souna no miko
Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all original characters mentioned in this story is owned by the great Takeuchi Naoko. There is no way I would claim them as my own. The song/s that will be used as part of the story are not mine either, they are owned by their respective writers and singers.
Chapter
8 (part 3)
Gathering of the Four Guardians
Draco, a name taken from a dragon and strikes fear in the hearts of men. A fitting name for a boy with a tendency to become extremely violent, and it was his name...a long time ago, Yaten answered to that name.
Yaten watched as his younger self lock himself in his chamber while his maid talked to a man. He sat on his bed quietly as he stared blankly at his chamber's floor. He heard the man tell their maid that his parents died protecting the royal family. He was proud of his parents but hated them for leaving him behind too early; he was only 4 for crying out loud!
As the young Draco grew up he never gained friends, followers yes but never true friends. He was a bully and almost everyday he came home with a bruise on his body. Kids in his school feared him for he never fails to start a fight with other kids. The other kids that surrounded him were not there because they wanted to but because they were afraid that if they didn't he'd hurt them, either that or they think they'd be safe from other bullies by sticking with him, but they were wrong. Draco never wanted people around him, as much as possible he wanted to be alone but somehow having all these people around him made him, well, loved. Until one day,
"Hey there 2nd grader!" a fourth grader with long black hair greeted him as he entered the school gates.
Draco snubbed him and went on his way.
"Such a snobby little kid huh Soul?" Draco heard the boy ask his companion.
The other boy merely fixed his glasses, crossed his arms and said,
"You're at it again aren't you Caleb?"
The one named Caleb rubbed his nose, laughed and said,
"No idea what you're talking about Soul. "
At lunch, Draco usually sleeps at the top of the school building, laying down on a leaf that served as their school's roof. He saw commotion at the eastern part of the school but didn't bother to try and have a look at what's gonig on until he saw her.
In the middle of all the other kids was a beautiful girl, probably the same age as he is. He sat up straight and used his magic to have a closer look at the girl. After such a long time Draco smiled once again and felt something he has never felt before. Suddenly,
"Pretty ain't she?"
It was the boy from that morning.
Startled, Draco lost control over his magic and so lost the image of the girl. He stood up and said,
"You're troublesome and you just interrupted me."
"You know what; she's the princess, pretty little girl huh? You two would look good together"
"Why don't you keep your opinions to yourself Caleb."
"You know me? Told yah Soul, I'm famous!" Caleb exclaimed with an excited smile on his face.
Soul came into view from behind one of the branches that supported the school and said,
"Famous for that loud mouth of yours."
Caleb stuck out a tongue and returned his attention to Draco,
"I've watched you since Kindergarted Draco, and I have a proposition to make."
"Why? What does a fourth grader like you want from a second grader such as me? You already have a third grader for a lap dog, what else do you need, a servant?"
Soul's hands rolled into a fist and trembled in anger. Caleb simply smiled and said,
"Soul's not a lap dog, he's my friend. Unlike those people who surround you everyday, those are what you call lap dogs. As for servants I already have hundreds of those at home. Now about my proposal..."
Draco didn't let him finished as he attacked him, but the young boy was quicker than Draco thought.
"How...how did you..."
"As I was saying, let's have a fight right here right now. If you win I'll let you go, I'll never bother you again but if you lose....well, you'll join me, Soul and my sister and be our friend. That way you could find ways to defeat me, someday. Ready?"
"I was born ready." Draco replied.
The two boys fought above the school grounds, Soul stood watch as he used his magic to keep the two boys invisible as to not make the crowd panic. Draco was kicking, punching, throwing energy balls at Caleb, and Caleb simply, and easily evaded each attack. When Caleb saw his opponent slowly losing his strength he started to attack. A few punches here and there, a few kicks but the younger boy would not give up. Until the princess looked up, Draco, meeting her lavender eyes. Caleb saw that chance and immediately, he tackled the second grader on the roof and pinned him there
"You lose I win, you're our friend now. Be a man and keep your word." Caleb said with a triumphant grin on his face.
"What makes you think I'll keep it, I'm a second grader for crying out loud!"
"Ehh?" Caleb responded.
"He's right you know." Soul said as he shrugged.
"Oh I know you'll keep it, because I trust you." Caleb replied.
Draco pushed Caleb aside and dusted himself off as he looked down at the school's entrance to look at the Princess who was once again greeting everyone with a smile. He looked back and the two older boys were no where to be seen. The next day kids were suprised to see Draco trailing behind the loudest student of their elite school.
Yaten chuckled as he watched his past unfold before him. Then in a flash he remembered his first day at the palace and how happy he was to become his love's guardian.
Yaten remembered the days he and Princess Persephone spent together in the palace's music room and garden. Princess Persephone loved his voice and the way he played his violin and so they would usually meet at the music room or by the fountain at the palace garden.
"That was really good Draco. I love your compositions. I can't believe Caleb's stories about you being a school bully when you were younger. A bully could never create such sweet melodies. Plus you seem to get better and better everyday!" Princess Persephone praised.
"Well that's me, but I couldn't have done it without you Persephone, you're my inspiration." He replied with a smile as he made a mental note to get Caleb for telling her about his past younger self.
Princess Persephone scooped water from the fountain and threw it at him as she exclaimed,
"Yeah right!"
Draco blinked in surprise and wiped his face with the sleeve of his coat,
"Ah so the little princess wants to play huh?" Draco said as he pulled up his sleeves and prepared to splash water at Persephone.
The princess giggled and prepared for battle. They continued their harmless game and ended up all wet and laughing to their hearts' content.
The first day he saw Persephone he vowed that he'll never let anything hurt her or make her cry, that is until he learned of Persephone's admiration to Prince Alexis.
Everyday he would watch Princess Persephone make garlands out of tulips, daises and lavenders just for Alexis, hoping that one day she'd be able to give them to him.
"Draco, do you think he'd like this?" Princess Persephone asked one summer morning.
"Who?"
"Prince Alexis of course!"
"Sure he will." Draco replied as he sadly left, walking towards the gazebo.
'I swear Alexis, if you ever hurt her feelings I'll tear you apart limb from limb.' Draco swore to himself as he clenched his hands into a fist.
He remembered the sacrifices he made just to see the love of his life happy. That's why he hated Prince Alexis more that he hated the evil queen that threatened his princess's life. Prince Alexis was his beloved's love one and yet he ignores her which makes her sad and cry. He always wished that Prince Alexis would just drop dead and die but he knew how much that would sadden his princess so even if it hurts him he'd wish for the arrogant prince to finally notice her.
Yaten's anger in his heart was replaced by sadness as he watched and remembered his most painful memory, the death ceremony of Princess Persephone.
Since Princess Persephone's body disappeared, they settled with the paintings created by Princess Michelle. He played the violin one last time for his beloved as tears flowed out of his eyes. After the ceremony, Draco saw Prince Alexis go out of the throne room and into the garden. He followed him outside and said,
"This was her favorite place. Every morning she'd pick out the most beautiful flowers and make garlands out of them. She'd all make them just for you."
Prince Alexis just stood there with his head low and his back facing Draco,
"And do you know what else Alexis? I loved her, but she loved you and you did nothing but make her cry. You were always the reason behind her tears and I couldn't make all the pain go away because I'm not you. Were you too absorbed with yourself that you failed to notice her or were you just too dense to sense it?!" Draco continued.
Silence.
"What, you're still arrogant to talk to me huh oh almighty Prince Alexis of Uranus?!" Draco mocked.
"I was afraid." Prince Alexis said without looking at Draco's eyes.
"What?"
" I was afraid."
"Of what?"
Alexis lifted his head and stared at the dark sky before continuing,
"Of myself mostly, I was afraid that she won't like me or someday I might accidentally do something that might hurt her. I was afraid that I would never be enough of a man to be with her, to actually deserve someone like her. I know I'm a ver impatient person and I tend to lash out at people when things irritate me or when things don't go as planned or as ordered so I'm really afraid that one day she'd see what an ugly person I am. I'm afraid of myself, afraid that "my self" would hurt her unintentionally."
Draco's hand trembled in anger as he replied,
"You're an idiot but you're right about one thing. You should be afraid of your self because you have hurt her by just being you. By deciding that you don't deserve her and by deciding that you would cause her pain, you have indeed caused her pain. You've hurt her by ignoring her and her love for you. "
Alexis' eyes grew big when he realized that Draco was right. He looked at Draco for a brief moment and looked away immediately.
"It doesn't really matter now Draco." Alexis mumbled softly but Draco heard it perfectly.
Draco made him look at him before he grabbed him by his collar,
"If it weren't for you she could still be alive. If it weren't for you she wouldn't have been crying her heart out every single night, If it weren't for you...she could've been mine, but no. I decided to stay in the shadows so I could see her smile. I vowed to protect her and the man she'll love just to see her happy, even if it pains me. Damn you Alexis for all the pain you've caused her. Damn you!"
He was about to punch Alexis on the face but Casseopeia was able to catch his hand before it hit Alexis's face. Casseopeia ordered Draco to release Prince Alexis and said,
"Stop blaming him Draco, he's already had enough. Blaming one another won't bring our Princess back, so will you just stop it. Come on let's go in, the rain's about to pour."
The three of them entered the palace as the sky itself started to cry.
The last memory that ran through their heads was the same. The evil Queen was able to escape and attacked the Celestial Palace. Nephrite, Zoiste, Kunzite and Jaidite were already weak and can no longer fight. Prince Endymion enveloped the four of them in a protective ball of light and slowly they were lifted off the ground, flying them away from the palace.
"Someday we'll need you but for now you must leave so that you may survive." Prince Endymion said as he bid them farewell.
They tried to destroy the shield but failed, except for Casseopeia. With her ability to phase through anything she could easily get out, but before she did,
"I need to stay. I promised Princess Persephone that I'll protect her brother no matter what." Casseopeia said.
"Cassy, if you'll stay I'll stay." Caleb exclaimed.
"Shut up Caleb and don't be a fool. I love you brother and that's why you must live!"
Casseopeia touched her brother's forehead and said,
"Someday we'll meet and together we'll live, but for now your memories will become mine so that you'll never be bothered by the past you were forced to leave behind. Your lights will die but soon re-born once this spell is broken by powers stronger than mine."
After that Caleb fell asleep and a sky blue colored ball flew out of his head. Casseopeia did the same thing with Soul and Draco, collecting a lilac colored ball and lime colored ball from them. After that, Casseopeia phased through the barrier Prince Endymion created, transformed into Sailor Star Protector and fought Queen Akashtra.
At that moment the three starlights opened their eyes as tears continuously flowed down their eyes. They looked at Mamoru who was smiling back at them so they wiped their tears and kneeled in front of their Prince,
"Okairinasai (Welcome home) Caleb, Soul, and Draco. Please rise for at this moment I am not the person you know I am, I am just Chiiba Mamoru, your Physics teacher and we're going to be late if we remain standing here." Mamoru said.
They all stood up and lost their transformation. Together, they walked to Juuban high.
"So you're supposed to be my twin sister huh?" Seiya asked Calliope.
"Why, got a problem with that my lazy ass brother?" Calliope asked back.
"No-no-no, no problem at all." Seiya replied quite nervously.
"Your sister may have been re-born in a different family but she's still the old Casseopeia." Mamoru commented as everybody laughed.
"Mamoru, could I ask you something though?" Taiki asked.
"You're already asking one aren't you? But kidding aside, go ahead, as long as it's not about your assignment for today 'cause that'll be cheating." Mamoru replied.
Taiki smiled and asked,
"Before Princess Kakyuu died she told us about a girl we must protect. She told us to protect who we believe we must protect but once we find her we must protect her and her alone. I now realize that she was referring to Persephone, but how did she knew about all this?"
"When I was re-born and regained my identity as Prince Endymion. I've been sending messages outside the planet hoping that who ever found your re-born selves would receive it. Princess Kakyuu was the only one who responded and told me that she was able to break Casseopeia's spell so I explained to her your real identity. I asked her to send you back immediately once you reach the right age, she never answered me directly but she did tell me to wait." Mamoru explained.
"Ah souka..."
"What about you Cassy...I mean Calliope?" Seiya asked curiously.
"That's okay aniwe (1), you can call me Cassy if you want...anou...when Galaxia appeared, I already had those recurring dreams about who I really am. Finally, Helios appeared and gave me back my transformation item. When Galaxia died I secretly presented myself to Prince Endymion with the help of Helios of course and together we watched the three of you and waited for her arrival." Andre continued.
"So she's here?" Yaten asked
"Hai." Mamoru replied.
"Then who is she?!" Yaten asked impatiently.
Mamoru and Calliope stopped walking in front of the school gates and looked at each other,
"Well?" Yaten asked again growing more and more impatient by the minute,
"Princess Persephone..." Mamoru started.
"...is Tenou Haruko." Calliope ended as the school bell rang.
Tsuzuku…
A/N:
(1)
aniwe = brother..I think it's a more formal or kind of an old
traditional way of
addressing one's brother