Chapter 11: Usual Chaos

"USAGI!" Fighter cried, catching Usagi as she fell towards her. Blood pooled horribly underneath her shirt and Fighter's breath came at an impossible speed, her heart beating to come out of her chest. She couldn't believe what had just happened. Usagi had- she had taken the dagger for her!

"SERENITY!" Courat cried, horror in his voice, the pain almost tangible. All action froze around the room, the monsters sneaking into the darkness once more. The Senshi and Starlights raced to Usagi, who was hanging limply from Fighter's hands. Fighter slowly lowered her, her hands shaking violently as the tears fell from her eyes, "Usagi…"

"Mamoru…" she whispered quietly, "I want Mamoru…"

Fighter looked up at Venus, who was leaning over Usagi, trying to pull the dagger from her, tears flowing from her face as the blood marred her skin and clothes.

"Mercury, Mars," Venus struggled to say calmly, "Get Mamoru back"

The two of them leant in front of Endymion, who was looking at the fallen Usagi, a pained look on his face.

"Mamoru, come back to us," Mercury said, her voice catching, "Please…"

"Usagi needs you, Mamoru!" Mars cried more urgently, fury present in her voice, clearly saying that if something didn't happen, she would do whatever she possibly could.

But there was no need to as something flashed behind his eyes and he grabbed his head, roaring in agony, "USAKO!" he cried out.

"Mamo-chan…" Usagi whispered lightly, her hand reaching upwards, trying to grasp Mamoru to her

Courat was staring blankly down at Usagi, frozen almost completely and he didn't notice when Endymion broke free of his control.

Mamoru rushed to Usagi's side, "Usako!"

"Mamo-chan…" Usagi said, a smile on her face as she looked up at him, love in her eyes, "Is it really you?"

"Always," he whispered, leaning down and kissing her lightly, "Don't leave me, Usako."

"I don't want to…" she whispered, "But I think I might have to…nobody should suffer because of me."

Venus swore quietly as the blood flowed from the wound dangerously as the dagger clattered to the floor, "She's losing too much blood!"

Mercury was at her side in an instant, inspecting the wound, her face uncharacteristically deathly pale.

"Look at what you've done!" Jupiter spat at Courat, who was pale as he looked down at the heaving body of Usagi

"I- I didn't mean to," he breathed quietly, his hands gripping themselves tightly.

"Where is Kakyuu?" Healer asked, taking advantage of his distraction as much as she could.

"In her incense burner," he mumbled distractedly.

"Where is the burner?" Maker asked

He didn't answer, watching painfully as Usagi breathed deeply, blood dripping from the wound in her chest, murmuring quietly to Mamoru and the Senshi and Fighter.

"I love you guys," she whispered, "All of you, you're amazing"

Jupiter rushed to her, almost as if forgetting that Courat was standing right there, "Usagi, please, don't leave us!"

"I'll never leave," Usagi smiled up at her Senshi, "I'm always with you,"

She looked at Fighter, "Thank you, Seiya, and thank Yaten and Taiki for me," she smiled, "This wasn't even your fight- but you still helped, I'm so thankful"

"I just got you killed," Fighter muttered to her, "You really shouldn't be thanking me, Usa."

She chuckled lightly, everyone gasping as a small amount of blood trickled out of the corner of her mouth, "You didn't get me killed, I'm always the one who gets myself killed- according to Mamoru, I do stupid things"

Mamoru gave her a pained smile as she looked at him. He held her closely to him, his features frozen, not believing what was happening.

Tears were gathering at his eyes, falling thickly from his lashes, splashing onto the floor, "Usako…" he moaned, "Don't leave me, please…not again"

She pulled him to her, kissing him with cold lips, "I love you, Mamo-chan, always"

His tears fell from him eyes, landing on her face. She winced as they seeped into her skin, flooding her with warmth. The drop that had landed on her forehead glowed as it seeped in, a bright golden ensigna forming on her forehead- looking suspiciously like her Sailor Moon crescent sign.

"SERENITY!" Courat roared, and with a snap of a finger, the others went flying from around her, leaving him with an empty path to her, "Don't you dare die again!"

She rose, a light golden glow coming from her body, "What are you doing, Courat?"

He just looked at her blankly, "I'm not doing anything," he said. His eyes flashed in fear as her glowing increased, "Oh, shi-"

Light flared from her, blinding the others momentarily. Usagi's eyes closed as she accepted the power flowing through her veins. She had always had her power- it had never left her, and it never would. It was a part of her- as much as her heart and soul were. How could she have believed that it had left her forever?

"Moon Eternal Power," she whispered, her voice growing stronger with each syllable, "MAKE UP!"

Light flowed from her, streaming through the room brightly. It was such an easy thing to do, release the power building up inside of her. It yearned to be free, to save her.

Courat roared in agony as the light struck him, "NO!"

"Leave, Courat," Usagi ordered, her hand raised as her transformation flowed through her, "Leave and never come back," he was not to be allowed to fulfill his plan. He'd destroy everything if he had the chance- but she wouldn't give it to him.

"NO! I am not being banished again!" he screamed against the light, "SERENITY!"

Darkness smothered the air around him, trying to protect him from the light.

"LEAVE!" she screamed, her eyes glowing as she pushed more energy at him, "You will never have me! You can't have me!"

"I WILL!" he screamed, and the darkness flew at Eternal Sailor Moon, who cried in agony as she flew backwards.

"I will," he swore at the Senshi and Mamoru who had gathered around Eternal Sailor Moon, "Now, get out of my SIGHT!" he roared, his eyes flashed to black and the room shook around them.

All eight of them flashed away, teleporting on the spot as Courat glowed in darkness. His face showed his extreme fury as he vanished- or more appropriately they vanished from the room. They landed with groans of pain from their original teleportation point at Rei's temple.

Usagi was knocked out cold on the floor, her Eternal Sailor Moon transportation fading back into her street clothes. She looked frail and pale, smaller than they had ever seen her.

"What did he do?" Venus asked, facing Mamoru defensively, "What did he do to you?"

"I- I don't know," Mamoru muttered, holding Usagi to him protectively, as if there was something to protect her from in the immediate vicinity, "The last thing I remember is-" he broke off, his face going pale

"What?" Ami voiced, after everyone had detransformed, "What is it?"

They all turned to face him, looking weaker at the lack of information everyone had. Mamoru felt like shit but he knew they deserved an explanation, as did Usagi. Actually, Usagi was the one who deserved the explanation more than anyone else. She was the one in the most danger. He looked at the slight bruise forming on her cheek from his hit, hating himself more than he thought possible. He called him her lover? He couldn't even protect her from himself!

"Can we do this when all of our members are at full potential?" he asked tiredly, yawning at the people

He looked oddly at Seiya, Yaten and Taiki. What were the Three Lights doing here? Wait, if he remembered correctly from the past 10 minutes, they had been some sort of Sailor Senshi…the Starlights or something?

"Sailor Starlights," Taiki said, offering him his hand, "It's nice to meet the Prince of Earth"

Mamoru looked down at the hand, his eyes turning to Seiya's face. There was the man- or woman?- who Usagi had almost given her life for. He felt something burn in him. Was he jealous?

Usagi had never sacrificed herself for anyone other than the Senshi and himself. Never for any other member of the opposite sex- sort of. Wow, that made no sense at all. He almost laughed at himself. He was jealous that Usagi had almost died for someone else? God, he was a selfish bitch.

He took the hand, shaking it amicably, "It's nice to meet some allies"

"You were with Courat or whoever the whole time, weren't you?" Yaten asked, getting right down to business, "Did you see or hear of a Princess? Princess Kakyuu?"

Mamoru shook his head, "I'm sorry, I barely remember anything from my time imprisoned with Courat"

He saw Seiya look away from him, his face inhumanly pale. He hadn't said anything the whole time they'd been at the temple, just stared vacantly around them, his eyes drawing back to Usagi constantly. He looked sick. Maybe he hadn't expected Usagi to save his life- what had he done to deserve it? Mamoru scowled at himself. What was wrong with him? If Usagi had given her life for him, there was a good reason- and he had no right at all to doubt her.

"What do you remember?" Makoto asked him sourly, looking pissed- probably because she hadn't gotten to beat down anyone like she had surely planned.

"I'd rather only tell the story once," Mamoru mumbled, smoothing Usagi's hair away from her face tenderly, "And Usagi really should be awake for that"

She was the one it all applied to. He shivered unconsciously as he remembered what Courat had told him. He was willing to wait out his plan- if only he could remember what it was! And that was why they'd been sent away- but what was he planning on doing now?

He had threatened their lives, that much Mamoru remembered. But everything else was a vacant blank. After that cover had descended over him, he could barely remember anything. Probably another precaution Courat had taken against him- or he had just sat blankly in front of a black wall the whole time he'd been missing- which was how long exactly?

"How long has it been?"

"Three weeks," Ami answered, typing quickly in her computer, barely looking up at Mamoru- she was probably making sure he was clean.

"Anything happen while I was missing?" He asked tiredly

"Scott- or I guess Courat showed up," Minako said, "Threatened Usagi about a fight coming, a monster attacked Usagi and the Starlights were revealed"

"Any news from the Outers?" he asked confusedly, he could barely feel them- he didn't have that great of a bond with them, but as the Prince he was bonded with them at least a little, but his bond felt faded.

"Nothing. We've determined that they're being held back by the darkness- they had to have felt the darkness coming, it did come from out of the galaxy- they had to have tried something," Minako said, rubbing her eyes wearily as she spoke, "Okay, I'm disbanding the troops for today. We'll meet again at 9 tomorrow; we all need time to recuperate."

Mamoru watched as the Three Lights said their goodbyes and disappeared into the darkness, and Makoto lifted up Usagi with no difficulty from Mamoru's arms and carried her into Rei's room.

"Do we trust them?" he asked, nodding at where Taiki, Yaten and Seiya had disappeared.

"As much as we can trust anyone," Minako said, shrugging, "Yaten and Taiki are along for the ride to find out what they can about their Princess- who apparently Courat knows something about. Seiya is…" she sighed, "He sort of took care of Usagi while you were gone. I think he seriously cares for her"

A white hot flash of jealousy went through him at her words.

But he wanted to slap himself. Usagi was a girl who people couldn't help but care for, and what was he going to do? Reject Seiya's help just because he had some sort of feelings for his girlfriend? No. He couldn't do that.

The greatest of all the evils was Courat. They needed all they could get to defeat him- no matter what. If he won- his muscles tensed at the thought- but he forced himself to continue the thought: if Courat won, the world- and more importantly, Usagi would have no hope. This would be the fight of their lives, and more hung in the balance than just his mere feelings. He would have to put aside his jealousy and look to Usagi's safety.

And if this Seiya was powerful- he would entrust him to Usagi's protection along with himself.

"Good enough. We'll need them in the upcoming fight," he said to Minako and Ami, who were now the only two remaining of the Senshi, Rei having retreated to the Great Fire, and Makoto caring for Usagi.

"Ami," he asked, "Am I pure once again?"

She nodded at him, looking up from her computer, "Usagi's blast must have cleansed you of all the last traces of whatever Courat did"

"Any idea what it was?"

She frowned slightly, "When I scanned you back at the lair, your brain activity was almost nil- except for the slight fight you were putting up, but when Usagi got-" she cut off, but continued on after it, looking as if she'd been punched in the gut, "It was like the force pushing you down just vanished"

"Courat was distracted," Minako muttered, looking deep in thought, "When Usagi got hit, he just stopped everything- almost like he had been hit himself…"

"He looked frozen," Ami amended, "Almost as if he couldn't believe what had happened- he seemed pissed actually"

"So we know he doesn't want to kill Usagi," Minako sighed, "That's a plus, I guess"

"He just wants the rest of us dead then?" Ami asked, "So there's no one to stop him from taking Usagi from himself"

The question formed itself into a statement and both Minako and Ami knew the truth behind it.

Mamoru didn't answer, feeling no need to. They knew almost as much as he did- except for the whole Silver Millennium part of it. Ugh, the Silver Millennium part of it…

Suddenly he felt something lift from around him, the tension vanishing from his stomach. He looked at Minako and Ami in shock- they had similar looks on their faces.

"Ami," Minako ordered, "What's happening?"

"The darkness is moving," she muttered, her head buried around in her computer in a millisecond

"Out of our solar system!" Rei said, emerging from her meditation room, a grin on her face- something Mamoru had felt he'd never see again.

"What is he planning?" Minako whispered, loud enough for Mamoru to hear and he reciprocated her feelings exactly. Courat wasn't one to leave in the face of a fight

"Maybe he's giving up- Usagi did unlock the Silver Crystal tonight," Ami said lightly, a smile on her face

"He's not the type to give up," Makoto said, trudging back to them from Rei's room, "He's only retreating- probably to figure out a way to defeat the Crystal"

Mamoru nodded, "That sounds about right, he'll be back before we know it"

"Well, rain on our parade if you want," Rei said sourly to the three of them, "But it feels great not to have that darkness suffocating us anymore"

He realized then that Rei had been among the most affected. She was the one most attuned to her senses, so the darkness must have been smothering her more than the others. Mamoru had felt it even when he had been controlled by Courat- more than normal amounts, and it had been so painful. She must have been suffering for as long as Courat had been around.

Of course she'd be glad that it was gone.

And he was too…

But the idea that it'd be back- probably worse than before, filled him with dread.

Minako's eyes snapped to the stairs of the temple, "Transform!" she hissed and everyone automatically reached for their henshin.

"It's alright," a familiar voice wafted to them, "It's just us"

"Don't scare us like that, Haruka!" Minako said, standing up and running to the foot of the stairs, awaiting the four figures who were ascending the stairs.

"We're sorry," Haruka called, "We just teleported in- there's dire news"

"Much more than you think," Mamoru muttered so that the Outer Senshi's heads snapped to him, "Where have you four been?"

"We've been trying to get here for almost three months now- but teleportation to the planet was cut off," Hotaru said as she ran up, beating the other three, "Where is the Princess?"

"In Rei's room," he said, "What news from the other planets?"

"The darkness has been coming in since we've been trying to teleport in," Setsuna said, the last to emerge on the top of the temple, "And we've been trying to contact you all, but nothing was getting through"

"Courat probably cut off everything," Minako muttered to everyone

"But he wasn't here till he kidnapped Mamoru," Ami said, "He was only Scott before that- and not evil per se"

"What are you guys babbling about?" Haruka asked rudely, her eyes flashing in anger, "What is going on!?"

"There's an evil guy bent on killing us all and taking Usagi for himself," Rei said to them

"So, the usual basically," Makoto muttered under her breath

Michiru exchanged a worried glance with Haruka, "And what of Crystal Tokyo?" she didn't look at Setsuna, whose face had paled at the mention of their future lives. They all knew just as well the Inner Senshi and Mamoru did that Crystal Tokyo wasn't a definite anymore- unless they defeated the new threat.

"Usagi got the Silver Crystal back," Minako stated, not coming close to the posed question

"Where has this Courat gone?" Haruka asked, hatred dripping from the name, "Why has he let us back in if he is still fighting?"

"That's the question, isn't it?" Makoto muttered sourly

"I shall check on the Princess," Hotaru piped in and hurried along to Rei's room, her small feet waddling to keep up with her speed. She had grown immensely since the Mamoru and the girls had seen her- and seemed much more mature than a small girl her age should.

Setsuna must have sensed their question for she answered it, "She has been sensing a disturbance for quite some time. She was the reason we went to inspect the other planets- leaving here defenseless"

"Tell us everything," Haruka ordered, walking into Rei's room where Usagi was sleeping peacefully, Hotaru sitting beside her, her eyes closed as she muttered quickly under her breath.

The girls filled the Outers in on all they missed, not skimping on the details of how everything had been revealed, and all that Usagi had gone through. Mamoru, meanwhile, slipped in and out of nightmare filled dreams, his mind refusing to let him slip into a dreamless state.

"And so, you know how it ends- you showed up," Minako finished

Setsuna was holding her head in apparent pain, "The future does not seem to be returning," she murmured, "Usagi having awoken the Silver Crystal does not change the time stream"

"What is it saying?" Ami asked, her eyes sharp on Setsuna

Setsuna didn't answer, just shook her head at the question, answering one rather never asked, "I remember Courat- slightly from the Silver Millennium"

"Why do we not have memories of him?" Michiru asked

"They did not seem important so I think our past lives filtered them away- once we hear the true story of the past, it will all be revealed," Setsuna said tiredly, "But it cannot be revealed when our Prince and Princess are asleep" she looked pointedly at Mamoru, who was splayed out on the floor, snoring lightly, his eyes dark with sleep.

"What is going on?" Hotaru whispered from her place beside Usagi, her voice dripping with sorrow, "Why is this happening to us? Can we not have a sure happy ending? Ever?"

There was no answer from the Sailor Senshi, as none knew the answer. The Senshi continued to talk through the night, worried overtly about their Princess, and their friend. And what would happen to her if they were defeated.