AN: I'm still rejoicing the return of FF.net so here's another chapter that actually goes some where!!! But ummm...nevermind don't want to give it all away ~_^.
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone, except Eve and Zylstra. Anyone who wants to argue will meet my nicely polished nine millimeter Glock. Yes, that is a threat.
Immortal Habit XI: Back to One
Last time on Immortal Habit...
Serenity slapped Heero on the head and walked around the corner of a building. There she saw Endymion zipping up his pants and Selenity's bruised body covered by bloody rags that used to be her clothes.
*********
Serenity was over flowing with rage. She wanted to rip out Endymion's intestines and use them to strangle him. Her rage then triggered something taht she hadn't called upon since the Silver Millennium, her godess form, Artemis. A sliver light engulfed her and faded to show her in a embriodered deer skin dress without sleeves, her silver hair in a braid, and a silver bow in right hand, she was now a true god, but it had nothing to do with her clothing or acessories it was the soft silver aurora that surrounded her. In a praticed motion Artemis brought an arrow to her bow and shot at Endymion, the arrow entered his right thigh.
"Arg!" Endymion cried in pain and collapsed on the hard cement.
Endymion had never seen Serenity's godess form, but he had heard about it from Zylstra. The ice flooding his veins told him the arrow had been poisoned. He ripped the arrow fromhis thigh and studied it, it was sliver with a pattern in lead on the head, that was something else he would have to worry about, lead poisoning but the fruity smell of fairie blood was what worried him most. Faeried blood was clear, untraceable and a deadly poison. But it bothered him not, Zylstra knew how to draw out the poison. Endymion turned his attention to his surrounding area and scanned the perimeter. It was odd, there seemed to be no one.
"How dare you take my sister! I will kill you for what you have done!" Artemis raged as she stepped out of the shadows.
Heero stepped up behind Endymion and removed the saftey on his gun and aimed at back of his head, he would shoot if he hurt his goddess.
"Don't worry, Serenity, she enjoyed it as much as I did," Endymion sneered and rised to his feet, still not noticing Heero.
The bow disappeared from Artemis' hand and was replaced by a sword. Artemis charged Endymion and slashed at his chest but Endymion jumped away, leaving Heero with milliseconds to move and not be killed.
"You really think she didn't try to fight too? With sword, bow, or staff you shall never beat me," Endymion laughed.
"But I can try. Where there's a will there's a way, right?" Artemis replied and lunged at Endymion again.
Endymion ducked the attack and came back up behind Artemis. He quickly chopped her neck and she crumpled to the ground, transforming back to Serenity. Heero pulled the trigger to his gun and was on target but the bullet stopped and dropped to the ground before it could do any damage.
"Come out, Acteaon, there's no point anymore," Endymion laughed.
Heero silently walked out of the shadows, becoming the 'Perfect Soldier' once again.
"I still can't figure out why she picked you over me," Endymion said.
"Hn," Heero replied in monotone but inside he was screaming, 'She picked me because I'm not a psychopath out to kill her!'
"Maybe it was because you gave her joy and all I did was excite her dark side. She used to be so innocent and loving, not a care in the world. She changed after she found Luna and Artemus nailed to her front door though. Became crueler, more driven, and a hell of a fighter, she spent hours training to kill me. And finally she did it by accident. I wonder if that spoiled her revenge or if it was still as sweet?" Endymion began to babble and go off topic and soon Artemis was waking to a really bad headache.
"You know Endy. Even after all these years you still hit like a girl," Serenity said as she stood.
"Oh good you're awake. I was just telling your boy toy here about how I tried to drive you insane," Endymion said lightly.
"And it worked," Serenity replied and she punched him in the face and kicked him in the groin.
Endymion went down and Serenity kicked him in the face, knocking him out. Serenity ran over to Selenity and checked for a pulse, it was faint but there. Serenity took off the coat and wrapped her sister in it, she then began to check her wounds to make sure nothing was fatal.
"She going to be alright?" Heero asked her from behind.
Serenity jumped a bit and glared at her lover.
"She has multiple bruises to her face, arms, and legs, has a shallow gash on her abdomen and a broken ankle. She also shows signs of multiple rape," Serenity sighed mournfully and rubbed her eyes with grimy hands.
"You didn't answer my question," Heero whispered.
"Physically, fine. Mentally is another story. I don't know if she'll be afraid of men or not because of Endymion's already bad image but if she was a normal woman she would probably want to rip out the throat of the first guy she sees and then become a nun or hide the rest of her life," Serenity whispered back.
"But she's not normal," Heero replied.
"I don't think that'll help."
Selenity began to groan and come around.
"Hey there, Hoshi," Serenity said softly.
"What happened? Why am I in an alley?" Selenity asked.
"It'll come back in a minute," Serenity said and began to help her sister to her feet.
Selenity leaned against the wall and inspected her clothing.
"I liked this outfit!" Selenity growled and grabbed her head as the memories came flooding back.
Selenity crumpled back down to the ground and cried. Serenity tried to comfort her but it was no good. Serenity turned around to see Endymion revivng. He was chanting in some strange language that even she didn't know. A light began to envelope Heero as Endymion's chanting got louder. As the chanting reached the loudest it could Heero collapsed and Selenity disappeared.
"No! Heero!" Serenity cried and dived for him never noticing her sister's missing form.
***A.C. 200***
"Where are those guys?" Hotaru muttered as she sliced through a M.S, "They're late!"
Hotaru was worried about her gundam she was running low on power and the mobile suits seemed to multiply intstead of diminish. For a moment she wished she could use her powers to kill these things but then she remembered that men piloted them and she had sworn not to use her powers as an unfair advantage in this war unless it was absolutely necessary. But it was starting to look necessary.
"I can see them! They're being attacked not far away," Duo exclaimed.
It was true. Their back-up had been attacked by overwhelming numbers of mobile suits, just like them, although they seemed to be fairing better. The only one out of ammo in their group was Trowa, big suprise.
"Great, thats all we need more suits," Mina growled and waited for the suit in front of her to destroy her.
"Need some help?" Quatre asked a the suit in front of Mina exploded.
"Thanks, Quatre," Mina sighed in relief.
The other guys had finished their batch of mobile suits and were now working on the ones attacking the first mission team. Fifteen minutes later only two suits were left, Duo went for them and immediatly cut one down, the other one was hard to get and in the end Wufei had to take from behind. The suit exploded with much more force than it should have and knocked the Gundam guys out.
"Damn it! How are we going to get them back?" Amara wondered.
"I'm in the best shape out of all of us, I'll take two," Hotaru offered.
"Okay, Hotaru take Trowa and Quatre, Amara take Wufei, Michelle take Duo. I'll cover you," Mina commanded.
The pilots did as they were told and they began their journey back to Earth.
***A.D. 2000***
"What did you do to him you monster!? Where is my sisiter?" Serenity demanded.
"A simple spell. It's nothing really. Goodbye," Endymion said and dissappeared.
Serenity swore and she checked Heero, thankfully he was just unconcious. Serenity swung Heero over her shoulder and stood up. The alley was empty except for Serenity's jacket. Serenity swayed as she thought of the implications. Endymion had taken her sister, the sweet lover of peace. Anyone else would have cried but Serenity only sighed her sorrow and picked up her coat, flinging it over Heero. She calmly walked to the mouth of thealley and turned.
"This has been taken as an attack against me and my family, Endymion. No one touches my family. I hope you can take the consequences of your actions. I accept you offer of battle and proclaim total war against you and your's," Serenity stated to the empty air, a cold fury no person had ever known of and survived had enveloped her.
She turned and walked away to her hotel. She opened the door with difficulty and shut it behind her with a foot. Serenity sat on the couch with Heero's head on her lap. She ran her fingers through his silky hair and hoped he would be alright.
"What did he do to, Heero? That spell was powerful enough to knock out a hundred men with extra power still floating around," Serenity wondered aloud.
***A Cell Somewhere ***
Selenity stood in the cold prison cell in nothing but her torn dress. The cold felt good, it could punished her for what had happened. She had been weak, she had let her emotions take control and make her swordsmanship sloppy. The threats Endymion made on her sisters life had filled her mind and all she could think about was killing him before he got her queen, her sister, her best friend. And now she was suffering for her mistake. Selenity picked up the plate of food that had been on the floor when she woke. She looked carefully at it and decided it was poisoned. Not that poison would kill her. Selenity stretched as a yawn overcame her. She felt the shallow gash on her abdomen reopen and bleed. She ignored it and continued to think. He had touched her in places she only wanted her husband to touch her, he had taken away something more precious than any jewel. He had taken her pride, her confidence, and her purity. There was nothing more that she wanted to do right now than either kill Endymion or kill herself. But she wouldn't because they needed her, for some reason they needed her and for the moment that was enough. I am Selenity Hoshi Solaris, princess of the burning Sol Kingdom and I am Princess Relena Dorlin-Peacecraft of the Sanq Kingdom, and no one can take that away. Finally, Selenity started to look for an escape route but found nothing but cold cement. She sighed in defeat and sat on the cold floor. Selenity felt herself drift into a state of sleep and welcomed it. She dreamed of Serenity holding Heero, still unconcious, in a hotel room.
"And me without my camera," Selenity awoke and muttered.
Then she felt the change begin, the bones cracking, the pain in her stomach, the rush of power. The dawn had come. It was all part of the package and soon she would once again be Hoshi the tiger. Five minutes later Hoshi curled up in a corner of the cell sleeping once again from exhaustion.
***A.C. 200***
"Guys there's someone following us," Mina told Hotaru, Michelle, and Amara as they made their way to the mansion in their Gundams.
Mina had noticed him about ten minutes ago and now that she was sure thats what the ship was doing
"Take him out," Hotaru said simply.
"I would if it wasn't a civilian ship," Mina snapped back.
"A disgiused ship?" Michelle asked.
"Most likely. It's probably tracking us."
"Should we try to lose them?" asked Hotaru.
"We're already to close to the mansion it wouldn't work and none of us have enough power to actually swerve enough to make a difference," Amara answered.
"Damn. We'll have to land and abandon the Gundams,"Mina said.
"Right," the other agreed and landed in a forest.
Each girl carried a pilot and committed the location of the gundams to memory. Then they began to walk. When they got the mansion the other girls were waiting for them. Amara and Michelle offered to retrieve the Gundams and left soon after their arrival.
"What happened?" asked Lita as she checked Trowa for injuries.
"A really big boom," sighed Mina as she reached for a First Aid kit.
"A really big boom? Did you hit your head, Mina?" Ami asked.
"No! Thats mean Ami!"
"Sorry."
"Are they going to be alright?" Rei asked.
"They're all fine. Just unconcious," Ami announced.
"Hey! I think they're waking up!" Jim exclaimed.
***A.D. 2000***
Serenity woke up to a groan. She looked around to find a clock and saw that it was almost 2 o'clock in the afternoon. There was another groan and Serenity noticed Heero was waking up.
"Heero? Heero can you hear me?" Serenity asked softly.
Heero's eyes snapped open. Serenity gasped to see the cold orbs staring at her without a flicker of recognition. With grace that came with being the perfect soldier Heero rolled off the couch and pointed his gun at Serenity.
"Who are you and who do you work for?" he asked in monotone.
"Oh Goddess, no," Serenity whispered.
"Omae o koruso," Heero threatend.
"No, you won't. You're just kidding aren't you, Heero?" Serenity asked hopefully.
"How do you know my name?"
"You told me," Serenity whispered, a tear trickled down her cheek.
Heero pulled the trigger and shot a hole in the wall, missing Serenity by an inch.
"You lie."
'Oh, no, he doesn't remember. Endymion must have done it. What am I going to do? I guess I'll make it up as I go along,' Serenity thought.
"You really don't remember, do you? Damn it, Endymion! I'll have your head for this!" Serenity screamed at the ceiling.
This threw Heero enough for Serenity to disarm him and dislocate one of his knees and cast a binding spell.
"How does it feel now, Heero Yuy?" she asked him coldly.
Heero just glared at her. Serenity picked up the gun and took out the clip. She then dug through Heero's pockets and removed the extra clips and gun.
"Now, I know how uncomfortable that is so if you promise not to try anything I will allow you to repair yourself. And then we can have a civilized conversation and I will answer all your questions," Sernity offered as she placed the weapons in the suitcase and silently put a lock spell on it.
"Hn."
"I'll take that as a yes," Serenity said and lifted the spell.
"Please take a seat, Heero."
Heero did so, his eyes roamed the room looking for an escape.
"My name is Serenity Artemis Moon-Cosmos. I usually go by Artemis though," Serenity introduced herself.
"The assassin?" Heero inquired.
"The same. And for now I work for no one but myself and my own interests. You, Mr. Yuy, are an interest."
"Why?"
"Because you and the other pilots are the only ones that can help me put to end someone very annoying."
"Why should we help you?"
"Isn't your life boring now? Don't you wonder what it would be like to feel?"
"You didn't answer my question."
"I have bought you from the doctors for a hefty price, Heero. You now work for me and with me. I and my friends are working to stop the beginnings of another war, we need your help to make it possible."
"What do I get?"
"The rush you got every time you went into battle and maybe more. You are free to choose whether or not to help but if you decide not to I'll have to kill you."
"My life means nothing."
"To me it does. Now c'mon I have to go get a friend and I'm not letting you out of my sight," Serenity said and packed up everything that was left out and then stuffed everything into her space pocket except the weapons suitcase.
Serenity moved out the door with Heero trailing behind her. Serenity didn't talk and Heero didn't try so they walked in silence until they reached Crossroads Junior High. School would be letting out in an hour so Serenity sat down under her favorite tree and watched the cherry blossoms fall from the trees. It was the Sakura season and all the cherry trees were shedding their beautiful flowers.
"Where are we?" Heero asked as he leaned against the tree.
"Crossroads Junior High, in the Juuban district of Tokyo," Serenity explained.
"I live in Tokyo, now, and there is no Juuban district," Heero argued monotonously.
"Things change," Serenity said cryptically.
They spent the rest of the hour in silence. Heero pondered how he would kill this woman, it would be most likely easy. She probably wasn't Artemis, she showed too many emotions to be a killer. A shrill bell broke his concentration and he looked around to see an ocean of people trying to get out of the school grounds as quickly as they could. The last person to exit the school was a fourteen year old girl with long pink hair in cone shaped buns and pigtails that reached just below her knees. The girl looked less than thrilled to be exiting the school and stopped in front of Serenity.
"I guess you're here to take me to Pluto?" Rini asked.
"Sorry, Rini, but nothing that wonderful. You know you're just going back to your home and not some black hole," Serenity smirked.
"But I don't want to go back home yet! I like it here with Serena and my friends and grandparents and Uncle Sammy," Rini cried.
"I know but if you stay here you'll die. Rini it hurt me deeply when you left but I was happy knowing that Pluto wasn't going to let you fade away. And when the last battle came I was overjoyed that you didn't have to see what I did," Serenity whispered to Rini.
"So I guess I'm going whether I like it or not," Rini sighed.
"You're going, yes. But if I can talk Pluto into it you won't be going home just yet," Serenity said.
"Really?"
"Really. But I must warn you. Your father is having a memory lapse and remembers nothing of the Moon, his power, or even our meeting the other day," Serenity warned.
Rini glanced at Heero and nodded in understanding.
"Well, Small Lady, are you ready now?" a voice said from the shadows.
"Puu, I want Rini to go with me," Serenity cut in.
"Who are-? Oh, I'm sorry I didn't recognize you, my Lady," the voice said and stepped out of the shadows to reveal a woman in a revealing outfit and a really big key, the woman bowed once to Serenity, Rini, and Heero.
Heero reached for his gun but remembered that Artemis had it and settled for glaring at the woman.
"You don't have to do that, Pluto. I want Rini to come with me to my place. She would be a much bigger help there."
"I'm not sure her mother will like it."
"The Queen will understand, Pluto. She already knows whats going on, I'm sure," Serenity reassured her friend.
"Fine. I will come for her in two months. That should be enough time to do what you need to do," Pluto said reluctanty and melted away in the shadows.
"Thanks, Serenity!" Rini smiled and hugged her future mother.
"We have to go now. Your aunt was taken by Endymion last night and I have to find her ," Serenity said.
"Oh, God. Where are we going?" asked Rini as they walked down the street.
"Back to my place. Keep your eyes peeled for a rip in the sky," Serenity commanded.
"What are you talking about, Artemis?" Heero asked not sounding curious in the least.
Serenity didn't get a chance to answer because Heero collapsed on the ground unconcious.
"Not again. I knew this would happen," Serenity muttered and casted a spell to make Heero invisible to normal people.
"What do you mean?" asked Rini.
"Heero unknowingly is trying to get back all the memories he lost but the spell on him is too strong and just drains his energy. I'm not sure if he's going to keep doing this or if it'll wear off in time but it's really inconvenient," Serenity explained.
"What are we going to do with him?"
"A simple carrying spell should do it," Serenity said and muttered a few words.
Heero's body lifted itself off the ground about six inches and stopped. Serenity took a few steps forward and smiled in satisfaction as the body followed.
"There. Now come, we're almost to the rip," Serenity said.
Rini nodded and followed her future mother to the ripin the sky.
"Hold onto my hand. You'll get left behind if you don't," Serentiy advised.
Rini did as she was told and Serenity lept into the rip, followed quickly by Heero's body. Rini looked around her and realized she was at the time gates and standing by the gates was Pluto.
"Trista, we've had some problems. Selenity had a run in with Endymion and was taken. When we found her Endymion cast a memory lock on Heero. He doesn't remember anything of the Silver Millenium or the last two weeks," Serenity reported.
"We've also had some difficulties. We got a mission while you were gone and we sent out five pilots but they got in trouble and we had to send out the men. They were knocked unconciuos by an explosion. The gundams had to be abandoned in a forest and three of them are beyond repair. The men have shown signs of waking but have yet to do so," Trista reported back.
"Well this is nice," Serenity sighed sarcasticly.
"Serenity, is everything going to be alright?" Rini asked.
"I don't know. Let's go home," Serenity sighed again.
Trista nodded and opened a portal to the mansion.
"I'm going to stay here a bit longer," Trista told Serenity.
"Okay, but don't become a stranger, Trista. We need you," Serenity smiled sadly and walked through the potal.
Rini hugged Pluto and ran through the portal. She walked into a large room with multiple computers, weapons, and tools. All the scouts were there with men who were all unconcious except for one. She also noticed that they looked exactly like the scouts from the time she just came from except that there was wisdom in their eyes and with that wisdom came power.
"Everyone say hi to Rini," Serenity said as she began to empty the weapons suit case.
"Oh, hello, Rini," Ami said from her computer.
"Whats up, girlfriend?" Mina giggled from her place cleaning Duo's wounds.
"Hey, Rini," Rei and Lita said at the same time, they were also cleaning the injured men.
"Oh, Rini, it's nice to see you again!" Hotaru grinned from her computer and got up to hug her friend.
"Hi, guys. Where's Amara and Michelle?" Rini asked after Hotaru had let her go.
"They're going to retrieve the gundams," Jim said, who was typing away at his computer, "Oh by the way I'm Jim Hawking."
"Nice to meet you," Rini said politely.
"Ami, I want you finding every Shepherd base on and off the planet. Endymion has Selenity and she's injured," Serenity commanded.
"That bastard. I'm on it, Sere," Ami said as she pushed her wheeled chair away from the computer and over to the coffee machine, "Want one, Jim?"
"Please, my eyes are going to glaze over soon," Jim complained as he rubbed his eyes.
"Where's Eve?" asked Serenity.
"She went down to the hangar to fix the remaining gundams when Amara and Michelle get back," Lita answered.
"Good. Someone tell me what else went on after the guys were knocked out. Trista didn't go that far," Serenity said.
"We grabbed the guys and their Gundams and made back to the mansion. A ship tailed us all the way back. So we had to ditch the gundams," Hotaru replied.
"Great. Just great," Serenity muttered, "Any one have a place to stay? And I mean one thats not going to be crawling with fans or reporters. We need to move if that ship go too close to the mansion."
Ami, Lita, Mina, and Rei immediatly shut their mouths.
"Why don't we hop dimensions? You guys can stay with my friends in the Leyline universe," Jim suggested.
"We need people here to monitor the Shepards. Plus, will they have room?" Serenity asked.
"Thanks to Hotaru me and my friends are over six hundred years old. You build up a build bank account in that time," Jim smirked.
"But if I think Endymion did what I think he did the guys won't have any memory of the last two weeks, the Silver Millenium, or their powers. How are we going to get them there without questions?"
"This is a open minded world. We can say that Trista and Ami came up with a time machine and we're going into the future," Hotaru suggested.
"There's too many potholes in that plan," Rei sighed.
"Uhg, so what hit me? A semi or a monster truck?" Duo groaned and rubbed his head.
"Actually, you were caught in an explosion. You've been out for quite awhile," Ami corrected him.
"Who the hell are you?" asked Duo.
"My name is Ami, I'm a doctor. These are my friends Rei, Mina, Lita, Serenity, Hotaru, and my brother, Jim," Ami introduced everyone.
"I'm Duo, nice to meet you. Aren't all of you famous? You're Rei Hino, singer, and you're Mina Aino, actress."
"Well, yes I guess most of us did do well in the world," Mina laughed.
"But poor Sere had to go into the sniper business," Lita teased.
"I don't mind my work. As long as the target has a few traffic tickets, I'll take him out," Serenity winked.
"So you're an assassin?" Duo inquired.
"Somedays. Others, I'm a body guard, or a soldier, or an undercover operavtive. I like to keep my options open," Serenity said.
Just then Heero stood up. He had obviously been up for awhile.
"Thanks for finally getting off the couch," Serenity said as she plopped down on it.
"Hn."
Serenity rolled her eyes at Heero's turned back and kicked him in the ass. Heero whipped around and glared at Sernity.
"Now that I have your attention. I would like to announce this is a no 'hn-ing' zone. If you don't speak actual words I'll have your gun dunked in vegtable oil, rolled in flour, and shoved in the oven to explode," Serenity threatend.
"You wouldn't dare," Heero said.
"Actually, I would. Of course then I'd have to buy you a new gun but it would be worth it to see you crying over the charred remains," Serenity smiled wickedly.
Heero for some odd reason felt the urge to blow a rasberry. But being the perfect soldier kept him from doing it.
"Hn."
"Fine, it's into the veggie oil you go, Mr. Heero's Gun," Serenity laughed and grabbed the gun and ran down the stairs, with Heero walking calmly after her.
"Wow, I haven't seen Sere act like that forever," Rei said.
"She must be worried about something. That's why Gene is always so weird, he has too much on his mind," Hotaru explained.
"It's possible. She's reverting back to Serena because of everything that's happening," Ami agreed.
"Where am I?" Quatre asked as he slowly sat up.
"In our mansion. Thank the Gods you're alive," Ami said with relief in her voice.
"What happened?" Wufei's voice rang through the room.
"Wait until Trowa is awake and Heero and Serenity get back and then we'll explain everything," Lita sighed.
"I'm awake," Trowa said and sat up.
"Good. Now all we need is Heero and Sere," Mina said.
***In the Kitchen***
"If you really want it you have to come get it," Serenity giggled and jumped up on the counter.
"Hn."
" It would be a lot easier to understand you if you would 'hn' in morse code," Serenity teased.
"Hn. Hnnn. Hnn. Hn."
"Really I would but I'm not that kind of girl."
"Give me the gun," Heero demanded.
"Ooooo, he speaks!"
Heero growled and jumped onto the counter with Serenity and grabbed the gun and pointed at her. Serenity looked at the barrel of the gun and became serious.
"Shoot me," she said.
Heero pulled the trigger.
'Bang.'
The bullet missed.
Serenity sighed and hopped off the counter and walked out of the kitchen. Heero looked around the kitchen, wondering how he could have missed. He then noticed a small bullet hole in the wall where Serenity
had sat.
__________________________________________________________________________________
I'm not sure if thats a cliffie or not but thats where it's gonna end. So did anyone like it? Did anyone understand it? Well, it don't matter as long as you REVIEW!
P.S. I'm sorry everyone who's been waiting for more Legacy of the Blood but I'm having problems writing more than one story at a time so when this story is gone and done I'll get my butt in gear and finish that story.
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone, except Eve and Zylstra. Anyone who wants to argue will meet my nicely polished nine millimeter Glock. Yes, that is a threat.
Immortal Habit XI: Back to One
Last time on Immortal Habit...
Serenity slapped Heero on the head and walked around the corner of a building. There she saw Endymion zipping up his pants and Selenity's bruised body covered by bloody rags that used to be her clothes.
*********
Serenity was over flowing with rage. She wanted to rip out Endymion's intestines and use them to strangle him. Her rage then triggered something taht she hadn't called upon since the Silver Millennium, her godess form, Artemis. A sliver light engulfed her and faded to show her in a embriodered deer skin dress without sleeves, her silver hair in a braid, and a silver bow in right hand, she was now a true god, but it had nothing to do with her clothing or acessories it was the soft silver aurora that surrounded her. In a praticed motion Artemis brought an arrow to her bow and shot at Endymion, the arrow entered his right thigh.
"Arg!" Endymion cried in pain and collapsed on the hard cement.
Endymion had never seen Serenity's godess form, but he had heard about it from Zylstra. The ice flooding his veins told him the arrow had been poisoned. He ripped the arrow fromhis thigh and studied it, it was sliver with a pattern in lead on the head, that was something else he would have to worry about, lead poisoning but the fruity smell of fairie blood was what worried him most. Faeried blood was clear, untraceable and a deadly poison. But it bothered him not, Zylstra knew how to draw out the poison. Endymion turned his attention to his surrounding area and scanned the perimeter. It was odd, there seemed to be no one.
"How dare you take my sister! I will kill you for what you have done!" Artemis raged as she stepped out of the shadows.
Heero stepped up behind Endymion and removed the saftey on his gun and aimed at back of his head, he would shoot if he hurt his goddess.
"Don't worry, Serenity, she enjoyed it as much as I did," Endymion sneered and rised to his feet, still not noticing Heero.
The bow disappeared from Artemis' hand and was replaced by a sword. Artemis charged Endymion and slashed at his chest but Endymion jumped away, leaving Heero with milliseconds to move and not be killed.
"You really think she didn't try to fight too? With sword, bow, or staff you shall never beat me," Endymion laughed.
"But I can try. Where there's a will there's a way, right?" Artemis replied and lunged at Endymion again.
Endymion ducked the attack and came back up behind Artemis. He quickly chopped her neck and she crumpled to the ground, transforming back to Serenity. Heero pulled the trigger to his gun and was on target but the bullet stopped and dropped to the ground before it could do any damage.
"Come out, Acteaon, there's no point anymore," Endymion laughed.
Heero silently walked out of the shadows, becoming the 'Perfect Soldier' once again.
"I still can't figure out why she picked you over me," Endymion said.
"Hn," Heero replied in monotone but inside he was screaming, 'She picked me because I'm not a psychopath out to kill her!'
"Maybe it was because you gave her joy and all I did was excite her dark side. She used to be so innocent and loving, not a care in the world. She changed after she found Luna and Artemus nailed to her front door though. Became crueler, more driven, and a hell of a fighter, she spent hours training to kill me. And finally she did it by accident. I wonder if that spoiled her revenge or if it was still as sweet?" Endymion began to babble and go off topic and soon Artemis was waking to a really bad headache.
"You know Endy. Even after all these years you still hit like a girl," Serenity said as she stood.
"Oh good you're awake. I was just telling your boy toy here about how I tried to drive you insane," Endymion said lightly.
"And it worked," Serenity replied and she punched him in the face and kicked him in the groin.
Endymion went down and Serenity kicked him in the face, knocking him out. Serenity ran over to Selenity and checked for a pulse, it was faint but there. Serenity took off the coat and wrapped her sister in it, she then began to check her wounds to make sure nothing was fatal.
"She going to be alright?" Heero asked her from behind.
Serenity jumped a bit and glared at her lover.
"She has multiple bruises to her face, arms, and legs, has a shallow gash on her abdomen and a broken ankle. She also shows signs of multiple rape," Serenity sighed mournfully and rubbed her eyes with grimy hands.
"You didn't answer my question," Heero whispered.
"Physically, fine. Mentally is another story. I don't know if she'll be afraid of men or not because of Endymion's already bad image but if she was a normal woman she would probably want to rip out the throat of the first guy she sees and then become a nun or hide the rest of her life," Serenity whispered back.
"But she's not normal," Heero replied.
"I don't think that'll help."
Selenity began to groan and come around.
"Hey there, Hoshi," Serenity said softly.
"What happened? Why am I in an alley?" Selenity asked.
"It'll come back in a minute," Serenity said and began to help her sister to her feet.
Selenity leaned against the wall and inspected her clothing.
"I liked this outfit!" Selenity growled and grabbed her head as the memories came flooding back.
Selenity crumpled back down to the ground and cried. Serenity tried to comfort her but it was no good. Serenity turned around to see Endymion revivng. He was chanting in some strange language that even she didn't know. A light began to envelope Heero as Endymion's chanting got louder. As the chanting reached the loudest it could Heero collapsed and Selenity disappeared.
"No! Heero!" Serenity cried and dived for him never noticing her sister's missing form.
***A.C. 200***
"Where are those guys?" Hotaru muttered as she sliced through a M.S, "They're late!"
Hotaru was worried about her gundam she was running low on power and the mobile suits seemed to multiply intstead of diminish. For a moment she wished she could use her powers to kill these things but then she remembered that men piloted them and she had sworn not to use her powers as an unfair advantage in this war unless it was absolutely necessary. But it was starting to look necessary.
"I can see them! They're being attacked not far away," Duo exclaimed.
It was true. Their back-up had been attacked by overwhelming numbers of mobile suits, just like them, although they seemed to be fairing better. The only one out of ammo in their group was Trowa, big suprise.
"Great, thats all we need more suits," Mina growled and waited for the suit in front of her to destroy her.
"Need some help?" Quatre asked a the suit in front of Mina exploded.
"Thanks, Quatre," Mina sighed in relief.
The other guys had finished their batch of mobile suits and were now working on the ones attacking the first mission team. Fifteen minutes later only two suits were left, Duo went for them and immediatly cut one down, the other one was hard to get and in the end Wufei had to take from behind. The suit exploded with much more force than it should have and knocked the Gundam guys out.
"Damn it! How are we going to get them back?" Amara wondered.
"I'm in the best shape out of all of us, I'll take two," Hotaru offered.
"Okay, Hotaru take Trowa and Quatre, Amara take Wufei, Michelle take Duo. I'll cover you," Mina commanded.
The pilots did as they were told and they began their journey back to Earth.
***A.D. 2000***
"What did you do to him you monster!? Where is my sisiter?" Serenity demanded.
"A simple spell. It's nothing really. Goodbye," Endymion said and dissappeared.
Serenity swore and she checked Heero, thankfully he was just unconcious. Serenity swung Heero over her shoulder and stood up. The alley was empty except for Serenity's jacket. Serenity swayed as she thought of the implications. Endymion had taken her sister, the sweet lover of peace. Anyone else would have cried but Serenity only sighed her sorrow and picked up her coat, flinging it over Heero. She calmly walked to the mouth of thealley and turned.
"This has been taken as an attack against me and my family, Endymion. No one touches my family. I hope you can take the consequences of your actions. I accept you offer of battle and proclaim total war against you and your's," Serenity stated to the empty air, a cold fury no person had ever known of and survived had enveloped her.
She turned and walked away to her hotel. She opened the door with difficulty and shut it behind her with a foot. Serenity sat on the couch with Heero's head on her lap. She ran her fingers through his silky hair and hoped he would be alright.
"What did he do to, Heero? That spell was powerful enough to knock out a hundred men with extra power still floating around," Serenity wondered aloud.
***A Cell Somewhere ***
Selenity stood in the cold prison cell in nothing but her torn dress. The cold felt good, it could punished her for what had happened. She had been weak, she had let her emotions take control and make her swordsmanship sloppy. The threats Endymion made on her sisters life had filled her mind and all she could think about was killing him before he got her queen, her sister, her best friend. And now she was suffering for her mistake. Selenity picked up the plate of food that had been on the floor when she woke. She looked carefully at it and decided it was poisoned. Not that poison would kill her. Selenity stretched as a yawn overcame her. She felt the shallow gash on her abdomen reopen and bleed. She ignored it and continued to think. He had touched her in places she only wanted her husband to touch her, he had taken away something more precious than any jewel. He had taken her pride, her confidence, and her purity. There was nothing more that she wanted to do right now than either kill Endymion or kill herself. But she wouldn't because they needed her, for some reason they needed her and for the moment that was enough. I am Selenity Hoshi Solaris, princess of the burning Sol Kingdom and I am Princess Relena Dorlin-Peacecraft of the Sanq Kingdom, and no one can take that away. Finally, Selenity started to look for an escape route but found nothing but cold cement. She sighed in defeat and sat on the cold floor. Selenity felt herself drift into a state of sleep and welcomed it. She dreamed of Serenity holding Heero, still unconcious, in a hotel room.
"And me without my camera," Selenity awoke and muttered.
Then she felt the change begin, the bones cracking, the pain in her stomach, the rush of power. The dawn had come. It was all part of the package and soon she would once again be Hoshi the tiger. Five minutes later Hoshi curled up in a corner of the cell sleeping once again from exhaustion.
***A.C. 200***
"Guys there's someone following us," Mina told Hotaru, Michelle, and Amara as they made their way to the mansion in their Gundams.
Mina had noticed him about ten minutes ago and now that she was sure thats what the ship was doing
"Take him out," Hotaru said simply.
"I would if it wasn't a civilian ship," Mina snapped back.
"A disgiused ship?" Michelle asked.
"Most likely. It's probably tracking us."
"Should we try to lose them?" asked Hotaru.
"We're already to close to the mansion it wouldn't work and none of us have enough power to actually swerve enough to make a difference," Amara answered.
"Damn. We'll have to land and abandon the Gundams,"Mina said.
"Right," the other agreed and landed in a forest.
Each girl carried a pilot and committed the location of the gundams to memory. Then they began to walk. When they got the mansion the other girls were waiting for them. Amara and Michelle offered to retrieve the Gundams and left soon after their arrival.
"What happened?" asked Lita as she checked Trowa for injuries.
"A really big boom," sighed Mina as she reached for a First Aid kit.
"A really big boom? Did you hit your head, Mina?" Ami asked.
"No! Thats mean Ami!"
"Sorry."
"Are they going to be alright?" Rei asked.
"They're all fine. Just unconcious," Ami announced.
"Hey! I think they're waking up!" Jim exclaimed.
***A.D. 2000***
Serenity woke up to a groan. She looked around to find a clock and saw that it was almost 2 o'clock in the afternoon. There was another groan and Serenity noticed Heero was waking up.
"Heero? Heero can you hear me?" Serenity asked softly.
Heero's eyes snapped open. Serenity gasped to see the cold orbs staring at her without a flicker of recognition. With grace that came with being the perfect soldier Heero rolled off the couch and pointed his gun at Serenity.
"Who are you and who do you work for?" he asked in monotone.
"Oh Goddess, no," Serenity whispered.
"Omae o koruso," Heero threatend.
"No, you won't. You're just kidding aren't you, Heero?" Serenity asked hopefully.
"How do you know my name?"
"You told me," Serenity whispered, a tear trickled down her cheek.
Heero pulled the trigger and shot a hole in the wall, missing Serenity by an inch.
"You lie."
'Oh, no, he doesn't remember. Endymion must have done it. What am I going to do? I guess I'll make it up as I go along,' Serenity thought.
"You really don't remember, do you? Damn it, Endymion! I'll have your head for this!" Serenity screamed at the ceiling.
This threw Heero enough for Serenity to disarm him and dislocate one of his knees and cast a binding spell.
"How does it feel now, Heero Yuy?" she asked him coldly.
Heero just glared at her. Serenity picked up the gun and took out the clip. She then dug through Heero's pockets and removed the extra clips and gun.
"Now, I know how uncomfortable that is so if you promise not to try anything I will allow you to repair yourself. And then we can have a civilized conversation and I will answer all your questions," Sernity offered as she placed the weapons in the suitcase and silently put a lock spell on it.
"Hn."
"I'll take that as a yes," Serenity said and lifted the spell.
"Please take a seat, Heero."
Heero did so, his eyes roamed the room looking for an escape.
"My name is Serenity Artemis Moon-Cosmos. I usually go by Artemis though," Serenity introduced herself.
"The assassin?" Heero inquired.
"The same. And for now I work for no one but myself and my own interests. You, Mr. Yuy, are an interest."
"Why?"
"Because you and the other pilots are the only ones that can help me put to end someone very annoying."
"Why should we help you?"
"Isn't your life boring now? Don't you wonder what it would be like to feel?"
"You didn't answer my question."
"I have bought you from the doctors for a hefty price, Heero. You now work for me and with me. I and my friends are working to stop the beginnings of another war, we need your help to make it possible."
"What do I get?"
"The rush you got every time you went into battle and maybe more. You are free to choose whether or not to help but if you decide not to I'll have to kill you."
"My life means nothing."
"To me it does. Now c'mon I have to go get a friend and I'm not letting you out of my sight," Serenity said and packed up everything that was left out and then stuffed everything into her space pocket except the weapons suitcase.
Serenity moved out the door with Heero trailing behind her. Serenity didn't talk and Heero didn't try so they walked in silence until they reached Crossroads Junior High. School would be letting out in an hour so Serenity sat down under her favorite tree and watched the cherry blossoms fall from the trees. It was the Sakura season and all the cherry trees were shedding their beautiful flowers.
"Where are we?" Heero asked as he leaned against the tree.
"Crossroads Junior High, in the Juuban district of Tokyo," Serenity explained.
"I live in Tokyo, now, and there is no Juuban district," Heero argued monotonously.
"Things change," Serenity said cryptically.
They spent the rest of the hour in silence. Heero pondered how he would kill this woman, it would be most likely easy. She probably wasn't Artemis, she showed too many emotions to be a killer. A shrill bell broke his concentration and he looked around to see an ocean of people trying to get out of the school grounds as quickly as they could. The last person to exit the school was a fourteen year old girl with long pink hair in cone shaped buns and pigtails that reached just below her knees. The girl looked less than thrilled to be exiting the school and stopped in front of Serenity.
"I guess you're here to take me to Pluto?" Rini asked.
"Sorry, Rini, but nothing that wonderful. You know you're just going back to your home and not some black hole," Serenity smirked.
"But I don't want to go back home yet! I like it here with Serena and my friends and grandparents and Uncle Sammy," Rini cried.
"I know but if you stay here you'll die. Rini it hurt me deeply when you left but I was happy knowing that Pluto wasn't going to let you fade away. And when the last battle came I was overjoyed that you didn't have to see what I did," Serenity whispered to Rini.
"So I guess I'm going whether I like it or not," Rini sighed.
"You're going, yes. But if I can talk Pluto into it you won't be going home just yet," Serenity said.
"Really?"
"Really. But I must warn you. Your father is having a memory lapse and remembers nothing of the Moon, his power, or even our meeting the other day," Serenity warned.
Rini glanced at Heero and nodded in understanding.
"Well, Small Lady, are you ready now?" a voice said from the shadows.
"Puu, I want Rini to go with me," Serenity cut in.
"Who are-? Oh, I'm sorry I didn't recognize you, my Lady," the voice said and stepped out of the shadows to reveal a woman in a revealing outfit and a really big key, the woman bowed once to Serenity, Rini, and Heero.
Heero reached for his gun but remembered that Artemis had it and settled for glaring at the woman.
"You don't have to do that, Pluto. I want Rini to come with me to my place. She would be a much bigger help there."
"I'm not sure her mother will like it."
"The Queen will understand, Pluto. She already knows whats going on, I'm sure," Serenity reassured her friend.
"Fine. I will come for her in two months. That should be enough time to do what you need to do," Pluto said reluctanty and melted away in the shadows.
"Thanks, Serenity!" Rini smiled and hugged her future mother.
"We have to go now. Your aunt was taken by Endymion last night and I have to find her ," Serenity said.
"Oh, God. Where are we going?" asked Rini as they walked down the street.
"Back to my place. Keep your eyes peeled for a rip in the sky," Serenity commanded.
"What are you talking about, Artemis?" Heero asked not sounding curious in the least.
Serenity didn't get a chance to answer because Heero collapsed on the ground unconcious.
"Not again. I knew this would happen," Serenity muttered and casted a spell to make Heero invisible to normal people.
"What do you mean?" asked Rini.
"Heero unknowingly is trying to get back all the memories he lost but the spell on him is too strong and just drains his energy. I'm not sure if he's going to keep doing this or if it'll wear off in time but it's really inconvenient," Serenity explained.
"What are we going to do with him?"
"A simple carrying spell should do it," Serenity said and muttered a few words.
Heero's body lifted itself off the ground about six inches and stopped. Serenity took a few steps forward and smiled in satisfaction as the body followed.
"There. Now come, we're almost to the rip," Serenity said.
Rini nodded and followed her future mother to the ripin the sky.
"Hold onto my hand. You'll get left behind if you don't," Serentiy advised.
Rini did as she was told and Serenity lept into the rip, followed quickly by Heero's body. Rini looked around her and realized she was at the time gates and standing by the gates was Pluto.
"Trista, we've had some problems. Selenity had a run in with Endymion and was taken. When we found her Endymion cast a memory lock on Heero. He doesn't remember anything of the Silver Millenium or the last two weeks," Serenity reported.
"We've also had some difficulties. We got a mission while you were gone and we sent out five pilots but they got in trouble and we had to send out the men. They were knocked unconciuos by an explosion. The gundams had to be abandoned in a forest and three of them are beyond repair. The men have shown signs of waking but have yet to do so," Trista reported back.
"Well this is nice," Serenity sighed sarcasticly.
"Serenity, is everything going to be alright?" Rini asked.
"I don't know. Let's go home," Serenity sighed again.
Trista nodded and opened a portal to the mansion.
"I'm going to stay here a bit longer," Trista told Serenity.
"Okay, but don't become a stranger, Trista. We need you," Serenity smiled sadly and walked through the potal.
Rini hugged Pluto and ran through the portal. She walked into a large room with multiple computers, weapons, and tools. All the scouts were there with men who were all unconcious except for one. She also noticed that they looked exactly like the scouts from the time she just came from except that there was wisdom in their eyes and with that wisdom came power.
"Everyone say hi to Rini," Serenity said as she began to empty the weapons suit case.
"Oh, hello, Rini," Ami said from her computer.
"Whats up, girlfriend?" Mina giggled from her place cleaning Duo's wounds.
"Hey, Rini," Rei and Lita said at the same time, they were also cleaning the injured men.
"Oh, Rini, it's nice to see you again!" Hotaru grinned from her computer and got up to hug her friend.
"Hi, guys. Where's Amara and Michelle?" Rini asked after Hotaru had let her go.
"They're going to retrieve the gundams," Jim said, who was typing away at his computer, "Oh by the way I'm Jim Hawking."
"Nice to meet you," Rini said politely.
"Ami, I want you finding every Shepherd base on and off the planet. Endymion has Selenity and she's injured," Serenity commanded.
"That bastard. I'm on it, Sere," Ami said as she pushed her wheeled chair away from the computer and over to the coffee machine, "Want one, Jim?"
"Please, my eyes are going to glaze over soon," Jim complained as he rubbed his eyes.
"Where's Eve?" asked Serenity.
"She went down to the hangar to fix the remaining gundams when Amara and Michelle get back," Lita answered.
"Good. Someone tell me what else went on after the guys were knocked out. Trista didn't go that far," Serenity said.
"We grabbed the guys and their Gundams and made back to the mansion. A ship tailed us all the way back. So we had to ditch the gundams," Hotaru replied.
"Great. Just great," Serenity muttered, "Any one have a place to stay? And I mean one thats not going to be crawling with fans or reporters. We need to move if that ship go too close to the mansion."
Ami, Lita, Mina, and Rei immediatly shut their mouths.
"Why don't we hop dimensions? You guys can stay with my friends in the Leyline universe," Jim suggested.
"We need people here to monitor the Shepards. Plus, will they have room?" Serenity asked.
"Thanks to Hotaru me and my friends are over six hundred years old. You build up a build bank account in that time," Jim smirked.
"But if I think Endymion did what I think he did the guys won't have any memory of the last two weeks, the Silver Millenium, or their powers. How are we going to get them there without questions?"
"This is a open minded world. We can say that Trista and Ami came up with a time machine and we're going into the future," Hotaru suggested.
"There's too many potholes in that plan," Rei sighed.
"Uhg, so what hit me? A semi or a monster truck?" Duo groaned and rubbed his head.
"Actually, you were caught in an explosion. You've been out for quite awhile," Ami corrected him.
"Who the hell are you?" asked Duo.
"My name is Ami, I'm a doctor. These are my friends Rei, Mina, Lita, Serenity, Hotaru, and my brother, Jim," Ami introduced everyone.
"I'm Duo, nice to meet you. Aren't all of you famous? You're Rei Hino, singer, and you're Mina Aino, actress."
"Well, yes I guess most of us did do well in the world," Mina laughed.
"But poor Sere had to go into the sniper business," Lita teased.
"I don't mind my work. As long as the target has a few traffic tickets, I'll take him out," Serenity winked.
"So you're an assassin?" Duo inquired.
"Somedays. Others, I'm a body guard, or a soldier, or an undercover operavtive. I like to keep my options open," Serenity said.
Just then Heero stood up. He had obviously been up for awhile.
"Thanks for finally getting off the couch," Serenity said as she plopped down on it.
"Hn."
Serenity rolled her eyes at Heero's turned back and kicked him in the ass. Heero whipped around and glared at Sernity.
"Now that I have your attention. I would like to announce this is a no 'hn-ing' zone. If you don't speak actual words I'll have your gun dunked in vegtable oil, rolled in flour, and shoved in the oven to explode," Serenity threatend.
"You wouldn't dare," Heero said.
"Actually, I would. Of course then I'd have to buy you a new gun but it would be worth it to see you crying over the charred remains," Serenity smiled wickedly.
Heero for some odd reason felt the urge to blow a rasberry. But being the perfect soldier kept him from doing it.
"Hn."
"Fine, it's into the veggie oil you go, Mr. Heero's Gun," Serenity laughed and grabbed the gun and ran down the stairs, with Heero walking calmly after her.
"Wow, I haven't seen Sere act like that forever," Rei said.
"She must be worried about something. That's why Gene is always so weird, he has too much on his mind," Hotaru explained.
"It's possible. She's reverting back to Serena because of everything that's happening," Ami agreed.
"Where am I?" Quatre asked as he slowly sat up.
"In our mansion. Thank the Gods you're alive," Ami said with relief in her voice.
"What happened?" Wufei's voice rang through the room.
"Wait until Trowa is awake and Heero and Serenity get back and then we'll explain everything," Lita sighed.
"I'm awake," Trowa said and sat up.
"Good. Now all we need is Heero and Sere," Mina said.
***In the Kitchen***
"If you really want it you have to come get it," Serenity giggled and jumped up on the counter.
"Hn."
" It would be a lot easier to understand you if you would 'hn' in morse code," Serenity teased.
"Hn. Hnnn. Hnn. Hn."
"Really I would but I'm not that kind of girl."
"Give me the gun," Heero demanded.
"Ooooo, he speaks!"
Heero growled and jumped onto the counter with Serenity and grabbed the gun and pointed at her. Serenity looked at the barrel of the gun and became serious.
"Shoot me," she said.
Heero pulled the trigger.
'Bang.'
The bullet missed.
Serenity sighed and hopped off the counter and walked out of the kitchen. Heero looked around the kitchen, wondering how he could have missed. He then noticed a small bullet hole in the wall where Serenity
had sat.
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I'm not sure if thats a cliffie or not but thats where it's gonna end. So did anyone like it? Did anyone understand it? Well, it don't matter as long as you REVIEW!
P.S. I'm sorry everyone who's been waiting for more Legacy of the Blood but I'm having problems writing more than one story at a time so when this story is gone and done I'll get my butt in gear and finish that story.