"Maiden, please awaken." I heard Pegasus call out to me. My eyes hesitated in opening. I felt very warm. A soft sigh fell from my lips as I yawned and stretched out my arms.
"Where am I?" I faintly asked as my eyes finally opened up. I was in a strange bed. Everything around me was marble, outside of the satin sheets covering me. Tall columns surrounded me, and I gasped at the beautiful sight of hundreds of white and red roses that bloomed all around. I sat up slowly, looking around for Pegasus. "Pegasus?" I called out. Its hooves trotted against the marble ground as the creature appeared from behind a row of columns. Its heard turned to me, and a pair of relieved golden eyes set on mine. I smiled.
"Feeling well rested?" He asked me. With a nod, I yawned. The animal seemed to laugh. "Good."
"Where is this place?" I asked. Pegasus came closer to the bed. "I feel like I've been here before, somehow."
"You have." I reached out to touch the animal; my fingers lightly rubbing its neck. I pulled myself through the warm sheets and my bare feet touched the cool marble tiles.
"Oh! My gown!" I gasped, remembering how Ilias had torn it. I looked down at myself and noticed a different garment covering me. It was a silky white gown with ruffles along the low neckline. As I stood up, the wavy bottom just touched my feet. There were no sleeves, and I felt slightly cold, rubbing my arms.
"I thought you might like a new one." I smiled at my friend.
"Thank you so much, Pegasus." I said as I felt the soft material between my fingers. "Thank you for saving me, too." I blushed a little as I spoke. "I'm sorry for not listening to you. I should've known that guy was trouble." The memory of Ilias's attempted kiss created goosebumps along my arms in disgust.
"It is I who should be apologizing, Maiden. I did not come soon enough. That should never have happened." I placed a hand on my friend's mane, brushing through the soft hair. His eyes looked so sad.
"You came at a perfect time. Don't blame yourself." I sighed, leaning my head briefly against his hair. "So, you say I've been here before?" I wondered aloud as my eyes watched as a light breeze made the flowers swerve from side to side. I lifted my head and Pegasus took a few steps backwards. My hands recoiled to my chest.
"I want to show you something." Pegasus said. I nodded to him to continue and he led me through a long hall of columns. The scenery was breathtaking. The sky above was a mixture of different shades of blue, pink, and yellow. Cotton-like clouds hung against the colors, making it look like a painting. The roses were everywhere outside of the structure. An endless sea of beautiful flowers. I was silently admiring the environment as I followed Pegasus, also wondering what he wanted to show me. Pegasus stopped at the end of the open hallway. I saw a set of steps, leading to a strange wall of light blue flame.
"So pretty…" I whispered. I glanced over at Pegasus. "What is this?"
"This is where I watch over you, Maiden." I gasped under my breath. "I've watched you grow into the beautiful Maiden that you are now." My eyes lay back on the fiery wall, and I slowly ascended the stairs, full of curiosity. This all looked familiar to me. The fire before me flickered as I neared. I wanted to touch it. A strange image began to appear in the flames. An image of me as a young girl, not more than 'twelve years old'. My eyes widened as I saw myself, in yellow pajamas. I was on my knees, reaching up to touch Pegasus.
"I…I remember this…" I whispered. My eyebrows furrowed as I tried to regain the memory. "Yes…I remember riding you, asking you what you liked and disliked. I used to stay up all night and talk to you about how irritated I was with my mother, how my friends were at school…I…" I placed a hand at my mouth as another memory flooded my mind. My fingers glided across my lips. The image in the flames shifted into something else. I saw my young face inches away from Pegasus's. I lost my breath as I remembered that moment. My cheeks were burning. How could I have forgotten? How could I have forgotten something so important to me? To my heart? The horse in the flames melted away into that of a boy. His lips touched mine, and I felt a tear run down the side of my face. "Helios…" I gulped.
"Yes, Maiden. I am right here." I heard his voice clearly. It wasn't in my mind anymore. I turned away from the flames and saw him staring at me, with his gorgeous gold eyes. His hair was the same as I remembered it: fluffy and white, just barely touching his eyes. It was still short; winding down and around his ears. A small gem was in the middle of his forehead in the shape of a droplet of rain. His white outfit was the same. It was elegant with gold and blue tassels at his chest. Long white sleeves covered his slender arms and his tunic-like shirt ran down his waist and flowed like a cape behind him. Matching white pants ran down his legs, and I could see white boots beneath them. A long dark blue ribbon was tied tightly around his waist. He held his arms out to me.
"Oh, Helios!" I exclaimed, feeling my legs take on a life of their own. My arms wrapped around him as our bodies embraced in a tight hug. His suit smelled like lilac and roses as I nuzzled my head into the cloth, sobbing. His hand rested against the back of my neck, stroking it lovingly as I cried. Everything poured back into my memory. Meeting Pegasus for the first time, being saved by him every time I called, seeing his body caught in Nehellenia's webbing, seeing him hurt, kissing him to revive him…seeing him leave me…how on earth did I forget it all? "I'm so sorry…" My voice was muffled as I spoke into his chest. My fingers gripped at the back of his shirt, never wanting to let go.
"Shh…it's alright, Maiden." His voice was just as soothing as it was when I was young. I then thought of how I must look to him. I stifled my crying and sniffled, pulling away from him. His face was as warm and friendly as ever. I felt more terrible for what I did to him. His hand moved from the back of my neck to my cheek, rubbing a trail of tears from my skin. "You're here now. That's all that matters." His eyes were soft, longing.
"I'm sorry I hurt you like that. I can't believe I forgot you…you're so…" Important to me…I finished in my head, scared of saying it aloud. I was so young when we last met. Innocent. Naïve, even. Would he like what he saw now? Was I enough of a lady for him? Was I even good enough? After what I had done, I could understand it if he wanted nothing else to do with me. His warm smile enchanted me as I sniffled again.
"It's alright. I understand. It's been so long since we last met. Thousands of years have gone by. I should not have been surprised that so many years of distractions could bury your memories." His hand felt so warm against my cheek. I covered it with my own hand, silently cursing for the fact that it was shaking a little. How could he be so forgiving? "But I'm glad you remember me now."
"Helios…I…" My eyes dropped down as my heart pounded in my chest. I found it harder to breathe. I desperately wanted to tell him everything. How I felt back then, how though even buried, my feelings for him never changed. How I worked so hard to impress him. But I couldn't formulate the words.
"I've missed you, Maiden. Or should I say Lady Serenity. You've grown up a lot since I last saw you." He said. I felt my cheeks burn. My hand squeezed his gently. "Your dream has never been more beautiful. And neither have you, Princess." His voice sounded like a coo. Oh no. The butterflies were back in my stomach. I bit my lip as I forced myself to glance back at him.
"Thank you," was all I could muster out of me. Every fiber of my body was screaming. Centuries of buried feelings were finally being released, and all I wanted to do was kiss him. Was that too forward of me? It had to be. So much has happened. I've changed so much. The world has change
I gasped.
"Crystal Tokyo!" I inhaled sharply. "Ilias…he…!" The images of what happened earlier made me feel sick. Helios sighed and let go of me.
"I apologize for not being able to help you sooner, truly. That is my fault. But my connection to you was so weak. I was only able to make a clearer connection when your memories started to return." I watched him as he walked around me and went up to the wall of flames. "All I could do was watch helplessly through this window into your life. I hoped for so long that you would call out to me again. I cannot leave here without that. I almost lost hope until a few days ago, when something startled my prayers." He turned to look at me with sad eyes. "I sensed the strange danger of what was to come. I wanted to warn you, to protect you. But our bond became so weak…I had to muster much of my energy to appear to you that night."
"It really was you outside of my balcony?" I asked, remembering the apparition I had seen. He nodded slowly and continued.
"I hoped that seeing me would trigger a recollection of your memories. When I realized that you had completely forgotten about me, I was devastated." A heavy weight pulled on my heart from his words. My hands clasped at my chest. "But I knew that protecting you was more important than my sadness. So I used as much of my energy as I could to appear to you in your dreams, to remind you of us." I started to walk up the stairs as he spoke. He didn't seem to notice. "If only I had gotten you to remember sooner, I would've been able to keep you far away from that monster."
"That's why you tried to warn me, isn't it?" I asked as I met back up with him at his side. "You knew he was going to try to do something to me." Helios nodded, some hair falling over his eyes. His hands turned into fists at his sides, making me frown as I sensed the anger emanating from him.
"If that creature had touched you…if I didn't get there when I did…I do not know what I would have done." His voice deepened into almost a growl. I tugged on his sleeve. His beautiful face glanced to me and I smiled at him.
"Like I told you before, don't blame yourself. You did save me. And I am so glad you did." I sighed. My hand fell to one of his fists and held it. His fingers relaxed in my grip.
"Your heart has grown, Maiden." Helios chimed. "You've become such a wonderful young woman." My heart fluttered inside my chest. My eyes fell.
"I don't know about that…"
"Why do you doubt yourself?" I pulled away and gazed into the fire.
"Because I don't feel like I've achieved much of anything. I'm still not a full-fledged warrior. I don't have control over my crystal. And I have no idea how I will rule an entire planet all on my own." I lost myself in the flickering flames. "I'm no better off than when I was a child."
"Oh, you couldn't be farther from the truth." Helios said from behind me. He placed a hand on my shoulder. A jolt of warm electricity sprang through my body.
"I've watched you grow into the woman you are today. I've seen your strength and determination. Your love of your family, friends, and your people. That alone has given you more strength than you can imagine." I saw his hand point to the flames and I saw images of myself from over the years. Images of me training, of learning all the knowledge about my past and about the world. Images of me laughing with my friends, fighting with my mother and making up with her. Growing up. Is this really how Helios saw me? The girl I watched was so pretty and elegant.
"Helios…" I whispered.
"Everyone has faith in you. We all believe in your abilities. You need to embrace that yourself if you are going to defeat Chaos."
My eyes widened. "Chaos?" Chaos was the last great evil my mother fought so many years ago. It was evil. The source of it.
"Yes. Chaos has returned. But this time, it doesn't want your mother." I turned to see his face. It was bleak. "It wants…you." I gasped. Then it all fell into place. Ilias's attempts at seduction, especially after realizing my power hurt the mass in the sky. Saying my heart was what saved him. I vaguely remembered something of Chaos wanting my mother's light. Did it want mine now?
"How did it come back? Didn't my mother defeat it?" Helios shook his head.
"You cannot defeat all evil in the world. Because it exists in everyone, like the two sides of a coin. One cannot exist without the other. Even after defeating something like that, it will always come back someday, in some form. Your mother knew this when she fought Chaos. She chose to allow the possibility of Chaos's return."
My hands pressed against where my heart beat and I turned around. "So is Ilias some form of Chaos himself?" He nodded.
"It was warned that Chaos could return someday. At the time, everyone thought your mother was the purest star. But now that you have grown, your own power has grown. And you have superseded her. Chaos is drawn to you more than he ever was to Sailor Moon. But don't worry," His hands touched mine. I held my breath for a few seconds as my heart pounded under our hands. I looked into his eyes and felt warmth. "I promise to help you this time. I'm going to help you find that confidence you need in order to fight."
"But how? Aren't you supposed to never leave this place for long amounts of time?" Helio's job was protect the Golden Crystal and Elysion. It's why he had to leave me in the first place. His duty was here.
"We can watch over this place while he fights with you, Lady Serenity." I heard a female voice say. Behind us, two young women walked out from behind pillars. They were identical in appearance: both had long white hair and circular buns at the top of their heads. Their eyes were deep shades of green, and their slender bodies were covered by simple white gowns that flowed down to their ankles. I remembered them. They were also protectors of this area. And they helped me find Helios long ago. Helios smiled at them and back to me.
"See? I can be away as long as the fight. The Maenads can do the rest." His hand took one of mine from my chest and held it. "Shall we go save your world?" I smiled back at him and mouthed a thank you to the beautiful twins. Helios whistled into the air and I heard a neighing sound from above. A white Pegasus flew down to us, landing at the bottom of the stairs.
"My great companion will fly us there." Helios said as he led me down the stairs. He was flawless as he settled himself on the horse and pulled me up behind him. My arms slid around his waist and clasped tightly at his front. "To Crystal Tokyo!" he roared, and off we went.