Here is one of the final chapters of Watch Me Shine! I added this as soon as I could to keep people from screaming and yelling at me. Congratulations to five people who reviewed the last chapter, they have accurately guessed who is behind it! I give probably the most obvious answer in this chapter, so you all should figure out who it is, and if not – next chapter will be the revelations.
I am accepting submissions on my website so feel free to submit. www.draconis-carpe-noctem.com. Thanks to all who reviewed my last chapter, your reviews mean the world to me and thanks for the compliments! Standard disclaimers. Flames will be used for scorn, tittering and derision. I write based on reviews.
Luna wandered the streets of Juuban searching for Helios, intent on her assignment, determined to serve her Queen to the fullest. So preoccupied was she that she didn't see the sack coming behind her, nor the satisfaction that flitted across the face of a blue-haired girl as she tossed the sack over her shoulder and, with the company of a white cat at her feet headed to the apartment where this mess would be sorted once and for all. "Are you sure about this Ami?" Artemis asked, tentative.
"Artemis, she must know. If she doesn't already, then she has to be told. We can't keep this from her any longer. My only question left, is why?"
"You and me both." Artemis muttered as he picked up his pace to match her purposeful strides.
Usagi glanced at the sky and turned back to her crowded living room. "If you would excuse me, it's time for my final Trial."
"You couldn't possibly have done them all in the time since…" Haruka sputtered.
Usagi smiled faintly. "No, but fate has decided that the time for toying with me is done. The stakes have been up, the end is coming near and therefore, due to extreme weariness on my part I will take all the Trials as one."
"That will kill you!" Haruka protested.
Usagi walked over to Haruka and brushed her cheek with her hand gently. "My dear Senshi, my most protective and faithful warrior, I have never doubted you, never mistrusted you and always known deep down that you have my best interests at heart. No matter what happens to me or where my road goes, know that you are my heir apparent and should I not return, the leadership of the Senshi is yours."
Haruka's jaw dropped in shock and surprise. "Nani?"
Usagi nodded. "Have a little faith in me, perhaps I won't be broken by one who has spent far too much time in solitary."
"You give me the gift of leadership?" Haruka blinked.
"In front of witnesses who will vouch for you. I choose you Ten'no Haruka." Usagi headed for the door, pausing briefly with her hand on the knob. "Don't let me down."
"I'd kill you if I could." Mamoru spat.
"I know."
"She loves you, she trusts you!"
"We've covered this already."
"WHY?" Mamoru wailed. He shook his head abruptly. "Forget it, I don't care. I'm going to her."
The figure was contemptuous. "Do you really think that after your accusations and how you acted that you're going to be allowed anywhere near her?"
"They can't stop me."
"Oh they can, and they will. But first you would have to deal with me and I assure you Mamoru, you aren't ready for that."
"And she is?"
"I do what I am trained to do. What I was raised to do. What I swore an oath to do. You interfere now and you'll destroy everybody's life."
"I just can't let her not know the truth!" Mamoru snapped.
"What makes you think she doesn't?"
Mamoru stopped dead. "She's figured it out?"
"She is far from stupid Chiba. I revealed myself with her last Trial and she knew it. She knows what is expected of her, and is on her way to final Trial area as we speak."
"She'll die."
"That is entirely up to her." The voice chuckled. "Don't you see what is staring you in the face Chiba? Don't you see the truth behind all these Trials?"
"To prepare her for the day she takes the Throne." He recited bitterly.
"That is what I want you to believe." The voice sounded triumphant. "Yet the key to all of this eludes you still. Fools."
"Does she know?"
"She does now."
'Look closer to home, instead of farther away' Hotaru's words burned Rei's mind. "What can she mean, closer to home?" she muttered as she threw dust into the fire. Speaking a brief prayer, she opened her eyes to see what really happened the night she conceived this child. The images she saw in the fire made her eyes well up with tears as she realized the truth. Wiping her eyes, she waited for rage to fill her at the deception, at the horror of what Yuuichirou had done – but it never came. Heading for the door, she realized that she would never have respect for Usagi, she would always hate and despise her, and now for the sake of her child, it was more urgent than ever that she take leadership of the Senshi. Yuuichirou would understand and be proud of her, and then…she would decide how best to dispatch him.Usagi closed her eyes and waited, standing under a tree in the park – the site of so many attacks and battles, the site of so much emotional heartbreak. "Nothing is to be gained by closing your eyes." A voice mocked from the trees.
Usagi opened her eyes, and knew she was surrounded. Her own mother stood in front of her, face twisted in sorrow and anger, Haruka herself was to her left in the trees, Artemis stood to her right, near the edge of the path, as two figures stood back in the shadows, waiting for their time. A shudder went through her as she prepared herself. 'Lo, I see the line of my people, back to the beginning. All I was to have thought, I have not though. All I was to have said, I have not said. All I was to have done, I have not done. I ask for nothing Goddess but to live these next few moments well.' "I am ready."
"Then let us begin."
Haruka launched herself out of the trees at Usagi, face twisted in a sneer startlingly similar to the one she had worn before swearing her allegiance to Usagi. Usagi nimbly dodged the attack, but was not fast enough to escape Artemis springing on her from behind and blinding her. Haruka torpedoed towards her again and lifted her by her throat, effectively strangling her. Artemis kept his white body over her eyes. "You're so weak." Haruka spat. "So weak and puny. Ineffectual you are." She shook Usagi like a rag. "How can you be the leader of your people when you can't even fight me? The test of brawn and strength, you fail miserably." She shook her head. "How can you fulfill the demands that will be asked of you should you have to lead your people to war?"
Usagi's hands clawed at Haruka's firm grip as Artemis began to smother her. Spots danced before her eyes as breathing became an issue. One idea stuck in her mind as she went limp and deadweight. The cessation of her struggles and the sudden added weight of her body drug Haruka's arm to the ground where her grip on Usagi's throat loosened. With strength from who knows where, Usagi managed to use the last of her oxygen to tear Artemis off her face and throw him to the pavement as she drew in precious air and kicked Haruka hard enough in the ribs that she heard a crack. Faint applause came from the shadowed figures, as Haruka bared her teeth in a rictus of a smile. "I have fought before." Usagi snapped at Haruka.
"And died. And caused nothing but suffering for your people and your warriors." Haruka retorted.
"You yearn to be normal once more, never realizing that you were never normal." Artemis added. "You have always yearned for that which you cannot have."
"And by so doing you have condemned your people to a hopeless life." Queen Serenity added sadly. "Do you know what it is like to be not dead, but not of the living and watch your people from year to year as their hope dwindles ever more? As they are made slaves by a tyrant who is jealous of them and hates them? Can you understand what it is to see their sickness and know that if you were alive you could help them, save them?"
Usagi nodded. "I can understand all that." She coughed as Haruka landed a lucky blow to her midsection. Fighting hand to hand with Haruka while trying to discuss philosophy and politics with Artemis and her mother were dangerously distracting, as Usagi feared that she might not extricate herself from this.
"Weak!" Haruka repeated as she threw a kick at Usagi's head. Usagi, deciding to ignore the other two, focused completely on Haruka and leapt out of her way, doing a graceful twist over her head. When she landed behind Haruka, she was there with her fist already halfway to Usagi's jaw and one knee to her groin. With Usagi huddled over, the coup de grace was grabbing her in a headlock and punching her repeatedly on the crown of her head. "Worthless excuse for a Senshi! Undeserving to be leader! Good for nothing…"
Familiar words Usagi heard, words that burned her heart and soul for she had been listening to them for centuries. The words of Rei poured out of the mouth of Haruka as a rage Usagi hadn't felt for some time burned through her. "No." she murmured. "No."
"No?" Haruka mocked. "Little worthless Usagi girl going to fight back now? Going to pretend to play Sailor Moon and be strong and tough?"
"NO!" Usagi screeched as she grabbed Haruka's body and threw her into the trunk of a tree. Not ready for this abrupt and unexpected attack, Haruka did not have time to regain her feet before Usagi was on her, kicking, biting, punching and throwing her violently. "No!" she cried through the entire thing. "I'm not worthless, I'm not!"
Blood poured freely from both of them, Haruka giving as good as she got. "Prove it. Prove that you are a warrior worth fighting beside."
Usagi snarled, baring her teeth as she ferally tore into Haruka, a cornered animal with no way out. "You want proof that I am not worthless?" tears shone in her eyes as she turned to her mother. "I have watched for years the suffering of our people while I was kept safe and my heart bled." She spat vehemently as she fought Haruka, figuring out how to divide her attention. "I yearned for a better life, not for me but for them. I know all about yearning, it lives in my very being, in the deepest part of my soul, right there next to my darkness. I have the ability to be the Hope or the Destroyer and I yearned for it all to not be true, for someone to come along and make it better – but no one ever did."
Haruka was panting now, her injuries slowing her down – as Usagi found herself winded. "As I am, I can do nothing to save the people, but in the future I can."
"You have darkness within you." Queen Serenity pointed out. "And you will only add to the suffering of our people. They die, their prayers unanswered."
"You have darkness within you mother." Usagi pointed out. "I have seen it on more than one occasion. As the moon has a light and dark side, so do we, its children. The people suffer only because they have forgotten to fight back – I can rectify that. I can save them."
"Can you save yourself?" a shadowed voice mocked.
Haruka dropped to her knees. "I yield."
Usagi caught herself mid-punch. "What?"
"You have outfought me. Truly you are worthy to be a warrior, and to lead the people." Haruka said, head and eyes down. "Your brawn and fighting skills are first rate, your brains to evaluate the situation and think on your feet even better. Your Senshi are lucky, as are your people." Pulling herself to her feet, she headed over to a park bench and sat down, for all the world looking like she hadn't a care in the world – despite the bruises, cuts and broken bones.
"How will you overcome the suffering and sickness that you yourself caused?" Queen Serenity asked abruptly.
"If I have to go door to door and heal the people with my own hands, I will. The future is not set, their fate not sealed. As long as one heart still retains hope inside it, I am there."
Queen Serenity tilted her head to the side and smiled. "Well done, and well answered. I taught you well."
"Mother…" Usagi reached for her as she went to sit next to Haruka.
"Your yearning never ceases." Artemis spoke from the sidelines. "You yearn for her, you yearn for your court and the days when you were carefree and had not a care in the world."
"Everyone yearns for something." Usagi pointed out. "The key is to not let those yearnings overcome your life and dictate all you do."
Artemis bowed to her and headed to the bench. "You argue like a demagogue, and that is noble too."
"Now that the kids are out of the way," one of the shadowed figures glided forward. "Things can get serious."
Usagi's jaw dropped as she swallowed, blanching as she did so. Her second last Trial, and one she might lose as she faced her protagonist. Chibi Usa.
Ami knocked on the door and smiled at a subdued Michiru. Assessing the situation she dropped the sealed bag not delicately on the floor. "She's gone?"
"To take her final Trials."
"Godspeed." Was her only comment. She cocked her head slightly. "Haruka, why do you look stunned? What has happened that I should be aware of?"
"Do you want the condensed version or the movie length?" Michiru asked from the side where she prodded the bag with her toe. "Who's this?"
"Luna. I was out cat-hunting and she just fell into my trap." Ami smirked. "Slow up Chibi Usa's plans a bit more."
"Is that where you've been?" Motoki queried.
"I had to find Artemis. I've figured out who's behind this thing and I wanted to tell Usagi."
"She already knows." Makoto said in a monotone.
"Not surprising." Ami said coolly. "She is, after all, the leader."
"Will you tell us who is behind it Ami?" Makoto asked, hopeful.
"That is for the Leader to do." Artemis interjected.
"I can give you a hint…" Ami said as she poured a glass of water.
"Anything! I can't figure it out!" Unazuki burst. "All the Senshi are present and accounted for, so it can't be one of you! Is it Seiya?"
Ami shook her head. "It's not Seiya. If it was he'd have made his move to get Usagi after Mamoru left – where is he anyway?"
"That is a story long in it's telling." Haruka said faintly, still in shock.
"It's one of us." Ami finished. "One of her Senshi, but which one of us I will not say." She sat down with the others, "She might not even be aware of what she is doing." She clenched her hands around the glass and prayed that Usagi would return alive.
"Hello Mother." Chibi Usa spat she walked towards Usagi.
For each step she took, Usagi took one backwards, unable and unwilling to let the child near her. The sight of her made her blood run cold and her mouth go dry. "Not you." She whispered. "Anyone but you."
"Confrontation isn't your strong suit, is it?" Chibi Usa mocked. "Yet here I am, your daughter."
"My daughter." Usagi mumbled.
"Or am I?" a pause. "You've always wondered if Mamoru was faithful in the future – I know the truth. You've wondered what part of you and him came together to create me – I can tell you that. I can give you all the information you've ever wanted Mother." A smile. "If you give me what's rightfully mine."
"My ginzuishou."
"Your powers of deduction astound me. At least here I can eke out a bit of respect for you. In the future you are pitiful and worthless, a rag, a toy and one that my father walks over with every waking moment. You wonder why I don't respect you? I could never respect someone so spineless. I could never love you." Chibi Usa sneered.
"I cannot hate you, even now." Usagi said, her voice catching.
"Give me my ginzuishou and I'll tell you what you want to know." A hand outstretched.
"What I want to know…"
"Just love me unconditionally, just do what I want, give me what I want as you always have. Turn a blind eye to my father and his transgressions and you will have what you truly yearn for in the palm of your hands." Chibi Usa stepped closer to Usagi. "Mama, I love you." She said, her voice turning soft and childish.
Usagi's arms went around Chibi Usa involuntarily. Yes, she plotted against her, had her thrown out from the Senshi, tried to seduce her own father and steal her ginzuishou…but she was her daughter. Her DAUGHTER. Usagi couldn't turn her back on that. "Oh my baby." She closed her eyes, her heart wrenching.
Fingers dancing to where her ginzuishou hung from her throat. "Mommy…"
"Forgive me Small Lady." Usagi murmured into her soft pink hair.
"Of course Mama. Forgive what?"
Usagi wrenched the child from her as she lifted her ginzuishou and turned it to Chibi Usa. Casting a spell, a beam of light headed towards her, engulfing her, consuming her. "I care not for your answers." She said wretchedly. "And I cannot have a child in my midst who would commit matricide and incest. I condemn you Small Lady. I curse you."
"You deal with direct threats in a very proper manner." Chibi Usa spoke from the light. "Not bad, all things considered. You have dealt with me in a Trial, but can you do the same in real life? Can you kill your own daughter?"
"And turn yourself into me?" a smooth voice said from her shoulder.
Usagi froze as she turned to her final foe, her final Trial before her and one that would kill her. She looked into the cruel and smiling face of herself.
Is it totally obvious yet? To me it is. I hope you enjoyed and if you didn't figure it out this chapter – next chapter, the Final Trial, the revelation of who is behind it and Rei going after Yuuichirou. Should he die or not?
Serenitas