Author's Note: I didn't think I was going to be done with this chapter until sometime next week, but I was so pleased with how the previous chapter turned out that I couldn't wait to get this one finished.
Disclaimer: I do now own Sailor Moon (or The King in Yellow).
Chapter 9: The Queen in Yellow
A gust of wind blew up a small dust storm as Kunzite made his way down a deserted and broken street in the ruins of what was once Tokyo. His armor was tarnished and his cape was tattered and filthy. The silver-haired general was at that moment returning from yet another difficult mission, a mission that once again ended in total defeat. He had left the city with an army of three hundred strong men and women, and once again he was returning home alone. It was really looking like they would never defeat the forces of Carcosa, especially not with their queen leading them into battle.
Kunzite finally made it to a large off-white tent set up at the base of Tokyo Tower. The two guards standing at the tent's main entrance saluted Kunzite as he approached, prompting Kunzite to salute back in response. The tent was essentially his kingdom's war room, as they did not have an actual castle. Inside, Kunzite found three men talking next to the tent's large table with its maps still all spread out. Two of the men were ordinary generals, older than he was at least physically. The third was a young-looking dark-haired man clad in black armor with a tattered lavender cape. A white mask covered the top half of the man's handsome face. This was of course one of the two leaders of the resistance, King Endymion.
"My King," Kunzite spoke as he approached, getting the attention of all three men. "I return, but I must regretfully report yet another defeat."
"I am simply glad that you came back alive," Endymion responded as he turned to face him. "You are one of the few lights of hope our resistance has left. If we lost you, it would surly crush what little is left of our soldiers' moral."
"I see that once again that Queen Serenity is absent."
At this, Endymion sighed. "Her depression was too great again today. You can't blame her for being so down. After all, the one leading that monster's armies is one of the women who used to be one of her closest friends and protectors."
"I share in the queen's pain. After all, that same woman was the person I loved most."
Endymion gave his general a small smile as he firmly placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure that Serenity will join us when she's ready. But for now though, we must carry on without her."
Suddenly a fourteen-year-old boy with brown hair and wearing a soldier uniform burst into the tent. "Sire! I bring grave news! An army from Carcosa is quickly approaching the city's border! They will be here in less than two hours!"
"How large is the army?" Endymion asked.
"It's the largest army of monsters I've ever seen. And the Queen in Yellow herself is leading them!"
"Then this may be our last stand," Kunzite realized. "We've known this has been coming for months. They've succeeded in decimating our whole army, and now they're moving in to deliver the killing blow."
"The odds are against us, but we must still stand and fight," Endymion declared. "Kunzite, gather together all the soldiers left in the city and all units in the area. We're going to fight them with everything we've got!"
"At once, my King!" Kunzite responded.
After less than an hour and a half, Kunzite stood at the edge of the city with an army of almost four thousand soldiers and battered tanks. The moral of his troops was the lowest it could be. Kunzite looked around and could see it in the faces of all his soldiers that they weren't expecting to come out of this battle alive. Some were terrified, and others appeared as though they had accepted their fate. The thing that got Kunzite the most though was that his troops were probably all right in thinking this battle would end in their destruction.
Eventually the army of darkness they were expecting came in sight. It was an army of perhaps over ten thousand strong. The soldiers were all undead monstrosities too horrible for exact description. Some of them had extra heads or an odd number of limbs, and many of them shambled or crawled rather than marched. Taking up the rear of this oncoming army was a group of twenty gargantuan larva-like creatures, all with sets of three green eyes and skin the color of spoiled cheese. The worm things were essentially the tanks used by the army of Carcosa. Meanwhile flying through the air were several large green vulture-like creatures with scaly bodies, membranous wings, and heads with yellow eye and tentacles where a beak would be on the head of a bird.
Kunzite stepped forward and drew his sword. "My soldiers, I realize that this may be our last battle, but regardless we must fight on in the hopes we can finally beat this enemy so that our glorious Moon Kingdom can rise again and bring light back to this world! Now then, onward! Fight to the last and show no mercy!"
With that, the soldiers cried out and charged towards the oncoming army of horrors. It did not take long for the battle to be joined. Kunzite's soldiers used their guns and their swords to blow and cut the undead soldiers to bits. Very early into the battle, several of the wings horrors that had been flying above swooped down and carried some of Kunzite's troops into the air with the large razor-sharp talons to never be seen again. The Moon Kingdom tanks began firing rounds into crowd of undead monsters. The larva creatures fired back by spitting globs of green acid that sailed across the battlefield. As the gelatinous projectiles struck the tanks, they began melting into piles of fused metal.
Meanwhile, Kunzite was busy fighting off dozens of monsters with his sword and darkness attacks. Just when there was a pause in the battle, he suddenly heard and insane laugh a few feet off to his right.
"My, oh my! You're a strong one, yes you are," an all too familiar voice declared.
Kunzite looked to his right, and standing a few feet off to his right was a young-looking woman with long blonde hair and chalk-white skin. A sickly yellow bow decorated the back of her head, and she had on a black sailor guardian uniform with a tattered yellow skirt. On the front of her chest was a tattered yellow bow with an upside-down red star on the front. A yellow mask covered the top half of her face, and adorning her forehead was the glowing mark of the Yellow Sign. This was the woman who had come to be feared by all as the Queen in Yellow, Sailor Venus.
"You're not like any of the other soldiers," Venus continued as she took a step towards Kunzite. Kunzite noticed that she seemed to be holding something behind her back. "The regular soldiers I can all squish like bugs. Squish. Squish. Squish. It's boring killing them. But killing you should be loads of fun!"
"Venus! It's me, Kunzite! Don't you recognize me?"
"Kunzite… Kunzite…" Venus spoke with a tilt of her head. "I heard that name before, but I can't remember where." She then revealed the object that she had been holding behind her back, and the sight of it sickened Kunzite. "Hey Artemis, do you remember meeting a Mr. Kunzite before?"
The object in Venus's hands, the object she was now speaking to, was the mummified corpse of her former partner, Artemis. The cat's once white fur was now grey and matted with patched missing, and his eyes were nothing more than empty sockets. Parts of his body looked as through they had been stitched back together repeatedly. Venus looked intently at Artemis as though she were expecting the dead cat to say something. She seemed to be treating the body of her dead partner as though he were some sort of stuffed animal.
"Oh… poo, Artemis. You're never any help," Venus declared before tossing the corpse away and turning her full attention back to Kunzite. "Now then Mister, I'm gonna kill you now. But try not to die too quickly, 'kay?"
With that, Venus fired a black Crescent Beam from her right index finger at Kunzite. The silver-haired general sidestepped the attack and fired an Obsidian Lance attack from his sword. Venus cackled madly as she flipped through the air and avoiding the attack. The blonde landed right behind Kunzite, and it was when he turned around to face her that he got a good look at Venus's eyes. Her eyes were totally black except for a pair of pale white irises.
"That was fun!" Venus declared with a mad grin. "Come at me even harder!"
"Venus, why are you doing this?" Kunzite asked. "This isn't you! You're supposed to be the guardian of love and beauty!"
Venus tilted her head in confusion. "Love? Love… love… another familiar word, but… I can't… remember. Oh well! It doesn't matter. All that matters is carrying out my husband's will, for he is the living God and cannot be defied. No sir."
In that moment it was crystal clear that the woman standing before him was no longer Sailor Venus. Hastur had taken her, broke her mind, drained her of everything that was pure and good, and reduced her to the pitiful insane thing that stood before him. Kunzite realized that he had no choice but to put her out of her misery.
"Venus… forgive me for what I must do," Kunzite spoke before stabbing her through the heart.
A tear streamed down his cheek as he pulled the blade out and stepped back. To his horror and amazement though, Venus did not collapse. In fact the wound he had just inflicted on her healed in a matter of seconds.
"Lame!" Venus declared before suddenly firing another black Crescent Beam that struck Kunzite though the heart. In an instant, Kunzite fell to his knees. "You're no fun at all. I know! I'll go and destroy that city you were protecting! That otta be more fun!"
With that, Venus leapt into the air towards the ruins of Tokyo. Kunzite reached out to try and stop her only to fall to the ground on his face. As the hopeless battle against the army of Carcosa continued to rage around him, Kunzite's whole world went dark.
Kunzite's eyes snapped open as he gasped and shot up from where he was lying on the ground. In a moment he realized he was back in the field where he had fought Ace.
"You okay?" a familiar voice asked. Kunzite looked down and saw Artemis sitting next to him.
"I'm feeling a bit better seeing you alive," Kunzite admitted, recalling the way Venus had played with the feline's corpse in his nightmare. "What happened?"
"What happened is you screwed up, you dumbass!" a familiar voice shouted. Kunzite looked to see a furious Hilda standing behind him. "I can't leave you alone for a damn minute! You know that I just had to bring you back from the dead again, right? Thank the gods you weren't out for too long, otherwise bringing you back would've been a much bigger pain in the as than it already was!"
As Kunzite got to his feet, he recalled how Ace had stabbed him and seemingly killed him. It was then that an urgent question popped into his mind. "Where's Minako?"
"Ace and the film crew took Mina away!" Artemis answered.
"Which is the last thing we wanted to happen!" Hilda shouted. "You're an even bigger screw-up than I thought you were! By the way, that little dream you had while you were taking you little nap just now? That was my doing! I thought I should show you what would potentially happen if we fail to stop Hastur! Of course you don't actually have to worry about living through that future because if we screw up, you're dead! Or did you forget about the little condition of your parole?"
"Does this mean there's still a chance to save Minako?" Kunzite asked.
"Oh for the love of Odin. Yes, there's still a chance to save her, you pea-brained pretty boy! But that chance is going to vanish quickly if we don't move soon!"
"Before that Hilda, I think it's past time you told us who you really are!" Artemis told her.
Hilda groaned. "Oh fine! I guess there's no harm in revealing myself now that we've screwed up this bad!"
With that, Hilda clutched her chest with her right hand while raising her left high into the air. Suddenly a dazzling silvery light began to shine from beneath her palm.
"Brunhilde Star Power MAKE-UP!" Hilda called out before being enveloped by a pillar of silver light that shot high into the air.
In moments the light faded to reveal the redhead in a new form. She had on an outfit similar to that of a sailor guardian, only more armored. A plate of silver armor covered the front of her torso, and on her chest was a golden bow with a heart-shaped crystalline broach in the center. A short golden skirt hung down around her waist, and two pieces of golden armor covered her shoulders. On her legs she wore a pair of knee-high silver boots, and a pair of elbow-high silver gloves covered her hands. A gold tiara covered the redhead's forehead, and decorating the sides of her head was a pair of white metal wings.
"Guided by the Brunhilde moon of Planet Folkvangr, I am Sailor Brunhilde!" the redhead declared as she did a dramatic pose.
"You're a Sailor Guardian?" a stunned Artemis asked. "I thought most of the other Sailor Guardians in the Milky Way had been killed by Galaxia."
"Oh please. That bitch couldn't even tarnish my boots. Besides, most of the other Sailor Guardians in the galaxy have since regenerated and returned to their own lives just as Sailor Venus and the other guardians of this solar system have. Plus my home world was kept hidden during the time of that woman's foolish campaign. Anyway, I am the leader of a team of special Sailor Guardians known as the Sailor Valkyries. We are one of the oldest groups of Sailor Guardians in this galaxy to exist."
"What do you know of this King in Yellow who's taken Minako?" Kunzite asked.
"Do you know why we Sailor Guardians exist?" Brunhilde began. "We exist to keep the galaxy from becoming corrupted. Think of us all as white blood cells protecting the body from disease. But there are some diseases that are a little too strong for us to fight; creatures that are less like a simple virus and more like cancer. The entity you know as the King in Yellow is one such example.
"The King, or rather Hastur, comes from a planet that exists in a dimension that's separate from our own yet also occupies the same space. When the stars are right, and Aldebaran aligns properly with Earth's sun and other celestial bodies, Hastur's world comes into our dimension for a few months at a time. This alignment happens only once every few thousand years, and when it does happen, Hastur does everything he can to corrupt the galaxy into his own twisted image."
"But you must have defeated Hastur when he tried to invade our dimension before," Kunzite assumed.
Brunhilde shook her head. "All we could do was keep Hastur at bay. Fortunately when the alignment ends, both Hastur and his planet are forced back into their own dimension. However, even trapped Hastur is able to influence the minds and dreams of people living in our dimension, even gifting them with knowledge on how to travel to his planet's capital of Carcosa through dreams, and even grant them certain powers. Using these tactics, Hastur had created heralds to spread his will, heralds such as One-Eyed Pete, the author of that play known as The King in Yellow."
"Alright, so what does Hastur want with Mina?" Artemis asked.
"Because of the relatively short time Hastur can spend in our dimension, he operates by manipulating Sailor Guardians into becoming his bride and corrupting them, and in doing so he also corrupts the planets those Sailor Guardians protect. In short, Hastur is trying to corrupt our galaxy one planet at a time."
"Well if that's true, then why hasn't Hastur come after Sailor Moon?" Kunzite asked.
"There are two reasons. I can't tell you what the first one is right now, but the second is because Sailor Moon is no ordinary Sailor Guardian. Her power seems closer to that of a goddess. She might've even been a match to the dead gods of my home planet of Folkvangr. In fact, Sailor Moon's power is so strong, there's a chance she might even be able to destroy the likes of Hastur and his brethren."
"Wait, brethren? You mean there are more creatures like Hastur out there?" Artemis asked.
"There's no time to get into that now!" Brunhilde told them both as she turned towards the direction of the dead forest. "Right now we have to rescue Sailor Venus before Hastur manages to corrupt her. Fortunately I'm able to track her energy, and because of that I know exactly where she's being held."
"Then you and Artemis should go on without me," Kunzite told them. "Clearly my usefulness here has come to an end."
"Where's this coming from all of a sudden?" Artemis asked with a quirked brow.
"Ace was right. I do not deserve Minako. During our battle, he awakened more lost memories of my past life. I now recall perfectly how I tried to kill her when the Moon Kingdom fell, and the look of hatred towards me in her eyes when she stabbed me with her own sword. Since then I've continued to fail her. I failed her again when I blindly walked back into Beryl's clutches, and just now when Ace defeated me. If Minako is to be saved, it's better if I stay out of your way."
Cursing under her breath, Brunhilde stormed over and kneed Kunzite in the stomach hard, causing him to drop to his knees. "Quit feeling sorry for yourself, you little maggot! Look, there's no denying that you're a screw-up. Honestly, you're still the last person I would've picked to help me with this mission. But this is you're one golden opportunity to make up for all your mistakes. Do you really wanna screw that up to? Especially with the life and sanity of the woman you love at stake?"
"Kunzite," Artemis spoke, getting his attention. "I hate admitting this to you, but… after Ace stabbed you, she became distraught and started calling your name. Right up to the moment when Ace knocked her out and whisked her away, she seemed horrified that you might be dead. Look, I still don't like you a single bit, but the fact is Sailor Brunhilde and I can't rescue Mina with out your help. So come on. Mina is counting on you right now."
At this, Kunzite finally rose back to his feet. "You're right. The most important thing right now is to save Minako. I may be nothing more than a curse to her, but I'm going to fight with everything I have to save her."
Minako finally awoke in a large dusty bedroom with cobwebs covering the walls and ceiling. The sheets of the bed she was on were torn and so filthy they were yellow. There was only one small slender window in the room, and it was high in the wall and so covered in grim that it barely let in any light at all.
"Welcome back, Sleeping Beauty," a voice spoke. Sitting up, Minako looked and saw Ace leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, still in full costume. "I was starting to worry that I may have hit you a little too hard."
"Where am I?" Minako asked.
"At Hellmouth Castle, awaiting the arrival of His Majesty. Oh, and in case you haven't realized it, this is no longer a movie."
Just then, Minako recalled what happened during the filming of the last scene. "What happened to Keisuke?"
"Weren't you paying attention? He's dead. I killed him myself."
Tears suddenly began to well up in Minako's eyes. "You're lying… there's no way Keisuke could've been killed by the likes of you."
"Deny the truth all you want. It won't change anything," Ace stated as he began to walk towards her. "Besides, you know there wasn't ever going to be a future for you two." With a flick of his fingers he produced the Ace of Hearts and tossed it onto the bed. "True love is just not in your destiny, only your duty."
"And so you're saying now that my duty is to marry that monster you call a king?"
"Your duty calls you to make sacrifices for the good of your kingdom. If you refuse to marry His Majesty, then he'll simply go after one of your fellow Sailor Guardians. Perhaps even your princess. Could you really sacrifice one of them for your own sake?"
Minako found that the idea of doing such a thing chilled her to the bone. Even if it was only in dreams, she had seen the King in Yellow with her own eyes and knew that she couldn't possibly sacrifice any of her friends to that creature, especially not Usagi.
A triumphant smirk formed on Ace's face. "I thought not. There's still a bit of time before His Majesty arrives. I suggest you use that time to come to terms with what you know you have to do."
With that, Ace left the room, shutting the door tightly behind him. Minako remained where she was frozen on the bed. Her mind scrambled to find a way out of her current predicament, all she could think about was Keisuke. She still couldn't accept Ace's claim that he was dead, yet she had seen him get stabbed with her own eyes. Minako knew that there was very little chance of being able to live through a wound like that, and the possibility that Keisuke might actually be dead caused Minako to break down and sob.
Out in the hallway, Ace had begun to make his way to the ballroom where the King would be arriving. He hadn't gotten three steps when he saw One-Eyed Pete standing before him.
"How is our Princess Cassilda doing?" Pete asked.
"She's awake. And her will seems to be crumbling," Ace answered. "I'm a little disappointed, really. Her spunk is one of the things I've always liked most about her."
"Remember Mr. Saijyo, she is to become the King's, not yours."
"You don't have to remind me of my duty or my destiny. Now, did you simply come for a status update on Minako, or is there something else you wanted?"
"I regret to inform you that our Mr. Tenju, or rather General Kunzite, is still alive and heading here right now."
Ace blinked in total disbelief. "How?"
"It seems that the one who restored her to life is a powerful Sailor Guardian from a planet at the very edge of the galaxy. Her group is an old enemy of His Majesty."
"I take it that Kunzite and this Sailor Guardian are heading here for the castle as we speak."
"Indeed. And we must not allow them to interfere with His Majesty's wedding."
Ace sighed and produced the Ace of Spades in his right hand. "It seems that the general is far more stubborn than I realized. Do not worry Maestro. This time I will make sure that Kunzite will be unable to interfere. And to prove that I have succeeded, I will take his head and present it to you and His Majesty."
Author's Note: The hardest part of this chapter ended up being the dream sequence at the beginning. The tricky part about it was figuring out how to show that Minako/Venus had gone totally insane, and I think I did a pretty good job. So in case anyone hadn't realized it, this story has gone full-on Lovecraft. Originally it was going to be based solely on The King in Yellow, which is or can be kind of its own separate thing from the Cthulhu Mythos, but I realized that having Hastur be the main villain in every one of these Sailor Moon stories I'm doing in connection to this one didn't make much sense.
So in this chapter, we not only got a little more exposition from Hilda about what's going on, we also got to find out her true identity. Part of the reason why Hilda/Brunhilde and the other members of her yet-to-be-seen group are based on Valkyries is because of how Valkyries deal with dead warriors, in this case Kunzite and the other Shitennou. This is the third time now though that I've mixed together Cthulhu Mythos elements with elements of Norse Mythology in a story (the first being a short-lived series of Gundam SEED fanfics that are on indefinite hiatus, and the second time being my two Sword Art Online fanfics, The Gold Swordsman and Clash of Queens). This time around though, the combination wasn't at all deliberate, it just kind of happened somehow.
Well, the next chapter probably won't be up until sometime next week, but I'll try to get it finished as soon as I can. until then, please review and let me know what you think.