Chapter Fifteen
Delivery and Deliverance
The evil Queen stood before the pool. For days she barely moved away from the hazy waters. Her servants, daughters, and Generals were concerned, but said nothing. She watched the life of the Moon Prince unfold, but the sight of seeing the Sailor of Fire made jealously and rage fill her soul. The Dark Crystal she held onto grew stronger and stronger as her dark intentions transferred into the crystal. Her Generals stood behind her waiting for her orders.
"Azariah," Queen Beryl called.
The Fire General stepped forward timidly. She had spent three days in Beryl's pit—a place worse than hell itself—and she didn't want to go back.
"Have you learned you lesson?"
"Yes, your Majesty."
"Kanejiro, I am sending you to Earth to kill Sailor Mars."
The possessed man stepped forward. "And what of the others?" His voice was low like a whisper but as dark as the deepest darkness of the universe.
"Kill them."
"If you can manage it, bring back Kaiba. He will suffer for his betrayal to the Negaverse."
"Yes, Queen Beryl," Kanejiro answered.
It was an extremely cold morning. Kaiba shivered under his blankets as he lay on his mat. His head tossed and turned back and forth until finally his eyes fluttered open. Breathing heavily, he sat up and ran his fingers through his dark blue hair. He glanced over to the corner. His Excalibur rested against the wall in the corner. It was his only possession. He had nothing else. It still seemed too early to get up so he lay back down and closed his eyes.
He quickly drifted back to sleep. At first, nothing but darkness surrounded him. After a while, sounds filled his consciousness. It was cheering and yelling. It was some sort of celebration. Blurs of light appeared and soon focused in. The sun shined brightly that day while the wind gently tickled the skin of the large crowds. Thousands upon thousands of people gathered that day staring from the top of the hill and stretching down into the city. He looked to the top of the hill—a white Roman style palace with blue trim sat there. Along the stone pathway that ran down from the palace, the thousands of people lined up. Colors of blue and white waved everywhere—the people's clothing, the banners and flags—for they were the royal colors of Mercury.
Watching himself as a child, Kaiba stood in the darkness watching the scene unfold from the past. The little boy, that was once himself, looked up and pushed through the mass of people. He finally pushed through to the street. He looked up the hill to see a blue carriage being pulled by white horses. A gleam caught his eye, and he looked down. A silver coin lay on the ground and the boy eagerly picked it up. He marveled at the coin, but he was pushed forward by the excited crowd. The coin fell out of his hand and bounced forward.
The little blue-haired boy leapt forward to try and catch the coin. It bounced away from him and rolled further into the street. The young boy tripped on one of the stones and fell to the ground
"GET OUT OF THE WAY!"
The boy looked to his left. The carriage was charging forward. Frightened, the boy couldn't move. He covered his face thinking the horses would trample over him.
"What the heck are you doing, kid?"
Kaiba uncovered his face and looked up. The carriage was stopped, and the driver towered before him yelling and screaming at him. "Get up! Get out of the way, stupid boy!"
"Cassius, is there something wrong?"
The driver, Cassius, looked over. The crowd was silent. Cassius blushed from his behavior. "Nothing, your Majesty, it's just that this boy ran out in front of the carriage…"
"That's enough, Cassius. Return to your seat. I will take care of this problem."
Delicate and gentle hands touched the frightened boy. He opened his tear-filled eyes. Before him kneeled a beautiful young woman with ocean blue eyes and hair like the rivers. Her dress was the purest of white and her smile was as warm as the sun.
"Are you an angel?"
She smiled. "No." She took the crying boy into her arms. "What is your name, little one?"
He looked at her and wiped his tears. "Kaiba Hayate."
She finished wiping his tears. "Hayate," She smiled. "What's wrong?"
The blue-haired boy named Hayate looked at his bloody knee. "It hurts really badly."
She looked at his knee, pulled out a white handkerchief, and wiped the bloody knee. "This should take care of it." She held the cloth on his knee for a few moments. "Don't mind Cassius. He can be ill-tempered sometimes." She pulled away the cloth. "There."
"Thank you."
The woman smiled again. "Try to me more careful, Hayate."
He nodded. "I will." She kissed him on the cheek, and he blushed furiously. "Who are you?"
The woman smiled. "You don't know?"
The boy shook his head.
She brushed her fingers through his dark blue hair. "Just call me Ami, little one." She stood up and left. Hayate stood up and scrambled back to the crowd. He wiggled in, but a man stopped him.
"What did she say to you?"
"What did the Princess say to you?" Another asked.
"Princess?" Hayate looked confused.
The people around Hayate laughed.
"The boy gets to meet Princess Ami, and he doesn't even know who she is!"
Hayate turned around and looked back to the carriage. The woman who talked to him hopped back into the carriage, and they took off. "Princess Ami?"
Kaiba eyes fluttered open. He awoke from his dreams popping up out of his bed. He ran his fingers through his hair and grabbed his head. "Hayate," He whispered. "My name is Hayate."
Raye stood in the kitchen stocking the cupboards and refrigerator with the newly purchased groceries. It was the weekend and Grandpa and Kyoji left for Shizouka to have Kyoji complete in a martial arts tournament. The temple was closed for the weekend, and Raye was left alone in the house. Of course when Serena found out about this, she took the liberty of inviting everyone over for a party. She invited everyone over for a slumber party, any mostly everyone was coming, except for the outer Sailors. However, Trista decided to come despite the fact that Michelle and Amara thought it too childish.
Soon, all of the Sailors filled the kitchen and worked on preparing lunch. Mina worked on boiling noodles while Raye worked on the rice. Lita ran most of the operation and cooked the meat and vegetables. Serena, Trista, and Ami sat together at the table making small balls out of the cookie-dough batter they made earlier.
The blue-haired man entered the kitchen with the women. He glanced around for a moment then he laid eyes on Trista. His eyes bulged. "You're alive."
Trista looked at him, recognizing that he was once Beryl's Ice General. "You are Beryl's warrior!"
Ami grabbed her hand. "No, it's okay. He is no longer with the Negaverse."
"When?" She asked.
"Fairly recently," Kaiba said.
Trista stood up from her chair, large stomach poking out. "Do you know anything about Kanejiro?"
"Kanejiro?" Kaiba questioned. He pondered for a moment remembering that this woman was the wife of Kanejiro. His felt his heart twinge for a moment now that he understood love. Sadly he looked up at her. "Kanejiro is still under Beryl's spell. I'm sorry."
Trista stepped forward, grabbing onto Kaiba's arm. "Do you know how to free him?" Tears came to her eyes. "Do you know how to break the spell?"
Kaiba looked down to his feet. "No, I'm sorry. Beryl has grown more powerful than anyone could imagine."
Trista sat back down. "Thank you for your help." Her eyes still stinging with tears, she sat silently with her heartbroken.
Kaiba stared at her, reading her thoughts. "There is always hope." She jerked her head up to look at him. She nodded silently then wiped her tears. She composed herself, and they all went back to work.
Kaiba sat down at the table next to Ami. He looked at her and grabbed her hand. "Can I talk to you?"
She looked up from the cookies. "Yes, what is it?"
Kaiba stood up and pulled her out of the kitchen. He walked her down the hallway and took her to the tea room.
"Ami, who were you in your past life?"
Ami pondered for a moment. "I'm not exactly sure." She thought some more. "All of us were once apart of the Silver Millennium. All of us swore to protect the Queen Serenity and her daughter, Princess Serenity."
"And who were you?"
"Princess of Mercury."
Kaiba took a hold of her hands. "I had a dream, and you were there as a Princess."
"I was there…?"
"Hayate!" He interrupted in excitement.
"What?"
Kaiba smiled while shaking her hands. "My name is Hayate. I remembered it in the dream. You asked me my name, and I said Kaiba Hayate. Kaiba's my last name, and Hayate is my first name."
"Hayate," Ami gently uttered.
(PAGE BREAK)
"Looks like a blizzard, guys." Lita came into the living room from outside. "I think we should stay put."
Raye came in from the kitchen. "That's what the radio said too."
It was early in the afternoon. They finished the lunch they had prepared and were congregated in the living room. Since they were snowed in, they decided to stay put and watch a movie. Everyone was relaxed except for Kaiba who had never seen a movie before. He sat on his knees eagerly in front of the television watching the characters appear. At first, he would touch the screen trying to reach into it, but he quickly realized that people weren't actually inside the box.
"I thought you said movies was a place, Mina-san." Kaiba frowned while looking at her.
"A movie theater is a place where you can go to see movies, but you can watch movies here too."
"But how are people on the screen?"
"Movie cameras are used to take pictures of people. Then you can play the pictures back. That's called a movie," Mina said. "I don't know how to explain it."
He thought deeply for a moment. "This camera thing must take so many pictures then flashes them back so fast it looks like the pictures are moving."
Ami marveled at his intellect. "Yes, that's about right, Kai…I mean, Hayate."
He glanced over at her and smiled at the sound of his name.
"Hey! Look over here!"
Hayate turned his head and looked toward the voice. A bright light flashed, and he shielded his eyes. "What are you doing?"
Raye walked over and showed him the picture she took of him with her digital camera. "I took a picture of you."
He looked at the picture and studied it for a moment. "Take one of those pictures of me and my girlfriend!" He leapt up and squeezed next to Ami on the couch. She blushed deeply. Kaiba always told everyone and anyone who would listen that Ami Mizuno was his girlfriend. He would annoy most people with his excitement and enthusiasm, but Ami always found it endearing. Raye took a picture of the two then snapped some more of her other friends. They eventually returned to watching the movie. Sitting in silence for a long time, Serena became bored and glanced around the room—she had seen this movie almost a hundred times. She glanced over at Trista who kept shifting and twisting in her chair.
"Are you alright, Trista?"
The green-haired woman looked over at Serena, slight pain on her face. "Yes, it's just I'm not feeling so well."
"What's the matter?" Raye asked.
"I don't know. I just feel so sick." Trista stoop up from her chair. Her eyes bulged as horror washed over her face. "Oh, no!" She grabbed her stomach.
One phrase communicated everything. Everyone else jumped up from his or her seat and surrounded Trista.
"Are you sure?" Lita asked.
Trista shook her head in panic. "I don't know."
"What happened?" Ami asked, serious and commanding tone overtaking her. "What are your symptoms?"
"I'm having stomach pains so I stood up then I felt this gush…"
"Ewww!" Mina and Serena shuttered together.
Raye snapped her fingers. "Quiet, you two!"
"What should we do, Ami?" Hayate asked.
Ami thought for a moment. "We're in the middle of a blizzard. We can't take her out of here. We'll have to call the paramedic and see if they can get to the temple. If not, we're going to have to deliver the child."
"What!" Mina exclaimed. "Deliver a baby ourselves?" She started to panic. "We can't do that!"
"Raye, take us to an open room. We'll need lots of space. Lita, get us some towels. Hayate, you'll assist me." Ami looked over at Mina and Serena. "Uh, you two just stay here."
As time went on, conditions grew worse. The wind howled outside blowing in inches and inches of snow. Paramedics were unable to reach the temple. In the late afternoon, the power had gone out, leaving them only in the candlelight, and they worked in the darkness for hours trying to help Trista.
Serena walked down the dark hallways carrying a small candle. Loud screams and cries echoed throughout the dark house. She headed through the maze of hallways until she reached the tea room. In the middle of the sliding door, Mina sat solemnly watching the scene unfold. Serena looked into the room while standing. Amidst the candlelight, Trista lay on the floor screaming and holding onto Raye and Lita for dear life. It was what they feared: Trista's baby was going to be born. Nervously, Ami sat on her knees in-between Trista's legs. Of course, she had studied the birthing process and pregnancy in her science courses and knew the details inside and out, but when the circumstances were real, it terrified her. She closed her eyes and gasped deeply for air. She only opened them at the touch of a hand on her shoulder. She glanced to the body next to her.
"It's okay, Ami. You can do this." Hayate nodded.
Ami sighed, releasing her stress, and nodded back. She turned back to Trista. "You're doing fine, Trista."
Trista nodded furiously as she worked on another push. She was still very strong from her Sailor days and had considerable muscle strength to push. She gripped Raye and Lita's hands tightly and pushed again.
The clock ticked into the twilight hours of the night. With her last ounce of strength and energy, Trista pushed one more time. Everyone crowded around the woman as she released her final scream. Raye and Lita held her hands tightly while Serena and Mina held each other in the doorway. Hayate and Ami glanced at each other quickly, smiles on their faces, then turned their eyes forward. Together in their hands, they caught the child.
There was silence for a few seconds until the shrill of an infant cried out in the darkness. At the sound, Mina squeezed Serena while tears of joy ran down Serena's face. Raye and Lita released Trista's hands while she felt against Raye with a laugh of relief. Gingerly, Hayate cut the child free while Ami cleaned the child off. The child was wiped down with water and wrapped in towels. Taking the child into her arms, Ami walked over on her knees to Trista's side and handed her the child.
Eagerly, Trista glanced up and took the child in her arms. She glanced back at Ami and smiled.
"You have a son, Trista."
"Thank you, Ami." Tears leaked from her eyes.
"What will you name him?" Serena asked. Serena and Mina walked up and sat at Trista's side.
Trista stared at her son lovingly. "Kazuki—he is our light and our hope." She looked at the Sailors with tears. "Kanejiro chose this name if we had a son."
Everyone gathered around and marveled at what had happened. They sat in silence for a few minutes making Trista comfortable and clearing away the mess. Ami cleared her throat. "We should probably leave her alone now. Who do you want to stay with you, Trista?"
Trista glanced around the room then locked eyes with Serena. "Serena, I want you to stay with me."
Serena smiled and nodded. Everyone got up and headed out the doorway. Ami looked back at Trista and Serena. "You should probably start feeding now, Trista."
Trista looked up. "Thank you."
Ami nodded. "Your welcome."
She had trouble sleeping that night. Adrenaline rushed through her veins like a rollercoaster. Butterflies swarmed in her stomach as she lay awake staring at the ceiling. "I actually helped bring a child into this world," Ami said to herself, almost trembling. Now she knew more than ever before she wanted to be a doctor. Excitement rattled her nerves that she figured it was no use to try and sleep. She crawled out of her sleeping bag and stepped around the other sleeping bodies. She left Raye's room and walked down the hallway. She passed by the tearoom and checked on Trista and the baby. After a few moments in there, she headed to the kitchen for something to drink.
Hayate looked up from the table. He sat in the candlelight slipping on a soda. "This drink is wonderful, Ami-chan," He said solemnly.
She sat down next to him and looked at the can. "Yes, but it's full of sugar. It will ruin your teeth."
Hayate frowned. "Sorry."
She smiled. "It's okay. Just don't drink this too much." She sat silent for a moment, noticing something was bothering him.
"Why can't you sleep?" He finally asked.
"I don't know." She naturally smiled. "I'm too excited. I actually helped bring a child into this world. I've never been so sure in my entire life that I wanted to be a doctor."
Hayate looked at her, meeting her eyes. "Yes, I understand." His eyes started to water.
"What is it?" She grabbed his hand.
He looked to the table. "I was trained to kill—to end life, but when I caught life in my hands tonight, I…" He looked up into her eyes and faint tears streamed down his face. "Regret eats my soul away. I do not deserve to live after the things I have done."
She put her arm around him and used her other hand to brush his hair out of his eyes. "You've changed. You're a different person now, and it's a much better thing to change and turn from wickedness than have your life end in an evil state."
They sat in silence for a few minutes. He stared down at the table processing his thoughts. After a while, Hayate looked up, caught her eyes in a deep gaze, and faintly smiled. "Why are you so good to me, Ami-chan? You should not even care for me."
"But I already do." She reached up and grabbed his chin, turning his face toward her. He stared at her for a few moments until she kissed him. Their lips brushed against each others softly in the candlelight. Their kisses grew deeper, with Ami being the one who pushed them further. Her forwardness surprised him, but it always made him joyously laugh on the inside when she'd break out of her shell for him. They continued until something struck their sixth sense. They pulled away from each other.
"What was that?" Ami asked.
Hayate already leapt to his feet. "I felt it too." He charged out of the kitchen while Ami followed behind him. They rushed to Hayate's rented room. He grabbed his Excalibur and charged back out of the room. Soon, they were met by the other Sailors in the hallway.
"What should we do?" Raye asked.
Hayate kept walking and the girls followed him. "Serena, you stay and protect Trista."
Serena nodded.
"The rest of you, come with me." Kaiba charged outside into the blizzard. The Sailors transformed inside then stepped out into the cold night.
Snowflakes swirled around like a raging tempest. The wind howled through the cold night air and instantly chapped the skin of the Sailors' legs and arms. Hayate stepped forward, his feet sinking deep into the snow with each step, and shielded his eyes from the snow. The Sailors peered into the snowy darkness.
Glowing red eyes like the fires of hell appeared in the darkness. The faint sound of scrapping metal entered the ears of the Sailors over the howling of the wind. Before they knew it, the mystery warrior had charged forward and Hayate was blocking with his Excalibur.
Sailor Jupiter charged forward, sinking into the snow. "C'mon! Let's help him!" She threw a punch at the mystery warrior. She missed completely as he disappeared then reappeared, striking her on the back. Three long tears into her flesh appeared on her back as the mystery warrior ran his blades over her.
"Sailor Jupiter!" Sailor Venus hollered. The Sailors started over at the mystery warrior while Hayate stood in front of them in a protective stance. His hair was black with silver highlights. Eyes that were once a deep and pure purple were now hellfire red. Draped in black clothing, he stood ready to fight with three long sharp blades piercing out of the tops of his hands.
"Who is it?" Sailor Mars asked.
"Kanejiro," Hayate answered.
The Sailors gasped and stared closer at the man. This was Trista's husband and the father of her newborn baby.
"What should we do?" Sailor Mercury asked. "We need Sailor Moon if we have any hope of breaking the spell on him."
"Alright, go get her. We'll hold him off until she's ready." Hayate charged forward and entered into combat with Kanejiro again. Sailor Mercury ran off into the house to retrieve Sailor Moon. The other three Sailors tried to assist Hayate in battle, but as usual, their attacks were of no avail. Mars threw fire rings while Venus used her whip and Jupiter tried to land in more punches. Each attack either missed completely or was blocked effortlessly by Kanejiro. Only was Hayate able to match the possessed man's strength. The mysterious warrior of metal would disappear and reappear, blend in and hide with the swirling mists of snow, and easily hide within the night.
Soon, Sailor Moon was brought out into to the snow storm. She waved her powerful wand and summoned her healing powers. "MOON HEALING ACTIVITATION!" The darkness of the night fled at the light beam the wand created. The golden light shot out and flew past all the Sailors. Hayate leapt out of the way, leaving a direct hit for Kanejiro. The light passed through his body and shined on him, but his eyes remained the same—as red and evil as ever.
The Sailors gasped at the failure of Sailor Moon's wand. While they were stunned, Kanejiro launched a counterattack. Flying toward Sailor Mercury with his claws extended, Kanejiro flew in the air at a blurring speed.
"AMI!" Hayate evaporated.
"When one is about to die, time slows down." Ami said to herself as she watched Kanejiro's claws aiming toward her heart. It was slow motion. Ever so slowly, he flew towards her. Her mind saw everything, but her body couldn't react.
"SAILOR MERCURY!" The other Sailors screamed, which sounded like slow-motion screaming to Ami.
TWANG!
They all gasped. Time returned to its normal speed in Ami's mind. She looked before her. Blocking the claws of Kanejiro, a dark masked man stood between Sailor Mercury and Kanejiro. The man stood in a tuxedo with a long black cape with a dark blue inside. He had a white mask to cover his eyes, but no top hat for his head. He held a long sword in his hands which he used to block the blades that were going to kill Ami.
"Hayate?" Sailor Mercury uttered.
The masked man kicked Kanejiro, and Kanejiro flew into the snow drifts across the yard. He glanced back at Sailor Mercury and smiled. Relieved and astonished, she let out a deep sigh. The masked man turned his attention back to Kanejiro. However, Kanejiro was up out of the drifts and had his arm around Sailor Mars' neck.
The masked man stepped forward. "Kanejiro! Leave her alone!"
"The Queen says she must be destroyed," His sinister voice ran shivers down Sailor Mars' spine.
"Why? What did she ever do to the Negaverse?" Sailor Moon exclaimed.
"The future," He uttered then pulled Sailor Mars into the house. She tried to kick and scream, but he prevented her. He dragged her body down the hallway, but she was too feisty. He threw her into the closest room then extended his claws. "I will kill you now."
"Kanejiro?"
The possessed warrior looked over. He had thrown Raye into the tea room with Trista and the newborn. Sailor Mars frantically looked over, seeing the attention of the warrior was on Trista and the child. "Hey! You! Hey, fight me! Hey!" Kanejiro ignored the taunts of Sailor Mars and stepped forward. Trista, who held her child in her arms, backed up in fear against the wall. Soon, the masked man and the other Sailors ran into the tea room and stopped once they saw Trista and the baby cornered by Kanejiro.
She was completely frozen except for the pounding in her chest. He slowly stepped closer and closer to her making her heart swell with fear and terror. His red eyes locked onto the bundle in her arms.
Out of the red eyes, a tear from each side rolled down the possessed man's cheeks. Trista watched the teardrops fall to the floor.
"Get him before he hurts Trista and the baby!" Sailor Venus yelled while stepping forward.
"WAIT!" Trista hollered.
Kanejiro dropped to his knees. He grabbed at his hair and pulled on it in anguish. He touched his head to the floor and grunted through his teeth. He then raised his head up screaming the most terrifying and horrible scream imaginable. Instantly, the child started to cry and fear seized the entire group. Black spirits started to be expelled from his body, but as soon as they were expelled, they would try to enter back into his body.
The masked man looked at Sailor Moon. "Use your powers now! It should be able to work!"
Sailor Moon nodded. "MOON HEALING ACTIVITATION!"
Again the golden light filled the darkness and streamed forward piercing through Kanejiro's body. The black spirits were soon expelled and evaporated in the healing light of the Moon wand. The screaming became the screaming of a normal man instead of the tortured screams and squeals of evil spirits. Soon, the screaming stopped and the man collapsed on the floor.
"Kanejiro? Kanejiro!" Trista kneeled to the floor and shook the body of her husband. "KANEJIRO!"
He fluttered his deep purple eyes open and looked up from the floor. "Trista?" He uttered, slightly confused. "What happened? Where am I?"
"Kanejiro!" She fell into his arms on the floor. "Oh, I thought I'd never see you again!"
He sat up from the floor and noticed the bundle of white blankets in Trista's arm. He looked at her questioningly and she pulled back the blankets, revealing the face of their little boy. He looked at Trista, completely shocked. "When?"
"Tonight." She passed the bundle into Kanejiro's arms. "His name is Kazuki."
Kanejiro glanced back at Trista with the largest grin in the world then turned his eyes back to his son. After starting at his child for a few moments, he looked up at the Sailor Scouts. "Thank you." He glanced around to all of them. "Thank you so much for saving me." He then locked eyes on the masked man. "Kaiba?"
The masked man stepped forward while taking off his white mask. He nodded.
"Hayate, what happened to you? You look like Tuxedo Mask and Tuxedo Samurai," Sailor Venus asked.
Hayate looked at Sailor Venus and smirked. "My name is Tuxedo Knight."
Sailor Mercury walked up to Tuxedo Knight and locked her arm with his. "Tuxedo Knight?"
He nodded and looked down at Ami with a faint smile. "I remember everything now. My name is Hayate Kaiba, and I'm destined to protect you as Tuxedo Knight, Princess Ami."
Sailor Mercury smiled and leaned her head against Tuxedo Knight's arm. Everyone turned their attention back toward Kanejiro and Trista and watched contently as the happy parents held their newborn son.