"Weird." Nathan mused aloud as they walked out of the cinema.
"I dunno, I liked it!" Makoto said happily, sipping at the last of her drink.
"Yeah, I liked it too. It's just... weird." Nathan mumbled.
"Yeah, I guess you're right!" Laughed Makoto as she dumped the empty paper cup into a trash can.
"So," started Nathan "who was your favorite character?"
"Hmmm, Trinity." Makoto said.
"I've should've known!" he laughed.
"Yours?"
"Well, Morpheus." Nathan said after a moment's thought.
"Oh?"
"Well, Neo is cool and all, but I don't really like guys that kind of inherit all that power out of no-where... I mean… I think I admire Morpheus more because he had to fight a lot to be what he is at that point."
"Right." Makoto laughed.
Nathan smiled, remembering that Makoto had been very depressed that morning.
"Hey, I'll buy you an ice cream, let's go!" he said taking her hand. 'I won't see you that depressed again Makoto, not if I can help it.' Nathan thought as they ran.
Sailor Moon; Masks & Dragons
Chapter 4
Code of Honor
By Wanderer D
"Well? How is it?" Nathan asked.
Makoto gulped down. "Delicious! How about yours?" She immediately placed another spoonful of banana split into her mouth. Nathan nodded, unable to talk with is mouth full. Both snickered and continued eating.
---
"You said Jade was killed? Good riddance. I never liked the bastard." Gold said.
Winter stood on a large mountain looking at the enormous Golden Dragon. "Listen Gold, I couldn't agree more..."
"Tell me, Winter." Gold interrupted. "Why is it that you stay in that form? Half dragon, half human? It's convenient, sometimes, but I like better the real dragon form. It's better suited for battle."
"That's out of the question! Are you going to pay your debt to Lord Black or not?!" Winter asked exasperated.
"Be careful, Winter. In that form you don't stand a chance against me, even if in your real form you could." Gold used one of his huge claws to trace a pattern in the rocks. "I will pay my debt to him rest assured." He then got up. "I'll go to him once I've resolved some minor matters. Now leave."
"You'll receive further instructions from Lord Black himself." Winter said before flying away.
Gold watched the white dragon as it disappeared on the horizon. "I'll pay my debt to that murderer and then I'll be free to kill him." he muttered.
---
A tree suddenly split in half by a flash of light. For a moment it remained the same, then it slowly slid to its side and fell.
From behind it walked an armored man, his face covered by a silver mask, apparently made of the same material of his armor. His helm designed like the head of a silver dragon and with a black cape covering his shoulders and back almost to the ground. His right hand held a katana, gleaming on the sunlight.
His blue eyes shone with hatred and barely controlled anger. "They'll all die." He growled.
From his armored hand a small beam of white-hot energy shot out, setting the tree on fire. "Yes. They will die." Mask said with a nod.
Turning around, the knight walked further into the forest.
---
Inside the Hikawa Shrine most of the Sailor Senshi were gathered again, this time by Ami's summons. Trying to give Makoto a break, she had been spared the meeting with a promise of informing her later of all that had happened.
"Usagi, are you okay?" Asked Raye, looking at her friend.
"Yeah." Usagi answered.
Minako, Raye and Ami looked at her friend worriedly. "What about your parents?" Ami asked.
"They're okay, I guess. They left to one of my aunt's houses."
Minako nodded. "Where are you staying?"
"With me." Mamoru said, sitting down.
"With you?!" Raye almost shouted "What did her parents say?!"
"Well, after we all talked and we told them about what had happened to us, they figured out they could trust Mamo-chan." Usagi offered.
"Usagi's father even called me 'son'." Mamoru said, smiling.
"And how wrong they are..." Minako muttered.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Usagi shouted, glaring daggers at her friend.
"Uh... Nothin', uh, well, I guess you're happy now, right Usagi?" she asked smiling sheepishly.
"What have you got, Ami?" Usagi asked changing the theme completely. Everyone noticed, however, that both, her and Mamoru, were blushing.
"Well, the book Nathan lent me did have reference to something like we have seen." She pulled the book from her bag and opened it.
There were some drawings there. One of a human, the other of a dragon much like Jade and another of an occidental dragon.
"Apparently the world long ago included all the mythological creatures; elves, griffins, Pegasus, dragons... even mermaids. Even before the Silver Millennium this world was separated and the mythical creatures were stuck in a world other than ours, and that's where the dragons live."
Ami pointed to the drawings. "This says that some dragons were capable of achieving two forms; their own and the one we saw Jade with. Fewer still were able to transform into three, adding the human form. However those are very rare and from what I've read only one could do it and he's dead."
She then closed the book. "The rest are only stories and legends which are of no immediate use to us at the moment, but they might prove useful in the future. The strangest part is that this book's covering is not normal. It's made out of dragon-hide it seems."
"Dragon-hide? How did Nathan get a book covered in dragon hide?" Usagi asked as she held the book up for inspection.
"Maybe he found it?" Offered Mamoru.
"Or maybe he knew about it all along?" Minako said taking it from Usagi's hands and inspecting it herself.
"Well, this may sound crazy. Or, then again, maybe not." Ami started. "Have any of you considered the possibility that Nathan might be Mask?"
"What?!" Raye and Usagi half-shouted.
"Well, think about it." Ami argued "Both appeared at about the same time, both have blue eyes..."
"Nathan always wears black..." Usagi muttered.
"Yes, but that's when we see him without the armor! Besides, they both know about dragons, have the same height... and then there's the book."
"Well, even if Nathan is Mask he has helped us a lot." Minako replied.
"Nathan is not Mask." Raye stated.
"How can you be so sure Raye?" Ami asked, rising an eyebrow.
"I only met Nathan recently. But every time we see Mask I can feel an... evil intention growing in him. I do not know what Mask is up to, but it's not good."
"And you haven't felt that with Nathan?" Ami queried.
Raye shook her head. "No."
Ami sighed. "Okay, maybe he's not Mask. But since he probably has more knowledge of this than us, we ought to watch him for a while."
The others nodded.
"Wait, if he knows so much, why don't we just ask him?" said Usagi.
"Oh, yeah, right. 'Excuse me, Nathan-kun, I'm looking for information on rampaging dragons... why do I need it? Oh, it just so happens that I'm a Sailor Senshi... oh, yes… ha, ha, ha, ha. Sure, thank you for the info. I will let you know what happens with the fate of the universe. Bye, bye now.'"
"You needn't be sarcastic Minako!" Usagi whined.
"Oh, shut up Usagi!" Raye ordered.
Usagi responded by sticking her tongue out at her.
"Just great." Ami muttered as the first pillow was thrown.
---
Nathan and Makoto stood outside her apartment laughing.
"It's been a great day Mako-chan." Nathan said honestly, locking his blue eyes with her own green ones.
Makoto sighed happily. "Yes, it has Nathan-kun..." she agreed.
"Nathan." He insisted, not losing the smile.
"Nathan." Makoto conceded with her own smile. "Tell me, what are you doing tomorrow?" she asked, tilting her head and blinking at him.
For a moment he couldn't answer. "I don't know... it's Saturday right? Nothing to do yet, why?"
"Ami's been calling everyone for a day at the beach. She told me to ask you. What do you say?" Makoto
"Sure! I'd love to go!"
"Well, then I'll meet you here tomorrow at... 7:00 I guess."
"I'll be here." Nathan promised.
"Okay, see you tomorrow then, Nathan-kun." she said kissing him on the cheek. She went into her apartment before he could react.
"Just... Nathan..." he muttered in surprise. He slowly touched with his fingertips the exact place where Makoto had kissed him. Still holding his hand there, he walked away. "Makoto..." he whispered.
---
On Saturday morning, at about 7:15, Makoto and Nathan walked into the train station. Usagi was already there waiting for everyone else. When she saw them, she waved at them until they went to where she was sitting with Mamoru.
Makoto looked surprised from the yawning Mamoru to Usagi. "Usagi?! Why are you awake?! I thought you'd be the last to come!"
"For a day in the beach with Mamo-chan and my friends? Never!!" Usagi said fervently.
Mamoru just yawned again before introducing himself to Nathan.
Luna had a huge sweat drop. 'Why can't she do that when it's school days or when we have a meeting?' she asked herself.
The next pair to arrive were Minako and Artemis. The cat was still asleep inside her bag.
Then Raye followed shortly by Ami, who looked in undisguised surprise at Usagi and Minako. "Well," Ami said, "since we're all here, let's go!"
---
Gold stepped into Black's throne room in the half-human half-dragon form. Nodding coldly he waited for the black dragon to speak.
"I see you've come." The Dragon Lord muttered darkly. "Why did it take you so long Gold?"
"Council matters." The gold responded.
"That shouldn't have been a problem." Black said.
"It doesn't matter anymore, it is done. Tell me, why do you need me?" Gold asked.
"I need you to get some... things for me." Black replied, his eyes narrowing at the golden dragon's attitude.
"When I give you these... things... will all my debts be paid?" Gold asked.
Black nodded. "I will consider all our dealings done."
"Well then, tell me what I should look for." Gold said eagerly.
---
"Who owns this place?" Nathan asked, staring at the house that overlooked the beach.
"It belongs to Ami's aunt." Makoto answered.
"It's very nice..." he said as they stepped in.
Ami quickly assigned everyone rooms. Despite Usagi's protests, Nathan and Mamoru would share a room, and the rest would sleep in pairs. They all went to their respective rooms and soon enough everyone was playing around in the beach. Eventually they started playing volleyball and other organized beach sports and everyone noticed that Makoto and Nathan were always in the same team.
---
Gold walked out of Black's throne room, he 'felt' he had left it before noticing. One moment he was standing in space, the next in the halls of a large castle with two large, metal-framed doors closed behind him.
"Why are you doing this, Gold?" A female voice asked from the shadows of one of the halls.
"Sapphire. It's been a while." Gold said, smiling at the attractive half-dragon half-human female.
The blue dragon, however, didn't smile. "Why have you joined Black's lost cause?" She asked again.
"For the same reason as you, I guess." Gold answered gruffly. "Besides, I haven't joined him, I'm just repaying my debt. When that is done, I shall kill him."
"Yeah, right." Sapphire snorted. She stood in front of the gold dragon with one fist on her hip and poked at his chest with a claw. "I think you're out of your mind, don't you remember?!"
Gold's face darkened as he frowned. "How could I forget?"
"He eliminated a whole dragon species! By himself." she prompted. "Then, the last one of those dragons appeared." She looked down, saddened. "You know, for a moment I had a small glimmer of faith."
"Me too. I knew that dragon as well as you did. And I was Darkshine's best friend too. He killed them both." Gold clenched his fists. "I thought Shadow would've been more intelligent, how dare he try a frontal attack against Black? It was stupid."
"He was blinded by pain." she argued. "We both know he was almost as powerful as Black."
"Almost. He should have controlled himself!" the gold retorted and started to walk away.
"Black killed his one love! Black's own daughter!" Sapphire argued, following him.
"Still. There's no excuse." Gold said.
"You've never been in love have you?" Sapphire asked, stopping as he entered the hall that lead to his quarters.
"No. But that doesn't matter. It was millennia ago." Gold said, still walking.
"Not enough time to forget, is it?" Sapphire asked softly.
"No." Gold admitted, stopping.
"Then why do you work for him?!"
"Because I ALWAYS pay my debts!" Gold said forcefully, looking at her over his shoulder. Then he turned around and left. "And when my debt to Black is paid, I'll pay my debt to both, Darkshine and Shadow." he promised himself.
---
Gold met Winter in the halls.
"Well, hello, Gold." The white said cheerfully. "I see you deigned to pay a visit to Lord Black, after all."
"What do you want, you pathetic excuse for a dragon?" Gold growled, definitely not in the mood for a conversation.
Winter ignored the comment and continued. "When are you going to go for it?"
"Tonight." Gold retorted.
"Tonight? Why not now?"
"Because, right now the place will be crawling with humans, and, while they don't mean a damn to you... I don't kill for pleasure." The larger dragon answered.
"Fair enough, Gold, but if one sees you it should be destroyed." Winter warned.
"Agreed. Now leave, your constant blabbering is filling the room with your fetid smell." The metallic dragon snarled.
The smaller dragon walked away, leaving Gold alone with his memories.
---
That night Nathan and Makoto walked along the shore hand in hand. They hadn't noticed it and when they did they didn't seem to care.
They had been walking for a few minutes now and they couldn't see the house anymore, but they only had to walk back along the coast to find it. They stopped walking and their gazes traveled from the dark sea to the horizon to the sky that glowed with thousands of stars. They stood on the coast in silence, lost in their own thoughts.
"Makoto..." Nathan called softly after a while/
"Hmm?"
"I wanted to tank you, it's been great being here with you and your friends..." He started to say.
Makoto shook her head with a smile. "They consider you a friend too, Nathan, that's why we invited you."
"Makoto, I..." Nathan fixed his eyes on hers. Makoto soon found that she couldn't stop looking at his eyes. They drew closer, their hearts beating faster. He took her hand in his.
Suddenly they heard a noise. Self consciously they stepped back from each other and looked the other way, blushing and trying to calm down. After a few moments they heard the sound again, it sounded like a current of water that suddenly stopped and started again. Curious, they walked away from the shore, following the noise until they saw a light.
---
Gold stood looking at his sand and water elementals. Alone, they were not fit for the task at hand, but together they made a very efficient combination.
The water elemental looked like a tornado made out of water, it sped over the place it was supposed to dig, pulling up sand, which was in turn absorbed by the sand elementals that kept it away from the place where the other dug while maintaining the sand formed edges from collapsing.
Gold suddenly was aware of a young couple of humans that stared for a moment in amazement and then ran away.
"What was that?!" Nathan asked as they ran.
"I don't know..." Makoto lied. "We should try and call the police."
"Well, I don't know if the army would be a better... wow, a dragon!" Nathan shouted as Gold landed before them.
Makoto unconsciously adopted a fighting stance. Nathan seeing her, followed suit after a moments doubt.
"Hmm. I thought there wouldn't be any humans around at this hour. Who would've guessed." The golden dragon contemplated aloud, looking at them.
"Like you'd care dragon!" Makoto shouted.
"Hmm. You'd be surprised, human." Gold answered. He traced an arcane symbol in the air and both, Makoto and Nathan, were encased in a semi-transparent box. They tried to break free but it was as strong as rock. There was enough space for them to stand, but not much. "I'm sorry." Gold said simply, and grabbed the box spinning around in place twice and throwing it into the ocean.
When it sank completely, Winter appeared. "I thought you didn't kill humans, Gold" the white dragon said.
"I said I didn't LIKE to kill humans." Gold pointed out.
The golden dragon went back to work, leaving Winter staring at the sea. "Yeah right. They'll die slowly from lack of air. I am sure you don't like killing them." With a laugh he flew into the night air.
---
The magic box hit bottom with dull thud. The transparent box gave out a soft glow after a few seconds, allowing both prisoners a beautiful view of the ocean floor. The fish around seemed to ignore it's exsistance and that of the prisoners within.
Makoto hit the box again without much success, while Nathan pressed his palms against the transparent surface.
"Damn that dragon!" Makoto swore, slumping down inside the box. Nathan stood for a longer moment, then sat down next to her.
"Well, at least its got a nice view..." Nathan commented. Makoto stole a glance in his direction before laughing. To his credit he was taking imminent death pretty good.
"Yeah, but we'll eventually run out of air in here... I'm sorry Nathan..." Makoto said, taking his hand in hers.
'You won't die.' Gold said, his voice resonating inside the box.
Makoto immediately stood up. "You!"
'Yes, me.' The gold answered with evident amusement.
"What did you mean we won't die? If we stay here we'll eventually run out of air! Or didn't you know that humans need to breath?"
'You won't die. I don't kill mindlessly. The box that contains you extracts the oxygen from the water around. You'll be free after a while, when I'm finished with these matters. You won't remember anything, so you might as well savor the moment.' The gold dragon answered.
The voice faded. Makoto sat down and avoiding drawing attention from Nathan, she pressed a button on her communicator.
---
They had finally found something. Gold noticed how the anti-magic field was disrupting the elemental's ability to stay together. He ordered the elementals to move aside.
Looking down he saw a small object glitter in the dark. He jumped into the hole and retrieved a small chest. He opened it and looked at the dragon statue. 'This must be it.' he thought.
Jumping out he looked at it closely. "Hmm. Brass. I wonder if it was made by dwarves..." he said, looking at it against the moonlight.
A red rose hit the statue and it fell from his hand to the soft sand. Gold turned around annoyed. He sighed. "Why couldn't you just leave me? I was about finished here." He picked up the statue again with his tail.
"You won't take that statue for your evil plans! I Sailor Moon will punish you!" Usagi said, striking a pose. The others were ready for battle, expecting Gold to just jump mindlessly amongst them and start pounding away. He decided to disappoint them.
"Great." Gold said, nodding curtly at her. He looked at the rest. "Well, do you have a name?"
Everyone was taken aback for a moment, but Ami quickly recovered.
"I am Sailor Mercury." She said, starting to analyze him with her visor.
"Sailor Mars." Raye said, glaring at him.
"Sailor Venus." Minako said.
"I am Tuxedo Mask." Mamoru answered warily.
"Aren't you missing some planets? Anyway, I'll fight you so you'll leave me alone." Gold said and with a flick of the tail, made the statue disappear.
---
'I'm sorry, young ones, but the appearance of a group of would-be heroes will delay your freedom for the moment.' Gold's voice echoed in the small box as the occupants stared silently at a shark nosing around outside the apparently fragile wall.
Makoto swore under her breath. She had hoped they would think of freeing her before fighting.
---
"Well then. I am Gold." The dragon said, introducing himself. He mentally ordered the elementals to attack.
The water elemental's attack was fast: the water tornado started spinning faster and shooting small water bullets wildly in the Senshi's general direction while the slower but methodical attacks of the sand elemental made them a strange combination.
"Shabon freeze spray!" Sailor Mercury's attack hit the water elemental. It turned into ice, but it still continued attacking. The bullets were more dangerous now.
The sand elemental grew in size and strength as its attacks continued. Tuxedo Mask turned into Prince Endymion and prepared his sword. "You distract it while I destroy it!" he shouted to Sailor Venus and Sailor Moon, who nodded and jumped to the sides.
The creature turned its head to look at the jumping figures and at that moment, Endymion attacked.
Gold watched amused as Endymion cut his elemental's magical center in two. "Very good! But not enough!" he said.
Endymion and the others watched in horror as the elemental reconstructed itself. "But how..."
"Ah, remember that sand is softer than earth and that it falls back into place." Gold hinted.
"Damn!" Endymion avoided a sand mace that hit the sand below him as he jumped away.
---
Below water Makoto could literally feel her friend's trouble, but unless she was willing to tell Nathan of her secret she couldn't just transform and force her way out.
Just then Sailor Moon was hit by an ice bullet. The pain was endurable, but it still hurt a lot. Makoto sensed Usagi's pain, and groaned. She should be out there fighting.
She turned to look at Nathan, who returned her stare.
---
"Mars flame sniper!!" Raye shouted, firing her fire arrows at the ice elemental. This drew Gold's attention. The ice elemental vaporized, earning a short-lived cheer from the Senshi. It then started condensing and turned into the water elemental again.
The elementals stopped suddenly and then began mixing.
"You youngsters are pretty good for humans. If those were normal elementals you would've destroyed them already. However, these were formed with the magic of a Gold Dragon. That means they are fire resistant. Although not completely impervious to it. Now, let's see how you handle this." Gold said, nodding at them.
The two elementals had finally mixed together, forming a mud elemental.
It was stronger and faster than the two before. It turned completely into a spiked ball and whirled towards them, missing by millimeters. It immediately stopped and turned into a human like figure with a red glow where the eyes should be.
It then lashed out with one 'arm' that stretched out and hit Endymion on the shoulder.
Mars looked at the others. "We have to use all our energy at the same time!" she shouted.
Everyone nodded. They shouted out their attacks and were joined by a dripping wet Sailor Jupiter. "SUPREME THUNDER DRAGON!!!"
The lightning bolts hit the elemental at the same time the combined attack did. There was a flash of light, and when it cleared they saw the elemental had turned into quartz, for a moment it stood there, then it shuddered and fell into pieces.
They heard Gold's voice echoing on the deserted beach. "I have the feeling we'll meet again. When that happens I hope you're better prepared..."
---
Makoto helped Nathan up. He had lain unconscious on the beach while the fighting took place. The Senshi immediately left when Makoto made them a signal to do so.
---
Gold watched the two humans as they walked away. He had acquired a lot of information about these Senshi, although the knight that was seen with them during the last battles hadn't appeared. He opened the portal to the castle, but stopped and looked at the retreating couple for a moment.
'If that girl was Jupiter... maybe the boy is the knight?' he thought and shrugged. "There will be time for that later." He muttered as he crossed the portal.
End Chapter 4