Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or the Arthurian Legends. I do, however, own Akebono
and the creation of Avalon as a world in itself.
my last breath
hold on to me love
you know i can't stay long
all i wanted to say was i love you and i'm not afraid
can you hear me?
can you feel me in your arms?
holding my last breath
safe inside myself
are all my thoughts of you
sweet raptured light it ends here tonight
i'll miss the winter
a world of fragile things
look for me in the white forest
hiding in a hollow tree (come find me)
i know you hear me
i can taste it in your tears
holding my last breath
safe inside myself
are all my thoughts of you
sweet raptured light it ends here tonight
closing your eyes to disappear
you pray your dreams will leave you here
but still you wake and know the truth
no one's there
say goodnight
don't be afraid
calling me calling me as you fade to black
~Evanescence~
This is dedicated to reviewers (again). I really don't know what I would do without you
guys. I certainly wouldn't feel motivated to continue writing without all the positive
feedback I've been getting. You have only yourselves to thank for the speed at which I got
this out (and an empty house with no distractions-that helped too).
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter 9:
Waking Up
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
He stoked gently at her hair, brushing stray tendrils matted with the storm's thick humidity from her face. She lay with her head pillowed on the green silk tunic that he had worn earlier, induced to a deep sleep with a little persuasion from Enmu. She may kill him when she woke, but for now, this was best. He needed to check on his family, his clan, and he could not risk her leaving while he was gone. The storm was still raging outside the cave, stray bolts striking earth, life, and rock indiscriminately. He could not risk her.
And he knew her soul: she would leave if given the chance. He had understood through their talks earlier in the day just how important her friends were to her. With no family, she had fallen even more heavily upon them, although, he had to infer that piece of information. The young woman really was too much like his own mother. Strong, and stubborn to a fault, never admitting her own weaknesses, and never backing down.
The lightning flashed overhead, its brilliant display perfectly in tune with the crash of thunder, a symphony of noise. Only the tail end of Akebono's silver braid was illuminated as it disappeared around the corner before the cave was once again plunged into darkness.
Makoto stirred restlessly in her sleep, dreams haunting her even with Enmu's caressing touch. Cool tendrils of moist air did nothing to sooth her flaming skin as sweat beaded along her face and rolled like drops of dewy rain down her throat. Only the wind was witness to her whimpers.
* * *
Colors flashed all around her, swirling, growing, and ebbing in the hypnotic seduction of a dance, a kind of flow and grace in the movements that was inhuman. First full of life and vivacity before shrinking and dulling to a low throbbing pulse, a beat just present beneath the undertones of chaos. An ordered turmoil of pulsating masses, some swaying and being flung wildly from the rotating swarm, while others merely swayed in tune to the vibrant notes. It told a story.
A story of life and death; an unraveling and re-woven tapestry that danced with fiery hues and drab tones; a thing alive not because of its unrest, but because of its variety. All living things must die, and the crazed frenzy of the crowd was made more real by the quiet acquiesce of its serene, breathing statues.
Makoto found herself at the center of the swirling disc, in a tight circle of clear space around which the dancers pulsed and orbited. Large, bell skirts swept through the space, while more elegant trains slid gracefully along with the music. The sound itself was a rich outpouring reminiscent of the life it was emulating.
For a long time she stood frozen within her circle of protection, view of the hall guarded by the flurry of activity that created a wall around her. Soon, the lure of the dancers swept over her as well. She found herself drawn into the ground, swept along in the current of life, the sounds at once so full and flat, and colors so vivid and drab, that it became impossible to ignore. She was carried away.
Then the flute-like trilling began to trail off, and more dainty, airy dancers slowly lost their flow. The strings fell away next, and the elegant royals were left standing breathless and undignified. The blaring trumpets and strutting voyeurs were lost amidst the dying sounds, and the deep throated noises of reeds and wood crashed with the collapse of the swaying lovers. As the last of the brass instruments gave their last dying throes of rich-bellied sound, so too did the last of the common dancers, important simply for their normality, drop slowly into quiet uneasiness. Makoto alone was left twirling among the still dancers, searching for a release amidst the eye of the storm.
A single trumpet suddenly took up its notes again, but this time, the noise was a clear, solitary sound amongst the silence. A call not so much for revelry as discipline, a call for their attention.
A figure emerged from a darkened doorway, her entry made all the more noticeable for the silence permeating the great hall of dancers. Makoto's gasp was alone in the noiseless room.
Standing on a raised dias, white hair falling in familiar streamers from her head, and expressive blue eyes scanning the entirety of the gathering, Queen Serenity smiled.
"It has been a long day indeed since we have had cause for such celebration," a benign glance around the hall and soft gesture of her hand complimenting her royal bearing and authority. "A Millennia of prosperity and riches is drawing to its close. Tonight ends my reign and the Silver Millennium." An appropriately saddened murmur thrummed through the crowd. "But be not saddened," Serenity continued, crystal voice silencing the humming noise better than any trumpet. "For soon my daughter will take her throne, with her Court by her side, and a new era, a new Millennia will be ushered in. The Age of Millennia grows with this new generation. Tonight, the last of Princess Serenity's Court is turning 18, and as is custom, they shall take on the burden of their parent's rule and their planet's power. Soon to be adults, they have been blessed and ordained by the gods as avatars of their sacred powers. Tonight, I will gift to my daughter, Selene's ginzuishou and the throne of the White Moon Kingdom, just as my loyal court shall bequeath their power and rule to their children as well. Come, my daughter, stand beside me and let me introduce you to your soon-to-be Kingdom."
Stepping from the same dark doorway her mother had come through, Princess Serenity of the White Moon came to stand beside her mother. Both beautiful women, shining with an otherworldly light, looked benevolently down on the gathered people in the room. Light reflected from the earth hanging low in the sky sending a eery, luminous shadow along their faces. They looked exactly like the few memories Makoto had of her last days in her past life as part of Serenity's Royal Court.
"We are here, as well, to honor, not only my daughter's ascent, but to celebrate that of her Court as well. Come Maia, Freya, Eos, and Juno, my daughter's court, and next in line of the Inner Senshi and Royals. Juno, youngest of the Court turns 18 at midnight tonight." Serenity paused briefly in her announcement to turn and smile brightly at the tall girl. Her blond haired daughter did the same, blue eyes dancing in transmuted mirth. Makoto gasped.
Juno, the girl both mother and daughter had smiled towards, was none other than her past self. At least, Makoto assumed she must be. The young woman was the tallest of the group, easily dwarfing her friends, but appearing average height when compared to the parents that stood behind her. This was that young girl from the golden city, grown into a young woman, and suddenly, everything made sense.
The crystal in the tower, the storms it could control, the nature it bended by sheer force of will, the trees that Makoto could now hear humming outside the domed, marble columns of the hall in which she stood, and that great tree that had grown alongside the floating golden city. Antai, her childhood friend, her wise mentor, Jupiter's eldest tree, an ancient of unfounded wisdom and breadth. She had dreamt of her past life, of her home city Indra, where the shimmering palace of her ancestors was floating above the gaseous center of her planet. A planet abundant with life-giving, yet ferocious storms; of giant trees whose branching roots stretched from the swirling core and created a network of interconnected plants throughout the entire world; of unnatural life created by the Sacred Stone, a physical representation of a god's power, of Zeus's power, the King of the gods. She remembered Arashi, the wonderful green dragon that protected her with its power, that she now drew upon for an attack as Sailor Jupiter. She remembered her parents.
The tall, green-haired woman stood only a few centimeters below her daughter's head, the same emerald green eyes shining from both women, a wisdom coloring one that had been earned by centuries of life, yet both appeared no older than the other in physical appearance and health. Her father, Jove, King of Jupiter, stood beside her mother, the very image of strength with his abnormal height, even for a Jovian, and tousled dark brown hair, falling into deep-set blue eyes. A handsome man by no means, but commanding with his presence, his aura making up for any lack in looks. The emerald colored crystal was no where in sight.
"Now Senshi, I must first ask you to hand me your wands. This is the last you will see of these," Serenity said, as the four girls handed over the crystal topped pens that would transform them into the Super Sailor forms. "After the coronation tonight, you shall no longer need such trivialities as these. Even now, it nears midnight. Let us begin." Queen Serenity turned with her daughter into the crowd, the people parting as the two ruling royals left to stand alongside the open wall where marble columns rose from the floor to arched ceilings. The descent of both was symbolic to the people. Remaining on the dias, stood the four Princesses of Serenity's Royal Court, their parents directly behind them. Onto both shoulders, one parent place a hand, and Queen Serenity's voice drifted from its position on the dance floor. "Let it begin."
The music began low at first, each note a muffled tone, one blending into the next with no distinction between changes in pitch. At the same moment, the planetary symbols on the four young foreheads began to glow. The slow transfer of power had begun.
Makoto watched in awe, as her past self fell into an oblivious haze, tangible wisps of power rising like steam from each adult before condensing back onto the girls until a soft glow began to surround them. Slowly, painstakingly, the glow began to intensify, broadening as more wisps of color began to rise from their parents.
The music was rising in a crescendo now, its beat picking up fullness and a rounded sound, each note sung distinctly and brilliantly in the clear air of the Moon. Makoto, eyes fascinated by the power she saw radiating from her past body, never noticed her friend's past self begin to dance with a masked prince.
The music seemed to have reached its uppermost limit, straining against each note in a struggle to play, the pitch leering into a screech as the upper registers were being used. Sound became a struggle to maintain with the same perfection as before, and the notes wavered in the air as though the effort was too much. The twelve royals on stage swayed in the same dangerous rhythm. No one moved to intercept.
Outside, the earth had risen to a place of dominance in the starry sky.
Makoto heard the soft patter of cat paws before she ever acknowledged the words they were yelling, and in a dawning moment of clarity, the sky fell down around her.
Revelers and dancers were scattering in every direction, and suddenly a tall white haired man was straining against the rushing crowds to her direction. He passed straight through her, and with another jolt of realization, the image of a white cat with a golden crescent moon blinked through her mind. Luna, still in her feline form, was ignoring her Queen's protests and forcibly pulling her dress hem with sharp fangs. The golden haired princess was no where to be seen.
The prophesied doom had once again befallen the already dead kingdom.
A weak tremor passed through Makoto's body, and, impulsively, she turned to face the shaky group of princesses being prematurely pulled from the transfer. Their parents lay drained and barely coherent on the floor. Channeling energy required far more focus and attention than accepting it. Queen Serenity finally came rushing to the trembling group of girls, black cat held securely in her arms, and Artemis, quickly covered a smirk.
"Wha... What's going on?" Minako-'no, he name would be Freya in this time' Makoto realized-asked blearily.
"Where's the Princess?" Eos asked with the same single minded intensity and concern that Rei would occasionally demonstrate.
"We're under attack," Serenity said wearily, "And Sere has disappeared. No one knows for sure if she left before the attack came or during the confusion. There are guards out looking for her. But I must hurry to the Holy Tower and retrieve the ginzuishou. Luckily Serenity and I have not yet begun the transfer. This attack is too well timed to be coincidence. Earth must have known that you would be at your weakest during this time of the ceremony and planned accordingly. Although how they have gotten past the outer defenses of the Kingdom..."
"We can worry about sabotage and traitors later, My Queen. There are other things that must take precedence." Luna said from Serenity's arms.
"Yes, yes, you are right Luna. My young Senshi, I know you are tired, but I must ask you to fulfill your duty. Find my daughter, your Princess, I fear for her life. You must..."
"Don't worry, Serenity-sama, we'll find Sere-sama for you," Makoto heard her past self declare with nearly the same inflections but a slight amount of additional grace present. The four girls ran outside, determined to find their Princess, determined to fight in their weakened state, even if it meant that they would only have access to their lowest transformation and basest powers, especially without the transformation wands that would boost their power levels to Super.
"I fear for those girls as well, Luna. Beryl has loosed something far worse than jealously... I can feel its evil..." Serenity said with a burdened sigh, eyes following their fleeing forms even after they had vanished from sight.
"So do I," Luna whispered softly, barely audible.
Makoto swiftly closed her eyes, unable to watch anymore, already seeing in her eyes the vivid details, watching as the story unfolded in her mind. Serenity's cry for Endymion was a distant echo to her ears, but within her mind, it reverberated endlessly. She watched through closed eyelids as Minako fell to Kunzite's sword, his lover simultaneously cutting down Mercury, Mars collapsed with a dagger in her ribs, Jadeite smirked from his position, and Juno... Makoto let out a strangled gurgle as the blood welled in her lungs and Nephrite's boot came to rest on her throat. The world exploded in the same colors of the dancers. Pinpoints of light, laughing and whirling before her eyes until being slowly swallowed by darkness, absolute and complete black. Had she air to scream...
Then, with the rushing roar of an incoming tornado, a silver light swept along the black plains, and Makoto breathed in.
There was dancing again, a vibrating tapestry of colors. And life came rushing back to her in the same instant of consciousness, but, it was not the life that Makoto had remembered. Juno was awakened.
* * *
With a gasp, Makoto bolted upright. And the world exploded in noise. Uttering a pained cry, she bent forward, head buried in her hands as she ducked them between her knees. The very rock upon which she sat was speaking a slow, methodic cadence, and she wanted to scream, but the storm was already occupying that task.
It was roaring with injustice, a high-pitched yell of frustration and rage. The saplings were mewling piteously, crying out in scared pain. Older, wiser trees were singing a soothing whisper trying to simultaneously calm both storm and children, but to be heard above the sharp cries of pain and anger, they were all clamoring loudly, seldom in the same language or song, let alone in harmony. Makoto felt tears being squeezed from her tightly clasped eyes.
She was fighting for dominance in her own mind. Struggling against some nameless force that prodded and begged to be freed. Thoughts that were never her own flashed before her mind's eye, and memories resurfaced briefly before being suppressed. Had her entire attention been devoted to the effort, she may have held on longer. But as it was, the alien voice had a strength and experience that she could not combat while being simultaneously bombarded with a world full of noise. Makoto caved and fell, disappearing beneath the second presence.
Slowly, the screeching noises were muted, the loudest being muffled as though through water, their yells drowning. Then a refreshing coolness spread through her mind, rinsing away years of unknown abuse from ignorance with the gentle wash of a spring shower. Then the memories assaulted her.
Memories not only of her childhood but of another childhood, and suddenly, Makoto realized who shared her mind. Soon events began to mix in her mind, years overlapping, friends' quirks and oddities being compared and filed as Serenity became Usagi in her mind and Usagi was Serenity, two people merging into one, just as Juno merged with Makoto. Two pasts, becoming one.
Makoto sat shivering on the cold stone floor, head still between her knees, and arms wrapped around her legs as contradictory images assaulted her tired mind and battered her fatigued body. She was changing.
She was remembering.
* * *
She still stood shivering at the mouth of the cave. The cold rain pelted her form, but in her absentmindedness she either did not notice or did not care. As her thoughts once again began to reconcile themselves with one another, certain new skills began to make themselves known. At the back of her mind, as though she could brush her fingers against tangible threads, were links that connected her to her fellow senshi. Now they were as muddled as she felt, tangled and twined around one another until all she could tell was that they were all safe and well. But that at least meant that they could do the same for her, because she knew, without any explanation as to how she was so certain of the knowledge, that they had regained their memories as well.
She was 18 on Earth. She had been 18 when she would have been given her full abilities as a senshi. She had been 18 when she died.
The storm stirred restlessly, and in the gut of her belly, Makoto could feel an answering pull. Buried deep within, she could feel the new power, her planet's ultimate power. It was alive and throbbing within her, waiting until she should first need to call it in order to fully reveal itself. But even now, she could use the tendrils of its power. Nature sang to her.
And with help from past memories she knew now how to listen without actually hearing, as she had done before and nearly gone deaf. Nature had no mouth to speak of, so she could not use her physical ears to listen, hearing nature involved a deeper sense. That sense that resided just beneath her heart, that, right now, was knotted into so tangled a ball, only the outer most edges were accessible. She would have to wait for it to unwind before she could find the heart of her power, the emerald colored crystal that would give her back her senshi abilities, her true form, the only form that worked within Avalon's magic.
A twittering among the trees along the lower edge of Makoto's field of vision, alerted her to an additional presence. 'Listening' closely, she heard a few snatches of the whispered conversation: "... no manners... kids... older than you... I never... Hey... roots... oww... damn... overgrown... menances... I don't... Look out Juno, it is approaching swiftly, my old friend." Makoto leapt back in surprise, falling deeper into the cave at the sudden direct address. Darkness swallowed her figure gladly.
When a shape stood framed in the entrance of the cave, Makoto was suddenly glad of the shadows; they offered her an air of protection. With a kindly phrased sentence, Makoto 'asked' the storm for a small bit of illumination. With a frustrated roar translated into both Juno's mind and a rumbling peal of thunder, a sharp crack of lightning forked down, striking the ground at opposite site of the rock platform. The figure in the doorway jumped, but the light had been enough to recognize exactly who it was that was standing there.
With an inexplicable anger mounting within her, compounded by her loathing for the confusion and small amount of fear she had been feeling due to her birthday dream, Makoto marched to the front of the cave, swiftly grabbing an arm and forcibly turning the figure to face her, emerald eyes flashing dangerously in the darkness.
"Where the *hell* have you been?!" Makoto yelled frantically, anger masking the worry she had desperately tried to fight as her problems and fears had continued to multiple upon waking.
"There's no time for that now," he whispered urgently as he latched onto her upper arm, "You must follow me."
The insistence in his voice made her pause, and her anger fell away, leaving only the worry behind. "Ake," she began, uncertainty coloring her voice, "What do you mean? What's going on?"
He paused as he looked at her, the grip on her arm still tight, but his gaze troubled. "There's been an attack... on the palace."
"Wh... What? Oh kami! My friends. I have to go! Usagi-chan!" But Akebono ensnared her with his arms, binding her struggling body tightly against his own. "Let me go! Let go Dragon! I have to help them!"
"Stop this Mako. Stop. There's nothing you could do. It's over now. I promise you: you're friends weren't harmed. Apparently they only wanted the King and Queen of your palace. The battle is done with now. It's all over."
"I still have to go back," she pleaded desperately, her voice rising in pitch as she struggled to reign in her emotions, "I... I can't just leave them without knowing for sure... without seeing them."
"I promise that no one else was harmed when the King and Queen were taken. The black dragons apparently struck at sunset, only a few hours ago, while nearly everyone was celebrating their recent victory. The King and Queen had been alone, supposedly safe within their own castle."
Makoto fell silent, worry still gnawing at her from within, but a question bubbling to the surface and out her mouth before she realized what she was asking. "Who was leading them... er... I mean... the black dragons... I thought Toshinokou said that they weren't really all they bright, and would have to have someone behind their movements. It was a gold dragon at that last attack..." She trailed off, unsure of herself as a strange light came to Akebono's eyes.
"It would have to be a dragon that was leading them. Even Lesser Dragons only obey other dragons." Then suddenly Akebono's grip tightened again, a fire burning in his eyes. "That is why you must come with me. I will not risk you returning to the castle when a dragon could attack at any moment. Come with me, Mako. You'll be better protected within a dragon's castle."
"I can't," she cried, emotion causing her to shake in his hands, "I can't just leave my friends at the castle when a dragon could attack again, I have to be there for them. I can't... I won't leave them."
Akebono looked torn, the anguish in his eyes warring with his worry for her. Finally, with a far deeper seated look of pain, he came to a decision. "Alright," he said softly. "Just come with me now, and I promise once we get to the castle, and you are safe, I will go and retrieve your friends from the castle. They will all easily fit on my back, and they will be far safer at a dragon's stronghold rather than a mere human's castle. For you, Mako, I'll bring them."
Makoto sagged in relief in his arms, knowing now that her friends would be safer soon than they were right now. She could also still feel, their healthy presence at the back of her mind, and she knew that, for now, there was no reason to panic. There would be plenty of time for that later.
"Alright, Ake. I'll go with you."
Author's Notes:
If I've planned this properly, then there should be four chapters left after this one. For now, this story is 13 long, but depending on how carried away I get with the action in the chapter, it may change, but I'm on a writing kick for now, so I'm turning these out pretty quickly. I'm determined to have this story finished before summer. Of course I'm also having to do a lot of writing for scholarships, so I guess we'll see how much time I have to get these out. Look for a new story after this is finished, not sure whether it'll be an original one about a vampire or a DBZ/SM crossover, both with a new twist on an old story. They're both in the works, so no matter what I post, I will continue to work on both, but neither are anywhere near completed. Although I do have a general outline for both, and at least a first chapter. Tell me which one you would prefer, or if you just want both at the same time and probably slower updates, especially if my boyfriend keeps stealing my time, but hey! Whatcha' going to go? ::shrugs::
