Author's Note:
The normal disclaimers here of course and that I'm certainly not doing this for money.
There are a few elements that are exclusive to the manga, as you will read, but those only involve character differences than from the anime, such as the Shitennous' relationship. Also, Mamoru has the Golden Crystal.
If you need to contact me, my email is Guardian4@atlantic.net. Please put fanfiction or something in the subject line so I know what you're emailing me about. And if you're a really nice person (if this pertains to a certain fanfiction that I've done) you might want to put the name of the fanfiction you're referring to somewhere in the email.
All names are like the Japanese say them, last name first. So Kunzite's name would be Kail Rainer in America, but in Japanese it would be said Rainer Kail.
Army of Immortals
Chapter 15: Mortality
When he saw Minako the next day, he could barely feel around the pain. Her concerned glances he noticed, but could not bring himself to lie to her. So when she asked him what was wrong, he told her, his shoulders trying to shake in suppressed pain but him not allowing it.
"Kail," she said at last, breaking the heavy silence between them, "I don't know how you feel right now, because I don't have any siblings. But I do know one thing: the fact that you told her that you don't know her anymore is a good thing."
He finally took his eyes off the ground and looked at her. "Why?"
"Because now she knows that, if she wants it, to have the relationship you both used to have, she will have to change."
"And if she doesn't want it?"
She wrapped her arms around him. "Then it's her loss."
Kail kissed her gently. "I love you."
Minako smiled. "I know. I love you too."
They sat in quiet silence together, just holding each other and reveling in the fact that their friends were all alive. It had been a very close call when Jadeite and Jupiter had run into Beryl, so close that it bothered Kail a great deal.
"We got lucky, you know," she murmured after a while.
"Yeah, we did."
"It bothers me, Kail. Are we going to have to depend on luck now?"
"No, not if we defeat Beryl."
"You're right. We must defeat her, if we are to have peace again. We leader types worry too much about so many things that if we can get rid of a major one, it's better for us to sleep at night."
He laughed a little. "You're definitely right."
They stood and meandered around the park before Minako glanced at her watch in dismay when it beeped. "I'm sorry, Kail, but I have to go. We Senshi have a very specific meeting to keep."
"About us, right?" he commented lightly, referring to the Earthen Knights.
"Yeah, about you. I'll let you know anything of interest."
"What, like my good build?"
She laughed heartily. "I can tell you that without having a meeting."
Her lips touched his in a searing kiss that left him dizzy and on Cloud 9 for the next hour.
He had finally decided to head home when his communicator beeped. On alert, he answered brusquely, "Yes?"
Zoisite's voice was somewhat tired as he spoke. "Hurry, Kail. We need you badly."
"Where?"
"Near a jewelry store, called Osa-P."
"I'll be right there."
The other Knights and Tuxedo Kamen were already there when he arrived. There were two youma, working together as a team in a way that disturbed him. So far, there had been no indication that youma were intelligent enough to form complex plans and work as partners to the caliber of a pair of Senshi or Knights.
"'Bout time you got here, Kunzite," panted Mars.
"I hurried."
"Good thing too," Jupiter told him, flinging a lightning bolt at the blue one. The dark purple one screeched a warning and its partner turned and dodged. The Jovian Senshi cursed in anger.
"Hey, hey, hey, look who's here, doing their thing," was the scathing remark.
Kunzite turned cold, colder than the artic around the anomaly.
Tomi swaggered her way toward them, weaving like a drunk. "Looks like you all finally showed. The police are on their way now. You should thank the pedestrian over there for turning you in."
The man she was referring to was slumped, out cold and drained of energy, next to a phone booth.
"Get out of here, civilian!" snapped Mars, irritated.
His sister straightened haughtily, proving that she was, in fact, quite sober. "Watch your tongue brat."
Mars' face burned with rage. "You call me a BRAT?"
"Deal with this later, Mars!" Venus yelled at her. "Right now we have to get rid of the youma!"
"What are they, some kind of people in costumes? How much are you paying them?" sneered Tomi.
"Stop it," commanded Sailor Moon. "Please leave, for your own safety."
"What are you talking about? You think the guys you paid to be 'youma' are going to attack me?"
"Damn it, we didn't pay them, they aren't human, and they will attack you!" screeched Jupiter.
While the Senshi's attention turned to argue with his sister, Kunzite and the other Knights were busy trying to destroy the youma. They knew very well this was his sister and they would not, despite their anger at her comments, say anything because of their friendship.
"Tomi, look out!" he screamed, throwing himself between her and the purple youma as it snuck up behind her.
Tomi caught him unwillingly as the man fell against her. She hadn't the slightest clue how he knew her name.
"KUNZITE!" screamed two loud voices, one a black-haired male and the other a blonde female.
The man in her arms wheezed painfully, moving his head a little. The stupid party mask around his eyes fell to the ground. Shock would have been a mild word to describe her state, she thought at the back of her mind.
"Kail? What the shit?"
A roar sounded and she looked to see the strange thing looming above her. Up close, there was no doubt that it WASN'T a costume. It also scared her, though she refused to admit it.
"Crescent BEAM!"
A shaft of bright, golden light flew past her ear and slammed full force at the creature. It screeched in pain and swiped out at her, but it had staggered back when the blast hit so it didn't reach her. A woman in orange landed next to her, on her right, crying as if someone had stabbed her.
"Kunzite, come on, don't do this to me," she muttered, trying to pull him from her arms.
Tomi shoved her away. "Stay away from my brother, bitch," she told her coldly.
The woman stared at her in shock.
They surged past her, those warriors, to attack the purple thing. She glanced behind her and saw only a pile of dust tinted blue slightly, obviously what remained of the other thing. A man with top hat and tuxedo dropped to one knee on her left.
"Kunzite," he said calmly, a little too calmly. "Hang on, don't go anywhere."
"Where the hell is he gonna go?" Tomi demanded. "He's injured! And his name isn't Kunzite, it's—"
He stared into her eyes and she forgot to finish her sentence. Those sexy sapphire eyes were hard and warning her to be quiet.
Her brother stirred and she looked down at him hopefully. "Venus…"
Disappointment stifled her as she heard another's name come out of her brother's mouth.
"Venus…is Tomi all right."
The woman in orange moved toward him and touched his hand. Kail's eyes never once opened. "Yes, you saved her."
"Venus…I…" His voice gave out, but his head turned in her direction constantly. Tomi couldn't help feeling jealous.
"Mercury!" the woman yelled, her eyes turning to search out a comrade. "We need you."
A woman in blue dropped next to her, a compact computer in her hand and pale blue visor over her eyes. "He's in critical condition. We need to get him out of the street and back to the Shrine. There's no way we can let his identity get out; Beryl will have our hides if we do."
The man tried to grab Kail and she punched him on the jaw. "Stay away from him, all of you! I'm taking my brother to a hospital and that's that. It's all because of you that he's on death's door right now!"
"You want to help him," retorted another male with a burgundy colored party mask, "Then let us take him to the Shrine. A hospital will only hinder him."
"Don't take me for a fool!" she snarled, angered on behalf of her brother. "A hospital can save him!"
"It can't!" the blue woman said urgently. "It can't save him; his physiological differences will see to that. They can't help him now. Only we can."
"NO!"
A sudden, excruciating pain in her head covered her vision and she felt herself sliding down to lie on the concrete. Her last sight was of the men picking up her brother and taking him away. She lost consciousness just as she saw female faces bending down to look at her.
Tomi woke with a splitting headache. Groaning, she managed to sit up and clutch her head. One of those people must have knocked her out. She noticed, when the spots in her vision cleared, that she was not lying out on the street. The wood of the room was a pale brown, the paper and wood screen door closed. She was lying on a comfortable mat with a bowl of water and washcloth next to her.
"Where is my brother?!" she screamed and immediately winced.
While the idea of screaming to get SOMEONE'S attention had been a good one, she hadn't realized just how loud it would be and how much it would hurt her ears, inevitably adding to the pounding in her brain.
"Relax and keep quiet," said an irritated voice.
She looked up to see the door sliding open and a girl with black hair entering.
"Where is my brother?" Tomi snarled.
"If you can get up, I'll lead you to him." Her expression said she was not happy about it, but would do it.
Tomi managed to get to her feet, wavering a bit. "Where are those…people?" she growled angrily, wanting to rip them apart.
"One of them is standing in the doorway," the girl drawled. "I'm Sailor Mars, the 'brat'. This is my Shrine so I sincerely hope that will respect it. Follow me."
Her brusque voice and angry body language got on her nerves. "How old are you exactly?"
"I'm fifteen."
"Well, I'm twenty, so you might show some respect!"
"I'll show you respect when you've earned it. So far you haven't. You nearly cost your brother his life. If we hadn't knocked you out and brought him here, Ami-chan couldn't have saved him."
"Yeah right," she said, but low and under her breath.
She slid another door open and in the room there were two mats placed next to each other. On one, nearest the wall was her brother, pale looking but not near death as he had been. On the other, holding his hand was the woman with the blonde hair, the one in orange though now she wore jeans and a t-shirt. She looked up briefly at Tomi and then back down without saying a word.
The reproof in her eyes managed to get past her barriers and shame her slightly, though she would be damned if she would show it. "Back away from my brother, bi—"
Her cheek stung as the girl with black hair gave her a resounding slap. "Keep those vile curses in your mouth. You will not utter them in my Shrine, nor will you speak them of any that are here. We saved your life; you owe us that. And if you say anything like what you did last night to Minako," she warned, her voice deadly low so that only they could hear, "I promise you, you'll regret it. No one speaks to her or Usagi like that in front of me. I'll leave you alone now."
The door closed behind her.
"So who are you to my brother?" she asked, trying her hardest to sound civil, though all she wanted to do was pull her away from him.
"Our rank is the same," the girl, Minako, answered, without looking at her at all. "Second-in-command of our respective groups."
"Damn the rank! Who are you to my brother?! You know what I mean!"
Minako heaved a sigh. "I know what you mean, but it's hard to answer so that you can understand. We…Love blossoms in the most unlikely times and that's what happened a week ago. I love him and he loves me."
"Who the hell are you guys? And why did you bring him into all this, damn it! He's only fifteen!"
"Follow me and you'll get your explanations."
Though all Tomi really wanted to do was stay with him, she had to know what was going on so she could bail her brother out. It's always me who does this, she thought fondly. Maybe if I know what's going on, I can figure a way to get him out of this thing so he can live a normal life.
"Sit down."
The order was gentle and Tomi sat, somewhat hesitantly at the end of the table. She countered all the stares and not altogether happy looks with glares at them all. They were the ones that were getting her brother in danger and damn if she wasn't going to let them have it when she got her explanation!
"What the hell is going on?"
The black haired girl's eyes flashed at her language.
"First off, I believe that Rei-chan asked you to not to curse," responded another blonde girl softly, this one with the strangest hairstyle she'd ever seen.
Tomi muttered under her breath and nodded. Glancing around the table, she picked out the people she knew. There was Jayden, she'd met him once…and Zayn and Neil. But the other man she didn't know. He sat directly opposite her, on the other end of the table. The girl with the strange hairstyle sat next to him.
"Who are you all?"
There was a round of introductions, none of which really interested her. She had only asked the question so she could have names in which to call them by.
"Kail is Earthen Knight Kunzite, second in command to Tuxedo Kamen," explained Minako. "He's been in this role for a year, ever since Queen Beryl and Queen Metallia emerged. It is his duty to protect Prince Endymion from all harm."
"Who's this Endion person?"
"Endymion," corrected Zayn with a flash of anger in his eyes. "It's pronounced Endymion. And that would be Mamoru."
So the man with the sexy blue eyes, Mamoru, was a prince. Just what she was looking for in a man. But that would wait for later.
"So...what else?"
"It is the same for the Senshi. We protect Princess Serenity."
Her expectant silence was a potent question.
"Serenity is Usagi," clarified Rei.
"Uh huh," she said noncommittally. She didn't look like a princess in her opinion.
"It would take much too long to explain in detail our past, so it will be a shortened version," explained Minako. "There was a Silver Millennium a very long time ago. All the planets were not lifeless, but all except for Earth, they sustained that life by magic. Queen Beryl ruled the Dark Kingdom and with Metallia, a sun demon to aid her, she attacked the Moon Kingdom, Serenity's kingdom, with a vengeance."
"Why a vengeance?" she interrupted.
"Because, as we only now remember, Endymion and Serenity were in love. Metallia preyed on the jealously of Beryl, as she loved Endymion also, and managed to sway her to her side. The Moon Kingdom and all the planets except Earth were destroyed. With the most powerful object in existence, the Ginzuishou, Queen Serenity managed to seal away the Dark Kingdom and send the people, the Senshi, and the Shitennou to some time they would be safe. But last year, Beryl broke out of the seal, but not completely."
"How do you know not completely?"
"Because if she had completely, everyone on Earth would be dead now and the Dark Kingdom would be ruling the universe," Makoto answered, an edge to her voice.
Tomi paused, taking in this information. Aside from the fact that it sounded like some lunatic's dream, it wasn't all implausible. It didn't even need proof to be believed if it was so many thousands of years ago.
"So what really happened last week?"
"Just before we were arrested," Minako began slowly, "Beryl managed to take Serenity and Endymion. For four days we were in jail and in court. On the night of the fourth day, we broke out and managed to sneak down to our control center, the only place the police wouldn't find us. We spent another two days formulating a plan of action. On the seventh day, we began an assault to rescue them. We healed any injured members and came back. Then we tried to come up with an excuse that would satisfy our long absence."
"Well you didn't do a very good job," Tomi commented. "It was probably one of the worst excuses I've ever heard in my life."
Zayn opened his mouth to say something, but Jayden slammed his elbow in his side, effectively ending his thought. Though Tomi knew it would have been something contemptuous directed her way, she didn't really want to know. If she did, she'd only have to hurt him.
"So you see why my grades dropped," said her brother from behind her.
She whirled around to stare at him. "You should be in bed!"
He ignored her comment. "My grades dropped from straight A's because a lot of the time I was very busy trying to keep Beryl's demon hoard at bay and saving Endymion. I didn't have time to study a lot; fighting took up most of it."
"You would let your future hang in the balance for him?" she demanded, pointing an insolent finger at the man opposite her.
"I would die for him."
She snorted. "Don't be melodramatic, Kail."
"I'm not."
Tomi looked into his eyes and suddenly knew he wasn't. He would die for him. And no matter what she might do, or might say, he would continue fighting as this insane superhero. She couldn't fathom it, not at all.
"Why would you do something like this? Join this idiotic world?"
"This is what I was meant to do with my life, Tomi. Grades don't matter if the world is destroyed."
Her eyes filmed over with tears a bit. "I was wrong Kail, those things I said the other day. You've changed all right, and for the better. Everything I said the other day was wrong. And I'm sorry that I said them. I'm proud of you, brother."
Tomi wrapped her arms around him, a tear or two leaking out from her closed lids. "I'm so proud of you."
His tight hug back was all she needed to know.
End Chapter 15