AN: HEY! Thanks for the reviews! Hope you'll like this chapter too! (sorry I can't explain myself well enough to show you the images in my head but you get the idea) OK ENJOY!
It had been a few weeks, maybe even months but they had lost count. Serenity was locked up her bedroom where Endymion would abuse her everyday. She had never fought back though… she had lost the will to fight ever since Seiya died in her arms. After years of feeling trapped in her destiny, she had already started to lose hope in life. But now that Seiya was truly gone, she finally gave up. And Endymion was starting to get frustrated at her unresponsiveness that he took it out on her by slashing his sword on her pale smooth flesh. He never cut deep enough to kill her but it was enough to leave large scars and gashes. Unfortunately, Small Lady had hidden in their bedroom one day and she witnessed it. She cried loudly which annoyed Endymion. He beat her senseless until she stopped crying. But everytime after he hit her, he would apologize to his daughter and hold her tightly saying he didn't mean it.
The remaining senshi were held in dungeons below the palace, but their screams were heard each and every day as it rang through the dark corridors.
For a while, Mars had fought back the wraiths' daily tortures. But as the days went by, she was so badly burned by the rebound of her own attacks that could barely move. The wraiths took pleasure from slowly breaking every bone in her body, making her feel each break. After several months, she just laid on the dungeon floors waiting for death but never receiving it.
Venus was taken to a separate cell. She never moved, not even when the wraiths came to torture her. She would just lay there, thinking about death of her husband and unborn child. No physical injury they inflicted could hurt her as much as the pain of losing them.
Neptune and Uranus were chained in the same cell but far away from each other. The wraiths were instructed not to go near Uranus. Instead, they brutally mutilated Neptune... in front of Uranus. Several months had passed and she was barely recognizable from all the bruises and cuts. And Uranus could do nothing but watch as they tortured her lover everyday, begging for them to stop. But the more she begged, the harder the wraiths laughed as they tortured Neptune even more. And each time, Neptune's screams would fade as she lost consciousness from the pain and would not wake until the next day just to have the wraiths torture her once again. The once proud and strong Outer senshi were broken.
Saturn was captured when she went looking for Small Lady during the initial attack. But after a few months, she had escaped. She ran into Small Lady's room and found her and Miya huddled in the corner. They all ran out to the gardens in an attempt to escape. After a while, they realized they were followed so Saturn told the two to hide. As the younger girls hid behind the trees, Saturn stood to face the wraiths and Endymion. "I'm going to destroy everything." Deciding to release her powers of destruction, she raised her Glaive… but she was too slow. The wraiths had already swarmed her and knocked her to the ground. They choked her until she was unconscious and carried her back to the palace. It was the last time the girls saw Saturn.
Seeing her friend being dragged away, Small Lady had accidentally sobbed loudly. Endymion heard her and turned around to head towards the sound. Rime Star told Small Lady to be quiet then jumped out in order to distract the enemy. "You're still alive." His voice was cold and his face expressionless. She tried to fight him as she threw attacks at him, but he avoided them all easily. She saw him swing his sword and she jumped to the side to dodge it but she was too slow – It caught her stomach. Her flesh was ripped away, all the way down to her ankle as the sword pulled away. He stared silently at her as she lay on the floor bleeding uncontrollably. There was no emotion on his face as he turned away to leave. Small Lady had hurried to Rime Star's side after Endymion left and commanded the Luna Ball to heal Rime Star. She survived but it had left her the huge scar that ran down her side.
Haruka was holding Michiru and Hotaru closer as the two wept by her side.
"Small Lady then transformed me into a wraith to keep me hidden." She shuddered at the memories of living as a wraith – she recalled the feeling of darkness whilst living amongst them… and for a brief second, she felt her heart being consumed by a shadow.
"I stayed by the Time Gates to prevent the wraiths from contaminating the timeline. I had sealed myself in there so I couldn't even go help. But I still kept in contact with the girls, hoping to come up with a plan. It was then that I devised a way to send one of them back to this time without anyone detecting. It took a lot of time to prepare for it and we had to time it perfectly so that she would appear just before the Starlights returned to Earth. We had to keep Miya hidden because if Mamoru-san knew of her, then his future self, Endymion would know as well and instruct the wraiths to focus attacks on Taiki and Ami."
"Why didn't Chibi-Usa come?" Usagi asked.
Pluto had expected that question. "Endymion has Small Lady guarded by wraiths. So if Small Lady disappears, he will know. Since he thinks that Miya is dead, he won't be looking for her." Pluto hesitated, deciding whether or not to tell Usagi what will happen to Chibi-Usa, "Small Lady could never hurt you or Mamoru intentionally because despite everything that Endymion had done, Small Lady still loves him as a father. She's just like you Usagi-san – her heart is willing to forgive and even love the people who hurt her."
"But what will happen to her now?" Hotaru had whispered so quietly but they heard it clearly in the silent room. Deep down, everyone knew the answer but their suspicions were confirmed when Miya bit her lip and stared away as Pluto closed her eyes and shook her head. Hotaru burst into tears knowing that she would never see her best friend again. Everyone else had turned miserable with this knowledge. Usagi had taken it the hardest as she started to shake and cry uncontrollably. Seiya had wrapped his arms around her shoulders in an attempt to calm her. She flinched hard and brushed his arm away.
"No. I can't do that to her. I can fix my relationship with Mamo-chan and Chibi-Usa will be born again." She continued to shake her head and sob.
There was something that Miya had yet to tell Usagi – it was a message from Chibi-Usa. Miya had thought to keep this message to herself unless she was forced to tell it. She knew that no one… no parent… should hear it but after hearing Usagi say that she will return to Mamoru, she had to tell her. Miya was shaking in anger but kept it under control. From before, she knew yelling at Usagi will not dissuade her from her decision to be with Mamoru. This message was her last resort. She stood up sharply and walked over to Usagi, keeping her head down while keeping her voice quiet, yet strong.
"Small Lady knew you were going to say that. She said she wants you to be happy with the one you love. She also told me… she told me to tell you that even if you ever decide to return to Mamoru-san, don't give birth to her because she doesn't want to be born anymore!" The young girl bolted out the room, leaving Usagi in shock. She had loved her daughter so much; the thought of seeing her again was the only thing that kept her going the past year after the Starlights left. But now, Usagi believed that own daughter hated life so much that she asked not to be born… and the thought upset her greatly. She buried her head in her hands as she grieved for the pink-haired child that would never exist.
In fact, Chibi-Usa didn't hate life… she just wanted to prevent Usagi from being with Mamoru. Since she knew her mother only remained with her father for her sake, Chibi-Usa was willing to sacrifice her life in exchange for the lives of everyone else. Erasing herself from existence, Chibi-Usa hoped to discourage Usagi from following 'destiny' and follow her heart instead.
Seiya sighed and stood up to follow the girl who had ran out the door. Seiya knew Usagi would not welcome his comfort so he decided to speak with Miya instead. Taiki and Ami started to get up as well, but he told them he would bring her back. They nodded and sat back down.
He found Miya sitting on the top steps of the shrine, her head laid on her knees that she pulled to her chest. She wasn't going to cry anymore… she was tired of crying so she sat quietly. He sat down next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, making his presence known to her.
"Seiya…" she lifted her head to see him smiling at her.
"It must have been hard but we're all here now." Hearing his kind words, she smiled weakly at him. They turned to look at the now night sky in silence until she spoke up after a while. He could hear the strain in her voice, trying to be strong.
"I told Small Lady that she should have been the one to come. She's a princess and I'm suppose to protect her but I left her there alone. She should be the one here, not me."
"That may be true," Seiya continued to stare at the sky, "but I'm glad I met you even if you were Seito-san at the time. We had fun." He turned to face her and he saw her eyes glisten with tears of joy.
Her whole face lit up as she smiled, "You've always been my favorite uncle Sei-jiji"
"Of course I am Mimi." He winked and smiled lovingly at her and pulled her in for a hug.
In his arms, it reminded her of all the time he tucked her into bed when her parents were busy working. Miya felt safe and comforted as she remembered the peaceful days of her short childhood. She started to hum a tune that her Sei-jiji or parents would sing to her. Seiya recognized it has an old lullaby from Kinmouku… one that the Starlights sang for their Princess Kakyuu when she was a child. He joined in to sing whilst pulling her onto his lap. As Miya fell asleep, Seiya brushed the hair from her face and finished the lullaby gazing at the stars. Holding the sleeping girl tenderly, he stood up and headed back inside the temple.
**Please review**I'm sure you know the drill by now ;)