Poisoned From Within
By Bashfulglowfly
Chapter Nine
The Shitennou turned dead white at her words.
"What did you just say?" whispered Zoicite.
"You heard me. Beryl and Metallia torture them every day." Serenity covered her eyes. "I don't want to ever see anything like that again."
Jadeite, his eyes wild, stared at Serenity and Endymion. "We have to rescue them. Now!"
"But they haven't been forgiven yet." Said the quiet voice of Saturn.
"So forgive them."
Endymion looked at his friends and brothers and took a deep breath. "Rationally, I understand…"
"They killed my baby!" shrieked Serenity. Her pity for the Inner Senshi had disappeared. She glared at Endymion, blue eyes hard, body stiff and fists clenched. "They killed my baby before I even had a chance to tell Dimi. Before I could even feel it kick. Before I could even hold my baby in my arms! And you want me to forgive them?" Her voice was filled with loathing. She turned her back on him.
Endymion didn't even try to turn her around to face him. He walked around her until he was facing her. She glared up at him. "Sere, they were poisoned from within. You told me so yourself. Adonis with his obsessive, naïve stupidity allowed Beryl and Metallia to attack them from within their own bodies. They never had a chance. If the attack had been otherwise, it would have been a different story. Beryl and Metallia never would have succeeded."
Serenity gazed at him, eyes wide. "You're forgiving them!" Her voice was accusatory.
Endymion looked her in the eye. "Yes I am." He raised his head and closed his eyes. "Sailor Venus, I forgive you. Sailor Mars, I forgive you. Sailor Mercury, I forgive you. Sailor Jupiter, I forgive you."
Serenity slapped him.
"They killed our baby." Her voice trembled.
"They killed you too." Endymion's voice and eyes were calm. Accepting. "They killed you, my beautiful beloved Serenity. They killed the woman who was my heart, my soul and my light. But I'm able to forgive them and I've always been a much darker person than you, Serenity. You need to let go of this hate before it poisons YOU."
Serenity whispered as tears ran down her cheeks. "Our baby."
Endymion didn't touch her. This was her own fight. "Yes. Our baby. Our baby that we will always mourn for not knowing. But if you don't forgive them…Beryl will win."
Serenity jerked as if he had slapped her. She stared at him with wide eyes. "Beryl will win?"
Endymion nodded. He watched as Serenity's eyes became unseeing and he knew that she was looking deep within herself.
"Beryl will win. If I don't forgive them, Beryl wins because she made me hate. I've never hated anyone before. Disliked maybe but never hated. Mother said that hate poisons you. Mommy said that hating people is a waste of time because the ones you hate don't care if you do. Daddy said that hate is bad karma."
Endymion raised an eyebrow at the rambling dialog. The outer Senshi and the Shitennou smothered grins and chuckles. Shingo woke up and listened to his sister. He rolled his eyes and whispered to Saturn, "She gotten weird again."
"Weirder than being a reincarnated princess from the Moon?" Saturn whispered back.
Shingo waved a hand. "People can accept that. The mental thought process that is spoken out loud is what gets her the funny looks."
"I cannot let Beryl and Metallia win." Serenity took a deep breath and looked at everyone in the room. "I forgive the inner Senshi."
Endymion looked at her. "Then you need to say it."
Serenity smiled. "No. Not now."
"What?" burst out Nephrite. "What do you mean 'not now'? You said yourself that they were being tortured!"
"I will not say that I forgive them until I can say it to their faces." Serenity was calm in the face of Nephrite's wrath.
Kunzite gave one of his small smiles. "Then I guess we'll just have to take you to them."
888888
The group had just transported to the Artic circle. They had determined that it was where Beryl had her base.
"It's freezing!
Endymion looked over at Serenity and wanted to hit himself in the head. She was wearing that thin gown and slippers. Quickly he cast a spell and Serenity was enveloped in a white fur cloak, matching mittens and fur-lined white boots. Quickly he fastened the cloak to keep Serenity from getting colder and pulled the hood over her hair until only her face showed. He stared at her heart-shaped face and fell in love all over again. He suspected that he'd be doing that daily for the rest of his life.
His head jolted from the slap that hit the back of it. He turned and looked over his shoulder. He didn't know which of the Shitennou had done it but he'd find out.
"Let's go." Said Kunzite. "I have no desire to turn into an ice cube." He, also, wore a white fur cloak.
Everyone was wearing fur cloaks and mittens. Endymion would have preferred black but understood that black would have stood out too much against the snow.
"Which way?" asked Uranus.
Nephrite and Neptune spoke at the same time, "That way." He had been gazing at the few stars he could see in the sky and she had been gazing at her mirror. The pair pointed at a series of hills in the distance.
"Let's go."
Nothing was said as they walked along. It was difficult going. The snow wasn't always able to support their weight and each had to be pulled out of holes at various times. Patches of ice made things slippery. Serenity and Saturn had the hardest time up it but they didn't complain. They simply kept up with the rest of the group.
Without warning they were attacked by five female youma. Endymion shielded Serenity but it was unnecessary. Neptune, Uranus and Pluto made short work of the youma. "That was quick." Said Endymion quietly.
Pluto evidently heard him. "I've fought tougher cockroaches." She sniffed. Neptune and Uranus just smiled but didn't say anything.
"The Outers have always been stronger than the Inners because of their duties guarding the galaxy from outside invasion. I remember the girls being a bit jealous. Their Senshi Trainer was pleased with the jealousy though, it made them work harder at their skills." Said Serenity.
Endymion nodded. "It works. When I was younger, in the Golden Kingdom, every time one of the others mastered a skill, I would be jealous and try to master it myself."
Jadeite overheard the conversation. "Yeah, I remember you damn near cutting your fingers off trying to juggle knives after Neph figured out how to do it."
Nephrite laughed. "I wasn't sure who your mother was angrier at: You for being young and stupid, Me for being young, stupid and letting you know that I knew how to do it or the Guardsman that taught me."
"Oh, she was angry at all three of you equally." Came Kunzite's dry reply. "But the most she could do was bandage the two of you and scold."
"Didn't she have the Guardsman switched to the graveyard shift?" asked Zoicite.
"Yes. That was his punishment." Said Kunzite. "And that kept other guardsmen from teaching you any other tricks."
Neptune looked into her mirror, "We're getting close. The entrance is over there." She pointed to a ragged opening in the side of one of the snow-covered hills.
"Let's get this over with." Said Serenity with grim determination.