Hello everyone! Sorry for the long wait and all. You all will just have to endure. I'm currently not in a writing mood as of late (mostly due to schools starting and artistic skills wanting some attention instead of my writing ones.) My chapters are gonna be painfully slow to update so I'll try making them slightly shorter to get them out faster. :P But no promises! I really want to keep most of my chapters in the 5000-7000 word range, this one falls short by a few hundred! I hope you enjoy it though. :P I'll update as soon as I can!
R&R everyone!
PS: I do take requests for FanFictions, however if the idea is close to this one, or if it's from a FanBase I am no familiar with, I wont do them.
Chapter 10: A Desolate Reality
Seiya shot up out of the bed she had been laying on for the past few hours. Or at least it felt like she had only slept a few hours. She raised a pale hand, shaking, and placed it against her head. Sweat. She was sweating and her heart was racing. She looked around, the room blurred and spun as her head moved, making her temples ache and her eyes burn. She lowered herself against the soft pillows and closed her eyes. Instantly, memories from 16 years ago flooded into her mind, flipping from one to another like a TV.
"Usagi!" Seiya shouted, rushing forward, racing towards the blonde haired sailor. He lunged forward, just in time to block the bright red ray of light that was aimed at Usagi, known then as Eternal Sailor Moon. The bolt struck him, sending him backwards into Usagi's arms. He could faintly hear her sweet voice calling out her name, and he could faintly feel her touch on his arms. However, what registered acutely in his unconscious mind is the sharp pain that radiated through his back and skull.
"Get your hands off of him!" he heard a shout from the depths of his consciousness. The voice was so far away, so distant… he felt himself slipping further and further into a dark abyss. The last thing he remembered was the feeling of being lifted, and the soft thud of footsteps as Taiki and Yaten carried him away.
"I saw the rose and I thought it was him. I thought he had come back for me!" Usagi collapsed to her knees, the rain soaking through her clothes. "I thought I could be fine, I thought I could manage without him. I thought I could be happy." She sniffed. "But I'm not that strong! I can't do this alone. I can't do this without Mamo-chan!"
Seiya watched, his heart breaking more and more as she went on. He knelt before her, "don't worry Dumpling," he smiled, but on the inside he could feel his heart crying out. "Mamoru will come back for you…" He tilted his head down, his bangs covering his eyes, concealing the tears that welled up behind his eyelids. With a soft sigh he knelt down before her, and placed his hands on either side of her shoulders. His voice quivered as he spoke, his words drawing Usagi's gaze up towards him, shocked. "But am I not good enough for you?"
"Hey Usagi, is everything okay?" Rei asked, she obviously could sense the distress in the blonde's face.
"Why do you look so guilty all of the sudden, Seiya?" Minako asked, her words being echoed in the glaring eyes of Minato.
Seiya gulped, his face draining of any color he might have left in his cheeks after hearing what Usagi had to say, moments before the other Senshi arrived. "Well spit it out," Ami chimed and folded her arms across her chest.
"Uh…" Usagi began, fiddling with the edge of her school shirt. She tilted her head down and pursed her bottom lip, acting like a child who had just been scolded for doing something wrong. "I'm…"
"You're what?" The four inner senshi asked together, pushing their heads together and eyeing the odd couple.
"I'm pre-pregnant."
"WHAT?" the four shouted in surprise, obviously the news was not quite what they expected to hear.
"And who's the father?" Rei asked, once again eying Seiya with a cold, hard glare of death.
Seiya gulped and kicked a pebble that lay near his foot. "I am…"
"Wait how is that even possible? Your natural autonomy is that of a girl." Ami asked, clearly perplexed.
"This body has the autonomy of a male, however." Seiya explained, shying away from the cold glares he received from the other two girls.
"And how did this even happen?"
"Do you really need to know?" Usagi and Seiya complained at the same time, both blushing an intense shade of red.
"There doesn't seem to be any signs of damage to his head. His brain is functioning just fine, perhaps these fits of pain is simply migraines," The doctor explained, pushing his glasses up the ridge of his nose. "In fact, I see no traces of damage from when he suffered this head contusion." He continued, pointing the end of his pen towards the small, pink scar that lay near the scalp of Seiya's head.
"So there is really nothing you can do?" Usagi asked, holding her 4 month old child in her arms. Seiya was resting on the medical bed beside her, fast asleep after having a massive dose of pain meds to ease his intense headache.
"There is nothing to do, I'll prescribe him some pain meds, to help with the pain, and when he wakes up you two can go and live your lives as normally as you have been,"
Usagi looked down at the peaceful face of Mizuki and sighed. She definitely wanted to hear the doctor diagnose something wrong with Seiya. She was worried about him, and each night the head pains seemed to get worse and worse. The were to the point that Seiya was nearly incapacitated and could barely move. She sighed and thought back to the incident, when Seiya first suffered the head injury, trying to protect her from one of Galaxia's henchman.
She looked over towards Seiya and dialed Ami's number on her phone. After three rings the familiar voice of Ami spoke in a cheerful tone.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Ami, I have a question."
"What is it, Usagi?" she asked, noticing the lit of concern in Usagi's voice.
"It's about Seiya. We're in the hospital right now, and the Doctors have ran countless tests but they can't find anything wrong with him. But the head pains are getting worse… do you think that hit he took from Sailor Tin Nyanko had some kind of invisible effect on him?"
"It is possible, Sailor technology is much different than human technology. Our medical technology here on Earth might not even be powerful enough to see the miniscule injury to Seiya's conscience."
"His conscience?"
"I've been studying the effects of Sailor Beams on a Sailor's ability to think, and that Sailors conscience. It has occurred to me, that perhaps it's not Seiya's brain that is damaged, but that his conscience has been torn. That would also explain some of his mood swings and change in attitude."
"Is there anyway to reverse it?"
"I don't know, love. Does painkillers seem to be working for him?" Ami asked, a sigh following her sentence.
"For a while, yes." Usagi nodded, already feeling her eyes tear up.
"I wish I could tell you more, just have him keep taking the medicine and I'll get to work on finding a way to reverse it with Luna. Perhaps there is some medicine in the Moon Palace texts we can utilize."
"Thank you, Ami."
"Take care, Usagi." Ami hung up, leaving Usagi in complete silence in the white hospital room. She sighed and stroked Mizuki's puffy cheeks, a sense of dread filled her. What if Ami never finds a way to reverse the effects? What if Seiya is stuck with these pains forever?
"I told you bad things would happen if you ever got involved with that girl," Yaten growled, resting his hands on his hips. "Yet you ignored us and still went ahead and had relations with her. Now look, you've gone and injured yourself. You know the consequences of such an injury, do you not?"
"The effects of a Sailor beam on a Sailor's conscience is devastating. It is nearly impossible to fully reverse it. You'll have pains for the rest of your life, and you can blame yourself and that Moon brat for that." Tauki continued.
"Don't call her a brat!" Seiya shouted and clutched his skull, immediately feel pain radiate through his skull. He continued on despite the agonizing pain. "She is beautiful, she is smart, even if she is a little slow sometimes. She understands others, probably more than any of us will ever know. She is a Princess, just like our own, and just like our own Princess, I love her. She gives of the warmest light, the softest glow…"
"You're speaking nonsense, our Princess is the only Princess we should ever love." Taiki arrowed his eyes and folded his arms across his chest. "To say otherwise is blasphemy."
Seiya looked up at his two companions, tears resting in the corner of his eyes, partly from the pain and partly because a part of him knew they were right, yet he fought and denied it. "Don't speak anymore, you'll just cause yourself more pain." Yaten ordered and turned around, heading for the other side of the room. Taiki soon followed and the two Lights exited the room, leaving Seiya behind to struggle with the agony of the wound.
"Usagi, I'm sorry this happened, I really am. We should have never gotten involved, we should have never met… it would have been better that way."
"That might have been truth yesterday, but tomorrow everything will have changed. I've come to accept that we might never be able to reverse what happened and that our futures are never set in stone. Perhaps at one point I was meant to be with Mamoru, but my choice to be with you that night changed all of that. Now I am meant to spend my life with someone else, and that person is you." Usagi explained, placing a hand on her round tummy. She was 8 months into her pregnancy and was on bed rest for the next 6 weeks. Seiya sighed and rested a hand on her knee. A part of him was excited to see the child they created together, the other was terrified of what might happen in the future.
"I'm still sorry, I took away your future."
"But you shaped it into a new one."
"You're so understanding of everything… I think that's why I fell in love with you in the first place."
"I thought it was because I looked warm?" Usagi chided innocently and munched on a pickle."
"You gave off a warm light," Seiya sighed, making Usagi chuckle. Seiya couldn't help but smile at the sound of her voice. She was everything to him, his one true love that not even his princess could rival. And he knew that when their child was born, he would have another love, one different than his love for Usagi. It would be a paternal love… or would it be maternal? He shook his head, exasperated by that fact that he could potentially take on both roles.
Usagi entered the room where Seiya was fast asleep. She settled on the bed next to her and laid on her side. Usagi reached up with a pale hand and stroked Seiya's slightly damp cheeks. Seiya had been running a fever all night long and it would not break. Usagi looked on with worry, she felt so helpless and useless. Upon normal circumstances she would have simply gave Seiya some cold medicine and sleep aid, but this was not just any cold that could be treated. Most of this stemmed from Seiya's head injury she received almost 17 years ago. Usagi gingerly touched Seiya's head, wondering just what happened to her that night, so long ago. The image of blood rushing down Seiya's head as he lay unconscious in Usagi's arms was forever burned into her mind. No matter how many years passed, she just couldn't shake the feeling of guilt and remorse for what happened that night.
A knock sounded at the couple's door. Usagi sat up and looked with a tear-filled gaze at Princess Kakyuu. The elegant woman smiled softly, sympathy written all across her beautiful features. She walked into the room, no one followed her, it was just her. The simple fact brought Usagi some relief, she really didn't want a crowd of people in her room while Seiya was sleeping.
"How is he?" Kakyuu asked, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. Usagi pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, resting her chin on top.
"He's still running a fever," Usagi sighed, slipping back into the habit of using male pronouns for Seiya. It was a bit awkward at times, especially taking with Yaten and Taiki, who always referred to Seiya as 'she'. However Kakyuu seemed to understand that Seiya took on a male role while on Earth, so she had begun acknowledging him as such. It certainly made conversations about Seiya much easier to follow. "And he seems restless, like he seems to be dreaming, but the dreams are switching constantly," her voice fell. "He's unresponsive to me as well."
"It's his body reacting to the injury, I'm afraid that this might happen for the rest of his life. The way his consciousness was affected by Sailor Tin Nynko's cannon, ripped it somehow. There is no physical ailment that we, the we know of, can fix. However, do not give up hope, perhaps one day you'll be his cure and finally he can get his peace. You do, after all, possess a unique gene that still lies dormant."
Kakyuu stood and as she left, Usagi called out in question about this gene. Kakyuu simply turned around and smiled brightly, and continued on her way out into the lighted hallway. Usagi pouted and frowned, unsure of what to think about what Kakyuu had said. She was never any good about deciphering things, Seiya always helped her with that. She didn't even realize Seiya loved her until he flat out told her he did. She was so blind to the obvious that it frustrated her to know and, yet that is how everyone perceives her as innocent. She just couldn't win.
"I just hope you'll be okay," she murmured and laid down beside Seiya again.
Back on Earth
Days had passed, time moving slowly; crawling from minute to minute with little to no change in Mizuki's condition. Chibiusa barely left her side, and never allowed Lyle to get much closer to her than the end of the hospital bed. The doctors had diagnosed seven broken ribs, a fractured femur, a broken wrist and humerus, internal bleeding, head trauma, bruised lungs and multiple contusions and lacerations across her body. Chibiusa didn't know how to explain to the doctors and police officers what exactly had happened. This where Lyle and Ren came into play, they devised a convincing story that Mizuki had leaned too far over the side of the ferris wheel and fell off, falling nearly 20 ft. to the wooden pier below.
However when the police came for their statement, no story needed to be given. According to the police a freak storm hit the carnival and Mizuki must have gotten caught under a collapsed building. "Apparently the whole carnival is levelled, its amazing that you young man, made it out unscathed," an older gentleman glanced up at Lyle. Lyle gulped but he knew exactly what had happened.
"It's very lucky for me, however if I could have taken her place I would gladly have done so…" he paused and took a deep breath before continuing: "She pushed me out of the way of the falling building though, maybe if we didn't skip out on school, this wouldn't have happened."
"There is a that chance, but we can never be sure. And there is no close family for us to call? For either you, or the girl and her siblings?"
"My parent's are in Ireland and Mizuki's parents are on vacation in America. I don't know how to reach them, and I don't think the two young ones know either."
"There is one person, but I don't know how to get a hold of him," Chibiusa chimed in, peeking out through the door to Mizuki's room.
"Who?" both the officer and Lyle asked together.
"Mamoru Chiba."
"Relation?" The officer asked, tilting his head to the side and narrowing his eyes.
"None, he is the ex-beau of our mother."
"Are you sure it's a good idea to let this guy in here?" Ren asked Chibiusa in a hushed tone.
"He can't hurt us this time without repercussion. He will be upset, but he must listen. His daughter is experienced in both her transformation and fighting, we need guidance. If we don't receive this, we stand the chance of failing and dooming this entire planet to utter destruction. We have to do something, we can't just sit around and wait for mom and dad to return. They might have already been captured or worse yet, killed."
"Don't say that!" Ren whispered in a harsh tone.
"It's nothing but the truth."
"I hate it when you are right…" Ren trailed off and folded his arms across his chest.
"If he dares make any move against us, I'll call for help. I asked for privacy, but the officer will be near the door.
The two sighed and looked up at their sister. She looked so bruised and battered, but there was a peaceful air around her. The two felt the pain of losing Haruka and Michiru. "I also don't trust that Lyle kid."
"Why not? He seems nice enough," Ren raised a blond eyebrow.
"I just have a bad feeling about him."
"Let's not cast him out just yet, he might be useful in the end."
"Or our demise."
"here he comes," Ren motioned to Lyle entering the room. A man and his teenage daughter entered the room following Lyle. The two looked tense and apprehensive.
"Close the door," Chibiusa spoke, giving the man a start. HIs daughter, who wore a glare on her face, shut the door; she lingered near it for a moment before stepping away beside her father. "I suspect you know why I have seeked you out, yes?"
"To cause my father pain?" the young girl growled only to be silenced by her father. Ren studied the girl closely for a moment. She had slightly tanned skin, and her hair was a milky brown colour and she possessed emerald green irises. She wasn't very tall, but she was lean with slightly thicker thighs. She was beautiful, that is all Ren could think. He shook his head, distracted by the sound of Mamoru's voice, and pushed the sudden attraction into the depths of his mind. He would ignore it, for now.
"Where is Usagi?" Mamoru asked blatantly, his voice trembling slightly. It seemed even after 17 years of being apart, Mamoru still felt something for the short bun-head he used to call his. Chibiusa noted this and inclined her head in sympathy.
"She and the other Senshi went with our father," Mamoru winced, "to ask Kinmoku for aid against this new threat. We have not heard from them in over a week and already the Chaos beasts are set on attacking us while we are weak and untrained."
"No one stayed behind to help and protect you?" Mamoru asked, seemingly bewildered by the information. He couldn't believe that they would do such a thing, but the implication that they might was still very real. Doing so would mean the threat of these so called Chaos beasts, was much greater than anticipated. Whatever these beasts and their riders were, they meant business and the threat was enormous. Humanity would not be the only thing endanger during this fight.
"Haruka and Michiru stayed behind, however during the latest encounter with the Chaos warriors, four of them to be exact, Michiru lost her life, shortly followed by Haruka. The news media wrote it off as a mere storm, but that was no normal storm. The four that attacked us were not even riders, they were mere pawns."
"How did you decipher that?" Mamoru's daughter asked, she had yet to introduce herself.
"They possessed only half of the power of the first Chaos Beast and Rider pair that attacked. That, and no beasts were present this time. It was it was only the four warriors, each possessing power that represented one of the four elements. They were strong, quick and witty, we were no match for them."
"Why does this concern us?" the girl spat, folding her arms across her chest.
"You are the Sailor of Earth, and your father is it's King. It is your duty to protect the people that inhabit your planet." Chibiusa stated matter-of-fact and flatley. "You have been trained in fighting, yes?"
"Yes," she responded coldly.
"Kira that is enough, please tell us more, what happened… to her?" Mamoru motioned to Mizuki who still lay, fast asleep on the medical bed.
Chibiusa smiled softly, her stern gaze dulling to a pained softness. "The doctors say it will take her years to recover from all the trauma she received during that 'storm.' She was so brave, yet so scared of everything that was going on. This was her second encounter with the Chaos army, the first rendered her unconscious but unscathed and all of the Senshi were present during that battle. She braved this battle alone, Ren and I could do little to defend her and Michiru and Haruka fell to quickly to devise a plan. If it wasn't for them transferring some of their power to Michiru, we might have all died. The other injuries she received she forcefully took from Lyle who was in the condition she is in now. She probably saved his life by doing so."
"This still has nothing to do with us," Kira snapped.
Chibiusa glared at the girl, her eyes narrowing. The force of the glare made Kira back up a step. Chibiusa was normally very childish and carefree, but recent events had caused hard lines to form around her eyes and mouth and across her forehead, making her seemed more aged than she actually was. Her voice was like ice, freezing over the souls of anyone who dared listen. "As the Sailor of Earth, it is your duty to protect you planet. In fact, it is your destiny. You were not gifted the ability to transform into a Sailor merely because of who your father is. You were destined to be Sailor Earth. And as the only Sailor on this planet currently who knows what the hell they are doing, it is your responsibility to pass on your knowledge to a new generation of Senshi so that we can protect this world, no this universe, together. If you chose to not teach us, you doom us and all of the universe to unimaginable turmoil. You damn us, straight to our demise. If you refuse, peace as we have known it these past 16 years, will end forever."
The room fell silent and Mamoru and Kira looked unconvinced.
"Look," Lyle who had been so silent finally broke his silence. "I may be only human and have no special powers or no knowledge of your world; but what I saw a few days ago makes me believe strongly that we are in danger. If you're really the only one who can help us, while Mizuki is in this state, than I am begging you to help us. Please."
Mamoru turned to his daughter. They exchanged a glance and they girl sighed. "Let me fully introduce myself, since we will be working closely with one another. I am Kira Chiba, Sailor of the Earth and its protector." She looked away, her brilliant green eyes betraying fear. "What are the Chaos beasts?" She asked timidly. The thought of such a thing had been bugging her since Chibiusa had mentioned it. Whatever they were, they sounded like something from a nightmare.
Chibiusa began, unsure if she would be able to give the best response. As she was about to begin speaking, Ren happened to look up at Lyle. Lyle looked rather tense about the whole subject, his jaw was tightened and his eyes were dark with some unmentioned thought. Ren furrowed his brow and turned back to Chibiusa, but the oddity of the sight stuck with him. "The Chaos Beasts are beasts made from the very essence of Chaos. Each one of them has a rider that controls them. I'm not sure what these riders are exactly, but my guess is that they are corrupted Senshi, captured by Chaos during the first Sailor Wars. They are incredibly powerful and aggressive. We'll be hard pressed to defeat just one of them, let alone a whole army. We need to make a plea to all the other Sailors in the universe to come to our aid."
"What makes you think they will come?"
"If the Chaos Beasts are allowed to make it past this galaxy, there will be no hope for anyone. We may not be the most powerful Senshi in the universe, but Chaos wants us dead. I can't tell you why, but it does. It wouldn't go to such lengths as attacking us like they have been if Chaos felt threatened by something in this galaxy. Or perhaps its seeking something that we don't know about. Whatever it might be, we need to figure it out, and quick. The sooner we know the better we can plan."
"How do you know all of this? Usagi must have had no idea this was all occurring right?" Mamoru asked, he had been silent this whole time, a look of fear stricken torment causing the lines of his aged face to become more prominent.
"I spoke with Luna and Artemis before they left with the others. Setsuna had gathered some information along with Hotaru and shared it will us all. Since then I've been able to connect some more dots on my own. For instance, the four Chaos soldiers we fought on the pier, were only pawns. The beast that appeared was summoned, but it had no rider. Which means the beasts are not entirely dependent on their riders. That simple fact makes it extremely dangerous for a single Senshi to take on one beast. The rider could appear at any time, and vice versa. We will always have to be together in order to have some kind of defensive and offensive line," Chibiusa explained. She sat poised on the edge of the hospital bed where Mizuki lay still fast asleep. For only being 13 Chibiusa was incredibly vigilant and possessed a certain level of intelligence that either her mother or her father ever possessed.
Mamoru looked at Chibiusa was a sense of longing. He felt his paternal instincts kicking in and seeing this child, in the exact image of the daughter he and Usagi were destined to have, pained him greatly. But after all these years he had come to accept what had happened, so apart of him was at ease knowing that this girl was healthy and growing up with a bright future in front of her. However, that feeling was quickly dwindling as Chibiusa explained further and further about this impending threat of another Sailor War. These kids were far too young to be in war.
"We really have no alternative, we will offer our full assistance to you. I have no way to offer help on contacting other Senshi, I have no idea of how to even begin that process, nor do I believe I possess the ability to do it," Kira tilted her head, wishing that somehow she could help further. "To be honest, I've only transformed a couple of times. I didn't find out that I even possessed this power until a few weeks ago one random night. A symbol appeared on my forehead and I was filled with a warm, comforting light that told me to chant a phrase, and when I did I was instantly surrounded by an Earthy smell and dressed in a weird outfit. I don't have much more experience than any of you."
"We will learn together," Chibiusa smiled and tilted her head to the side. Both Mamoru and Kira were taken aback by the sight and radiance in that smile. Kira saw a Princess in this girl and Mamoru saw Usagi, his heart filled with pain and his eyes filled with tears. Even after all this time, he still loved Usagi.
Well there you have it. A shorter chapter that didn't really have a whole lot of progression in the story of our beloved Mizuki (mostly because she is in a bit of a coma right now!) Anyways, you'll have to wait till next time to see how our young generation of sailors solve the problems they are having to face alone!