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.
Book of Days
One day, one night, one moment
My dreams could be tomorrow
One step, one fall, one falter
East or West,
Over earth or by ocean
One way to be my journey
This way could be my
Book of Days
No day, no night, no moment
Can hold me back from trying
One flag, one fall, one falter
I'll find my day maybe
Far and Away
Far and Away
One day, one night one moment
With a dream to be leaving
One step, one fall, one falter
Find a new world across a wide ocean
This way became my journey
This day br /ings together
Far and Away
This day brings together
Far and Away
Far and Away.
~Enya
This is dedicated to Miki Chen, my best and truest friend. May we one day meet again.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter 10:
A Gray World
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Kochi was completely gone from the horizon, not even a single spire of the gray castle crested the curvature of this world. Although in the darkness that the storm induced, the horizon was blended into muted grays of misty rain and ominous clouds.
Akebono, was leading her swiftly through the forest, the dense growth not allowing him to transform into his speedier form, and the sporadic flashes of lightning preventing air travel. He also refused to use Enmu to teleport them, saying the less opportunity the other dragons had to feel Enmu's power, the harder it would be for them to pinpoint the wet couple. With a war waging in Avalon, brethren could be either friend or foe. It had taken them until nearly dawn to reach their destination, the only indication of daylight being a slightly lighter gray growing and spreading along the eastern horizon.
The entire world around Makoto was a wash of gray colors. Darkened leaves blending into the misty rain that fell, shadows chasing away color while the thick cover of clouds still dominated the sky. Only at the outermost edges of vast landscape was the storm a smaller force, with clouds thin enough to allow the soft diffused gray light to fall of ruffled trees. The air itself had a washed out feel, nearly gray in taste as well as sight. The pallor that dulled the colors of the life around her was slowly seeping into her skin as well, until her limbs were weary of movement and her already burdened mind was lost in a fog. Gray flooded her vision, to the sides, around, below... above, a mountain loomed gray.
Makoto, in her weariness, had not even been aware of their approach to the sheer cliff face of one side of the mountain. But now, its tallest spire, a craggy summit of porous rock, shot defiantly above the trees, its sharp crest resting in the clouds, until moist gray blended with weathered rock.
Akebono had stopped in front of her, head cocked to one side as though listening. "Stay right here, Mako, I need to check something first. I'll be back soon." He told her, eyes still focused on some distant shape. Makoto watched as his silver braid disappeared into the gray mist that thickly cloaked this part of the forest.
A choked cry briefly tore through the air, before the oppressive silence descended once again. The ground rumbled beneath Makoto's feet.
Poking his head timidly around a tree, Makoto found herself once again staring into Akebono's clear blue eyes. She jumped at first, a little surprised by his change. He was once again in dragon form, only his tapered head and long, stretching neck visible. His mouth was set in a grin, glistening white fangs fully revealed.
"Come, Mako. It's safe here. Welcome to my home."
Makoto stepped into the clearing beyond the fringe of trees, returning Akebono's grin with a small nervous smile of her own. Her mouth soon fell open in shock.
Rising like a leviathan from the murky depths, the dark rock loomed above her. It face was shorn neatly from rock, looking as though a giant had sliced jaggedly through the stone with a serrated carving knife. Its calm face was scarred by deep ridges and weathered marks of long past battles. A single entrance gaped like an open maw from midway up the mountain, stalagmites and stalactites lining the yawning hole. This was Akebono's home.
"This is Yamajiro[1]," Akebono said softly in the deep, reverberating voice of his dragon form, a touch of pride coloring his tone. "This is home." Quickly he shook himself from the thoughts that were clouding his mind as he kneeled low to the ground. "Climb on, Mako. The only way to get in is by flying inside. The guard is expecting us, so no fear."
Makoto nodded, still numb from shock. Akebono's home was inside a mountain.
She reached automatically for the ridges of spine that protruded from his back, settling herself comfortably between the neck ridges. With great thrusts of his bat-like wings, Akebono rose slowly into the air. Gaining momentum and altitude as he flew above the opening, before allowing gravity to pull him back, Akebono glided soundlessly through the oblong doorway, even his large wingspan no where near filling the width. They landed with the rushing sound of displaced air from the heavy back draft of his wings and a dull thud.
Makoto felt oddly dwarfed and insignificant in the large, cavernous room, its breadth easily holding the two full grown dragons.
The second dragon, who had been hidden in the shadows upon their entrance, strode quickly forward to greet the two new arrivals. He was a rather large blue dragon, nearly Akebono's height and with a decidedly burly appearance, even next to Akebono's bulk. His scales had the glimmering iridescent color of tropical water, a clear blue that sparkled in the sun, yet in the murkiness of the dark cavern, looked more like deeper water, like the unknown. He inclined his head at Akebono, the two horns protruding from the base of his skull becoming more visible, one looked as though it had been shorn clean off and only a squat stub was left.
"Akebono-sa... n," the blue dragon intoned automatically, stumbling over the silver dragon's title. Makoto tilted her head in question, but neither dragon paid her any notice. "Your
mother is expecting you. She is down in the Core." He said, giving another small nod as Akebono turned to Makoto.
He bent down on his knees once again, and by now, Makoto understood the offering without need for clarification. She soon settled herself into the familiar seat between his the two ridges of spinal bone on his neck. "We can travel faster this way," Akebono offered by way of explanation.
The blue dragon looked on incredulous. Makoto could feel his eyes following their progress from the large, oval shaped cavern into a tunnel wide enough for three dragons Akebono's size to walk abreast. She shivered from atop her perch.
"Where are we headed, Ake?" She asked after a moments pause, desperately needing to rid her mind of the unnerving gaze the blue dragon had sent her way.
"We're heading towards my home inside this mountain. Everyone calls it the Core because it's in the heart of the mountain, in its very depths. Right now we're in the older tunnels of the mountain," he volunteered, gesturing with a clawed wing to the rough hewn walls of the large tunnel. "This was built long ago, when Avalon was still young, and dragons were few in number. That entrance we just came through is the slightly more secretive way into the mountain. Its only tall enough for one dragon to fly through, and so can be guarded by a single dragon against attack. The more traditional entrance is on the other side of the mountain, but that one is very well guarded. This way our progress will be quicker and less hindered."
Makoto knew they were slowly winding their way down, deeper into the stone and earth, but the gradual decline was so slight that it was impossible to tell without some sort of sixth sense. Luckily, Makoto had one of those. The rock and earth seemed older here. Spoke slower, as though the time it took to say a single word really did not matter in the grand scheme of things that this stone had seen. Even its accent was far more archaic than the above ground dwellers, less affected by the slow march of time. The tunnels themselves also seemed to growing steadily narrower, beginning a slow progression down in size until Akebono, with his greater than average size, even for a dragon, was forced to stop.
"Time for a little change, wouldn't you say, Mako?" He asked teasingly as she clambered down from her tall seat. Makoto watched in awe as Akebono's form was first outlined in a silver glow. His body appearing more metallic now than ever before with the sheen of light across his scales. He slowly began to diminish in size, still retaining his dragon shape, only shrinking at first. Then subtle changes began to show. The glossiness of his skin remained, a silver sprinkling of dust painting it, but the warm glow of living skin burned from beneath, pale in comparison to warm-blooded humans, but with the same delicate smoothness. The hardness of the scales seemed to translate itself more into personality than physical appearance. The jutting bones lining his skull shrunk into prominent cheekbones and small protrusions of cartilage along his ears. His neck, still unnaturally tall and elegant, became far smaller in proportion to the rest of his body, its silver color and length being transferred to the braid growing from the base of his skull where the graceful horns once grew. The razor sharp talons of his feet lost their black gloss and smoothed into the elegant hands of a pianist, the sharpness still present, although muted from its former glory and deadliness. The tail disappeared completely, its function in balance no longer a necessity for a two legged creature whose wings only worked well enough for gliding. The hollowness of a dragon's bones that allowed for flight was filled in the terrestrially grounded human-like raptor[2]. The light still shone around his now human skin, giving off light without any real definition to his body. Then it began to smooth over his chest, leaving his face cloaked in shadow compared to the light swirling blindingly around the rest of him. The light began to solidify, forming the loose, flowing white undershirt and black pants, medieval in their style and free in their movement. A jade green tunic appeared over both, open in the front with a band of gold ribbon lining the edges and threads of golden leaves and vines embroidered a the base of the tunic which fell straight to his knees. The renaissance look was completed by the tall, laced boots which reach mid-calf.
The light disappeared completely once it formed the clothes he wore, but Makoto only belatedly realized that her mouth was still hanging open. Akebono opened his pale blue eyes, the only feature of the winged human that was still unchanged from either dragon or human form, and smirked at her shell shocked look. "See something you like?"
Makoto's jaw shut with an audible snap, flames spreading rapidly across her cheeks.
"Come along," Akebono said a brilliant grin stretched across his face. "We're heading into the newer tunnels."
"Newer tunnels?" Makoto questioned, trying unsuccessfully to cool her burning skin.
Akebono gave her an amused look. "If I'm 326 and relatively young in dragon terms, then do you think the original tunnels would hold all the new dragons that are born throughout the years?"
'Damn, now I'll never stop blushing,' Makoto thought angrily as she stuttered out a reply in order to cover her mistake. Akebono merely laughed encouragingly.
"Don't worry. These tunnels are actually rather new. Normally when the numbers grew too large to be contained in the mountain, the dragons would move away. There are probably hundreds of dragon colonies, all nearly identical in structure, around Avalon. Dragons may only have one hatchling in their life, but with our life's bordering on immortal, it begins to add up. I believe a few of the more tenacious dragons from the Silver Millennium are still going strong." Makoto gaped.
"Don't look so shocked. At least there is only one dragon that counts his age using millennia like we do single years... Otherwise he'd take a minute just to list his age." He mused, thoughtfully to himself. "Of course, the only reason he's so old is because he was alive before time mattered. Alters your perception of reality slightly..."
"There's a dragon... that's older than time itself?!"
"Don't look at me like that. Most dragons don't live anywhere near that long. We tend to just let ourselves join with Enmu when we grow too tired of living." Akebono gave Makoto a bitter-sweet, lopsided grin, "Immortality isn't everything. Sometimes, death is a welcome thing, especially when life is no longer worth living..." Akebono trailed off sadly, thoughts lost in some past horror.
"Ake," Makoto whispered softly, letting her hand fall to his arm in an effort to distract him. Akebono abruptly shook his head, as though the physical move freed his mind of its memories.
"These tunnels..." He began again, the change in subject painfully obvious even to his own ears. "They were built smaller so that they would all fit inside the mountain. We could have used illusion I suppose, to make the mountain seem bigger on the inside than it is on the outside, but dragons very rarely tamper with illusions in their homes. Enmu is our guest here, not our servant. So we are forced to use our human-like forms the farther down we travel in the mountains."
The two continued their walk in silence, Makoto unconsciously leaning into Akebono's form as they progressed ever downward. After a short while, Makoto began to notice the stone growing warmer beneath her feet. Its once cool surface giving off a soothing heat. The rock also seemed more alive now. Its voice far more animated and passionate than the previous rock had been, although its accent was still the archaic, stunted speech of older times. Akebono saw her puzzled expression and smiled.
"We going deeper into the earth," he explained gently, "Dragons are not the only ones to breath flames here. Even the mountain burns."
Makoto felt an involuntary chill travel down her spine despite the heat of the floor. She turned her head quickly to the side, distracting herself by watching the corridors that branched from the narrow hallway they were currently walking in. They all seemed endless, stretching and curving away into the darkness unlit by torches. Some passageways had thick wooden doors barring their entry. The woods were from thousands of different trees, some so old that Makoto could still feel the lingering song within them. Some doors were ornately carven, designs of flaming mountains and misty forests depicted on their polished surface, others were iron studded with dark knots tainting the color, splinters growing from the unevenly sawed wood. Others still were plain, unadorned, but all, even if only in some subtle way, different, be it the tree they were carven from or the care taken in making them.
Akebono caught her wandering gaze, his sudden explanation startling her, "Those are my brethren's dens, a family behind each. Come I'll take you to my family's den. Despite the door size, you'll find they are actually quite large. I do not know how you humans deal with family, but it is not uncommon for our clan to live with several generations of sires."
"Some humans live with their extended family," Makoto said, answering the silent question, "But most tend to move out once they are old enough and start a new family."
"Strange," Akebono murmured quietly, a puzzled frown on his face, "There wouldn't be enough room within the mountain if all theses rooms only had a single family within each. They would be rather empty as well. With only one child for each couple, families tend to be rather small, unless ancestors are included. Of course, nearly everyone within the mountain is related in some way. Whether through an outside clan or through our bonds within this clan itself. Even if we are not related by blood, we are related through our homes. Although it is still quite unusual to see a human inside the mountain; it is rare enough for elves to walk these halls every few millennia or so. We did have a human in here fairly recently, well recently for dragons anyway. You, however, are perhaps the first one in a long while to ever set foot inside with an invitation. The last one human that was here..." Akebono let his voice trail off, mind lost in a previous memory as his eyes unfocused. Makoto, blushing brilliantly at being the center of so much unwarranted attention for merely being human, was too embarrassed to notice Akebono's halted sentence.
"My cousins' den," he began again, using the term loosely, "Is just around this bend. You'll like their company. They are all unmated, and some are rather young, perhaps near to the dragon equivalent of your age. Similar ages tend to group together if their families are close enough friends. They are all old friends of my family, with old fealty oaths and blood pacts binding our families. Their parents, I believe, are visiting an old family line from a distant clan, so you shall be free to visit with them as you please. I'll introduce you to them, then I must find my mother and tell her of my return before I go to collect your friends. It should not take long, provided they come willingly."
Makoto began to laugh, "That will happen the day Hell freezes over." She said, still laughing uproariously, just imagining the feuds that would occur between the large silver dragon and Haruka as well as between her friends themselves. She almost pitied the poor silver monolith, almost.
Akebono snorted, and looked about to retort, except for the sound of frantic shouting coming from behind them. Turning curiously, Makoto saw a short, stocky boy with moss green hair running towards them. The baby fat was still clouding his face, making his eyes appear small and beady in the smooth rolls of his cheeks.
He ran panting up to them, immediately falling on his knee as he tried to catch his breath. "A..." he began laboriously, unable even to articulate anything beyond the first syllable of Akebono's name.
"Just breathe," Akebono said soothly before his voice took a note of command, "And tell me what it is you have to say."
Skipping any preamble, the boy choked out his message, "Warriors... heading... this way... the Queen..." He dropped off, finally collapsing bonelessly at Akebono's feet, and Makoto could not help but wonder exactly where he had come running from.
Akebono cursed violently and fluently, "I had hoped we would have had more time. Damn them! I must get to the Queen. Hurry, this way." He said, grasping her arm and pulling her forward.
"But... what about..." She began, turning her head around to stare at the harshly breathing figure on the floor, his body convulsing spasmodically.
"He'll be fine," Akebono said shortly. "No time for that now. They will attack soon." Makoto found herself now standing in front of one of the more elaborately carved doors, its frame and wooden face depicting a paradisaical garden. "Quickly," he whispered frantically, voice seeming more out of control for its lack of intensity than if he had shouted. The door opened to reveal a tall, slim woman, hair caught on top of her head in a braided crown, while straight tendrils fell to frame her face and cascade down her back. She wore the light flowing gown of an elf, but had the same, sharp features as Akebono, her face appearing even more ferocious with its angles than his.
"Ake-" The woman began, obviously startled to see him, before the silver dragon interrupted.
"There's no time Keikoku-san[3]." He thrust Makoto inside forcibly, and she found her mind whirring at the strength he showed in the abrupt move. "Protect her as you would your family. I must go."
"Ake-kun, what's going on?" The young, female dragon asked worriedly, her white blonde hair falling between the blades of her now outstretched, nearly pearly white wings. A gold sheen caught the light as she fluttered them in agitation.
"We're soon to be under attack. Guard her. I must find my mother."
"Ake, don't you dare just leave me like this," Makoto started angrily, eyes flashing, "I will not just sit here while you go out there to fight battles. I can help. I know how to take care of myself."
Akebono stopped, staring tenderly at her for a moment, and Makoto suddenly remembered his comment about her when she was angry. 'Oh kami, now I'll never be able to stay mad at him,' she thought sulkily, automatically placing him and his mannerisms in her future without consciously acknowledging it. "Mako," he whispered affectionately, cupping her cheek in his hand, "Looks like I won't be able to go get your friends after all. I am sorry." Then, before her foggy mind had a chance to register what he was doing, the solid door was shut and barred in front of her.
"Damn you, Ake! You get back here you overgrown silver lizard!" She cried, punching the door with all her might and ignoring her now bruised and bleeding knuckles.
Keikoku watched with wide eyes and an amused grin, shocked but enjoying her entertainment fully as Makoto continued to come up with new and inventive curses for the long since gone dragon.
***
The thunder rumbled overhead, muting the noises of the forest with its ominous presence. Only the labored breaths of her horse reached her ears above the clamor. They had been running for miles, being led in a wide circle through the thickly grown forest in an effort to avoid detection until their final approach, as well as to avoid being identified with a certain kingdom. They could not afford approaching from the direction of Kochi.
She was not used to riding, her muscles bowed and sore, strained in an uncomfortable position across the wide expanse of the animal's back, and the pounding rain stung her face. No one felt like complaining, however.
Mist clung like an invasive presence to the leafy boughs, keeping watch from the darkness of the trees' shadowed leaves, and the rain fell now in a cold drizzle. The previous downpour having abated with only the distant rumble of overpowering thunder and brilliant illumination of electric light across the darkened sky, yet the air above them was still painted in washes of gray and shadow.
The gray world in which they traveled did nothing to lessen the somber attitude of the group, if anything, the less violent the storm became, the more agitated the warriors grew.
"We're almost there," he told the scattered group behind him. He had dispensed of his charm, it was of no use on dragons. Only the elf still had his natural beauty still in place; it was the form he was most comfortable in.
The tall man leaned forward over the long neck of his horse and sung a few notes into the oppressive lull that filled the forest between rolls of thunder and the horses began to slow their gait, moving more like the mist that drifted through the trees.
"This is as far as we can go on horseback. They're too brightly colored, we'd be seen a mile off."
"We're a mile from the castle!"
"No, not qui--"
"You baka!" A girl with dark, raven hair hissed violently. "What does it matter how far we have to walk. What we're doing is more important than that!"
"Well, actually we're-- " He tried again, before being cut off.
The petite girl, no longer sitting stiff and sore on a horse, turned towards her friend with something akin to understanding in her eyes. "Rei-chan, no need to be so mean," but the words were spoken in a different tone than their normal whining keen. "We're all worried about Mako-chan, but surely you can feel her at the back of you mind. You know as well as I that she's safe. Can't you feel her, feel how strong her link is. She's safe... *and* she remembers."
The blue-haired senshi stood gazing at her friend quietly, observing all the mannerisms and small quirks of the small, young princess. "You've changed, Usagi-chan..."
The blonde princess smiled a sad, wistful smile, gaze fixed on the storm roiling above them. The look was a foreign one for Usagi, with all her normal teenage flippancy. "We all have, Ami-chan." Then she turned her head towards the loosely grouped senshi, all hovering worriedly around her, and the smile transformed into the carefree, innocent grin they were all used to seeing on her face, and the tension fell from their faces.
"It's still me guys, just all of me. You've all changed, too. Just most of you are too stubborn to either realize or admit it..." Haruka gave an indignant snort.
"Odango atama..." Rei began threateningly.
"I know you had the dreams too. I know you spent the rest of the night, like me, staring into nothing as you remembered. And I know that you are all just as worried about Mako-chan, and where she might be, or what could have happened to her as I am... but you have to trust your memories, trust that our new abilities work, and that the link couldn't possibly be wrong."
"But Usagi-chan," the troubled senshi of Venus began, "Shouldn't we be able to tell more than that. You're our princess, the leader of the senshi now, shouldn't you be able to tell *where* she is?"
"We should be lucky that the link is there at all, Minako-san," Michiru said gently, answering for Usagi. "It shouldn't even be this strong without us performing the ritual binding. Just be glad that we know she is safe." Minako nodded sadly, understanding Michiru's explanation even as she remembered the truth, but not liking it. Laysheynir came to stand beside her, the tall elf draping a comforting arm along her slouched shoulders. Had it been any other time, the odd glint in Usagi's eyes would have led to teasing.
"We need to leave soon," the bird-like man told them urgently. And it would be wise if you would transform here before we get too close to the castle." He paused looking around the forest and their mist cloaked boughs. "This is their territory. The very forest is watching our approach. It will most likely not be a surprise for them that we are heading that way. We must move quickly in order to surprise them."
The senshi nodded in understanding, looking at one another before turning to look within themselves. Searching for the ultimate power of the sailor senshi and their planets.
No words were needed. This was magic at its most basic and primal form, the magic granted them by the gods and by their very planets themselves. It consumed them.
Cloaking them in their elements, the forces they were most in tune with, the forest around them began to fall away. Memories fought for supremacy in their mind, until both past life and present blurred together, Haruna-san lecturing on the basics of alchemy while Serenity wailed at Luna for scolding her about her senshi duties. Two lives merged into one, until in a muted flash of light, silence descended once again on the clearing.
"Freya," Serenity began, turning to the Soldier of Love and Beauty, "I want you to lead the senshi for now. You have more experience and training than I do in these matters. We will follow your lead, and I will not question your orders unless I must." Laysheynir and Apsara stared at the newly transformed senshi for a long time, both taking in the new look and the apparent changes in attitude. An entirely different person stood before them. Then Serenity smiled. "Let's go get back our friends, ne? And then we can go find Juno and give her a good talking to." The same innocent smile was still rooted on her face, and Laysheynir and Apsara knew now that it was not a different person they were looking at, only a changed one.
Endymion stepped forward then, wearing the armor he had worn in his previous life, now trimmed in gold and carrying a broadsword with a burned bronze hilt, a golden crystal gleaming beneath his palm. "The earth is restless. Much is about to happen, and soon."
"Well, lead the way, Apsara, since you seem to know where their castle is."
"A little birdie told me," he said with a smirk, shaking any troubling thoughts from his mind as he envisioned the upcoming battle.
Pluto gave a snort of laughter, "I have no doubt of that."
"Well then, follow me pretty ladies," he said with a sweeping bow, scraggly hair falling in his face as he stretched out one scaly, bird like foot. The wings on his back rustled nervously, seeming now doubly inadequate next to the sweeping, pearly white feathered wings on Sailor Moon's back.
Sailor Moon was the one that most resembled her previous form. Only a few changes occurring in her outfit, the majority affecting her bearing. The wings on her back were now far more realistic, looking more angelic than battle worthy. The color scheme of her uniform had also changed completely. The three tiered skirt was now layered with white, silver, and gossamer ruffles. The puffed sleeves on her shoulder had been discarded completely, now allowing freer movement with only a diaphanous silver covering them. Her bows were silver as well, complementing the jagged shard of crystal that grew from the center of her chest, identical to the form the ginzuishou had taken to heal Galaxia. The crescent moon symbol shone brightly on her forehead, while pearls and silver beads adorned her golden tresses.
The other senshi were arrayed out similarly around her, minus the angelic wings. Their respective color schemes decorating their outfits and a broach of what looked to be their barely contained element swirling in the center of their bow. Within, pulsed the power of their respective crystals. Only Serenity's stood out plain and glorious from her chest. Its might and potential frightening despite its fragile beauty.
Apsara quickly looked away, leading the senshi towards the towering obelisk of stone. They paused at the fringe of a semi-circle of charred ground surrounding the entrance into the castle.
"I though you said we were a mile away," Sailor Moon pouted angrily. A chorus of shushing noises sounded around her. Apsara ignored her as she had previously done him.
"This is it. The castle of the yuugiri clan. This is what that mage you told us of was talking about. Queen Owari is ruler of this clan. You don't know of this, but she left a message behind after the black dragons had taken the King and Queen."
"Oh, what did it say?" Venus asked curiously, bubbly blonde personality shining through.
"It didn't actually say anything. In the Queen's throne was the body of the man who had attacked you. I was surprised that they had used a human at all to get to you. But I suppose a dragon in your world would have been too much, too chaotic in a world which has forgotten magic. Who knows if they could even live without their illusions..." He trailed off deep in though, before shaking his scraggly mane of black hair, turning to address the senshi around him again.
"This clan is violently opposed to humans. They are the oldest clan, and this has been their stronghold for millennia. They still hold with Enmu's belief that humans are inferior, that they should not rule at all. That is most likely why you were targeted as well, for being the last remnants of a great and powerful human monarchy.
"These dragons like to make a statement. I have heard some of them have even gone so far as to attack neighboring dragon mountains. Places where those dragons are not so opposed to human interaction. It would not surprise me if we found dragon rulers imprisoned along with the human ones."
"They attack their own kind?" Saturn asked aghast.
"They do not attack dragon clans that have been bonded into their own. They are actually, fiercely loyal to their clan and all other clans that have been bonded to them, even the occasional elf that has found its soulmate within. And they would all die for their Queen without even being asked. Even among their enemies, their loyalty and courage is amendable, as well as their savagery and strength. This will not be easy. We shall have a mountain full of dragons against us."
Sailor Moon looked out on the scorched earth surrounding the great entrance of the mountain, a castle face carved into its side. "So I guess we're going through the front door."
Uranus smiled grimly, pulling out her space sword talisman, while Apsara gravely answered. "This is the only entrance to this mountain. Some dragon mountains have two entrances, but this mountain stronghold was carved so long ago that no such one could be built. The very mountain would probably crack from the strain of having another cavern drilled into its side ."
"Well, no time like the present, I suppose," Venus pointed out, taking up her role as leader of the Inner Senshi as she had done during the Silver Millinnium. "They've no doubt seen us if, as you say, the forest has eyes and ears. So I suppose a direct approach it its. Stick to cover for as long as possible before you move out along the open ground. That area was burned for a reason."
The weight of the situation settled firmly around the warriors, as they regarded one another silently. "You keep behind us, Princess," Uranus commanded sternly, voice leaving no room for argument. "Endymion, stay with her."
Taking a deep, calming breath, the senshi leaped from their cover, sprinting across the open land, dry, brittle grass crackling beneath their feet.
The only sound echoing around the dragon-made clearing was that of nervous breathing and racing hearts as the senshi flattened themselves against the wall.
"Well, that wasn't so bad," Sailor Moon commented, still panting both from exertion and nerves.
Uranus frowned darkly, "We're walking into a trap." The other people around her stilled as they realized the truth of her words.
Sailor Moon slowly regained control of her breathing and turned her flushed face to look at her friends, "Yes. We are." And there was a note of command in her voice that had seldom been present before. The other senshi nodded in understanding around her before she turned her attention to Apsara and Laysheynir. "You don't have to come with us. This is our duty, and we won't involve you if you do not wish to be a part of it."
Laysheynir answered for both of them as he stepped forward coming to stand beside Sailor Venus. "I believe that we are already involved."
The senshi of the moon offered a small smile as she turned to Venus. "Well lead the way then, Freya, but don't let that pretty little elf distract you too much."
"Sere!" She whined pleadingly, "Don't tease... unless of course you need for us to separate you from Endymion, too." Moon blushed slightly before quickly shaking her head, keeping her lips firmly pressed together. Sailor Mars looked at her teasing friends, recognizing immediately the ploy they were using. Both were terrified, but refused to allow it to show or gain a hold of them. They were going to do what was right, what was needed, despite their fear, or, perhaps, because of it.
They moved quickly through the arched entrance of the castle, columns of stone carven from the mountain itself rising on either side, while Mercury commented distractedly that it reminded her strongly of Petra, the city carved into one wall of a gorge of red sandstone.
Warily they continued down the tunnels, moving farther and farther into the center of the mountain, searching for the room where the King and Queen of Kochi were being held. Pluto took point now, using what little ability she had left that wasn't obscured by Enmu and Avalon's mystical powers to lead them towards the stolen royals. The senshi looked nervously from left to right, feeling the enormity of the enemy they were about to face by the sheer size of the rooms they were traveling through. They continued on their journey unhindered, to the very heart of the mountain, to a grand hall with ornately carven, stone thrones resting along one end.
The King and Queen of Kochi lay slumped and bound in the two separate thrones, and standing before them, eyes gleaming red in the torchlight that plunged the room in flickering
shadows, was a full grown dragon. Body dancing with the swirling patterns of fire, gold and red shining and cavorting along her vast length, a thin trail of smoke curled lazily from
her nostril. Her large talons clicked noisily along the floor as she moved forward, and the air burned around them.
Author's Notes:
Bad author, bad, shame on you and your evil cliffies. But hey, what can I say, they're just too much fun.
I think this is one my longer chapters, and yet, nothing really happened. I am the master at B.S. ing my papers. Maybe this is why people always call them wordy. How I managed
to fill roughly 14 pages, I'll never know, it just seemed to keep going, and going and... you get the idea.
Translations and Definitions:
[1] Yamajiro: Mountain castle
[2] Just so you know, a raptor is not only a dinosaur, but also a term used for all birds of prey.
[3] Keikoku: siren (this was one of those mythological creatures that lured sailors to their death with their beauty or song, depending on which version of the myth you follow)
