A/N: Written for the Senshi/Shitennou Reverse Bang 2022. Thanks to the mods who set this up! You guys are awesome!
Huge thanks to my beta, Nerys, for beta-ing the story, even though it's not her preferred fandom ;)!
Huge, huge thanks to iiya, for the amazing artworks she'd done for the fic and putting up with my procrastinating ass! You're awesome! (The artwork can't be posted here though, so head over to AO3 or Tumblr to see those beautiful artwork!)
This story is sort of a mix and match of all Sailor Moon worlds (Crystal, manga, and 90's anime).
(Fic originally inspired by Eternal Reverie's "Untitled" art piece.)
~-0-~
Chapter 1
Crystal Tokyo, Year 2249
Soft pattering echoed through the hallway. Guards were situated at each door and would bow their heads whenever the white feline walked past them. He would answer with a dignified nod without stopping in his steps before he reached his destination. Occasionally, a maid or two would cross paths with him, and they, too, would greet him with respect.
Rightly so, he would sometimes think to himself. After all, he was one of the two High Advisors to Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endymion.
He stopped in front of one of the doors which automatically checked his identity and opened for him with a soft hiss.
He sighed, and his form slightly sagged when he took in the sight in front of him.
And sometimes, one of the two High Advisors couldn't help but feel like a nanny to the Sailor Senshi.
"—about him?"
Sailor Venus had her eyes on the different holographic screens on the wall. Between her and the displays was a ten-foot wide control panel. Occasionally, she would press a button and one of the screens would change to a different image.
"Unfortunately not, Commander. We haven't spotted him since two days ago."
Artemis's eyes flickered over to one of the displays showing a young man in his twenties. The white and orange uniform signified that he was part of the team under Venus's command, but Artemis couldn't find any hints yet in regards to what rank he was.
"I thought two teams were dispatched to prevent him from disappearing from right under our noses, Rafiq."
The young man—Rafiq—didn't answer.
"I was under the impression that the two teams are the best?"
"They are," Rafiq answered. "I am confident that they will find him again. In the meantime, I will dispatch two more teams to assist them."
Venus nodded, and they exchanged a short conversation before they cut off the communication line.
Without looking away from the displays, Venus spoke, "I didn't raise my voice at them, I didn't threaten to lower their ranks, and I didn't flirt with them. Unless you're here for some reason other than reprimanding me, you should probably check on Jupiter instead. She's been ranting about how Johnson had been asking her out for the fifth time after she'd rejected him. I wouldn't put it past her to electrocute him if she sees him in person again."
"When's the last time you've slept?"
Artemis watched her punch in a couple of commands, her blonde hair swaying behind her as she moved about. She didn't look a day older than twenty, yet the aura around her was … much too demanding.
He remembered the day she'd taken on the position of head commander to the forces protecting the newly crowned queen—heck, he still remembered the days that led up to that moment. All of the Sailor Senshi had been far too young, with far too many responsibilities, but their lives had been pushed along the flow of time, with no one stopping to ask if any of them had wanted something more out of life.
It wasn't set in stone, but it had always been sort of customary for Luna to look after the other four while Artemis monitored the health and well-being of Venus, so he didn't know if Luna had asked the other Sailor Senshi.
But Artemis couldn't quite remember if he'd asked Venus.
Was she happy? Was this the kind of life she wanted? Would she have chosen this path if she'd been given the choice? Was there anything she'd wanted to accomplish but couldn't because they'd all been ushered into a new era so quickly?
He often prided himself as the one being who knew Venus more than anyone else, but he'd come to realize there were things about her that he didn't know. He had no idea whether it was simply because he hadn't sat down and asked her about it or it was because she just hid those parts away from him. Neither of those options were acceptable and both of them made him feel … guilty.
"Venus," he spoke up again with a touch of warning in his voice.
"Hm?" she asked absentmindedly. "I'm fine. You worry too much, Artemis, and it's showing up as wrinkles on your face. Besides—" Venus completely ignored the angry sputters coming from the cat. "—if you want to worry about someone's sleeping schedule, it should be Ami-chan's. The last time I spoke to her, she hadn't slept for two weeks already. I told her to go to sleep, but she said she's taking these pills she'd designed to keep people awake."
Artemis bristled, but he didn't move from his spot, opting to glare at the blonde who still hadn't bothered to turn around to look at him. He knew he should go and alert Luna about Ami's condition, but it hadn't escaped his notice that Venus had evaded answering his question.
Finally, Venus turned around. Crossing her arms across her chest, she leaned against the edge of the control panel as she eyed Artemis with one of her eyebrows raised.
"You're reacting as if I'm a workaholic who's going to die from fatigue on their job."
Artemis hissed angrily.
"Artemis," she sighed before taking a seat. "I'm still Aino Minako. I still shirk responsibilities when I can. I still jump at the opportunity to have fun whenever the possibility presents itself. I still go on dates. I flirt when I see cuties. You really don't—"
"Stop it."
Perhaps it was the tone of his voice, or perhaps it was the look on his face, or maybe it was because of some unknown reason to Artemis, but Venus gave pause.
"I don't know what you want me to say then," Venus said with a shrug.
"The Queen wouldn't want to see you like this," Artemis said, shaking his head.
Venus snorted. "Of course not. At least, not the version you're telling her."
"We tell her what we see," Artemis said.
Venus rolled her eyes up to the ceiling. "Tell you what," she finally said, placing her attention back on him, "if you can get Ami-chan to take a two-week break, I'll go on another vacation. What do you say?"
~-0-~
"It's almost as if he wants me to elope with someone or something," Venus complained as she monitored a mission one of her teams were carrying out on one of the displays.
On another display was Jupiter, who laughed loudly after hearing what Venus said.
"If that were to happen, I'd bet he'd probably find something to complain about, too. So how did you get him off your back?"
Another bark of laughter came from the Jovian soldier when she heard Venus's answer.
"You didn't!"
"What else was I supposed to do? Rafiq's sending two more teams in, and I need to look through the list of names he'd sent me, and Artemis just wouldn't leave me alone. I had to find a way to get him to stop annoying me."
"Ami-chan will kill you when she finds out. Luna doesn't nag any less when it comes to trying to get her to rest," Jupiter answered.
Venus shrugged. "I don't really blame her—Luna, that is. Ami-chan needs some rest. She's literally using herself as a test subject for those pills."
"She says it's because—"
"She can feel the aftereffects immediately," the two of them said in unison.
"The girl's crazy and someone needs to tell her that," Venus said offhandedly.
"Yeah, hell no. How about you do it? You seem brave enough," Jupiter joked.
"Oh please, who's the one who's the Soldier of Thunder and Courage?" Venus fired back.
"Haruka-san," Jupiter deadpanned.
Venus laughed and was quickly joined by Jupiter.
After they sobered down, Jupiter said, "But anyhow, Rafiq. His team was supposed to keep track of the Rebellion?"
The Rebellion had somehow managed to gather a following within the last couple of months, and he'd been toeing the line ever since he started his cult. There had been claims of him "dreaming about Queen Serenity" and how he was the true heir to the Silver Crystal and Silver Millenium, and his right-hand man even "prophesied" that he, the Rebellion, would take the throne one day.
At first, Venus had scoffed at both the man and the idea. Besides, what kind of a name was "the Rebellion"? Jupiter promptly informed her that it was because he'd "famously" said the words:
"I will lead the rebellion to a new future, for I am the Rebellion."
It was a bit pretentious, in Venus's opinion, and she probably would've remained blissfully ignorant about the whole thing if followers of the Rebellion hadn't started to force citizens into joining their cult. But in all honesty, quashing the dissent shouldn't have been hard. After all, the so-called prophet was caught, two days after they tried to cause trouble in the middle of Crystal Tokyo, and his "prophetic" powers were immediately disproven—he was nothing more than a fraud.
Nonetheless, the Rebellion was far more slippery than they'd presumed, and they still had trouble arresting him.
"His teams. He'd sent two teams after the Rebellion, and he still managed to get away," Venus replied.
Jupiter tapped her fingers on the table in thought. "I'm not surprised. It's not the first time he'd escaped."
"I'm not surprised either, but it doesn't stop me from being worried," Venus said with a frown.
"I don't think it's too big of a problem," Jupiter said. "It's not the first time we got a nutcase. They seem to pop up every now and then, but it's never enough to actually cause havoc in the world. It's pretty much the utopia everyone had been hoping for since, well, forever."
"Meh … yes, no, maybe so," Venus said.
"You're worried that this will turn into something more sinister?" Jupiter asked.
Venus made a face.
"Are you worrying about the Dark Moon shit ahead of time?" Jupiter asked. "We still have like seven hundred years."
Upon hearing what she said, Venus turned her eyes towards another display. Miners entered and exited a cave, completing a mission set forth by Serenity and Endymion a little while ago. They'd said something about preparing bunkers ahead of time for the Dark Moon attack, but like Jupiter had said, it was much too early, even for preparations.
"Venus?"
"Hm? Oh, no. I'm just … after all those years of fighting, it just doesn't feel right when things are finally settling down. That's all."
"... I guess?"
"And there are more important things in the world," Venus said airily. "Like … did Johnson ask you out again?"
Jupiter muttered a curse before saying, "Damn you, Aino Minako. You just had to remind me of him."
"So … I'll take that as a yes."
"And do you know what Mars said? Some friend she is!"
"I actually haven't spoken to her for a while."
Jupiter inhaled deeply. "She asked me, 'Didn't you always want a dreamy, princess-like wedding?'"
"She does have a point there," Venus said, placing a finger on her lips.
"Oh shut up. You, all of you, should know that I've gotten over that."
"Did you really?"
The words left her mouth before she could stop herself, making the silence that followed so much more potent.
Venus knew it wasn't because Jupiter had gotten angry. Heck, all of them had known that they were going to have to sacrifice something for their duty, whether it was their dreams or relationships.
It was completely worth it, and they were all happy in their current state, regardless of what Luna and Artemis thought. But …
They would also be lying if they said that they had never thought about how life would be if they weren't Sailor Senshi, how life would've turned out if they'd followed down a path with a career of their own choice. Would they pursue the job of their dreams? Or would they be doing something different? Would they be married with children?
It was sometimes difficult to imagine. Whenever Small Lady started crying or throwing tantrums, Venus would thank whatever deities could hear her that she didn't have children of her own. But when those large eyes gazed at you with an innocent, bright smile, she would wonder.
She hadn't thought too much about having a family before she became Sailor Venus—romance, yes, but family, no—so she could only imagine what Jupiter, who'd always dreamt of having a perfect romance, wedding, and family, would think about when she had moments like these.
The way they'd all turned out was kind of strange. It wasn't like Serenity and Endymion had forbidden them from having relationships or getting married or having a career. If anything, the two of them actually encouraged them to "find their happiness", but the four of them seemed to have mutually migrated towards the ideas of choosing duty over love and not getting into a relationship.
"Do you need me to send some teams in? Cooper's team just finished the last mission I'd given him, and they're all itching for a new one," Jupiter spoke up.
"Sounds like a good idea," Venus replied, noting the sudden change of subject but didn't comment on it.
They ironed out some details about the cooperation before they cut off the communication link. Only then did Venus slump down into a chair, staring at the displays without a specific focus.
~-0-~
Minako had no idea how they'd done it, but Luna—Minako really doubted Artemis helped—somehow managed to convince Ami to take a break. It didn't come without a price though. Of course it did. Ami threatened Minako, in Ami's own special way with a lot more words and an underlying cold draft of fury, that she would get her vengeance.
But in Minako's humble opinion, it was worth it. After all, she wanted her sister Senshi alive and well. Too bad Ami didn't appreciate her sentiments.
So, Minako made sure that her vacation route of choice had no coinciding points with Ami's.
It was always interesting to see the changes that had occurred throughout the world, and she couldn't help but feel a sense of pride, knowing that she had been part of that change. The differences were even more noticeable whenever there was a longer lapse between the moments she took a break.
Perhaps Artemis was right for once. Perhaps she did need a break, and once she was back at her post, she'd find a good way to get rid of the Rebellion.
After she made that decision, she relaxed, and she probably would've gone through with her plan of enjoying her vacation if something unexpected didn't happen.
But as it was, she couldn't help the screams of "Conspiracy!" that rushed through her mind when she saw none other than Rei, standing in front of one of the many caves their lieges were digging throughout the world.
With Minako and Ami both on vacation, and now Rei here as well, that left only Makoto back in Crystal Tokyo. Minako didn't need a crystal ball or Rei's fire to tell her that Makoto must be on some kind of "mission" that required her to be out of the palace at the moment.
The Martian soldier didn't look at her when she came to a stop beside her, making Minako wonder if Rei had already known they would meet one another here.
"When did you find out?" Minako asked.
Rei shrugged, never taking her eyes off the mine. "Depends on what you're talking about. If you're talking about plans to get all four of us out of the Crystal Palace, then two days after I'd 'requested' my vacation."
"Did you know we would meet up here?"
A corner of Rei's lips curved upwards, but Minako couldn't quite tell if it were out of humor or disgust. Maybe both, she decided.
"I don't make a habit out of tracking individuals," she answered. "I just know what the fire decides to tell me."
Which wasn't everything, unfortunately. While Rei's predictions were accurate, they'd come to learn that the fire didn't necessarily divulge all of its secrets.
"Kind of strange they're digging up bunkers so early on, eh?" Minako asked.
The warm wind brushed into their faces, and momentarily, the only sounds left were the voices of people chatting while they worked and the chirps of locusts. Minako pushed a lock of hair behind her ear as she watched a man push a cart full of stones towards a truck.
"You know it's not because of bunkers."
Minako felt something stir in her gut. "Why are they digging all over the planet then?"
"You've been keeping an eye on what they were doing since the day this whole project started, Minako-chan," Rei said, her voice calm but gentle. "You know that the digging sites only came up with four different types of stones."
It was almost difficult for Minako to put on a convincing smile, but she'd like to imagine that she succeeded. "Well, the fire must've told you that I've done that just to make sure that nothing harmful would come out of this."
"I didn't consult the fire about this," Rei said, finally looking at Minako. "We've known one another for years—two lifetimes, to be exact. I might not know exactly what you'll do at a given moment in time, but I can predict how you would react in the long scheme of things."
"So … they're really—they're—"
"I can't be certain," Rei replied, shaking her head. "The fire isn't telling me, and the only thing I've found out is that these rocks are being sent back to Crystal Tokyo. Apparently, they had been for a while, but they're being stored somewhere out of sight from us."
~-0-~
The door opened with a loud bang.
The act could've been considered disrespectful, and if the culprit had been anyone other than Sailor Venus, the guards would have come running in. As it was, they stood firmly at either side of the door with cold sweat running down their faces, perhaps hoping to the dear gods above that the leader of the Sailor Senshi wasn't about to assassinate their king.
"You're bringing them back to life."
King Endymion's deep blue eyes landed on Venus, and he greeted her, "Sailor Venus."
"You're bringing them back and you didn't think about informing us?' she asked, stalking towards him until she was about five feet away from him.
Something flashed through his eyes, so quickly that she almost didn't catch it. "Venus, if you would please elaborate, who, exactly, do you think we're bringing back to life?"
Blood pumped through her veins, and she felt joy and anger warring inside of her while sadness stood by the corner to watch. She ignored all the signs—
How utterly calm Endymion was—
The emotion which flashed through Endymion's eyes—
Endymion's voice being so gentle as if he were afraid she'd break down in front of him—
The evidence was all there. He had to be bringing them back. That was why they were hiding everything from the Sailor Senshi.
"The Shitennou."
The name fell from her lips, like a small leaf falling into a still pool and causing a ripple. The fleeting emotion in Endymion's eyes came back, this time in full force, and it nearly made Venus turn away.
But she didn't.
"Venus," he said, his voice gentler than ever. "They've been dead for more than two hundred years already."
Venus shrugged. "I've encountered stranger things."
All of them had their fair share of strange events anyway. What was another one involving people coming back from the dead after two hundred years?
"While Serenity does have the power to bring people back to life, there are still certain requirements that must be fulfilled as a prerequisite," Endymion said.
"In other words, there are still certain obstacles," Venus said with a nod of her head. "That still doesn't excuse the fact that you've hidden it from us, but it shouldn't be a big problem, right? What do we need to do this time? Travel to another universe and bring back some kind of herb to concoct a foul-smelling potion and stuff it down their throats or something?"
"Venus … they can't be brought back to life."
The words resounded in the air. For some strange reason, her mind refused to process the meaning of those words. She had no idea how long she remained standing there, staring at Endymion.
She clenched and unclenched her fists a couple of times.
"Did … you think that the four of us would object to having the four of them being brought back to life?" she asked gently.
She felt the smile on her face quiver, and that was when she noticed that her body was slightly shivering as well.
"Not like we'd totally forgiven them, and I wouldn't put it past Rei to make some scathing remarks towards them when they come back to life, but it's not like it's completely their fault. I mean, hey, their prince had been brainwashed a couple of times as well, and we'd be hypocrites if they were the only ones we're taking that against. And you're going to make me say it, aren't you? Fine, we were brainwashed once or twice as well, so of course we can't—Will you stop looking at me that way?"
She turned around and took a couple of deep breaths in as she placed some more distance between the two of them. The sound of the pendulum clock slowly calmed her down. Numbly, a small part of her mind wondered when they'd gotten that clock. She couldn't remember when Serenity had bought it.
"I've been to those mining sites," she spoke up. "They're not just for bunkers, are they?"
"Venus—"
"You're digging for mineral rocks, and not just any kind of mineral rocks." She turned around and looked at him again. "Why are you digging for kunzite, zoisite, jadeite, and nephrite, your majesty? Or is it just because it's some other strange hobby of yours?"
She gazed at him, daring him to contradict her words.
Endymion closed his eyes, as if in pain, before he looked at Venus again. "I am digging those minerals … but it's not to bring them back to life."
"Then why?"
Endymion gave her one more look before he slowly turned around and walked over to his working table. Pulling open a drawer, he took out a box. Placing it on the table, he placed both hands on the edge of the table. His head was lowered, so Venus couldn't see the expression on his face, but there was a stiffness in his shoulders, and his knuckles were whiter than usual.
"During the battle with Metallia—"
"Master!"
It was like something out of an absurd dream. One moment, Endymion was speaking, and suddenly, the faint outline of none other than Kunzite appeared, floating in midair with his back towards her.
Endymion's deep blue eyes momentarily flashed over to Venus before they landed on the spirit standing between them.
"Kunzite …"
The phantom tensed, and he didn't turn around to look at her.
She didn't have time to feel relief or happiness. If anything, his appearance should've given her more questions, but somehow, her mind was blank, as if it were trying to process the fact that he wasn't gone. At least, not completely gone.
It wasn't until she felt something light hitting her hand that she realized that tears had fallen from her eyes.
Quietly, Endymion took out the piece of kunzite and placed it on the table before exiting the room with the box, closing the door behind him.
Venus let out a small laugh. "We finally see one another again, and I'm supposed to stare at your back for the whole conversation?"
The pendulum clock filled the room with its rhythmic sound. Venus wanted to reach out and touch him, but she wasn't sure she could touch him. Suddenly, she was reminded of many years ago, when she traveled into the future with Chibiusa and how the girl had attempted to hug King Endymion but passed right through him.
"I hadn't planned on seeing you again," Kunzite finally said.
"Why?" she asked, her voice far more composed than how she was actually feeling.
"The past should remain in the past," he said, his voice heavy. "We're all different people now, and it's naïve to assume that we should pursue the same relationship as we had in our previous lives."
The words hit like a boulder. For a moment, a small voice in Venus's mind whispered to her that he was right. Nobody ever said that people who were in love in their previous lives must end up together in their current lifetime. Not everyone was Serenity and Endymion.
Then, she was reminded of the look on his face, during that moment of clarity when the four Sailor Senshi had cleansed them of Metallia's dark powers. No. There was something he wasn't telling her.
Perhaps it was because he didn't hear an answer from her, but he continued to say, "It's a different world out there now. Nobody would mind about which planet you come from … not to mention you're Terran this lifetime. You could find someone who is much more compatible with you."
It had been years since they had seen one another. Yet … perhaps the only time she'd felt even farther away from him was when he had been brainwashed. The distance between them felt like an abyss, a gap that she couldn't close no matter how hard she tried. It was like he'd erected a border around himself, an invisible space that separated him from her and prevented her from coming near him.
"And why should you care?" she asked.
Again, his shoulders stiffened. "You're right. I've overstepped the boundaries."
A soft laugh left her lips. "You think I'm stupid, don't you?"
"... I would never."
"Then why won't you tell me what's happening? You've never appeared in front of me before until today, when the King was about to say something. You didn't want me to know whatever it was he wanted to tell me. I know you're hiding something, Kunzite. What are you hiding and why won't you tell me? It has something to do with all the rocks he's digging up, doesn't it?"
It felt like an eternity before he turned around. His eyes, while no longer having the cold hard gaze he'd had while he was under the influence of Metallia, were set to a neutral politeness.
He was hiding something. Or at least, he was trying to hide something.
Venus wiped away her tears with the back of one hand.
"Endy is just being overprotective," Kunzite replied. "The four of us can obtain power when we're close to our elements, so he hopes that the extra source would be helpful to us."
Faint, courteous smile, check. One hand in pocket, check. Other hand ring finger and pinkie curled inwards while keeping the rest seemingly relaxed, check.
"Endy … hadn't developed his powers until this lifetime, so I suspect that is why he wants to experiment with strange methods."
"Long-winded way to just say that your prince sucks at his job," Venus commented.
A corner of his lips quivered before he allowed the smile to appear on his face. Indulgence made his eyes shine a tad bit brighter before he pulled a mask over his emotions once more.
"He is growing though, both as a ruler and a fighter," Kunzite said.
"Your point being?"
"Nothing is wrong."
"I. Don't. Believe. You."
Kunzite closed his eyes, frustration written all over his face as he tightened his hand into a fist before releasing it. It took a moment for him to recompose himself, and when he looked at her, his expressions were carefully composed again.
"Then I don't know what else to tell you."
"You can start by telling me the truth," Venus snapped.
"I would only be repeating myself," he said.
Venus's body shook, as if she were suppressing her anger. All the while, Kunzite kept his eyes on her, trying to keep a distant polite look on his face. If she didn't know him as well as she did, she'd probably believe him, believe the bullshit he was trying to feed her.
But how could she? How could she believe that he'd truly moved on when she could see a familiar glint, hiding in the back of his eyes, behind that façade he was holding up, that same shine that would appear whenever he saw her during their secret rendezvouses in their previous lifetime?
She knew there must be something that worried, perhaps even frightened him, made him so alarmed that he wasn't willing to tell her.
"You've … led a spectacular life in the last two hundred fifty years. Can't you just let this whole thing go? As if you don't know that we're still around?" he asked.
"Can you?"
She wasn't quite sure what he'd thought her reaction would be, but judging from the lack of an immediate answer and look on his face, this wasn't it. She thought she even saw pain flash over his eyes, but she knew what he would say. She knew how he would answer her question even before it left his mouth.
"Yes."
~-0-~
The guards were the same ones who'd stood in front of Endymion's office, and they promptly turned and faced the wall when they saw Venus making her way towards the room they were in front of now.
Venus thought she heard one of them mutter "Why does it have to be my shift today?" while she slammed open the door to the palace library.
Endymion, who had been reading in front of the fireplace, looked up, a look of surprise on his face.
"Do you have the rest of the Shitennou with you?" Venus demanded.
"What do you want to do?" Endymion asked, standing up alarmed.
Venus rolled her eyes. "Fine, don't tell me."
She'd wanted to check so that the other three wouldn't tell Kunzite what she said to Endymion and that they wouldn't come out and stop Endymion from telling her the truth, but then she realized that it didn't really matter. Kunzite was still lingering in the other room, and judging by how Endymion left the rock in the other room, he probably couldn't follow her all the way here, and if the other three tried to stop her, she had plenty of ways to make them shut up.
"What's happening to the four of them?" she asked.
Endymion blinked at her. "Didn't … Kunzite tell you?"
"Do you, for one second, think that I was going to believe in a story as full of holes as that one? Or do you need me to break it down to you why that was a stupid story? Do I need to remind you how well I knew him? Or had the five of you hoped that I would've forgotten after all of these years?"
Venus could almost see the wheels in his mind turn, perhaps wondering if she was trying to trick him into speaking.
Finally, he said, "You don't seem angry."
"Like I've said, I know him well."
She also knew he wasn't going to tell her anything, but she took what she could get. It had been far too long since the last time they'd seen one another, and … she missed him. She wanted to spend just a bit more time with him, even if he didn't have a corporeal body.
"Now do you plan on telling me the truth? Or do I need to take drastic measures?" she asked.
They stared at one another for what seemed like an eternity before Endymion finally relented.
"When we all returned from the Galaxy Cauldron, I'd thought that the four of them would regain their bodies, like the rest of us," Endymion said, not quite looking at Venus. "We aren't sure why that happened, so I just wanted to experiment with different methods, to see if boosting their powers would allow them to have bodies and bring them back to life."
Venus stared at him. Endymion bent his body down and placed the book he'd been reading back on the table.
"You suck at lying," she said.
"Venus—"
"The five of you think you are so smart, thinking up these stories, don't you? Because it's only silly little Venus, she would believe in any story you feed her," Venus said with a derisive snort. "Only you didn't realize that anyone with half a brain would see through your lies.
"If the four of them truly don't care about us anymore, why was their existence kept a secret from us? Ignoring everything else, you were about to tell me something in your office, and Kunzite stopped you. So something is clearly going on, but Kunzite doesn't want us to know.
"Second of all, you didn't want us to know whatever you're planning on doing. You purposely sent Luna and Artemis to make Ami-chan, Rei-chan, and me go on vacations. Mako-chan was sent out of the Palace to train new soldiers. Neither Serenity nor you are the type of people to put your citizens through so much work if it is not an emergency, and the rocks being transported here are off the records. I checked before I went to see you in your office."
Endymion lowered his head and sighed heavily. "Venus, I—"
Before Venus could cut him off with another warning to not lie to her, another voice spoke up.
"Endymion."
Venus turned around and found Neo-Queen Serenity standing at the doorway.
"Serenity."
"May I speak to Venus in private?" Serenity asked.
Endymion frowned. "Serenity—"
"Please," Serenity said with a gentle smile.
~-0-~
Serenity didn't speak as they walked through the hallways. If anything, it made Venus even more nervous. If the Queen started chatting, it was a good sign to expect the news to be not as grim. The fact that she remained silent meant that she was probably thinking of the best way to tell her what happened.
When they reached Serenity's office, Serenity sat down in one of the armchairs and motioned for Venus to do the same.
"How are you feeling?" Serenity asked after they'd both settled down.
Venus gave her a shrug, a motion that would've been considered overly casual had they been in the company of others.
A maid came in with two teapots and two teacups, placing a set in front of Serenity and Venus, before she exited the room, closing the door behind her.
"Perhaps you might want to take a sip of tea first?" Serenity asked gently.
Venus shook her head, her eyes now firmly on her queen.
A small sigh came out of Serenity's lips. "Venus …"
"Please tell me the truth," Venus requested. "Whether it's bad news or good news … I just want to know."
Serenity gazed at her for a moment before nodding. "You have the right to know … The Shitennou … after the battle with Metallia, their souls resided in rocks that bear their names. Throughout the years, they assisted Endymion, appearing when he needed their help. After the battle with Galaxia, Endymion and I had wondered why they hadn't regained their bodies. After all, everyone who had a star seed was supposed to come back to life."
"Do they have star seeds?" Venus asked.
Serenity tilted her head to one side. "We're not very certain, to be honest. But I think we can assume that they do have star seeds, since their existence is different from those who don't. Endymion told me that the star seeds might've belonged to a satellite or planet that was long gone, perhaps absorbed into another planet or drifted away from the solar system."
Venus nodded. "But they only came back as spirits."
Serenity nodded. "We're not sure what happened, but they didn't get their bodies back … and …"
Her eyes met with Venus, and the solemnity in them made Venus's heart skip a beat.
"They're disappearing, Venus. All four of them … are disappearing."
~-0-~
A/N: Happy New Year, everyone!