Fate Isn't Written in Stone
Chapter 10:Chikyuu
~ ~ ~
A bell tinkled as a door opened, then closed.
Michiru, with an arm linked with Haruka's, sat down at a table with Táiyoo. A waitress bustled by, setting down glasses of water, and then hurried off.
Táiyoo noticed Haruka holding Michiru's manicured hand. She blurted out the question unembarrassed and calm, "Are you two lovers?"
Haruka choked and sputtered on her gulp of water. "Pardon?" she asked, glancing at Michiru, who looked rather surprised.
"Are you two lovers?" Táiyoo repeated.
"Er. . ." Haruka looked at Michiru again.
"That question has never been so forwardly asked," Michiru replied. "Not that you're forward Táiyoo-san."
Táiyoo smiled politely. "That's alright. And it's Táiyoo-chan," she corrected.
"Táiyoo-chan, got it. Well. . .if you like to think of us that way, then do so."
"So you are," Táiyoo murmured, sipping her water. She looked at them for a silent moment. "You have many questions. Like how Chikyuu knows the battle will begin tomorrow."
Haruka raised her eyebrows. "How'd you know?"
Táiyoo set her glass down. "Call it a sixth sense. I can feel emotions and questions in fellow senshi's minds."
"Interesting," Michiru said.
Táiyoo nodded. "Perhaps. . .Chikyuu has the gift too. Though hers is stronger than mine. Hers has gotten so that she can begin to see the future. Her training has paid off."
"You live together?" Michiru asked.
Táiyoo nodded. "Yes. Bu-"
The waitress appeared again. After she has their orders and left, Táiyoo continued.
"We live together, yes. But we aren't family. On the contrary, I am her guardian- he godparent."
"Her family?" Haruka inquired.
Táiyoo shook her head sadly. "Her parents were both only children. Chikyuu never knew her grandparents. Both pairs died before she was born."
"What happened to her parents?"
"A year ago, her parents, Chikyuu and her younger sister by a year, were in a car accident. Chikyuu was the only survivor. Her father died instantly, her mother died on the way to the hospital. . ."
"Her sister?"
Táiyoo sighed. "Chikyuu pulled her sister out of the car after it had been crumpled. She was still alive. . ."
(flashback)
"Ming-Tah? Ming-Tah can you hear me?"
Ming-Tah drew a rattling breath, her hair sticky with blood and hanging in front of her closed eyes. Her pretty face was contorted with pain. "Kyuu-chan. . ."
Chikyuu smiled, her eyes wet with tears. "Oh, Ming. . .You're alive."
Ming-Tah's head lulled on her shoulders. "Where's Mum. . .and Dad?"
Chikyuu shook her head. "They're gone Ming. . .But it's okay because we're still together."
Ming-Tah stared blankly, then whispered, "Kyuu-chan. . .Mum and Dad. . .I can hear them."
Chikyuu gasped. "No! Don't listen to them Ming-Tah!"
Ming-Tah sighed contentedly. "I love you Kyuu-chan. They send their love. . .And they say not to be sad."
"Who?"
It was a moment before she replied, but when she did, it was so soft Chikyuu could hardly hear her. "The angels. . ."
"Ming-Tah?MING-TAH!"
(end flashback)
"Ming-Tah died in her arms," Táiyoo concluded.
"How awful."
Táiyoo nodded. "I took her in; it was the least I could do. I taught her what I knew and protected her like her parents would have. She looks to me like an older sister. The pain for her parents has faded because she wasn't extremely close to them. It's the pain for Ming-Tah that refuses to heal. She was her best friend- her golden sun. . .That's why Chikyuu wears that ribbon in her hair, as a sign of respect to Ming-Tah. Gold was her favorite color."
"Who caused the accident?" Michiru asked.
"The other driver. He'd had too much to drink. . .He survived. . ."
"The poor girl. . ."
"Please don't speak of it to her. She's never told anyone. She'll talk when the time comes."
Haruka and Michiru both nodded silently.
* * *
Usagi's eyes locked onto Chikyuu during Home Economics. She was busy stirring a cake batter, alone, at the table next to hers. Usagi shuffled to her side.
"Hikyuu-chan?"
"Yes?" she answered without looking up.
"I'm sorry. . ."
"For what?"
"For making you cry."
Chikyuu's eyes narrowed, still avoiding Usagi's gaze. "Go away," she hissed.
"But-"
She slammed the handle of her spoon down and ran out the door. * * *
Chikyuu ran along the sidewalk, forcing her tears back. She stopped suddenly and whispered, "I can't cry. . .I can't. . ."
"Hikyuu-chan?" a voice asked. She looked up, spying the wingless Shiddo on the wall beside her. "What's wrong?"
"I. . .I miss my family."
"Some wounds take years to heal. No necessarily physical ones, but mental wounds. But they're in heaven. . .They're with you," the cat replied.
"I want to see them again." Chikyuu looked back up at Shiddo. "Take me to Rêveterre Shiddo."
The cat was silent for a moment, and then she said, softly, "You usually go on the anniversary. If we go now you won't be able to go again for another year."
"I know."
"Let's go someplace more private." * * *
Shiddo sat by a water fountain in a deserted square with her human friend. Chikyuu held up a dusty brown henshin wand with Earth's symbol on it. "Earth Crystal Power, Make-Up!" she cried.
A brown ribbon encircled her body, Chikyuu's hair hanging loosely- fully out of its braid. She spun around once, arms folded to her chest. A ribbon of water with leaves surrounded her, then there was a flash of light, and her hair re-braided itself with the gold ribbon as she twirled with her staff and struck her pose.
Shiddo's near invisible wings unfolded from her body. She held out a paw, which Sailor Earth took gently. "Are you sure you want to go?"
She nodded silently and Shiddo closed her eyes, tilted her head so the sun hit her face and whispered, "A dream's sadness is great. Let her see what she desires most in the dreams. Rêveterre. . ."
In a flash both cat and girl were gone. * * *
Endymion stood over his window pool, looking concerned. He gazed down at the wavering images of Sailor Earth and Sun.
They could turn out to be a slight threat, he thought. Their powers are extraordinary compared with the others'. He focused on Táiyoo's image. Especially her. . .If she had the gall, she could do some serious damage to me, at the cost of sacrificing herself though. Would she do that? To save the people she hardly knows?
But Earth's weakness is her past. Sun. . .hers is unknown to me. . .Still if I can get her and Earth it will be the perfect bait. Usagi will want to save them since they are fellow senshi. . . * * *
Chikyuu opened her eyes and looked up into a partly cloudy sky. She rolled over and looked into her father's face. His silver hair was blowing gently in the soft breeze.
"Have a nice nap?" he asked, smiling in his gold rimmed glasses.
She nodded. "Yes." Her last hour and a half have been spent in Rêveterre, where she had gone on out on a picnic. Though it seemed real and everything was physical, it was all just an illusion. . . A physical dream that never really took place. Soon her two hours would be up.
"Do you want a rice cake?" a voice asked.
Chikyuu rolled over to her other side. Her purple-haired mother sat on the grassy hill in her apron and lavender dress.
"No thank you Mum." She sat up and looked around. "Where's Ming-Tah?"
"Oh, she's off somewhere picking wildflowers."
Chikyuu stood up and brushed herself off. She wanted to spend the last of her time with her sister. "I love you Mum, Dad."
"Us you," they replied.
Chikyuu ran off, searching for her sister. After about five minutes she saw her, knee deep in a field of flowers. Her violet hair was pulled back into a bun with several thick stands hanging out. An armload of flowers sat in her arms.
"Ming-Tah!" Chikyuu cried breathlessly.
Ming-Tah stood up. "I was wondering when you'd wake up!" she called as Chikyuu ran towards her.
Chikyuu was just about to fling her arms around Ming-Tah when there was a crack like a whip and everything crumbled and fell apart. "What the-!" Chikyuu yelled as the real world faded in. She looked for Shiddo, and when she didn't see her, agony erupted within her. "Stupid cat! You said it would be the same as always! You lied! Why'd you do that?" she shouted.
"Shiddo didn't pull you back. I did."
Shy spun around and gasped, "Wh-who are you?"
The man with bone chilling blue eyes smiled. "The Prince of Darkness presently. I was formerly known as heir to the earth throne, Prince Endymion."
"Endymion?" she whispered, taking a step back. Where was Shiddo? Had Endymion gotten her? Thinking it wise to transform in these circumstances, she held up her rod. "Earth Crystal Power Ma-!"
Endymion threw himself at Chikyuu, who didn't have time to move. His hands wrapped around her throat in one swift movement.
"SHIDDO!" she shrieked just before they slammed into the fountain's wall. Endymion shoved Chikyuu's head under the water as she let out a cry of pain. She struggled but it didn't help. Just when she thought her lungs would burst his grip loosened and she sputtered for a breath. With one disgusted glance at Endymion she pulled her fist back and let it fly forward. "Get OFF me!" she yelled.
Endymion turned his head back to face Chikyuu. His lip was bleeding. In another swift movement, he pushed Chikyuu back down under the water. Things began to get fuzzy, and she could hear her heart screaming in her ears.
Ming-Tah. . . You won't be alone for long. . . Táiyoo, I tried my best. . .
Then everything went black.
With an orange sunset as a brilliant backdrop, Endymion held the limp Chikyuu in his arms. As he reached the square's edge he shifted her weight. Silently, her locket fell off her neck, the chain broken. Then Endymion and Chikyuu disappeared. * * *
Usagi walked into her room, silently shutting the door and going to her dresser. She picked up Mamoru's "promise ring" and turned it in her fingers.
"I don't know why I keep it," she said to herself. "He doesn't mean anything anymore. He can't be helped."
She turned and strode out onto her balcony. "Let our past leave me forever. . ." she whispered, and threw the ring as hard as she could. She didn't see where it landed, but she heard a faint metallic tink as it hit the ground. Then Usagi heard another sound, a beeping.
"Usagi-chan!" a voice called.
Her communicator! She rushed to it and held it in front of her. "Hai, Michiru-san?"
Michiru's face was solemn and Usagi felt her stomach drop. "What's wrong?"
"It's Chikyuu-chan. She's missing. Táiyoo's getting frantic. She hasn't called or anything, which Táiyoo says is something she always does to let her know where she's at. Do you have any idea where she could be?"
"No. She ran out of class and I haven't seen her since."
Michiru turned her head and Usaig heard Táiyoo's voice, too muffled to understand. Michiru turned back and said, "She also says Shiddo is missing, but she doesn't think someone heard her or saw her because her powers would have enabled her to escape.
"Has she checked all the places Chikyuu might be?"
Michiru nodded, then stilled suddenly. "Chikyuu likes the square downtown. . ."
"Then I'll meet you there." * * *
The Outers met Usagi in the square about twenty minutes later.
"Why didn't you want the others to come? It would be easier with them helping to look," Usagi stated.
"They would only get in the way," Haruka returned. "We're enough."
Táiyoo's hands were clenched at her chest; she did look frantic. Usagi placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll find her."
Táiyoo was silent for a moment, and then smiled slightly. "I hope so. I promised I'd protect her."
Usagi glanced curiously at Haruka, who shook her head and muttered, "We'll tell you later Kitten."
Michiru took a few steps towards the fountain. She stretched her arm out horizontally, palm vertical, with her eyes closed. "Something was forced into the water. . ." she murmured.
Usagi ran to the fountain, afraid of what she might find. However, she let out a sigh of relief when she saw there was only water there. But she felt an unusual indentation in the wall and looked down and gasped. Part of the wall was crushed in. Tiny streams of water were slowly trickling out of the cracks, but it was hardly noticeable. Still, the sheer force that had to have been used to make the concrete crumble like that. . . On the ground beside the smashed section were several drops of a dark colored liquid, which only took seconds to identify as blood.
"Usagi-chan!"
The girl bolted up and faced the others.
"This was by the bush," Haruka called, tossing something at her. She caught it lightly and held it up so she could see it better. It was Chikyuu's henshein stick. Usagi glanced at Táiyoo, whose face had drained to a sickly white. Usagi could understand why. With Chikyuu's ability to transform in her hands, and Endymion around. . . Chikyuu wouldn't be careless enough to leave her wand behind would she?
Setsuna took a step forward and felt something beneath her foot. She stooped, picked it up, opened the locket, and examined the pictured of Chikyuu and her family. "Táiyoo-san-"
"-chan," she corrected.
"-chan. Here."
Táiyoo took the locket and her shoulders began to shake. "I swore I'd protect her. . .I failed. . .Endymion must have her," she wept.
In an instant, a black hole opened behind Táiyoo, who didn't notice it. A pair or spidery, corpse like hands shot out of it and grabbed her, as a voice snarled, "You can protect her and your cat momentarily. Don't waste your breath crying!" Táiyoo screamed as she was pulled off her feet, the hole at least four feet in the air.
"Táiyoo-chan!" Usagi cried, running to her and grabbing her arms. "Let her go!" she exclaimed tugging at her arms as the Outers latched onto the Usagi look-a-like and tried to keep her from being taken.
The hands around Táiyoo's ankles were strong, and she slid in another few inches. Usagi pulled with all her might, but she didn't gain anything. "Hold on, hold on Táiyoo," Usagi whispered.
"You'll be fine," Setsuna added.
One hand let go of Táiyoo and shot a ball of light at Haruka; it hit her square in the stomach and she fell backwards.
"Whoa!" Usagi cried as she was pulled into the hole with Táiyoo. "Haruka!"
Haruka scrambled to her feet and reached out for Usagi, but wasn't fast enough. Both she and Táiyoo were gone.
For a moment, she just stood there, too shocked to make a move. "No. No, no, no." She fell to her knees at the spot where her Princess had last been. "USAGI!" * * *
Usagi sat up slowly, feeling quite dizzy. She was back in the room of black stone, the one she'd hallucinated about before. She glanced around and saw the throne. . . a weird looking pool, a few torches in brackets on the wall. . . Where was Táiyoo? And what had happened to Chikyuu and Shiddo? Usagi was sure he'd taken them both.
She got her feet unsteadily. Instinctively her hand went to where her broach was on her chest, but it was missing! She twirled around, looking for it on the ground where she had been. Had it fallen off before she woke up? No, it wasn't there. Usagi was scared; She was alone and vulnerable without her broach.
She heard the near silently footsteps and turned back around quickly. The only thing she saw before she lost consciousness again was the hilt of Endymion's sword speeding towards her, and her broach, glittering in his hand.
Chapter 10:Chikyuu
~ ~ ~
A bell tinkled as a door opened, then closed.
Michiru, with an arm linked with Haruka's, sat down at a table with Táiyoo. A waitress bustled by, setting down glasses of water, and then hurried off.
Táiyoo noticed Haruka holding Michiru's manicured hand. She blurted out the question unembarrassed and calm, "Are you two lovers?"
Haruka choked and sputtered on her gulp of water. "Pardon?" she asked, glancing at Michiru, who looked rather surprised.
"Are you two lovers?" Táiyoo repeated.
"Er. . ." Haruka looked at Michiru again.
"That question has never been so forwardly asked," Michiru replied. "Not that you're forward Táiyoo-san."
Táiyoo smiled politely. "That's alright. And it's Táiyoo-chan," she corrected.
"Táiyoo-chan, got it. Well. . .if you like to think of us that way, then do so."
"So you are," Táiyoo murmured, sipping her water. She looked at them for a silent moment. "You have many questions. Like how Chikyuu knows the battle will begin tomorrow."
Haruka raised her eyebrows. "How'd you know?"
Táiyoo set her glass down. "Call it a sixth sense. I can feel emotions and questions in fellow senshi's minds."
"Interesting," Michiru said.
Táiyoo nodded. "Perhaps. . .Chikyuu has the gift too. Though hers is stronger than mine. Hers has gotten so that she can begin to see the future. Her training has paid off."
"You live together?" Michiru asked.
Táiyoo nodded. "Yes. Bu-"
The waitress appeared again. After she has their orders and left, Táiyoo continued.
"We live together, yes. But we aren't family. On the contrary, I am her guardian- he godparent."
"Her family?" Haruka inquired.
Táiyoo shook her head sadly. "Her parents were both only children. Chikyuu never knew her grandparents. Both pairs died before she was born."
"What happened to her parents?"
"A year ago, her parents, Chikyuu and her younger sister by a year, were in a car accident. Chikyuu was the only survivor. Her father died instantly, her mother died on the way to the hospital. . ."
"Her sister?"
Táiyoo sighed. "Chikyuu pulled her sister out of the car after it had been crumpled. She was still alive. . ."
(flashback)
"Ming-Tah? Ming-Tah can you hear me?"
Ming-Tah drew a rattling breath, her hair sticky with blood and hanging in front of her closed eyes. Her pretty face was contorted with pain. "Kyuu-chan. . ."
Chikyuu smiled, her eyes wet with tears. "Oh, Ming. . .You're alive."
Ming-Tah's head lulled on her shoulders. "Where's Mum. . .and Dad?"
Chikyuu shook her head. "They're gone Ming. . .But it's okay because we're still together."
Ming-Tah stared blankly, then whispered, "Kyuu-chan. . .Mum and Dad. . .I can hear them."
Chikyuu gasped. "No! Don't listen to them Ming-Tah!"
Ming-Tah sighed contentedly. "I love you Kyuu-chan. They send their love. . .And they say not to be sad."
"Who?"
It was a moment before she replied, but when she did, it was so soft Chikyuu could hardly hear her. "The angels. . ."
"Ming-Tah?MING-TAH!"
(end flashback)
"Ming-Tah died in her arms," Táiyoo concluded.
"How awful."
Táiyoo nodded. "I took her in; it was the least I could do. I taught her what I knew and protected her like her parents would have. She looks to me like an older sister. The pain for her parents has faded because she wasn't extremely close to them. It's the pain for Ming-Tah that refuses to heal. She was her best friend- her golden sun. . .That's why Chikyuu wears that ribbon in her hair, as a sign of respect to Ming-Tah. Gold was her favorite color."
"Who caused the accident?" Michiru asked.
"The other driver. He'd had too much to drink. . .He survived. . ."
"The poor girl. . ."
"Please don't speak of it to her. She's never told anyone. She'll talk when the time comes."
Haruka and Michiru both nodded silently.
* * *
Usagi's eyes locked onto Chikyuu during Home Economics. She was busy stirring a cake batter, alone, at the table next to hers. Usagi shuffled to her side.
"Hikyuu-chan?"
"Yes?" she answered without looking up.
"I'm sorry. . ."
"For what?"
"For making you cry."
Chikyuu's eyes narrowed, still avoiding Usagi's gaze. "Go away," she hissed.
"But-"
She slammed the handle of her spoon down and ran out the door. * * *
Chikyuu ran along the sidewalk, forcing her tears back. She stopped suddenly and whispered, "I can't cry. . .I can't. . ."
"Hikyuu-chan?" a voice asked. She looked up, spying the wingless Shiddo on the wall beside her. "What's wrong?"
"I. . .I miss my family."
"Some wounds take years to heal. No necessarily physical ones, but mental wounds. But they're in heaven. . .They're with you," the cat replied.
"I want to see them again." Chikyuu looked back up at Shiddo. "Take me to Rêveterre Shiddo."
The cat was silent for a moment, and then she said, softly, "You usually go on the anniversary. If we go now you won't be able to go again for another year."
"I know."
"Let's go someplace more private." * * *
Shiddo sat by a water fountain in a deserted square with her human friend. Chikyuu held up a dusty brown henshin wand with Earth's symbol on it. "Earth Crystal Power, Make-Up!" she cried.
A brown ribbon encircled her body, Chikyuu's hair hanging loosely- fully out of its braid. She spun around once, arms folded to her chest. A ribbon of water with leaves surrounded her, then there was a flash of light, and her hair re-braided itself with the gold ribbon as she twirled with her staff and struck her pose.
Shiddo's near invisible wings unfolded from her body. She held out a paw, which Sailor Earth took gently. "Are you sure you want to go?"
She nodded silently and Shiddo closed her eyes, tilted her head so the sun hit her face and whispered, "A dream's sadness is great. Let her see what she desires most in the dreams. Rêveterre. . ."
In a flash both cat and girl were gone. * * *
Endymion stood over his window pool, looking concerned. He gazed down at the wavering images of Sailor Earth and Sun.
They could turn out to be a slight threat, he thought. Their powers are extraordinary compared with the others'. He focused on Táiyoo's image. Especially her. . .If she had the gall, she could do some serious damage to me, at the cost of sacrificing herself though. Would she do that? To save the people she hardly knows?
But Earth's weakness is her past. Sun. . .hers is unknown to me. . .Still if I can get her and Earth it will be the perfect bait. Usagi will want to save them since they are fellow senshi. . . * * *
Chikyuu opened her eyes and looked up into a partly cloudy sky. She rolled over and looked into her father's face. His silver hair was blowing gently in the soft breeze.
"Have a nice nap?" he asked, smiling in his gold rimmed glasses.
She nodded. "Yes." Her last hour and a half have been spent in Rêveterre, where she had gone on out on a picnic. Though it seemed real and everything was physical, it was all just an illusion. . . A physical dream that never really took place. Soon her two hours would be up.
"Do you want a rice cake?" a voice asked.
Chikyuu rolled over to her other side. Her purple-haired mother sat on the grassy hill in her apron and lavender dress.
"No thank you Mum." She sat up and looked around. "Where's Ming-Tah?"
"Oh, she's off somewhere picking wildflowers."
Chikyuu stood up and brushed herself off. She wanted to spend the last of her time with her sister. "I love you Mum, Dad."
"Us you," they replied.
Chikyuu ran off, searching for her sister. After about five minutes she saw her, knee deep in a field of flowers. Her violet hair was pulled back into a bun with several thick stands hanging out. An armload of flowers sat in her arms.
"Ming-Tah!" Chikyuu cried breathlessly.
Ming-Tah stood up. "I was wondering when you'd wake up!" she called as Chikyuu ran towards her.
Chikyuu was just about to fling her arms around Ming-Tah when there was a crack like a whip and everything crumbled and fell apart. "What the-!" Chikyuu yelled as the real world faded in. She looked for Shiddo, and when she didn't see her, agony erupted within her. "Stupid cat! You said it would be the same as always! You lied! Why'd you do that?" she shouted.
"Shiddo didn't pull you back. I did."
Shy spun around and gasped, "Wh-who are you?"
The man with bone chilling blue eyes smiled. "The Prince of Darkness presently. I was formerly known as heir to the earth throne, Prince Endymion."
"Endymion?" she whispered, taking a step back. Where was Shiddo? Had Endymion gotten her? Thinking it wise to transform in these circumstances, she held up her rod. "Earth Crystal Power Ma-!"
Endymion threw himself at Chikyuu, who didn't have time to move. His hands wrapped around her throat in one swift movement.
"SHIDDO!" she shrieked just before they slammed into the fountain's wall. Endymion shoved Chikyuu's head under the water as she let out a cry of pain. She struggled but it didn't help. Just when she thought her lungs would burst his grip loosened and she sputtered for a breath. With one disgusted glance at Endymion she pulled her fist back and let it fly forward. "Get OFF me!" she yelled.
Endymion turned his head back to face Chikyuu. His lip was bleeding. In another swift movement, he pushed Chikyuu back down under the water. Things began to get fuzzy, and she could hear her heart screaming in her ears.
Ming-Tah. . . You won't be alone for long. . . Táiyoo, I tried my best. . .
Then everything went black.
With an orange sunset as a brilliant backdrop, Endymion held the limp Chikyuu in his arms. As he reached the square's edge he shifted her weight. Silently, her locket fell off her neck, the chain broken. Then Endymion and Chikyuu disappeared. * * *
Usagi walked into her room, silently shutting the door and going to her dresser. She picked up Mamoru's "promise ring" and turned it in her fingers.
"I don't know why I keep it," she said to herself. "He doesn't mean anything anymore. He can't be helped."
She turned and strode out onto her balcony. "Let our past leave me forever. . ." she whispered, and threw the ring as hard as she could. She didn't see where it landed, but she heard a faint metallic tink as it hit the ground. Then Usagi heard another sound, a beeping.
"Usagi-chan!" a voice called.
Her communicator! She rushed to it and held it in front of her. "Hai, Michiru-san?"
Michiru's face was solemn and Usagi felt her stomach drop. "What's wrong?"
"It's Chikyuu-chan. She's missing. Táiyoo's getting frantic. She hasn't called or anything, which Táiyoo says is something she always does to let her know where she's at. Do you have any idea where she could be?"
"No. She ran out of class and I haven't seen her since."
Michiru turned her head and Usaig heard Táiyoo's voice, too muffled to understand. Michiru turned back and said, "She also says Shiddo is missing, but she doesn't think someone heard her or saw her because her powers would have enabled her to escape.
"Has she checked all the places Chikyuu might be?"
Michiru nodded, then stilled suddenly. "Chikyuu likes the square downtown. . ."
"Then I'll meet you there." * * *
The Outers met Usagi in the square about twenty minutes later.
"Why didn't you want the others to come? It would be easier with them helping to look," Usagi stated.
"They would only get in the way," Haruka returned. "We're enough."
Táiyoo's hands were clenched at her chest; she did look frantic. Usagi placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll find her."
Táiyoo was silent for a moment, and then smiled slightly. "I hope so. I promised I'd protect her."
Usagi glanced curiously at Haruka, who shook her head and muttered, "We'll tell you later Kitten."
Michiru took a few steps towards the fountain. She stretched her arm out horizontally, palm vertical, with her eyes closed. "Something was forced into the water. . ." she murmured.
Usagi ran to the fountain, afraid of what she might find. However, she let out a sigh of relief when she saw there was only water there. But she felt an unusual indentation in the wall and looked down and gasped. Part of the wall was crushed in. Tiny streams of water were slowly trickling out of the cracks, but it was hardly noticeable. Still, the sheer force that had to have been used to make the concrete crumble like that. . . On the ground beside the smashed section were several drops of a dark colored liquid, which only took seconds to identify as blood.
"Usagi-chan!"
The girl bolted up and faced the others.
"This was by the bush," Haruka called, tossing something at her. She caught it lightly and held it up so she could see it better. It was Chikyuu's henshein stick. Usagi glanced at Táiyoo, whose face had drained to a sickly white. Usagi could understand why. With Chikyuu's ability to transform in her hands, and Endymion around. . . Chikyuu wouldn't be careless enough to leave her wand behind would she?
Setsuna took a step forward and felt something beneath her foot. She stooped, picked it up, opened the locket, and examined the pictured of Chikyuu and her family. "Táiyoo-san-"
"-chan," she corrected.
"-chan. Here."
Táiyoo took the locket and her shoulders began to shake. "I swore I'd protect her. . .I failed. . .Endymion must have her," she wept.
In an instant, a black hole opened behind Táiyoo, who didn't notice it. A pair or spidery, corpse like hands shot out of it and grabbed her, as a voice snarled, "You can protect her and your cat momentarily. Don't waste your breath crying!" Táiyoo screamed as she was pulled off her feet, the hole at least four feet in the air.
"Táiyoo-chan!" Usagi cried, running to her and grabbing her arms. "Let her go!" she exclaimed tugging at her arms as the Outers latched onto the Usagi look-a-like and tried to keep her from being taken.
The hands around Táiyoo's ankles were strong, and she slid in another few inches. Usagi pulled with all her might, but she didn't gain anything. "Hold on, hold on Táiyoo," Usagi whispered.
"You'll be fine," Setsuna added.
One hand let go of Táiyoo and shot a ball of light at Haruka; it hit her square in the stomach and she fell backwards.
"Whoa!" Usagi cried as she was pulled into the hole with Táiyoo. "Haruka!"
Haruka scrambled to her feet and reached out for Usagi, but wasn't fast enough. Both she and Táiyoo were gone.
For a moment, she just stood there, too shocked to make a move. "No. No, no, no." She fell to her knees at the spot where her Princess had last been. "USAGI!" * * *
Usagi sat up slowly, feeling quite dizzy. She was back in the room of black stone, the one she'd hallucinated about before. She glanced around and saw the throne. . . a weird looking pool, a few torches in brackets on the wall. . . Where was Táiyoo? And what had happened to Chikyuu and Shiddo? Usagi was sure he'd taken them both.
She got her feet unsteadily. Instinctively her hand went to where her broach was on her chest, but it was missing! She twirled around, looking for it on the ground where she had been. Had it fallen off before she woke up? No, it wasn't there. Usagi was scared; She was alone and vulnerable without her broach.
She heard the near silently footsteps and turned back around quickly. The only thing she saw before she lost consciousness again was the hilt of Endymion's sword speeding towards her, and her broach, glittering in his hand.