A/N: VERY IMPORTANT: JIKKAN-CHAN AND I HAVE STARTED A LIVEJOURNAL FOR THIS ACCOUNT! If you want sneak peeks/previews, spoilers, character profiles (particularly for the Shitennou) and chapter progress then watch it for updates! It will be updated at least once every two days, but hopefully up to twice daily. The link if found on our profile under 'homepage'. If you want to add us now, our username is arashinokakyoku.
Also, Serenity's Heritage: The Silver Crystal has been updated. It details the rise of the senshi as well as the Heritage alone. So check that and Endymion's Heritage out soon, ne?
If you opened our author alert earlier today and found that the link was invalid, my apologies. I know just how eebil that can feel, but someone reviewed, and after reading the criticism and then review the chapter – attached to the story – as a whole, I had to agree with her. It needed to be reworked. If you want the original, which has more humour and a more… Natsuko-y, EightofSwords-y feel (This is strangely appropriate, since I dedicated the chapter to them. /grins/), then go to our livejournal thingy and look at the entry under 'cut chapter'. This rewrite, however, is for GoddessMoon.
And now…
Kakera ni Tsukiakari
A Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon fanstory by Arashinobara Jikkankakyoku
VIII – Tanin to Au
To Meet with Strangers
'Fire is beautiful. It is beautiful and deadly, and its undulating, flickering grace is fraught with danger. That is how I think of Endymion-ouji, my Princess' koibito. At times he is like a lazy cat at rest; one might think he would begin purring should Serenity-hime so much as lay a gentle hand on his arm… but threaten her, and you damn yourself – you are burning in Hell before you know it.'
– Sailormars of the Inner Senshi
Tuxedo Kamen froze, 'looking' between Jadeite and Endymion. "Milady?" he spoke for the first time, and approached her warily.
Endymion, however, had his mind on other, more important things. He called her a wench! the Prince raged, but subsided, his tone magnanimous as he addressed Kamen. On second thought, you can kill him now.
'Be serious!' snapped Tuxedo Kamen before ignored the nagging voice at the back of his head in favour of examining the girl in the bed – 'Nay, not Milady,' he realised with a small smile. 'Not quite… and she is garbed in the clothes of a man?'
He sent an idle inquiry towards Endymion as he watched her sleep. 'How is it that I am here, awake, and she is not?'
The royal was quiet for a moment as he felt about for any disturbances in the immediate vicinity, then farther out into the city. I think I know. There is someone sapping energy from the trees, the flowers, the waters, he informed Tuxedo Kamen. As for our being awake when Sailormoon is not, I have a theory.
When he did not elaborate further, Tuxedo Kamen prompted him. 'You have a theory…?'
Yes. The Royals of Terra have always protected Earth first and foremost while the Moon watches over our people. At the present moment it is Earth who is being harmed, and so we wake to defend. When Sailormoon woke first, it was because the youma were targeting areas that could harm civilians. There was a moment's pause, and then Endymion's voice spoke again, sounding strained. I think the culprit is Zoicite. He is the only being in the galaxy with an energy signature that reeks of Terra, frost and heat.
The black-clad young man drummed his fingers on his cane's pewter knob as he considered this. "Jadeite," Tuxedo Kamen's tone brooked no nonsense and had the blond general at his side in a heartbeat.
"Milord?"
"Might we know your opinion of the situation?"
"What, the wen –" Jadeite caught the reproachful stare Kamen shot at him and backtracked hastily, "the girl?"
"Iie, not the lady!" Kamen sighed. 'Goodness, he really is harmless,' the young man thought, a little ashamed at his uncharitable thoughts. 'The man acts as if he were quite touched in the head…'
But Jadeite's sunny demeanour was shed abruptly as the blond shut his eyes. A moment later, he reopened them. "Zoicite is draining a grove of trees in a place near a small, enclosed body of water – an artificial one, dug by man."
Tuxedo Kamen reviewed his options, but sighed in frustration. There were many such places in this city where such a surrounding might be described. "Is it possible to specify a possible location say… a quarter-league in diameter that we might search?"
"Certainly, Milord." the Sun lord closed his eyes again, and Kamen could feel Jadeite's aura flaring subtly, sending out searching tendrils across a thin thread – one of the three bonds that linked him to the other Shitennou. Biting back questions, he waited passively for his new general to finish. 'Perhaps not so touched in the head after all,' the dark-haired man thought, and rolled his eyes again, this time at Endymion's triumphant crow. 'Quiet, you.'
"Milord?" Tuxedo Kamen, startled a little from his thoughts, nodded in acknowledgement. "There are no youma and Zoicite is going for subtlety. I would say he is perhaps half a league away in a north-westerly direction. None of the nymphs or spirits will be harmed by his harvesting – he is being very careful about it."
Kamen felt a sudden, unexpected rush of sorrow from Endymion, and, not knowing what else to do, sent a tentative wave of comfort to the unhappy prince. 'They were all close to you, were they not?'
Very much so, was the quiet answer, and Jadeite, sensing his Prince's sorrow, sent a shy tendril of thought down so that Kamen felt a long-dormant bond flare into existence, if weakly. Thank you, Jade.
"Think nothing of it, Endy," Jadeite smiled sadly at Tuxedo Kamen. "We'll get them back – all of them."
Yes. Yes, we will.
Suddenly, there came an outpour of confusion, hastily dimmed, and Tuxedo Kamen felt a heady rush as Sailormoon's presence blinked into existence. He looked, and yes, there she was, slipping out of bed. He was a little ashamed – he'd forgotten her completely!
No, it's impossible to forget her in any way, Tuxedo Kamen. Just as Serenity's and my souls were joined, so are yours and this formidable lady's.
Jadeite had turned a rather fetching shade of crimson – he was obviously remembering the 'wench' comments and was quite ashamed of himself. "Serenity-chan?" he choked.
Sailormoon's smile was gentle. "Iie, I don't think so," she said quietly. Tuxedo Kamen, remembering his manners, bowed deeply, saluting her as he straightened, and Jadeite made an elegant leg. The moon senshi smiled warmly, and her curtsey was graceful. "I understand there must be a battle to get to, if I am summoned," she said, and it was more of a question than a statement.
"I am unsure," Tuxedo Kamen admitted. "Zoicite is draining energy, but I understand he is doing it carefully – much as I asked assistance from the oak not long ago, if you would remember, my lady?"
Sailormoon winked, and she stretched lightly before padding to the door and nudging it open. "Then it is an investigative foray, without hostile intentions."
"It takes a vast amount of wild ki to waken a single youma," Jadeite said grimly, "if that is his intention. He may be harvesting for a secret advantage in our next fight – ever the Strategist, our Zoi."
Sailormoon and Tuxedo Kamen hummed absently as they absorbed this information; the former strode to draw the balcony doors open. "We should make haste, then, lest our quarry escapes, and with him his intentions."
Tuxedo Kamen watched carefully until the woman on the next balcony went back indoors before nodding at Sailormoon. The golden-haired senshi took two running steps and bounded off the balcony railings and onto the next building.
Tuxedo Kamen followed shortly after another searching look at his surroundings, and Jadeite took a lovely swan dive off the side of the building, straightened in mid-air and used his telepathy and momentum to soar upwards, prompting screams and shouts from below. Now running and leaping side-by-side, Sailormoon and Tuxedo Kamen exchanged wry glances as Endymion muttered something depreciatory about show-offs.
They were there within two minutes, sometimes leaping several buildings at a time – though they were all three of them warriors, the power of near-flight and flight had them laughing in exhilaration. Their mirth ceased abruptly, however, when they landed lightly a few paces from some startled civilians and the drowsiness of the nymphs was whispered with every breeze that sighed through the boughs and reeds.
The pond was a large affair, more of a small manmade lake than anything, and was perhaps a up five hundred metres in length, little islands dotting its surface. The drain could easily be felt across the water, Zoicite's subtle scent of icy heat flaring every so often as the trees' energy sank lower.
Sailormoon turned to the picnicking family and quietly advised them to leave the area as they scouted out whatever might have caused the disturbance here. Meanwhile, Endymion was clamouring loudly in Tuxedo Kamen's head – the proverbial 'warning bells' going off in the masked young man's mind.
"I thought you said that Zoicite would not harm them!" Sailormoon whispered harshly as she removed a glove, pressing slender fingers to rough bark as if she could comfort the drained, frightened spirit within.
"They are not – not really," Tuxedo Kamen reassured her after doing the same himself. "Not permanently, at least – they will recover fully within a couple of months, but will let down their foliage a little early."
Nodding curtly, Sailormoon began to scan the are for the telltale scent of ice and heat; her concentration was almost immediately was broken by an almost dreamy sigh. Jadeite spoke, and his companions turned to him questioningly.
"He knows I am here," the Sun Brother said.
"Can't believe I left my keys at Mamoru-kun's," Motoki muttered to himself. "Kami, Furuhata, you'd lose your head if it wasn't attached…" This was not, in all fairness, true. Furuhata Motoki was generally considered (with some justification) to be a responsible person — if he hadn't been, he would never have made manager at age seventeen, only son of the owner or no. Furuhata Shikkari was not given to nepotism; himself a self-made man, he regarded it with as much suspicion as Motoki would Mamoru teasing Usagi to tears.
Motoki snorted at the thought. 'Mamoru-kun make Usagi-chan cry? Keep going, Furuhata; he'll be calling her baka Odango Atama next and mocking her bad grades, and she'll be calling him every bad name she can think of and foul up tests just to spite him…' "Right," he said aloud. "And pigs are flying in tight formation over Narita International." As well accuse Mamoru-kun of putting Usagi-chan in danger…
..Though, come to that, hadn't Saori done that very thing, half an hour ago?
'Oh, not out of deliberate malice,' she'd said stoutly, weathering the hail of protest from the cluster just outside the door. "He'd throw himself in front of a car before knowingly putting Usagi-chan in harm's way — but just at the moment, I doubt his rationality."
"On what grounds, Saori-san?" Ami had asked.
"On the grounds of simple observation," Saori said sharply. "Usagi-chan was clearly very ill — we could all see it — and he didn't look all that better than she was. His colour was bad, his reflexes were off — he came to the door half-naked, with bags under his eyes! I doubt he's gotten more than four hours of sleep in the last twenty-four. Surely some of you have noticed the same thing?"
"…He said he hadn't eaten yet," Asanuma said reluctantly. "That Usagi-chan had, several times, and that he was getting so much food because it was his turn." He squared his shoulders. "Demo — demo, I'd trust Usagi-chan with a Mamoru-senpai at the peak of exhaustion days before I trusted a stranger at the peak of health, and if he wants me out of the apartment so he can look after her, then I'm going."
The truth of this, Motoki felt, was undeniable; in the face of it, Saori tightened her lips and looked away. Aino-san looked as if she dearly wished to say something, but held her tongue, perhaps feeling that she was still a guest with no place in 'in-group' arguments.
Ami, however, seemed to hold no such compunctions; the normally quiet genius was spurred by her concern to a ferocity Motoki hadn't thought her capable of. "I have no argument with you on the subject of trust, Ittou-senpai; Mer — Kami knows I agree with you on that score — but trust is not the issue here! Usagi-chan's health is at stake, and her only caretaker is bidding fair to drive his own constitution into similar straits — trust is a very admirable thing, but Mamoru-san is only a student. 'Trust' is not enough!"
"It's plenty," Asanuma averred. "Anyway, it doesn't matter —" he jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the door. "This is Mamoru-senpai's place, not ours. We can't just go back in there — he's well within his rights to kick us out whenever he pleases, and —" here the junior's natural cheer came back to the fore — "There are a lot of sharp, pointy objects on his desk!"
"Your point being?" Ami's eyes should have frozen Asanuma's blood in his veins.
"Mamoru-kun won twenty thousand yen playing darts in a tournament last year," Motoki interrupted hastily. "…Look. Mamoru-kun is a little the worse for wear right now, but I don't think he's so badly off as Saori-kun made it sound — at least not yet. He does have more medical training than any of us —" he held up a hand to stall the protests of two-thirds of the Gorgeous Genius-gumi—"And I have a key to his flat."
"Then it's settled," Naru said with surprising finality. "Either Motoki-kun or I will call the flat once every… three hours? To check in. If Mamoru-san sounds too bad, or hasn't told one or the other of us that he's getting some sleep and doesn't answer, then Motoki-kun will check up on them in person."
Motoki suddenly realised that everyone was now looking at him. "Ah — hai," he said belatedly. "That sounds like an excellent idea." He'd have to remember to compare notes with Naru, later; first a disappearance from the arcade, next the word of an enormous monster battle over at the harbour, and then Usagi turning up at Mamoru's apartment, terribly sick and Mamoru not looking much better? The timing beggared coincidence. "Any objections?"
"Only a request of Naru-san that she make sure you don't let this make you late for our date," Reika said with forced lightness.
"Hai, hai, Reika-san!" Naru made an effort to smile back. "Usagi would hate it if she knew something like that happened because we were all worried about her."
Ami and Aino-san gave each other a considering look. Aino raised an eyebrow; Ami nodded, and both turned to the rest of the group. "Would it be all right to call you later, Naru-san?"
"Of course, Ami-san," Naru said with a bit more genuine cheer. "I quite expect to be playing switchboard all night."
"…Very well," Saori said after a moment. "Since we are all agreed. Kobayashi-kun, I noticed that you were having a little trouble in this afternoon's Law class…"
They'd all gone their separate ways after that, splitting into twos and threes; he'd had a very odd time walking Reika home, going arm-in-arm as they hardly ever did in public, but trying very hard not to look at each other, all the same — as if by looking at each other they might have to acknowledge something, the very thing that had had them crowd about the door, arguing so passionately and yet never making a move to knock — the same thing that had driven them out so precipitously in the first place.
Mamoru, curled protectively around a shivering Usagi, clutching at her as if he thought they might try to take her away from him and snarling in a voice like thunder, a voice that had commanded armies: "Unless you want a place on my hit-list, get out!"
Motoki hunched his shoulders at the memory. "Do I have to go fetch my keys back?" he asked plaintively of the empty air. "Couldn't I just wait out in front of the house until Unazuki comes home and laughs at me for losing them and never lets me forget it forever and ever amen…?"
Aho, the air didn't say. Of course you can't.
If it were just a matter of getting into his own house, it might have been one thing; a little humiliation and family teasing for a lack of inconvenience and more brotherly teasing the next day at school — the sort of thing that, if Mamoru had needed cheering up, Motoki might even have done on purpose.
But this…
Usagi was sick, Mamoru was…off… and, damn it, he'd made a promise; a promise that he couldn't very well keep if he didn't have those keys.
He'd have to knock on the door to ask for them; Mamoru'd have to talk to him, even if for only a second — maybe without Usagi right there in the room looking so awful, he'd be a little less worried, a little saner…
Mamoru'd never snapped at someone like that before — not in Motoki's hearing, anyway — and since when did he have a hit-list? Motoki rubbed a hand over his eyes in order to think properly.
Then again, there was that time in the park… and that littering guy. No one could ever understand why he was so hostile to polluters…
"Forgot something, Furuhata-san?" the concierge teased gently as he signed in.
"Hai, hai, Monei-san," Motoki said with a long-suffering smile, and turned to the elevators. "Keep an eye out for any random blond heads you might happen to come across, will you?"
The elevator ride didn't take nearly so long as he would have liked, pretty promises or no. Really, it was ten floors up…! But all things must end, and so did this one, leaving Motoki standing alone before a door he'd left not half an hour before.
"'Once more unto the breach, dear friends', for Japan, Usa, and Mamoru-kun," he misquoted merrily, and knocked.
And knocked.
And then, just for a bit of variety, he knocked some more.
"…They can't both be asleep yet… Maybe he's got her in the tub and can't hear me?" he wondered, and tried the knob, not really expecting it to work —
— which went rather a long way in explaining why he was so very surprised when it actually did.
"Nan da — well! That's no good…" he mused, regaining his footing and shutting the door behind him. "I'd better remember to lock it on my way out…" He slipped off his shoes and padded around in his stocking feet. 'Let's see… keys, keys… if I were my keys, where would I be?'
The key question was answered readily by a simple trip into the kitchen — and a foray into the pockets of the powder-blue apron, of all things. 'Now how in the world did they get there?' Motoki wondered, bewildered. 'I certainly wasn't wearing it — searching the pockets was supposed to be a joke!' He shrugged, pocketing the wandering collection of plastic and metal bits, and turned to regard the living room. 'Mamoru-kun probably picked them up automatically but forgot about them when Usagi-chan relapsed... Might as well see how she is, and if he's calmed down yet.'
He tiptoed over to the bedroom, and opened the door as softly as he knew how. "Mamoru-kun?" he whispered. "Did I disturb Usagi-chan knocking? Nobody remembered to lock the… door," he finished lamely. 'Takku… look before you start talking to an empty room, Furuhata… Now where could they be? Bathroom perhaps? Oi…" It really would have been faster to simply close the door behind him and take a shortcut through the bedroom to get to the necessary, but Motoki was already setting himself up for enough hot water just by proposing to be in the same apartment as Usagi when she was in the bathtub; he didn't need to borrow trouble by invading Mamoru's personal space.
.He put his ear to the door and listened intently. No running water, no splashing… no murmur of voices… He knocked gently, just to be sure. "Mamoru-kun? Oi, Mamoru-kun?" Still nothing.
Motoki was beginning to get a little worried now; he'd already been all over the apartment with no sign of them, and it wasn't as if there were many places in a one-bedroom flat to hide a sick girl. "Mamoru-kun? Usagi-chan? Where are you?"
Complete silence.
Motoki gritted his teeth, put a hand over his eyes, and opened the door. Let Usagi-chan squeal and Mamoru pummel him; anything was better than the silence of an empty flat and his own head, of worrying that Mamoru and Usagi were gone, that Mamoru or worse yet Usagi had had a blackout or that Mamoru had rushed out without a care for the door standing unlocked because the Bunny of Moto Azabu had taken a turn for the worse…
He stood there, hand over his eyes, and waited for the squeal, the shout of rage — hell, even the dry order to 'make himself useful and, while he was at it, shut the damn door'.
And waited.
He let his fingers crack open a bit, scanned the room.
No one.
He took the hand down entirely, and looked again, with a sort of weary determination.
Still no one.
"Shimatta."
Motoki staggered over to the love seat and collapsed — there was no feeling in his legs.
Gone. Both of them, gone, and where they might be or if they might come back nobody knew…
"…hospital… maybe," he muttered aloud, and reached for his mobile. Reika — she was smart, she knew things; he should tell Reika — and Naru, he'd better call Naru —
There was a rustle out on the balcony.
Motoki dropped his phone and scrambled to his feet. The balcony! He'd forgotten the balcony! Usagi-chan loved that balcony, wide and breezy, its railings gaily draped with roses — Mamoru might have taken her out there —
He leapt for the glass doors, almost ripping off the drapes in his haste. They'd be out there and Mamoru-kun would growl and Usagi-chan would giggle and they'd be fine and —
— And someone else was opening the door before he could; someone tall with broad shoulders but not quite as tall as Mamoru, with silver hair and features so familiar he couldn't place them, and bright green eyes that looked through the glass at him and knew him and were filled with first surprised pleasure, then realisation and dismay, and the door was flung open and the slightly younger boy was raising a hand —
Wham.
God the boy could hit hard….
Briar, Frostpetal and Shybloom listened with thinly-veiled amusement, peeking shyly from their respective vines so that they might hear the furious conversation in their Prince's apartment all the better.
"I cannot believe you did that!" A girl's voice shrilled.
A light tenor answered, sounding defensive. "If I had not, he would likely have made a great big ruckus that would be more trouble than it was worth. He wasn't even supposed to be here, anyway!"
"Neither are you! Rummaging through his drawers like you had the right —"
"I just wanted to see…"
There was a pathetic-sounding groan as the girl ignored her companion. "Oooh, he's going to be so mad…" There was a short silence punctuated by a noncommittal grunt and some rustling before she spoke again. "What is that?"
If possible, the voice was even more embarrassed and guilty than before. "Nothing."
Accusingly, "You just put that in your pocket!"
"It's nothing!"
"You liar — what would Mama say if she knew she raised a thief?"
"I'm not stealing, really, just borrowing — I'll put it back later."
"You'll put it back now!" the girl ordered. "That's his journal, aniki! You can't just go taking things like that!"
A reluctant sigh. "Hai, hai… but can't I keep this clicky thingy?"
"No, of course you can't," the girl said reflexively. "…Wait, what is it?"
"I think it's called a pen. See? You can write with it!"
"Wow…"
"And he has so many, aneki! Can't I keep just one?" There was pause, followed by a disbelieving laugh. "Look who's the thief now?"
"They are interesting artefacts…" the girl said reluctantly, and sighed in exasperation at her brother's expression. "And they say you're the older one."
The roses held back their giggles and waited until two slender forms had vaulted back over the iron balcony rail and were several buildings away before they burst out laughing.
"Pity they didn't read his journal aloud in the end," Briar sighed, twirling a dark red lock of hair idly around a finger.
"Pens, though?" Frostpetal giggled, and the more matronly Shybloom clucked a few more times before she too lost her composure and collapsed with helpless mirth.
"Oh, that poor boy," she gasped. "Wondering where his friends were, and bam! Down like a sack of topsoil!"
A hiss from Briar had the other two looking questioningly at the red rose sprite. "Something wrong, m'dear?" Shybloom questioned.
Briar sighed, and her dark leaves rustled agitatedly. "The aphids are at it again, thrice-damned pests," she lamented, "and I still have not gotten my pruning!"
Zoicite held the globe of honey-tinted energy to his mouth and drank, feeling his senses heighten dramatically as an almost euphoric sensation swept through him. He licked at his fingers when the amber globule had all but vanished, trying to get the last vestiges of vitality.
He halted when the tangy taste in his mouth soured, and something that was a combination of horror, disbelief and longing filled him so completely that he could hardly breathe. The Lord of Comets whirled around, attracting a few strange looks from passers-by as he lifted his face to the sky and inhaled deeply. It came to him then, a whirl of flame and heat and light –
"Jadeite," he breathed, and broke into a half-stumbling run, not trusting his concentration to hold through teleportation. He would retrieve his brother – no doubt they were holding his soulstone as a trophy… but was Jadeite truly dead? Perhaps the Mother had interceded for him… but just in case, Zoicite spat out a glob of his own energy signature and sent it whizzing to the left of where he had sensed the three.
Jadeite would know which one the real signature was, and the other senshi would be fooled by his guise – if not, he would return to the Dark Kingdom for Kunzite and Nephrite. It was only Sailormoon and that Kamen bastard right now – Kunzite and Zoicite might be a match for them by themselves, and there was always Nephrite for backup, provided he was not too drained by his summons.
Zoicite sent a telepathic nudge to Kunzite, who was meditating quietly in his chambers in the Dark Kingdom. With something akin to shock, the Eldest acknowledged the situation and teleported. The reddish-blond general felt only satisfaction as he sensed the golden and silver presences speed off in pursuit of the decoy
Fools.
The Strategist smiled.
"He's coming!" Jadeite's dreamy demeanour cracked as he hissed at his companions. "What do I do?" his movements were frantic and as he made as if to run towards where his brother was, Tuxedo Kamen grabbed Jadeite by the back of his tunic, lifting the panicking general slightly into the air so that his legs continued to motor and thrash. It took Jadeite a few moments to realise he wasn't moving forward and he sent his amused liege a withering look. "Release me, I demand it!" he squirmed, attempting to kick Kamen in the shin, and was shaken roughly in return. "Begging your highness's pardon, but you are a bastard!"
"Quiet!" His amusement withering, Tuxedo Kamen looked about sharply, certain that something had whispered just over his head. Before either Tuxedo Kamen or Jadeite could stop her, Sailormoon had broken into a swift sprint, no doubt following whatever Kamen had sensed.
"Milady!" unable bring himself to do otherwise, Kamen began to run after her, but was halted by a warning hand on his shoulder. Frustrated and desperate, Tuxedo Kamen resisted the urge to punch his general and instead shrugged off the blond's grip.
"It's a trap, Your Highness," Jadeite warned, face pale. "You and I – we know Zoicite could not possibly have moved so quickly without teleportation, let alone so that we could not have seen him. It is very likely he has sent out illusions to fool us. Don't walk into disaster like this –"
"I can hardly do otherwise when it is she I am bonded to," Kamen called over his shoulder as he disappeared into the trees.
Follow Zoicite yourself, Jade, Endymion said; the distance and the link, weakened by a thousand years of misuse, made his voice sound faint and weak. He – I – we cannot let Serenity walk into danger like this – her death is our death.
Jadeite flinched. 'Yes, Your Highness.' With a little of his old humour, he added, 'I hear and obey.'
Thank you, the prince said gravely, and Jadeite was alone again.
'Kuso,' Tuxedo Kamen thought grimly, 'she is swift.'
So are you! Quickly! Endymion urged, and Kamen obeyed upon seeing two elusive golden ponytails fluttering behind a seerafuku-clad figure.
Sailormoon almost stumbled in her surprise to see him. "Milord Kamen?"
"Your vassal, my lady," he murmured, not turning to look at her. "And it was foolish to rush off like that; you compromised your safety without my protection."
"Protection can be a hindrance," she said stiffly, but her eyes were soft as she spoke. She blanched as she realised that her words might be viewed as insulting. "Gomen nasai, I did not mean to offend –"
"Iie, you are correct in many ways, and incorrect in one: I do not plan to be a 'hindrance'."
"You have never been," the moon senshi acknowledged, and sped up, he matching her every leaping stride with one of his.
"Milady, this might very well be a trap – Jadeite and I both possess links to Zoicite, and he is nowhere in this direction –"
They rounded a turn in the path, and Sailormoon stumbled again, blinked, and spat an unladylike curse before doing an abrupt spin on a booted heel. Tuxedo Kamen felt it too – the tiniest expansion of energies indicating that –
'I should have caught up to her and taken her back instead of trying to reason,' Kamen thought grimly. He turned to look over his shoulder: it was an abomination, because it was beyond unnatural—as if some madman had reached out and torn a rift in the canvas of Earth and Sky.
'And here is the vandal himself.'
Kunzite hovered over it, a strange, black aura dancing about his form; he made a jerking motion, and there was a sudden pulling force on the two warriors' bodies, forcing them backwards.
Run! Gods, run Endymion shouted, half-hysterical with fear for both Kamen and Moon. It's a warp – and if you go through it, it'll kill you!
'Nani! How?' Kamen asked wildly – he could feel himself being dragged towards the portal, or the warp by a mercilessly strong force. He threw off his cape and tuxedo jacket; sensing that even the smallest extra weight was hazard to survival.
Idiot – he's the King of Space! He can create pocket dimensions, and holds the key to each one he makes. If you destroy the key, the dimension – and everything in it – will be crushed, suffocated… dead…
With a hissed oath, Kamen leapt forward, scooping Sailormoon up in the same fluid motion, and fled for the trees in the hope of some respite. He was, amazingly, faster than before, Sailormoon determinedly feeding him her nervous energy. In spite of everything, he was still unable to break free, and eventually lost his footing.
The two slid backwards, Kamen controlling their fall so that when they landed in darkness, his embrace cradled her protectively even as his head impacted against an unforgiving surface and he knew no more.
Kunzite drew the warp closed, his eyes expressionless. He seldom ever used his powers over Space – they were frighteningly destructive and a peril to their own user – but he had swallowed armies with them, though it had cost him dear.
His lips thinned momentarily before a lighter, more joyful thought occurred to him.
Jadeite was alive.
The white-haired general smiled, tossing the fist-sized globe of negative matter from palm to palm. Sailormoon and Tuxedo Kamen were out of the way, and at his mercy. There was Mercury and Venus yet to contend with, but had he not rid himself of two birds with one stone?
Two enemies with one kunzite.
He laughed, and, catching the dark orb firmly in his right hand, began to squeeze.
Two dark figures watched the flow of the Timestream as the pocket dimension Kunzite had created began to collapse in on his hapless victims. The shorter one sighed, leaning heavily on a staff that was, strangely, shaped almost like a key. "You'd best go rescue them, then," Pluto remarked to her taller friend. "It'd be a shame if they died now."
"Wouldn't it ever?" her companion retorted, rolling her eyes. "I still have to catch those two scamp sibs of mine…"
"They're safe, so don't you worry about anything but pulling the King and Queen out of that warp," Pluto sighed in exasperation as she watched the two in question begin to suffocate.
"Right," responded the other. "Gaia's tits, but I hate being the responsible one." Her tone was sulky, but she took only a moment to brace herself before stepping into the Timestream and being swept away, leaving an amused Sailorpluto behind.
The green-haired senshi of Time chuckled as she watched the younger woman fall squarely onto the Empty Heaven King's upper back, sending both crashing to the ground. Slender fingers snatched at the warp key and brushed dark hair out of dark eyes while long legs began their flight. Booted feet pounded the ground as Kunzite got shakily to his feet, cursing fluently, and gave chase.
A lash of darkness sent the would-be rescuer sprawling, and Pluto chuckled when she saw her friend mouth several unladylike suggestions as to where her pursuer could put his sword before firing a burst of green-blue energy at Kunzite, who was caught off guard.
Pluto turned away from the scene as the two sprang into conflict, satisfied that her friend would do her job. She had too much of her parents in her to fail.
She watched him warily, dark eyes hard and short-cropped blue-black hair rustling quietly in the breeze.
The challenge was wordless – they had no need to speak. The conditions were simple, the prize obvious. Though Kunzite did not know that, for all her honour, his opponent was quite unwilling to surrender her future, her very existence to him. The Crystal Millennium relied on this battle, one among many.
Combat style?
Energy manipulation.
The trophy?
A vital future and existence.
He lashed out, a tendril of dark power wrapping itself around her throat, and a quick snap of her fingers dissipated it as a flash of iridescent blue-green solidified into an enormous winged cat. Its sandy-grey coat was streaked and splotched with darkest black, and though the ears and cheeks were tufted, it could only be an ocelot. The huge cat, easily six feet at the shoulder, padded lazily to seat itself before its mistress, yawning deliberately at Kunzite to show off abnormally long fangs.
Kunzite responded readily to the challenge; his silvery eyes lit in anticipation as blackness streamed from his fingertips to coalesce into a serpentine-bodied dragon of cloud and smoke, its lithe form undulating and swaying, taloned feet clawing at the air as it settled onto the ground. Black sparks dribbled from its mouth, and it shook its entire front section so that the black mane fluttered, smoke and sparks twining insidiously.
She arched a brow. "Impressive," she said. "Very fearsome; fire and brimstone and all that."
He did not answer, but instead signalled his avatar as she did hers. Cat and dragon surged forwards, huge claws and talons tearing up clods of dirt and grass as thunder rent the air and Kunzite's dragon opened its mouth to disgorge a torrent of blackest lightning.
The ocelot was blasted backwards; its tawny eyes flashed gold and with a snarl it pounced onto the dragon, churning up a cloud before long fangs gleamed white and orange as the sky began to darken slowly, red and orange and purple splayed artistically across the horizon.
The dragon roared in pain as the ocelot's claws tore through its shadowy scales and the enormous feline severed a leg with a gnawing bite, the limb evaporating into cold smoke as Kunzite grabbed his at his arm.
"And so the lion battles the serpent between the thresholds of light and night," the young woman's husky contralto had Kunzite's head jerking up and his silver-blue eyes turned to ice as he glared at her.
Her grin twisted into a grimace as she felt claws sear her back, the dragon wrapping its long body around her winged ocelot and gouging its spine with lethally keen talons—
—when a great bird with a swanlike neck, its feathers alight with a thousand sunsets and a crest of flame on its brow, swept down on the dragon, breathing white-gold fire at the black avatar.
Kunzite's eyes widened in disbelief; only one person he knew had a Chinese phoenix as an avatar, and yes – he caught sight of a regretful-looking Jadeite, Zoicite following close behind.
When the Eldest found his voice and composure, he dissipated the dragon, seeing that the brat who had stolen the warp key had disappeared. He felt cold. He had never so much as entertained the thought that perhaps Jadeite had been spared by the enemy because he had joined them.
"Traitor," he hissed, and felt as if an icy hand was squeezing and searing his heart. Jadeite was his youngest brother, and that he could stray from the Shitennou's path was…
Jadeite didn't flinch at the accusation, but merely saluted his brother, his form evaporating into the air as he teleported.
Less than a heartbeat later, the condemning bolt of black lightning struck the ground where he had stood. Kunzite's hands were clenched into fists, his eyes closed with forced calm.
Zoicite was just as shocked, but he plucked at the Space King's uniform sleeve. "Kunz," he whispered. "We should tell Neph…"
"We will tell him nothing!" Kunzite snapped. "He will go out with his little flute and try to whistle our Jade back, and our Jade is dead!"
There was a short pause, and some of the tension left the white-haired general's shoulders in a sigh; with a flash of darkness, he was gone.
Zoicite looked about him at their surroundings, which were almost completely decimated. Sighing, he disappeared in a flurry of ice and light.
Sailormoon powered up her tiara just enough so that she might see, the chi-charged jewellery throwing a pitifully small circle of golden light on the two figures sprawled on the ground. She had the impression that something had been pressing in on her, and then a heartbeat later, she hadn't even been able to breathe…
Cradling Tuxedo Kamen's head in her lap and using a little energy to sooth away the large bump, the moon senshi examined him carefully and sighed in relief when she realised that, save the nasty bruise she had just healed, he was relatively unharmed.
Sailormoon had no idea just how long she held Tuxedo Kamen's still form, biting her lip hard when she believed she might just cry with the hopelessness of it all. This darkness was her sentence, payment for her failure. She was foolish, chasing an unknown force and enemy without stopping to evaluate it…
And she had dragged her poor Tuxedo Kamen down with her – he who admitted himself that he had no other existence than to guard her well-being. How well she had repaid him, with an eternity in darkness, or a death of starvation and thirst! She dared not leave the circle of light – or his side – to explore her surroundings, and cursed her cowardice and the weakness it brought with it.
Sailormoon slipped into a trance that was full of nightmares and demons, self-hatred and a soul-deep fear for he who slept the sleep of darkness as she ran ungloved fingers through his soft hair, having loosened his shirt clumsily in the hopes of easing any further discomfort.
As the energy drain began to take its toll on her, the light flickered and dimmed; the golden-haired senshi felt uncomfortably hot, and there was a haze in her eyes.
Just as her fortitude began to waver and her vision misted at the edges, after what seemed to be several long eternities, her heart leapt as she felt her companion stir painfully, issuing a soft groan. Sailormoon took one of his gloved hands in both of her smaller ones, pressing it desperately to her lips again and again as she cajoled him into consciousness.
Awake at last, Endymion observed acidly. Tuxedo Kamen ignored him, instead bringing his other hand up to run them blindly through Sailormoon's golden hair. A faint nudge from his mind dissipated the gloves completely, and for a moment Kamen contented himself with the whisper of silk across his fingertips.
Feeling Sailormoon's misery course down the length of their bond, Kamen took her into a comforting embrace, heedless of propriety, even as the guilt from what he believed to be his failure suffocated him.
"My lady," he whispered hoarsely, and felt her slender form shake as the light from the tiara winked out completely. "Lady Moon!"
"Tuxedo Kamen-sama," came the soft reply, and he could hear the tears in her voice.
'What happened to Jadeite? What happened to us? What is this place?' Kamen wondered, and held Sailormoon just a little bit tighter before realising that her brow was feverish and her skin heated. "Kuso," he cursed, and conjured a tiny flame in the palm of his hand so that he might see. "Sailormoon?"
"Tuxedo Kamen-sama," she acknowledged, her voice languid. "I'm very tired…"
'The silly chit kept the light lit for over three hours! Endymion snapped. We're in a small pocket dimension that Kunzite created. He tuned the warp specifically to Sailormoon's and your energy signatures, meaning you two were the only ones absorbed; he was about to destroy the key when someone interfered.
'Is there a way we might escape this … pocket dimension? You speak of it as if you have seen it work – surely you comprehend this affair?'
There is no way out, Endymion sighed. Only the person who holds the key may free us, and we do not know if he – she, according to Jade – is an ally.
Tuxedo Kamen barely heard the prince – he was busy tending to his companion as best as he could and trying desperately to figure out the source of her ailment. 'Then what is the cause of her sudden illness?' he asked worriedly, taking her pulse. 'Is it a response to these surroundings?' He watched in horror as her body spasmed and she spat forth black phlegm.
It's the response to her overusing her power! Without exposure to the moon, or even our universe, she has no way to renew her power. She must rejuvenate herself –
'That was not my meaning!' Kamen snapped. 'Why is she coughing up blood? And black blood at that!'
"Ah, my lady," he sighed, smoothing her bangs back from her face. His pulse quickened as despair and panic warred – despair demanded he weep for their inevitable deaths in an unknown setting; panic at the very possibility that she may not survive gave him strength to push back despair and to think with a clear head once he had calmed himself. 'Gods!' he thought angrily, 'why spin her thread if it be so short-lived, to be cut out of the tapestry of destiny so soon?'
Endymion's tone was unusually gentle towards his alter ego. Her spirit is tainted by the poison the Dark Kingdom coats their blades with. The infection must be terrible, to show on the physical plane.
'Can it be cleansed? She will not die?'
Idiot – do you honestly think I'd allow my Serenity to – no, don't answer. Yes, it can be cleansed – if only I can…
'Hai?'
I can establish a connection to a random, grunt-level youma in the Dark Kingdom, using Jadeite as a channel.
'Jadeite?'
He had never been truly… ah, dismissed from its service, which is why it is possible to use his soul as a medium. When I do so, you will hunt down every speck of taint in her body, mind and spirit, and direct it towards me. Provided we are discreet, we will siphon the taint back to its origin. Endymion paused. It is very dangerous.
'Will it cure her?'
Of course.
'Then I will do it.'
Endymion's voice sounded grimly approving in Tuxedo Kamen's ears as he opened two connections; one to darkness, and the other to light. Don't forget to shield.
Tuxedo Kamen obeyed the prompt wordlessly and plunged into a world that should have been shadowy, but was ablaze with silver and gold.
He sank past the library of memories and experiences, past the volumes of knowledge, past the model of her personality, all the while murmuring in wonderment.
'So this is the soul of a seraphim,' he thought. 'All gold and silver and light and everything that is them…'
When he approached her at a spiritual viewpoint, he blanched behind his mask, seeing terrible, writhing shadows, and red-black stains that looked eerily like dried blood. He picked his way amongst them, fishing out pieces the size of dinner plates, others smaller than marbles, and still others that writhed away as if alive when he reached for them. Revolted, tired but determined, Tuxedo Kamen continued to battle the infection.
Often, he had to resist the urge to simply turn his head and retch; he was ashamed, and unsure why he felt such nausea, but continued his task with grim single-mindedness. It was only after the very last hint of the taint – an oily cloud wafting insidiously just out of reach – was gone, did he collapse, exhausted and spent.
Drifting back to the surface, he knew the instant that Sailormoon's fever had broken, and sleep took both of them. Limbs intimately entwined, cheek to cheek, hand in hand, they drifted into slumber as their clothes rustled and melted back into sweats and sleepwear.
Dark blue eyes regarded the warp key speculatively before a wicked grin split her face and she began to twist it this way and that, listening carefully for the tell-tale…
Click.
"Next time," she in a conversational tone, grunting as she heaved the unconscious duo through the portal, "try not to get Kunzite-jisama so angry – he's almost as bad as you when you grow an ego," she addressed her last remark to the unconscious male.
She squinted at him in the light of the setting sun: the strong jaw line; the straight, almost aquiline nose and the high cheekbones. Grinning, she tugged at the strange clothes he wore – they were baggy and coarse to the touch. "And you have the nerve to scold me about my clothes," she sniffed. "I like that jacket, even if Hahaue doesn't. You're just whipped, that's what you are."
"If you said that to his face when he was awake, he would have you shipped off to some other galaxy far, far away, King's favourite or no King's favourite," a dry voice said from behind her.
The young woman whirled around to meet two amused red and green gazes. "You won't tell him, of course," she stated with conviction. "Because if you do, I can let slip those details about just who dyed his best tuxedo lilac… and put the same mixture in his shampoo. He was walking around with purple hair for nearly a week until Hahaue got annoyed with his complaining and shaved him nearly bald."
Green Eyes surveyed his older sister with disgust, but snorted at the remembrance. "Well, he should have remembered that the Kinzuishou could have changed them both back," he made excuse, and Red Eyes giggled. "You shut up – should we take them back to his flat?"
Red Eyes' hackles rose at that. "I don't see why not – except for the fact that you knocked out an innocent bystander who could very well be waking up and –"
"Then we'll knock him out again," Green Eyes said cheerfully.
Blue Eyes shrugged. "Why not?"
Red Eyes made a strangled noise. "You're supposed to be the responsible one!" she hissed.
"What? We can't just let them wake up here. Remember the stories –"
"Selene's Destiny, he's heavy… I'll take her," Red Eyes said, accepting the small female into her arms before leaping away into the night.
Green Eyes and Blue Eyes met each others' gazes and shrugged. Blue Eyes produced a gold piece.
"Heads or tails? Loser takes him."
Since this is VERY IMPORTANT, I shall repeat it here, right before the glossary: JIKKAN-CHAN AND I HAVE STARTED A LIVEJOURNAL FOR THIS ACCOUNT! If you want sneak peeks/previews, spoilers, character profiles (particularly for the Shitennou) and chapter progress then watch it for updates! It will be updated at least once every two days, but hopefully up to twice daily. The link if found on our profile under 'homepage'. If you want to add us, our username is arashinokakyoku.
Glossary
-ouji—Prince. Probably not meant for a suffix, but it isn't as if Jikkan-chan hasn't already done such things.
-hime—A Princess or young lady of noble birth. 'Oujo' might be better, but most anime-fic readers have already encountered –hime.
-gumi—Special Reference Definition! Yet another nod to Ruroni Kenshin—probably on the part of 'Numa or 'Yashi. Kenshin has a group of friends who tend to follow him into battle whether he likes it or not; at one point the youngest of this group refers to them all, collectively, as 'the Kenshin-gumi'. Deciding that the Beautiful and Intelligent Troika of Feminine Pulchritude that is Ami, Reika and Saori counts as a battle complement sounds just like something 'Yashi would do—and Jikkan-chan just couldn't resist the alliteration of 'Gorgeous Genius-gumi'. :3
aho—fool; simpleton; idiot
'Takku'—something Jikkan-chan hears all the time in her Meitantei Conan subtitled episodes; generally used by males about Motoki's age. An expression of annoyance on the order of 'Man…' or 'Sheesh!'.
Aniki—one's senior; elder brother. As they're twins, this is probably more of an affectionate dig at him than anything else, long since passed into habit.
Aneki—elder sister. Almost certainly meant as a matching retort.
Domo—the least formal thank-you Jikkan-chan knows. On the order of 'thanks' or 'Ta.'
Do itamashite—'You're welcome'. Probably closer to 'think nothing of it'.
Domo arigatou—semiformal thank-you; more polite than 'thanks' or 'ta muchly' but less stuffy or profoundly grateful than 'My humblest thanks.'
Hahaue—polite, archaic term for '(one's own) mother'. Jikkan-chan uses it on her mother, and told her that it means 'honoured mother', which is as good a translation as any.
Kinzuishou—The Golden Crystal, Endymion-ouji's very own Deus Ex Machina—er, Pretty Magical Rock.
A/N: WHERE BE REVIEWS! I (coughs) ERM, WE WANT REVIEWS! Onegai? We're trying to make it to at least two hundred and fifty – 250 – reviews. /begs you/.