-or-
The Calm Before the Storm
***
ANIMALS RULED BY VIRGO: Small domestic pets.
***
The Senshi all looked
at one another when Saffir paused in his tale. He had spoken in a
quiet voice that never seemed to be overwhelmed, not even when Usagi (on
her way to the kitchen to return the plates she had used) had crashed into
the floor. Saffir hadn't paid the least bit of attention to
her as she had hurriedly collected herself, aside from casting her a cold
glare at her as she noisily resettled herself.
Their original feelings
of apprehension had turned into fascinated revulsion as Saffir-san had
woven his tale. His quiet, matter-of-fact voice had managed to convince
them that there were many things he was leaving out of his account, things
that would probably turn their stomachs. The idea of not being able
to trust anyone was against the very nature of the Senshi.
Saffir stopped speaking
around seven o'clock, just when the sun had set finally. The
glowing Black Crystal pulsed outside the window, and he rose to his feet
awkwardly, a painful sight for the Senshi to watch. The way he had
gestured occasionally to emphasize a point had bespoken of inherent grace,
and to see someone so gifted humbled was terrible to behold.
He looked at over
at the city, his long eyelashes shading the beautiful blue of his eyes.
The Senshi were motionless, sensing his need for this respite.
"The power of the Crystal is growing... by cycling what energy had already
been collected, the Wiseman managed to bypass the need for the Crystal
Key Card... something I would have thought impossible."
"You didn't really
think that, Saffir-san," a voice inserted quietly. He
spun around and looked at his benefactor with narrowed eyes.
Ami continued, "You know as well as I do that anything is possible."
Rather then explode
as the Senshi had been expecting, he looked rather thoughtful, then smirked
bitterly. "You're right," he confessed. "I knew how to
do such a thing- I just didn't think anyone else would be intelligent enough
to figure it." He clenched his hand. "My ego wouldn't
consider the fact that someone else could be as brilliant as I am.
I underestimated him"
He looked back out
over the city, unaware that his body was framed by the Dark Crystal, creating
a frightening, though beautiful, image for the Senshi to observe.
"And it seems as though my sacrifice was for nothing... I gave up the most
important person in my life to protect him, yet it was useless.
Better to die a death still loved then to die alone."
Ami stood up and walked
up to him, gently turning him to face her. "Saffir-san," she
said softly, and the blue eyes met her own. Unlike before,
all conflict had left them. The rest of the Senshi looked on,
feeling as though they were watching something intimate. Only
Usagi truly understood what was going on, and her heart reached out towards
Ami-chan. "You must never give up- the Wiseman hasn't won yet.
Then her shy smiled appeared. "And we won't let him," she vowed.
Saffir's face flickered,
but there appeared to be the faint dawning of hope. "I want
to get my brother back, and ensure the Wiseman can do no more damage,"
he said. "I have been trying to come up with a plan, but there
is nothing I can think of that is feasible."
"Then we'll just wing
it," Minako inserted.
Saffir's eyes widened
in horror. The very idea of just "winging" something was contrary
to his nature- he was methodical, one of the world's greatest planners.
Even though he might appear spontaneous at times, that was only because
he had such a quick mind and had been able to examine whatever situation
he had been in. "Winging it" meant loss of control, and for him,
there was no more horrible feeling then that of "free-fall". "I... " he
began.
Mars, however, had
had quite enough. She was frightened, angry and confused, and as
anyone knew her at all could attest, this made her cranky. She leapt
to her feet. "You're speaking as though we agreed to help him, Venus!
He said he would tell us about the Wiseman, and all he's done is tell us
of his childhood! And Esmeraude and Rubeus sounded like they
always did- truly twisted!"
Jupiter and Venus
looked at the temperamental Mars, not sure was to say. Sailor Moon
just sat, looking rather pathetic. Her eyes were wide and frightened,
and she seemed curled in on herself- she hated to see anyone fight, and
Saffir's burning eyes seemed infuriated. She didn't want to
think of the damage he could do in his weakened form. Luna, though,
intervened to keep peace.
"You should wait for
the rest of his story- he must have a point in telling it," she said in
her usual rational way.
"He'd better," a male
voice was heard to mutter from Venus' lap.
Saffir, by this time,
was ready to walk out, and would have if Ami had been looking at him in
such an imploring manner. "You don't understand!" he said,
his voice hard, though there was a touch of desperation in it as well.
"Make us understand,"
Ami begged.
He looked over at
them, turning his back on them so he could face out towards the Black Crystal
again. He didn't seemed concerned that Mars could throw a Burning
Mandala at his back before he could even detect it coming. "We were
so unhappy," he said. "Do you know what it's like to live a
life in eternal darkness? There's no sun, and the sun brings so much
joy- there's so few plants and flowers... do you know how much I wanted
to just take a walk through a field of flowers? I would take a picnic
and a book, and just sit in a field of flowers...." he trailed off, aware
that he had started to ramble. "Esmeraude was beautiful in her own
way- she loved Demando-sama with a devouring passion, and it killed her
in the end. Rubeus was loyal, and that loyalty led him to a
futile kamikaze mission. Before the jakokuzuishou, before the Wiseman,
we were complex. The Wiseman seemed to exploit our flaws, turn
us into caricatures of our former selves. We're not evil- we're merely
envious."
This took a moment
for the Senshi to digest. Rei had fallen back into her chair,
and now her face was flushed with embarrassment and shame. "I'm sorry,
Saffir-san," Rei said. "Like usual, I spoke without thinking
things through."
He replied with a
careless shrug. "I need your help to get Demando-sama back.
I don't have any other options, so you can think what you like of me."
His rather indifferent
reply to her temper only served to make Rei feel worse. She was undeniable
the most temperamental of the Senshi, and sometimes her temper put her
in an unenviable position- like now. Beneath all of her anger, she
had a heart to rival Usagi's at times. She looked at the other Senshi,
trying to find the words to make things right again.
"Anyone who loves
someone as much as you love Demando is worth helping," Usagi said firmly.
Saffir slanted her a look that made her blood run cold.
"Don't be too sure of that," he said. "Love can be the most dangerous
weapon of all, Sailor Moon."
***
"Hypercriticism is a big evil of the Virgo.."
***
She sat, her there-but-not-there
dress sparkling in the darkness. Her legs were long and tempting,
and most men would go through torture to be able to have the chance to
worship at her feet. The White Prince, though, was different.
He stole the occasional
look at her wickedly attractive face, yet Black Lady knew that she wasn't
the one he was seeing. His lavender eyes were searching her features
only for traces of another woman who she resembled uncannily.
It was true that the Neo-Queen was her mother, but that was all.
Every bit of her demeanor was different. Both woman were graceful,
but Black Lady's beauty was that of a prowling panther, while the Neo-Queen's
was that of the moonlight from which she received her powers.
Still, she shot him
the occasional glance herself, admiring his pale features. He was
beautiful, a white statue to what male beauty could be. His
very fairness served to make him look pure, but Black Lady knew that
was as far from the truth as possible. Still, something about him
called to her, and she almost regretted the fact that the Wiseman would
soon be destroying him.
She walked over to
the chair, her hips swaying with unconsciously provocatively. She
sat down on the arm rest of the throne, a manicured hand touching Demando's
shoulder gently. She smiled at him, her red eyes sparkling
with cruel merriment.
He looked up at her,
his bangs falling away from the Mark of the Black Moon. A puzzled
frown traced itself on his features. "What is it, Black Lady?" he
asked.
"I was merely thinking
how much quieter it's been here lately," she said, deliberately poking
into his weakest point. His most loyal servants had been falling
like flies, and now only she and Wiseman remained, and Demando didn't trust
either of them. She was the Wiseman's creature -not Demando's- and
they both knew it.
His eyes flashed.
He kept seeing Saffir in front of him, begging him to listen
Oh, ototochan... why did you betray me? And now to ally yourself
with the Senshi...
He remembered watching
the Senshi battle, and he had watched from afar as Sailor Jupiter had carried
his brother off. Demando had regretted his words almost as
soon as he had spoken them, but words were something that could never be
taken back. So now Demando was alone for the first time in his reign,
and he didn't like the feeling.
He rose to his
feet, shrugging Black Lady's hand off of him. Her eyes widened
as he teleported away, a flash of light blinding her for the second.
She could have followed him, but decided not to. She slid over until
she was sitting firmly in the Pellucid Throne, feeling the energy pulse
through it. The very act of "borrowing" the throne would kill most,
but Black Lady was oblivious to the near-catastrophe. It was intimate
in a way. She could feel the power of the previous rulers of
Nemesis throb in unison with Demando's aura. Through the throne,
she felt Demando's despair.
His despair was deep
and unchangeable as the moon itself. The people of the Black
Moon were terribly depressed, and probably were so use to it now that they
didn't even consider it anymore. Still, in their Prince the despair
had started to surface.
For a second she thought
of it, then discarded the matter as unworthy of her attention.
She had more important things to consider. From her own space, she
produced the rose Tuxedo Kamen had given her and proceeded to contemplate
it.
Meanwhile, Demando
had materialized back in his study, his safe haven. He looked
around it with almost a feeling of regret. Off to the side of his
desk was the chair that Rubeus had often sat in, a threatening presence
of barely controlled fury. The contrast between the General
and the Prince had shaken many Nemesian citizens. In the corner
was a floor that was scuffed from the heels of Esmeraude's boots.
By shutting his eyes, he could see the two of them there, and almost hear
Esmeraude's cackle. Strange thing was, he missed it.
And if Rubeus was
there, that meant Saffir was there as well. He remembered their arguments,
and how Rubeus was always forced to threaten violence. Saffir had
always managed to get the better of the older man, leaving a furious Rubeus
there. Demando had never stopped it, for the two cousins seemed to
thrive and get a perverse pleasure from being at one another's throats.
He glanced over at
the opposite corner, the one where the most shadows had lingered.
It had been Saffir's spot, and Demando could picture Saffir there, a quiet
presence who would occasional insert his own insightful observations.
Saffir had seemed to melt into obscurity better then anyone Demando had
ever known, yet Demando himself had always been able to feel his ototochan
without fail. Saffir had drawn all of his warmth from the occasional
look Demando would should him, and Demando had been well-repaid for his
decision not to hire an assassin when he first became aware of how brilliant
Saffir was.
Demando doubted Saffir
knew how close he had come to being killed. The first day after
Saffir's lesson with his first tutor had almost sealed it.
The boy had been brilliant- as brilliant as Einstein or Newton or any of
the greatest thinkers humanity had known. Demando had thought it
would be prudent to remove Saffir before he could aspire to replace him
as Heir, had actually begun to pen a letter to a poisoner (no need to be
cruel when a simple potion would give the guileless child a gentle death)
yet something had stopped him. Perhaps it had been the memory
of the look in Saffir's eyes at one point during their second meeting.
So Saffir had been
allowed to live, and up until now Demando had never regretted that fact-
in fact, had often been grateful for his restraint on that day. Now
he was forced to wonder if he had made a mistake.
He could almost hear
Rubeus' voice laugh and affirm his doubt. Esmeraude, though, would
have been more practical, even though she detested "the little bookworm".
"My friends," Demando said, his voice cool as ever, "how did we ever come
to this state?" he asked to the empty room. "Where did things
begin to go wrong?"
On his desk was a
small globe that contained a three-dimensional image of Neo-Queen Serenity.
Her eyes were shut and she was clutching her hands against her chest, but
Demando could stare at it for hours. He had memorized every
detail of her face, imagined her sweet body in his arms, and foresaw the
day when she would open her beautiful blue eyes and focus on him adoringly.
The Neo King would be left, alone and bereft, watching as his Queen left.
Demando picked up
the globe and stared at it, but unlike the past, her image brought him
no peace. There was no answer in her face, and he wondered what had
changed.
Without his loyal
trio, he felt as though he was without any support, and strong as he was,
he was afraid.
He set his beloved's
picture down and decided that he simply had to leave- staying in this room
would drive him crazy. There were too many memories all jumbled up
together. He need those memories, but he needed to be able to sort
through them, rather than be bombarded by them.
He left the room,
his white cape swirling behind him like a banner that said "surrender",
and in a way, that was what he was going to do. He was going to let
his insecurities out, even if it was only for a second.
Normally he would
have teleported, for he detested walking. This, though, was an exception
to his normal rules. His sojourn wasn't truly for him, and teleporting
would have been disrespectful. He wove through the palace,
following the seemingly endless maze of passages. His study
was almost at the top of the palace (only the throne room itself occupied
a higher place), and the place he was going was in the very depths.
The Halls of the Dead.
He finally reached
the final door, after traveling over a mile. Few realized how immense
the palace truly was. Even he sometimes forgot. Few knew all
the rooms, and even fewer remember this room, deep in the bowels.
Nemesis was a crude world based on survival, and the dead were just that-
dead and gone, and it served no purpose to remember them.
Demando pushed the
door open, and walked into the pitch-black room. He summoned an orb
of pinkish-white energy and set it down on top of a pedestal that was designed
to hold magical light.
The room was a design
of amazing intricacy, the only place in the Palace, possibly on the whole
of Nemesis, that encourage someone to look up. The immense archways
were stacked upon each other, leading the eye upwards, possibly to the
heavens, if any Nemesian still believed in such a place. The colors
of the windows were cheerful and promising, depicting scenes of the better
times on Earth, which contrasted in a fascinating way with the deep onyx
of the walls.
Around the room were
hundreds of statues, each of them almost lifelike in their poses.
Underneath them were the white marble caskets themselves, some of the empty.
The caskets were labeled with dark plaques etched with platinum, each stating
whom the statue was, if the body lay there, and when the person had died.
Only the Royal family and their cousins were allowed to rest in state.
The magic light danced
over the gothic room, and Demando looked around, his eyes falling on two
of the most recent plagues. This was the place where the royal
family was buried, and he couldn't remember the last time anyone had been
in there aside from placing a new casualty in their place, save one time
recently. He walked over to the second most recent statue and look
up at the carving of Rubeus. The plaque was simple:
Rubeus, First Cousin of His Highness, Prince Demando, the White
Prince of Nemesis
First General of the Army of Nemesis, Battle for Terra
Died in the past, aged thirty-one
Foe of the Sailor Senshi
Body is not present
Demando reached out
and touched it with a soft sigh. He remembered the last time he had
visit the Halls of the Dead sadly.
Of all his citizens,
Saffir had been the only one he had ever seen down here. It had been
the day after he had sent Esmeraude into the past. He had walked
into the room, expecting solitude, but had been met by the sight of his
little brother sitting on the floor, contemplating the statue.
"Konnichi wa, oniisan,"
Saffir said without looking up. It had always been like that-
Saffir somehow knew where Demando was at all times.
"Saffir-kun," Demando
said, kneeling down beside him. "What are you doing here?"
Saffir looked up at
him with empty eyes. "Rubeus is dead," he said in his quiet
voice, the usual bitterness missing.
"Hai. In war
death happens," Demando answered, confused. Saffir and Rubeus
had detested each other, and he couldn't understand the younger man's seeming
concern over the fate of one of his enemies.
"But what was the
point? There was no gain in losing him," Saffir answered.
Resting his hand on
his hand on his brother's shoulder, Demando looked up at the statue.
"Perhaps there was more gain then we thought. With his expeditions
into the past, we may have started to learn enough to tip the balance of
power into our hands, which may ultimately win Crystal Tokyo!" he exclaimed,
his voice lifting in excitement.
"Win the Neo Queen,
you mean," Saffir stated without rancor.
Demando's hand tightened,
and Saffir winced at the sudden influx of pain. "What do you
mean by that?" Demando asked intensely. If anyone else had
said that, Demando would have had them executed for treason, but Saffir
was his brother, so Demando would tolerate a little impudence... but not
much.
Saffir tilted his
head up and look at his brother, their faces barely six inches apart.
"Don't lie to me or yourself, oniisan. This war isn't about Terra
anymore. We've conquered around 99.99 percent of the planet.
We have enough to give our people a good life, but you want more.
You want Serenity as your Queen."
Demando restrained
the urge to throw Saffir into the wall. Saffir was right, blast it.
Saffir was always right.
Saffir knew Demando
better then Demando knew himself. The Blue Prince reached out and
caught placed his hand on top of Demando's. "Don't worry, though.
We'll do it. As long as there is breath in my body, I'll be
here for you."
Demando slipped out
of his flashback. Less then a few weeks later, Saffir had betrayed
him. He touched Rubeus' statue and walked onto the one he hadn't
seen yet- Esmeraude.
He had been avoiding
this. Esmeraude had been the most vital of them, her gestures
and mannerisms simply brimming with life. He remember how she was
never able to stay still for longer then thirty seconds, her coy glances
and wicked laugh meant to entice any male who came within sight of her.
And it had worked- on every man except the one she had truly wanted.
Demando knew that
she loved him, had loved him since she had been thirteen. She hadn't
made any secret of it, but Demando had never been attracted to her in the
same way. It was as though she hadn't been able to touch his diamond-hard
heart- only Saffir had been able to reach the outer levels, and then the
Neo-Queen had claimed him completely.
He finally reached
the place, and looked up at her image with a sense of dread, a feeling
that was borne out. The marble image capture her posture and the
tilt in her head perfectly, but it wasn't her. Without the
soft brown eyes and long emerald tresses, it was a statue. Nothing
more.
He looked down and
read her plaque.
Esmeraude, Second Cousin of His Highness, Prince Demando, the
White Prince of Nemesis
First General of the Army of Nemesis, Battle for Terra
Died battling the Senshi, aged twenty-nine
Foe of the Sailor Senshi
Body is not present
The plaque was almost
identical to Rubeus' and that struck him as wrong. They had been
as different as the Black Moon and the White. For them to be eulogized
in the same manner was an insult to both of them.
He reached out and
ran his slender fingers over the inscription, and for the first time, it
struck him that his two closest advisors were dead, and weren't coming
back. And for that matter, Saffir was dead as well. Perhaps
he should erect the statue of Saffir as he had been and not by what he
had turned into.
"What state have we
come to, my friends?" Demando asked the statues, reiterating the same question
he had asked the empty air. The statues, of course, held no answer.
And then Demando,
the White Prince of Nemesis, Ruler of the Pellucid Throne, and would-be
conqueror of Earth, crumpled to his knees and sobbed like a broken-hearted
child.
***
VIRGO: August 23 - September 22
***
She should patent the
move, Mamoru thought as his girlfriend threw herself around him.
It was only through long practice that he adjusted his body to receive
some of the impact without letting her knock him over. When
they had first started to date, he had ended up on the ground more often
then not, with Usagi sitting in his lap, looking up at him with guilty
eyes. He loved her enthusiasm too much to chide her for it,
though. It was so nice to have someone so thrilled to see him.
He absorbed the impact
of the Usagi-tackle-hug with apparent joy. Her arms were wrapped
around him so tightly that he could hardly breath, but he smiled into her
hair. Every time he saw her, he was always struck anew by how very
*tiny* she was. This couldn't be the girl who saved the world,
his intellect kept telling him, but his heart knew the truth.
He pulled her into
the apartment and locked the door, then proceeded to kiss her thoroughly.
She responded with desperate vigor, as though trying to affirm that she
was still alive. Finally she broke the kiss, leaving them both panting.
She smiled up at him shyly, but Mamoru could see the worry reflected in
her eyes. "Usako, what's wrong now?" he asked, stroking his hands
over her slender back. Her skin was warm to the touch, and Mamoru
realized that Tsukino Kenji would probably castrate him if he saw her them
together like this.
She sniffed a few
more times, but finally let him persuade her to sit down on the couch-
on his lap. Since they had gotten back together, tactile contact
had meant even more then it had originally. It affirmed that
the other was alive, and that they were there together, and being together
was all the matter. Now only if a certain pink-haired child was there
to share their joy. "We met over at Ami's and persuaded Saffir to
tell us about himself," she began softly.
It was all Mamoru
could do to keep from letting the revulsion show on his face. He
hated the Black Moon denizen with a passion that frightened him.
He wished he could have been there, but he had college classes to contend
with, and any college kid knew missing classes was the kiss of death to
their GPA. And much as he hated it, sometimes he just couldn't be
with Usagi. The outside world just wouldn't let them be. "What
did he say?" he asked her, fearing her answer.
"He didn't get to
finish," Usagi hedged, "but I'm even more worried now then ever."
"Why?"
She raised a nail
to her mouth and nibbled on it nervously, Mamoru, gently removed it with
a reprimanding click of his teeth. "It's because I don't think we
can understand each other. I thought... I thought that things
would work out, that we could make peace with the Black Moon Family.
But now I'm not so sure," she finished.
It was like having
a stake driven through his heart. Hearing his Usako lose some of
her precious faith that things would always work out for the best was wrong.
The whole damn mess was wrong. "Usako, we're not even sure
that he's telling the truth. None of us have even seen this
Wiseman creature before."
The blonde shook her
head, denying that possibility. "He's real. Calaveras
gave me the complete run-down on him."
A smile tugged at
his lips. "And when did you find time to do that?"
"I leftschoolgroundsduringlunch,"
she muttered guiltily, her eyes downcast like a guilty five year old.
He chuckled, looking
at her flushed face, then gathered her in a tight bear hug. "Poor
Usako. Did you even have a chance to eat?"
Usagi's eyes gleamed
with that old hint of gluttony. "Not much. I did have something
to snack on at Ami's, but I'm still hungry," she said sweetly.
Mamoru's chuckles
turned into full-fledged laughter. His grip on her loosened
enough for her to squiggle out, and her giggles made a soft counterpoint
to his deeper voice. It had been so long since they had just
been together and laughed that they missed it. "We'll just have to
get you something to eat, then, won't we?" Mamoru asked.
"You don't have to,"
she said. She'd learned that subtle shyness would have Mamoru
bent over backwards trying to please her. She was way too cute
for her own good, and she knew it.
Even though he knew
very well he was being manipulated, he couldn't help but capitulate to
her subtle prodding. "All right, Usako. I'll go make us dinner,
but you have to keep me company."
The smile that came
out was like the sun finally coming through the clouds. He reached
out and picked her up, and she squealed indignantly as he carried her over
his shoulder towards the kitchen. He plopped her at the table,
then turned to try to find something to eat.
It had been a while
since they had been together like this, just enjoying the other's presence.
She laughed as he tossed together a stir-fry, the fresh food smelling beyond
enticing. He looked adorable wearing an apron, and she vowed,
for what must have been the millionth time, that she would learn how to
cook. So far she'd been a disaster in the kitchen, but someday,
she'd cook Mamoru a meal fit for the King he'd be someday.
Together they devoured
the meal, Mamoru claiming that his paper he had been researching had taken
more out of him then he had realized. While stopping the destruction
of the world was important, Mamoru firmly believed in balancing a "normal"
life, too- there was no way he was going to be able to put "preventing
Earth from being conquered by evil villains from the future," on his resume.
Usagi, though, just asked him to tell her about his project.
He smiled at her, and started to give her a basic lecture on vaccines,
but the very mention of recombinant DNA technology, human therapeutic agents
and yeast integrated plasmids made her eyes cross. Halfway through
his explanation on clostridial fermentations, Mamoru just couldn't take
it anymore. He burst out laughing. "You really don't
get any of this, do you?" he teased lightly.
Usagi's face fell,
and he kicked himself mentally. Usagi wasn't the most brilliant
of students, and he knew she felt insecure about her intelligence, especially
when she compared herself to what she believed would be his ideal women.
No matter how many time he reassured her that it was HER he wanted, she
never really bought it. "I try, Mamo-chan, but I guess I'm just not
smart enough for you," she said, and her eyes started to shine with unshed
tears.
Mamoru hated how he
constantly had to reassure her. He wished he could make her
believe that he loved her more then his own life, but he knew she had good
reason to doubt him. He'd started off on the wrong foot by calling
her "Odango Atama", then had told her that he was her enemy, then had managed
to get brainwashed by Beryl, then had forgotten her, and if that hadn't
been enough, he'd dumped her at the first sign of trouble. So right
now, he was fighting an uphill battle, but Mamoru was a warrior at heart,
and this was one battle he refused to lose. He abandoned his
food and went over to her, crouching down beside her chair. "Usako,
sometimes I don't deserve you," he said, taking her cool hands in his own.
One day I'll propose to her like this, was a thought that managed to wander
through his head.
She turned her head
aside, and a tear rolled down her pale cheek. He wanted to brush
it away, but her tears were precious when they were shed this way- true
crying, not the false wailing she had used so effectively when she had
been younger. "You're right, Mamoru-san," she said, her use
of his full name striking a chord of alarm somewhere deep inside him.
"No one should have to put up with a baka like me," she said resignedly.
She started to stand, but Mamoru used his grip on her hands to force her
back into the chair. Her eyes went wise with confusion.
Mamoru's expression
was fierce as he kissed her. Her mouth opened under his from surprise,
and he quickly took advantage of that by coercing her tongue into his mouth.
It felt so good that he pulled her down into his arms, caressing her slender
waist delicately, then tracing his way up, up around so he could release
the clips that held her hair up in her trademark hairstyle.
The golden mass of
hair fell around both of them like a cape, and Mamoru slowed their kisses.
Finally they stopped after one last kiss, Mamoru pulling away far enough
so he could see her entire face. They sat together on the kitchen
floor, tangled in her amazingly long hair, trying to catch their breath.
"I love you as you are, my princess. I love you as you were,
and I'll love you no matter what you become. You're my other half,
Tsukino Usagi, Sailor Moon, Princess Serenity of the Silver Millennium,
my Usako."
"Oh, Mamo-chan," she
sighed.
He clenched his fists,
and she looked up, concerned. "You have no idea what the thought
of Demando does to me, do you?"
"Where did that come
from?" Usagi asked.
His eyes were shadowed.
"You trust everyone so readily, even someone like Saffir, who is the enemy.
I can't do that... especially after seeing Demando holding you, trying
to... trying to kiss you," he growled.
"I would never let
him kiss me, Mamo-chan. My kisses are only for you," she said,
burrowing her head into the hollow of his shoulder. "I was so scared
when he had me- he wanted me to love him like a mindless slave, wanted
me to be his. That will never happen. My heart has always been
yours."
"I know that.
But if I ever see that bastard again, he dies."
"Mamo-chan!" Usagi
protested.
"Well, he'll experience
severe pain," he amended hastily as he saw the look that crossed her face.
"I know you want to
protect me, but this time, just trust me. I think.... maybe
if we're lucky, we can actually settled things without killing Demando.
We have Saffir on our side. That has to mean something."
"But I thought you
were upset because you didn't believe that we could resolve this!" he ventured
carefully.
She smiled at him, the old smile of cheer. "I know.
But someone managed to change my mind. Someone who kisses really
well," she teased.
"Maybe he should change
your mind again," he replied, pulling her tight. They began
to kiss again, and neither of them was in any hurry to finish.
***
"Virgos have a basic distrust in their nature, not only of other people
but themselves as well."
***
Black Lady lounged
on the Pellucid Throne. Every now and then she looked up into the
image of Crystal Tokyo that was projected in the center of the room, but
mainly she just sat there, waiting.
Being a bad guy isn't
as fun as I thought it'd be, she thought with a tinge of boredom.
All we do is plot and wait and wait and wait. No one really cares
about you.
She tried to get rid
of the loneliness that had been plaguing her. It was like a sore
wound, an aching throb that could usually be ignored, but was always there.
Every time she saw the Senshi it was like getting kicked where it hurt
most.
From the floor a shadowy
figure began to rise... a figure that triggered the entire spectrum of
emotions Black Lady had ever felt. She looked at him, wondering how
this twisted creature had ended up being the only being she could trust--
well, she did have Luna P, too, but Luna P wasn't truly alive.
Luna P was more of an extension of her rather then a sentient being.
Her wide red eyes
watched as the cowl rose, and the Wiseman sat, hovering in mid-air.
Black Lady looked on him, well aware that some part of her mind was screaming
in agony. The small part that was still Small Lady... Black
Lady resolved to get another burst of jakokuzuishou energy after the Wiseman
finished talking to her. There was no way she was going to let her
prior personality surface again-- that would be weak, and the last thing
the Black Lady was weak.
"Black Lady," he said,
his voice sounding like it came from beyond the grave.
"Yes, Wiseman?" she
asked, bored already.
He hissed, and her
startled attention returned to him. "Do not treat me like an irritation,"
he warned, sending a mild wave of panic through her.
"Hai," she whispered,
feeling the screaming inside of her grow louder. Couldn't Chibi-Usa
shut UP?! she wondered, wishing that the child would stop crying for her
parents. The Neo-Queen and Neo-King didn't love her, and neither
did any of the Senshi. The child started to quiet as Black Lady directed
that reminder at her, and Black Lady gave a mental sigh of relief as she
felt Small Lady withdraw in despair.
"Tomorrow is the day,"
the Wiseman told her.
"What day?" Black
Lady asked. "I thought the jakokuzuishou wouldn't be ready for another
three." She wore a perplexed frown.
"It won't be," the
Wiseman affirmed. "Tomorrow, though, will be the day we kill Demando,"
he said, and the colors inside of his globe intensified. It was like
the globe was responding to his excitement.
She blinked, trying
to assimilate this new data. "Why are we killing him tomorrow?
Wouldn't it be smarter to wait until we were ready to assume control of
the jakokuzuishou?"
"No. Demando
has grown suspicious. Even though he denied Saffir, something in
his heart does not believe in us anymore. Saffir did more damage
then I had originally realized," the Wiseman said with disgust.
"So the White Prince
is going to die," she said. "What about the rest of his people?"
"They are nothing.
With Rubeus and Esmeraude dead, and Saffir in exile, Demando is the last
of the royal line, and no one else should be strong enough to survive claiming
the Pellucid Throne. Without that power, they have no chance of defeated
us."
Black Lady nodded,
almost sad that Demando would be dying. He was so beautiful.
But he was an obstacle, and she would kill him because she had promised
the Wiseman she would help him destroy the world. The Wiseman was
all she had. "Agreed. So you want me to attack him, then?"
she asked.
"No, my dear.
I want that pleasure for myself," the Wiseman said. "He and
his family have been driving me crazy for the last two years. Seeing
the White Prince dead by my hand will give me no end of satisfaction.
You are to save your strength for opening the Dark Gate."
She shrugged.
The Prince would die an agonizing death, but it was his own fault.
"Very well, then."
The Wiseman nodded,
or at least, that's what Black Lady thought he did- it was hard to tell
with that cowled robe he wore. He started to sink into the
floor, but just before he vanished, he looked up at her, and she caught
her first glimpse of his actual face.
A skull. The
classic sign of death, and it was animated with darkness. Black
Lady slammed her hands against her ears in a futile attempt to quiet the
screams that came from within.
***
"Quietly reserved, Virgos are polite and soft spoken people."
***
Once again, they were
alone.
Ami looked on Saffir,
watching as he settled into the couch. The Senshi had left them,
more confidently then last time, but still with reservation. Surprisingly,
it had been Minako who had lingered the longest, her pretty face furrowed
with concern. "Just be careful, and guard yourself," Minako had whispered
in her ear as she had passed. That had made sense, but there had
been something else Senshi Venus had been trying to warn her of, something
Ami couldn't understand.
"Are you hungry?"
she asked.
"Not really," he replied
in a distracted tone. His face was smooth and as expressionless
as the night sky they all fought under.
"Can I get anything
for you?"
"No," he said.
He ran a hand through his untamed locks, then suddenly focused his eyes
on her.
Ami had never been
looked at in such a manner. There was nothing sexual in it,
but she felt as though he was undressing her, stripping away all the layers
that kept the "real" Ami from the rest of the world. "Who are you,
Mizuno Ami?" he asked.
"What-what do you
mean?" she stuttered in reply.
"Do you know who you
are?"
"I'm Mizuno Ami, Sailor
Mercury. I'm a good student, and my mother is a doctor and
my father is an artist. I want to be a doctor someday."
His eyes remained
sharp, but she had the feeling he was thinking of something else.
"You define yourself by what other people see you as. How do you
define yourself?"
She opened her mouth
to say there was no difference, but hesitated as her mind reminded her
of the many times she had come up against that very problem.
Hadn't she been wishing that people would be able to see the real her,
not just brain? Usagi had been the only one who had ever noticed,
and even she thought of her as a nerd. "I'm not sure I know," Ami
admitted.
"I used to," Saffir
replied. The room's dim lights added eerie shadows to his pale face,
and Ami resisted an urge to shudder. "I was Demando's younger
brother, and I lived to serve him. What do you do when your
very definition of yourself has been forcibly removed?" He started
to laugh, but his laughter was low and bitter, and Ami longed to be able
to do something for this man, her enemy, to ease his pain.
"Then you must find
a new way to define yourself, finally discover who Saffir is- Saffir is
himself, not just Prince Demando-sama's younger brother," Ami said softly,
reaching out to take his hands. She had never been a tactile person
until meeting Usagi, but now she couldn't imagine living any other way.
Touch was so important.
Saffir jerked back
almost reflexively, and Ami looked at him with sad eyes. There was
such a gulf between the two of them- infuriating though it was, neither
was able to cross, even if they wanted to be to. Ami, as any good
Senshi would have been, was eager to reach out and breach the gap, but
Saffir was the villain of the piece, and he was unable to look beyond his
immediate concerns. That was the fundamental difference between the
two; both had the same skills and abilities, yet that had chosen to use
them differently- Ami to serve the world, Saffir to serve only his brother,
and by extension, himself.
Saffir managed to
regain his aplomb quickly, reminding himself that she hadn't meant to do
anything aside from offer her version of comfort. The Senshi were
frighteningly naive, yet he had little choice aside from throwing his lot
in with them. They had managed to defeat Beryl; perhaps they
would be able to defeat the more sinister Wiseman where he had failed.
There was something to be said for teamwork, he knew. It didn't
mean he had to like it. Still, the injured expression on her
face worried him. Saffir was perceptive enough to know that she was
his primary advocate among the Senshi- it would be best to keep on her
good side. But how to do it.
"Um, do you want to
play another game of chess?" he stuttered uncertainly. Chess
had been their common ground before, hadn't it?
Ami looked over at
him, her hurt expression melting off her face. As a distraction,
it was so transparent that she was barely able to refrain from giggling.
Still, he was making an effort. Social skills obviously weren't his
forte. "I'd like that," she replied with a light laugh, bringing
out the chess board again.
Saffir slid to the
floor, arranging himself so he sat cross-legged across from her.
She neatly folded herself down and picked up one of the white pieces.
She touched one of her pawns, preparing to move it forward. "I used
to love chess when I was little," she whispered, not sure why she was still
talking to him.
He raised his head
slightly, and she saw a faint gleam of interest in them. It
was thrilling to know she had been able to inspire that in a man like Saffir.
"Why?" he asked.
"I had few friends
when I was younger," she said softly. She dropped her eyes to the
chess board, finding it easier to talk without actually looking at him.
"I was too intelligent- how many six year olds talk about Newton?
I frightened them, so no one would be friends with me. So I learned
how to entertain myself- I was lucky that an older gentlemen was willing
to be my chess partner. But I'm happier now, with the rest of the
Senshi."
"But they don't really
understand," Saffir whispered. "They don't know what it's like
to wake up in the middle of the night with an idea throbbing in their heads,
demanding to get written down so they don't forget. They don't understand
the frustration that comes with knowing that no matter how much you learn,
you'll never know everything you want to. They don't understand the
fascination that numbers hold, or ask why something works.
They don't get an itch in their fingers to build something. They
don't have to cope with being so bloody more intelligent then the rest
of the world that you feel like you're on a totally different wavelength."
Ami went still.
Saffir had just described her feelings towards the Senshi perfectly.
She loved them- loved them more then anything else, but sometimes it was
so frustrating to attempt to explain things that were obvious to her, to
be treated like a brain. She knew that her intelligence defined
part of who she was, but that was ALL she was. "Sometimes it gets
to the point where you just want to scream, to tell the world that you're
real, you're more then your mind."
Then it all came pouring
out. She told him of her childhood, of her parents' divorce,
of how it hurt her mother to see Ami reach out to touch the artistic side
she possessed. She spoke of a lonely childhood, redeemed only
when she was befriended by the ever-cheerful Sailor Moon.
Her voice trembled
as she came near the end of her narrative. "I know they like me for
myself, but at times I wonder whether they would have been my friends without
my being the Mercury Senshi."
Saffir had listened
to her with patience. He waited a moment before speaking, showing
that he was considering what she had said before shoving his opinion in.
"I know you don't want to know anything about the future, but I have to
admit my opinions are colored by what I do know.
"In the future, legends
of the Senshi are children's bedtime stories. Some have to
be exaggerated, but I studied them. I studied all of them- as any
tactician will tell you, any kind of intelligence can help you win a battle.
Some of the legends might even have some vital truth in them.
In a way, I know you better then you know yourself, Sailor Mercury."
She opened her mouth
to protest, but he hushed her with a motion of his hand. "I
haven't finished. As I studied, I was struck by one thing- it seems
that destiny dictates what happens to you and your friends.
No matter what the threat was, or from your viewpoint, will be, you stuck
together and triumphed because you care strongly for one another.
They accept you as you are, Mizuno Ami- don't question the fortune that
brought you together. We are all pawns of fate, playing the
game of life to the best of our abilities."
"I guess," she sighed,
even though she didn't entirely agree with him. A tear trickle down
her face.
Saffir surprised both
of them by wiping the moisture dry, his silky gloves absorbing her tear.
It was a profound moment, and neither of them were able to break the spell
for a minute. Finally Saffir drew back a little, giving her
an almost gentle smile.
"I feel like I've
known you my entire lifetime, Ami," he said. "Or that I should
have. We could have had such fun when we were little."
She nodded, not wanting to break his soft mood. "I, though, officially
gave up any claims to childhood I had when I was fourteen, not much younger
then you are now."
"I gave childhood
up when I first became a Senshi, though I didn't realize that until after
I died."
"D point," Saffir
said. "Considered by historians to be the first step towards
the Crystal Millennium."
She nodded, his knowledge
proving once again that he was, indeed, from the future. No
one knew about that except for the Senshi and Mamoru. "Why
did you lose your childhood at fourteen?" she asked, blushing a second
later. That hadn't come out quite right.
Saffir retreated into
an expression of blankness, an expression that Ami was coming to learn
that meant he was thinking. "At that age, I planned my first
attack on Earth."
Ami's jaw went slack.
Saffir began to pick up the tale he had left off with, and the chess game
was forgotten before it had even begun.
Next Up:
Part Five: Shadow of the Diamond
-or-
Whatever Happened to the Outer Senshi?