DISCLAIMER: I do not own Sailor Moon but to the amazing Naoko Takeuchi
VI.
The eight warriors ran to their prince and princess' bodies as fast as their feet would allow. But it just wasn't fast enough. Just not enough...
But what if we fail...
"Serenity!"
"Princess! Wake up please!"
"Endymion! Wake up! God damn it wake up!"
"Endy!"
mercury held Serenity's head in her lap,carefully checking if the princess' neck and spine were still intact, and uninjured, before doing so while Mars checked the Princess's pulse.
"She is stable but she won't wake up," Mars said.
"And the Prince?" Venus asked.
"He is alright but just like the Princess, he is unconscious.
Damn it! Who the hell did this? I will kill them all!" Nephrite seethed,hand at the ready on his swords hilt.
"What do we do now Venus?" Jupiter asked.
Mars stood up from her kneeling position next to Mercury. Her hands encased in crimson flames.
"We hunt who ever did this. That's what we do."
"I second that," jadeite said. His voice dark,grim.
"We need to get everyone into a secure location first before we can sweep the area. Kunzite, where can we put them?"
"the South wing of the castle is as good as any. We need to hurry if we are going to secure the area as fast as possible."
Venus nodded her agreement. Time was running out and the faster they could get everyone inside and guarded the better.
"Jupiter?"
"Already on it." Jupiter folded her tall frame, and gently lifted Serenity into her arms,careful not to injure the Princess further.
Kunzite lifted Endymion next,lifting the armored prince as if it were nothing, and,after making sure Endymion wasn't going to be injured jogged to the South wing of the castle, the call of warning bells drowning the small vally in it's peels of panic.
"Where is Serentiy?! What happened to her!?"
"Your daughter, and Prince-King Endymion are being carried to the South wing M'lady. Please, you and your advisers must meet with the rest in the South wing. We do not know what is going on or where the attackers might be if still here at all."
A pit of fear dropped into the Queens stomach, turning it into a knot upon itself as a fist of thick panic tightened it's grip around her insides making it hard to breathe.
Serenity. My daughter..what happened, what happened? It can't be..no not yet...
Queen Serenity's thoughts ran,becoming a mantra itself.
not yet...
Please, by the Gods not yet!
"just get me to my daughter." Queen Serenity said to the guards before being escorted out to the relative safety of the South wing.
In the South wing the Shitennou and Senshi had made it into a guest chamber where the Prince and Princess lied on the large bed, their faces looking as if they were nothing more than dreaming. The unnaturalness of it made it all the more disturbing.
The room filled with the tensioned silence of awakened vengeance. The ringing of warning bells echoed out like cruel black hearted laughter from the valley and into the sunny afternoon.
Every mind asked the same question, how could it had happened?
Kunzite, now sure of the security within and out of the room at least as far as the hall, walked over to Venus who sat on the bed next to Princess Serenity.
Her thin hand brushing a loose locket of silver hair from the young girls face. The Shitennou stood around the room checking windows and corners for any sign of threat while the Senshi stood protectively close to their princess.
No one wanted to leave their charges. But neither did anyone want the enemy to escape.
We're in total panic and are torn between duty, and revenge. We need to refocus.
Kunzite had at least enough sense to get the guards to escort Queen serenity and her advisors to their location while carrying Endymion across the gardens and into the emergancy hall way specifically designed for such disasters.
Still...how did this happen?!
The question laid like a bare wound on everyones hearts.
They balme themselves.
He knew because he shared that shame with them. It burned into his heart like red hot embers that burning everything into ash and transformed it into powerlessness. The only thing that burned brighter in their hearts now was the white heat of vengeance. And repentance.
It was the only thing to do,Kunzite decided. To hunt the fiend who did this to their Prince-King and if the Lords of Elysion smiled upon them, their shame would be removed...
Kunzite straightened his posture,shrugging off the heaviness and walked over to Venus who stood up from the bed as soon as he approached her. Her blue eyes shimmered alittle with un-ushered tears.
Kunzite was taken aback by them. They did not seem to fit with his image of the Leader of the Inner Senshi. The humanness of it broke his heart alittle. He never thought to question if perhaps even Senshi were human..
,Kunzite cleared his throat. Venus jumped at the noise, it breaking her focus.
"I have the guards bringing the Queen here as fast as they can. She should be here along with Advisers Luna and Artemis soon."
"thank you Kunzite." Venus said. Obviously refocusing herself as best as she could.
She had to for the Senshi and for the Princess's sake. She had to remain in control. She would not allow this to happen. She would not allow her emotions cloud her judgment. She promised herself. Not now, not ever.
"We need to sweep the area. We should pair up. So we do not get lost. We are new here, and know little of the surroundings," Venus stated.
"Alright. We split up to cover ground. Some one still needs to stay to keep gaurd and watch over them."
Jupiter turned from her watch at the window saying,"We can handle this Venus, don't worry. You just stay with Serenity."
Venus gave Jupiter a small smile of thanks, nodding.
"alright. Zoisite, you go with Jupiter, Jadeite and mars,Nephrite and Mercury, and I will stay here for now with Senshi Venus. We will both need to debrief with the Queen on what has happened. Come back as soon as you are done,and hopefully we will find who ever the hell did this."
"We still need someone to check the Shrine and High Priest Helios," Zoisite said.
Jadeite took a step forward,"we can check Kunzite," Jadeite volenteered.
Mars gave a quizzical look at Jadeite, who gave her a wink and smile.
"Don't worry sweetheart, I'll explain along the way."
"Don't call me sweetheart and I won't cook you to death."
"Enough jadeite. This isn't the time for one of your jokes."
Jadeite became serious again, like he was taking off a mask, to replace it with his own solmn sharp angled face and nodded to his friend. "I apologize Nephrite. I Understand. Let's get moving."
And with that, the rest followed.
"So," Mars began. "Who is this Helios exactly?"
Jadeite,who was walking beside her, smirked at her.
"oh,so you ARE curious about the Shrine and Helios eh? I knew it!"
He said chuckling as if it were the most amusming thing he had ever heard.
"If it's important I want to know. Now." She said,glaring at the young blonde man before her. He didn't seem all that intimidated by her as he walked confidently with as much ease as one would taking a stroll in a forest. It irritated her to no end.
"Well, if you must know, Helios is the High Priest of Elysion the Holy shrine of Earth."
Jadeite said nothing else after that and let the statement sit there for a few heart beats.
Fed up with waiting for more information that was clearly not forth coming, Mars stopped along the edge of the forested road before turning in front of jadeite in a red blur.
"And? What else? Tell me. Why would a High Priest be so important let alone a shrine at a time like this?"
Jadeite, stopped dead in his tracks looked up into the burning violet eyes that peirced his own. For a moment his heart stopped in mid beat from those eyes. So fierce. And beautiful...
But as soon as the thought rose he crushed them in his heart with an iron will.
Giving Mars one of his infamous boyish charm smiles,he leaned perhaps a little too close to her saying, "Well sweetheart we are practically a theocracy on this little planet aren't we? Ever wondered why that is hmm? Well in any case in a theorcacy, a High Priest would be a high valued target now wouldn't he hm?"
"Well yes, but why? Why would anyone wish to hurt a High priest who has little power over all compared to a deified king? Endymion was the one attacked not Helios."
"Well, as far as we know he wasn't but it wouldn't matter anyways. Helios could still be in trouble. And if so well...we got a big problem on our hands."
"this is confusing! Stop with all the ridiculous theatrics when we should be looking for the attackers who hurt and nearly killed our princess and king and be out with it already! "
"Sailor Mars. I am sorry. You are right. I do not mean to make light of such tragedy. It is just...it is my way to make light of any hard situation. if we cannot laugh even in death, then despair would surely swallow us all..."
no one said a word for what seemed eons as the two kept walking to the shrine up a head of them. Neither really knowing what to say or how to say it and the awkwardness felt unbearable.
"I'll tell you.."
Mars stopped walking as jadeites voice broke her line of thought. Alittle confused.
"Tell me what?"
"About why this is so important we go to the shrine. To see if Helios is alright."
Mars had completely forgotten about it after Jadeites odd behavior, but her chest burned red hot at the idea of a clue or new information to go on at all. If this information could be used to find the attacker...
why am I telling her all this? Of all people a Sailor Senshi of the Moon Kingdom. Jadeite, you fool...
But his mind lost to his heart and his heart told him he needed to tell her...he just hoped he wouldn't ever regret what he was about to say...
"Tell you why this is so important. Even more important than watching over our King..It's a Secret Mars. A secret you must keep until our last days.."
"Jadeite, if this will get you into trouble don't...But if it really is that important to finding who did this then, well, sometimes rules and secrets were made to be broken. For the greater good of all."
"Hmf. Perhaps we are not so different after all,Sailor Senshi Mars. Or should I say, Princess Rei?"
"I-erm. Please, don't call me that. No one calls me that..." she said her face burning red as she looked away from this strange and handsome man before her.
What the hell was she thinking? This wasn't a time for this!
"But Rei is your name is it not? Can I not call you that? I mean, this is a secret I am about to share with you and saying Sailor Senshi Mars is sucha mouthful and Mars seems too impersonal..."
"Call me whatever you want just get to the point will you!"
The young man mumbled something under his breath, perhaps something brash towards the woman before him, or more than likely something to himself before he let out a long deep but quiet sigh.
"Well, the reason why I feel the need to tell you this is becaue it is more complicated than you realize, this attack. Far more complicated than just mere politics. The thing is, Helios and Endymion are one and the same. They are bound heart and soul. What happens to one, happens to the other. It is the strength and curse of this palce that allows each monarch in Endymions family line to be connected to the power of Elysion,the heart of Earth itself. What is strange however, and why we are going to the shrine now,is that Endymion isn't just connected to the power of Elysion. It is as if he Is Elysion. The High Priest is usually the only one truly strong enough in connection and power to even read the power of the palce. Endymion however, can do far more than just read the energies. He can control it and manipluate it as he so chooses. So connected is he to the holy site that Helios must step in from time to time to protect Earth from Endymion himself. However, Because of this-"
"The two are linked permanently to each other..." Mars finished, stunned.
Could this be the threat that Pluto warned us about?
"You see now, why this is such a crisis. It's more than just our kingdom. It's the whole planet that could be in danger. A whole living planet that could potentially be snuffed out of existence like a candle flame in a storm if just one dies...
Mars nodded her agreement. It was a terrifying thought. How could someone even a Senshi protect a king let alone a whole planet when there was such a weakness?
No boyish charm was left on Jadeite's face as it melted away suddenly before Mars own eyes and showed in it's place the face of a man filled with pain and sadness. Such lonely sadness...
"It's frightening. Terrifying even. Being connected to another so strongly. And yet, here we are. The Shitettue given the impossible task of trying to protect what cannot be protected. Death is enviable even for a Deified-Prince-King. The best we can do is post pone the enviable fate of all who breathe. And by the Ancestors We will...We will..."
The sun was beginning to set along the mountain tops north of them and the burning iron orange of a dying sun cut a crossed Jadeite's thick wavy blonde hair lighting it on sunshine fire. He stepped away from Mars and looked up at those mountains and the shining crystalline architecture of the shrine before them like an omen.
Mars stood next to the Shitteou not saying a word,allowing all fo this sink knew she would need time to think this over. For its meaning for her mission but also for the long term and how it affected the attack on Serenity. But there was little more than a few heart beats to spare.
"thank you Jadeite for telling me. I-I am sorry."
Jadeite looked puzzled as a single brow rose quizzically. "For what?"
Sailor Mars sighed alittle. Was he really going to make her spell it out?
Men she thought alittle bitterly.
"For me being so harsh on you. You really do care for Endymion don't you?"
jadeite took a small step back as if he were suddenly wounded by arrows in the chest. A hand flew to his bosom dramatically.
"Oh, you're words hurt me so! Did you really feel as if I didn't care for him? How dare you Ma'dam!"
"Ugh, you really are a handful and a drama queen. Never mind,I take it back. You NEEDa firm boot up your ass. Let's just get to the shrine already we're nearly there."
Jadeite smiled large and brilliant, his eyes sparkling with dark wit and smokey desire "Well if it's your boot I wouldn't mind that at all..."
"THAT IS IT! I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU!"
Suddenly a flash of what looked like flying bon fire lit the road for a good few miles, filling the air with the smell of smoke and the sound of Jadeite's yelps of help through out the valley...