Chapter 2: Halo/Jupiter
A few days later, Jupiter was making her way through the castle heading towards her room when she nearly ran into Seiji. "Oh, pardon me," she murmured.
"Forgive me, my lady, I didn't see you there," he answered
She smiled softly at him. "Are you settling in alright?" she asked.
"It makes it easier with a Queen like Serenity," he answered as they made their way through the halls together.
"She is a wonderful queen, like the mother I never had," she stated, making him stop and look at her.
"You don't have a mother?" he asked.
"No, my mother passed giving birth," she replied solemnly.
Seiji rested his hand on her arm. "I am sorry, that was not my place to ask," he murmured.
"It is quite alright, I assure you," she said smiling softly.
He gave her a soft smile as she reached over and held his hand lightly. "What is it like, growing up on Earth in the Kingdom?' she asked as they continued walking.
"Well, I was chosen by the Ancient as a young child to wield the power of Wisdom. I can honestly say I never actually stepped foot inside of the Earth Kingdom," he answered.
"Really?" she asked surprised.
"We have lived with the Ancient One's home. He trained us, he practically raised us since he asked our parents to take us so we could learn the ways of Samurai," he explained.
"That is sad, you don't see your parents?" she asked.
Seiji looked down at her. "We are allowed to visit our families from time to time, but our lives revolve around this work," he answered, "My parents had a harder time giving me up, because I was their only son, but when they were promised I would receive the best training and the best education they couldn't say "no"." Jupiter looked at him surprised.
"That's quite a sacrifice," she stated.
"It was," he agreed, "But they are proud knowing that their son had grown up becoming a warrior and protector of the realms," he answered.
She smiled softly to see the pale eye she could see light up as he spoke about how proud his parents were of him. "Do you have any regrets as a Warrior for the realms?" she asked, making him stop and look at her.
"Regrets? No," he replied simply, "Believe me when I say this life is far from easy. You don't see your family, the family you get are your brothers in arms that you have known since you were a child. We were all taken from our families at a young age and brought to the Ancient's home."
She frowned a little as she played with the cuffs around her wrists. "Do you have regrets being a Sailor Scout?" he asked.
"No," she replied, "I prefer to be around my sisters than being alone back home."
"You have your father don't you?" he asked as they continued walking.
"Yes, but my father is a hard man to love," she replied, "He tried to push so many things onto my shoulders that I wasn't ready for, and then I was chosen as not just the Princess but the Protector of Jupiter."
Seiji smiled to see her green eyes shine as she spoke about how much she loved her duties as a Sailor Scout. She looked at him to see the sword on his waist and he saw her glancing at the long blade. "My Sword of Halo," he told her, showing her the blade as he removed it from its sheath.
Jupiter carefully held the blade in her hand, staring at it. "It is quite the weapon," she commented as she held it out in front of her, the weight almost pulling her arm to the floor, making him chuckle lightly. "A heavy blade," she added, as he took it from her.
"The Ancient created all of our weapons," he stated, "Each weapon chooses its bearer."
"So the sword chose you?" she asked intrigued.
He gave her a slight smile with a nod. "Yes, it chose me," he answered.
"What's it like, having a weapon choose you?" she asked curiously.
Seiji looked at her as he swung the blade around while she sat down to watch him. "It's almost like a loud humming noise, the Ancient literally had us stand in the middle of the room in a line with the weapons sitting on a table in front of us," he told her.
(Flashback: 5 Years Ago)
Seiji stood in the room with his friends, the eleven-year-old wince when he kept hearing an annoying humming sound in his ears. "Students, you have trained well. As you probably noticed, you are feeling and hearing a humming sensation through you," the Ancient told them.
The boy frowned but then he noticed that his teacher was right, not only was the humming in his ears, but it was vibrating through his whole body. "Before you are five weapons, each weapon has chosen its bearer," the Ancient told them. He looked over at Seiji to see his eyes staring at the table. He nodded to the boy who then walked over to the table.
Holding his hand out, he ran his hand over the many weapons sitting on the table. The closer he was to the end of the table, the louder the humming was and the more his body vibrated from it. Reaching a large sword, he touched the hilt and almost immediately the humming stopped. Picking it up, he winced because the blade was heavy for the eleven-year-old. "The Sword of Halo has chosen you, Seiji. You are the bearer of the Halo armor and the Warrior of Wisdom," he stated and with that said Seiji felt a warm sensation on his forehead.
Looking over into a mirror he saw the symbol, Wisdom glowing in the middle of his forehead.
(End Flashback)
Seiji opened his eyes, looking over at Jupiter who was still listening to him. Her eyes were shining so bright he could swear he could see the stars in them. "You have armor as well?" she asked.
"Yes, when I call for it," he answered smiling softly.
"Have you seen a lot of battles?" she asked.
"A fair few," he replied.
She stared at him curiously. "Not a scratch on you," she commented. He smirked a little.
"Maybe I just haven't found the right opponent who can defeat me?" he answered.
She raised a brow. "So sure of yourself?" she asked curiously.
"Pretty sure," he said with a slight shrug along with a smirk gracing his handsome features.
"You and your friends are sure to tell us that you don't serve Prince Endymion," she stated.
"He only believes we fight for just his kingdom. He doesn't fully grasp what exactly what we do, what we protect," he answered, "We come when he calls, yes, but we come when anyone needs our help. That is our duty, that's what we stand for."
Jupiter couldn't help but admire the man standing in front of her, he spoke about his duty as a warrior and protector with pride and honor. "And what of you, Princess Jupiter? Have you seen many fights?" he asked.
"No, it is quite quiet up here in the Moon Kingdom," she answered, "But I am willing to put my life on the line for my duties and my Queen."
"What you do is just as honorable," he answered.
"You make sure the realms are free from war," she stated, "I'm a bodyguard."
"An important bodyguard, as well as a friend to the royal family here, it is an honor, don't mistake what you do as something meaningless," he answered.
Jupiter tilted her head to the side, then stood up. "I want to try something," she said suddenly, standing up. He stared at her quizzically as she walked over, pushing the lock of hair from his eyes and stared into both of his indigo eyes. "I like this better," she murmured.
"And what is that?" he asked.
"Staring into both of your eyes," she replied.
Smiling, he reached up and rested his hand on her cheek, his rough thumb moving over the smoothness of her skin. "I have never met a woman quite like you, Jupiter," he murmured.
"Is that so?" she asked softly, feeling her heart speed up as he stood closer to her.
Leaning forward, he pressed his lips to hers. Her eyes went wide for a second, but then she kissed him back, her hand resting on the back of his neck, his hair trying to fall back over his eye instead it just tickled her nose. Reaching up with his other hand, he cupped her face in his hands as the kiss became more passionate until someone cleared their throat, forcing both of them to pull away. "My Queen," Seiji greeted, bowing to Serenity.
The Moon Queen just smirked to see the two of them acting as though they were caught doing something horribly wrong. "I see you are making yourself comfortable," she stated.
"Your home is better than the ground that my friends and I sleep on during most of our quests," he answered.
She had him stand up. "Keep her safe, Seiji of Halo, she is like another one of my daughters," she told him.
"I swear no harm will come to her," he answered.
Serenity glanced at Jupiter who smiled softly before bowing her head to her in respect. Then she just smiled, leaving the room as Seiji picked up the sword he had dropped on the floor and placed it back into its sheath on his hip. "May I escort you to the gardens, my lady?" he asked, holding his hand out to her.
"You can stop with the flattery now," Jupiter answered with a smirk before she slid her hand into his and they walked in the direction of the gardens.
Later on, Seiji entered his quarters when he heard someone clearing their throat. Looking over, he was surprised to see the others sitting there staring at him. "What are you guys doing here?" he asked.
"Came to remind you of certain things," Shu replied simply.
Seiji looked at them. "The vows we took when we agreed to become the protectors of the realm," Shin commented.
"What do our vows mean anything? We vowed to serve and protect the realms," Seiji answered, "And anyone a part of those realms."
"Which means no relationships of any kind, my friend," Shu commented as he leaned back with his feet propped up on the table.
Seiji walked over, shoving Shu's feet off the table. "What I do is my business," he told his friends.
"You know that if you start a relationship with someone you'll lose your armor," Touma pointed out.
"Aren't you guys tired of playing safe all the time?" Seiji demanded, "The Ancient never really said that, we just took our vows as such."
He sat down in a chair. "What did you see, Shu?" he asked, knowing all too well the bearer of Hardrock had something to do with this little "meeting" they were having.
"Saw enough," Shu answered simply.
Seiji rolled his eyes and let out a sigh. "Seiji, this is dangerous ground here. We're here to protect the Moon realm and the princesses living on it not starting a relationship with them," Ryo told him.
"I'm just tired of acting as though we're nothing but little soldiers following everyone's command," Seiji answered.
"That's what we do, Seiji, we protect people," Touma answered.
"When do we get to live though?" Seiji asked.
He looked at his friends. "When do we get to make a choice for ourselves instead of just constantly taking orders of where our next quest is going to be? I'm tired of chasing quests and ending up with nothing. We don't see our parents except for once every what three years?" he asked.
"It's better than nothing," Shin commented.
"Yeah well I'm tired of it," Seiji answered standing back up, "Tired of playing these games and tired of pretending that nothing matters."
The other Warriors glanced at each other before looking at Seiji who was clearly frustrated. "You'll lose your armor, Seiji," Ryo answered. Seiji frowned as he looked at the green orb in his hand, he didn't want to lose his armor or his powers. He closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the windowpane.
"We didn't choose this life, the armors chose us it's our responsibility to wield these powers," Touma told him.
Seiji closed his eyes tightly, letting out a frustrated sigh. Touma gripped his shoulder as his blond friend stayed silent staring out at the garden where Jupiter was with her friends. She was so beautiful, the way her hair swirled in the wind, her green eyes shining like two emeralds, and her laugh that just sent chills up his spine. He wanted to spend the rest of his life listening to that laugh. His friends stared at him as he just stared outside. "Get out," he told them.
He looked at his friends. "Get out!" he ordered. They went to leave the room, all except for Touma. "Have you lost your hearing, brother?" Seiji spat.
"I think you have lost your wits," Touma answered.
"We have lost our ability to being humans," Seiji told him.
"We're not average humans, Seiji. That's why we're here. We're warriors, we're guardians, protectors. That's our job, that's what we have been chosen to do!" Touma answered.
The blue-headed young man stared at his friend. "You are losing your wits over a girl you had only just met!" he exclaimed.
"I have never felt this way about anyone in my life, I have never met anyone like her," Seiji answered.
Turning around he stared out at the gardens again. "And you will sacrifice your armor for her?" Touma demanded. Seiji held the orb between his fingers.
"I'm not giving up anything," Seiji answered.
The Wisdom symbol glowed on his forehead as he stared at the orb. Touma gripped his shoulder once more before leaving him alone to his thoughts.