Chapter 8: Return of the Four Heavenly Kings
As he had expected, the Queen had praised Saphir for finding that which she had sent him to find, but had ignored all of his attempts, subtle and not so subtle, to find out why she had requested the box. That irked him to a certain extent, but she was his superior so she wasn't obligated to tell him anything.
However, what did bother him was that when his brother, noting his persistent line of questioning, had tried to question her about it after Saphir had left the throne room (although he hadn't moved out of eavesdropping distance), he had been rudely rebuffed as well. Since Diamund was definitely no one's inferior, he had every right to know what Queen Serenity was planning with that box of stones. It didn't matter that she was called the Queen of Nemesis; Diamund had been Nemesis's Prince first and really he should have been called King and she a mere Princess; at least that's how Saphir thought of things and he was certain the others did too (particularly one hyena-laughing lime-haired pain in the ass).
But somehow either Serenity or Wise Man had maneuvered the situation where Serenity was the one who ruled the Black Moon clan and Nemesis, while Diamund was merely her minion. Wise Man had more status with her then Diamund, which made the Prince's younger brother suspicious that perhaps the cloaked old fool had more power then what they thought. It was something to think about on his own. There were few people he was willing to share his thoughts with and only one was here.
But his brother couldn't be trusted in this. He was Serenity's obedient and slavish consort. All he needed was a little kiss and cuddle and he was a happy camper. Diamund didn't see the coldness in Serenity's eyes, didn't realize that all he got was what could be amounted to lip service. Saphir suspected that Serenity loved no one anymore and if she could that love would be reserved to the man in this century who would one day be King Endymion of Earth.
It was clear to him that whatever Serenity was planning it was something she had no intention of sharing with Diamund for a reason. He questioned whether Wise Man was aware of her plans; only a bit spying would give that information. So he had waited until the Queen had placated the Prince for not giving into his demands of information and followed her as she took the wooden box to her suite. He waited until he was certain she inside and distracted before moving to her door and quietly opening it a crack so he could get a view inside.
He watched as Serenity sat the wooden box on a table in her room and slowly begin to open the lid-
Saphir felt someone grab his arm and yank him back away from the door. It was his fault. He had been too preoccupied trying to see inside and find out what secrets the Queen had, that he hadn't thought about his surroundings. He had forgotten about the Shishin Senshi that the Queen had created to torment the Sailor Senshi. Personally he found it a slap in the face, as if he and the others weren't good enough to take on the Senshi. But then again the Queen, as a Senshi, had faced up with Crimson Rubeus and the Ayakashi Sisters and obviously found them lacking.
"What do you think you're doing," Sailor Seiryu demanded. Behind her, Saphir could see Sailor Genbu quietly close the Queen's door before turning to give him a dirty look.
"Not that it's any of your concern, but the Queen is hiding information from my Prince," Saphir replied. "It's my duty to my Prince and my brother to find out what."
"Your loyalty should be to the Queen first," Sailor Suzaku retorted, practically bristling with anger at a slight towards her sovereign. Little flames danced up and down her arms. "The Prince is second to the Queen. Hell his title even implies it!"
"Prince Diamund was head of the Black Moon clan before the Queen was here," Saphir snarled back. "The only reason why there is a Queen is because my brother wanted her for his own."
"And looks like he's happy to let her take the lead now that he has her," Sailor Suzaku replied sweetly, although there was nothing sweet in her expression. It was clear she was itching for a fight, probably because she was denied a chance at finishing her battle with Mars. It was to be expected since the Senshi had rallied and put up more of a fight that appealed to Sailor Suzaku's bloodthirstyness
"Why you-" he snarled, moving towards her but stopped and ducked fast as a chain suddenly came flying towards his head. His quick reflexes saved him as the chain crashed into the wall behind and leaving a large crater indention.
"Leave," Sailor Byakko said, her hand playing with the chain that was wrapped around her waist as if had never left and tried to pulverize his skull, while she examined the blade at its other end. "What the Queen does is her business. If she wants you to know, then you'll know."
Saphir glared at the leader of the Shishin, but while he was good he knew he wouldn't be able to take on all four of them at once. He turned and left, although he didn't go far; only far enough to be out of view before he masked his presence and then watch the four stand guard at the Queen's doors. It was a good thing that he did as he got an interesting sight to see Sailor Byakko, suddenly crumble to the floor; her face was only saved from kissing the floor when both Sailor Suzaku and Sailor Seriyuu grabbed her and held her between them as Sailor Genbu examined her.
'Interesting,' he thought. He wasn't slow. While he hadn't seen what the Queen had done to the hostages before they changed into their current forms, he had spent enough time studying the TRUE Senshi to realize that the difference between them and the Shishin was that they were born with their powers. What had been done to the Shishin was unnatural. Magic forced into their veins which wasn't taking too well on their mortal bodies.
This wasn't right. He had done a lot of things in his life to help his brother achieve his goals, but nothing they had done had been of this magnitude. They had never forced magic into an unwilling vessel. Magic didn't always take well to people who weren't born with some of it in their veins. But for the unwilling… terrified hostages… well they might serve her now willingly but their bodies had suffered from the change. This was not right.
He hadn't liked it that this woman had come and taken his place. But now… now he liked it less that the woman his brother had wanted so much, was no longer the same. He hadn't like the attraction that Diamund had for Neo-Queen Serenity, but he had understood it. A powerful and brave woman, loyal to those she had loved or sworn to protect.
That woman was no more.
Inside the sitting room of her suite, Serenity placed the wooden box on the coffee table. She sat down on the white leather couch and leaned over and opened the lid of the box. Her finger traced over the four stones. The first was a translucent shade of green; the second was a mixture of yellow, brown, and gray; the third had a vitreous luster to it and was a shade of bright yellow; the final stone was almost colorless yet at the right angle you could see hints of purple or lilac in it.
Jadeite. Nephrite. Zoicite. Kunzite.
The names of the stones and the souls of the men that the stones contained. Once they had been generals in the Dark Kingdom, Beryl's generals. Before that they had belonged to Endymion. The thought of the man's name was alone to send a stab of pain in her heart, to bring up images of betrayal and the cruel words uttered. Her hand drew away from the stones and clenched in a fist, nails digging into soft flesh until drops of blood dripped from her fist and onto the stones.
Serenity sat back and waved a hand over the stones, the blue of her eyes glowed with power. The stones seemed to pulse before what appeared to be some kind of mist, kind of like the type that occurred when Genie popped out of his lamp in the Aladdin movies, rose above them and then moved to other side of the coffee table and took the form of four men. Instead of wearing the dark gray uniforms that she had last seen them in, but instead in the white and gold uniforms of the Silver Millennium before Beryl had claimed them for herself.
"What the hell," Jadeite said as he reached up to clutch his forehead. His head was full of memories, all battling to be in the forefront and there were so many of them. Memories of the Silver Millennium... his love for the Princess of Mars and their fiery courtship... Beryl's offer to join her and the refusal of the Shitennou… being captured and then the dark energy that had washed over him… feeling like his mind had been split in two, one part locked away raging at what he said and did and the other relishing in serving that fox bitch… and then being trapped in the stone he was named for until he was released again to do Beryl's bidding… failing the bitch and then the ice prison, aware but trapped and cold… and finally the wash of pure energy before he was trapped once more in stone...
"Celosia."
He had hurt her again in this life as well and Jadeite knew it was going to take a lot of begging and groveling to make his Princess trust him again, let alone let him back into her life after betraying her twice even if hadn't been his will to do so. But apparently his troubles were quite bad as comrades…
"Oh gods, I cheated on Lara," Nephrite said, as his memories returned and he remembered his feelings towards his Princess and then for the flame-haired Osaka Naru.
"Dude, I think betraying Lara twice to her enemies is worse then a little fling with some civilian who you didn't even kiss," Jadeite pointed out.
"Not to Lara it isn't."
"You think you have problems," Zoicite said, almost hysterical, "you weren't given a sex change and cheated on your woman with a GUY." The flaxen haired general, shot his commander a look, cheeks turning red before he buried them in his hands. He hadn't done anything to Beryl to warrant losing his balls and being brainwashed to think he was in love with his commander.
Then again, Kunzite had pissed off Beryl big time with his refusal to bow down to her will and he had vague memory of how much effort the evil queen had spent trying to turn the silver-haired man to her side. Clearly what had been done was a knife twisted in the back to Kunzite and he had suffered the consequences for it. And he had been the unwitting and very much unwilling fool who had been used to twist that knife. Sophia had always said his flair of dramatics and overly pretty looks would get him in trouble. How right his sweet Sophie had been.
Kunzite, on the other hand, seemed oblivious to his subordinates as his mind reviewed the memories returning almost analytically, although even he was unable to ignore the sharp stab of guilt of what he had done that betrayed not only his Prince, but his own lover, Princess Bellaniece of Venus. If the bitch wasn't already dead, he would have gone and hunted down Beryl to slit her throat and stab her stone cold heart. He glanced up at who had summoned him and was shocked to see Princess Serenity, although not as he had ever seen her before.
"Princess Serenity," Kunzite said, a question in all four men he and the others bowed in respect to their Prince's lady. The other three exchanged confused looks as it was clear to them that this girl was not the same as they had known in the past or the one they had faced when they had been revived again to hurt those they loved. "Why did you summon us?"
"Revenge," she replied. "The four of you are going to cause a great deal of pain to Endymion and the Senshi."
"Why would you want to hurt our Prince and your Senshi," Jadeite demanded to know. Even death had not made managed to curb his tongue any less, then again neither had brainwashing by Beryl.
"Because they BETRAYED me," Serenity retorted. "For that that they will pay dearly."
"The Prince and the Senshi would never betray you, Princess," Zoicite said, those green eyes watching her in a way that reminded her of Mercury. It was no wonder they had bonded once before. There were so many similarities yet, Zocite had been more playful and outgoing of the couple. He had brought Mercury out of her shell in the past.
"Sailor Jupiter would lay down her life for you, Princess," Nephrite added. "As would the Prince. There must be some mistake or someone is tricking you."
"There is no mistake," Serenity replied, her voice cold and firm. "They have betrayed me and they will pay. And you will help me."
"This isn't like you Princess," Kunzite said. His face was stoic, giving away nothing, but inside the general had an idea of what was going on. Serenity's eyes were not the eyes of the Princess of the White Moon, nor were they the same of the young woman who had become Sailor Moon and fought him. "You are not the kind of person who would harm another even if they harmed you first. And the Prince and the Senshi have never intentionally harmed you, which is what you are implying they have done. We won't help you do this thing. We won't hurt our Prince and the Senshi. You'll only hurt yourself more in the end."
"Oh you'll help," Serenity retorted. "Or have you forgotten how easily you did so in the past. Betrayal comes easy to you four."
The looks on their faces told her she had scored a hit. Even the most stoic of them could not completely conceal the shame they felt for allowing themselves to be taken in by Beryl and the Dark Kingdom. They should have been strong enough to withstand the brainwashing magic, then again their Prince had not been able to as well and there was none stronger. The shame was soon replaced with anger and defiance.
'Was this what Beryl faced when she brought them to her side,' Serenity wondered.
"No," Kunzite said, answering for himself and his comrades.
The woman before them was not the same. Serenity no matter how hurt she was by her loved ones could never deliberately hurt them. She would fight evil like Beryl and Queen Metallia, but if there was a way to ensure peace another way she'd take it. It wasn't in her nature to take revenge. What had been done to the Princess had turned her to this path and it was only a matter of time before her true nature would break through what had been done to her. The true woman would be devastated by her actions. It was their duty as the Shitennou, the guardians of Prince Endymion and the once lovers to the Guardian Senshi, to save their Princess from herself.
"So be it," Serenity replied, raising her hand and blasting with them with power. The men tried to stand against the power, but eventually fell to their knees as the pressure of it became too much. Whether they willed it or not, they would be pawns in Serenity's game to avenge herself of the pain that was done to her, real or imaginary.
'Serenity stop this,' a voice whispered in the dark Queen's mind.
"No," she replied, the only acknowledgement she would give to the voice as she focused upon her task.
'In the end you will only cause yourself more pain, my child, when you come to your senses.'
"Whoever you are, you speak in riddles."
'You know the truth deep down inside, Princess. The moment will come when the pain in your heart dulls enough for you to see truth, you will regret all this and hurt even more because of your own actions.'
"Silence," Serenity screamed and for once the voice was silent. The Queen stared at the ground where the Shitennou lay. Soon they would awaken and do her bidding as the Shishin did. And then the Senshi and Endymion would really start to understand the pain they had caused her.
Final Thought from Serenity:
*to the mysterious voice* Who are you?
AUTHORS'S NOTE:
Ten points to whoever caught the Shitennou reference in the previous chapter . =)
I want to thank everyone who took the time to review or favorited this story in some way. It is greatly appreciated and brought a smile to my day. =)
DGRFA
Light or Dark (I'm so very glad to hear you're alive and well. ^_^)
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Disclaimer: I do not claim any rights to Sailor Moon or the characters associated with the anime/manga. Those rights belong to Takeuchi Naoko and anyone else she says has rights to it.