Author's Note:
This is a sequel to Angelic Embrace. I thought about doing it, but I didn't until someone told me they thought a sequel was possible. You will really want to read the first one to find out what's going on.
As we all know the names of the Senshi, there's no need to go there, except to say that I use the Japanese names.
For a review, I'll list the names of the Shitennou:
Keagan Kris MacNeal (Kunzite)
Nick Michael Canter (Nephrite)
Jace Daniel Taencer (Jadeite)
Zale James Indiano (Zoisite)
You can contact me at Guardian4@cox.net.
I guess I should mention this, in case it gets confusing about how long it has been since the epilogue of Angelic Embrace. It's been six to seven months, not another year and a half.
The Last Journey
Chapter 6: Basic Instinct
The light of the teleportation faded and she blinked to clear her sight. They were in an alley, that was for sure, and the prominent color was beige or possibly light brown. Sand was everywhere and even as she just stood there, it floated on the air and tried to clog her lungs instead of oxygen.
Mars coughed a bit. "No wonder they chose this place to settle their base. If the rest of the country is like this, we'd never find them. And I heard that sandstorms are very popular here."
"You make it sound as if sandstorms have intelligence and choose to come here on purpose," Jupiter replied in turn, scanning around them.
"Well I'm very sorry," snapped the Soldier of War.
"Stop it, you two. We have to let the government here know what exactly we're doing here," Venus interrupted.
"What'll we do if they deny us permission?" questioned Mercury worriedly.
Jupiter watched her leader as the woman simply looked at the Senshi of Wisdom with that steel glint amongst her beautiful blue eyes. She knew exactly what that meant; they'd go after the assassins anyway and the government permission be damned.
"I see," Mercury whispered in the silence.
It took a total of two hours to get inside the building that housed the new leader of Iraq. As ordered, Jupiter kept up communications with Uranus.
"Finally!" Mars muttered under her breath as they were admitted in.
"Welcome…"
"Sailor Senshi," Venus supplied in the expectant silence. "And we don't have to time to bandy words or introductions. We have come on a grave mission. You were there at the World Leader's Convention, right?"
"Yes."
"And you remember the assassination attempt on Neo Queen Serenity and King Endymion?"
"Yes. I also heard vaguely of another one?" The man's eyebrows rose in query.
"Yes, there was another. After some…interrogation of the would-be murderer, we found out that their headquarters is in your country. We would like your…agreement in allowing us to…deal with this den of assassins."
The man sighed in contemplation and leaned back in his chair. "As much as I would like to oblige you, Sailor…?"
"Venus."
"As much as I would like to oblige you, Sailor Venus, I simply cannot allow you to…deal with these assassins. The people would be in an uproar at finding out that a new world power for only a year came into our country to kill our citizens when it has not been proven that they have done anything. Unless, of course, you have a recording of the conversation…?"
Venus looked at them. They did have a tape, of course, but the methods in which the information had been…extracted would not be allowed. At the very least, they would have human rights activists all over them. Not a promising start for Crystal Tokyo. Kunzite had been worried to death about his friend and enraged over the repeated assassinations of his King and Queen, so it was not hard to empathize with his…lack of temper control. Admittedly, the man was not harmed and all he had received were a few light bruises, but the fact that he had been touched in violence was enough to inflame those human rights activists that were just waiting for some negative information to pounce on Crystal Tokyo.
After a moment of silence, in which Jupiter was sure that the man had guessed the reason for their hesitation, he said, "We can, of course, begin an official investigation."
"You do that," Venus murmured in a distracted tone that Jupiter knew meant she was thinking of battle strategies.
"I'm very sorry, Sailor Senshi, but I just cannot condone your actions for something close to invasion to kill its citizens, even if they are assassins."
"If I had actually expected him to agree, I would say that I'm disappointed," commented Mars.
"Jupiter, where are Uranus and the others?" questioned Venus abruptly in Japanese, amidst the gawking of the local citizens at their strange and flamboyant garb.
"About ten miles south of here."
"Let's go then."
"Venus, do you really think that's a good idea?" Mercury asked.
"What would you have us do, then, Mercury? Let the attacks continue? That could result in not only perhaps Serenity or Endymion's death, but one of us? In Zoisite's death? Can you deal with that? Because I can't."
The blue Senshi remained silent for a long time and then nodded.
Holding hands tightly, they chanted and teleported away, leaving gaping mouths behind and a wonder as to where they went.
"Anything been happening?"
Uranus looked at Venus as she abruptly appeared, not at all flustered by the suddenness of it. "Not a single thing has changed from the norm. What did the president say?"
She shook her head.
"And your orders?"
Her unwavering stare into those green eyes gave enough answer. After a moment, she addressed them at large. "Everyone spread out. I want to surround this building on all sides. There is no doubt that there will be some who will survive, like the rats fanatic assassins are, but I want the majority of them gone. We must protect Serenity and Endymion at all costs."
She really didn't have to add the last sentence, as they all knew that, but Jupiter thought that perhaps it was the only way she could possibly reconcile what she was about to do. The Jovian Senshi couldn't imagine being the leader, having to make that decision. It was very hard to carry out the orders, and the first reaction would be to balk at something this ruthless, but to actually make the decision…It must be tearing her apart.
"Do we really have to?" whispered Saturn forlornly.
Despite the fact that she was the Soldier of Death and Rebirth, she hated having to create it. Perhaps it was her connection with death as a Soldier that made her respect life more than anyone else that Jupiter had ever met before.
"Yes. We must protect Serenity and Endymion at all costs," repeated Venus lowly. "I guess…deep in my heart, when Crystal Tokyo was born, it was so like the Silver Millennium that I didn't believe it would ever come to this. But…" If Jupiter looked hard enough, she could swear there was the slightest glimmer of film over her leader's eyes. As if she was trying as hard as she could to control her emotions and not cry. "But…this isn't the Silver Millennium. This is a new world, a new start. I know it isn't a good way to start it, massacring thousands of people, but what choice do we have? If we don't do this, later down the rode it could result in our deaths, or even Serenity or Endymion's."
Her heart heavy, as she knew her friends' were, Jupiter took her place near the east of the building. She could make out, barely, on her right, Mars. The plants around shook a little, as if she was crying and her shoulders were moving the leaves and branches. To her left, barely visible and seemingly utterly calm, Saturn waited with her Glaive in hand.
And as suddenly as it had been sunny, clouds filled the sky and rain began to pour down on her, soaking her to the skin. But it had no effect on the hate for herself. What if there were children in that building? What…How could she do this? A stiff wind played around her hair and rain pelted down on her shoulders and body.
She saw Mars raise her arms in preparation for her 'Final Burst' attack, the most powerful fire spell of hers.
Saturn twirled her Glaive a bit, and she saw, as though she had binoculars, her mouth the words, "Death Dimension." The thunder in the sky drowned out any other sound in the world.
They would never know what hit them. The Senshi could spare them any pain with one massive strike, at least, though it was little consolation.
"Thunder God!"
The antenna in her tiara extended, the metal and magic making and actually attracting natural lightning as well. With a sob, tears pouring down her face, she thrust her lightning covered fist toward the sky. That lightning, both magical and infinitely natural, struck her clenched hand. Her body encased in that bright lightning and she was lifted four feet above the ground. With another sob, she jerked from that fetal position in mid-air and thrust her palm toward that building down below her, in the depression the land had naturally worn into the earth.
Her lightning struck it as her comrades' attacks collided with the masonry of the building. In that pitch-black sky, no light could come through at all, but the explosion below them was enough to brighten the dismal surroundings. It was almost dreamlike, or perhaps nightmarish, at the brilliant colors intertwining with no regard for the thousands of lives they had just destroyed. The green of the grass became nearly transparent and neon in color as it was pounded on by the rain.
The power faded and with it, the light. It was still pitch-dark around Jupiter and she couldn't bring herself to move as the reality of what she had just done hit her harder than before. I can't believe I just murdered thousands of people! How could I have done something like this? Is this what the duty of a Sailor Soldier really is?! It can't be! The duty of a Sailor Soldier can't be a murderer!
"Come on, Jupiter."
Mars took her arm and led her to where the other Senshi were waiting.
"That was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life," Uranus murmured, her face wet to the brim. But Jupiter could see the red around her eyes and knew that the rain was not all to blame for the soaked skin.
She noticed that not a single eye escaped a distinct and deep redness associated with extreme grief. Even Pluto, who had seen and probably done just about everything, looked depressed and ragged.
"Let's get back to Crystal Tokyo," suggested Mercury quietly, her voice so scratchy that she didn't even sound like a woman.
Jupiter could only nod and say nothing. With a backward, painful glance, she locked hands with her friends and their brilliant colors shattered the shadows around them for a few blessed moments before leaving nothing but darkness.
A strong streak of lightning snapped into a tree, leaving the wood black and hanging off, festering in pain.
End Chapter 6.
This is a very dark chapter, I know. But I was trying to convey that the Senshi have done things they are not proud about but will do. It was necessity, something that had to be done, but they will hate themselves for and will take a long time to get over. Everyone won't accept Crystal Tokyo, especially not at first.