Hello! This fanfic is my first, so here goes some explanation…
Ichidou is the first story in a set of five. As of right now, only the first two are done. If I'm lucky I'll have this entire story up by the end of the year. Some of you may remember that this story has been posted before…but after about a month or so of having it posted, I noticed that there were some parts that really didn't connect to the rest of the story, that there were phrases that made no sense to even me – the author. And I wrote the damn thing!! Maybe this version will be better than the old one. Who knows?
If you want to make my day, email me @ silverphoenix727@msn.com! I'm a nice person, so you'll always get a message back!
DISCLAIMER: By all means, I don't own Sailor Moon or any of the other characters. I'm really poor so you can't sue me anyway… the most I have is a pocket full of loose change- including a few shinny quarters if that catches your interest. Oh well.
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" Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet.
Only through experiences of trial and suffering can it be strengthened,
Vision cleared, and success achieved."
IchidouChapter One: Numbing the Senses
"Iie!"
Helpless and unable to move, the black hand came to crush her throat. The hand's cold fingers grasped her neck with an unmatchable force, thus making breathing a laborious affair. No one had heard the girl's cry – only the shadows heard her desperate call for help. " You are a fool, Kumiko," the shadows taunted her as she struggled for air. " A fool for saving me the first time. Now nothing can save you… not even your pure heart!"
The sounds of inane laughter echoed through the dark cavern. Without warning, another hand reached through the darkness and pressed through Usagi's chest. Pain stabbed her entire body, throttled her every emotion. The hand caroused inside of her breast, the crimson blood of innocence running down the evil being's wrist and into the shadows. Usagi realized in horror that the being was planning to rip her heart from her…
"World Shaking!"
"Deep Submerge!"
A gold ball of energy and a pale blue ball of water threw themselves through the black shadows. Both passed the girl, instead seemingly striking the dark figure holding her captive. The shadowlike being merely laughed. Ripping its hand from Usagi's breast as the beams roared toward it, the pure evil force raised that hand and blasted the attacks back to their owners.
Even though Usagi herself was in pain, she felt the anguish of the attackers as they were ripped apart by their own abilities. The combination of this anguish and her own pain caused the girl's whole body to shake.
With a cruel smile the dark force returned to face the shaking mass in its arms. Wordlessly and without hesitation, the evil being ripped Tsukino Usagi's heart from her chest. Usagi cried out in endless agony. Pain burnt like a fiery inferno inside her and numbed all senses she had left to use. Even through the darkness the girl could make out a familiar shape…the shape of her heart- bloodied and still pulsing – in the now crimson colored hand.
"Farewell Princess…"
"You will never win…" gasped the injured girl. "By killing me you've signed your de-"
"Enough!" the voice roared. And this was when Usagi saw her captor's face. Through a dim light somewhere from above.
"Dear God…"
The familiar face leaned in with a reek of death, pestilence, fear. Hate seeped from her eyes beaming down upon Usagi's pain wracked face. "There is no escape from me, Sailor Moon. Your one kindness will come back forever to haunt you." The face was now only inches away and so close that her long, snakelike tongue could touch Usagi's face. " It will haunt you as I destroy everyone you have ever loved and known – as well as those you loathed."
"Sailor Moon!" a new voice cried out.
"No!" another voice shouted, surprised.
"Get away!" Usagi managed to yell back. Blood ran from her lips as she shouted, began to pulse from the wound in her chest.
"Silence!" bellowed the beholder of her heart. Both voices now only gave cries of massive pain. Their cries reached out to Usagi, burning a hole into her memory.
"You – you killed them!" The chokehold tightened. The girl gasped for air as crimson seeped from her nose and mouth. "Help…" she practically begged. "Someone…"
"Your friends are dead," stated the cruel voice of the shadows. Through the dark, the smile grew to become a wide smirk. " Each was killed with my bare hands as you suffer here."
Images filled the head of the senshi of the moon. She saw the four inner senshi…all killed in a different way. One stabbed with a scythe blade in the heart. Another's neck had been snapped…she saw the broken body of Mars; smashed with the force of a train. And Venus – her body was bound then burnt to a crisp. Usagi vowed then and there that these images would never be forgiven. Even as she descended into the depths of hell. Yet then she saw Tuxedo Kamen…
His memories were gone- but Mamoru was still alive.
When her eyes opened, Mamoru stood before her. He wore a suit of obsidian black armor and held a broad sward in his right hand; point to the ground. Mamoru's cobalt eyes met Usagi's own and he gave her a dirty look. Sheathing the sward, Mamoru came to her.
"Hello Kumiko," he said coolly, his voice airy. "So this is the end…your friends are dead, the eternal darkness ready to rise and consume the earth… after eternities of fighting you."
"Who are you?" disbelief caused Usagi to ask. She prayed internally that he at least knew his name.
"I am whomever you hate the most, Sailor Moon," came his reply. "Who I am means nothing, says nothing, and will change nothing."
"She has corrupted you," Usagi muttered, the blood streaming from her wounds. "Mamoru…" Blood dripped from her lips as she continued to try to speak. "Please…you've got to remember…"
"There is nothing to remember," Mamoru shot back. "Your death will cause you to never remember a thing. You will be free from this misery- as you've always wanted."
Usagi tried once more to reply, but the blood prevented her from doing so. Pain rattled the girl's body and caused her to wonder why she hadn't died yet. Her beloved looked up again into her eyes. He reached up and wiped the blood from the corners of her mouth. She shivered at the feel of Mamoru's touch – once sweet and loving – but now cruel and cold. With his other hand, Mamoru touched the wound where the evil hand had stolen her heart. Usagi cried out in unimaginable pain as he withdrew his fingers covered in her blood.
To her surprise, he reached up with the bloodied hand to touch her face. His lips soon met her own in a tender kiss. His evil seemed to be flowing into Usagi, finally putting her entire body to sleep. For a few moments she felt peace; as if she were in her beloved's arms again for the first time. But the feeling passed.
As her eyes opened from the kiss, Usagi noticed that he wasn't done with her yet. Mamoru's palm still lie against her cheek. It was as if he couldn't let her go…
"I …thought…you…hate me…"
The only one Usagi had ever loved leaned in again toward her, his eyes filled with an unidentified emotion. "It's a pity…"
Shaking the feeling away, Mamoru wiped the blood from the girl's lips and kissed her again. "Farewell Kumiko," he whispered icily. "Now the end will begin…"
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"Oh my God!"
Without realizing it, Usagi shot straight out of bed. The taste of blood was fresh in her mouth as she tried to immediately suppress what she had just envisioned. As her eyes adjusted to the light filtering through the window, she noticed blood on her sheets and pillow. Wait…she thought. Was that real? What happened…?
"Usagi!" someone practically shouted in the girl's face. It took Usagi a few moments to recognize the voice. It belongs to Rei, she realized. Rei was alive and grasping the girl's arm…or else Usagi would have been standing on her bed.
"You had another nightmare," Makoto told her. The longtime friend of Usagi's watched as the girl tried to get up. Fortunately, Rei still held her arm. "Usagi, you should get some rest. Rei and I will clean this up," she added.
"Iie," protested Usagi. She was barely audible from her throat being twisted up, from that feeling of being choked. "You don't have to take care of me." Once more, in a futile attempt to get up, Rei had to shove her friend back.
"Get some rest," Rei repeated. "You need it."
"I feel better…honestly."
"Shut up," snapped the raven-haired girl. "Usagi, you were always a horrible liar."
Yet as the girl was pushed back against her pillow for the last time, she offered no resistance. Usagi felt the coldness of her sheets being wrapped around her and once again fell to a feverish nightmare…
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A mirror lie in the darkness bearing no reflection.
Sailor Moon sat before the mirror, the mist swirling around her feet and hiding them from the world. For some reason, Usagi's fingertip reached out to touch the sheet-smooth glass.
"Hello Sailor Moon," came a voice from the vapors. "Welcome to my world."
In surprise, she jumped. "Who are you?" Her long blonde hair blew into her face, impairing the ability to see in any direction. "What do you want?"
"You wonder of the mirror, don't you?" wondered the voice. It sounded warm, friendly.
A little girl walked toward the senshi of the moon, dressed in a school uniform. She had just appeared…out of nowhere. The girl had a smug smile on her face, proving that she knew exactly what the hell was going on. Usagi's gaze drifted to the mirror before her – and gasped. It now had a reflection…one that sent a chill down Sailor Moon's spine.
The girl smiled. "This is your future, Usagi."
Sailor Moon gazed a bit closer and looked confused. This image was she?! Her future…
"You will become this image and ally under me," the girl said. Her voice was soothing as she added, " And help me destroy the Sailor Senshi."
Destroy… the word echoed through Usagi's mind. She saw each of the senshi flash before her…they were her friends…
"Never," came the senshi of the moon's reply.
"Your friends will die if you do not agree. I am offering to save their lives."
"Do you think your mind-bending crap would work on me?" demanded Usagi. Her gaze shifted back to the schoolgirl. "One moment you threaten to kill, the next you plot to save."
The schoolgirl's smirk grew to a wide smile of hatred. "Think of it this way, Sailor: You join us and your beloved friends don't have to die. Besides, the world you love would be safe from all dangers."
Usagi smiled as well as the breeze died. "You my enemy are full of crap."
The child laughed at the outburst. "Touch the glass Usagi. It will not harm you."
Usagi didn't reply at first, her gaze again on the mirror. A moment later, she turned away in anger. "I refuse."
The child only laughed again. "Refusal or not Sailor Moon, you are now under my control."
The glass in the mirror suddenly reached out and grasped Usagi's arm! She tried to shake it off, but wasn't strong enough. The liquid glass pierced Sailor Moon's veins and slowly began injecting itself into her bloodstream. "NO!" cried Usagi. Her cry didn't stop the glass… it was alive and attacking the senses. A rare sight to see, the senshi of the moon was rendered helpless in her own nightmare.
"You are mine now," gloated the evil child. "Your soul and power now belong to me!"
"I will never join you!" Usagi shouted back. "No matter what means you use!"
"You will change your mind in good time, Sailor," the schoolgirl shot back. "You will change your mind when you see what destruction will rain upon Tokyo and the earth…when those you love begin to die. My existence is to only make you miserable, Tsukino Usagi. And if you think this will be a fight like any other, you are mistaken… for the real fight is now going to begin!"
The glass made its final mark on Usagi's skin: a red star etched into the area where her collarbones met. Still the girl laughed as Usagi tried to free herself within the last few moments.
"Not even your birthright could save you. You now belong to me, Sailor Moon!"
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PLEASE READ: (!!!!!!)
This chapter is only slightly important to fully understand; in that it sets up most – if not all – of the following chapters. Since this is now draft number five, I feel as if I owe you an explanation of both the dreams Usagi had. *takes a deep breath* So here goes:
The first dream at the beginning of the chapter is…uh… more gruesome than I originally intended. In this case, the gore was there to convey a message, and partly there because I felt like it.
Anyway…
Obviously, the two attempted shots to destroy the 'shadowlike being' came from Uranus and Neptune – but Usagi has no clue who they are yet. (And I stress yet several times.) She just yells at the two to get away, uncaring if they were senshi or not.
The whole thing with ripping Usagi's heart out holds the most symbolism out of both dreams and the entire chapter. I guess it may not click until you read the other four books, but I'll let you in on a little secret: by ripping out Usagi's heart, it ties into direct relation with the Pure Heart Crystals… and how no person can live without it once it is taken.
I hope I didn't give too much away right there… because I think you might have figured out who the 'shadowlike being' is. It's fairly obvious, ne? If not, you'll enjoy trying to figure that one out over the time it takes to fix the next chapter or two… It could be a while, I'm warning you.
Hate this new draft? Want to send me your guesses as to who the 'shadowlike being' could be? Feel free…just don't forget to review after this. After all, any response is better in helping the whole story become better than it was! And don't forget – emails are worth their weight in gold, so feel free to contact me directly. (silverphoenix727@msn.com)
Until the next chapter, ja!
-Yuki