Chapter 3
Jun didn't think he was a perfect person.
To be honest, he had a lot of faults and problems that he knew he should work on. For instance, he knew he had a lot of pent-up anger that he should probably release in a timely manner in a way that was healthy and harmless, lest it exploded on an unsuspecting bystander one of these days.
However, he never thought of himself as someone who would be so obsessed with another person to the point of scaring them off.
Then again, he'd never thought that he was crazy enough to dream about a stranger whom he'd only met once and hadn't even talked to before.
Never mind a detailed dream so real that it could almost be a memory.
Therefore, the dream became somewhat of a source of embarrassment for Jun, something he'd decided he would never tell anyone else.
Since the search department had told him to give them two weeks and with Zen locking himself up in his room presumably to continue his hack battle, Jun was left with nothing to do. He hadn't searched for a job since he'd thought he would wait until he found his sister and moved back to their hometown; it felt a bit irresponsible for him to find a job only to keep it for a short period of time. Luckily, their current government provided monetary and medical support amongst other things for its people to help them ease their way into the new era. In combination with possessions that could be salvaged from before the Great Freeze, most people were getting by relatively well—though Jun wondered how the possessions managed to last that long and if they had been recreated through magic from their Queen and King.
Visiting Old Oak Tree was out of the question for the moment, since a part of him was still subconsciously avoiding the place, though he himself wasn't too sure why.
As if there were an invisible hand pushing him, his idle walk around Crystal Tokyo took him in the direction of Hikawa Shrine one day. It had been weeks since he'd met the old man, but the latter occasionally appeared in his mind, as if he were a long-lost friend. Jun wasn't even quite sure why he felt an attachment to the old man, to the point that he'd actually looked up the address for Hikawa Shrine during his spare time, as if he were preparing to go there one day.
And he did.
Well, at least, he was at the bottom of the hill that led to Hikawa Shrine right now.
Would the old man be surprised by his appearance? What if the old man had only asked him to come to Hikawa Shrine out of kindness? What if he actually wished that Jun would never go to the temple? Would Jun cause inconvenience for the old man? What about the other people in the temple? Would his appearance cause trouble?
He didn't know how long he stood there before he took the first step, but he did acknowledge that the steps afterwards were much easier. The path up to the temple was a quiet one, and if anything, the soothing atmosphere helped Jun calm down and become more at ease.
Much too soon, he stood under the arch leading to the temple. Two crows stood on top of the arch, staring down at him as if they were somehow analyzing him. He didn't know why, but he gave them a polite smile, as if they were humans.
Before he could contemplate on that thought, a familiar voice spoke up, the jovial voice traveling across the stretch of space between the actual temple and the archway.
"You've come!"
Jun could've sworn he'd never seen someone as old as the old man move so fast. One second he was almost twenty feet away and the next he was standing next to Jun.
"I was wondering when you would show up," the old man said, grabbing him by his arm. "Have you ever volunteered at a temple before?"
Jun could only shake his head dumbly.
"Well, good chance as any to learn then," the old man said, pulling him into a room and shoving a pile of clothes for him to change into.
Jun had no idea why he didn't just ignore the old man. He wondered how other people would've reacted in such a situation. Would they have stayed and helped out at the temple? Or would they have gotten up and hightailed out of there, thinking that the old man was just another crazy fellow.
Instead, Jun found himself obediently changing into the temple clothes and working as a volunteer at Hikawa Shrine. The old man beamed at him so many times throughout the day that Jun almost wondered if smiling was his default expression.
The experience was much more soothing than Jun had thought it would be. Tension left his shoulders, and a rock he hadn't known that had been on top of his heart was lifted as the hours went by. Much too soon, his shift was over.
"Jun-chan?" the old man called out from the tearoom just as Jun walked past it to get to the changing room.
"Yes, Ojii-san," Jun said with a smile, using the title the old man had insisted he used.
"Join me for a cup of tea?" the old man asked, raising the teacup in his hand.
"Sure," Jun replied, sitting down on the steps in front of the tearoom before receiving a cup from the old man.
"Did you have fun?"
"Yes, I did," Jun answered, taking a sip out of the tea cup.
"Good," the old man said. "Feel free to come here whenever you feel troubled, Jun-chan."
Jun didn't immediately answer him. Instead, he turned the teacup around in his hand a couple of times before he opened his mouth again.
"I wouldn't bring trouble to you?" he asked.
He knew he kept his voice calm and collected. However, he also knew he failed in keeping out a sense of hope. He was usually much better at this, capable of keeping emotions hidden behind a polite, gentlemanly smile. Even when he was livid, most people wouldn't catch on unless he wanted them to. His good looks only served to promote the idea that he was sincere, kind, and absolutely harmless while he gathered important information before moving in for the kill. He had no idea what career would have required that skill set, but he was pretty certain "temple boy" wasn't exactly on the list.
Nonetheless, he couldn't deny that he liked it here. He liked the moments when the old man would check up on him, to see if he needed help with a particularly sticky customer. He liked the short amount of time when the old man would beckon him to just look at the red leaves falling to the ground while wondering about life and its problems.
He wanted to stay.
Ever since the day he'd woken up from the Great Freeze, he had been certain that he would go back to his hometown after he'd found his sister, but now, he wasn't so sure any longer.
"Of course not," the old man said, patting him on the shoulder. He then leaned over and whispered conspiratorially into Jun's ear, "I overheard a couple of young girls and boys whispering that they would have to come here again soon to see the 'handsome temple boy'."
Before Jun could answer, the old man looked up.
"Ah, Rei-chan! You're home," the old man said, putting down the teacup and giving a little wave.
Jun followed his gaze, and for a moment, he felt like the whole world stopped around him.
The light breezes were no longer tickling the back of his hand and brushing against his locks of hair. He could no longer hear the merry chirps of birds from the trees or the rustling of stray fallen leaves. The soft murmurs of cars passing by from down the hill ceased to exist. He couldn't see the beautiful trees surrounding him filled with red, yellow, brown, and orange leaves. He'd forgotten that the old man was still sitting next to him.
All he saw was the elegant woman with long black hair and violet eyes staring back at him, the same beauty he'd seen on the street a few days ago. Surprise flashed through her eyes, and though she kept her face expressionless, Jun was certain he hadn't imagined it. That, in and of itself, made him wonder if she remembered him from that day on the street when they crossed paths or if it were because she actually knew about him from somewhere else.
After all, she did enter Old Oak Tree.
While he had no evidence, he somehow knew that she must be friends with Minako and those who worked at the café.
"Jii-san," Rei said, her eyes snapping over to the old man, and Jun thought he heard reprimanding in her tone of voice.
The old man made a noise indicating for her to continue talking.
"How many times do I need to tell you that it's rude to force people to volunteer here?" Rei demanded.
Something flashed through the old man's eyes, but he didn't immediately answer. The two of them stared at one another for a couple of minutes until a look of discomfort appeared on Rei's face, and she opened her mouth to speak.
Before she could do so, the old man was bawling in Jun's arms.
"Jun-chan, look at my granddaughter! My own granddaughter, scolding an old man like me, just because I'd asked someone to volunteer here," the old man cried.
"I … I don't mind," Jun said quickly, attempting to appease the old man.
However, the old man continued as if he hadn't heard what Jun said. "To think that she'd convinced me to go down into the bunkers with them so that I wouldn't have to be revived again when the Great Freeze ended, to think that it was because she wanted me to suffer less! And then to hear her yell at me like this!"
"Jii-san …" Rei sighed, rubbing her temples.
"It's okay, it's okay!" the old man suddenly said before grabbing Jun by the hands. "Jun-chan!"
"...Yes?"
"You won't look down on me, will you?" the old man asked. "Do you think I'm too old? Do you think I'm a burden, too?"
"I never said you were a burden, Jii-san," Rei said, her voice much calmer than it had been moments before.
Oh, she didn't throw a tantrum.
That thought in and of itself surprised him. He didn't know Rei that well, so who was he to guess how she would react in the situation? However, he couldn't get it out of his head that she would've and should've gotten angry—or at the very least, annoyed—at the situation.
Her violet eyes flickered over to him for a split second before they drifted over to the old man again.
"I just don't want you to go through unnecessary troubles just for things to not work out the way you've intended for them to," she said.
He didn't know what she was talking about, but for some reason, discomfort settled in the pit of his stomach, and he was somehow reminded of the dream he'd had of her.
But that was absurd. It was just a dream.
"It is best to nip the problem at its bud."
An ice-cold feeling went down Jun's spine. Details of the dream had escaped him, but for some reason, the things the woman in his dream had said were imprinted inside his mind.
He didn't know if it were coincidence that Rei had said something so similar to the princess of Mars from his dreams, but he did know that it caused distress and embarrassment to churn inside him, nearly making him vomit. The urge to run and hide tickled the back of his mind, while a small voice that suspiciously reminded him of Zen whispered that he never ran and hid from difficult situations.
Not to mention the fact that he had the distinct feeling that Rei didn't want him there. Of course, he didn't have any evidence; she hadn't even looked at him more than was needed, and he had no idea if this were the normal way she reacted to all of the volunteers the old man managed to rope in. Nonetheless, he had a gut feeling that she was specifically miffed to see him there. Later, he would wonder if it were an aftereffect from the dream he'd had about her, but at the moment, he really wanted to find a reason to get up and leave.
"Things are different now, Rei-chan," the old man suddenly said. "Even divination powers have glitches. You cannot expect to know the outcome beforehand."
Perhaps it was the sudden seriousness on the old man's face, but shock appeared on Rei's face, and she didn't answer.
"I …" Jun spoke up, causing both the old man and Rei to look at him. "I think I should get going. My roommate would be waiting for me."
Before the two of them could answer, he'd placed the tea cup back on the table, thanked the old man, and hurried over to the room where he had changed his clothes, the small voice inside his mind be damned. It was when he'd closed the door and leaned against it that he let out a long sigh.
It took him longer than usual, but in the end, he managed to change back to his own clothes. He was almost glad that he didn't see the old man or Rei when he walked past the tearoom. But he didn't see it as a sign to relax. In fact, he quickened his footsteps, almost too eager to leave Hikawa Shrine.
"Jun-chan."
He froze on the spot, his eyes lingering on the archway that led to the staircase before he slowly turned around to face the old man. A wobbly smile appeared on his face. He couldn't be certain if the old man noticed, due to the dark.
"You will come visit again, won't you?" the old man asked.
All of a sudden, Jun didn't know how to answer. Before he saw Rei, he would've been more than glad to promise the old man that he would visit again. Heck, he would've seen it as a gift from the gods. After all, despite that embarrassing dream, he couldn't deny that he was attracted to her.
He was hesitant now, and perhaps it showed on his face because the old man suddenly started sniffling.
"I knew it. Everyone always lies to me," the old man bawled into his hands. "And as if lying isn't enough, everyone always abandons poor old me. They always say they'll come back to visit, but they always break their promises, and now Jun-chan is doing the same—"
"I'll come back again," Jun said.
I won't abandon you again.
That thought came unbidden to his mind, but before he could think too much about it, the old man stopped in his bawling and peered at Jun through cracks of his fingers.
"You … you will?"
"I promise," Jun replied.
The old man dropped his hands to his side, a wide smile on his face and no tear streaks in sight.
"Good. I'll see you again soon," the old man said with a little wave.
Jun stared at him for a moment before chuckling to himself.
"Alright," Jun conceded.
He was tempted to go back on his promise, but somehow, he knew he wouldn't.
"Be careful going home," the old man said before turning around and hobbling towards the temple.
"I will."
Jun turned around, and perhaps it was the wind, or perhaps it was an illusion created by the symphony of noises in the night air, but he thought he heard the old man mutter something as he headed towards the stairs.
"I wouldn't want witches to carry off my apprentices again, would I?"
~-0-~
Mud. Shouting. Blood. Moaning. Random body parts. Crying.
He couldn't even quite register where he was. He felt as the eyes he was looking through were and weren't his at the same time, as if he were a foreign spirit borrowing another's body. However, somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew this was his body. Yet, he was feeling emotions that didn't belong to him; he was doing things he didn't really want to do, as if his body were following the commands of someone else.
"General Jadeite." A minion knelt in front of him.
"Well?" he demanded, the voice cruel enough to surprise himself, though his body didn't seem to register his emotions. "Where is the Princess?"
"We … we can't find her," the minion stuttered. "We are blocked at the gates because of the Sailor Senshi—"
The minion's words got cut off as a blast of energy sent him flying into the nearest pillar.
"Useless idiots," Jadeite growled, lowering the hand that just sent out the blast of energy as he stalked forwards.
"Where are you going?" a voice asked him.
He turned around and looked at the strawberry-blond.
"To make the Sailor Senshi pay for getting in our way," Jadeite said, his lips curving into a sadistic smile. "We also need to search for Endymion, don't we? Queen Beryl wants him alive."
"Oh?" Zoisite asked as a contemplative glint flashed over his eyes. "Say hi to Mercury for me then."
"Sure you don't want to say it to her yourself?" Jadeite asked, placing a hand on the hilt of his sword.
Zoisite shrugged. "Or if you prefer to send her to me …"
For a moment, Jadeite wondered if it were because Zoisite had lingering feelings towards the Senshi of Wisdom.
"To be honest, I rather think I still have a score to settle with Sailor Venus," Zoisite said off-handedly.
Without meeting Jadeite's gaze, Zoisite turned around and sauntered in the opposite direction, leaving Jadeite with more suspicion than relief.
Oh well. All of this would end after tonight anyway. All of them would be freed from the witches' spell.
That thought was brushed to the far corners of his mind as he went forward in search of said witches. He thought he saw Nephrite battling with Sailor Jupiter. The distraction was enough for a breach of the gate; with Jupiter hindered by Nephrite, minions of the Dark Kingdom swarmed towards the Moon Palace.
A couple of soldiers of the Silver Alliance—he really couldn't be bothered to identify from which planet they hailed from—tried to attack him but to no avail; they were no match for the dark energy running through his veins.
Funny, he'd thought that it would've been easy to find the Sailor Senshi and the Moon Princess. After all, it wasn't the first time he was here. He should remember where the Princess's chamber was, but for some reason, it almost felt as if he'd forgotten some things..
Though then again … would the Princess be in her chambers? Perhaps the Sailor Senshi moved her elsewhere. Besides, it was difficult imagining the Princess sitting in her chambers while her kingdom was under attack, even if she herself couldn't fight.
Irritation grew inside him as he failed to find the Princess or catch a glimpse of one of the other Senshi. He was almost tempted to go back and help Nephrite kill Jupiter.
Assuming she wasn't already dead.
He experienced his first sweet taste of victory when he located not one but two of the Senshi and their Princess in the Chamber of Prayer. Venus stood protectively in front of Serenity, one hand holding on to that chain of hers and seemingly ready to battle anyone who dared to try and harm their Princess. Mars stood a couple of feet in front of them, her face as indifferent and cold as always.
He would enjoy killing them.
Without saying anything, he sent a beam of dark energy towards them, but it was stopped two feet away from where Mars was standing.
"Mars," Venus called out, her eyes narrowing.
"Take Serenity to safety. I'll handle him," Mars said.
"He's not—"
"I know," Mars said.
Her tone of voice was laced with bitterness, and had Jadeite not known any better, he would've assumed that she was upset, or even disappointed, about something.
"Our priority will always be Serenity," Mars said quietly.
"Mars, I can't—"
Mars held up a gloved hand, stopping Serenity in her words. Turning towards the Princess, she said, "You still need to find Prince Endymion. He must be looking for you, too, and it'll be dangerous for both of you to search for one another while we are under attack." She paused for a short moment before adding, "Especially without them protecting him."
"I can't leave you here by yourself," Serenity objected.
~-0-~
The scene blurred, and Jun twisted his body underneath the bed sheets as if in protest, sweat clinging the T-shirt to his body, almost as if he knew what he would be shown next. He didn't want to see this. He didn't want to relive this—had he been awake, he would've found this term strange, given this was all a dream, wasn't it?
As it was, he could only watch the scenes as they were presented to him.
~-0-~
A punch was thrown in his direction, one that he easily ducked away from.
"Are you even trying?" Jadeite taunted. "You'll need to try harder, Mars, if you want to protect your little Princess."
Mars didn't answer, and they fought hand-to-hand for another couple of minutes before they broke apart. They stood merely five feet away from one another with neither one breaking a sweat as they eyed one another up, as if they were each searching for the perfect plan, the perfect sequence for attacking.
The familiar cold expression on Mars's face made irritation flash through Jadeite's eyes, and he drew his sword.
Violet eyes flickered over to the sword before landing on his face again. "I don't recall you being so quick to anger."
Jadeite gave pause, his breath catching in his throat for a split second before he uttered, "Then you don't remember me well enough."
Without waiting for her to say another word, he leapt forward, his sword aiming for her neck. He knew that attack wouldn't hit its target. Instead, the brunt of his strength went towards the shards of ice that he secretly created with his free hand. When he was close enough to Mars and certain about the position where she would be ducking away to, he allowed the sharpened ice pieces to fly towards her. Unfortunately, the attack only left Mars with a couple of minor wounds.
However, Jadeite didn't stop there. With a backhanded swipe, he aimed for her waist this time instead.
She jumped away again before she shouted, "Fire Soul!"
The attack burned away a Dark Kingdom minion who'd tried to sneakily attack her from behind while she was busy duelling with Jadeite.
A small part of Jadeite's mind wondered why she hadn't bothered to use her fire attacks on him, but a much louder portion yearned for his sword to quench its thirst with her blood.
When another minion tried to sneak up on her, Jadeite used that moment of distraction to slash his sword towards her again, this time summoning a wall of ice in the direction which she had jumped. A vicious grin appeared on Jadeite's face when she crashed into the wall, as he had expected.
Before she could get up, he leapt forward again.
This time, he didn't miss his mark.
The sword sunk into her body like a knife cutting into butter.
The brilliant color of red blossomed on her clothes, reminding Jadeite of the red roses that grew in the Golden Kingdom garden that was currently still in flames.
He had expected hatred in Mars's eyes.
But instead, after the initial shock, he saw regret and … was it relief?
She averted her eyes before she could be certain, looking in the direction Venus had taken Princess Serenity, though the two blondes were nowhere in sight any longer.
"Serenity …"
~-0-~
"JUN! JUN! WAKE UP!"
He was still screaming when he woke up. He didn't even realize his arms were flailing around until someone grabbed a hold of them.
"Jun, look at me! Look at me!"
It took a moment for Jun to realize that he was no longer there, no longer on the moon, no longer inside his dream. He was safely in his room, in Crystal Tokyo. On Earth.
The Earth which you'd once helped destroy.
No, no, no. That wasn't true. It was just a dream.
But Jun didn't know why he felt so emotional because of a dream. He didn't know why the dream affected him to the point that he was still shaking. He didn't know why he felt the urge to kneel down and repent for what he—no, he refused to believe that Jadeite was him—for what that monster had done. Even if he was for some reason looking through the eyes of that monster and sharing his emotions.
"What did you dream about?" Zen asked softly. "I heard you screaming things from my room, so I came in, and saw you just … swinging your arms and legs around like you were trying to escape or fight or something."
Jun's breath hitched, and he immediately asked, "What did I scream about?"
Please don't let it be about killing Sailor Mars or Serenity.
Zen had mentioned before that they might be being monitored, so Jun wouldn't even be surprised if there were surveillance cameras in their apartment. The last thing they needed was for the Sailor Senshi to knock down their door and murder them in their sleep for treason.
While Jun had been part of the resistance before the Great Freeze, he really didn't have too many thoughts about rising up against their King and Queen anymore. After all, the most important thing was finding his sister and getting their lives back to normal first. Not to mention the fact that living under Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endymion didn't seem to be as bad as how the rebels had thought it would be.
A strange look flashed through Zen's eyes. "It sounded like a foreign language."
Jun didn't immediately answer. He didn't feel much relief from that knowledge, since he was also fluent in a couple of other Asian languages.
"What did you dream about?" Zen asked again.
Jun rubbed his face with one hand as the events in the dream flashed over in his mind's eye. To be honest, he wasn't even sure how he should explain it to Zen. How did you tell someone that you've destroyed an unknown kingdom protected by the Sailor Senshi? How did you tell someone that they'd helped you?
That was the other strange thing about his dream. Zoisite didn't exactly look like Zen, but Jun had a gut instinct that Zoisite was Zen under some kind of magical illusion that prevented others from knowing who he really was.
Just like he was ninety percent sure that Sailor Mars was Rei.
"Jun?" Zen called out.
Jun dropped his hand to the blanket before he looked at Zen.
"I …"
He paused again. A part of him wanted to tell Zen everything, but another part of him resisted, almost as if he didn't want to burden the younger man with what he was going through.
It's just a dream.
You know it isn't.
It's not real.
Closing his eyes and shaking his head, he let out a nervous chuckle. "It's just a nightmare."
The silence that followed nearly choked Jun. It was as if he knew that Zen knew that he was lying. But Zen had no reason to think that, did he?
"Alright then," Zen finally said.
Jun's eyes flashed over to him. The expression on Zen's face was strange, to say the least. It looked like he was trying his best to hold back a pout but had done so rather unsuccessfully. If stares had voices, Jun was almost sure the message Zen's glare was trying to convey was "on your own head it is".
"If you need anything, feel free to holler. Again," Zen said, his lips curling up in distaste as he stood up and marched out Jun's room, slamming the door shut behind him.
~-0-~
A/N: Huge thanks to Nerys for beta-ing this chapter! Huge thanks to those of you who've read, faved, and added to alert! Many thanks to Valkyrie Celes for reviewing! Remember to check out the artwork by teamvanessacloud over at AO3 for this fic!