Lunar Succession
Author: ~Heartless Spirit~
Disclaimer: I don't own SM or GW. I DO own Dederi, so no stealin'! AND IBAREN TOO!!! NOVA BELONGS TO JESS-CHAN!!!
(Youhko's my own character too, if you haven't realized that by now...)
AN: Oi, minna! [Translation: Hey, Everyone!] I hope you liked Ch.9-Valkyrie!
Unfortunately, the beginning of this chapter is..fluffy [I'm sorry!]. Don't worry, tho! [ducks flying tomatoes] there's
action in the rest of the chapter!!! stop throwing vegetables at me!
I think this is the longest chapter I've ever worked on. It's not the end yet, tho.
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Lunar Succession
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Chapter 10-A Forgotten Acquaintance
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Trowa turned a corner and found himself in the corridor that was connected to everyone's bedrooms. He turned the
brass doorknob, opening the oak door which led to Dederi's room. His brown hair shifted slightly, glancing at the
little girl that lay on Dederi's bed. Chibiusa looked very peaceful, so serene. He walked over and slowly put the
warm red blanket over Chibiusa's shoulders, so she wouldn't get cold. He then looked back up and towards the small
balcony, the white lattice doors open. The white silk, which served as the curtains, wafted around smoothly, coinciding
with the early morning breeze. Trowa looked at the girl who leaned on the stone balcony railing. She had her back turned
and her raven hair stirred. She had also changed clothes, no longer wearing her black training outfit, but wearing a white
robe, probably derived from her bathroom [AN: All bedrooms had bathrooms].
"What's wrong?" Dederi asked, not turning around.
Trowa walked over and leaned against the balcony railing. "Did you mean what you said?" The Latin pilot saw the female
assassin close her eyes, still not turning around. She seemed to be contemplating something, although Trowa was not
exactly sure what about. Dederi opened her eyes again and looked down at the steps of the mansion [AN: her balcony was
above the front door].
"I..don't know."
Trowa looked down, saddened. [Was doing this a mistake?] Dederi continued to speak her mind; something she rarely did,
even with her friends.
"I always wondered what caring deeply about someone would be like..And now that I know, it's as if my perspective of
my life has altered itself. It scares me. I'm used to unexpected things, but not anything like this." She then laughed
falsely, as if hiding a certain sadness or human feeling. "Can you believe it? Me..the heartless assassin.." Her eyes
were shadowed, a trickle of water slowly moving to her chin. She let a sob escape herself as she talked histerically.
"The one who the senshi call impurity..the one who wouldn't give a damn about anyone! Crying..exposing herself..showing
human emotion!" She slammed her fist down onto the stone railing.
Trowa's eyes gradually softened as he walked over and embraced her from behind.
Dederi leaned onto him, unusually feeling comforted. They stayed in silence for a moment, then resumed their conversation.
"I never knew you could be scared." Trowa said cautiously, closing his eyes. "I'll always be there for you.."
Dederi didn't retort, but buried her head into his chest, letting her tears flow freely and the choked sobs turn into full
sobs, pouring her heart out. Trowa hugged her. He felt as if he never wanted anything to happen to Dederi every again. To
never let her cry again. Trowa took his hand and softly combed his hand through her dark thin hair, feeling it limply
wafting through the spaces inbetween his fingers. He understood her a little more now. [She's afraid of human
emotions.] He thought, simply. Trowa softly touched her cheek with his finger, feeling her pale, yet soft, skin
on his fingertips. Trowa now also realized that this was the first time he actually really cared for someone before. Not
like Catherine, or the other pilots. More than friendship or family. To him, he felt as if he was, the first time, truly
alive. Trowa bent down and kissed Dederi on her forehead and chuckled as he saw her cheeks turn red. "So."
"What?" She asked softly, leaning against his muscular chest once more. The tears seemed to stop flowing as they held
each other through their comforting embrace.
Trowa tightened his hold on her and smiled. "When do you think the others will find out?"
Dederi shrugged. "Whenever they do."
Trowa laughed. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"I don't know." Dederi looked out at the scenery behind her. [As long as I'm with you.]
Duo and Wufei had FINALLY finished their chase and were now seated, once again, in the kitchen, drinking coffee. Wufei
was comfortably reading a Chinese action-adventure novel as Duo just drank and sat placidly across from him. Makoto,
Rei, and Ami were cooking waffles, eggs, and bacon. They refused to let Minako cook [AN: She's a bad cook! der!] so she
was in the living room, talking and flirting with Quatre. Heero was in his room, typing on his computer, Ibaren was in
the courtyard meditating, and Nova had just entered the kitchen.
Duo turned to the brown-haired-blonde-highlighted teenager, who had just entered. "Hey, babe. How's it goin'?"
Nova loudly shut the doors, the wood banging against each other. "First of all," she replied casually, "Don't call me babe.
Second, I'm just fine." The American pilot stood up and leaned on Nova's shoulder with his left elbow.
"Jeez, someone's in a bad mood. Anythin' I can do to cheer you up?" He said mischieviously.
Nova caught that glint in his eye and shrugged him off. "Baka hentai."
Duo scratched his head. "What does that mean?"
The assassin grinned and opened the refridgerator, pulling out a small box of ice cream. Then, she walked over to the drawers
next to the stove and opened a drawer, pulling out a small metal spoon. She pushed the drawer closed and began to eat the
contents of the ice cream container. Ami read the box label. "Ben&Jerry's Vanilla Caramel Swirl. Nova-kun, you shouldn't be
eating ice cream this early in the morning."
Nova took out the spoon from her mouth, swallowing the ice cream that had just melted in her mouth. "Mmh?"
"You shouldn't be eating ice cream this early in the morning, Nova-kun, it's not healthy.." Ami repeated.
Nova rolled her dark violet eyes, significantly annoyed. "Omae o korosu, Mercury. Leave your preaching to someone who goddamn
cares." She ate more ice cream and left the kitchen. Duo followed. He was going to find out why she was so aggravated.
[Another attack will come soon. But when? How the hell'll we know..all the innocent lives..I've seen enough deaths.]
Nova thought, taking another solemn bite of her ice cream.
"Yo, Nova-chan, what's wrong? You're acting pissed." Duo asked worriedly, walking up to her.
The highlighted half-youkai sighed aggravatedly and turned around to face him. She walked toward him and put her face
forward. Nova's face was just about two inches from Duo's face, causing Duo to jerk slightly. "None.of.your.damn.business."
Duo casually moved his face forward and put his lips quickly onto hers. Nova was, from the looks of it, in shock. After
a few seconds, Duo pulled back. He put his usual playful grin back onto his face and said: "You sure you don't want to tell
me?"
Nova stared at the braided pilot. "N..nani?"
Duo scratched his head again. "I'm guessing that means what."
Nova blinked slowly, letting her brain process everything that just happened. "Why'd you do that?" She said quietly, and from
the tone of it, in shock.
Duo shrugged, still smiling, and put his hands into his pockets. "Cuz I like you, of course." With that, he disappeared back
into the kitchen. Minako and Quatre, who had been in the living room the whole time, just stared.
Quatre turned around as he heard footsteps. It was Heero, with his usual scowl on his face. As if on que, Duo and Wufei
came out from the kitchen. Heero merely nodded and said, "Let's go."
"Wait. Where's Trowa?" Quatre asked, getting up from his seat.
Duo began to walk towards the stairs. "I'll get him. He's probably in his room typing or somethin'." As soon as he walked
into the corridor that connected to all of the bedrooms, everyone heard Duo open a door, then close one. They saw the
braided pilot walked back out and stood with a confused expression on the top of the varnished stairs. "He's not there."
Wufei then jerked nervously, as did Nova. Duo noticed Nova's nervous disposition. "What's wrong now?"
The Chinese martial artist put his hands into his pockets and walked up the stairs. "I'll get him kisama." Duo stared
suprisedly at Wufei.
"How do you know where the unibang is?" He asked.
Wufei ignored his question and tartly pushed Duo, causing Duo to stagger down the stairs. As soon as he heard Duo's
cry of pain from the bottom of the stairs, he knocked on Dederi's oak door with his knuckles. Dederi opened the door.
"What is it?"
"You know, Dederi, if Trowa's always in your room doing kami-sama knows what, they'll find out." He sneered.
Trowa walked up to the door, wrapping his arms around Dederi's shoulders while leaning on her. "..."
"Why'd you knock?" Dederi pursued.
Wufei pointed his finger in the direction of the stairs. "Time to go."
Trowa nodded and kissed Dederi on the lips, who kissed back in response. He then walked with Wufei towards the stairs.
(Time-Place Change: Two hours later-one mile from Valkyrie Base)
Heero configured his controls to Wing Zero's buster rifle as he and the other gundams flew towards the Rommefeller Base.
The Valkyrie Base wasn't your usual enemy base; it was specifically designed for attack and mobil suit combat. This
particular base did manufacture tauruses and virgos and such, but the manufacturing building was half a mile from the
control towers and there were hundreds of mobil suits near the front lines. The gundam pilots' mission was to basically
destroy all mobil suits in the Valkyrie Base and completely annihilate the control towers and everything within the facility.
Rather simple, wasn't it?
"Approaching coordinates." Quatre said, looking at the electronic map on his vidscreen.
The others nodded and began their attack. Heero sent a large energy beam from his buster rifle to the first line of mobil
suits, which consisted mostly of minor, less powerful mobil suits, such as tauruses and leos. The mobil suits that were
caught in the line of Heero's buster rifle exploded violently, the smell of metal and various chemicals intoxicating the
surrounding vicinity. Duo used Deathscythe Hell's scythe and slashed at the remaining tauruses in the front line as Trowa
send millions of bullets and missles at the control lower. Wufei began to send a wave of crimson fire at the base and
Quatre used the blades on Sandrock's back to annihilate the leos that were coming up from behind. Duo dodged a pair of
missles from a nearby leo and cut it in half with the scythe, causing the suit to explode.
"This is too easy." Wufei murmured. He sent a barrage of fire at another two mobil suits.
"Wait..why isn't the base damaged?" Quatre stared. Trowa had sent millions and millions of bullets at the buildings and
control tower of the base, but whenever the barrage of bullets were within feet of the large buildings, they were met with
a sort of shield; a dark red one, in fact.
Trowa suddenly sensed something. He wasn't sure what, but it seemed something like a very evil force. [Something's here..]
The Latin pilot hastily sent a communication vidscreen to Wufei. "Wufei, do you feel that?"
Through the screen, Trowa saw Wufei nod. "Something's here." Wufei acknowledged, looking around. "I sense it's closer to
the base."
"Hey, what're you guys talkin' about? I don't feel-" Duo's voice was cut short when everyone heard a strong, feminine
laugh.
"My, my. Now isn't this fun." Everyone turned towards the Valkyrie Base's control tower. On the roof of the tower was
a woman dressed in the compulsory Rommefeller soldier outfit, white pants, black combat boots, and a dark crimson turtleneck
with gold lining. She had semi-flat black hair, that went down to her shoulders and seemed to end in spikes at the ends.
She also had well-tanned skin and a menacing look on her face. "You must be the gundam pilots."
Heero remained calm, although was curious as to find out who this girl was. "Omae o korosu. Who are you?" He glared
ferociously.
The woman ceased her menacing laugh and looked seriously at the mobil suits that allowed the pilots to fight at the moment.
"Colonel Arashi." Then she clenched her right fist and it began to glow a dark violet, with a tint of crimson red.
"Surrender the Dark Incarnate."
"Dark Incarnate?" Quatre was bewildered. "Who is the Dark Incarnate?"
Arashi began to look aggravated. "Don't play dumb with me, human. Give me the Dark Incarnate."
"Yo, lady, we don't know any Dark Incarnate." Duo's voice entered the "conversation".
Arashi narrowed her eyes and fired a devastating blast at Trowa's Heavyarms, which fell back, onto the shaken ground. Trowa
grit his teeth. "Ergh.." His body shook with the impact and he fought to adjust his eyes to his surroundings. When the
mobil suit ceased shaking, he opened his eyes once more. His vidscreen was neutral, and the controls of Heavyarms had no
serious damage. After pressing a few buttons and moving the throttles forward, he managed to get his gundam back online.
Quatre and Duo's faces appeared on his vidscreen, both of which had worried looks on them. "You okay, Trowa?"
"..." Trowa merely nodded.
Arashi tapped her foot impatiently. "If you don't want me to kill you, give me the Dark Incarnate!"
"We don't know who the Dark Incarnate is, nor do we 'have' her." Wufei yelled aggravatedly. He opened the entrance hatch
to Nataku and stepped onto the flat part of the door. He held his hand out in front of him and narrowed his eyes.
"Wufei, what're you doing?!" Heero yelled through his vidscreen, but recieved no answer. Wufei had begun to glow a
faint white and a sphere of white fire escaped his hand and floated above it. Wufei then drew the ki sphere-weilding hand
back and then pushed it forward, shooting a large ki blast at Colonel Arashi. The white fire barely grazed the base's
shield. "What?!" Wufei stared. As the white fog of smoke began to clear from where Wufei had sent the attack, the pilots
heard a loud laugh.
Arashi was the one who laughed. "As you can see, my specialized Valkyrie shield cannot be penetrated. It is impossible."
Then she narrowed her eyes and looked straight at Wufei and drew her hand back. Her hand began to glow another violet-red
as a ki-sphere appeared in her hand.
Heero saw what she was doing and quickly yelled out, "Wufei, get back in your gundam before-!" His warning was cut short
when Wufei recieved a strong violet-red ki blast to his chest. He fell back into the cockpit of Nataku, his back hitting
the main control panel. As if by entry of the pilot, Nataku's entrance hatch closed. Quatre, Trowa, Heero, and Duo's faces
came up on his screen. "Wufei!" Everyone gaped at Wufei's condition. Their Chinese comrad was bleeding extensively; his
arms were cut deeply, as were his legs, he had spit up blood upon impact, and his chest wasn't doing too well.
Arashi decided to give the humans a break. After all, where's the fun in killing them quickly? "Your friend's ribs have
collapsed and has two broken arms and a swollen ankle. You better get him back to wherever you came from or, well," She
laughed mockingly, then sneered, "he'll die."
Heero was about to blast her with his buster rifle when Quatre came up on his screen. "Heero! As much as I hate to say this,
Colonel Arashi's right! We have to go back!" At this statement, Heero grunted, but nodded. Trowa and Heero used their
gundams to haul Nataku and Wufei back to the Magunacs' hangar, led by Quatre and DUo.
From afar, Arashi frowned scornfully. [It has begun. Damn you brother.] "Yukio Tomi." As she said that name, the concrete
behind her began to waver, then the air above it moved. The proportions of it were changing, writhing as the wind picked
up and swirled around the altering space. A black shadow emerged, or rather, matterialized, from the changed space. The
dark entity quickly formed into a solid shape. Into a young man, dressed also in a compulsory Rommefeller soldier's outfit.
'He' had slick black hair, tightly pulled back into a braid that reached down to his posterior, leaving his semi-spiked
bangs framing his face and sides of it. His light, slightly pale skin went placidly with his sheer ice blue eyes, and
his overall expression was rather serious and monotone. As Arashi sensed his presence, she ordered, "Stay away from her."
The young man, presumably named Yukio, smirked mockingly at her. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't fuck with me, Yukio. You know of the project. She either comes to us, or elimination. I know you have human feelings
for her. Stay away from her." Arashi ordered aggravatedly, not facing him. Yukio narrowed his eyes and dematterialized.
Arashi snapped her fingers, and Inabikari appeared beside her in a glow of tarnished bronze. Arashi crossed her arms.
"Dispatch the sentinels."
Rei flipped the pages of the Sanq Kingdom newspaper that she held in her hands, her violet eyes darting back and forth
as she scanned the articles. She whined, "This place is so boring! There's nothing here but pacifism and hopes for peace!
There isn't even any comics in this damn thing!"
"Hopes for peace isn't necessarily a bad thing, Rei-chan." Ami protested. "It's a good thing that these people are striving
for peace."
"Oh, Ami-chan, I'm not saying that this boring crap isn't stupid, I'm just saying that this place needs to have some
liveliness. It's so boring." Rei chided.
"The strange thing is," Setsuna said, turning Rei's newspaper around so everyone could see. "There isn't any news of the
Peacecraft Ball incident anywhere!" Everyone looked at the newspaper.
"Really, Sets?" Haruka stared, scanning the paper with her eyes. "Let's see-Sports, Clothing, Sales, War Efforts.."
Michiru looked on. "There isn't anything!"
"That's really weird." Minako and Makoto said simultaneously.
"There should've been..something isn't right." says Hotaru, carefully thinking about the possibilities of which there might
be a trap or something of the sort.
Dederi came down the stairs, wearing a red tanktop and black pants with black combat boots and biker gloves with metal studs,
with Ibaren and Nova. Nova wore a short tan tanktop with rolled up dark blue jeans and white tennis shoes, as well as white
biker gloves, and Ibaren wore a white muscle shirt, showing off his well-toned muscles, dark cobalt blue jeans, and white
rubber shoes, along with black biker gloves. What suprised the other senshi was that Dederi was carrying Chibiusa. On her
back!
"D-Dederi-kun?" Minako stuttered, not taking her eyes off of her pink-haired friend.
Dederi looked towards them. "What, Venus?"
"What're you doing?" She asked cautiously.
"I'm walking down the stairs, dumb ass." Dederi rolled her eyes. Nova and Ibaren chuckled.
Haruka growled. "What she means is, Dederi-kun, why are you carrying Chibiusa-chan on her back?"
Dederi rolled her eyes once more and cautiously put lowered herself so that Chibiusa could get off. Chibiusa reluctantly
stepped off. Dederi glared indirectly. "How's that, Uranus?" She then motioned Nova and Ibaren to follow her. Dederi
unlocked the brass doorknob and locks of the front mahogany door and opened it. She, Nova, and Ibaren then stepped out.
Setsuna looked at Haruka with placid eyes. "You didn't have to be so aggravant, Ruka-chan."
"Well, I still don't trust her. Especially with Chibiusa. She is the heir to the Lunarian throne, and we must protect
her, mustn't we?" Haruka crossed her arms.
Chibiusa looked sad. "But Dede-chan isn't that bad..she's really nice.."
Setsuna shook her head. "Dederi IS the current Sailor Moon, Ruka-chan. And she is to rule the Lunarian throne, if you have
forgotten, until Chibiusa is of age to take over. You don't expect Small Lady to rule the Earth and the Moon at her age,
do you?!" Her fist tightened. Chibiusa hated it when Setsuna and the other senshi thought she was too small and too young.
She sat on the couch next to Hotaru and pouted.
Haruka narrowed her eyes, then slowly shook her head, her sandy-blond locks shifting. "No, I haven't forgotten that, Sets.
All I'm saying is, Dederi-kun still can't be trusted. We're not even friends to begin with, let alone allies!"
The sound of thrusters and landing mobil suits then halted the inner and outer senshi's debate. Makoto walked over and
looked out the lattice windows at the front courtyard. "They're back!" Minako then smiled and stood up happily.
"Then let's greet 'em!" Minako bounced up and down.
Dederi narrowed her eyes and frowned as she watched Nataku being dragged on by Wing Zero and Heavyarms. "Let's go. Something
isn't right." Ibaren and Nova nodded.
Rashid watched as the gundams made their way into the massive hangar of the Magunacs, covering his ears tightly at the sound
of Nataku's metal outer shell drag quickly on the concrete floor, causing sparks to fly around. As the gundams were hastily
stowed in their proper storage docks, Quatre and the other pilots jumped out of their cockpits and quickly ran over to
Nataku, who was deposited on the ground rather than the dock. "Rashid, get a stretcher!" Quatre ordered hastily as Heero and
Duo pried the cockpit hatch open with crowbars. The hatch was then opened and the pilots, as well as some of the Magunacs,
looked at their pilot comrad. He looked to still be breathing, although his breath was dangerously short and ragged.
Trowa and Duo grabbed Wufei's cut arms slowly and pulled him up. Wufei involuntarily winced as his cuts were reopened and
the blood on his chest, arms, and legs seemed to flow freely down onto the hangar floor. Rashid and two other Magunacs
pushed a stretcher towards them, and Duo and Trowa carefully set Wufei onto it. At that moment, Ibaren, Nova, and Dederi
walked into the hangar. They saw Wufei and, with eyes wide open, ran over to him and the other pilots.
"What happened?!" Nova asked, her deep purple eyes shimmering with worry. Dederi walked to the left side of the stretcher
and looked at Wufei's dangerously injured chest. She put her hand over it and touched the burned edges of his skin, making
Wufei wince. Her eyes narrowed. Something was familiar about this injury, but she couldn't place what. It was something..no,
someONE. Someone she couldn't remember, but indistinctly she did. Who was it?
"We were attacked." Quatre sighed defeatedly.
Ibaren looked closely at the cuts, ankle, then chest wound. He also identified these wounds, but where from?
"How? I thought you were the ones on the mission to destroy that base..?" Nova crossed her arms.
"Tell us what happened exactly." Dederi said tartly, still examining the extensive wound on Wufei's bleeding chest.
[It's a miracle he isn't dead yet.] She thought.
[He's unconscious and will be dead in a few hours if we don't do something.] Ibaren contemplated.
"we were executing our mission to completely annihilate the Valkyrie Base that was controlled by the Rommefeller Foundation.
It was going as planned, since we had no trouble destroying the leos and tauruses." Heero explained monotonely.
[Who did this?] Dederi and Ibaren thought simultaneously.
Heero continued. "There was a shield surrounding the base itself and we couldn't get past it. I don't understand why the
shield could not have been read by the shield scanner in our gundams."
[Who?]
"Then some woman dressed in a high-ranking soldier outfit appeared standing on the top of Valkyrie's first control tower."
Duo shrieked, overreacting. [AN: LOL!!!] "Then she rambled on about some Dark thing!"
Dederi still kept her attention to Wufei, who began to shake. She put her pale hand to his forehead, attempting to calm him.
[He's dying.] She closed her eyes and sighed. [Damnit, who the hell did this...]
"Dark thing?" Nova stared.
Trowa nodded. "I think whatever she wanted was the Dark Incarnate."
Ibaren froze as Dederi quickly retracted her hand. The magi looked towards his monotone ally, who stared blankly at nothing.
She looked as if the life, if any in her, had been ghosted away. Dederi lowered her hands and began to shake, her hands
turning into tight fists that shook violently. Ibaren then looked at Trowa with grim eyes. "What was her name." It was more
of a command than a question, and Trowa and the others heard his tone of voice.
"I think it was Colonel Arashi."
Dederi then looked at Wufei's wound once more. "Arashi." She whispered silently. Her eyes suddenly turned dull, a pair
of dark red and grey sillouettes in the eyes of a thirdling. Dederi put her hand over Wufei's wound. It had infected, as
would any flesh wound if not properly treated. Her hand slowly began to radiate a dark red and black. The wound stopped
bleeding then. She then looked at the blood which was still wet on the stretcher. The blood slowly seeped up onto
Wufei's stomach. Then chest. The wet blood then made its way back into his body. The others, save Nova and Ibaren, couldn't
believe their eyes. Dederi was putting the shed blood back into its proper places.
Dederi's eyes then glowed a deep crimson, and the cuts on his arms and legs slowly disappeared. There were no traces of
blood on his skin, save his blood drenched shirt and pants. Unfortunately, Wufei's chest wound still
remained open, although the blood abnormally stayed within him. The outer muscles were slightly visible through the thin
layer of transparent skin, and it seemed that Dederi had not fixed the collapsed ribs. One of the ribs had nearly punctured
his left lung. It would have been fatal if Dederi had not put the blood back into his body. She then put both of her hands
onto the chest wound, causing Wufei to scream in pain. The pilots, not including Heero, winced and looked away, the scream
agonizingly loud and the sight wasn't so pleasant either. Dederi still kept her hands on the wound. Her hands were then
pulled up slowly. The black and red power that had emitted from Dederi's hands seemed to form a web, weaving through Wufei's
torn skin and muscle tissue. She gracefully moved her hands, back and forth, upward and downward, like a master weaver
preparing a rug. When her hands ceased glowing and the web of energy disappeared, the pilots, Ibaren, and Nova looked
at Wufei's wound, but only to find that there was no wound. Only flesh.
She retracted her hand from Wufei's healed chest and turned briskly around to face Ibaren and Nova. Ibaren stared
sadly at her, as did Nova. Dederi closed her eyes tightly, as if in pain. Nova put her hand on Dederi's shoulder.
"It'll be okay, Dede-chan.."
Dederi shook her head. "No it won't. I can't escape my past. He'll come for me soon. I haven't used-"
"Kuroi Abunai, stay calm. We will call upon him when Wufei awakes. Thee will not lose thy strength." Ibaren said wisely.
The pilots stared. They had never heard Ibaren talk so seriously, nor so eloquently. It was as if he was an ancient
guru or something of the sort. Ibaren then turned to Nova. "Do you still remember?"
"Hai." Was all the highlighted assassin said solemnly.
Heero's voice cut through the serious conversation, with the usual monotone. "What's going on?"
"Who's after her?" Trowa cut in.
Ibaren turned and directly looked at the Perfect Soldier. "We will explain when Chang wakes up and the senshi come."
"What'll you explain?" Makoto and Ami said simultaneously, walking over. The senshi had looked as if they had been there
for quite a while. Minako seemed to be looking at where Wufei laid, as if he was dead. Michiru, Haruka, and Hotaru were
sitting on the nearby crates of extra gundam parts, and Setsuna held the sleeping Chibiusa in her arms as she stood
next to Hotaru. Rei just stood next to Michiru, a bewildered expression on her face.
Ibaren and Nova looked at their raven-haired friend, who was now standing limp in front of Wufei's unconscious body.
The magi sighed slowly, feeling the air escape his lungs. "Of our true origin. We are not of the Silver Millenium, nor were
we meant to be. Nova, though, was originally born in the Silver Millenium, but is also an essential part of other dimensions.
But we cannot make haste. We must await the awakening of Chang, and then we shall tell of our origin."
It seemed to be two hours of waiting as the impatiently awaited Wufei to come back into his conscious state. Wufei seemed
to reclaim the color in his previously pale cheeks, and they heard a soft pattern of breathing coming from his mouth.
In a matter of hours, Wufei slowly began to stirr. The Chinese pilot groaned painfully as he sat up, and rubbed his head,
shaking away his dizziness. He looked around to find everyone, save Dederi, who was sitting on the floor looking at her
hands in a painful way, staring directly at him. "Why's everyone staring at me?!"
"It seems Dederi, Ibaren, and Nova have been hiding something from everyone. Dederi healed you, Wufei, if you're wondering
what happened after you were hit with Arashi's blast." Heero said curtly. At the sound of the name, Dederi widened her eyes
and her hands turned into shaking fists.
"Arashi..damn you..I'll never.." Her fists began to bleed from the pressure as she murmured, somewhat psychotically.
Ibaren walked over, and kneeled on one foot, looking at her blood-drenched hands, mixed with the smell of torn leather gloves
and the sight of black and red fluid. He took his right hand and put his hand on Dederi's.
"Stop it." Ibaren ordered. "You were never this weak, Kuroi. Have your emotions gotten the best of you? Has all of your
heartless acts finally reached their breaking point?!" He yelled angrily at her. Ibaren look his hand and slapped her hard
across the face. Her cheek turned a bright red as Ibaren retracted his hand. He did nothing more. Trowa wanted to so deeply
punch Ibaren for slapping his lover across her face, but held back. He didn't know what to do. Everyone, even Heero, was
overwhelmed with all the things that happened today. Trowa watched Ibaren with ruthless eyes. Dederi looked at her comrad,
her eyes shaking with fear and wide with suprise. Her fists relaxed. Everyone stared in suprise. They had never seen him so
angry.
Dederi stood up, the blood from her hands dripping onto the concrete, leaving small circles of black and red near her feet.
"I suppose you're wondering what we're talking about. Ibaren, Nova, and I. The truth is rather simple. We were never really
meant to be in the Silver Millenium..or the Gundam era." Dederi avoided Trowa's piercing emerald gaze as she continued.
"As before, Nova is originally from the Silver Millenium, although she proved to be of greater help in our dimension than
in any other."
"What is the name of this dimension you speak of." Setsuna interrogated abruptly.
"It is somewhere where your useless archives have never recorded. It is known as the Tsurideragon dimension." Dederi looked
at Ibaren and nodded, motioning him to continue. Ibaren looked towards the pilots and senshi, monotonely staring at them all
with his dark, brooding eyes. They were no longer filled with joy and mirth, and neither were Nova's.
The spiky-haired magi crossed his muscular arms, all eyes now fixed upon him. "Like Kuroi stated, Tsurideragon is our home
dimension. It is secluded from all others, and has a rather different dimensional pattern from all others." Setsuna and Ami
seemed to be the only ones who got that sentence, save the pilots. The other senshi seemed to scratch their heads in
confusion. He knew that most of them were confused, but continued. "In the early life stages, meaning when the planet first
began to come alive, our planet was inhabited by dragons, youkai, and humans. Humans with specially developed powers
and telekenesis ended up as magi, sorcerers, or sorceresses while the normal ones lead their own separate lives as commoners,
maids, servants, deputants, etc. They created cities of marvelous structure, looking a bit like a mix of the medieval age
and Rome. Anyway, our world is protected by the protectors and workers of a legendary temple named Dragonn [purposely
misspelled]. The main protectors of the world and Dragonn Temple were three armored dragons, a magi, and a sorceress, all
of which were very powerful and were born with the will to protect and fight in their blood. The first dragon was a silver
dragon, known as Kinzoku. She possessed the power pertaining to metal and the power to manipulate time without hesitation.
It's human form was Korume Takeda, who is the descendant of her.
"It's rather hard to explain, but all three of the dragons had human counterparts, who served as their human forms and
soul-keepers. They kept themselves buried deep within the humans' spirits, and are called upon when youkai and youma are
to be fought. The three humans have specific names, although none of which will be mentioned for now. Anyway, the second
dragon is a gold dragon named Subara, also female, and her counterpart's name is Takaida Nakayama. She controls light and
life, although she's not a healer. I must also mention that the human-forms and their dragon counterparts heal
hundreds of times faster than regular humans, as do the magi and sorceress. The last dragon..well..he was different from
the other two. His origin came from the power of a demon king who went by the name Youhshiro. Youhshiro wanted a dragon
of his own to combat against those of Dragonn, so he used the energy inside of him to create a black dragon. For a while
Youhshiro was beating the protectors of Dragonn, but the magi, seeing good within him, somehow helped to convert the black
dragon to their side. Unfortunately, since Youhshiro was the one who created him, the black dragon remained youkai and
dragon. The black dragon now resides under a girl who also seems to have the same qualities as him. They both control
darkness, evil, and hatred. The girl, recieving the powers and responibilities of the dragon, has a final form, in which
she controls the Gauntlet of Chiosu. The Gauntlet holds the power of Chaos within it's blade, which protrudes from the
wrist of the gauntlet. You told me of your "war" with that being named Chaos, but in truth, Chaos was spawned from the
Gauntlet."Ibaren said grimly. "Then there are the magi and sorceress. There were many magi and sorceresses and such, although
the two that I speak of were the ones that were the most powerful of the Dragonn's defenses. The magi, he weilded a long,
intricate staff, that had a long, thin blade, and had the power of blue fire. The sorceress was actually a ningyo, recieved
her angel wings from Dragonn as a gift. She specialized in magic and sorcery, having a vast knowledge of all spells and
most attacks. Both provided great guidance and proved to be great allies to the dragons. The magi also serves as a healer,
and the sorceress as the curator of Dragonn."
"So..the Gauntlet secures all evil?" Haruka said suddenly.
Ibaren shook his head. "It holds back evil, not secures. The Gauntlet, if misused, can also release evil. It's a rather
complex subject, the Gauntlet of Chiosu. You see, if the owner of the Gauntlet dies, chaos and all evil will be released."
"Who's the girl that is the counterpart of the black dragon? You didn't state her name, nor the dragons." Setsuna inquired,
cupping her left cheek with her tanned, slender hand. This was so confusing. If Dederi was never supposed to really be
in the Silver Millenium, who would be the rightful Sailor Moon? Chibiusa was now in Hotaru's lap. She had been awake for
quite a few minutes, although did not understand what everyone was so worked up about. "Also, you didn't state the magi's
and the sorceress's name either."
[They're not making this easy, are they?] Ibaren thought glumly. He wasn't sure whether or not he should say their names,
and looked towards the direction of her emotionally-distressed comrad, who leaned against the leg of a nearby mobil suit.
Dederi looked up to meet Ibaren's concerned gaze. Her face slightly grew pale as she nodded. She hugged herself, as if
attempting to save herself from her own torment. Ibaren sighed sadly, and turned back towards the senshi and pilots.
"I am the magi." He began slowly, and was about to go on when Minako and Duo interrupted.
"But that would mean you're-" Minako and Duo gasped, wide-eyed.
Ibaren nodded. "Yes, I was born at the beginning of my world's birth. Meaning, I'm quite old in the years." Everyone's
jaw dropped. Ibaren laughed softly at their expressions, despite the serious situation at hand. "Now, if you'll let me
continue..The sorceress's name is Hakai Saku. I think she'll make an appearance sooner or later. I'm not sure I can tell
you of the black dragon and her counterpart. I need the proper consent."
"From who?" Quatre asked solemnly.
"From me." Dederi pushed off of the mobil suit and walked over, the heals of her boots clapping against the cold concrete.
"I think the proper introduction is in order, don't you?" Dederi asked Nova and Ibaren, who just stared motionlessly.
Dederi let the air escape her lungs and inhaled once more. "The girl's name..is Kuroi Abunai..and her counterpart spirit..
is Dederi." Everyone's mouths gaped as they stared at the assassin who just stated what information they wanted to know.
Dederi shook her head and stood next to Ibaren, who put his hand on her shoulder in response. Nova moved closer to them in
acknowledgement. "I suppose you don't understand what I meant by that statement. Kuroi is my real name. My human name.
Dederi is my counterpart's name. I used the name Dederi because my true identity was not to be known in other dimensions."
She held out her left gloved hand in front of everyone else. It began to glow a dark, bloody red, but Ibaren put his right
hand on her left and slowly pushed it down. The hand stopped glowing. Ibaren shook his head.
*~Not now. The sky will darken when you call it forth. You will change.~* Ibaren said solemnly.
Dederi looked away. *~You don't control me.~*
*~Then why do you listen to me everytime I say something?~* Ibaren smiled.
Dederi's cheek turned a faint red and crossed her arms. *~I do not.~*
*~You realize that everyone's staring at you two.~* Nova's voice cut in mockingly. *~It's almost as if you're having a
glaring contest.~*
"Shut up!" Ibaren and Dederi retorted out loud at Nova. Ibaren jerked and looked towards the senshi and pilots. They were
still standing/sitting there, mouths and eyes wide open. "Uh..."
At that moment, the senshi and pilots all thought the same thought. [What the hell is going on?]
Everyone suddenly heard a crash overhead. The inner senshi screamed as rubble, wood, and chunks of cement fall from the
roof. Heero looked up and saw that there was a cloud of dust wafting down onto them, and that there was a decently large
whole in the roof. Heero, Trowa, Dederi, Ibaren, Nova, Wufei, and Haruka looked up, squinting to find out what the hell
was going on. As the slow descent of the dust particles soon ceased, and the cloud itself disappeared, everyone heard
a series of ravenous laughs and growls. The pilots and assassins took out their handguns and began to aim for the open
hole. Suddenly, a large, disgusting crimson creature poked it's head through the opening of the roof. Everyone wretched at
the corrosive sight of the creature. It looked like a monster wearing shoji black armor. It had massive teeth and
radioactive-colored green eyes, which glowed with a lust for blood and death. It's hands and feet were claws, as well,
and it's "skin" looked to be of a tough hide in a clumpy lava red tint. It brandished a long sword, and the hilt looked
to be carved of bone. It growled ferociously, globs of spit secreting from it's large teeth-filled mouth. Two other 'things'
exactly like the first, were then seen at the east side of the hole. The first creature took its sword and raised it up,
then brought it down in a single slicing motion. A large patch of the roof creaked and broke off from the structure and
began to fall, debris flying everywhere. Ibaren and Nova, as well as the rest of the pilots and senshi, ran away from where
the roof was going to crash. Dederi, though just stood there. She looked down at her feet. There was a dark red force
field covering her ankles and feet, in the form of chains. She didn't scream though. Dederi, despite her calm disposition,
struggled to get out of the red chain-field. [Shit.] The roof patch was directly above her.
======
AN: THAT WAS LOOONG!!!! Please review!!! I'd appreciate it!
Email: ketsekiburade@hotmail.com
Author: ~Heartless Spirit~
Disclaimer: I don't own SM or GW. I DO own Dederi, so no stealin'! AND IBAREN TOO!!! NOVA BELONGS TO JESS-CHAN!!!
(Youhko's my own character too, if you haven't realized that by now...)
AN: Oi, minna! [Translation: Hey, Everyone!] I hope you liked Ch.9-Valkyrie!
Unfortunately, the beginning of this chapter is..fluffy [I'm sorry!]. Don't worry, tho! [ducks flying tomatoes] there's
action in the rest of the chapter!!! stop throwing vegetables at me!
I think this is the longest chapter I've ever worked on. It's not the end yet, tho.
======
Lunar Succession
======
Chapter 10-A Forgotten Acquaintance
======
Trowa turned a corner and found himself in the corridor that was connected to everyone's bedrooms. He turned the
brass doorknob, opening the oak door which led to Dederi's room. His brown hair shifted slightly, glancing at the
little girl that lay on Dederi's bed. Chibiusa looked very peaceful, so serene. He walked over and slowly put the
warm red blanket over Chibiusa's shoulders, so she wouldn't get cold. He then looked back up and towards the small
balcony, the white lattice doors open. The white silk, which served as the curtains, wafted around smoothly, coinciding
with the early morning breeze. Trowa looked at the girl who leaned on the stone balcony railing. She had her back turned
and her raven hair stirred. She had also changed clothes, no longer wearing her black training outfit, but wearing a white
robe, probably derived from her bathroom [AN: All bedrooms had bathrooms].
"What's wrong?" Dederi asked, not turning around.
Trowa walked over and leaned against the balcony railing. "Did you mean what you said?" The Latin pilot saw the female
assassin close her eyes, still not turning around. She seemed to be contemplating something, although Trowa was not
exactly sure what about. Dederi opened her eyes again and looked down at the steps of the mansion [AN: her balcony was
above the front door].
"I..don't know."
Trowa looked down, saddened. [Was doing this a mistake?] Dederi continued to speak her mind; something she rarely did,
even with her friends.
"I always wondered what caring deeply about someone would be like..And now that I know, it's as if my perspective of
my life has altered itself. It scares me. I'm used to unexpected things, but not anything like this." She then laughed
falsely, as if hiding a certain sadness or human feeling. "Can you believe it? Me..the heartless assassin.." Her eyes
were shadowed, a trickle of water slowly moving to her chin. She let a sob escape herself as she talked histerically.
"The one who the senshi call impurity..the one who wouldn't give a damn about anyone! Crying..exposing herself..showing
human emotion!" She slammed her fist down onto the stone railing.
Trowa's eyes gradually softened as he walked over and embraced her from behind.
Dederi leaned onto him, unusually feeling comforted. They stayed in silence for a moment, then resumed their conversation.
"I never knew you could be scared." Trowa said cautiously, closing his eyes. "I'll always be there for you.."
Dederi didn't retort, but buried her head into his chest, letting her tears flow freely and the choked sobs turn into full
sobs, pouring her heart out. Trowa hugged her. He felt as if he never wanted anything to happen to Dederi every again. To
never let her cry again. Trowa took his hand and softly combed his hand through her dark thin hair, feeling it limply
wafting through the spaces inbetween his fingers. He understood her a little more now. [She's afraid of human
emotions.] He thought, simply. Trowa softly touched her cheek with his finger, feeling her pale, yet soft, skin
on his fingertips. Trowa now also realized that this was the first time he actually really cared for someone before. Not
like Catherine, or the other pilots. More than friendship or family. To him, he felt as if he was, the first time, truly
alive. Trowa bent down and kissed Dederi on her forehead and chuckled as he saw her cheeks turn red. "So."
"What?" She asked softly, leaning against his muscular chest once more. The tears seemed to stop flowing as they held
each other through their comforting embrace.
Trowa tightened his hold on her and smiled. "When do you think the others will find out?"
Dederi shrugged. "Whenever they do."
Trowa laughed. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"I don't know." Dederi looked out at the scenery behind her. [As long as I'm with you.]
Duo and Wufei had FINALLY finished their chase and were now seated, once again, in the kitchen, drinking coffee. Wufei
was comfortably reading a Chinese action-adventure novel as Duo just drank and sat placidly across from him. Makoto,
Rei, and Ami were cooking waffles, eggs, and bacon. They refused to let Minako cook [AN: She's a bad cook! der!] so she
was in the living room, talking and flirting with Quatre. Heero was in his room, typing on his computer, Ibaren was in
the courtyard meditating, and Nova had just entered the kitchen.
Duo turned to the brown-haired-blonde-highlighted teenager, who had just entered. "Hey, babe. How's it goin'?"
Nova loudly shut the doors, the wood banging against each other. "First of all," she replied casually, "Don't call me babe.
Second, I'm just fine." The American pilot stood up and leaned on Nova's shoulder with his left elbow.
"Jeez, someone's in a bad mood. Anythin' I can do to cheer you up?" He said mischieviously.
Nova caught that glint in his eye and shrugged him off. "Baka hentai."
Duo scratched his head. "What does that mean?"
The assassin grinned and opened the refridgerator, pulling out a small box of ice cream. Then, she walked over to the drawers
next to the stove and opened a drawer, pulling out a small metal spoon. She pushed the drawer closed and began to eat the
contents of the ice cream container. Ami read the box label. "Ben&Jerry's Vanilla Caramel Swirl. Nova-kun, you shouldn't be
eating ice cream this early in the morning."
Nova took out the spoon from her mouth, swallowing the ice cream that had just melted in her mouth. "Mmh?"
"You shouldn't be eating ice cream this early in the morning, Nova-kun, it's not healthy.." Ami repeated.
Nova rolled her dark violet eyes, significantly annoyed. "Omae o korosu, Mercury. Leave your preaching to someone who goddamn
cares." She ate more ice cream and left the kitchen. Duo followed. He was going to find out why she was so aggravated.
[Another attack will come soon. But when? How the hell'll we know..all the innocent lives..I've seen enough deaths.]
Nova thought, taking another solemn bite of her ice cream.
"Yo, Nova-chan, what's wrong? You're acting pissed." Duo asked worriedly, walking up to her.
The highlighted half-youkai sighed aggravatedly and turned around to face him. She walked toward him and put her face
forward. Nova's face was just about two inches from Duo's face, causing Duo to jerk slightly. "None.of.your.damn.business."
Duo casually moved his face forward and put his lips quickly onto hers. Nova was, from the looks of it, in shock. After
a few seconds, Duo pulled back. He put his usual playful grin back onto his face and said: "You sure you don't want to tell
me?"
Nova stared at the braided pilot. "N..nani?"
Duo scratched his head again. "I'm guessing that means what."
Nova blinked slowly, letting her brain process everything that just happened. "Why'd you do that?" She said quietly, and from
the tone of it, in shock.
Duo shrugged, still smiling, and put his hands into his pockets. "Cuz I like you, of course." With that, he disappeared back
into the kitchen. Minako and Quatre, who had been in the living room the whole time, just stared.
Quatre turned around as he heard footsteps. It was Heero, with his usual scowl on his face. As if on que, Duo and Wufei
came out from the kitchen. Heero merely nodded and said, "Let's go."
"Wait. Where's Trowa?" Quatre asked, getting up from his seat.
Duo began to walk towards the stairs. "I'll get him. He's probably in his room typing or somethin'." As soon as he walked
into the corridor that connected to all of the bedrooms, everyone heard Duo open a door, then close one. They saw the
braided pilot walked back out and stood with a confused expression on the top of the varnished stairs. "He's not there."
Wufei then jerked nervously, as did Nova. Duo noticed Nova's nervous disposition. "What's wrong now?"
The Chinese martial artist put his hands into his pockets and walked up the stairs. "I'll get him kisama." Duo stared
suprisedly at Wufei.
"How do you know where the unibang is?" He asked.
Wufei ignored his question and tartly pushed Duo, causing Duo to stagger down the stairs. As soon as he heard Duo's
cry of pain from the bottom of the stairs, he knocked on Dederi's oak door with his knuckles. Dederi opened the door.
"What is it?"
"You know, Dederi, if Trowa's always in your room doing kami-sama knows what, they'll find out." He sneered.
Trowa walked up to the door, wrapping his arms around Dederi's shoulders while leaning on her. "..."
"Why'd you knock?" Dederi pursued.
Wufei pointed his finger in the direction of the stairs. "Time to go."
Trowa nodded and kissed Dederi on the lips, who kissed back in response. He then walked with Wufei towards the stairs.
(Time-Place Change: Two hours later-one mile from Valkyrie Base)
Heero configured his controls to Wing Zero's buster rifle as he and the other gundams flew towards the Rommefeller Base.
The Valkyrie Base wasn't your usual enemy base; it was specifically designed for attack and mobil suit combat. This
particular base did manufacture tauruses and virgos and such, but the manufacturing building was half a mile from the
control towers and there were hundreds of mobil suits near the front lines. The gundam pilots' mission was to basically
destroy all mobil suits in the Valkyrie Base and completely annihilate the control towers and everything within the facility.
Rather simple, wasn't it?
"Approaching coordinates." Quatre said, looking at the electronic map on his vidscreen.
The others nodded and began their attack. Heero sent a large energy beam from his buster rifle to the first line of mobil
suits, which consisted mostly of minor, less powerful mobil suits, such as tauruses and leos. The mobil suits that were
caught in the line of Heero's buster rifle exploded violently, the smell of metal and various chemicals intoxicating the
surrounding vicinity. Duo used Deathscythe Hell's scythe and slashed at the remaining tauruses in the front line as Trowa
send millions of bullets and missles at the control lower. Wufei began to send a wave of crimson fire at the base and
Quatre used the blades on Sandrock's back to annihilate the leos that were coming up from behind. Duo dodged a pair of
missles from a nearby leo and cut it in half with the scythe, causing the suit to explode.
"This is too easy." Wufei murmured. He sent a barrage of fire at another two mobil suits.
"Wait..why isn't the base damaged?" Quatre stared. Trowa had sent millions and millions of bullets at the buildings and
control tower of the base, but whenever the barrage of bullets were within feet of the large buildings, they were met with
a sort of shield; a dark red one, in fact.
Trowa suddenly sensed something. He wasn't sure what, but it seemed something like a very evil force. [Something's here..]
The Latin pilot hastily sent a communication vidscreen to Wufei. "Wufei, do you feel that?"
Through the screen, Trowa saw Wufei nod. "Something's here." Wufei acknowledged, looking around. "I sense it's closer to
the base."
"Hey, what're you guys talkin' about? I don't feel-" Duo's voice was cut short when everyone heard a strong, feminine
laugh.
"My, my. Now isn't this fun." Everyone turned towards the Valkyrie Base's control tower. On the roof of the tower was
a woman dressed in the compulsory Rommefeller soldier outfit, white pants, black combat boots, and a dark crimson turtleneck
with gold lining. She had semi-flat black hair, that went down to her shoulders and seemed to end in spikes at the ends.
She also had well-tanned skin and a menacing look on her face. "You must be the gundam pilots."
Heero remained calm, although was curious as to find out who this girl was. "Omae o korosu. Who are you?" He glared
ferociously.
The woman ceased her menacing laugh and looked seriously at the mobil suits that allowed the pilots to fight at the moment.
"Colonel Arashi." Then she clenched her right fist and it began to glow a dark violet, with a tint of crimson red.
"Surrender the Dark Incarnate."
"Dark Incarnate?" Quatre was bewildered. "Who is the Dark Incarnate?"
Arashi began to look aggravated. "Don't play dumb with me, human. Give me the Dark Incarnate."
"Yo, lady, we don't know any Dark Incarnate." Duo's voice entered the "conversation".
Arashi narrowed her eyes and fired a devastating blast at Trowa's Heavyarms, which fell back, onto the shaken ground. Trowa
grit his teeth. "Ergh.." His body shook with the impact and he fought to adjust his eyes to his surroundings. When the
mobil suit ceased shaking, he opened his eyes once more. His vidscreen was neutral, and the controls of Heavyarms had no
serious damage. After pressing a few buttons and moving the throttles forward, he managed to get his gundam back online.
Quatre and Duo's faces appeared on his vidscreen, both of which had worried looks on them. "You okay, Trowa?"
"..." Trowa merely nodded.
Arashi tapped her foot impatiently. "If you don't want me to kill you, give me the Dark Incarnate!"
"We don't know who the Dark Incarnate is, nor do we 'have' her." Wufei yelled aggravatedly. He opened the entrance hatch
to Nataku and stepped onto the flat part of the door. He held his hand out in front of him and narrowed his eyes.
"Wufei, what're you doing?!" Heero yelled through his vidscreen, but recieved no answer. Wufei had begun to glow a
faint white and a sphere of white fire escaped his hand and floated above it. Wufei then drew the ki sphere-weilding hand
back and then pushed it forward, shooting a large ki blast at Colonel Arashi. The white fire barely grazed the base's
shield. "What?!" Wufei stared. As the white fog of smoke began to clear from where Wufei had sent the attack, the pilots
heard a loud laugh.
Arashi was the one who laughed. "As you can see, my specialized Valkyrie shield cannot be penetrated. It is impossible."
Then she narrowed her eyes and looked straight at Wufei and drew her hand back. Her hand began to glow another violet-red
as a ki-sphere appeared in her hand.
Heero saw what she was doing and quickly yelled out, "Wufei, get back in your gundam before-!" His warning was cut short
when Wufei recieved a strong violet-red ki blast to his chest. He fell back into the cockpit of Nataku, his back hitting
the main control panel. As if by entry of the pilot, Nataku's entrance hatch closed. Quatre, Trowa, Heero, and Duo's faces
came up on his screen. "Wufei!" Everyone gaped at Wufei's condition. Their Chinese comrad was bleeding extensively; his
arms were cut deeply, as were his legs, he had spit up blood upon impact, and his chest wasn't doing too well.
Arashi decided to give the humans a break. After all, where's the fun in killing them quickly? "Your friend's ribs have
collapsed and has two broken arms and a swollen ankle. You better get him back to wherever you came from or, well," She
laughed mockingly, then sneered, "he'll die."
Heero was about to blast her with his buster rifle when Quatre came up on his screen. "Heero! As much as I hate to say this,
Colonel Arashi's right! We have to go back!" At this statement, Heero grunted, but nodded. Trowa and Heero used their
gundams to haul Nataku and Wufei back to the Magunacs' hangar, led by Quatre and DUo.
From afar, Arashi frowned scornfully. [It has begun. Damn you brother.] "Yukio Tomi." As she said that name, the concrete
behind her began to waver, then the air above it moved. The proportions of it were changing, writhing as the wind picked
up and swirled around the altering space. A black shadow emerged, or rather, matterialized, from the changed space. The
dark entity quickly formed into a solid shape. Into a young man, dressed also in a compulsory Rommefeller soldier's outfit.
'He' had slick black hair, tightly pulled back into a braid that reached down to his posterior, leaving his semi-spiked
bangs framing his face and sides of it. His light, slightly pale skin went placidly with his sheer ice blue eyes, and
his overall expression was rather serious and monotone. As Arashi sensed his presence, she ordered, "Stay away from her."
The young man, presumably named Yukio, smirked mockingly at her. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't fuck with me, Yukio. You know of the project. She either comes to us, or elimination. I know you have human feelings
for her. Stay away from her." Arashi ordered aggravatedly, not facing him. Yukio narrowed his eyes and dematterialized.
Arashi snapped her fingers, and Inabikari appeared beside her in a glow of tarnished bronze. Arashi crossed her arms.
"Dispatch the sentinels."
Rei flipped the pages of the Sanq Kingdom newspaper that she held in her hands, her violet eyes darting back and forth
as she scanned the articles. She whined, "This place is so boring! There's nothing here but pacifism and hopes for peace!
There isn't even any comics in this damn thing!"
"Hopes for peace isn't necessarily a bad thing, Rei-chan." Ami protested. "It's a good thing that these people are striving
for peace."
"Oh, Ami-chan, I'm not saying that this boring crap isn't stupid, I'm just saying that this place needs to have some
liveliness. It's so boring." Rei chided.
"The strange thing is," Setsuna said, turning Rei's newspaper around so everyone could see. "There isn't any news of the
Peacecraft Ball incident anywhere!" Everyone looked at the newspaper.
"Really, Sets?" Haruka stared, scanning the paper with her eyes. "Let's see-Sports, Clothing, Sales, War Efforts.."
Michiru looked on. "There isn't anything!"
"That's really weird." Minako and Makoto said simultaneously.
"There should've been..something isn't right." says Hotaru, carefully thinking about the possibilities of which there might
be a trap or something of the sort.
Dederi came down the stairs, wearing a red tanktop and black pants with black combat boots and biker gloves with metal studs,
with Ibaren and Nova. Nova wore a short tan tanktop with rolled up dark blue jeans and white tennis shoes, as well as white
biker gloves, and Ibaren wore a white muscle shirt, showing off his well-toned muscles, dark cobalt blue jeans, and white
rubber shoes, along with black biker gloves. What suprised the other senshi was that Dederi was carrying Chibiusa. On her
back!
"D-Dederi-kun?" Minako stuttered, not taking her eyes off of her pink-haired friend.
Dederi looked towards them. "What, Venus?"
"What're you doing?" She asked cautiously.
"I'm walking down the stairs, dumb ass." Dederi rolled her eyes. Nova and Ibaren chuckled.
Haruka growled. "What she means is, Dederi-kun, why are you carrying Chibiusa-chan on her back?"
Dederi rolled her eyes once more and cautiously put lowered herself so that Chibiusa could get off. Chibiusa reluctantly
stepped off. Dederi glared indirectly. "How's that, Uranus?" She then motioned Nova and Ibaren to follow her. Dederi
unlocked the brass doorknob and locks of the front mahogany door and opened it. She, Nova, and Ibaren then stepped out.
Setsuna looked at Haruka with placid eyes. "You didn't have to be so aggravant, Ruka-chan."
"Well, I still don't trust her. Especially with Chibiusa. She is the heir to the Lunarian throne, and we must protect
her, mustn't we?" Haruka crossed her arms.
Chibiusa looked sad. "But Dede-chan isn't that bad..she's really nice.."
Setsuna shook her head. "Dederi IS the current Sailor Moon, Ruka-chan. And she is to rule the Lunarian throne, if you have
forgotten, until Chibiusa is of age to take over. You don't expect Small Lady to rule the Earth and the Moon at her age,
do you?!" Her fist tightened. Chibiusa hated it when Setsuna and the other senshi thought she was too small and too young.
She sat on the couch next to Hotaru and pouted.
Haruka narrowed her eyes, then slowly shook her head, her sandy-blond locks shifting. "No, I haven't forgotten that, Sets.
All I'm saying is, Dederi-kun still can't be trusted. We're not even friends to begin with, let alone allies!"
The sound of thrusters and landing mobil suits then halted the inner and outer senshi's debate. Makoto walked over and
looked out the lattice windows at the front courtyard. "They're back!" Minako then smiled and stood up happily.
"Then let's greet 'em!" Minako bounced up and down.
Dederi narrowed her eyes and frowned as she watched Nataku being dragged on by Wing Zero and Heavyarms. "Let's go. Something
isn't right." Ibaren and Nova nodded.
Rashid watched as the gundams made their way into the massive hangar of the Magunacs, covering his ears tightly at the sound
of Nataku's metal outer shell drag quickly on the concrete floor, causing sparks to fly around. As the gundams were hastily
stowed in their proper storage docks, Quatre and the other pilots jumped out of their cockpits and quickly ran over to
Nataku, who was deposited on the ground rather than the dock. "Rashid, get a stretcher!" Quatre ordered hastily as Heero and
Duo pried the cockpit hatch open with crowbars. The hatch was then opened and the pilots, as well as some of the Magunacs,
looked at their pilot comrad. He looked to still be breathing, although his breath was dangerously short and ragged.
Trowa and Duo grabbed Wufei's cut arms slowly and pulled him up. Wufei involuntarily winced as his cuts were reopened and
the blood on his chest, arms, and legs seemed to flow freely down onto the hangar floor. Rashid and two other Magunacs
pushed a stretcher towards them, and Duo and Trowa carefully set Wufei onto it. At that moment, Ibaren, Nova, and Dederi
walked into the hangar. They saw Wufei and, with eyes wide open, ran over to him and the other pilots.
"What happened?!" Nova asked, her deep purple eyes shimmering with worry. Dederi walked to the left side of the stretcher
and looked at Wufei's dangerously injured chest. She put her hand over it and touched the burned edges of his skin, making
Wufei wince. Her eyes narrowed. Something was familiar about this injury, but she couldn't place what. It was something..no,
someONE. Someone she couldn't remember, but indistinctly she did. Who was it?
"We were attacked." Quatre sighed defeatedly.
Ibaren looked closely at the cuts, ankle, then chest wound. He also identified these wounds, but where from?
"How? I thought you were the ones on the mission to destroy that base..?" Nova crossed her arms.
"Tell us what happened exactly." Dederi said tartly, still examining the extensive wound on Wufei's bleeding chest.
[It's a miracle he isn't dead yet.] She thought.
[He's unconscious and will be dead in a few hours if we don't do something.] Ibaren contemplated.
"we were executing our mission to completely annihilate the Valkyrie Base that was controlled by the Rommefeller Foundation.
It was going as planned, since we had no trouble destroying the leos and tauruses." Heero explained monotonely.
[Who did this?] Dederi and Ibaren thought simultaneously.
Heero continued. "There was a shield surrounding the base itself and we couldn't get past it. I don't understand why the
shield could not have been read by the shield scanner in our gundams."
[Who?]
"Then some woman dressed in a high-ranking soldier outfit appeared standing on the top of Valkyrie's first control tower."
Duo shrieked, overreacting. [AN: LOL!!!] "Then she rambled on about some Dark thing!"
Dederi still kept her attention to Wufei, who began to shake. She put her pale hand to his forehead, attempting to calm him.
[He's dying.] She closed her eyes and sighed. [Damnit, who the hell did this...]
"Dark thing?" Nova stared.
Trowa nodded. "I think whatever she wanted was the Dark Incarnate."
Ibaren froze as Dederi quickly retracted her hand. The magi looked towards his monotone ally, who stared blankly at nothing.
She looked as if the life, if any in her, had been ghosted away. Dederi lowered her hands and began to shake, her hands
turning into tight fists that shook violently. Ibaren then looked at Trowa with grim eyes. "What was her name." It was more
of a command than a question, and Trowa and the others heard his tone of voice.
"I think it was Colonel Arashi."
Dederi then looked at Wufei's wound once more. "Arashi." She whispered silently. Her eyes suddenly turned dull, a pair
of dark red and grey sillouettes in the eyes of a thirdling. Dederi put her hand over Wufei's wound. It had infected, as
would any flesh wound if not properly treated. Her hand slowly began to radiate a dark red and black. The wound stopped
bleeding then. She then looked at the blood which was still wet on the stretcher. The blood slowly seeped up onto
Wufei's stomach. Then chest. The wet blood then made its way back into his body. The others, save Nova and Ibaren, couldn't
believe their eyes. Dederi was putting the shed blood back into its proper places.
Dederi's eyes then glowed a deep crimson, and the cuts on his arms and legs slowly disappeared. There were no traces of
blood on his skin, save his blood drenched shirt and pants. Unfortunately, Wufei's chest wound still
remained open, although the blood abnormally stayed within him. The outer muscles were slightly visible through the thin
layer of transparent skin, and it seemed that Dederi had not fixed the collapsed ribs. One of the ribs had nearly punctured
his left lung. It would have been fatal if Dederi had not put the blood back into his body. She then put both of her hands
onto the chest wound, causing Wufei to scream in pain. The pilots, not including Heero, winced and looked away, the scream
agonizingly loud and the sight wasn't so pleasant either. Dederi still kept her hands on the wound. Her hands were then
pulled up slowly. The black and red power that had emitted from Dederi's hands seemed to form a web, weaving through Wufei's
torn skin and muscle tissue. She gracefully moved her hands, back and forth, upward and downward, like a master weaver
preparing a rug. When her hands ceased glowing and the web of energy disappeared, the pilots, Ibaren, and Nova looked
at Wufei's wound, but only to find that there was no wound. Only flesh.
She retracted her hand from Wufei's healed chest and turned briskly around to face Ibaren and Nova. Ibaren stared
sadly at her, as did Nova. Dederi closed her eyes tightly, as if in pain. Nova put her hand on Dederi's shoulder.
"It'll be okay, Dede-chan.."
Dederi shook her head. "No it won't. I can't escape my past. He'll come for me soon. I haven't used-"
"Kuroi Abunai, stay calm. We will call upon him when Wufei awakes. Thee will not lose thy strength." Ibaren said wisely.
The pilots stared. They had never heard Ibaren talk so seriously, nor so eloquently. It was as if he was an ancient
guru or something of the sort. Ibaren then turned to Nova. "Do you still remember?"
"Hai." Was all the highlighted assassin said solemnly.
Heero's voice cut through the serious conversation, with the usual monotone. "What's going on?"
"Who's after her?" Trowa cut in.
Ibaren turned and directly looked at the Perfect Soldier. "We will explain when Chang wakes up and the senshi come."
"What'll you explain?" Makoto and Ami said simultaneously, walking over. The senshi had looked as if they had been there
for quite a while. Minako seemed to be looking at where Wufei laid, as if he was dead. Michiru, Haruka, and Hotaru were
sitting on the nearby crates of extra gundam parts, and Setsuna held the sleeping Chibiusa in her arms as she stood
next to Hotaru. Rei just stood next to Michiru, a bewildered expression on her face.
Ibaren and Nova looked at their raven-haired friend, who was now standing limp in front of Wufei's unconscious body.
The magi sighed slowly, feeling the air escape his lungs. "Of our true origin. We are not of the Silver Millenium, nor were
we meant to be. Nova, though, was originally born in the Silver Millenium, but is also an essential part of other dimensions.
But we cannot make haste. We must await the awakening of Chang, and then we shall tell of our origin."
It seemed to be two hours of waiting as the impatiently awaited Wufei to come back into his conscious state. Wufei seemed
to reclaim the color in his previously pale cheeks, and they heard a soft pattern of breathing coming from his mouth.
In a matter of hours, Wufei slowly began to stirr. The Chinese pilot groaned painfully as he sat up, and rubbed his head,
shaking away his dizziness. He looked around to find everyone, save Dederi, who was sitting on the floor looking at her
hands in a painful way, staring directly at him. "Why's everyone staring at me?!"
"It seems Dederi, Ibaren, and Nova have been hiding something from everyone. Dederi healed you, Wufei, if you're wondering
what happened after you were hit with Arashi's blast." Heero said curtly. At the sound of the name, Dederi widened her eyes
and her hands turned into shaking fists.
"Arashi..damn you..I'll never.." Her fists began to bleed from the pressure as she murmured, somewhat psychotically.
Ibaren walked over, and kneeled on one foot, looking at her blood-drenched hands, mixed with the smell of torn leather gloves
and the sight of black and red fluid. He took his right hand and put his hand on Dederi's.
"Stop it." Ibaren ordered. "You were never this weak, Kuroi. Have your emotions gotten the best of you? Has all of your
heartless acts finally reached their breaking point?!" He yelled angrily at her. Ibaren look his hand and slapped her hard
across the face. Her cheek turned a bright red as Ibaren retracted his hand. He did nothing more. Trowa wanted to so deeply
punch Ibaren for slapping his lover across her face, but held back. He didn't know what to do. Everyone, even Heero, was
overwhelmed with all the things that happened today. Trowa watched Ibaren with ruthless eyes. Dederi looked at her comrad,
her eyes shaking with fear and wide with suprise. Her fists relaxed. Everyone stared in suprise. They had never seen him so
angry.
Dederi stood up, the blood from her hands dripping onto the concrete, leaving small circles of black and red near her feet.
"I suppose you're wondering what we're talking about. Ibaren, Nova, and I. The truth is rather simple. We were never really
meant to be in the Silver Millenium..or the Gundam era." Dederi avoided Trowa's piercing emerald gaze as she continued.
"As before, Nova is originally from the Silver Millenium, although she proved to be of greater help in our dimension than
in any other."
"What is the name of this dimension you speak of." Setsuna interrogated abruptly.
"It is somewhere where your useless archives have never recorded. It is known as the Tsurideragon dimension." Dederi looked
at Ibaren and nodded, motioning him to continue. Ibaren looked towards the pilots and senshi, monotonely staring at them all
with his dark, brooding eyes. They were no longer filled with joy and mirth, and neither were Nova's.
The spiky-haired magi crossed his muscular arms, all eyes now fixed upon him. "Like Kuroi stated, Tsurideragon is our home
dimension. It is secluded from all others, and has a rather different dimensional pattern from all others." Setsuna and Ami
seemed to be the only ones who got that sentence, save the pilots. The other senshi seemed to scratch their heads in
confusion. He knew that most of them were confused, but continued. "In the early life stages, meaning when the planet first
began to come alive, our planet was inhabited by dragons, youkai, and humans. Humans with specially developed powers
and telekenesis ended up as magi, sorcerers, or sorceresses while the normal ones lead their own separate lives as commoners,
maids, servants, deputants, etc. They created cities of marvelous structure, looking a bit like a mix of the medieval age
and Rome. Anyway, our world is protected by the protectors and workers of a legendary temple named Dragonn [purposely
misspelled]. The main protectors of the world and Dragonn Temple were three armored dragons, a magi, and a sorceress, all
of which were very powerful and were born with the will to protect and fight in their blood. The first dragon was a silver
dragon, known as Kinzoku. She possessed the power pertaining to metal and the power to manipulate time without hesitation.
It's human form was Korume Takeda, who is the descendant of her.
"It's rather hard to explain, but all three of the dragons had human counterparts, who served as their human forms and
soul-keepers. They kept themselves buried deep within the humans' spirits, and are called upon when youkai and youma are
to be fought. The three humans have specific names, although none of which will be mentioned for now. Anyway, the second
dragon is a gold dragon named Subara, also female, and her counterpart's name is Takaida Nakayama. She controls light and
life, although she's not a healer. I must also mention that the human-forms and their dragon counterparts heal
hundreds of times faster than regular humans, as do the magi and sorceress. The last dragon..well..he was different from
the other two. His origin came from the power of a demon king who went by the name Youhshiro. Youhshiro wanted a dragon
of his own to combat against those of Dragonn, so he used the energy inside of him to create a black dragon. For a while
Youhshiro was beating the protectors of Dragonn, but the magi, seeing good within him, somehow helped to convert the black
dragon to their side. Unfortunately, since Youhshiro was the one who created him, the black dragon remained youkai and
dragon. The black dragon now resides under a girl who also seems to have the same qualities as him. They both control
darkness, evil, and hatred. The girl, recieving the powers and responibilities of the dragon, has a final form, in which
she controls the Gauntlet of Chiosu. The Gauntlet holds the power of Chaos within it's blade, which protrudes from the
wrist of the gauntlet. You told me of your "war" with that being named Chaos, but in truth, Chaos was spawned from the
Gauntlet."Ibaren said grimly. "Then there are the magi and sorceress. There were many magi and sorceresses and such, although
the two that I speak of were the ones that were the most powerful of the Dragonn's defenses. The magi, he weilded a long,
intricate staff, that had a long, thin blade, and had the power of blue fire. The sorceress was actually a ningyo, recieved
her angel wings from Dragonn as a gift. She specialized in magic and sorcery, having a vast knowledge of all spells and
most attacks. Both provided great guidance and proved to be great allies to the dragons. The magi also serves as a healer,
and the sorceress as the curator of Dragonn."
"So..the Gauntlet secures all evil?" Haruka said suddenly.
Ibaren shook his head. "It holds back evil, not secures. The Gauntlet, if misused, can also release evil. It's a rather
complex subject, the Gauntlet of Chiosu. You see, if the owner of the Gauntlet dies, chaos and all evil will be released."
"Who's the girl that is the counterpart of the black dragon? You didn't state her name, nor the dragons." Setsuna inquired,
cupping her left cheek with her tanned, slender hand. This was so confusing. If Dederi was never supposed to really be
in the Silver Millenium, who would be the rightful Sailor Moon? Chibiusa was now in Hotaru's lap. She had been awake for
quite a few minutes, although did not understand what everyone was so worked up about. "Also, you didn't state the magi's
and the sorceress's name either."
[They're not making this easy, are they?] Ibaren thought glumly. He wasn't sure whether or not he should say their names,
and looked towards the direction of her emotionally-distressed comrad, who leaned against the leg of a nearby mobil suit.
Dederi looked up to meet Ibaren's concerned gaze. Her face slightly grew pale as she nodded. She hugged herself, as if
attempting to save herself from her own torment. Ibaren sighed sadly, and turned back towards the senshi and pilots.
"I am the magi." He began slowly, and was about to go on when Minako and Duo interrupted.
"But that would mean you're-" Minako and Duo gasped, wide-eyed.
Ibaren nodded. "Yes, I was born at the beginning of my world's birth. Meaning, I'm quite old in the years." Everyone's
jaw dropped. Ibaren laughed softly at their expressions, despite the serious situation at hand. "Now, if you'll let me
continue..The sorceress's name is Hakai Saku. I think she'll make an appearance sooner or later. I'm not sure I can tell
you of the black dragon and her counterpart. I need the proper consent."
"From who?" Quatre asked solemnly.
"From me." Dederi pushed off of the mobil suit and walked over, the heals of her boots clapping against the cold concrete.
"I think the proper introduction is in order, don't you?" Dederi asked Nova and Ibaren, who just stared motionlessly.
Dederi let the air escape her lungs and inhaled once more. "The girl's name..is Kuroi Abunai..and her counterpart spirit..
is Dederi." Everyone's mouths gaped as they stared at the assassin who just stated what information they wanted to know.
Dederi shook her head and stood next to Ibaren, who put his hand on her shoulder in response. Nova moved closer to them in
acknowledgement. "I suppose you don't understand what I meant by that statement. Kuroi is my real name. My human name.
Dederi is my counterpart's name. I used the name Dederi because my true identity was not to be known in other dimensions."
She held out her left gloved hand in front of everyone else. It began to glow a dark, bloody red, but Ibaren put his right
hand on her left and slowly pushed it down. The hand stopped glowing. Ibaren shook his head.
*~Not now. The sky will darken when you call it forth. You will change.~* Ibaren said solemnly.
Dederi looked away. *~You don't control me.~*
*~Then why do you listen to me everytime I say something?~* Ibaren smiled.
Dederi's cheek turned a faint red and crossed her arms. *~I do not.~*
*~You realize that everyone's staring at you two.~* Nova's voice cut in mockingly. *~It's almost as if you're having a
glaring contest.~*
"Shut up!" Ibaren and Dederi retorted out loud at Nova. Ibaren jerked and looked towards the senshi and pilots. They were
still standing/sitting there, mouths and eyes wide open. "Uh..."
At that moment, the senshi and pilots all thought the same thought. [What the hell is going on?]
Everyone suddenly heard a crash overhead. The inner senshi screamed as rubble, wood, and chunks of cement fall from the
roof. Heero looked up and saw that there was a cloud of dust wafting down onto them, and that there was a decently large
whole in the roof. Heero, Trowa, Dederi, Ibaren, Nova, Wufei, and Haruka looked up, squinting to find out what the hell
was going on. As the slow descent of the dust particles soon ceased, and the cloud itself disappeared, everyone heard
a series of ravenous laughs and growls. The pilots and assassins took out their handguns and began to aim for the open
hole. Suddenly, a large, disgusting crimson creature poked it's head through the opening of the roof. Everyone wretched at
the corrosive sight of the creature. It looked like a monster wearing shoji black armor. It had massive teeth and
radioactive-colored green eyes, which glowed with a lust for blood and death. It's hands and feet were claws, as well,
and it's "skin" looked to be of a tough hide in a clumpy lava red tint. It brandished a long sword, and the hilt looked
to be carved of bone. It growled ferociously, globs of spit secreting from it's large teeth-filled mouth. Two other 'things'
exactly like the first, were then seen at the east side of the hole. The first creature took its sword and raised it up,
then brought it down in a single slicing motion. A large patch of the roof creaked and broke off from the structure and
began to fall, debris flying everywhere. Ibaren and Nova, as well as the rest of the pilots and senshi, ran away from where
the roof was going to crash. Dederi, though just stood there. She looked down at her feet. There was a dark red force
field covering her ankles and feet, in the form of chains. She didn't scream though. Dederi, despite her calm disposition,
struggled to get out of the red chain-field. [Shit.] The roof patch was directly above her.
======
AN: THAT WAS LOOONG!!!! Please review!!! I'd appreciate it!
Email: ketsekiburade@hotmail.com
