Chapter 11:

Toshiro Changes Paths

"I enjoy watching you pathetic warriors fight me. You are quite a show." His comments made Sailor Earth smile. She looked at Astinia and Estineon and winked, and they nodded in turn. Sunlight Knight flipped behind the twin senshi while Sailor Earth closed her eyes. Gakusai watched in puzzlement along with Toshiro. A small light appeared at Earth's chest. "Remember your past, Toshiro. You are not Morgana's subordinate. You are Prince Toshiro, brother of Prince Zecon, and an heir to the kingdom of Blunagi…" she said, her clothing changing into her princess outfit as the ball of energy turned into a purple and green flower. Toshiro looked at the flower; his eyes entranced by the light.

"Pretty…" he whispered as his hand reached outwards for it. The senshi watched in awe as his hand touched the flower, causing his entire body to glow. He screamed in pain and held his head in his hands as Serendipity opened her eyes.

"Open your heart…remember who you are…" she said. Toshiro's eyes widened as he screamed out.

"No…no…I don't want to remember….the pain…" he snarled as his body's glow became brighter. A circular hole appeared before him, and his memories poured into it. The others watched it as if it were a reel of his past.

"Toshiro! Wait!" A young voice came from inside a tall crystalline castle. A young boy was running into a field; a toy sword in his hands. Another followed him, calling for him to wait.

"Hurry up! You're so slow!" The boy replied with a laugh. His brother finally caught up to him and tackled him to the ground.

"Toshiro, you are so mean to me sometimes!"

"I have to be, Zecon. It's the only way you'll learn to stick up for yourself," Toshiro replied, rubbing Zecon's head, making him laugh. The two stood back up and Zecon took out his own toy sword. "Ready?" Toshiro asked with a smirk.

"You bet!" Toshira replied and the two began to spar. Time flashed forward to a scene of the two as teenagers. The night sky radiated with light from the stars as Prince Zecon arrived back home from a date with Princess Serendipity. Toshiro appeared from within the shadows behind a column.

"I don't get what you see in her, Brother," Toshiro said as she crossed his arms at his chest. Zecon stopped in his place and turned to his brother with a frustrated look in his eyes.

"I wouldn't expect you to, Toshiro. She is a kind, sweet, and loving girl. When I am with her I wish to become a stronger person. She makes me feel whole. When you fall in love, you will understand," Zecon replied, walking past him and into the castle.

"I just don't see how you can get so mushy over someone like her!" Toshiro retorted and growled in frustration. He shrugged and disappeared from the entranceway. He reappeared on a part of the roof on the castle and opened his hand, a portrait of Princess Estineon appearing. He smiled a little before looking at the picture with a look of dismay. "In love? Is that what I feel…? But…if I am to be weak like Zecon…should I pursue it? She wouldn't come near the likes of me…" he said to himself and looked over to the Earth as it hung beautifully in the sky. He growled and threw the portrait beside him. It shattered against the crystalline roof before disappearing. "Damn it!" he said and jumped off of the castle roof.

Time flashed forward again, with Toshiro leaning against a pillar at the Earth kingdom on the night of its destruction. He watched in anger as his brother danced lovingly with his beloved. "Why will he go through with a marriage that will make him weak? He has always received everything…I have been cast away…he will rule and I will be alone…damn him…" He cursed under his breath to himself. Screams from nearby tore his attention away from the happy couple. The young prince ran into the ballroom as people said that Morgana was coming.

He stood in the middle of the ballroom in shock as chaos surrounded him. Explosions of energy destroyed the back wall of the ballroom, making him able to see the carnage unfolding outside. He slowly walked outside, seeing Zecon fighting. "Brother…? You're willing to give your life for this girl?" he whispered. He caught sight of Sailor Estineon fighting off in the distance, and he bit his lip. From his side, the radiant beauty of Morgana caught his gaze. She held out a shimmering hand to him with a smile to die for.

"I know you are unhappy…if you join me…you will have all the power you ever wanted and you will never feel unloved…Prince Toshiro…" she said into his mind, and he smiled a little, taking her hand.

"Yes…all the power I have wanted….the feeling of being loved…" he thought aloud to himself as he felt immense power grow inside of him. His prince garb morphed into black armor. An evil smile crawled onto his face as Morgana stared down Serendipity and shot out energy towards her, killing Zecon instead as he shielded it. A strange satisfaction filled Toshiro as he watched his brother twitch in his own blood against his princess. His now-green eyes caught sight of Prince Daichi. "First…I will kill him…" he said and leaped into the air, blasting black energy into Daichi, killing him. The scent of death surrounding him made him more excited. In fact…he savored it. He wanted more. A lot more. He looked at Morgana and grinned, continuing to kill other innocents. Then he froze at the sight of a glowing Princess Serendipity.

"You will die..." she said as he felt a burst of golden energy cut through his sides and chest. His eyes locked with hers, seeing all the anger caused by Morgana fueling her power. "AHHH!!!"

"AH!!!!!!!!!!" Toshiro screamed as he opened his eyes. Tears ran down his cheeks as he fell to his knees. Princess Serendipity knelt beside him and took one of his hands, smiling at him warmly.

"Prince Toshiro, I forgive you for what happened in the past life. You were corrupted and therefore it was not your fault alone. I need your help in destroying Morgana. Please, help us in this fight. For my and for your brother's sake," she pleaded with the others watching in silence. Toshiro stared at her; his eyes changing from the green they once were to a deep blue color. His hair ruffled up slightly and a few loose strands of it fell into his face. His clothing changed into his prince garb and he peered down at himself. He looked at his hand as it lay in hers.

"I…" He said and then glanced at Sailor Estineon. She returned his glance with a blush, making him return his gaze to the princess. "Where is my brother?" he asked, and Serendipity smiled. Her outfit melted back into her normal clothing. She let go of him and stood up.

"I can bring you over to him. He has missed you very much," Emochan as the others nodded. They all de-transformed and Tomaru took out his cell phone, calling Daichi to tell him to meet up with them at Toshira's apartment for an important meeting. Emochan looked at Toshiro's clothing. "Hmm…we may want to change that…" she said and looked at Mai. Toshiro looked confused.

"I have some spare clothing backstage from David…hold on," she said and ran backstage. A few minutes later, she returned with a black pair of jeans and a matching tank top for Toshiro. She handed them to Toshiro and he looked at the outfit in silence. He closed his eyes and the clothing replaced his prince garb.

"Okay, let's go," Emochan said and they all walked out of the café. A crowd had arrived with policeman asking what happened. Emochan noticed Toshiro lower his eyes.

"It was horrible! Monsters appeared, but the senshi came in and saved us!" Reiko said and Sakura nodded. The crowds moved inside while everyone else continued onto Toshira's apartment.

"Toshira-chan!" Emochan cried, ringing the doorbell. Toshira opened and looked at her.

"What's going on?" he asked, opening the door for her to come in. Daichi stood from his seat and looked at her. She smiled at them. Mai knelt in front of Daichi.

"Prince Daichi…Prince Zecon…it's nice to see you again," she said. Daichi's eyes widened.

"Mai?"

"She regained her memory as a senshi…she still hasn't gotten fully over it yet," Reiko said. Mai smiled and stood back up. Emochan looked at Toshira and smiled.

"I have a present for you, Toshira." She turned and pointed to the door as Toshiro walked in; his eyes still lowered. Toshira's eyes widened and Daichi stood up in a defensive pose.

"He's dangerous! How could you bring him here!?" Daichi exclaimed. Toma walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"He's fine," he said and Daichi looked at him before he lowered his stance. Emochan looked at Toshira, whom was still in shock.

"Brother?" He whispered uneasily. Toshiro looked at him and smiled a little.

"Hey…" he replied. "I can see you're still a wimp," he said, and Toshira smiled. He slowly approached him and gave him a short hug. Toshira let go of him and smiled. Toshiro snorted in disgust. "You know I ain't into that mushy stuff!" Toshiro retorted. Toshira nodded and hugged Emochan tightly.

"How did you do it?" He asked her.

"It was all him, really. I just showed him the door to his past, and he opened it…" she replied and looked at Toshiro. He just looked at everyone and leaned against the doorway.

"So does that mean you're on our side?" Daichi asked. Toshiro gave a swift nod and looked at Emochan.

"Yeah I guess so. I admit what I did was a little wrong, and that bitch Morgana never did give me what she promised, so yeah, I'll fight her with you guys," he said.

"That's great!" Sakura said with a smile. Everyone else nodded and Emochan looked at Daichi.

"Any luck with finding the last senshi?"

"Nope. We tried to look around, but Homoto had no ideas. He went off to try and figure things out," Daichi explained.

"Hmm…I see…" Emochan said and looked at Mai.

"You have any ideas?" She asked. Mai shrugged.

"None. Sorry, guys. I guess I don't remember her either," she said. Suddenly Toshira's stomach rumbled and he started to laugh in embarrassment.

"Gomen nasai…I haven't eaten yet today…hehe..." he said with a bright-red face. Toshiro smirked but stayed silent. Emochan giggled and looked at the others.

"Well the why don't we all go to the park for a picnic? It's finally nice out and having some food sounds like a good idea to me," she said.

"Yeah! Sounds awesome. I'm starving!" Daichi said with a chuckle and the rest agreed. "We should enjoy this unseasonably-warm weather while we can!"

The girls all ran into Toshira's kitchen to prepare some sandwiches and snacks while the guys sat in the living room. Emochan watched from the kitchen as Toshira looked at his brother.

"So…you okay with all of this?" he asked. Toshiro looked up at him and shrugged.

"I guess. It's overwhelming a bit, but I'm fine," he replied. Toshira nodded.

"I hope we can be better brothers this time around…" he said. Toshiro smirked and nodded slightly.

"Well you know I'll still be a hard ass. I still need to teach you how to be better than you are now when it comes to fighting," he said.

"Hey! I think I am a good fighter!" Toshira said in defense.

"I've seen you fight. I can't believe that girl of yours lets you handle a sword," Toshiro said teasingly, moving some of his hair out of his face. Toshira stood up and growled at him in anger.

"That is NOT fair!" He exclaimed. Daichi and Tomaru burst out laughing. Toshira glared at them, making them stop in silence.

"Now boys, will I have to separate you?" Emochan's voice asked from the kitchen. Reiko and Sakura walked into the living room, one holding a basket with the food inside and the other holding the cloth. Emochan walked in holding a bag with drinks inside and Mai held a bag of sweets. Daichi and Toma stood up, their eyes lit up with delight. Toshira grinned and Toshiro smiled slightly, hungry himself. "Let's go!" Emochan said and everyone headed towards the park. The girls were gossiping about miscellaneous topics while Daichi and Toma were talking about the band and their plans. Toshira and Toshiro were silent.

When everyone reached the park, Daichi and Toma placed the cloth down and Toshiro climbed up a tree behind them and sat. The others all sat as well while Sakura and Reiko took out the sandwiches and salads. Emochan pulled out the drinks, tossing one up for Toshiro. Mai took out the sweets and placed them by the basket.

"Dig in, everyone!" Sakura said as Reiko threw up a sandwich for Toshiro with a smile. He ate and watched her diligently. Emochan took a bite out of her sandwich and suddenly froze. Mai looked at her worried and the others watched as she fell back. She felt Toshira's strong arms catch her as she fell backwards. "Emochan?" His voice was mumbled.

"She must be having another vision…" Reiko said. Her voice sounded like it was miles away.

"Vision?" Mai asked.

"Yeah. She will get premonitions of the future…bad premonitions…this can't be good…" Daichi said. The voices completely faded away as Emochan's head began to experience a twisted scene.

Her brown eyes fluttered open and Emochan looked before her to see a large, blackened castle. "What is this place?" She asked herself as she walked towards it. Screams bellowed from within the castle as she approached it. Large spikes sprouted from the ground, with each of the senshi tied to them. Vines covered their blood-soaked bodies. Purple flames crawled up the spikes, engulfing the girls. Emochan screamed into the night as her friends burned before her eyes. Morgana's laughter echoed around her as she saw Toshiro and Toshira behind the spikes. Toshiro pulled out his sword and began to fight Toshira. The two threw each other closer to Emochan, with Toshira landing on the ground hard. He coughed out blood as Toshiro leapt above him, holding his sword at his chest and painting right at Toshira. His wicked laugher filled Emochan's ears. Her face felt a sprits of warm liquid as Toshira's body exploded with blood. "TOSHIRA!!!!" She screamed and fell to her knees.

"Sister…" Emochan heard Daichi's voice. In horror, she turned to see him holding onto Toma's hand as the two were being perpetuated in the air with vines. Their limbs were bleeding and their faces looked very pale. Morgana appeared between them. As her claw-like hands touched the duo's arms, the vines burst into flames. They screamed for a moment as the fire engulfed them, but then the flames faded away. Emochan could barely recognize them. The vines lowered them to the ground and they sniveled and sneered. Morgana lifted her fingers, teasingly gesturing them around. As she did so, her new puppets blasted energy at Emochan. Morgana cackled in triumph. Emochan dodged the blasts and rolled along the grass beneath her.

"No! Stop this! STOP!" She shrieked into the air as she clasped her broach. As she tried to sit up, a warm sensation poured over her from her chest and her clothes morphed into her princess gown.

"Remember your powers from within…" She heard her mother's voice carrying over the laugher of Morgana. Serendipity stood up and opened her arms, letting the light spread from within her. A silhouette of a senshi appeared before her, reaching for her. Serendipity held her hand out to the girl to touch the image, but it vanished. Morgana's demonic face appeared behind it.

"I will control this planet. And there is nothing you can do about it, Princess." Her voice was so loud, Serendipity wished she could mute it. Suddenly, everything began to mesh together and spin around her. She screamed, "No!! Stop this! I won't let it happen!!"

"I won't let it happen!" Emochan exclaimed as she bolted from Toshira's hold. Sweat dripped along her temples.

"Emo! Are you alright?" Toshira asked.

"Yeah…I'm okay…" she gasped. "It was awful…"

"Was it a premonition?" Mai asked. Emochan took a moment to calm down.

"I was at Morgana's lair…and I watched you all die…"she said and looked up at the interested Toshiro. "You were taken over again by Morgana," she said. Reiko gasped slightly and Sakura looked at her for a moment strangely. Emochan gazed at Daichi and bit her lip. "You and Toma…you tried to kill me!" Tomaru frowned and Daichi growled angrily.

"Damn her! I would never hurt you!" He slammed his fist against the picnic cloth.

"This sounds really bad," Toma said.

"Well…this must mean that the big bad battle is going to be soon, ne?" Sakura said.

"We have to find that senshi…otherwise I don't know how we're going to go up against that…witch…" Emochan said and sighed. What bothered her most about her vision were the faces of Daichi and Tomaru. So satanic and twisted…like puppets. I hope that is something I can change…she thought.

"Well…anyone want to finish the picnic?" Mai asked nervously. Everyone looked at Emochan.

"Yes, I would love to try some of those sweets that you brought," she replied with a smile and Mai handed her a delicious-looking mochi. Emo smiled and took a bite, enjoying its taste. Mai handed out sweets to everyone else and they finished their picnic, not speaking again about Emochan's vision.

As they began to clean up, Emochan noticed Toshiro approach Reiko and tap her lightly on the shoulder. "You…remember anything…about me…?" He mumbled nervously. She looked at him and nodded.

"Hai. I remember that you had an attraction to me, right?" she replied, handing Sakura the cloth. Her sister smiled and ran to the others. They all watched on in silence. Toshiro nodded slowly and looked into her eyes.

"Yeah…I did. But I didn't want to pursue it…" he said and then turned away, as if he was ashamed of what he said. Reiko smiled and a light blush spread across her cheeks.

"Well…maybe if we get to know one another…" she replied making Toshiro turn back and smile slowly at her. "Maybe you won't regret it again?"

From the short distance, Toshira smiled and took hold of Emochan's hand. She leaned her head on his chest with a smile.

Finally…I think Toshiro will like living a normal life, she thought. Sakura and Mai watched on in excitement, their hands grabbing each other's at their chests.

Suddenly, the air around everyone grew cold. Emochan's eyes widened as her breath could be seen in front of her face. Silver mist covered the grass around them. Everyone ran up to Toshiro and Reiko. Emochan looked at Toshiro, noticing the seriousness in them as they narrowed.