Chapter 5-Makoto the Bodyguard
I pulled the freshly baked cake out of the oven. It was four am in the morning. Usagi had been pacing inside her room the entire night. I guess no one could sleep after what we just learned.
I was glad Setsuna came and told us, though. Ami would have to hurry at setting up the five-point barrier around the palace. As for me, I would have to train harder and make myself stronger. What was to come would be our toughest battle yet. We got through it in the end, though. The timeline said so. We just had to bear it.
I gently knocked on Usagi's door. "Come in."
"Usagi, you didn't eat anything earlier. I made you a cake, maybe this will interest you?"
"Thank you. Just put it on the table. I am not hungry now. Maybe later." Usagi continued to stare out the window. I sat down next to Usagi.
"Mako, it's late. You should get some rest. I am fine."
"I am not tired. But if you are, you can lean on my shoulder. Bonus to have a tall bodyguard right?" I tried to joke. I just couldn't bear to see Usagi sad. I thought the cake would work, but not today.
So we sat in front of the window and stared at the sky. The sun rose and morning came.
When my parents died in that stupid plane accidents, I had been all alone. I became my own mother and father and protected myself. I learned to cook and sew. I learned to fight. I would never rely on anyone because they could be taken away at a moment's notice.
Queen Serenity, Usagi, changed all that. She gave me a family. She became the most important person in my life, besides Ami. If anyone dare to lay a finger on my people, I would bring down the entire thundering heaven upon them.
It made my blood boil just to think that there were people out there that would doubt Queen Serenity. She had sacrificed herself over and over to save them. How dare they turned their back on their savior? I wanted to hurt them badly and knock some sense into them. Dark Moon clan. I clenched my fist and resist the urge to punch the wall. The palace was made of glass after all.
Ami said she would be here by nine to install the prototype sensors. I rushed to the front gate to meet her. She was carrying four gigantic suitcases. Her tiny frame was straining to carry all the weight. I went over and carried three of them. She breathed a sigh of relief and made a joke about having a big girlfriend.
"Now, where do you want this?" I put down the suitcases with a thud. Ami looked at me with alarm."Gentle! You don't want these to blow up in your face."
Well, that's new. I thought they were sensors. I had given up trying to follow Ami's train of thoughts. Her brain was too amazing and too hard to understand. Putting a bomb in the sensor might be useful, I guess.
Ami gave me a quick kiss and then quickly got to work. I watched her tiny hands assemble the pieces together. In minutes, one of the sensors was assembled. Ami switched it on and a small yellow glowy wall spread around the sensor. "This is the energy barrier that would go around the palace. In theory, it will detect the snow dancers' approach. It will block any attacks from outside but it will allow our attacks to go through. Now, if you want to do the honors, Mako. We could…."
I transformed and got ready to throw my attack. "Sparkling Wide Pressure." The thunder went through the barrier easily and smashed into the opposite wall. I looked over at Ami.
She held her head in her hand, shaking her head slowly. "I didn't mean to do it here, Mako. We could've moved outside." She went up to examine the wall. "On the plus side, now we know we could fight inside without collapsing the entire palace. The wall cracked a bit but structurally sound still."
Just then, the sensor started flashing red. A blaring alarm sounded from the tiny machine. I was already running towards Usagi's room when I heard Ami yelled: "I will call the others."
I glanced out the window as I ran past one. Dark clouds were gathering over the palace once again. The enemy was back. I threw Usagi's door open, only to find the room empty. Shit! Maybe the guard had taken her already. Lately, I had been training a group of people as Usagi's personal details. I taught them some self-defense moves, but most importantly, I had trained them to carry the queen and run away. I made sandbags adding up to the current weight of the queen, and made the guards run laps while carrying the sandbags. They were only human. They wouldn't have survived a close encounter with any of the enemies. It was safer for everyone if they would just carry the queen to the rendez-vous point and wait for me there.
I arrived at the panic room. I found the guards laying unconscious on the floor, the door was open and no sign of the queen. "Usagi!" I called out for her. Panic rising inside of me.
"No sign of Usagi. Anyone got sight on her?" I called everyone on the communicator. "Rei, do you have her?" I tried calling Usagi's communicator again, but no answer.
Just then, a scream came from the garden maze outside. I dashed towards it. When Usagi was asked to help design the palace, she said she wanted a maze in the garden. Even though she was terrible with directions and she was always getting lost in there. What was she doing there?
I found her quickly. Sailor Moon had her wand out and was sending out attacks at four snow dancers. They were too fast. One grabbed Sailor Moon from behind and started to fly upwards. I sent out my attack, hitting that one in the back. I raced over to catch Sailor Moon as she was let go.
Sailor Moon wrestled herself out of my grip. "I can do this by myself. I am the queen. I can defend myself. Get out of here, Jupiter."
Just then, a blast of ice came from snow dancers and Sailor Moon's legs turned to ice. "Ahhh." Sailor Moon screamed out in pain.
"Jupiter Oak Evolution." Multiple lightning balls bounced around and smashed all the snow dancers. I turned back to Usagi and started using my hands to chip the ice. I carefully punched the ice. Hard enough to crack it, but gentle enough not to hurt Usagi. I could see Usagi's legs starting to turn red and blue underneath.
I was too distracted. I didn't see it coming. I didn't even feel the pain until I looked up at Sailor Moon's horrified face. I followed her gaze and looked down. A giant icicle had penetrated my left shoulder, the tip protruding just inches above my heart.
"I am sorry." I apologized to my queen as I fell to the ground. I promised I would protect her. I promised I wouldn't get hurt. Sorry, I let you down, Usagi.
As I start to lose my consciousness, I heard the others arrive. At least, Usagi was not alone in the fight anymore. …
The last thing I heard was my girlfriend yelling, "Mercury Aqua Mirage.."