Chapter Eighteen: Questions...lots of them...
AN: The continued part of last chapter. Oh, just to clear some stuff up. Miki and "Kumori" will refer to everyone in their future names. ex.) Endymion, Venus, Serenity etc...because that's all they know them by.
Jaws dropped and only the crickets were heard playing their soft melodies. Tuxedo Mask returned being Darien. His eyes opening slowly, then blinking, as if waking from a long nap. He sat up and searched for the youmas, only to find them all gone. Every one had been healed of their wounds. He checked himself and realized he was okay. Noted that there was another person in the park. Wonder why he didn't notice him during the fight? Probably concentrated too hard on the youma. Their faces were pale and in shock and looking at him as if he grew another head.
"What'd I do?"
Sailor Jupiter was the first to come out of her state and shook her head. She ran past her friends and helped Darien up. Sailor Mercury, Venus, and then Mars snapped back to reality. Miki stood in the back as they surrounded the young lady on the ground. The five innocent people they were protecting before, came out from their hiding spots and wandered over to the Scouts.
"Did I just see what I THINK I just saw?" Venus asked as she observed the silver headed woman. Mercury bent down on her knees and typed on her mini computer. Jupiter examined the woman to check if she had any wounds herself. Mars watched Darien as he stared at the woman he remembered saving last. If he saved her, then why was she the one on the ground? Out of the five innocents, the only woman stepped forward with some hope in her eyes.
"Ami...is..is that-" Irene tried to form the question, but was too shaken up to.
Mercury did some last test and then closed the mini computer. She stood and glanced at the group before her. Her face held no emotion. None of the answers they sought to hear.
"There are some high energy levels that she is experiencing. Some I can't explain, but we can find that out later." Suddenly she grinned. "It's the princess, alright. She
must've weakened by using an unexpected surge of power from the crystal. We have to get her to the shrine so she can rest."
No one said anything. Yet, they all shared a joyous silent moment. Venus saw movement out of the corner of her eye and snapped to the object. The man that accompanying their princess was trying to leave.
"VENUS LOVE ME CHAIN!"
The bright orange chain wrapped around Miki's waist, pinning his arms down to his side. He dropped his sword and moved around, trying to break loose of the restraint. Venus pulled him in towards the group. "You, mister, have to answer to us."
Darien scooted the limp body into his arms and lifted her up. Mars and Lita picked up the wepons that the two dropped earlier. While they walked back to their cars, Mercury got out her mini computer and began to examine the mysterious young man.
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Once at the shrine, Darien placed the woman in his arms, in the bed he slept in. He watched her as she slept, not believing this was his love. He moved back strands of her silver locks out of her face. The touch of her cheek as he did, made him grow weak. With both his hands he took her hand and allowed his thumbs to caress palm. He missed her so much. There was a tension in Darien's chest and for a moment, he stopped breathing. He remembered nights that he would dream of her being alive. Dreamed he held her close to his chest and kissed her soft pink lips. There were nights when he would almost lose himself in thoughts of her. She consumed his life. Made him love her. Then within an instant she was gone. Darien used to cry, imagining his life without her and when it did happen...it had been more than he could bare. Now here she was. Seven years later. Right before his eyes, sleeping. He was about to pinch himself, making sure that he wasn't dreaming. Though, if it were a dream, he didn't want to know it. So he scratched the pinching out of his mind. He would hold her for a while.
Rooms down from Darien, were the Scouts and Miki (All those who can imagine how this is going, please laugh now). Still in Venus' chain, Miki tried to dodge yet another one of Jupiter's lighting bolts. All four Scouts stood in a line with their hands position in the shape of a gun. One would ask a question. If Miki didn't give them the answer they wanted, the other three would shoot. His navy polish shirt had holes burned into them by Mars and Jupiter. He had smothered in mist and bubbles by Mercury, which made him cough and gag. Venus would tighten her grip on her chain and shock him every so often. His jeans were dirtied up by a not-so-clean-floor thanks to Chad neglecting the chore. Miki had to blow the sparks that caught on to some of his hair.
"We're just getting started, so you might as well speak." Venus smiled.
"Yeah and when we are done with our powers.." Jupiter trailed off cracking her knuckles. "We'll get physical."
Any other time, Miki could take the pain. Give him any other person, he could take it. But the passion within Jupiter's eyes (and he's seen it done before) made him whimper. He tried to cross his legs, but had to dodge one of Mars' fire balls.
"We are only using a small amount of our powers. This is just based off of our spiritual energy. We can still use our wands." Mercury said all knowingly. This only made Miki want to cry. Why! Why couldn't it be any one else? He KNOWS how these girls fight and they bring a new meaning to pain. All for Kumori..all because she HAD to fight. He would handle her later.
Caught off guard because of his thoughts, he missed a shock therapy from Venus. He yelled out in agony. Mars motioned for them to stop. He was now on his knees awaiting what the pyro priestess had in mind. They were all whispering his fate in a circle. Miki checked to see if there were any escapes, but saw that they were cut off. Two small cats, a black and white one, plus a boy almost his age standing there. Uncle Sammy, Miki thought. Great, I'm going to die here. The girls all nodded their head and moved towards Miki. They surrounded him and held their gun positioned hands to his head. Mars had hers touching his forehead. She looked down smiling.
"You know. I bet if we shoot..it'll hurt." As they were about to power up their energy to give him one last blow, Miki shouted. "WAIT WAIT WAIT! COME ON GIRLS GIVE ME A BREAK! YOU'RE TREATING ME LIKE THE ENEMY HERE!"
"How do we know that you AREN'T the enemy?" Venus questioned
"You could have taken Serena away from us and turned her." Jupiter accused.
"Inform of us of everything or suffer." Mercury warned.
Miki sighed and shook his head in defeat. Damn these women are good. "If you let me go, and promise not to torture me, then I'll tell you."
The girls looked at each other, not sure if they could trust this man. In the end they decided that if he tried anything, they could always kill him. Venus put away her chain. Mercury attended to his wounds. Mars got him extra pair of clothes. Jupiter still on guard. "Can I get something to eat too?" Mars threw him some clothing. The others grouped and made their way out of the room. "Don't push it." she said as she shut the door.
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Moments later, Miki emerged from the room with his old clothes at hand. He gave them to Mars and she threw them away. The girls waited until they arrived at the Meditation Chamber, before reverting back to their normal selves. Miki was astonished how much younger they looked, yet the same as usual. Darien pulled himself away from Serena's side long enough to hear what the man had to say. Miki cleared his throat as they sat around the Great Fire, him in front of them.
" I'm from the future Crystal Tokyo. My name is Captain Miki Taro...Chiba. I am the Head of the Royal Guard."
"Chiba?" Darien said inquired by the name. Miki nodded nervously. He remembered the King's wraft and hated to be on the receiving end of it.
"I am your son. First born. I usually go by Captain Miki Taro. It wasn't until I met up with Serena, that I discovered that I was. As a matter of fact, I didn't know you and her were Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask. In my time, you are nothing but legends. The Scouts are no longer protecting Queen Serenity. My men and I are. You all left for your home worlds to rebuild your kingdoms."
"Why are you here?" Rei said, not as cold as she was before.
"Something bad happened to the future. I came back to make sure it doesn't happen."
"What happened? Why didn't Serenity send Rini or one of us?"
"Because I was the only one who survived."
"Survived?" Ami, raising her eyebrow.
"Yes. I was on my ship in the outer regions when there was an attack on Earth. I came back to find that every one was dead."
"An attack from whom?" Rei questioned, already knowing the answer.
"A space pirate who goes by, Red Beard. No one knows where he came from or why he is doing this. All we know is that he wants territory and Earth was his next target. Before the Queen died, she sent me on my last mission. I was to go back in time and fix things."
"What's this have to do with Serena? Why did you take her away? Why couldn't you just come out and tell us?" interrogated Lita.
"Because I wasn't suppose to inform you of your future. I was suppose to stop it. By doing that I needed to take the strongest warrior Earth had, and transform her into a new kind of warrior. I was only told to find Sailor Moon. No one told me it was the Queen herself. If I knew before hand, I would have done things differently."
"You said, ' a new kind of warrior'. Is that why Serena looks so different?" Mina questioned formally.
"Yes. She has invoked the spirit of Kumori Mika, the Butterfly. Kumori is used to guard and protect those who intend to fight. Although we needed her to be the warrior this time. Once she possessed Serena's body, then her soul should've been erased from her completely. Captured and switched with Kumori. I'm not so sure that is what happened exactly."
"What do you mean?" this time Darien spoke up. He didn't look all too happy.
"We didn't estimate her power to be so great. I believe her power comes from just the crystal. I didn't know that the crystal was embedded IN her. The crystal somehow prevented her soul from being switched. Both souls possesses one body. Kumori is weakening though. Serena is too powerful. I was hoping that we could defeat Red Beard by this time, but it doesn't look that way. Within a certain amount of time, Kumori will go back to her cage, and Serena will be in control."
"Why is that so bad?" Darien questioned him again.
"She's not powerful enough to defeat Red Beard. Serena is powerful..just not enough."
"Why do you call her Serena? Why not Mom, Momma, or Mother?" Darien asked.
"She's not my mother. My mother died the day Red Beard murdered her. Serena is only the past tense for her."
