Act 12 "A fateful Christmas Eve! The closing of Wise Man's trap!"
It was a cold and foggy day in Tokyo. It was also Christmas Eve and there were many people out and about on the streets, admiring the carefully decorated Christmas trees inside shops or else simply enjoying the festive holiday spirit. However in the suburb of Juban, the Tsukino household seemed to have a depressing cloud draped over its roof, especially around the closed windows of a young woman named Chibi Usa. Despite the brightly colored ribbons and wrapping paper sitting on her desk, Chibi Usa's face was cheerless. She took the picture out from its paper envelop and reflected to events earlier in the day.
Hotaru had dropped off the pictures after Chibi Usa had refused to see her by the excuse that she was busy with school work and had no time. Looking down from her window, Chibi Usa watched Hotaru as she took her leave and saw that the slender girl had reverted back to an all black outfit, a sure sign of Hotaru's dejected mood. At that, Chibi Usa had shut the curtains abruptly as anger and shame played tug-of-war in her mind. Anger for what Hotaru had tried to do, and shame for turning her friend away without giving her a chance to explain.
Now alone in her room with only the feeble desk lamp to illuminate the dusky chamber, Chibi Usa looked closely at the picture. It was the picture of Helios and her just before they left the inn in Hokkaido. She remembered feeling awkward and uneasy as Hotaru snapped the picture and sensed a similar reaction from Helios. The people in the picture looked just as they felt at that moment. The Chibi Usa in the photo was smiling, but it's obvious the smile was slightly forced and the softly knitted eyebrows testify to this. Helios on the other hand, was not nearly as dramatic in his expression but seemed equally uncomfortable. The corners of his mouth barely curled in a smile, and his posture was uneasy and nervous.
Chibi Usa ran her finger tip lightly over Helios's face, wondering what did those bright eyes of his saw that made them appear so confused and anxious.
A sudden rapping on the trap door snapped Chibi Usa out of her thoughts as she hurriedly tucked the picture and frame behind her books and dumped the ribbons into a desk drawer. Picking up a pencil and sliding over her note book, Chibi Usa pretend to do her homework.
"Who is it?"
Usagi's twin odango hair buns appeared above the wooden floor of the bedroom. She looked at Chibi Usa for a long second before walking into the room and asking sheepishly "Mamo-chan's going to be back by this afternoon. I want to go buy some things for him before picking him up at the airport. I was thinking if you wanted to come along with me."
Chibi Usa answered pointedly without looking at the blonde "I thought you said you didn't want me to leave the house, that it's not safe."
Knowing she was going to say that, Usagi gave a tired sigh "Chibi Usa I know you're mad at me, and I suppose you have a right to be." She said reluctantly "It's just that I don't want you to get hurt, please try to understand."
Only the scratching sound of pencil lead across paper answered Usagi as she waited.
Finally Chibi Usa replied, but still in the same cold voice "No, I won't be coming; I have work to do."
Usagi nodded "I see...Mamo-chan will be disappointed you won't be there though. I guess I'll see you later tonight then." Usagi left the room and closed the hatch door behind her as Chibi Usa continued to scribble indifferent across her homework notebook.
Once the sound of Usagi's footsteps disappeared down the staircase, Chibi Usa's hand stopped and placed the pencil down on the table.
Chibi Usa angrily pushed herself away form the desk and said in a crossed voice "Try to understand...that's what she always says!"
"Then why don't you do something about it?"
Chibi Usa turned and saw Black Lack standing at the end of the bed, a smug mien on her face.
"How did you get in here?" Chibi Usa demanded, standing up from her chair
Black Lady walked towards her double as she cooed "How sad, still being treated like a little girl by you beloved senshis; guess you'll never become a true warrior in their eyes."
"You-!" Chibi Usa began but was cut off when she saw the photograph of her and Helios appeared in the woman's hand "Gave that back!"
"So you're trying to take your mind off this awful, awful fact by indulging yourself in dreaming about your beloved little birdie hmm?" Black Lady studied the picture and frowned, one hand cupping her rosy cheek as she said "Oh my, why he looks awful! You're such a bad owner, look how depressed and unhappy he is." Black Lady lifted her eyes from the picture and locked eye with Chibi Usa "At this rate he won't last long beside you. It's probably better to let him go, wouldn't you say?"
"This is my business, now leave me alone!" Chibi Usa demanded with as much royal authority as she could muster.
Black Lady ignored her once again and went on to say incisively "But what would you do if he rejects you, what would you do then princess? What if your make-believe romance dissolves away like a dream? What would you do, what is there left for you as you are now?"
Chibi Usa could hear her breath rushing out of her lungs and back in again as her heart sank. "I don't know...but I still want to hold onto the hope that Helios loves me just as I love him..." She murmured, collapsing back into her chair.
Black Lady gave Chibi Usa an indecipherable look before her grin crept back into place. "Really now? Well then, go ahead and hold onto your hopes. But when it breaks, you will as well..."
In a flash Black Lady was gone, her words lingering in Chibi Usa's ears as the picture the woman once held fluttered to the floor. Chibi Usa gingerly picked up the picture by its edge and held it silently in her hands. She closed her eyes and reopened them again after a deep breath.
Since the first time Black Lady has had a conversation with her, she had been dogging Chibi Usa about her relationship with Helios. At first Chibi Usa thought it was just a ploy to demoralize her. But as time went on and her relationship with the boy drifted apart, it seemed like Black Lady was indeed prophesizing the future.
"Helios...I want to see you smile at me again..." the young princess whispered "I miss your smile..." placing the picture back on the table, Chibi Usa caste a sorrowful look at the other pictures of her family and friends My powers are gone, my best friend has betrayed my trust, even the senshis have lost their confidence in me. If you're gone, then what do I have left...what else do I have left to live for?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"This isn't right..."
For once Eisen was the one pacing back and forth in the dressing room. Her whip, coiled securely around her waist, slapped against her leg every time she took a step around the room.
"Argent wouldn't just disappear like this and Bellona-sama hasn't told us any thing in days! Just what the hell is going on?!" Eisen turned sharply to Oro "Oro why don't you say something? You always had something reasonable to say!"
Oro shook her head; her eyes matched that of her comrade's except there was more worry than frustration. "I don't know." She said honestly "So many things have happened in such a short time period, it can't be good-"
"Er!! I know that!" Eisen exploded, catching Oro off guard "I'm talking about Argent! Where is she!?"
Oro blinked a few times, even more surprised now by Eisen's words of concern "You're worried about Argent? But I thought you two hated each other?"
Eisen snorted "Yeah we do, but hell I kind of like yappin' with her; she reminds me of my own family." Eisen plopped herself down on an ottoman and explained as Oro stared "I've never told you guys much about my self since we're just suppose to be 'professionals' hired to do a job. Hmp, come to think of it I don't even remember the name of my planet or the city I came from anymore, but I do remember I came from a large family with a whole bunch of siblings and we used to raise hell. We were poor, living in the slum, but all of my brothers and sisters were top notch pick pockets and my mother didn't care-too busy I guess-and my father was drank half the time anyways but we managed. Then a couple of years ago a civil war broke out on my planet..."
Eisen looked up from her narrative for the first time and Oro saw a different person, one with the same insightful and crafty eyes, but one much younger than the Eisen she had known. "I had snuck out that day, trying to see if I can pick up some stray coins on the street. My mother had forbidden me to go, saying it was too dangerous. But I knew that in the tense situation everyone was tense and there'd be lots of goodies people unknowingly dropped onto the ground. So I went out anyways, right before the sunset with just enough light to let me see the glint of the coins." Eisen said wistfully, when she suddenly stopped and her face was blank for a second before she huffed and gave a half-hearted grin "I guess it was luck or bad luck, which ever ways you want to look at it, but that evening the opposition's army suddenly charged and attacked the city we lived in. They took the government's army by surprise and came charging in. I ducked into an old well and hid there for the night. I remember I was scared out of my wits with the bullets flying above me and the shells exploding; I could only hope that a stray bomb wouldn't land on my hideout during that time. When I come back up the next day, half the city was gone and my dinky little house was no longer there, obliterated during the night."
Oro bit her lower lip and looked away. She may be an experienced criminal but this story was totally unexpected and the extent of Eisen's tragedy had struck a cord somewhere in Oro's heart, making her pause before saying "What happened then?"
Eisen huffed, as if she was complaining about something unimportant "I was sent to an orphanage but I hated it. So I ran away and went back to employing my old skills. I graduated from a thief to a bandit in no time flat and lived a pretty good life until I got caught." Eisen stood up and stretched her arms. Turning her head around, Eisen looked warningly at Oro "Hey, don't try to pity me; that was one of the reasons I ran away from that orphanage in the first place. Everybody's too gushy and soft there."
A small smile crept onto Oro's face. So Eisen has in fact thought of Argent as her sister this whole time... the blonde haired woman shook her head. She looked at Eisen and said coolly as if she had been listening to a friend's casual little story "Of course not, we're suppose to be professionals right?" Hearing this Eisen snorted and turned away, leaving Oro to her own thoughts.
That was a side of Eisen I never expected to see... Oro reflected when that thought brought someone else into mind; herself. She had felt sympathetic towards Eisen, a disadvantageous emotion for a criminal but as Oro considered it, to denying the obvious was imprudence. Maybe I'm not as hard as I thought I'd be by now Oro smiled to herself. After all the things she's been through, from becoming a criminal, to getting locked up in an intergalactic prison, and finally becoming Bellona's henchman, Oro has had no time for emotions safe for the ones associated with her work. And even though Oro considered the situation to be perilous right now, it's ironic she should rediscover her softer side at such an uncanny moment.
"Eisen, Oro come here!" Bellona's voice suddenly burst into the room, causing Oro to jump up from her seat.
"We'd better go" Eisen said to Oro, who nodded as the red-haired woman stepped into her closet. Oro paused before stepping into her own portal when an ominous shiver crept up her spin. Oro grimaced but closed the door in front of her.
Within seconds the two women appeared before Bellona, seated comfortably in her steel throne.
The cloaked queen pushed herself up and walked down towards the two. "You two have served me well. And today I have decided it is time for you to receive the reward promised at our first meeting. I have something very special in store for you two." Oro caught the malicious crack in Bellona's voice and knew that the shudder she felt earlier was more than just a hunch.
Eisen however, spoke up, oblivious to Oro's mounting feeling of impending doom "Bellona-sama may I ask a question first?"
Bellona nodded, motioning wordlessly for Eisen to continue. Eisen craned her neck up and asked "What has happened to Argent? She left for her mission days ago but she's still not back."
Bellona paused as Eisen finished. She turned her back to them and said briskly "Argent is dead."
"Dead?!"
Bellona turned her face about and hissed "Yes, that dim-witted fool tried to take the Black Crystal for herself. She got what she deserved." Turning around fully now, Bellona said in a different tone "Now, I have someone I want you two to meet. But first, let me show you your rewards!"
Iron chain links suddenly flooded out from the gloomy darkness, linking together and binding the flabbergasted women.
"Ah!" Oro let out a choking gasp as a chain found its way around her neck. The chains began piling on until either woman could move as iron tendrils lined the floor.
Bellona chuckled "I want to thank the two of you for your services by making you part of my great plan. By using your energy I will restore the last pieces of the Black Crystal so that I may get a new, young body and conquer this galaxy. Even that wretched Argent received this honor despite her betrayal." So saying the two remaining pieces of the crystal drifted from the two trapped women, back to the jet black gemstone.
"You bitch, you used us!" Eisen screamed as her energy began to flow into the iron links, consequently fusing the remaining pieces of crystal back into one.
Hearing this, Bellona arched back and bellowed "Lowly filth! How dare of you to speak to me in such a manner! You two should be thankful for you were nothing but scums before I bestowed my powers upon you and made you into something useful! Now with the crystal completed, there is no need for you to live anymore!" Looking behind her, Bellona calmed down a fraction and said "What do you think Wise Man? What should I do to these two worthless pawns?"
A cold laugh resonated across the dark space, creating high and low pitches wheneven it hit the invisible walls. Slowly, like a slithering snake appearing from its lair, Wise Man's figure materialized before the three women.
Eisen strained her eyes to see Wise Man, but with her consciousness drowning away along with her energy, she could only make out the faint red glints that were his eyes. "Wha-what are you?" Eisen whispered; her anger suddenly subsided as a strong sense of dread wrenched her stomach.
Wise Man turned his unblinking eyes on the red haired woman and chuckled "I am Wise Man, grateful servant to Bellona-sama. You have done well Eisen and Oro. However as underlings your time is up for you have served you purpose and now..."
Oro took a deep breath, knowing what was to come.
"Farewell!"
A giant crackling ball of black energy appeared and augmented between Wise Man's hands. However, many things happened at that same instant. Oro suddenly lurched forward towards Eisen, her yellow closet door appearing behind her. With her free hand she grabbed Eisen by her chains and leaned back into the closet. Just as she made into the closet door, the ball of energy in Wise Man's hands flew at them but it was too last, and vaporized nothing except a few feet of fetters. The broken chains fell to the ground with a loud crash, with half melted links littering the floor.
Bellona rushed down to the place where the two women were crouching down on only seconds ago. Her fingers twitching in fury, the enraged woman roared "Where did they go?! Wise Man!"
"Calm yourself, my liege." Wise Man said thoughtfully as he used his soothing tone to appease the raging queen. "I did not expect Oro to still have enough energy left to summon her portal but this is a minor miscalculation. The two of them are on Earth right now but there is little chance that they can make it in their current condition." Hearing this, Bellona's breathing rate slowed, allowing Wise Man to move onto a more sanguine topic.
"Now that the crystal is whole there is nothing to fear Bellona-sama. Set you heart at ease, and let us not forget, there is only one more step before your conquest of this galaxy may begin. Patience is now the most crucial element at this point in our plan."
Bellona listened wordlessly to Wise Man's words except to irritably flap her cap behind her. She reached up, grabbed her ivy mask and snatched it off. The half of her face that had aged abnormally had grown even more hideous since she last took off the mask. The brown leathery skin around the mouth wrinkled with her scowl and her dreadful right eye was like a painted white marble, sitting in its sunken socket. Bellona touched her face with her left hand and felt another part of her skin crunch up like a dead leaf. A single dreadful moan escaped her throat as she beheld her pitiful state.
"I know that Wise Man. But nothing else better go wrong! I cannot afford to wait that much longer!"
Wise Man smiled an unseen smile "Do not worry Bellona-sama. Just wait a little more, your new body shall be ready before the end of this day; I assure you."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chibi Usa sat nervously on her bed, her normally deft fingers clumsily punched the number to Mamoru's apartment. Butterflies were fluttering like mad in her stomach and she could feel the sweat in the palm of her hands wetting the plastic surface of the phone. As the line ranged Chibi Usa stared down at the wrapped present sitting in her lap. The parcel wasn't very unique or even particularly interesting looking, but the simple gold foil wrapping paper and the slender red ribbon filled her with a faint sense of hope as Helios answered the phone.
"Hello?" Chibi Usa gasped as her brain blazed with a burst of panic, words suddenly seemed to have turned into glue in her mouth.
"Hello?" Helios asked again.
Chibi Usa shook her head and moved her lips a few times before she managed "Uh, Helios it's me."
""I'm sorry Chibi Usa but I'm busy right now, another time." Hearing her voice, Helios spoke hurriedly and began putting down the phone.
"Wait! This will only take a second!" Chibi Usa waited and sighed in relieve when the disconnecting click of the phone never came. An uncomfortable silence awaited her as Chibi Usa pushed the words out of her mouth "Meet me at the park today in an hour, beside the dock; please" she gulped "there's something I have to tell you."
On the other side of the phone line, Helios frowned. Chibi Usa's request was going straight against his plan. But the urgency and seriousness in her voice told him this was something he couldn't ignore.
"All right then...I'll come" Helios answered softly
"You promise?" Chibi Usa urged.
Helios hesitated before he said "Yes I promise, good bye" than hanged up.
Chibi Usa turned the phone off, picked up the present sitting on her lap and gently placing it on the bed. She took a deep breath and walked to the small mirror hanging on the wall. Studying herself, the young woman made sure that every hair was in place and that her cloths were smoothed and neat. As she reached behind to adjust her collar, her hand touched the tiny chain with its moon stone pendent.
Gingerly taking the pendent out, Chibi Usa held it up to her face. This was a present from Mamo-chan and Usagi, Chibi Usa thought to herself, the happiest couple she has ever known now or a thousand years in the future. Clutching her hand around the little pendent, Chibi Usa brought it to her lips and clasped her hand around it in a silent prayer.
Please Kami-sama...I don't ask for a romance like my parents, I only pray that Helios will accept my feelings for him, that he feels the same way about me as I do about him...
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
In Mamoru's apartment, Helios was watching the afternoon skies from the balcony. Stone gray cloud rolled past each other in a never ending stream, making one feel as if the sun would never show its face again. As he watched, Helios noticed the sky darkening as the clouds grew thick and foreboding, as if signaling an impending winter storm.
The young priest lowered his eyes when a cold wind blew past him, sliding past his silky white hair, making them dance in the air. A sudden sense of impending trouble befell Helios as the wind curled around him, causing him to tremble. Helios steadied himself by gripping the steel railing atop the balcony.
Something inside was warning against this meeting with Chibi Usa but Helios knew he was compelled to go, especially after he had given his word to her. Their faith in one another was something Helios held closely to his heart, and he did not want to test just how strong that trust is.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
As the clock in the Tsukino living room struck 4:30 pm, Chibi Usa stepped down from her room; the present visible in the crook of her arm. Ikuko-mama had left to go shopping, Kenji-papa was working over time, and Shingo was over at a friend's house Chibi Usa reminded herself before she took the final step down to the living room, knowing there would be no one to watch her go. She carefully placed a note on the table, sayings that she had something important to do and would be back soon just in case Ikuko came home early.
Closing the door behind her, Chibi Usa stepped onto the street. Taking a deep breath, she began walking in the direction of Ichinohash Park, her heart pounding but her mind remained oddly empty.
The thumping in her chest and the grayness in her brain continued all the way until she had reached the park. The lake was completely abandoned, the weather too cold for anyone to be out on a boat. Looking around, Chibi Usa saw that the evergreen shrubs and bushes around the lake were covered on top in a thick layer of snow. There would be no one looking down on her except for Mother Nature. Chibi Usa sighed in relief, knowing she had the lake to herself.
At this point the mental numbness vanished and Chibi Usa suddenly realized what she was about to do. The feeling reminded her of a movie, that her life up to this point had been the plot, building up to its final climatic moment. This was going to be the defining moment of her visit to the 21st century; this day was going to be one of the most important moments in her life.
Chibi Usa gulped, feeling the butterflies once again stirring inside her as the gravity of the moment fully sank in. A breeze picked up across the empty lake and swept towards her. The young woman listened carefully to the wind but it offered no words of advice or calm, only a soft echo as they glided past her ears.
The intruding sound of a foot on crunchy snow announced the person the anxious young woman had been waiting for. Chibi Usa spun around, her pig tails flying gently into the air as her ruby eyes beheld the white haired youth standing a few steps behind her.
"Helios..." Chibi Usa whispered softly
Helios suppressed a smile and approached with an inexpressive look, forcing down the slight flutter in his own heart. Chibi Usa didn't seem to care or notice his express, for she continued to smile, making Helios feel increasingly awkward wearing his pokerfaced mask.
"What is it that you called me out here for?" he asked, trying to conceal his nervousness.
Chibi Usa looked down and when she looked up again, her smile was gone, replaced by a much more serious visage. "I have something to tell you Helios..." she said in a low voice. Holding out the present in her arm, Chibi Usa looked up and met Helios' eyes.
"I came here today to tell you," Chibi Usa paused, steeling her resolve as the truth her heart has known for so long finally slipped past her lips "that I love you...!"
Helios stood there stunned, his mouth and eyes agape. I love you...! those three words, so seemingly impossible that he did not even dare to openly think about them, had just been spoken! Helios suddenly wanted to embrace Chibi Usa, instead his reaction took a 180 degrees turn. He took a step back and looked incredulously at the princess.
"What did you say...?" Helios asked unbelievingly, his eyes quivering slightly as his mind struggled with this new revealation.
Chibi Usa took an earnest step towards him, closing the gap between them. "I know this is very sudden and even though I don't know how long I've felt like this about you, I know that my feelings are true! That's why-that's why I want you to have this." Chibi Usa stared down at the humble little present, her face swiftly blushed to a deep shade of red "I don't know if you feel the same about me but please accept this present! It's not much but I hope you'll like it and ..." at this point Chibi Usa looked back up and saw Helios gently shaking his head.
This was going all wrong! Helios screamed at himself. How could this be?! How could it not be?! Another part of him shouted back. Immediately the other voice retorted in a reasoned but vehement voice. But what of Nephrenia, what about your duties to Elysian? What are you going to do Helios, what are you going to say?
"Chibi Usa-I..." Helios let out a short bewildered breath "This might not work out between us...our duties, our destinies...I just don't know..." he looked mournful at Chibi Usa and watched as her hope crumbled like a piece of shattered glass.
"Don't know...what do you mean?" Chibi Usa echoed in a cracking voice, her heart wounded and arrested from those words as a trickle of tears fell from the corner of her eyes.
Helios backed away further, all the while keeping his eyes away from hers; his own heart wrenching from the pain of seeing Chibi Usa's tears.
"...I don't know...I don't know!"
Abruptly, Helios turned around and ran away; the agony of the moment had become too much for him to stand. Chibi Usa watched blankly as Helios disappeared. Suddenly her legs gave way and she slumped to the ground in a miserable heap. A sharp uncontrollable wail escaped her mouth, the present dropping down to the ground with a dull clunk.
"Noo..." Chibi Usa whimpered softly "why did it have to be like this...?!" clutching her arm in each hand, Chibi Usa screamed as she pulled herself into a ball as her despair deepened. She had expected that he might not love her back, but instead he had run away; he had abandoned her. The rejection had done more than just breaking her heart; it had unleashed a well of pint up bad memories and past injuries. The humiliation, despair, anger, frustration, and loath all came crashing down on her. From the subconscious spite she felt whenever Usagi has given her that pitying look, to being left behind by the person she had devoted so much hope and love in; everything came down in a deluge of anguish. They crushed her body and suffocated her mind like a sand dune that had collapsed atop of her, every grain of sand and memory blinding and choking her more and more.
"I don't want this!" wailing wretchedly, the young woman paid not attention to the figure appearing behind her "I don't want to remember any of this any more! Someone make it go away..." she cried through a sob, tears now falling freely, mixing with the melted snow on the cold concrete ground.
Black Lady kneeled down and wrapped her arms around Chibi Usa, her magenta scarf draped around her as she spoke in a sad voice. "Yes, there's nothing left for you any more...your powers, your friends, even you precious little bird has left you. Now you have nothing...nothing at all..."
Chibi Usa's hand fell away from her body and dropped limply beside her as Black Lady continued with her mollifying words "You want to end the pain don't you?" Chibi Usa nodded numbly as Black Lady smiled sympathetically and stroked Chibi Usa's cheek, wiping away a trail of tear.
"Then become nothing...let the pain disappear and sleep...forever and ever, in undisturbed peace..." with those last words, Black Lady closed her eyes and Chibi Usa's mind went blank.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Helios ran, not knowing where he was going except away from the confusion bombarding him as he stood face to face with Chibi Usa. After he had gone on for as long as he could, Helios stopped, gasping for air. He ran his hands through his hair and began berating himself for his thoughtless action. Helios knew he had just broken the heart of the girl who had loved him, and whom he in fact loved in return. But the circumstances were too sudden! He reasoned with himself. Everything that had happened lately had developed too quickly; there was no way one could not be buried under it all.
Helios' mind flashed back to Chibi Usa, how he had seen her heart wrenching eyes gazing at him, full of accusation and disappointment. Sighing deeply, Helios looked back in the direction of the park. Was he reacting this way because he had been overly sensitive to simple nightmares, or was it a genuine premonition that something evil had returned? Was it really worth breaking someone's heart because of a hunch?
No it wasn't, not anymore, Helios answered his own question for the first time in a long time. Not after he had seen Chibi Usa's reaction, not after he had hurt her so much and so deeply.
I can't leave her there... he suddenly thought to himself, the foul taste of lurking evil still weighing heavily on his mind No, no-I must to go back and explain!. Helios turned and was about to run back when he saw the clouds above him moving all of a sudden at an unnatural rate as if the sky was boiling over and someone was stirring his finger in the whirling clouds.
The clouds rushed apart when a sharp jagged ship appeared as the paltry amount of light in the hazy sky scattered, leaving a dark nightly city in its wake. The ship moved forward sluggishly, its shadow chilled the air below. As the ship hovered, Helios watched the people around him. Everyone seemed to have noticed the sky darken but none seemed to observe the strange black ship that had suddenly manifested above them.
At first Helios thought perhaps he should tell the senshis about this first, but when the ship stoped above the park, Helios knew where he needed to be. Breaking into a sprint, Helios tore down the street, praying to all the gods that his nightmare was not about to come true.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Meanwhile Usagi and Mamoru were stepping out of the airport when they too noticed the strange swirling sky. Despite their distance, both could make out the blurry outline of the pointed diamond shaped other-worldly ship immerging from the clouds.
"Oh my God..." Usagi gasped as she felt her heart tighten.
"We need to go. Call the others, I'll go get a cab!" Mamoru called as he shot toward the line of waiting taxis, leaving Usagi to hastily pull out her communicator.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Back at the park, Helios sharply turned a corner to get onto the path leading to the waterfront. As he ran, a dot of purple drifted from the ship through an unseen door and descended towards the lake in front of him. Helios picked up his pace, pushing himself so that he might get to the lake before whoever's in the bubble.
The violet ball landed by the pier and disappeared as it touched the ground. Bellona, with Wise Man behind her, trotted toward the sullen form before them. As Bellona approached she felt rather than saw first the hollowness emanating from the girl crouched on the ground. The masked woman grinned and tipped up Chibi Usa's chin, raising her face, only to see a pair of distant and glazed eyes staring back at her. Satisfied, she motioned with an upheld hand and lifted Chibi Usa's body into the air.
Immensely pleased, Bellona stepped back and turned to Wise Man "Your plan turned out perfectly Wise Man. Come; I wise to take up this body as soon as possible!" she said with a hint of giddiness, like a child about to open her present.
Just then, Helios burst onto the scene, screaming with heated amber-gold eyes as he saw the levitating girl behind the two hooded figures.
"Let her go!" he screamed furiously
Bellona let out a short irritated breath, but quickly regained her poise and said calmly "Ah, Priest Helios, I take it? I was hoping you'd come" she said sarcastically.
"What?" Helios said in shock.
A deep chuckled echoed from Wise Man "My mistress and I would like to thank you Helios. Had it not been for you, my little plan might not have worked as well as it did."
Hearing this, Helios' breathe quickened as he retorted incredulously "What are you talking about?! I don't even know you, and I would never let anyone hurt Chibi Usa!"
Once again, Wise Man laughed "So you say, but was it not you who broke the poor child's heart just a few minutes ago? And as for our acquaintanceship..." Wise Man's shape suddenly began to blur, his purple hood growing into a mass of curly black hair while a pair of cold silted eyes appeared above blood red lips.
Helios didn't even feel his heart temporarily stop. Instead, his stunned, contracted eyes were filled with the image of this fake Nephrenia as his body went numb.
"You are an ironic man Priest Helios" Nephrenia/Wise Man said in the Black Moon queen's voice as Bellona looked on, amused "So concerned about the dreams of others that you cannot see through your own dreams. If you had discovered my little trick earlier perhaps Small Lady would not be in such a predicament." Wise Man shifted back to his true form, his eyes glowing with cruelty.
A rush of noises approached the lake side as Sailor Moon and the rest of the team approached. Bellona looked down at Wise Man and said commandingly "It's time we take our leave. Let's go Wise Man."
The duo plus the motionless Chibi Usa began floating higher into the air just as the senshi team appeared. "Chibi Usa!!" Sailor Moon screamed then halted to a dead stop when she saw the person standing before her daughter's body. "Wise Man?!"
The sudden flood of noise snapped Helios out of his trace as he raised his head only to see Chibi Usa drifting away from him.
"CHIBI USA!!!"
Helios bolted after her, running down the pier, trying to catch up to her as the villains carrying her drifted further and further away. As they passed over the edge of the pier, Helios reached out desperately for the girl. However his reach fell just short of her shoulder, his fingers catching the silvery chain that was drifting loosely around her neck instead before he plunged into the freezing water.
Bellona laughed horridly, knowing she had won this match "So long now senshis, you should all thank Priest Helios for making my dream come true!" she added as a last hurtful jab before disappearing back into her purple bubble and quickly drifting back towards her ship.
Sailor Moon collapsed as the speck of purple vanished, her hands cupping her face as she screamed her lost daughter's name.
"Chibi Usa!! Chibi Usa!!!"
Tears streamed down Sailor Moon's terrified face as the other senshis simply stood muted in their place, too shaken to move. Between the panic of seeing his daughter taken from him and his love's near hysteria, Tuxedo Kamen forcefully tore his mind away when he realized Helios did not surface. Quickly, he took off his cape, mask, and cap and dove into the water after the boy. After a few tense moments, Kamen reappeared above the surface, taking a breath of air while carrying a coughing and choking Helios in his arms.
Dripping wet, the two men stumbled onto shore. Jupiter and Mercury were able to put aside their momentary shock and ran to help the men up to drier grounds.
Sailor Moon staggered up and nearly flung herself at Helios as she took his by the shoulders and shook him, her face still wet with tear. "What happened Helios, how did Wise Man take Chibi Usa?! Why did that woman say that to you?! Answer me!" Helios did nothing except to stare unblinkingly down at the ground, his wet hair plastered to his face as foggy and empty eyes gave Sailor Moon no answers to her questions.
"Usagi!" Kamen grabbed Sailor Moon's arms and pulled her up to him "Usagi listen to me!" Sailor Moon ignored him, struggling and weeping.
"Listen to me," he repeated, being as gentle as he could as he looked her in the eye "calm down! We're going to find her and bring her back, just like we did before you hear? We can do it! Come on..." he said placidly, wrapped his arms around her and allowing the grieving woman to wept.
After a moment of anguishing silence, Mars shook off her own silent spell and asked the question nearly everyone had burning in his or her mind. "What are we going to do?! Wise Man's back and has recaptured Chibi Usa! We can't just sit here and do nothing!" she said hotly, her usually composed face contorted in sudden anger.
"I think we might be able to help you..." a familiar yet weak voice said from behind a grove of trees. Venus and the rest of the team jumped in front of their liege as the blonde leader shouted "Who's there!? Come out and show yourself!"
A rustle in the low bushed revealed the disheveled and weary figure of Oro and Eisen. Oro was carrying Eisen with one arm while supporting her own weight against a tree with the other. "We will tell you everything we can about Bellona and her plans if you will help us...please..." she said weakly before her pupils disappeared and her body began sinking down to the ground. Jupiter caught her just before her head hit the snow incrusted earth and noted the condition the two women were in.
"These two are pretty torn up. But should we trust them?"
Sailor Moon, having reduced her sobbing enough to raise her head from Mamoru's shoulder, nodded "We don't have a choice Jupiter-for Chibi Usa's sake we'll have to take the chance" she said brokenly.
Jupiter nodded when something cold touched her bare upper arm. Looking down, Jupiter was amazed to find an icy black dot melting on her skin.
"Look!" Mercury said, pointing up toward the sky. Everyone followed her gaze and saw black snow drifting from the sky.
The black snow began falling all over the city, forming frozen black soot over everything it touched. Venus looked away from the depressing snow and noticed the little present sitting deserted on the pavement. Picking up the little package, Venus looked at it for a moment before dipping her head sadly as if she intuitively knew the events relating to it. She dusted it free of the dirt cling to its shinny wrapper and held it close to her chest, casting a sympathetic look at the silent white haired boy.
Mars however, looked long and hard at the snow, the sudden fleeting but foreboding image of Black Lady flashed before her eyes. The raven haired senshi whispered "Could this have been the true meaning of that vision, that a dark messiah will be reborn on Christmas Eve?"
A/N Okay, not much to say. Hope you enjoyed the chapter though, 'cause things are about to get really interesting! ^_^
It was a cold and foggy day in Tokyo. It was also Christmas Eve and there were many people out and about on the streets, admiring the carefully decorated Christmas trees inside shops or else simply enjoying the festive holiday spirit. However in the suburb of Juban, the Tsukino household seemed to have a depressing cloud draped over its roof, especially around the closed windows of a young woman named Chibi Usa. Despite the brightly colored ribbons and wrapping paper sitting on her desk, Chibi Usa's face was cheerless. She took the picture out from its paper envelop and reflected to events earlier in the day.
Hotaru had dropped off the pictures after Chibi Usa had refused to see her by the excuse that she was busy with school work and had no time. Looking down from her window, Chibi Usa watched Hotaru as she took her leave and saw that the slender girl had reverted back to an all black outfit, a sure sign of Hotaru's dejected mood. At that, Chibi Usa had shut the curtains abruptly as anger and shame played tug-of-war in her mind. Anger for what Hotaru had tried to do, and shame for turning her friend away without giving her a chance to explain.
Now alone in her room with only the feeble desk lamp to illuminate the dusky chamber, Chibi Usa looked closely at the picture. It was the picture of Helios and her just before they left the inn in Hokkaido. She remembered feeling awkward and uneasy as Hotaru snapped the picture and sensed a similar reaction from Helios. The people in the picture looked just as they felt at that moment. The Chibi Usa in the photo was smiling, but it's obvious the smile was slightly forced and the softly knitted eyebrows testify to this. Helios on the other hand, was not nearly as dramatic in his expression but seemed equally uncomfortable. The corners of his mouth barely curled in a smile, and his posture was uneasy and nervous.
Chibi Usa ran her finger tip lightly over Helios's face, wondering what did those bright eyes of his saw that made them appear so confused and anxious.
A sudden rapping on the trap door snapped Chibi Usa out of her thoughts as she hurriedly tucked the picture and frame behind her books and dumped the ribbons into a desk drawer. Picking up a pencil and sliding over her note book, Chibi Usa pretend to do her homework.
"Who is it?"
Usagi's twin odango hair buns appeared above the wooden floor of the bedroom. She looked at Chibi Usa for a long second before walking into the room and asking sheepishly "Mamo-chan's going to be back by this afternoon. I want to go buy some things for him before picking him up at the airport. I was thinking if you wanted to come along with me."
Chibi Usa answered pointedly without looking at the blonde "I thought you said you didn't want me to leave the house, that it's not safe."
Knowing she was going to say that, Usagi gave a tired sigh "Chibi Usa I know you're mad at me, and I suppose you have a right to be." She said reluctantly "It's just that I don't want you to get hurt, please try to understand."
Only the scratching sound of pencil lead across paper answered Usagi as she waited.
Finally Chibi Usa replied, but still in the same cold voice "No, I won't be coming; I have work to do."
Usagi nodded "I see...Mamo-chan will be disappointed you won't be there though. I guess I'll see you later tonight then." Usagi left the room and closed the hatch door behind her as Chibi Usa continued to scribble indifferent across her homework notebook.
Once the sound of Usagi's footsteps disappeared down the staircase, Chibi Usa's hand stopped and placed the pencil down on the table.
Chibi Usa angrily pushed herself away form the desk and said in a crossed voice "Try to understand...that's what she always says!"
"Then why don't you do something about it?"
Chibi Usa turned and saw Black Lack standing at the end of the bed, a smug mien on her face.
"How did you get in here?" Chibi Usa demanded, standing up from her chair
Black Lady walked towards her double as she cooed "How sad, still being treated like a little girl by you beloved senshis; guess you'll never become a true warrior in their eyes."
"You-!" Chibi Usa began but was cut off when she saw the photograph of her and Helios appeared in the woman's hand "Gave that back!"
"So you're trying to take your mind off this awful, awful fact by indulging yourself in dreaming about your beloved little birdie hmm?" Black Lady studied the picture and frowned, one hand cupping her rosy cheek as she said "Oh my, why he looks awful! You're such a bad owner, look how depressed and unhappy he is." Black Lady lifted her eyes from the picture and locked eye with Chibi Usa "At this rate he won't last long beside you. It's probably better to let him go, wouldn't you say?"
"This is my business, now leave me alone!" Chibi Usa demanded with as much royal authority as she could muster.
Black Lady ignored her once again and went on to say incisively "But what would you do if he rejects you, what would you do then princess? What if your make-believe romance dissolves away like a dream? What would you do, what is there left for you as you are now?"
Chibi Usa could hear her breath rushing out of her lungs and back in again as her heart sank. "I don't know...but I still want to hold onto the hope that Helios loves me just as I love him..." She murmured, collapsing back into her chair.
Black Lady gave Chibi Usa an indecipherable look before her grin crept back into place. "Really now? Well then, go ahead and hold onto your hopes. But when it breaks, you will as well..."
In a flash Black Lady was gone, her words lingering in Chibi Usa's ears as the picture the woman once held fluttered to the floor. Chibi Usa gingerly picked up the picture by its edge and held it silently in her hands. She closed her eyes and reopened them again after a deep breath.
Since the first time Black Lady has had a conversation with her, she had been dogging Chibi Usa about her relationship with Helios. At first Chibi Usa thought it was just a ploy to demoralize her. But as time went on and her relationship with the boy drifted apart, it seemed like Black Lady was indeed prophesizing the future.
"Helios...I want to see you smile at me again..." the young princess whispered "I miss your smile..." placing the picture back on the table, Chibi Usa caste a sorrowful look at the other pictures of her family and friends My powers are gone, my best friend has betrayed my trust, even the senshis have lost their confidence in me. If you're gone, then what do I have left...what else do I have left to live for?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"This isn't right..."
For once Eisen was the one pacing back and forth in the dressing room. Her whip, coiled securely around her waist, slapped against her leg every time she took a step around the room.
"Argent wouldn't just disappear like this and Bellona-sama hasn't told us any thing in days! Just what the hell is going on?!" Eisen turned sharply to Oro "Oro why don't you say something? You always had something reasonable to say!"
Oro shook her head; her eyes matched that of her comrade's except there was more worry than frustration. "I don't know." She said honestly "So many things have happened in such a short time period, it can't be good-"
"Er!! I know that!" Eisen exploded, catching Oro off guard "I'm talking about Argent! Where is she!?"
Oro blinked a few times, even more surprised now by Eisen's words of concern "You're worried about Argent? But I thought you two hated each other?"
Eisen snorted "Yeah we do, but hell I kind of like yappin' with her; she reminds me of my own family." Eisen plopped herself down on an ottoman and explained as Oro stared "I've never told you guys much about my self since we're just suppose to be 'professionals' hired to do a job. Hmp, come to think of it I don't even remember the name of my planet or the city I came from anymore, but I do remember I came from a large family with a whole bunch of siblings and we used to raise hell. We were poor, living in the slum, but all of my brothers and sisters were top notch pick pockets and my mother didn't care-too busy I guess-and my father was drank half the time anyways but we managed. Then a couple of years ago a civil war broke out on my planet..."
Eisen looked up from her narrative for the first time and Oro saw a different person, one with the same insightful and crafty eyes, but one much younger than the Eisen she had known. "I had snuck out that day, trying to see if I can pick up some stray coins on the street. My mother had forbidden me to go, saying it was too dangerous. But I knew that in the tense situation everyone was tense and there'd be lots of goodies people unknowingly dropped onto the ground. So I went out anyways, right before the sunset with just enough light to let me see the glint of the coins." Eisen said wistfully, when she suddenly stopped and her face was blank for a second before she huffed and gave a half-hearted grin "I guess it was luck or bad luck, which ever ways you want to look at it, but that evening the opposition's army suddenly charged and attacked the city we lived in. They took the government's army by surprise and came charging in. I ducked into an old well and hid there for the night. I remember I was scared out of my wits with the bullets flying above me and the shells exploding; I could only hope that a stray bomb wouldn't land on my hideout during that time. When I come back up the next day, half the city was gone and my dinky little house was no longer there, obliterated during the night."
Oro bit her lower lip and looked away. She may be an experienced criminal but this story was totally unexpected and the extent of Eisen's tragedy had struck a cord somewhere in Oro's heart, making her pause before saying "What happened then?"
Eisen huffed, as if she was complaining about something unimportant "I was sent to an orphanage but I hated it. So I ran away and went back to employing my old skills. I graduated from a thief to a bandit in no time flat and lived a pretty good life until I got caught." Eisen stood up and stretched her arms. Turning her head around, Eisen looked warningly at Oro "Hey, don't try to pity me; that was one of the reasons I ran away from that orphanage in the first place. Everybody's too gushy and soft there."
A small smile crept onto Oro's face. So Eisen has in fact thought of Argent as her sister this whole time... the blonde haired woman shook her head. She looked at Eisen and said coolly as if she had been listening to a friend's casual little story "Of course not, we're suppose to be professionals right?" Hearing this Eisen snorted and turned away, leaving Oro to her own thoughts.
That was a side of Eisen I never expected to see... Oro reflected when that thought brought someone else into mind; herself. She had felt sympathetic towards Eisen, a disadvantageous emotion for a criminal but as Oro considered it, to denying the obvious was imprudence. Maybe I'm not as hard as I thought I'd be by now Oro smiled to herself. After all the things she's been through, from becoming a criminal, to getting locked up in an intergalactic prison, and finally becoming Bellona's henchman, Oro has had no time for emotions safe for the ones associated with her work. And even though Oro considered the situation to be perilous right now, it's ironic she should rediscover her softer side at such an uncanny moment.
"Eisen, Oro come here!" Bellona's voice suddenly burst into the room, causing Oro to jump up from her seat.
"We'd better go" Eisen said to Oro, who nodded as the red-haired woman stepped into her closet. Oro paused before stepping into her own portal when an ominous shiver crept up her spin. Oro grimaced but closed the door in front of her.
Within seconds the two women appeared before Bellona, seated comfortably in her steel throne.
The cloaked queen pushed herself up and walked down towards the two. "You two have served me well. And today I have decided it is time for you to receive the reward promised at our first meeting. I have something very special in store for you two." Oro caught the malicious crack in Bellona's voice and knew that the shudder she felt earlier was more than just a hunch.
Eisen however, spoke up, oblivious to Oro's mounting feeling of impending doom "Bellona-sama may I ask a question first?"
Bellona nodded, motioning wordlessly for Eisen to continue. Eisen craned her neck up and asked "What has happened to Argent? She left for her mission days ago but she's still not back."
Bellona paused as Eisen finished. She turned her back to them and said briskly "Argent is dead."
"Dead?!"
Bellona turned her face about and hissed "Yes, that dim-witted fool tried to take the Black Crystal for herself. She got what she deserved." Turning around fully now, Bellona said in a different tone "Now, I have someone I want you two to meet. But first, let me show you your rewards!"
Iron chain links suddenly flooded out from the gloomy darkness, linking together and binding the flabbergasted women.
"Ah!" Oro let out a choking gasp as a chain found its way around her neck. The chains began piling on until either woman could move as iron tendrils lined the floor.
Bellona chuckled "I want to thank the two of you for your services by making you part of my great plan. By using your energy I will restore the last pieces of the Black Crystal so that I may get a new, young body and conquer this galaxy. Even that wretched Argent received this honor despite her betrayal." So saying the two remaining pieces of the crystal drifted from the two trapped women, back to the jet black gemstone.
"You bitch, you used us!" Eisen screamed as her energy began to flow into the iron links, consequently fusing the remaining pieces of crystal back into one.
Hearing this, Bellona arched back and bellowed "Lowly filth! How dare of you to speak to me in such a manner! You two should be thankful for you were nothing but scums before I bestowed my powers upon you and made you into something useful! Now with the crystal completed, there is no need for you to live anymore!" Looking behind her, Bellona calmed down a fraction and said "What do you think Wise Man? What should I do to these two worthless pawns?"
A cold laugh resonated across the dark space, creating high and low pitches wheneven it hit the invisible walls. Slowly, like a slithering snake appearing from its lair, Wise Man's figure materialized before the three women.
Eisen strained her eyes to see Wise Man, but with her consciousness drowning away along with her energy, she could only make out the faint red glints that were his eyes. "Wha-what are you?" Eisen whispered; her anger suddenly subsided as a strong sense of dread wrenched her stomach.
Wise Man turned his unblinking eyes on the red haired woman and chuckled "I am Wise Man, grateful servant to Bellona-sama. You have done well Eisen and Oro. However as underlings your time is up for you have served you purpose and now..."
Oro took a deep breath, knowing what was to come.
"Farewell!"
A giant crackling ball of black energy appeared and augmented between Wise Man's hands. However, many things happened at that same instant. Oro suddenly lurched forward towards Eisen, her yellow closet door appearing behind her. With her free hand she grabbed Eisen by her chains and leaned back into the closet. Just as she made into the closet door, the ball of energy in Wise Man's hands flew at them but it was too last, and vaporized nothing except a few feet of fetters. The broken chains fell to the ground with a loud crash, with half melted links littering the floor.
Bellona rushed down to the place where the two women were crouching down on only seconds ago. Her fingers twitching in fury, the enraged woman roared "Where did they go?! Wise Man!"
"Calm yourself, my liege." Wise Man said thoughtfully as he used his soothing tone to appease the raging queen. "I did not expect Oro to still have enough energy left to summon her portal but this is a minor miscalculation. The two of them are on Earth right now but there is little chance that they can make it in their current condition." Hearing this, Bellona's breathing rate slowed, allowing Wise Man to move onto a more sanguine topic.
"Now that the crystal is whole there is nothing to fear Bellona-sama. Set you heart at ease, and let us not forget, there is only one more step before your conquest of this galaxy may begin. Patience is now the most crucial element at this point in our plan."
Bellona listened wordlessly to Wise Man's words except to irritably flap her cap behind her. She reached up, grabbed her ivy mask and snatched it off. The half of her face that had aged abnormally had grown even more hideous since she last took off the mask. The brown leathery skin around the mouth wrinkled with her scowl and her dreadful right eye was like a painted white marble, sitting in its sunken socket. Bellona touched her face with her left hand and felt another part of her skin crunch up like a dead leaf. A single dreadful moan escaped her throat as she beheld her pitiful state.
"I know that Wise Man. But nothing else better go wrong! I cannot afford to wait that much longer!"
Wise Man smiled an unseen smile "Do not worry Bellona-sama. Just wait a little more, your new body shall be ready before the end of this day; I assure you."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chibi Usa sat nervously on her bed, her normally deft fingers clumsily punched the number to Mamoru's apartment. Butterflies were fluttering like mad in her stomach and she could feel the sweat in the palm of her hands wetting the plastic surface of the phone. As the line ranged Chibi Usa stared down at the wrapped present sitting in her lap. The parcel wasn't very unique or even particularly interesting looking, but the simple gold foil wrapping paper and the slender red ribbon filled her with a faint sense of hope as Helios answered the phone.
"Hello?" Chibi Usa gasped as her brain blazed with a burst of panic, words suddenly seemed to have turned into glue in her mouth.
"Hello?" Helios asked again.
Chibi Usa shook her head and moved her lips a few times before she managed "Uh, Helios it's me."
""I'm sorry Chibi Usa but I'm busy right now, another time." Hearing her voice, Helios spoke hurriedly and began putting down the phone.
"Wait! This will only take a second!" Chibi Usa waited and sighed in relieve when the disconnecting click of the phone never came. An uncomfortable silence awaited her as Chibi Usa pushed the words out of her mouth "Meet me at the park today in an hour, beside the dock; please" she gulped "there's something I have to tell you."
On the other side of the phone line, Helios frowned. Chibi Usa's request was going straight against his plan. But the urgency and seriousness in her voice told him this was something he couldn't ignore.
"All right then...I'll come" Helios answered softly
"You promise?" Chibi Usa urged.
Helios hesitated before he said "Yes I promise, good bye" than hanged up.
Chibi Usa turned the phone off, picked up the present sitting on her lap and gently placing it on the bed. She took a deep breath and walked to the small mirror hanging on the wall. Studying herself, the young woman made sure that every hair was in place and that her cloths were smoothed and neat. As she reached behind to adjust her collar, her hand touched the tiny chain with its moon stone pendent.
Gingerly taking the pendent out, Chibi Usa held it up to her face. This was a present from Mamo-chan and Usagi, Chibi Usa thought to herself, the happiest couple she has ever known now or a thousand years in the future. Clutching her hand around the little pendent, Chibi Usa brought it to her lips and clasped her hand around it in a silent prayer.
Please Kami-sama...I don't ask for a romance like my parents, I only pray that Helios will accept my feelings for him, that he feels the same way about me as I do about him...
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
In Mamoru's apartment, Helios was watching the afternoon skies from the balcony. Stone gray cloud rolled past each other in a never ending stream, making one feel as if the sun would never show its face again. As he watched, Helios noticed the sky darkening as the clouds grew thick and foreboding, as if signaling an impending winter storm.
The young priest lowered his eyes when a cold wind blew past him, sliding past his silky white hair, making them dance in the air. A sudden sense of impending trouble befell Helios as the wind curled around him, causing him to tremble. Helios steadied himself by gripping the steel railing atop the balcony.
Something inside was warning against this meeting with Chibi Usa but Helios knew he was compelled to go, especially after he had given his word to her. Their faith in one another was something Helios held closely to his heart, and he did not want to test just how strong that trust is.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
As the clock in the Tsukino living room struck 4:30 pm, Chibi Usa stepped down from her room; the present visible in the crook of her arm. Ikuko-mama had left to go shopping, Kenji-papa was working over time, and Shingo was over at a friend's house Chibi Usa reminded herself before she took the final step down to the living room, knowing there would be no one to watch her go. She carefully placed a note on the table, sayings that she had something important to do and would be back soon just in case Ikuko came home early.
Closing the door behind her, Chibi Usa stepped onto the street. Taking a deep breath, she began walking in the direction of Ichinohash Park, her heart pounding but her mind remained oddly empty.
The thumping in her chest and the grayness in her brain continued all the way until she had reached the park. The lake was completely abandoned, the weather too cold for anyone to be out on a boat. Looking around, Chibi Usa saw that the evergreen shrubs and bushes around the lake were covered on top in a thick layer of snow. There would be no one looking down on her except for Mother Nature. Chibi Usa sighed in relief, knowing she had the lake to herself.
At this point the mental numbness vanished and Chibi Usa suddenly realized what she was about to do. The feeling reminded her of a movie, that her life up to this point had been the plot, building up to its final climatic moment. This was going to be the defining moment of her visit to the 21st century; this day was going to be one of the most important moments in her life.
Chibi Usa gulped, feeling the butterflies once again stirring inside her as the gravity of the moment fully sank in. A breeze picked up across the empty lake and swept towards her. The young woman listened carefully to the wind but it offered no words of advice or calm, only a soft echo as they glided past her ears.
The intruding sound of a foot on crunchy snow announced the person the anxious young woman had been waiting for. Chibi Usa spun around, her pig tails flying gently into the air as her ruby eyes beheld the white haired youth standing a few steps behind her.
"Helios..." Chibi Usa whispered softly
Helios suppressed a smile and approached with an inexpressive look, forcing down the slight flutter in his own heart. Chibi Usa didn't seem to care or notice his express, for she continued to smile, making Helios feel increasingly awkward wearing his pokerfaced mask.
"What is it that you called me out here for?" he asked, trying to conceal his nervousness.
Chibi Usa looked down and when she looked up again, her smile was gone, replaced by a much more serious visage. "I have something to tell you Helios..." she said in a low voice. Holding out the present in her arm, Chibi Usa looked up and met Helios' eyes.
"I came here today to tell you," Chibi Usa paused, steeling her resolve as the truth her heart has known for so long finally slipped past her lips "that I love you...!"
Helios stood there stunned, his mouth and eyes agape. I love you...! those three words, so seemingly impossible that he did not even dare to openly think about them, had just been spoken! Helios suddenly wanted to embrace Chibi Usa, instead his reaction took a 180 degrees turn. He took a step back and looked incredulously at the princess.
"What did you say...?" Helios asked unbelievingly, his eyes quivering slightly as his mind struggled with this new revealation.
Chibi Usa took an earnest step towards him, closing the gap between them. "I know this is very sudden and even though I don't know how long I've felt like this about you, I know that my feelings are true! That's why-that's why I want you to have this." Chibi Usa stared down at the humble little present, her face swiftly blushed to a deep shade of red "I don't know if you feel the same about me but please accept this present! It's not much but I hope you'll like it and ..." at this point Chibi Usa looked back up and saw Helios gently shaking his head.
This was going all wrong! Helios screamed at himself. How could this be?! How could it not be?! Another part of him shouted back. Immediately the other voice retorted in a reasoned but vehement voice. But what of Nephrenia, what about your duties to Elysian? What are you going to do Helios, what are you going to say?
"Chibi Usa-I..." Helios let out a short bewildered breath "This might not work out between us...our duties, our destinies...I just don't know..." he looked mournful at Chibi Usa and watched as her hope crumbled like a piece of shattered glass.
"Don't know...what do you mean?" Chibi Usa echoed in a cracking voice, her heart wounded and arrested from those words as a trickle of tears fell from the corner of her eyes.
Helios backed away further, all the while keeping his eyes away from hers; his own heart wrenching from the pain of seeing Chibi Usa's tears.
"...I don't know...I don't know!"
Abruptly, Helios turned around and ran away; the agony of the moment had become too much for him to stand. Chibi Usa watched blankly as Helios disappeared. Suddenly her legs gave way and she slumped to the ground in a miserable heap. A sharp uncontrollable wail escaped her mouth, the present dropping down to the ground with a dull clunk.
"Noo..." Chibi Usa whimpered softly "why did it have to be like this...?!" clutching her arm in each hand, Chibi Usa screamed as she pulled herself into a ball as her despair deepened. She had expected that he might not love her back, but instead he had run away; he had abandoned her. The rejection had done more than just breaking her heart; it had unleashed a well of pint up bad memories and past injuries. The humiliation, despair, anger, frustration, and loath all came crashing down on her. From the subconscious spite she felt whenever Usagi has given her that pitying look, to being left behind by the person she had devoted so much hope and love in; everything came down in a deluge of anguish. They crushed her body and suffocated her mind like a sand dune that had collapsed atop of her, every grain of sand and memory blinding and choking her more and more.
"I don't want this!" wailing wretchedly, the young woman paid not attention to the figure appearing behind her "I don't want to remember any of this any more! Someone make it go away..." she cried through a sob, tears now falling freely, mixing with the melted snow on the cold concrete ground.
Black Lady kneeled down and wrapped her arms around Chibi Usa, her magenta scarf draped around her as she spoke in a sad voice. "Yes, there's nothing left for you any more...your powers, your friends, even you precious little bird has left you. Now you have nothing...nothing at all..."
Chibi Usa's hand fell away from her body and dropped limply beside her as Black Lady continued with her mollifying words "You want to end the pain don't you?" Chibi Usa nodded numbly as Black Lady smiled sympathetically and stroked Chibi Usa's cheek, wiping away a trail of tear.
"Then become nothing...let the pain disappear and sleep...forever and ever, in undisturbed peace..." with those last words, Black Lady closed her eyes and Chibi Usa's mind went blank.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Helios ran, not knowing where he was going except away from the confusion bombarding him as he stood face to face with Chibi Usa. After he had gone on for as long as he could, Helios stopped, gasping for air. He ran his hands through his hair and began berating himself for his thoughtless action. Helios knew he had just broken the heart of the girl who had loved him, and whom he in fact loved in return. But the circumstances were too sudden! He reasoned with himself. Everything that had happened lately had developed too quickly; there was no way one could not be buried under it all.
Helios' mind flashed back to Chibi Usa, how he had seen her heart wrenching eyes gazing at him, full of accusation and disappointment. Sighing deeply, Helios looked back in the direction of the park. Was he reacting this way because he had been overly sensitive to simple nightmares, or was it a genuine premonition that something evil had returned? Was it really worth breaking someone's heart because of a hunch?
No it wasn't, not anymore, Helios answered his own question for the first time in a long time. Not after he had seen Chibi Usa's reaction, not after he had hurt her so much and so deeply.
I can't leave her there... he suddenly thought to himself, the foul taste of lurking evil still weighing heavily on his mind No, no-I must to go back and explain!. Helios turned and was about to run back when he saw the clouds above him moving all of a sudden at an unnatural rate as if the sky was boiling over and someone was stirring his finger in the whirling clouds.
The clouds rushed apart when a sharp jagged ship appeared as the paltry amount of light in the hazy sky scattered, leaving a dark nightly city in its wake. The ship moved forward sluggishly, its shadow chilled the air below. As the ship hovered, Helios watched the people around him. Everyone seemed to have noticed the sky darken but none seemed to observe the strange black ship that had suddenly manifested above them.
At first Helios thought perhaps he should tell the senshis about this first, but when the ship stoped above the park, Helios knew where he needed to be. Breaking into a sprint, Helios tore down the street, praying to all the gods that his nightmare was not about to come true.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Meanwhile Usagi and Mamoru were stepping out of the airport when they too noticed the strange swirling sky. Despite their distance, both could make out the blurry outline of the pointed diamond shaped other-worldly ship immerging from the clouds.
"Oh my God..." Usagi gasped as she felt her heart tighten.
"We need to go. Call the others, I'll go get a cab!" Mamoru called as he shot toward the line of waiting taxis, leaving Usagi to hastily pull out her communicator.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Back at the park, Helios sharply turned a corner to get onto the path leading to the waterfront. As he ran, a dot of purple drifted from the ship through an unseen door and descended towards the lake in front of him. Helios picked up his pace, pushing himself so that he might get to the lake before whoever's in the bubble.
The violet ball landed by the pier and disappeared as it touched the ground. Bellona, with Wise Man behind her, trotted toward the sullen form before them. As Bellona approached she felt rather than saw first the hollowness emanating from the girl crouched on the ground. The masked woman grinned and tipped up Chibi Usa's chin, raising her face, only to see a pair of distant and glazed eyes staring back at her. Satisfied, she motioned with an upheld hand and lifted Chibi Usa's body into the air.
Immensely pleased, Bellona stepped back and turned to Wise Man "Your plan turned out perfectly Wise Man. Come; I wise to take up this body as soon as possible!" she said with a hint of giddiness, like a child about to open her present.
Just then, Helios burst onto the scene, screaming with heated amber-gold eyes as he saw the levitating girl behind the two hooded figures.
"Let her go!" he screamed furiously
Bellona let out a short irritated breath, but quickly regained her poise and said calmly "Ah, Priest Helios, I take it? I was hoping you'd come" she said sarcastically.
"What?" Helios said in shock.
A deep chuckled echoed from Wise Man "My mistress and I would like to thank you Helios. Had it not been for you, my little plan might not have worked as well as it did."
Hearing this, Helios' breathe quickened as he retorted incredulously "What are you talking about?! I don't even know you, and I would never let anyone hurt Chibi Usa!"
Once again, Wise Man laughed "So you say, but was it not you who broke the poor child's heart just a few minutes ago? And as for our acquaintanceship..." Wise Man's shape suddenly began to blur, his purple hood growing into a mass of curly black hair while a pair of cold silted eyes appeared above blood red lips.
Helios didn't even feel his heart temporarily stop. Instead, his stunned, contracted eyes were filled with the image of this fake Nephrenia as his body went numb.
"You are an ironic man Priest Helios" Nephrenia/Wise Man said in the Black Moon queen's voice as Bellona looked on, amused "So concerned about the dreams of others that you cannot see through your own dreams. If you had discovered my little trick earlier perhaps Small Lady would not be in such a predicament." Wise Man shifted back to his true form, his eyes glowing with cruelty.
A rush of noises approached the lake side as Sailor Moon and the rest of the team approached. Bellona looked down at Wise Man and said commandingly "It's time we take our leave. Let's go Wise Man."
The duo plus the motionless Chibi Usa began floating higher into the air just as the senshi team appeared. "Chibi Usa!!" Sailor Moon screamed then halted to a dead stop when she saw the person standing before her daughter's body. "Wise Man?!"
The sudden flood of noise snapped Helios out of his trace as he raised his head only to see Chibi Usa drifting away from him.
"CHIBI USA!!!"
Helios bolted after her, running down the pier, trying to catch up to her as the villains carrying her drifted further and further away. As they passed over the edge of the pier, Helios reached out desperately for the girl. However his reach fell just short of her shoulder, his fingers catching the silvery chain that was drifting loosely around her neck instead before he plunged into the freezing water.
Bellona laughed horridly, knowing she had won this match "So long now senshis, you should all thank Priest Helios for making my dream come true!" she added as a last hurtful jab before disappearing back into her purple bubble and quickly drifting back towards her ship.
Sailor Moon collapsed as the speck of purple vanished, her hands cupping her face as she screamed her lost daughter's name.
"Chibi Usa!! Chibi Usa!!!"
Tears streamed down Sailor Moon's terrified face as the other senshis simply stood muted in their place, too shaken to move. Between the panic of seeing his daughter taken from him and his love's near hysteria, Tuxedo Kamen forcefully tore his mind away when he realized Helios did not surface. Quickly, he took off his cape, mask, and cap and dove into the water after the boy. After a few tense moments, Kamen reappeared above the surface, taking a breath of air while carrying a coughing and choking Helios in his arms.
Dripping wet, the two men stumbled onto shore. Jupiter and Mercury were able to put aside their momentary shock and ran to help the men up to drier grounds.
Sailor Moon staggered up and nearly flung herself at Helios as she took his by the shoulders and shook him, her face still wet with tear. "What happened Helios, how did Wise Man take Chibi Usa?! Why did that woman say that to you?! Answer me!" Helios did nothing except to stare unblinkingly down at the ground, his wet hair plastered to his face as foggy and empty eyes gave Sailor Moon no answers to her questions.
"Usagi!" Kamen grabbed Sailor Moon's arms and pulled her up to him "Usagi listen to me!" Sailor Moon ignored him, struggling and weeping.
"Listen to me," he repeated, being as gentle as he could as he looked her in the eye "calm down! We're going to find her and bring her back, just like we did before you hear? We can do it! Come on..." he said placidly, wrapped his arms around her and allowing the grieving woman to wept.
After a moment of anguishing silence, Mars shook off her own silent spell and asked the question nearly everyone had burning in his or her mind. "What are we going to do?! Wise Man's back and has recaptured Chibi Usa! We can't just sit here and do nothing!" she said hotly, her usually composed face contorted in sudden anger.
"I think we might be able to help you..." a familiar yet weak voice said from behind a grove of trees. Venus and the rest of the team jumped in front of their liege as the blonde leader shouted "Who's there!? Come out and show yourself!"
A rustle in the low bushed revealed the disheveled and weary figure of Oro and Eisen. Oro was carrying Eisen with one arm while supporting her own weight against a tree with the other. "We will tell you everything we can about Bellona and her plans if you will help us...please..." she said weakly before her pupils disappeared and her body began sinking down to the ground. Jupiter caught her just before her head hit the snow incrusted earth and noted the condition the two women were in.
"These two are pretty torn up. But should we trust them?"
Sailor Moon, having reduced her sobbing enough to raise her head from Mamoru's shoulder, nodded "We don't have a choice Jupiter-for Chibi Usa's sake we'll have to take the chance" she said brokenly.
Jupiter nodded when something cold touched her bare upper arm. Looking down, Jupiter was amazed to find an icy black dot melting on her skin.
"Look!" Mercury said, pointing up toward the sky. Everyone followed her gaze and saw black snow drifting from the sky.
The black snow began falling all over the city, forming frozen black soot over everything it touched. Venus looked away from the depressing snow and noticed the little present sitting deserted on the pavement. Picking up the little package, Venus looked at it for a moment before dipping her head sadly as if she intuitively knew the events relating to it. She dusted it free of the dirt cling to its shinny wrapper and held it close to her chest, casting a sympathetic look at the silent white haired boy.
Mars however, looked long and hard at the snow, the sudden fleeting but foreboding image of Black Lady flashed before her eyes. The raven haired senshi whispered "Could this have been the true meaning of that vision, that a dark messiah will be reborn on Christmas Eve?"
A/N Okay, not much to say. Hope you enjoyed the chapter though, 'cause things are about to get really interesting! ^_^