AN: Crawls out of her kitty den. Pokes the rock covering her door. *crash* Purr looks around the pile of crushed rubbles. People are so violent these days! Fine, fine, here's the next chapter. Goes back to repair her door as fans reads. Muhahahaha! This time, try to destroy a gundanium door. *crawls back into her den*. This chapter is dedicated to Aidenn-chan, thanks x 10000000 times for writing the Tama/Usagi fic for me ^_^.
Thanks to: Celes, Mika-chan (Blows a raspberry in her gundanium kitty den. Thanks for the review, try not to kill me this time), themoonmaiden, Jordan, JLSCORPIO78 (thanks for reviewing every chapter ^_^ ), Bettina_okki (you'll see if she dies or not in this chapter), aya_mikage2002, Celestial Sailor Pluto, Bluejello, Chaska (do you knee some Kleenex?), Shawna (You're very violent you know, ^_^. *Hides her head behind her paws*), Luna Princess (Let's just say that I'm glad that there was a rock between us ^_^), Mikage, Alex, and SailorVenus-Star.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything.
Chapter 9
"Usa-chan," the whisper drifted out of Nakago's lips. "Usa-chan!!!" He screamed before pushing Soi blindly away and ran towards the body of the silver haired girl.
"Usagi-chan?" Amiboshi looked at the girl's unmoving body in the blond shogun's arms.
"Nakago-sama," the still standing Tomo muttered one last time, before his eyes closed, and his body fell forward.
Nakago quickly pulled Usagi out of the way of the dead seishi. A black rose stood proudly, the spiky stem buried deeply in Tomo's back. No one said anything as the blood slowly dyed the sand to a dark wine colour.
Shivers began to ran its fingers down the goddess. "No. Not again. He's going to kill everyone. I have to stop him. I can't let what happened repeat itself!" Usagi said quietly to herself, before pulling out of Nakago's arms, but the shogun would not let her go. Turning the bunny to face him, fear was evident in those amethyst eyes as they looked up at him in fear.
"Who is it?"
Before she could answer, everyone felt a dark ki looming above them. There, veiling the light of the moon, a man in dark armour smirked down at the Seiryuu seishi, Yui, and Usagi. "Maybe I can answer your question." The man said as he floated down to the ground, right in front of Usagi, who was still being supported by Nakago's arms. "Or maybe you would rather do the honours princess."
"Princess?" Yui, Soi, Amiboshi, and Suboshi stared at Usagi in confusion.
"What are you doing here Chaos?" Usagi growled, as the Cosmos symbol began to flicker on her forehead.
"Don't worry princess. My business is not with you today. But I should thank you for leading me here. If it weren't for the moon beam you created, I wouldn't have been able to find the Seiryuu no miko so easily," The dark prince grinned at the seishi's tense forms. For the first time, he took a good look at the blond haired man behind Usagi.
"You must be Nakago. I still have a score to settle with you, for stealing my fiancée." Hatred oozed from every word, as the blond man smirked back and tightened his arms around the bunny.
"It's not my fault that she prefers me."
"And you are saying that you deserve her?" Endymion mocked. "She came to this world to be with you, and you pay her back by kissing another woman in front of her. Oh please!" The dark haired man watched in satisfaction as the goddess stiffened at his words. She quickly walked over to Amiboshi, head lowered so she wouldn't see the despairing look in Nakago's eyes.
"Back to business," Endymion said as his eyes landed on Yui. A gleam of gold caught the moon's pale beams, around the short haired girl's throat. A trembling hand griped the Genbu shinzaho tightly as the prince moved closer. "You must be the Seiryuu no miko," he said, false sweetness gushed out with the words.
"What do you want with Yui-sama?" A defensive Suboshi demanded, blocking Endymion's path. His ryuseisui hovering beside him, ready to strike out at the tiniest sign.
"Not much. I just want to borrow a little something from her," the dark prince answered. Before anyone could stop him, Endymion disappeared, only to teleport beside Yui. "Thank you for this lovely gift." The man smiled darkly as he grabbed the shinzaho around the miko's neck. With a rough jerk, Endymion ripped the golden necklace away, leaving the miko screaming as blood dripped from the thin cuts made from the force.
Everyone was too stunned to do anything, before Yui's screams broke through their trance. Swearing loudly, Nakago quickly created a ball of ki in his hands and threw it at Endymion. All the seishi froze in wonder as the crackling energy easily deflected by a blast Endymion fired in defence.
"How.. How is that possible? No one, not even Tamahome could deflect Nakago-sama's attacks," Soi whispered in awe.
Endymion chuckled to Nakago's startled face before turning to the emotionless Usagi. "You see princess, how powerful I've become? After I find the other shinzaho, this world will be under my rule. Join me. Only I am worth to be your mate Cosmos. Together, we will rule the universe for all of eternity!" Eyes glowed with dark power, the dark prince stretched out his hand in invitation towards the unmoving girl, while the other hand held on to the shinzaho, still covered in some of Yui's blood.
"Cosmos?" Nakago turned to stare at Usagi in astonishment.
"You don't know yet Nakago? After you broke her hear, she started to change. Now, there is no more Usagi Tsukino or Princess Serenity. Only Cosmos, the goddess of the stars. It'll only be a matter of time before she loses her human emotions and truly leave this pitiful little world of yours, to claim her throne," Endymion explained, smirking into those furious amethyst eyes. "Am I correct Cosmos?"
"You're are right Endymion, or should I say Chaos? But too bad you left out one minor detail. When I leave this world, I'll make sure that you'll be wiped from the universe forever!"
The dark prince chuckled in amusement. "Then I'll have to make sure to take you with me then!" Endymion answered with a blast of dark energy, heading straight for Usagi.
The Cosmos symbol burst forth, creating a blazing shield of white light around the proud goddess standing calmly waiting for the impact of the two polar powers.
"But first, I'm going to send your beloved little boyfriend to hell!"
It was too late as Cosmos realized that the blast wasn't heading towards her anymore. Instead, it made a sharp turn, heading straight towards the unsuspecting blond shogun.
"NO!" the silver haired goddess screamed in terror. All thoughts of betrayal disappeared, only to be replaced by the intense pain at the thought of losing the only one she loves. Moving with a speed that couldn't be seen by the naked eyes, the goddess disappeared, only to reappear in front of Nakago, protecting him from Endymion's blast. There wasn't enough time to erect a proper shield. With a soundless scream of pain, the attack threw Cosmos and Nakago against the cliff behind them.
"Usa-chan?" the shogun asked hoarsely, feeling the pain of the hard impact of the jagged rock on his back.
Only sharp gasps answered him. Nakago slowly lifted his hands to his face. The warm sticky liquid languidly dripped off one slim finger, to stain the long silver hair against his chest. Looking down, numerous tiny cuts covered the front of Cosmos's body, her snowy fuku were ripped at many places, and stained with her own blood.
"Daijoubu?" She asked weakly, barely had the energy to tilt her head to look at him.
The blond man nodded wordlessly, voice caught in his throat, as the first tears began to stung his eyes. Even now, when he pushed her away so harshly, how could she still care for him? She was on the verge of unconsciousness, yet the first thing she cared about was if he was okay.
Laughter in front of the couple made Nakago tighten his arms around the bleeding girl, who had fainted from blood loss. "I can't believe that Cosmos would fall for a weakling like you!" Chaos mocked, black energy sizzling around his body. "You can't even protect yourself, let alone the woman you love. You don't deserve her."
I don't deserve her. I don't deserve her… Chaos's last words echoed in Nakago's numb mind. I can't even protect Usa-chan… All of a sudden, his hands dropped from Cosmos's body. The unconscious goddess slowly fell to the ground at the shogun's feet, as the blond man brought his trembling hands to his face. A fog of self hatred clouded his mind as he was again brought back to his childhood, when he failed to protect another. The scenes replayed in Nakago's mind, it was so similar to what happened that day, when his okaa-san had also gotten hurt because of him. A strangled cry fell from his lips as the proud shogun collapsed to his knees next to Usagi, who was too weak to stay in her transformed state. So close to her, but he didn't touch her, he couldn't face her now. After all, he couldn't even protect her, the only one he ever loved, he wasn't' worthy to be by her side. He would just cause her more pain and suffering.
Mocking laugher flowed over the two fallen lovers, as black energy swirled in Endymion's out stretched hand, ready to deliver the final blow to his rival for love.
"LEKKA SHINEN!!!"
The gathered energy disappeared as Endymion howled in pain and sore loudly as a burst of flame melted the metal covering his raised arms.
"Yui-chan!" the unmistakable shriek of the Suzaku no miko was heard as the auburn haired girl rushed up to her short haired best friend, who was covered in in some of her own blood.
"Suzaku seishi," The dark prince snarled at the new comers.
The Suzaku seven and Miaka looked at the black haired man in confusion.
"Who the hell are you?" The fiery haired bandit asked Endymion, fangs showing, and iron fan ready to attack again.
Realizing that he was at a disadvantage in numbers, dark prince levitated into the air, and turned back to look down at the blond pair, still on the ground. "This isn't over yet Nakago! The Byakko shinzaho and Cosmos will be MINE!!" Were his last words as Endymion disappeared in the night sky.
"Okay! Can someone please tell me what in the Hell is going on here? Who was that asshole and why is he also after the shinzaho????" It was no surprise that the big mouthed, carrot top was the first one to break the silence.
"Why are YOU here Suzaku seishi?" Suboshi snapped out of his stupor as he barked out at the new group of people. His violet eyes never leaving Tamahome.
"Why am I seeing doubles?" the bandit suddenly asked as Amiboshi walked up to his twin.
"We were in Sairou no da, when suddenly the city disappeared, leaving us in the middle of the desert no da. It was an illusion spell no da. Then we heard people shouting in this direction, and we came here no da," Chichiri explained, trying to lift the thick cloak of tension.
"Of course! They were trapped in Tomo's spell. After Tomo died, his spell was automatically broken!" Amiboshi cried out in realization.
"Hey Tamahome?" a SD Tasuki poked the blue haired youth next to him. "Is that Nakago?"
The other man turned to where the chibi bandit was pointing to, only to stare in surprise at the man kneeling by the familiar prone form of a young woman. The blond man no longer looked like the cold and powerful shogun, but instead, he had an air of infinite sadness and pain, as he gazed unseeingly at the young woman's face.
"Hey Tasuki," a SD Tamahome whispered back. The two seishi resembled a pair of chibi boys discussing their latest discovery. "Isn't that Usagi-chan?"
"Where is Usagi-chan?" a head squeezed in between the two chibis. The two popped back to their original size and screamed at the sudden intrusion.
"Nuriko! Don't scare us with your big ugly head like that!" the red headed youth screamed out, waving his fan. Too bad that he didn't realize his mistake of calling Nuriko ugly.
"Uh Tasuki?"
The bandit stopped his rambling to stare at where Tamahome was pointing. Standing with head bend and eyes covered, Nuriko was unusually calm, the only thing betraying how pissed off he was, was the bold vein ticking on his forehead.
Ever so slowly, the vain seishi looked up, staring into Tasuki's suddenly nervous face. "What did you call me Tasuki?" the purple haired man asked sweetly.
Tasuki swallowed in fear at the red aura surrounding the other man. How come he never noticed how scary Nuriko could be when he was angry?
"I…" before the next syllable could come out, a fist punched the big mouthed bandit into the sky. The last thing that could be seen of Tasuki was his body growing smaller and smaller as he flew towards the moon.
"Usagi-chan?" Nuriko turned after seeing Tasuki taking a flying lesson with satisfaction. "Usagi-chan." Nuriko gasped as he saw the unmoving figure of the girl lying on the ground, covered in blood.
"Why you?! I won't forgive you for this Nakago!!!" the Suzaku seishi screamed out at the quiet man beside Usagi. The bracelet around Nuriko's wrists glowed, and lengthened into gauntlets, as the seishi charged towards the still shogun.
"Nuriko!"
All the heads turned to the new voice.
"Taitsukun? What are you doing here?" Miaka asked as everyone stared at the old lady floating in the air.
"That's…Taitsukun?" Yui asked, astonishment clear in her face. "But… she's so old and ugly!"
The guardian's eye began to twitch as she turned around to face the girl. "Do you want to stay here forever Seiryuu no miko?"
Yui paled and shook her head.
"Then listen to what I have to say!" Taitsukun cried out. "I felt a disturbance in the balance of the good and evil. After I did some investigation, I found that there was a there are two beings who are here against the wells of destiny. One was the creature you saw before Chaos, the other is the girl you all know as Usagi.
"Now, Chaos is also after the shinzahos. I suspect that after the pervious battle with Cosmos, he need the power from the shinzahos to heal himself before the final battle between light and dark."
Taitsukun looked at Miaka and Yui, "the key to summoning Suzaku and Seiryuu is the girl Usagi. So you better take good care of her if you ever want to see your world again. But first, you'll have to prevent Chaos from getting the shinzahos, it is essential that you two groups settle your differences and work together. If you let your little quarrels get in the way of defeating Chaos, all may be lost, and this world along with others will be destroyed."
"But Taitsukun! Chaos already has one of the shinzahos," Yui said.
"I see. Then you'll have to get it back from him. But in the mean time, you guys have to find the Byakko shinzaho before Chaos finds it first."
"But where are we suppose to find the Byakko shinzaho?" Chiriko asked.
"Do not worry. I have already contacted one of the Byakko seishi. He will arrive shortly, and take you to the one who guards the shinzaho," the old lady replied before she turned to Nakago, who was still kneeling by the unmoving form of Usagi. Everyone moved away as Taitsukun flowed towards the couple.
A sharp slap was heard, and Suzaku and Seiyuu seishi alike all gasped as one of Taitsukun's ribbons left two red marks on the blond seishi's face. For the first time, a familiar angry light shinned in those icy eyes, before it disappeared again.
"Nakago, snap out of it. I'm surprised to see that someone with your intelligence could fall so easily for Endymion's tricks," Taitsukun said under her breath, making sure that no one could hear their conversation.
"What do you know? He was right… I don't deserve her," Nakago murmured in response.
"Let's just say that I know enough about your past and hers. And as for what Endymion said, can't you see that you are doing exactly what he wants you to do? You are giving up even before the fight. You are believing what he wants you to believe, and that is you don't deserve her."
The shogun did not answer, but some of the lost expression disappeared from his eyes.
"If you give up now without a fight, then you don't deserve her," the old guardian said one last time before she left, leaving Nakago to reflect on what he just heard.
Sighing, the shogun shook his head, to clear away all the confusion from his mind. The others watched in fascination as the cold general they knew returned. Carefully brushing the loose strands of silver from the peaceful face, Nakago tenderly slipped his arms behind Usagi's back and lifted her into his arms. His body relaxed at the feel of her soft body molded into his, it seemed to be a whole eternity since he last held her close like this. He made his way towards his fellow seishi. Traces of doubt still existed, but like Taitsukun said, right now wasn't the time for self pity.
"What a kawaii girl!" A voice said out of nowhere, as a head with white hair appeared beside Nakago, leering at the silver haired girl in the shogun's arms.
"YOU DIRTY OLD PERVERT!!!" A kick threw the old man into a pile of sand as Tamahome attacked the old man, since he was the closest to Nakago. Not that he cared for the other seishi, but Usagi did save Miaka's life and helped them. She didn't deserve to be ogled at by a strange hentai old man.
"HOW DARE YOU CALL YOUR SENSEI A DIRTY OLD PERVERT?!?!?!" the old man cried as he threw an uppercut at the ogre symbol Suzaku seishi.
"SENSEI?" Everyone asked in amazement.
AN: Now, the fun begins. *grins* Bye minna until the next chapter.