I was being shaken. My eyes shot open and I saw my mother's blue eyes staring down at me, fearful. "ChibiUsa!" I heard her cry as she held me.
"Mom? What…happened?" I managed to squeeze out. Dad pulled Mom away and I realized I was back inside the castle. In my bed.
"You passed out, ChibiUsa," he said. "We were worried that you wouldn't awaken."
"Did I hurt the…mass?" I didn't know what to call whatever it was. I winced as I sat up. All the senshi were surrounding me. Diana nestled her head against my side and I pet her. Sailor Mercury stepped forward.
"Yes, surprisingly. It's trying to heal itself as we speak." I smiled.
"Great! I need to go back out there and do it again!" I pulled the blanket from me, but my father took my hand into his.
"Not yet, ChibiUsa. You're too weak. Your chest was injured from your attack. You need to rest." My chest was hurt? I glanced down and noticed bandaging underneath my gown, across my upper torso. I traced a finger along the cloth and cringed as the stinging pain. Pegasus was right. I was injured.
"What about everyone else?"
"We are doing our best with our own powers. The mass stopped taking people and is being stoic, outside of healing. We can keep an eye on it for now." Sailor Jupiter piped in.
"You don't need to worry. We can handle things for now!" Sailor Venus grinned.
"Did you get a hold of Uranus?" I heard Sailor Mars ask. Mercury nodded. They contacted the Outer senshi? This had to be bad.
"They are coming as soon as possible. Pluto said she could sense the energy from across the galaxy. Saturn is coming, too."
"Good. We'll need all the help we can get." My father said, pulling my mother away from the bed. "Let's let her rest, Dear." He whispered into her ear, just loud enough that I could hear. I began feeling light headed and laid back in my bed. The Asteroid senshi stood at my balcony.
"We're staying here to watch over you, Princess." Sailor PallaPalla said. "Get some sleep."
As the others left my room, I slipped back into slumber, without any dreams.
"HELP ME! PLEASE!" A male voice woke me up. I sprung up in my bed and saw my friends in defensive positions along my bed.
"What's going on?" I exclaimed.
"Some guy is outside. Seems badly beat up, too. The others are taking care of it…" VesVes said. I pushed myself out of my bed, slowly walking towards the balcony. CereCere grabbed my arm.
"Not a smart idea, Princess. We don't know if he is someone to trust."
"I have to see for myself." I demanded and walked onto my balcony. My fells fell upon a horrific, yet attractive sight below me.
A young man, looking around my age, was talking to Sailor Venus and Sailor Mars. My parents stood behind them, also talking to him. He had jet black hair that was messy, covering the sides of his face. His body looked like it was grinded up, due to all the blood that covered his skin. His clothing was partially missing, outside of part of a shirt and most of his pants. What struck me most were the crimson red eyes he had.
"Please, help me!" he cried. "I didn't know where else to go…" I watched on as my mother approached him. My father looked cautious.
"What is your name?" My mother asked in her usual gentle voice. He looked at her and I could see him bite his lip at the side.
"Ilias," The young man said. "Ilias is my name."
"Welcome, Ilias, to Crystal Tokyo." My mother smiled warmly at the stranger.
"Where did you come from?" Sailor Mars asked. Ilias pointed to the mass, making everyone gasp.
"I was taken…from my home. I somehow got freed when a strange pink light hit it."
"No wonder you're injured! Come, come. Let's get you bandaged up!" My mother demanded, carefully taking hold of Ilias's arm and taking him inside. I could tell that Venus and Mars were not as convinced as my mother of his story. Something about him intrigued me.
"Something's off about that guy…" JunJun grumbled from beside me. I glanced over and saw the other girls looking just as suspicious. The young man seemed so frail. I wanted to go see him.
"I should get something to eat," I said. "Otherwise my stomach will hate me." Gloved hand grabbed my arms and I sighed as CereCere and VesVes held me up. "I can walk myself, you know."
"We don't want to take any risks! The queen would kill us if you took a spill down the stairs." VesVes stern voice made me shrug. Seeing no point in fighting, I let them spot me as I left my room in search of nourishment.
Everyone in the castle was running around in borderline hysterics. Between the confusion of the people outside, the unknown enemy in the sky, and the sudden newcomer, I could understand why everyone was so upset. I winced while I walked, feeling my chest burn oddly. Using that attack really did a number on me. If I was going to defeat this new foe, I'd have to get a better grip on my crystal's power.
The kitchen, thankfully, was relatively empty. Once there, I shoved the girls off of me and demanded to make my own food. The servants clearly had other things on their minds. I made a small breakfast, including eggs and noodles. My cooking improved over the years, and I still made better cookies than Mom. I smiled a little at the memory of us fighting over whose cookies were better when I was younger.
Wobbly was an understatement when it came to my legs. I refused any more spotting from my friends as I pushed myself towards the dining room. When I turned the corner, I froze in place. The young man from before was sitting alone at the far end of the table, eating something and coughing. Why wasn't anyone helping him? Or keeping an eye on him at least? My eyes narrowed slightly as I entered the room, unsure of how to proceed. His face lifted as he surely heard me and I was stunned by the beauty of his red eyes as they looked at me in wonder.
"Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you," I said, blushing. His pale face brightened as he smiled at me. "I am Princess Lady Serenity. It's a pleasure to meet you." I slowly approached the table, sliding my plate across the glass. Getting closer to the table gave me a better look at the stranger. He had been cleaned of his blood and bandaging covered most of his arms. His skin was a grayish color, reminding me of porcelain. His hair flopped over her eyes a little as they watched every move I made. The servants must've given him new clothes, replacing the tattered ones with a fresh pair of white pants and a loose white t-shirt. I heard the footsteps of my guardians not far behind; making sure I was safe, I figure. "May I sit by you?" I asked politely, not wanting to scare him. He nodded.
"Of course, Princess. It is your castle, after all." His voice was like music. It was beautifully melodic, like a classical piece. A shiver shot down my spine. My body situated itself in a seat one spot away from him and I smiled warmly to reassure him. So many questions floated around in my head. Who was he? Where did he come from? How was he captured? What was it like inside that mass? Did he know what it was? How did he really escape? I worried for a moment that I'd get a headache from all the thoughts. "Let me introduce myself. I am Ilias. It's an honor meeting someone as lovely as you." I instantly blushed at his words. To refocus myself, I gazed over his injuries.
"You look like you were very badly injured. Are you in a lot of pain?" I pointed to his arms and upper chest, since they seemed to be worse off. He frowned.
"I don't feel too much, thanks to your mother. When I came inside, there was a strange flash of light, and I felt warm all over my body. My wounds healed a bit, as if by magic. But I did lose a lot of blood, so I was instructed to eat some food before resting…" He trailed off, making me feel terrible for him. At least the Silver Crystal still had some power in it. His eyes fell onto his plate of half-eaten food.
"My mother is very kind like that. If she sees someone in trouble, she'll do anything to help them. I'm glad you feel a little better." I swirled the eggs around my plate. "Where did you come from? I mean, before being here?" I was too curious not to ask. The strange young man glanced back to me and smiled again. It warmed my heart.
"A very small town on the outskirts of a big city on the west end of this planet. I was in the middle of helping my mother put groceries in our house when…that thing…appeared in our sky," he said as his face became unreadable. "Everyone was in a panic. I tried to shield my mother when I saw a weird rope-like thing come down and grab me. The last thing I remember is waking up on a street here in severe pain…"
"Oh…I am so sorry that happened to you. We are going to do all we can to get rid of whatever that is up there. Then we can return you to your family." I said. I reached my hand out and touched his arm. He winced at the touch, and I wanted to pull back, thinking I caused him pain. But his other hand rested itself over mine, and I felt incredible warms from his palm.
"Your heart is as beautiful as you are, Princess. Thank you." His voice made me blush again. Our eyes locked for a moment and I felt my cheeks burning up. My mind went blank as we were frozen in our gaze.
"Princess, you should really get back into bed." I heard CereCere instruct. I broke my gaze away from him and realized I had not eaten my food yet.
"But, I haven't finished my meal." I didn't want to leave this wonderful new person.
"You can take it up with you. You shouldn't be straining yourself." PallaPalla walked over to my side and picked up my plate. I frowned.
"I didn't notice that you were hurt too. My apologies for keeping you from proper rest." Ilias quickly bowed his head. I shook my hands.
"No, no. It's alright, really. I'm fine." I strained myself as I stood. My legs were still not fully cooperating with me. A groan of frustration pelted through my lips. VesVes came over to me and wrapped an arm around my waist to help me up.
"Let's go, Lady Serenity," she said sternly as she led me away from the table. I turned my head to get one last look at the stranger before leaving. He smiled at me and waved.
"Until we meet again, Princess. Rest well."
"You too, Ilias." I said back to him. And then we were gone.