. Mamo-
chan must have somehow known what I was thinking, because he didn't
look all that surprised. Just a few feet behind us, I saw the youma
racing towards us.
The room we were in was empty, save for two doors and a window
that looked out into what appeared to be the hall we had first arrived
in. After my half second analyze of our surroundings, I quickly ran
back and shut the door we came in. "Doesn't this mad man believe in
locks?" I asked anyone who cared to listen while trying to restrain the
youma outside the door.
"Just goes to show he isn't really a genius after all," Venus
provided as she shoved up against the door beside me. "Now, here's my
brilliant idea about what we do next," she continued, her eyes small
and determined. I waited anxiously, thinking she had a great idea. It
was great, all right. "We kill him."
I stared at the Solider of Love for a second before I realized
she wasn't in any way joking. "That's it? That's your plan?" I
faltered.
"You have a better one?" she retorted.
"No," I admitted quietly.
She nodded, confirming her own brilliance, and motioned for Mamo-
chan to come over. "You stand here," she instructed, moving away from
the door. The youma on the other side nearly knocked me down with the
force of it's impact when she moved. "On the count of three, open the
door and I'll attack him."
I looked to Mamo-chan and Venus began counting. "One... Two..."
"Dead Scream."
We jumped out of the way just in time to avoid the blast of
purple energy that crashed through the door, sending pieces of door and
youma parts through the air. I looked up from where Mamo-chan had
rolled over on me and covered me with his cape, and seen Sailor Pluto
come through the door, Time Staff in hand.
"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Venus cheered behind us,
jumping up and down.
I rolled my eyes and stood up. "Sailor Pluto," I greeted, trying
my best to ignore the slight pain in my back from our rather rough
landing on the metal floor. "You are the last person I thought would
come through that door."
"Believe me, Princess, you were the last person I expected to
find when I blast through here," she smiled slightly, relaxing her
stiff posture for a moment. "Are you alright? Have you anyone else with
you?"
"We're okay. We found a surveillance room earlier and seen the
others in cages or tanks, but I don't know where to start looking for
the rooms they are in. This place is like a maze," Tuxedo Kamen told
her.
"We need to find the others and then figure out how to defeat
this enemy," Pluto stated thoughtfully, as if it needed to be said
aloud.
"Whatever we do we should do it quickly, I'm sure that Heioko has
broken free from his imprisonment and is searching for us," Venus
explained. "That youma was only a warning of things yet to come."
"Heioko?" Pluto questioned as we started through the rooms again.
"We were captured by the person behind this and he has one of the
men I worked with at the lab brainwashed," Tuxedo Kamen explained,
revealing why I thought Heioko looked so familiar.
"That explains a few things," Pluto replied seriously. "But why
them? Why the national labs?"
Tuxedo Kamen explained everything we had learned about the evil,
how Heioko and Daiki had accidentally freed the captured essence to the
explosion and how we were captured and then escaped. "The only thing I
don't understand in all of this is why we saw some of the Senshi in
those tanks. What are they doing to them and why?"
Pluto stayed quiet through out all of this, her eyes darkened.
For a few minutes we walked in silence until suddenly Pluto began
talking, her eyes seemingly seeing something that only she could
remember. "I recall Queen Serenity telling me of an evil that
threatened the Silver Millennium before her rule. It called itself
Pharoah 90, and it was very powerful. It was sealed away into a clear
crystal and sent into the deep gully of the Earth. If what you say is
true, this entity and that has to be one in the same."
"How was it sealed away the first time?" I asked, reaching for
Mamo-chan's hand and taking comfort in the small squeeze he gave it.
Her magenta eyes darker than normal, the Solider of Time turned
to my husband and I and gave us the worse possible solution I could
have imagined. "Queen Selene, your grandmother, gave her life by using
the full extent of the Silver Crystal's power to lock it away."
I felt my breath still in my chest and my eyes went wide. As I
stood there, trying to grasp what she was implying, I felt Mamo-chan
wrap his arm around my shoulder and hug me to him. "No," I heard him
say, but the word seem to echo in my head rather than stop as sharply
as he said it. "There has to be another way."
"I'm not saying this is the only way, I'm saying this is the way
it was done in the past," Pluto corrected immediately. "There is a
completely different scenario now than then. For instance, Selene
didn't have guardian planet Senshi as the Princess does now. The
planets were at peace then, but they didn't communicate as they did
when Queen Serenity ruled. Your mother saw to it that you had guardians
where she and her mother before her did not."
I tried to shake off the feeling of fear that had draped itself
across my shoulders, but it was no use. As we continued through the
maze that housed Pharoah 90, Pluto continued to rationalize that we had
more power than before. In my heart I knew that if that didn't work, my
life, as well as the life within me, might have to be sacrificed if the
world was to be saved.
--End Chapter 8.
And you are all about to kill me, ne? *dodges a frying pan* Yes, I know
it's been three weeks since I updated. But besides a major case of writer's
block (I know what I want to write, I just can't make it work the way I
want) I've been super busy with the kids and all of that kinda of stuff.
As well as two family reunions (on the same day) and getting ready for my
trip to Disney World in one week, three days and 16 hours (I won't go as
far as minutes, yet...) Life as been hectic, to say the least. And writing
took a back seat because of that. But I'm making myself write at least one
paragraph a day (yesterday I actually wrote two pages!!!) because I'm going
to try my best to get chapter 9 out before I go to Disney World. That is
also the reason this chapter is so short, because I wanted to get two
chapters out before I left.
So, I hope that you all aren't too terriably mad at me ^^; HUGE thanks to
all who reads and reviews at FF.net *huggles* You guys are wonderful :)
And to all on Moonromance.com, and of course I can't forget those on MML
Mailing List and those who email me *huggles* Many thanks to my wonderful
editor, Meara. Who, even with all going on in her life still takes time
to edit my work, correct my tense use of the words "seen" and "saw" and
manages not to kill me for my misuse of them...usually about ten times
in a chapter ^^;
I hope everyone comes back for Chapter 9 - Breaking Free. And remember,
email, reviews, tiggers and shoes ;)
@------
No Greater Love
Chapter 8 - The Price of Freedom
By: Bethany
Editor: Meara
Rated: PG
@------
"Usako?" he whispered, his eyes boring into mine. They looked the
same, so full of emotion like they were every time he looked at me. But
that could be duplicated, right? I couldn't think, didn't know what to
do and he saw that.
"We have a daughter," he said and I felt my heart start to break.
"And Shingo, we are in the process of adopting him. We haven't been
married but for two months." He faltered, obviously trying to reason
with me through his gestures as well as words. "Chibi-Usa will be two
years old in May...."
I dropped my scepter down and tried to gather my thoughts. I
couldn't attack him, yet I also couldn't believe him. With a sob of
frustration I turned and ran as fast as my legs would carry me. Behind
me I heard him call my name, the sound echoing in my ears.
Through the darkness I fled, trying to keep my balance. I bumped
into a wall, slapping my arm roughly against the metal. I stopped, my
side on fire with sharp pains and my breath coming in jagged gasps. My
chest ached with the need to just sit and cry, but I refused to give in
and allow a single tear to leave my eye. I had to be strong, for my
children if for no one else.
Behind me I felt something or someone touch my shoulder and I
gasped and spun around. "Sailor Moon?" a voice whispered in the
darkness.
"Venus?" I replied, just as soft and yet hopeful. The light of a
flash light shined in my eyes, causing me to cower away from its
stinging brightness. "Is that you, Venus?"
"Hai, Sailor Moon," I heard Venus reply and let out what seemed
to be a breath of relief. "I didn't know if that was you and I should
turn this on or if it wasn't and I should attack," she explained,
holding the light up so that both our faces shown like ghost images in
the darkness. Her face went from relief to concern when she could see
my features. "Doushite no, Usagi-chan?"
"I.." I faltered, my emotions still twisted in knots. My body
felt like it was pulling me in two different directions and neither
seemed the right one. My arm pounded with the remaining sting of my
earlier impact with the metal wall and my side was afire with the
reminder of how hard I had pushed myself to get away from that man. But
all the physical pain seemed nothing compared to the pain in my heart.
"Nothing," I mumbled, looking away so that my eyes wouldn't reveal my
true feelings. "Did you find anything?"
"Just a flash light," Venus mumbled, still looking concerned.
"What happened to you? Who took you? How did you get away?" Venus fired
her questions quickly, all in one breath.
"I don't know, I... I bit him and ran away," I replied, again
casting my eyes down. It was just as good as a confession of evil to
the leader of my guardians. For once, however, the Solider of Venus let
it go. I couldn't have been more grateful.
She took my hand, leading me along with the flash light in the
other hand as we searched through a number of rooms, all barren and
empty. Our footsteps seem to echo around us, warning any enemies that
we were approaching. Just when I was about to think we were walking in
circles, we came into a different room. There were computers, and
televisions screens lining the walls all showing different angles of
the hallway and then switching to rooms like the ones we had been in.
"A surveillance room?" Venus questioned aloud. I couldn't stop
staring around, it was just as Mamo-chan had said. Had I made a
horrible mistake?
"Look," Venus gasped, bringing me out of my thoughts and back to
reality. She pointed to a screen that showed a room with large water
tanks lining the walls. In each tank there seemed to be a body. At the
far right hand side of the room were six empty tanks.
I sat down in one of the chairs at the control board and began
looking over buttons and small computer. "If I can get that camera on
the larger screen, maybe we can see who is in those tanks," I mumbled
to myself. Even so, Venus heard me and shined her flash light on the
television screen. "There's a number thirteen on this TV. - maybe
that's the camera number?"
"I'll try it." With a small prayer, I selected the number on the
computer and clicked select. A second later the image came up on the
larger monitor. "Yes!" I cried, standing up to get a better view. I
studied it for a minute before coming to the same conclusion that Venus
did.
"Just as we feared," she said before I could gather my thoughts.
"The other Sailor Senshi are in those tanks." She walked over to where
I stood and brought the rest of the screens up on the larger monitor
one by one. "There's Neptune and Uranus!" she exclaimed, pointing to
the screen. There was trapped inside a metal cage identical to the one
Jupiter was in. I felt my heart stop in my chest.
"Now that we know where they are, we can free them." I began
looking around the room, there were large filing cabinets behind us, as
well as drawers in the desk. "Quick, search these drawers for keys, or
something that could help us," I commanded as I began rummaging through
the desk.
Venus tried to open the filing cabinet, but couldn't get it open.
"It's locked," she mumbled angrily and hit her fist on the top. Just as
I turned around to suggest looking behind it for a key, she pressed her
finger to the lock. "Crescent Beam!"
The lock exploded, sending the drawers flying open. "That works,
too," I mumbled, going back to my search.
"You won't find anything useful," a voice suddenly came out of
the shadows near the door. Both Venus and I spun around at once to see
who had caught us. I expected a youma; a hideous being that was at the
core of this entire evil operation. Instead I saw Mamo-chan, his eyes
locked with mine as soon as I turned. "I've already searched in all of
those drawers and found nothing."
"Mamoru-san!" Venus exclaimed with relief. She looked to me in
puzzlement, probably wondering why I only sat and stared at him.
But I couldn't make myself move. How could I face him after what
I done? Everything he had said we just proved true, and I hadn't
believed him? I looked down in shame.
Venus looked back and forth between us like a confused mad woman
about to jump off her own personal ledge of insanity. I swallowed hard,
forcing myself to ignore her as I stood up and pressed my sweating
palms against my fuku. My head seemed to spin unmercifully for a
moment, the out line of my vision began to grow darker until all I
could see was black. I closed my eyes, reaching out for the desk to
balance myself on. My stomach began turning, coming alive it seemed
with burning fluid that rose in my throat.
"Usako?" Mamo-chan asked worried, springing towards me and
wrapping his arm around my waist.
I turned away from him, trying to push down the nausea in my
stomach. Needless to say it didn't work. I shoved away from him and ran
across the room just in time to save the tuxedo he wore from the
recycled version of everything I had eaten today. I vomited for minutes
it seemed, and when I thought I couldn't possibly have anymore in me, I
began dry heaving. My knees weak and body trembling, I backed up to the
opposite wall and slid to the floor.
Venus looked around, at Mamo-chan's bewildered face, and at me.
"Well," she mumbled, trying to keep her eyes from wandering across the
room where I had just let loose. "Feel better?"
"Ha ha," I retorted, not even bothering to look up at her.
Mamo-chan knelt beside me, cupping my cheek in his palm. "Are you
okay?"
The love and worry in his eyes touched me so deeply, that I
couldn't even think that this wasn't my husband. If it wasn't, I'd
cross that bridge when I got there. With a small smile and a flip of my
hand, I brushed the incident off. "Hai, it's normal for pregnant woman
to spew at a moment's notice," I quipped.
"Oh," he mumbled, actually looking a little relieved at my
answer. As I watched in astonishment he stood up and offered me his
hand to assist me off the floor. I stood up, watching his blank eyes
curiously. Behind him I seen Venus' face falter as she tried to
suppress a giggle. Just as I was about to question him, he turned back
to me, his mouth wide open. "Wait... did you just say pregnant?"
I rolled my eyes. Venus busted out in fits of laughter, almost
doubled over. I nodded my head, "That's what I said." Before I could
blink, let alone prepare myself, he wrapped his arms around me and
swung me up into the air. I grasped my arms around his neck tightly, my
stomach not liking this little ride in the least bit. "Mamo-chan..!" I
protested.
He stopped instantly, placing me back on my feet, but not letting
go. "You're sure? Everything's okay?" he whispered wistfully, pressing
his forehead to mine. If there was any doubt in my mind that this was
truly my Mamo-chan, it was gone now. No one on this Earth would ever
love me the way he did.
"Ami-chan told me I'm about a month along and that everything is
okay," I replied. Instantly I felt his lips on mine. With them came a
deep feeling of calmness that I hadn't felt since this whole situation
began. Everything would be okay; it had to be.
How wrong I was.
@------
Just as Mamo-chan predicted, we found nothing of any help in the
surveillance room. We brought up all the rooms on the larger monitor
and did find all the Senshi, as well as some other areas that might
have information in them. It was obvious that not every room had a
camera, though, since we saw everyone but ourselves. Which still meant
we were no closer to the enemy than before.
Armed with a flashlight, Tuxedo Kamen led Venus and me through a
series of rooms. At first I was just glad that we weren't back in the
hallway, but as we crept through the darkness, I began missing the
light it provided. The darkness lingered around the small light of the
flashlight like a creature awaiting its opportunity to swallow us.
Involuntarily I shivered and moved closer to Sailor Venus.
"If my calculations are correct, the next room is the one where
the Outer Senshi are," Tuxedo Kamen said in a near whisper. He flashed
the light towards the walls, looking for another door, but it was
solid. He said nothing, but I could tell he was getting nervous.
"Umm," Venus began, but didn't get the chance to finish.
"I know, there isn't another door," Mamo-chan completed for her,
letting out a deep breath of frustration. Again he flashed the light
around the room, only this time the door we came in was missing as
well. "Shimatta..."
"Wait," Venus said suddenly, putting her finger up to her lip. We
all stopped, keening our ears for any unusual sound. It came in the
form of a small hissing that resembled air being let out of a
balloon... or into a room.
The thought must have come to all of us at the same time because
Tuxedo Kamen shined his light up to the ceiling at a vent. A light mist
was flowing in the room, lingering towards the ceiling until it was
forced downwards.
"Mamo-chan, what is that?" I let go of Venus' hand and started
towards my husband, but I never made it those few steps. My head began
pounding and my vision blurred so that I couldn't judge my steps and
fell flat on my face.
"Usako..!" I heard Mamo-chan yell my name and then begin
coughing. Gas, I thought just as all went black.
@------
"Why don't you just kill them?"
In my mind I stood at the end of a long black tunnel, a small
light at the far opposite end. From there came voices, two persons
arguing back and forth. I tried to move closer to them, but it was a
fruitless attempt. The more I moved, the longer the hall seemed.
"Where is the fun in that?" the reply came in a booming voice.
"Why not kill them slowly instead of making it so quick and painless?"
"Why give them the chance to escape?" the first person demanded
angrily. I fought against the darkness around me, running as fast as I
could towards the light. As I raced headlong into that brightness, to
my surprise it suddenly flashed towards me with a speed not unlike a
streak of lightening jolting from the ground to the sky. I had the jerk
of falling backwards, though when I opened my eyes I found myself lying
on a metal floor.
"Most of the evil masterminds don't strike when they should, and
therefore face defeat. You should kill them now," the second man
continued. I turned my head to the left slowly, trying to focus my
eyes. As everything became clearer I could make out one man standing in
front of a tank that looked similar to the one that the other Senshi
were in. Only in this tank instead of a person, there was a black
liquid mass that seemed to be concentrated in one area.
"I have my reasons, and if you want to live, you shouldn't
question them," the booming voice replied. As I watched I saw the black
liquid in the tank seem to move in sync with the voice. Was that small
black liquid in that tank the being responsible for our problems? It
seemed too outrageous, but then again, I've seen weirder things in my
life time.
As if the man standing in front of the tank could hear my
thoughts, he turned towards me and took a step forward. "Looks like
you're awake," he said. I wondered what gave it away? "That's good," he
continued, more to himself than to me. "You'll need to be awake for
what I have in store for you."
"What's that?" I asked, forcing myself to sit up and stare him in
the eye. My challenge must have looked ridiculous from inside my metal
cell.
"Come here," he commanded. I wanted to rebel, but since he was on
the outside and was motioning me over, I wasn't about to look a gift
horse in the mouth. Slowly I walked over to the door of my cell where
my opponent brought out a pair of handcuffs and motioned me to turn
around. As he fastened them behind my back and I wondered why Luna had
never taught me the trick for getting out of these. Saving the universe
had sure been in her teachings....
"Sit down over here and all will be explained," the man said,
using his middle finger to push his glasses back up the rim of his
nose. He had a particular large rim around his right eye, and what
looked to be a metal devise behind it.
I sat in the offered chair and faced the large tank he had
earlier been conversing with. I looked over at the cell I had just been
taken from and seen Tuxedo Kamen and Sailor Venus lying close to where
I had been, still unconscious.
"Well?" I demanded impatiently, still trying to find a way out of
the handcuffs. The black liquid in the tank moved towards the front,
and before my rather astonished eyes, the form of a mouth took place.
Around me the same booming voice began talking again. "All in due
time, Princess, all in due time," it said. I looked around, but there
was no where else the voice could be coming from.
"What are you?" I asked, trying to shake off the feeling that
came with talking to a black blob. It was hard to do.
"One thousand years ago I escaped from my imprisonment in another
galaxy and traveled to this one. My intention was simple, take the
Silver Crystal and rule this galaxy. Alas, this wasn't to be. The
people of the Moon fought me, and in the end my body was destroyed by
the same crystal I wished to possess. My essence, what you see now, was
sealed in a fossil deep inside the Earth's core. For a thousand years I
slept inside the fossil, thinking that my ultimate destiny until one
day a team of paleontologist set me free. I immediately influenced them
through my powers and began once again to enforce my plan."
I glanced out of the corner of my eye and saw Tuxedo Kamen
starting to stir. "What is your plan, then? You have me captured, the
holder of the Crystal. Go ahead and gloat about your evil genius, most
of your kind do anyways." I the man standing beside me stare at me in
utter shock. He looked so strangely familiar, but I couldn't place from
where. Instead of dwelling on it, I turned my attention back to the
tank.
"You are right, of course," it said. "I needed to create a
diversion to see if indeed the Sailor Senshi from the Moon Kingdom had
been recreated in this time. Low and behold, I was correct. I told
Heioko how to create a devise that made time travel possible, but
instead of bringing the youma I wanted it to, an explosion occurred.
Either way the result was the same, I found that there are indeed
Sailor Senshi. Besides, I can rule one time or another - it doesn't
matter. Of course, there was the other scientist to deal with, Daiki.
But his own obsession with you did him in."
I shivered and glanced over to the cell again. Mamo-chan was
awake, and listening to every word being said. He seen my eyes glancing
towards him and motioned for me to continue talking. "And what makes
you think that I'm just going to hand over the Silver Crystal?"
"You are bound by handcuffs, all your guardians are captured -
what makes you think you can fight me?" it gloated, obviously taking
pride in having come this far.
He had a point. I just hoped that Mamo-chan had a good plan. I
was running out of ideas on small talk. I looked over again to see
Mamo-chan doing something with the lock on the cell. Venus was awake as
well, and standing next to him with her finger stuck in the lock. I
seen her mouth something and a small spark light up the lock.
What happened next transpired so quickly that it seemed a blur.
The man standing beside me, Heioko, sAW my gaze travel to the cell.
"Hey!" he yelled, rushing over, but he was too late. Venus had used her
crescent beam to open the lock and before Heioko reached them, I heard
her again.
"Venus Love-Me Chain!" a golden line of hearts flew out and
wrapped around Heioko and Venus tugged, sending him flying to the
ground.
Mamo-chan rushed out of the cell after her, straight for me.
"Venus! Hurry!" he called, pulling me to my feet so that Venus could
get to the handcuffs binding my arms together off.
The Senshi of Love released me and simultaneously we looked at
the tank. "Break it?" Venus suggested, popping her knuckles.
"It wouldn't do any good, it's possessed people when free. I
think we should leave it in the confidents of that tank," I explained,
going towards the door. "Let's go find everyone."
I backed up towards the door, giving one last glance around the
room before following Mamo-chan and Venus. Just as I walked away, I
heard Heioko mumble: "I told you to just kill them."
@------
I assume it didn't take long for Heioko to break free from the
chain after we left the room. It wasn't three minutes later that
suddenly the entire building that had once been pitch black was lit
from corner to corner. We continued to run through rooms, not paying
too much attention to which way we were headed or even to our surroundings.
In the bright lights that now illuminated every room, we found
that most were completely empty. There was nowhere to hide, only room
to run and even that didn't last long, as I was soon to find out the
hard way. This concept was brought to my attention in the form of
Tuxedo Kamen, turning so quickly I thought he may fall flat on his
face, and running back towards Venus and I. "The other way!" he
shouted, grabbing my hand as he passed and tugging me along. Coming out
of the room behind him was a large youma.
"Oh great!" Venus spat, turning on her heel and following us.
"Mamo-chan... we can't just keep running!" I insisted, feeling my
side burn with anger at my constant state of feeing. "We'll have to
fight, hide - something!"
He didn't even glance back at me. I rolled my eyes, I knew him
better than he knew himself. Somewhere in his warrior side, he knew
what I said to be true. But then at the same time, in the part of him
that worried about me first and the world later, he was thinking of
getting me out of here. The latter was just not going to work.
That would take some quick convincing on his part, however. I
pulled my hand from his grasp and stopped running. Venus nearly slammed
into me and I seen her fly by in a streak of yellow fuku and blonde
hair, mumbling a few choice words under her breath all the while. Mamo-
chan must have somehow known what I was thinking, because he didn't
look all that surprised. Just a few feet behind us, I saw the youma
racing towards us.
The room we were in was empty, save for two doors and a window
that looked out into what appeared to be the hall we had first arrived
in. After my half second analyze of our surroundings, I quickly ran
back and shut the door we came in. "Doesn't this mad man believe in
locks?" I asked anyone who cared to listen while trying to restrain the
youma outside the door.
"Just goes to show he isn't really a genius after all," Venus
provided as she shoved up against the door beside me. "Now, here's my
brilliant idea about what we do next," she continued, her eyes small
and determined. I waited anxiously, thinking she had a great idea. It
was great, all right. "We kill him."
I stared at the Solider of Love for a second before I realized
she wasn't in any way joking. "That's it? That's your plan?" I
faltered.
"You have a better one?" she retorted.
"No," I admitted quietly.
She nodded, confirming her own brilliance, and motioned for Mamo-
chan to come over. "You stand here," she instructed, moving away from
the door. The youma on the other side nearly knocked me down with the
force of it's impact when she moved. "On the count of three, open the
door and I'll attack him."
I looked to Mamo-chan and Venus began counting. "One... Two..."
"Dead Scream."
We jumped out of the way just in time to avoid the blast of
purple energy that crashed through the door, sending pieces of door and
youma parts through the air. I looked up from where Mamo-chan had
rolled over on me and covered me with his cape, and seen Sailor Pluto
come through the door, Time Staff in hand.
"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Venus cheered behind us,
jumping up and down.
I rolled my eyes and stood up. "Sailor Pluto," I greeted, trying
my best to ignore the slight pain in my back from our rather rough
landing on the metal floor. "You are the last person I thought would
come through that door."
"Believe me, Princess, you were the last person I expected to
find when I blast through here," she smiled slightly, relaxing her
stiff posture for a moment. "Are you alright? Have you anyone else with
you?"
"We're okay. We found a surveillance room earlier and seen the
others in cages or tanks, but I don't know where to start looking for
the rooms they are in. This place is like a maze," Tuxedo Kamen told
her.
"We need to find the others and then figure out how to defeat
this enemy," Pluto stated thoughtfully, as if it needed to be said
aloud.
"Whatever we do we should do it quickly, I'm sure that Heioko has
broken free from his imprisonment and is searching for us," Venus
explained. "That youma was only a warning of things yet to come."
"Heioko?" Pluto questioned as we started through the rooms again.
"We were captured by the person behind this and he has one of the
men I worked with at the lab brainwashed," Tuxedo Kamen explained,
revealing why I thought Heioko looked so familiar.
"That explains a few things," Pluto replied seriously. "But why
them? Why the national labs?"
Tuxedo Kamen explained everything we had learned about the evil,
how Heioko and Daiki had accidentally freed the captured essence to the
explosion and how we were captured and then escaped. "The only thing I
don't understand in all of this is why we saw some of the Senshi in
those tanks. What are they doing to them and why?"
Pluto stayed quiet through out all of this, her eyes darkened.
For a few minutes we walked in silence until suddenly Pluto began
talking, her eyes seemingly seeing something that only she could
remember. "I recall Queen Serenity telling me of an evil that
threatened the Silver Millennium before her rule. It called itself
Pharoah 90, and it was very powerful. It was sealed away into a clear
crystal and sent into the deep gully of the Earth. If what you say is
true, this entity and that has to be one in the same."
"How was it sealed away the first time?" I asked, reaching for
Mamo-chan's hand and taking comfort in the small squeeze he gave it.
Her magenta eyes darker than normal, the Solider of Time turned
to my husband and I and gave us the worse possible solution I could
have imagined. "Queen Selene, your grandmother, gave her life by using
the full extent of the Silver Crystal's power to lock it away."
I felt my breath still in my chest and my eyes went wide. As I
stood there, trying to grasp what she was implying, I felt Mamo-chan
wrap his arm around my shoulder and hug me to him. "No," I heard him
say, but the word seem to echo in my head rather than stop as sharply
as he said it. "There has to be another way."
"I'm not saying this is the only way, I'm saying this is the way
it was done in the past," Pluto corrected immediately. "There is a
completely different scenario now than then. For instance, Selene
didn't have guardian planet Senshi as the Princess does now. The
planets were at peace then, but they didn't communicate as they did
when Queen Serenity ruled. Your mother saw to it that you had guardians
where she and her mother before her did not."
I tried to shake off the feeling of fear that had draped itself
across my shoulders, but it was no use. As we continued through the
maze that housed Pharoah 90, Pluto continued to rationalize that we had
more power than before. In my heart I knew that if that didn't work, my
life, as well as the life within me, might have to be sacrificed if the
world was to be saved.
--End Chapter 8.
And you are all about to kill me, ne? *dodges a frying pan* Yes, I know
it's been three weeks since I updated. But besides a major case of writer's
block (I know what I want to write, I just can't make it work the way I
want) I've been super busy with the kids and all of that kinda of stuff.
As well as two family reunions (on the same day) and getting ready for my
trip to Disney World in one week, three days and 16 hours (I won't go as
far as minutes, yet...) Life as been hectic, to say the least. And writing
took a back seat because of that. But I'm making myself write at least one
paragraph a day (yesterday I actually wrote two pages!!!) because I'm going
to try my best to get chapter 9 out before I go to Disney World. That is
also the reason this chapter is so short, because I wanted to get two
chapters out before I left.
So, I hope that you all aren't too terriably mad at me ^^; HUGE thanks to
all who reads and reviews at FF.net *huggles* You guys are wonderful :)
And to all on Moonromance.com, and of course I can't forget those on MML
Mailing List and those who email me *huggles* Many thanks to my wonderful
editor, Meara. Who, even with all going on in her life still takes time
to edit my work, correct my tense use of the words "seen" and "saw" and
manages not to kill me for my misuse of them...usually about ten times
in a chapter ^^;
I hope everyone comes back for Chapter 9 - Breaking Free. And remember,
email, reviews, tiggers and shoes ;)