L O V E H E X A G O N S
by Moonlight Eternal edited by dragonborncrystal
Disclaimer: Wish I owned SM. Don't. Darn.
Chapter 9 In Which Brooms Become Weapons And Star Wars Makes a Sailor Debut
Helios watched nervously from his spot at the edge of the forest. He could only pray that they all returned safely. Small Lady┘ no, he mustn't think about her, it would only worry him more. Dark, ominous clouds filled both the skies and his mind. He realized with a pang of fear that something terrible had happened. As he saw the battered scouts slowly trudge over a golden dune, tiny dots in the nothing, he could no longer contain his agitation or his concern. He passed through the invisible border that had kept him waiting there and although he felt his powers leave him as he went, he took no heed and continued on.
"Look, it's Helios!" Sailor Mini Moon said wearily with a smile. She attempted to lean less heavily on Sailor Saturn, but wasn't able to achieve the desired result. As Helios came closer, he began to realize the extent of the injuries each scout had sustained in the battle.
Serena lay limp and unconscious in Tuxedo Mask's arms. Sailor Mars and Jupiter were supporting one another, one keeping the other from falling. Sailor Venus supported Mercury herself, and although neither was as badly brutalized as their fellow inner or outer senshi they were still having difficulty walking. Sailor Uranus carried another unconscious soul, Sailor Masquerade, on her back, although she seemed to be relying heavily on her partner, Sailor Neptune, to keep herself vertical. For her part, Sailor Pluto didn't seem too battered in comparison, along with the younger outer scout Sailor Saturn. Saturn supported Sailor Mini Moon, whose ankle was badly sprained. Her arm was was giving her problems. And the Sailor Starlights were all bruised and beaten, although not quite to a pulp. All three were able to walk on their own, but plodding through the desert had taken its toll on them as well. Alexander still remained unconscious and shouldered on Fighter.
"What happened to you all?" Helios asked upon his arrival, immediately offering to assist Sailor Saturn in the supporting the younger scout of the moon. Mini-Moon smiled her thank you up at him, and then winced as she stumbled. Despite knowing he would get it from his Prince later, Helios swung Rini into his arms and carried her. Tuxedo Mask was too worried about Serena to notice or care.
"We lost. Obviously." Sailor Mars lacked the characteristic sarcasm.
"Oh."
Back in the Elysian temple, Helios watched the scouts being bandaged up. The sky outside was dark and cloudy, a maelstrom spiraling outwards from Desdemona's castle. The ruins of the old castle were bleak, stone points drawing the eye up to the swirling clouds, helping to darken the otherwise perfect land.
"So you decided to retreat?" He concluded hesitantly. From the bitter glares the statement received, Helios guessed as much.
"Helios...I'm not quite sure, but I believe there's a way to restore Azura's soul to her body. Am I correct?" Raye asked as one of the shrine maidens bandaged her arm."
"Yes, you're right. There is...you three ought to drink that." Helios looked over at the three who had been about to tip their drinks back into the jug. Alexander, Seiya, and Yaten looked at him strangely.
"Thanks, but I'm not really a water drinker," Yaten rejected the water.
"It's not just any water, Ms. Yaten. It's Elysian water." Lily stated quietly. Yaten shrugged to show both her annoyance and her ignorance.
"I wouldn't take such a thing so lightly," Taiki added, gulping down another glass.
"What makes you so highly intelligible on such things now?" Raye's sarcasm might have died during the battle, but Yaten's had not.
"I asked," Taiki stated simply.
"You see," Helios began, "the waters of Elysian are special. They're holy waters, naturally, and therefore they have special healing powers. By drinking them, your wounds can heal faster. Instead of taking a few days, they can heal in just minutes." The three uninformed who were newly informed swiftly drank.
Taiki raised an eyebrow. "For not being a water drinker, you're doing pretty well. That's your fourth glass..."
Yaten stuck out her tongue.
A slight cough brought everyone's attention back to Helios.
"There is a way to save Azura," He repeated. "Her soul was thrown into Kali's Abyss. Such is the fate of only a few who wish it, but of course it was not even a choice to Azura. Usually, Kali's abyss is home to the spirits of dead who have not yet finished their purpose in life. They have yet to carry out their designs. It is these people who are then forced to walk for eternity as shells of themselves. In other words..."
"Ghosts?" Rini guessed, chills running over her body. She leaned closer to Helios and he unconsciously wrapped an arm around her.
"Yes."
"So, what does this help us with? Azura's still just a spirit," Lita said.
"Because her body was taken from her when she was unwilling, and that body still lives, if her soul is once again returned to its host, then Azura should be able to drive out the force holding her. If she chooses to be strong enough."
"See, I told you we couldn't kill her," Raye looked quite smug.
"Fine, so that means Azura can be saved. Good news. The bad news is, that still leaves us with the threat of both Chaos and Desdemona still on the loose. We can't exactly go storming back into the castle without a real plan nor without Serena. She's so wounded, it will take at least a day for her to heal. There's no way we can defeat Desdemona AND Chaos on their own turf!" Seiya put in.
"We won't have to," came a voice from the other side of the room. Serena sat up with minimal wince written over her face. "Desdemona will come to us. I have something she wants." Everyone glanced down unintentionally but subconsciously towards the small silver crystal Serena held in a small hand. None in the room envied the burden that Serena had been forced to bare over such a seemingly harmless stone. So much pain and responsibility, all over a crystal smaller than someone's hand. Rini only wished that she could ease such a large grievance from her mother's still young but already tired shoulders. She sighed in frustration, and squeezed the hand that Helios had placed on her shoulder.
One day that burden would be hers... and she would have to cope as well as her mother had.
"How do you feel, Serena? Maybe you ought to-"
"No babying, Mina. Now is not the time to bother me about trifle injuries. There is something we all must do before dawn arises on Earth."
"But the time difference-"
"We left at about 8:00 PM on Earth. If we return now, we can manage a couple hours' sleep before we need to find Azura."
"You know about-"
"Wait a second! How long have you conscious?!" Darien asked. Serena turned around and gave him a fleeting smile before her look returned to serious and unamused. She began to stand, much to the horror of every other person in the room.
"Serena, what do you think you're doing?!"
"Sit your little butt right back down there!"
"Are you really sure you should be standing?"
"Maybe you should have some more water..."
"Would all of you please just STOP WORRYING?!" Serena yelled. "We have a TIME LIMIT HERE!" She batted Darien away as he attempted to make her sit.
"I think you've forgotten two things, Serena. One: you're severely wounded, and it's already hard enough for you to do anything in a timely fashion."
"Raye..." Serena growled.
"Two: We have the sailor scout of TIME on our hands, what could be better?"
"Raye, in case you hadn't noticed, I dislike death and prefer to avoid it. Avoiding Pluto's death would be included in this package."
"Oh yeah..." Raye fell back on the chair. "Well that just brought the deadline a lot closer."
"If your worry is that Desdemona will attack soon, you ought to just wait here, Princess. Her powers do not work in Elysian, and we can keep Chaos off while you recover. The Elysian Waters are remarkable, but they do work better here." Helios contradicted.
"I'm not too hurt, and I refuse to put Elysian in danger."
Helios sighed. "Princess, Elysian is in as much danger from Desdemona and Chaos as an insect flying in the United States is from you. Their powers won't work here effectively enough for them to do terrible damage. Not with Endymion here."
"What does that have to do with me?" Darien asked.
"Elysian gets a power boost just because you're around. It's to do with your connection to the Earth. Course, if you ever bothered to come and train like you're supposed to-"
"Helios, while I agree Darien could do a little more on the training side, and don't start the 'I work out every day' speech, Dar, we are talking about magical workouts which you do like once a year, we have a larger task at hand! We have to find Azura's soul as soon as possible! This is where my meager training as a princess ends. Helios, I need to know if there is ANY way to predict where Azura's soul could be wandering." Serena finished, almost pleading. Each moment they spent arguing...
"Well, one guess is that she'd return to her home planet, at least-"
"Not possible. Misunovia was destroyed years ago." Alex shook his head.
"What? By who?!"
"Azura." There was an strained, shocked silence. Alex sighed heavily. "Look, it's complicated. To understand you'd really have to know Azura's personality, and what she's been through."
"By all means, tell us," Mina said eagerly. Alexander was a little disturbed by her enthusiasm.
"We don't really have enough time. We-"
"Alex. I think we forgot to mention a thing or two to you. One: Serena is not easily distracted and two: she is exactly like Darien," Lita said, placing a hand on his shoulder melodramatically, as if Serena were not around to hear.
"HUH?!" Darien was alerted to the degrading use of his name.
"What are you all talking about?" Serena cried. Darien was insulted to find that she looked a lot more upset about the comparison then he did. Being like him wasn't a bad thing... was it?
"In other words, an explanation from you will work on multiple fronts. We will learn more about Azura and be able to better predict where her soul will drift and what sort of things her body would be more prone to doing. Plus, this will distract Serena long enough so that she will stay here while her bones reattach themselves and any bumps and bruises, sprains and tears will heal. Otherwise, she'll ultimately refuse treatment and kill herself," Amy told Alexander helpfully. "She's almost done it before."
"No!" Serena protested. "That was Darien!"
"It was not!" Darien turned on her. "I never did anything of the sort!"
"cough ribs"
Darien realized he was going to have to have a long and detailed talk with his traitor of a daughter as soon as this was all over.
"Serena," Mina sighed, placing a reassuring hand on her friend's shoulder, "just accept it. It's true, look at how against you were from telling any of us about the black crystal. We had to figure it out on our own!"
"Well, I technically didn't KNOW about it..." Serena attempted to recover.
"And you DID keep Lily a secret from everyone in the future..." Rini added thoughtfully. "That ought to count as something."
"WHAT?! Serena, have you been planning that secret since NOW?!" Darien cried, turning to stare at Serena.
"Now, Darien, calm down-"
"Oh, so do you have anything ELSE you'd like to share with us? Like the fact that Rini's going to be born or something? It might just help to know, seeing as we're about to go into battle and all..." Raye had fully recovered her sarcasm.
"RAYE!!" Serena was not as surprised about the incriminating tone as she was of the comment. Raye always seemed to have that tone.
"It never hurts to ask." Raye shrugged indifferently.
"It might hurt you...we aren't even MARRIED yet!"
"Hey, times have changed. And we haven't spied on you EVERY time you and Darien were together..." Venus added.
"But how were WE supposed to know that? And do we REALLY seem like we've gone that far yet guys? Seriously?"
There was a unanimous "Yes."
Serena looked over at Darien with disappointment. "Guess you should've stayed over that one night..."
"Yeah," Darien agreed wistfully. To think that...
"WHAT?! You guys actually ALMOST did it?!"
"But...you said-" Serena stuttered.
"Yes, but we didn...t actually EXPECT you to admit it!" Amy cried, out of character for the calm one.
"BUT WE HAVEN'T!!" Darien began to defend as well as he received some very evil looks from a certain Starlight AND a couple of outer senshi. Rini and Lilly all seemed to be happy about this development, but Darien didn't trust their smiles anymore than he did the frowns around him. He began to slowly inch away from all the sailors and over to Helios. There might just be a chance if...
"But you someday WILL?!" Lita was panicking.
Serena shouted in exasperation, "Where," she motioned towards Lily and Rini, "do you think THEY came from?!"
All the inner scouts looked at one another, then shivered. "We never really thought of it that way..." they admitted.
"Wait...SHE'S your daughter too?!" Seiya cried out in shock.
"You don't know the half of it..." Trista mumbled.
"I'll also have a sister or brother when I return to my own era," Lily began. "That is, if we win..."
"WHOAH!! How many kids are the two of you planning on having?" Yaten asked.
"None." "Four." Darien looked down at Serena incredulously. She smiled serenely. "FOUR?!"
"Now Darry, sweetie, calm down. It won't be that bad..."
"Have you forgotten I don't even like kids!?"
"Oh, but your so good with the girls I thought┘...maybe..."
"But-but-" Darien couldn't believe this. Four kids? FOUR?!
"Love you." Serena kissed his cheek, the most angelic look graving her face.
"Well, Darien, looks like Serenity wins that fight..." Helios smiled at the sulking prince.
"Shut up Helios. You're going to go through this one day too and I am going to sit there and laugh, providing I haven't killed you by then."
Serena shoved Darien down onto the chair. Darien pulled her down onto his lap and refused to let her up, saying she was the one who needed the rest, not him. This led to another argument.
"They get married?" Taiki asked.
"How do they keep from killing each other?" Yaten asked in wonder.
"GUYS! Think we might start attempting to find Azura's soul?!" Alexander wanted to know.
"That's right!" Mina spun around. "You were going to tell us about Azura." Everyone else turned away from Serena and Darien, intent upon hearing THIS one...
"The story of Azura's personality is...not mine to tell, exactly. All I can say is, she can be high as a kite one week, and the next she's fallen way down. And she doesn't bounce back very well. Between her odd mood swings and some scars she received in her childhood from Mizunovia, well...one day she decided to destroy it."
"People and all?" Serena attempted not to be sick at even the thought.
Alexander looked at her with hard eyes. "There hadn't been civilization or life on that planet for centuries. As if I'd allow her to kill all those innocents."
Serena made no comments on this, but she heard herself inside her head, and the voice doubted Alex's words.
"So...she wouldn't go there, because it's not EVEN there..." Amy turned to Helios. "Where would she go then?"
"Well, I can't be sure, but I would think that Azura would most likely attempt to find and visit Alex the night of her death, to tell him good bye and such. That would be when to make the move of bringing her soul here," Helios pondered the question.
"And if she doesn't visit?" Darien called from behind Serena.
"There's no way to return her to her body after 1 day. At dawn, she'd remain only a spirit," Helios admitted.
"And then..."
"We'd have to kill her," Michelle said decisively. Alex nodded a quick assent. If that was the only other way...
"Killing her body would at least free her soul...and she wouldn't be forced to wander," Helios attempted to add some positive aspect should that situation arise.
"Okay, let's stop right there and just assume for the sake of assumption that we DO find Azura's soul. THEN what do we do?" Serena asked, eyeing Alexander's crushed face.
"Bring her here. Then we go attack Desdemona and Chaos-ridden Azura's body, return Azura to her body, hope she wins over Chaos, then fight Chaos and Desdemona, win, then go home." Mina summarized.
"That all?" Yaten sarcastically commented.
"We ought to go home now," Lita said.
"I myself wish to sleep in my own bed," Serena said.
"Everyone's injuries are approaching the final phase of healing," Helios informed them.
"Then can WE go home?"
"Nice try, Yaten, but we need all the help we can get concerning Chaos."
"Fine," Yaten grumbled, "let's go back to the apartment."
Moments later, Serena stood in the middle of her living room, surrounded by 14 people. She glanced at the clock: it was a minute past when they had left. And yet everyone was much more worse for the wear than they'd been that previous minute. Serena looked at the weary sailors, her apartment size, then back at the senshi. 'Oh boy...' she grimaced inwardly.
"Do NOT tell us to go home," Lita growled, seeing Serena's quaking look. Serena turned towards Darien hopefully, only to find he and Seiya were having a stare off.
She sighed deeply, then said, "I guess we'll find room..."
"Before anyone says a thing, I would like to say I REFUSE to take either the balcony or the kitchen!" Darien shouted, still glaring at the Starlight.
"Huh?" Taiki looked confused.
"Long story." Raye said.
"Don't worry, Darien, there's enough room for you in my bed-" Serena tried to pacify her glaring fiancИ.
"Ah, we see what's going on here..."Mina said slyly, looking at the others and winking. "Getting a jumpstart on Rini, eh?"
"Guys, please. With you all listening right outside?"
"Would we do that...?" Mina asked innocently.
"cough yes cough" Darien spluttered.
"And besides, Lily and Rini will be in there too," Serena pointed out, and this forced the others to agree that perhaps there wouldn't be much action that night.
"But still, that leaves us with 11 people, and only one queen sized guest room bed!"
"Make that-" Yaten began, but she was cut off by Amara.
"Don't even think about suggesting it..." she warned. Yaten looked at Amara challengingly, but then, as she eyed Amara's clenched fists and slightly dazed and tired look, she thought better of it. That was most likely the best decision Yaten could have made: it ensured her survival for the night.
"Okay, we have 1 couch, 1 loveseat, 1 recliner, and 1 queen size bed which can, at best, fit 3 relatively small people...we'll begin with the bed. Do I hear...300 yen?"
"We don...t carry Earth money!" Seiya shouted out, already disgruntled.
Mina narrowed her eyes. "Then it's the floor for you. Now, how about that 300 yen?"
15 minutes later, Amara, Michelle, and Hotaru occupied the guestroom bed, Raye and Amy shared the couch (sleep at opposite ends, they ALMOST fit), Lita the recliner, and Alexander the loveseat. Mina and the Starlights were forced onto the ground, although they did have sufficient blankets and pillows donated to their cause. When Seyia had offered to take the bedroom floor to allow more space for his fellows in the living room, Darien had quietly told him to go to hell. A staring match had then ensued, but no one could stare down Darien when he was being stubborn, and Seyia was back in the lounge room. Not to mention the fact that Raye was 500 yen richer. Lita should have known better than to bet against Darien in a staring match with Serena on the line┘ Sailor Pluto had escaped by mumbling something about time but everyone else had been forced to stay there.
Mina lay on her back, arms under her head. She, like everyone else present in the room, was still awake even though they were all still lying down and temporarily unable to get up at that point (moments before, someone had made a comment about some snacks, but no one had made the movement to actually obtain these). She was lying beside the couch that Raye and Amy shared. Amy was the only one of the room who LOOKED asleep, but everyone else was obviously awake (although it might have been against their will).
The apartment was so silent it was deafening. Mina felt as though she would go crazy if the silence wasn't broken soon. Was everyone so intent on having a moment of peace for thought that they had forgotten one another and become estranged inhabitants that by chance shared a room? Fortunately, before Mina could give all the others heart attacks by speaking, someone else beat her to it. Someone who was much scarier than any enemy they had fought, someone who no one could approach with scout powers shining in their hands threatening to kill the person for breaking the silent "peace."
BAM!
"SERENA! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?! DON'T WORRY, I'LL SAVE YOU!!" Serena's father had arrived, knife in one hand, broom in the other. He looked quite unapproachable by anyone's standards, but for the group of 9 people in Serena's living room, Mr. Tsukino seemed to be of godly power. Framed by the light from the hall, he seemed to glow with awesome strength and determination, anger and power. And it was about to reign down on them. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY BABY GIRL?!" the fire leaked from his mouth as he towered over his prey. The outer senshi governing the guest room ran out, thinking the loud noises were a burglar, only to find it was crazy Mr. Tsukino on another rampage. They slowly returned to their safe haven┘
"Cowards." Mina croaked out.
She didn't get an answer. The outers weren't stupid and were staying out of the way.
For, and this was quite unfortunate for them, the Starlights bad luck reigned. They happened to be laying next to the back side of the couch and this arrangement made it so that they were smack dab in the middle of the living room, with a clear range of both paternal protective eyes and also close weapon proximity. Things did not bode well for them. And although for the most part the Starlights had forgotten their brief ordeal concerning their first arrival on Earth before arriving at Serena's apartment, Serena's father (considering it occurred only about 20 minutes before) had not. He stood over the quivering Starlight trio like an enraged bull, large, angry, and goaded to an unapproachable rage.
"SO! I've found you at last!■"he wheezed, rasping a couple of breaths in before he continued. "Hiding out in my daughter's apartment, eh? Waiting for the opportune moment, eh? Well, there will BE NO RAPE TONIGHT!!" Mr. Tsukino lunged towards the terrified Starlights, oblivious to the fact that he had an audience with the rest of the congregation in Serena's living room. Yaten screamed and dived out of the way.
"Why's he attacking me?! I'm a GIRL!!" She yelped.
⌠Daddy? What are you doing here?■ The Tsukino father only stopped his thrust of a dangerous broom handle when his daughter's voice rang out through the madness. He turned in surprise and alarm towards Serena's bedroom doorway. She had emerged, looking somewhat disoriented, alongside an all too familiar male figure in her life. Serena's father briefly forgot the trio that lay before him. The broom and knife dropped from his hands like weapons from a surrendering foe. He stared at his daughter in utter disbelief. To his sleep deprived eyes, her button down nightshirt seemed the perfect getup for a romp in the night with the man standing next to her.
"My...my..." Mr. Tsukino burst into tears before the entire gathering, shocking everyone in the room save Darien, who looked somewhat relieved that the knife and broom had left his fiance's father's hands, and Serena, who was looking somewhat grieved at her father finding her in such a situation. "MY DAUGHTER IS A DELINQUENT!" Serena ran over to her father, and attempted to soothe him.
"Now now, Dad, don't worry, we weren't doing anything, we all went out last night to a party and decided to crash here and-" Mr. Tsukino continued to spill tears, but then looked up and spied Darien. He narrowed his eyes at Darien's attire (boxers and a t-shirt). Quickly Mr. Tsukino straightened up once more.
"What are YOU doing here?"
"I was just...um..." Darien trembled under his gaze.
"Were you JUST sleeping, huh? WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING TO MY INNOCENT CHILD?!"
Seyia breathed a sigh of relief. Obviously Mr. Tsukino would be occupied with Darien for the rest of the encounter. Sauntering into the kitchen he wondered idly where Serena kept her popcorn.
"Sir, I swear, we haven't done anything!" Darien looked at Serena with pleading eyes. Serena quickly added, "Dad, Darien and I are engaged."
There was a moment of silence. All eyes were on Serena as her father's head whipped around and his jaw dropped in shock. "WHAT?!"
'Do you REALLY think that was the best time to tell him?!' Darien mentally screamed, wondering what Serena was up to.
'Just watch...' Serena smiled reassuringly. Darien wondered briefly if he could go and live with Helios until the wedding. It would probably be safer, even with Helios taking all his frustration over Rini out on him. The look Mr. Tsukino was giving him would have scared Saeten.
"...oh, I know. I'm dreaming!" The others all fell over in exasperation as Serena nodded passively.
"That's right, Daddy, now why don't you go on back to bed?"Serena led her father out the door, and to the elevator. The others slowly and cautiously crept behind her, watching in fear as their leader saved them from the terrible creature.
Serena turned to apologize to everyone. She was met with suspicious stares. The scouts all looked from Serena to Darien (especially Darien's attire).
"And you two were..." Raye wondered.
"SLEEPING!" both answered it unison.
"Are you SURE...?" Mina eyed the two. Serena couldn't help but blush a bit.
"POSITIVE!"
"In that outfit?" Mina ran her eyes appreciatively up and down Darien.
"What, did you expect me to sleep in my tuxedo or something?" Darien protested.
A gust of wind stopped Lita from asking a pointed question. It was less like a gust and more a burst, blowing open the balcony doors of the apartment, and allowing a shiver of air to course over and caress each body in the room with its ice cold fingers.
"Okay...this is-" Yaten began, but she was soon hushed by the others. A figure had begun to materialize before their eyes. It took on a woman's form instantly, then the features of a certain woman began to take shape. Serena took hold of Darien's arm viciously. He looked down to find his fiancИe shaking, staring in silent horror at the spirit before them. It took a moment for it to dawn on Darien what was bothering Serena so much. She was scared of ghosts. He slowly drew his arms around her, drawing her cool body closer to his. She didn't seem to notice the gesture, but the level of fright Darien felt coming off of her lowered noticeably. He smiled a bit before allowing his attention to fully return to the ghost in front of them all.
"Azura?" Alexander spoke for almost the first time that night as the spirit's form became apparent. The spirit smiled and nodded.
"Alex..." it spoke in tones that were ligter than Azura's regular voice, but still obviously hers. It echoed slightly in an empty, hollow way. Alexander approached her. "Oh Alex!" she cried with a passion. "I'm so sorry!" She seemed to shrink back, in an attempt to leave, but Alexander caught Azura's hand before she could depart. ▒Not yet!' His mind called out. 'I have to talk to her.' He was surprised to find her hand solidify in his grasp. Azura's soul for the most part was just a picture, a moment, caught in the wrinkles of time. But something of her was whole, and Alexander was able to hold her one hand to stop her retreat to nothingness.
"I'm sorry, Azura. I should have been there for you, to protect you. I failed you..." Azura looked about as shocked as everyone else that Alexander had managed to hold her. Tears formed in her hazy eyes. What seemed to be real tears...
"It's too late now to have regrets.."
"No it's not!" Serena spoke up abruptly. As the spirit's gaze shifted to her, Darien felt the tremble return to her frame. He also heard a tiny whimper of fright, but it was only audible to him. Gently, Darien gave Serena a push towards Azura's spirit and the others. She really didn't need it, though, she was already on the way to stepping forward. She bravely held her chin up and explained the circumstances to Azura. Darien smiled with pride as he watched her. She was so strong, and he loved her.
BACK IN ELYSIAN...
Helios was not surprised to any great proximity when the entire motley crew rushed in on him in his office. He calmly set the book he was reading down. "So, you found her?" he motioned to Azura's floating soul. "I'm glad."
"Helios," Darien questioned. "do you ever sleep?"
'What?" the High Priest was somewhat taken aback.
"Even for your time it must be late..."
"Um...does this really have to do with the problems at hand?"
"What are you hiding from me? Is-" Darien began to close in on his friend.
"Darien, please, I understand that your lack of sleep is getting to you but don't take it out on priests." Raye was obviously tired as well.
"Right, well, besides us all being a little short on sleep, everything is right with the world┘oh, well, and the fact that there's an evil someone or other over at Desdemona's castle ready to wreak havoc on everyone and everything┘Anyway, what do we do now that Azura's soul is here? How to we get to her body?" Taiki asked as a yawn split her face.
"I'll take her in," Serena bravely volunteered. 'It's just a soul, it's just a soul...' she was telling herself. Darien squeezed her hand again in reassurance.
"Unfortunately, Princess, you are unable to. By taking hold of the spirit's hand, Alexander has made it so that only he can guide her soul." Helios explained.
"So, only I can go in?" Alexander wondered.
"No, but if you let go of her hand now, Azura's soul will forever wander Earth. Alex is the only one who can keep her here now that her wandering time has passed. But there is no way reaching Azura's body will be an easy task. Once again, we must strategize. A couple of you should follow and assist Alex while the others draw the attention of Desdemona away from the first party."
"You know guys, I've been thinking," Mina began.
"Not again.." Lita groaned but was shushed by Amy.
"We have never really had strategies. Think about it. Beryl, all of the original scouts died."
"What do you mean original?" Amara asked with narrowed eyes.
"Inners. Anyway, we were all dead and Serena went in alone and then spur of the moment got lucky and killed Beryl. Moving on to Alan and Ann and their Doom Tree: Serena and Darien went to visit them, not even knowing the other was there, after all that was a real love pentagon, and low and behold we had to go save the two. No strategy there, just busting in. The Negamoon┘well, at least we thought about it but we really didn't know what to expect. The same counts for Pharaoh 90. Serena's the only one who even saw inside, well, she and Neptune and Uranus."
"And me," Hotaru interrupted,
"Oh yes, and Saturn. Then that leaves us to the Dead Moon: we went inside knowing very little, and once again decided we'd just act on instinct. Later we all got kidnapped and Serena came to rescue us, but that was only after shed recklessly left without us to save Darien, who had once again turned evil, yes Darien, through no fault of your own, but still. Did you have a plan then Serena?"
"Um...no. I couldn't even transform..."
"And lastly we have Galaxia. And, well...she really came to us." Mina completed.
"Also, note the absence of all my scouts and guardians during these lovely fights," Serena pointed out. ⌠Are you all planning on sticking with me this time through? If not, you might end up getting killed..."
"She's talking to you, Darien," Raye said pointedly.
"What do you mean by that?!" Darien asked indignantly.
"Darien," Amy volunteered a few words from her usual silence. "Have you ever gone back and counted how many times you've been either absent or dead before or during a battle?"
"It's not that bad." He growled. "I was actually present at most of those encounters."
"Fine." Amara grinned evilly. "Let's rephrase the question. How many times have you been dead, absent, or fighting for the other team?"
Darien glared, and didn't answer.
"Let's see." Raye said in mock concentration. "Beryl killed you, turned you evil and you almost killed Serena, then wound up being killed by her, Alan and Anne you were a civilian in the wrong place at the wrong time, so that doesn't count, though you could count that as absent because you were knocked unconscious by the first blow."
"I didn't have any of my memories and couldn't transform." Darien growled through clenched teeth.
Mina took up the narrative. ⌠King was killed by Diamond, though you didn▓t turn evil, then you were sick through the dead moon, and then you turned into a zombie by Nehelenia, and then you were killed by Galaxia, and turned evil. Stellar record Darien.■
"Yes, well, this time is different. Naturally wherever Serena's going I am as well."
"Wait a moment! We're going too!" Rini, Lily, and Hotaru chanted together.
"Guys, we've been through this before! We need someone to stay outside as decoys." Serena tried to explain.
"Make the Starlights do it." Hotaru and Lily said.
"Hey, now wait just a second here! We are NOT to be distractions the ENTIRE TIME!" Yaten was not a happy camper. She was sleep deprived, nourishment deprived, boyfriend deprived, and all in all, heartily pissed off.
"Yes, you ARE!"
"No we aren't!"
"Please, can't we all just...get along?"
"I don't think it was even worth asking, Serena. Your fiance and the leader of the Starlights don't get along at all, it's a little much to ask the rest of us to cooperate additionally if we don't want to."
"Amara, you're just biased against them..." Mina said.
"So?"
"And so I reiterate: can't we just work together? Or at least have a teensy weensy truce?"
"How long will this last?" Taiki asked neutrally. Serena seemed to take it under consideration.
"until we beat Chaos." She finally agreed on.
"And don't forget Desdemona too!" Mina piped in.
"Mina, aren't you on our side?" asked Amara savagely.
"As the leader of the planetary Sailor Senshi who reside on Earth-"
"Wait, wait, WAIT!" Seiya halted. "The princess of the moon, in other words, Sailor Moon is the leader of the-"
"No, no, technically Venus is. However, because I have the Silver crystal, and I've transformed into a guardian, Venus decided to give me the higher power over the others. But considering I already was her superior anyway, any orders I'd have given would have overridden hers. So I'm not the OFFICIAL leader, but I am the highest ranked sailor still," Serena explained somewhat.
"Okay...we are now officially confused," Seiya summed up the odd looks the Starlights were giving the other senshi.
Lita sighed heavily. "Do we really have to start at the beginning?"
"Huh?"
"Great! Okay, a thousand years ago, our moon was home to a great civilization, ruled by Queen Serenity. Everything was-"
"Oh, we know that," Yaten said.
"Actually, I do wish to learn more about this system. It seems to me that-"
"Later, Taiki, LATER!" Yaten yelled in her ear.
"If you are genuinely interested, I believe that I have several interesting books on the subject in the library. In fact, I think I may even have Endymion's diary, which is very interesting."
"You read my diary!!" Darien exploded. He stopped, looking confused. "I HAD a diary?"
"Oh yes. As long as you skip over the constant drivel about how perfect Serenity is, it's quite an interesting read. Much better than Malachite's. His was about nothing but women, first his conquests, then full of constant soppiness about Venus and how great she is."
"But-"
"Guys, we've gotten REALLY off topic here!" Serena stepped in. "We need to figure out who's going with Alex and Azura. I think I should."
"Fine, we'll agree to that. But then who?"
There was a great pandemonium after this final comment on Mina's part. After the scouts played 2 games of Monopoly that ended in draws, and one of Mario Party 2, it was decided that the decision of who went would be made by drawing from a hat. In the end, the team happened to come out as Sailor Moon and Alexander by default, then the additional teammates Tuxedo Mask, Sailor Star Fighter, Sailor Mini Moon, and Sailor Masquerade.
"Great," Sailor Mars complained after everyone had transformed and were forming their groups. "The protection of our princess is made up of 2 minors and 2 males-"
"In the midst of an epic battle over their one true love, who happens to be the same girl...Oh, the love trapezoid of it all!" Little sparkling flowers appeared around the star struck scout of love.
"Triangle, Venus, TRIANGLE!" Sailor Mercury was losing her patience.
"Shouldn't the children stay here? This is dangerous.." Sailor Jupiter asked hungrily. If they left, two openings would be available...and she was sure she could get a spot...
"NO!" Alexander's crew all cried at once.
"We're sailor senshi too, in case you hadn't notices!" Mini Moon cried in defense.
"Yes...miniature ones..." Star Healer said in her condescending way.
"Well, when I transform, I" Sailor Masquerade motioned down her body, "mature. My technical age is 14 in transformation, making me the same age Sailor Moon was when she first began to fight for justice."
"Believe me, you don't want to be compared to Sailor Moon in fighting for justice during those first 20 youma or so..." Sailor Mars said snidely.
"Why-"
"Let's just say she needed to be saved on countless more occasions than the victims themselves, making your story of growing up incredible and therefor-"
"Are you guys ready to go?" Sailor Moon interrupted Sailor Mars without a hint of acknowledgment that the sailor had been speaking in the first place.
"Yes." Was the reply by everyone but Sailor Star Healer, Sailor Jupiter, and Sailor Mars.
"We HAVE to go guys, it's not like it wasn't a fair draw..." Sailor Moon pleaded.
"Fine," Sailor Star Healer said petulantly after a moment. "But after we give you guys your second diversion of the day, what do we do?"
"Right, let's get this understood now." Sailor Mercury confirmed.
"You have to keep at whatever you're doing for about 10 minutes, so we have enough time to find Azura's body. Then you enter and get us."
"Good, let's get this party started!" Sailor Venus said.
The party began to walk.
- -
"Anyone have dramatic music they'd like to supply?" Sailor Mars asked wearily after what seemed hours of plodding along through sand.
"Why dramatic music when we can't even see the castle yet?" Sailor Star Maker asked.
Right on cue, Sailor Venus began to hum something that sounded awfully like...
"Um...what is Venus using as our theme?" Maker asked after a moment.
"It's from an American movie," Tuxedo Mask supplied. "An old one." He eyed Venus questioningly, unsure of how she knew about it.
"And it happens to be called...?"
"Dunno. Most of us refer to it as Darth Vader's Song," Sailor Mars said.
"THAT'S the name of the movie?"
"No, it's Star Wars!" There was a moment of silence, except for Venus's continuous hum.
"Well, it's annoying at the moment. STOP!!" Sailor Star Healer yelled.
"Oh, fine."
There was a pause.
"Can't I just-" "No." "But I-■" "No." "I-" "NO!"
"Be that way then. Fighting evil by-"
"VENUS!!"
"But it really IS our theme song!"
"Venus, I think she meant stop humming in general," Sailor Neptune offered gently.
"But then there's no noise-" A disgruntled Venus wimpered.
"EXACTLY!" Healer said, looking crazed.
"But-"
"Shh, we're here."
- -
"I can't believe we decided to split up so quickly!" Sailor Star Healer complained.
"Oh, stop the whining, Healer, I can barely think..." Uranus said, irritated. Of all the people to get stuck with...
The entire scout team had divided up, and the distracting group watched as Alexander, Azura's soul, and the others entered the fortress with no large obstacles.
"So, does anyone have a suggestion as to what we should do?" asked Sailor Star Maker, looking at the palace questioningly.
"Make loud noises, beat on pots and pans, that sort of thing?" Sailor Venus supplied.
"I'm thinking we're going to need louder sounds than THAT," Jupiter said, glancing over at Sailor Saturn. Everyone seemed to catch her drift.
"What?" asked the younger sailor, caught off guard. Everyone gave her sickle a meaningful look. "Oh no...oh no no no!! I NEVER use my-"
BAM!!
The dust settled, and the Silence scythe lay innocently on the floor. It hadn't done a thing...
"I meant to do that!" Saturn grinned and laughed uneasily.
"RiiiIIIiiggghhhtttt." Mars drawled. "Whatever you say."
"So now what do we do?" Star Healer continued, stepping through the hole in the palace wall with the others.
"We're supposed to distract," Mars said, annoyed.
"Distract who?" Venus murmured. The group was looking around at the same exact garden they'd entered previously.
"It doesn't seem that there's much TOO distract...again," Star Maker stated dryly.
"After our last attack, you'd think old Desdemona would've learned..."
"Um V?"
"She has this lovely scenic garden all to herself, sure," Venus continued to ramble on, "but once Mars is through with it, the view might as well be the grey toned sand dunes."
"Venus!"
"And-"
"MINA!" Sailor Star Maker tapped Mina's shoulder.
"I think she's trying to get your attention," she said nervously.
"There's some frightening THING slinking behind me, growing taller with every word I utter, isn't there?"
Mars nodded.
"Will I scream?" Venus had been through the drill enough to know what were the good questions to ask.
"Oh yeah." A sudden roar filled the almost silent in comparison scene. Venus didn't even turn around to look at the creature who would have most likely eaten her otherwise. She ran in the other direction.
"WHAT IS IT?!" she cried as fire whooshed past her. "MARS, DON'T HELP IT!"
"I wasn't...but thanks for the idea!" Sailor Mars said. "And it's a dragon."
"Oh, PERFECT!"
Sailor Saturn turned to look as Sailor Venus ran across the landscape with a bright red dragon about 7 times as high as her and wider to match the regular description of a dragon, hot on her heels.
"Well, Venus has that under control," Jupiter said, hearing Venus screaming that the others shouldn't worry, she'd take care of it, ⌠anyone in for the guards who are doubtlessly waiting for our entry?"
"Count me in!" cried Sailor Uranus. She was ready to kick some-
"Nah, I'd rather stick around here and watch her get eaten," Sailor Star Healer stated, wishing she had popcorn, although the lawn chairs were practically provided in the garden.
"Your capacity for humanity is overwhelming, Maker," Sailor Neptune said calmly.
She battered her eyelashes and smiled impishly. "Apparently, I strive and succeed at pleasing others recently..."
- -
"I'm surprised we haven't run into anything too horrible yet.." Sailor Moon stated, rounding a corner ahead of her party. She had taken the head, with the two smaller sailors protecting Alexander and Azura's soul. She had originally appointed Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Star Fighter for the job, but they didn't seem to be able to agree on anything. After almost 10 minutes of arguing which side they'd each be on, Sailor Moon stuck the two at the back. They seemed to keep content by way of glaring at one another to see who would blink first. They were supposed to be watching their backs, but neither had taken his or her eyes off the other, so Sailor Moon wasn't sure how much they were actually doing. She groaned as Tuxedo Mask turned up the glare a little harder in response to a suggestive hand gesture from Fighter. Right now she would do anything to have the names coming out of that hat be anyone else's.
"Alexander..." Sailor Mini Moon asked hesitantly.
"Yes?"
"What exactly happened...after the entire Moon Kingdom thing?"
"Mini Moon, hush!■"Sailor Moon turned around, appalled that her future daughter would ask such a personal question.
"No, it's all right, Serenity..." Alexander just couldn't get used to calling the once princess anything but her once name.
"Well, after Serenity and Endymion were killed, along with the guardians and such, the moon grew silent. The queen died in giving them a future. Azura and I were both there, and she gave us a future too┘so we could be together. But something unforeseen happened. Instead of reawakening with the others, we were reborn much sooner. We also were given our memories as soon as we reached the ages we originally died at. And our sense of revenge┘over the heartache we'd suffered┘grew greatly over the years that spanned the gap of our births. Before we knew it, we had found you all-"
"But...you two are humans, right? Why aren't you dead yet?" Sailor Masquerade pondered.
"We are not humans. We are of the Arukas System, Misunovia and Catrica specifically. We are blessed with longer lives than average humans, as are any of our heirs."
"You must have been touched by the silver crystal then," Mini Moon stated matter of factly.
"No...that's just how our body systems work."
"Mini Moon, not everybody is the same as us."
"I know that..." Mini Moon stuck her tongue out at her mother.
"Actually," everyone's head shot up as Azura spoke. Her voice's strange echoed quality was on the border of being frightening and beautiful. "It's a little know fact that the entire reason why we have such long lives is BECAUSE we were touched by the Silver Crystal oh hundreds of centuries previous to the Silver Millenium. But due to our regular sexual habits, those drops of blood flowed into almost every body of everyone on our planet. It was quite rare for someone to have a shorter life of years, and quite devastating to those involved."
Everyone nodded their heads. It was difficult to speak with a ghost, although Azura technically wouldn't be one much longer. Her entire predicament at the moment, however, was intimidating. Tuxedo Mask was almost starting to wish that Helios was there to break the uncomfortable silences that kept happening. He didn't have any trouble talking to ghosts...
"How are you holding up, Alexander?" asked Sailor Moon a while later, to break another never ending silence.
"What do you mean?"
'Are you still holding onto Azura?"
'I'll never let go," he answered with feeling.
'I feel the same way about Serena,"came Tuxedo Mask's voice from the back. There was a muffled response from Seiya, and then some shouting erupted.
"Hey, now, let's try to keep it down back there. Do we REALLY have to invite the guards to pay us a visit?" Serena asked, looking around and glaring. They acted as though they were 3 and fighting over their favorite toy. It might have been even SOMEWHAT flattering,
were it not for the setting.
"Where exactly are we going?" asked Sailor Masquerade. They seemed to be making large, circling trips.
"I was thinking the main throne room might be our best bet," Sailor Moon glanced back again to aim a questioning glance at Alexander. At his nod, she smiled, then continued on.
"And you're SURE we're going the right-" a pair of large, onyx and ornamented doors loomed into sight at the end of the corridor. "Oh." Mini Moon decided at that moment silence was golden.
"So, do we just...run on in?" Tuxedo Mask asked.
"That's basically what I'd thought. We can't really strategize much, and Desdemona may not even be in there..."
"Well, now's as good a time to find out as ever," Alexander put in hopefully.
The doors slammed open, revealing what everyone had hoped would be there: Azura's possessed body, and Desdemona. Of course, a couple of guards also lurked around, but they were soon disregarded as Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Star Fighter both sprang into action, releasing attacks they would have rather launched at each other. Now the competition was who could down the most in Sailor Moon's defense.
"Desdemona! Return Azura to herself NOW!" Sailor Moon cried out, making a stand before the powerful ruler.
"Now why in the WORLD would I do something like that?" the queen drawled. "Chaos, amuse yourself..."
"Stay back!" Sailor Moon cried to Azura, Alex, Mini Moon and Masquerade. None had yet entered the room, and now was not the time, as Azura's body flew forward with great speed, electric sparks forming in her hands. Sailor Moon clenched her teeth and took the brunt of the attack. All that mattered was the safety of the two junior scouts and Azura and Alexander. None of them would be strong enough to withstand it and if Alex let go of Azura's hand...She HAD to return Azura to her body, and Chaos HAD to be withdrawn┘but in order to do that, Azura would have to be put in close proximity with her body. Too much distance would send the spirit into oblivion.
"AH!" Sailor Moon heard Alexander cry out in pain as some of the attack reached him.
"Don't let go of Azura, Alex! We have to put her soul-" At the words, Desdemona sat straight up in her chair.
"What?! Her soul! It's MINE!" Obvious fear ran across Desdemona's face. If they had the soul, then they must know...
"Chaos, return to my room!" As Azura's body began its retreat, Desdemona lunged forward, attacks flying from her hands. "I won't allow you to return it to the body! Now, give me her SOUL!"
"You already took it once, it's not yours!" Masquerade cried out, standing protectively in front of Alexander.
"Never heard of stealing?" Desdemona sneered, throwing a shadow ball at Masquerade's unprotected body. Masquerade screamed in pain as she flew through the air. Tuxedo Mask sprinted forward, and caught her body before it hit the ground, and then gently lay her on the floor. She wasn't going to be doing much fighting.
Alexander let out a gasp as his grip slipped. "Alex!" Azura's echoing voice cried as her translucent hand slipped from his.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
- -
Tralalala...the end is near, all! Next chapter up soon, it'll be the last as well. It's already all written up, just needs a few minor adjustments. Look for it soon!
Chapter 10 In Which They Were Bound by Duty And The Story Begins
Thank you dragonborncrystal for your help, and thank you Daddy for my new laptop! -
Lastly, please leave me some reviews guys!!