Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon.
Yay for stories not being dead! I recently had someone ask me if this was going to be continued, begging me to not abandon it. Well rest assured, NONE of my stories will ever be abandoned. It might just take some time to get around to writing more. Although, with the new SM series coming out in another month or so, I might be in the mood to get this finished by then...depending on whether or not I find a job. Cause I seriously need to find one soon. Anyway, that's way off topic, so please be sure to read and review! Hope you enjoy it!
Endymion lay on the floor of the hallway. The pain in his chest had slowly grown worse every time he tried to move. A voice sounded from behind him.
"It really is no use you know." Chigau spoke.
"What...what did you do to me? Why does my chest hurt?" Endymion managed to mumble.
"Your chest hurts? That would explain why you're just lying there. Sadly however, I don't know what that's all about. Honestly, I had nothing to do with that. That's just an...unexpected bonus, I guess we could call it." Chigau tilted her head as she listened to noises coming down the hallway.
She sighed. "Well it looks like someone's coming, so unfortunately you can't stay here." She turned and motioned towards two of her guards who had been standing outside the bedroom door. "Take him to Neo Queen Serenity's chambers. Tell her that Helios saw. She'll deal with him from there."
The two guards lifted Endymion up off the floor and carried him effortlessly away from the approaching footsteps. Chigau slipped off and opened a doorway further down the hall, slipping into the empty room.
From the urgency of the steps she figured at least one of them was Helios, and if so, she wanted to see what would happen.
xXxXxXx
Chibi-Usa and I rounded the corner and headed towards Endymion's bedroom. The door was open.
I walked in and found the room empty.
"He's not here." I told her.
"And neither is she." Chibi-Usa replied. "Helios, are you sure you know what you saw?"
I looked at her, hurt clear on my face. "Of course I know what I saw."
She nodded gently and said, "Okay. I didn't mean to doubt you."
I sighed. "I know. We need to find him. Or her."
We walked back out into the hallway.
xXxXxXx
A knock sounded on the door. "Come in." she called.
The doors opened wide and two guards walked in carrying an unconscious man. They held him up while they spoke with the Queen.
"Why is he unconscious?" Serenity asked.
"He passed out on the way here, Ma'am. Said something about his chest hurting." one of them told her.
"Hm." she pondered. That was an unforeseen event.
"We were also told to tell you that Helios saw." the other one stated.
The confusion on Serenity's face was quickly replaced with an evil smirk. "Good. Go ahead and lay him on the bed. After that you may report back to Chigau."
The guards did as told and shut the door behind them.
Serenity walked over and stared at the face of the man who was once her husband. Who still was the love of her life. The one who'd destroyed her heart and nearly made her the laughing stock of all the Kingdoms.
"I don't know why he was complaining of pain. But it's an added bonus." Not knowing whether he could actually hear her or not, she leaned down and whispered into his ear, "You will pay for what you did. You will suffer pain so unbearable you'll wish you were dead. Because that's what you did to Usagi and myself."
She stood and pondered him over for a few more minutes. He looked peaceful. She wanted to tear that peace to shreds.
Serenity walked back over to the window and resumed gazing out at the moon. Centuries ago she'd fallen for him right up there, in her own kingdom. It was only fitting that he be destroyed in his own.
xXxXxXx
We searched everywhere, but no one knew where the King was.
A dull ache had started to spread through my chest and eventually it became hard to breathe.
"Chibi-Usa," I panted, "We need to stop a moment."
She looked at me, worry clear on her face. "What's wrong?"
"I can't...I...I can't breathe...right...Something isn't right." Every word was taxing and I started to get dizzy. The last thing I remembered before I blacked out was Chibi-Usa running to get help and my head hitting the floor.
xXxXxXx
She stood over top of him. That silly little Princess had run off to get him help. She could kill him here and now, slit his throat and it would be done with. He was such a disgusting little thing, wasn't he? All this pain and suffering over a man that wasn't even handsome. It was such a shame really.
As much as she wanted to, she couldn't. If he wasn't around to endure the pain that the Queen had set up for him then the deal was off. She wasn't going to risk loosing a guaranteed foothold in Crystal Tokyo over one slit throat.
Chigau walked off. She needed to find her nephew and tell him the good news: he was going to be King.
xXxXxXx
Moaning drew Serenity's attention from the window. She looked over to the bed. Endymion lay there, clutching his chest. She rushed over and kneeled next to him.
"What's wrong?" Worry laced her voice. She may have hated, despised and loathed him, wanted him to suffer but she still was concerned by this amount of physical pain. After all, through everything that he'd done, she still somehow managed to love him.
"My...chest..." he managed to gasp out.
Serenity held her hands over his body as a faint white glow encased them. Gently moving them back and forth, she gasped loudly when she got to his heart.
Stumbling backwards, she covered her mouth in horror. "What have I done?"
Those were the only words that ran through her mind, repeating themselves over and over as Endymion took his final breaths.
xXxXxXx
I woke with Chibi-Usa and the court physician kneeling over me.
"Helios!" Chibi-Usa's voice rang out, relief flooding her face. "Are you all right?"
I slowly sat up. "Besides an ache in my head and neck, surprisingly yes, I'm fine."
A guard walked over to us and all three of us looked up at him. His eyes met mine and his deep voice rang out, reverberating through the hall. "I've been ordered to bring you and the Princess to her chambers. There's something urgent she needs to discuss with you both."
I looked at Chibi-Usa and stood, grabbing onto the physician for balance. After a moment I said, "I'll be fine. And if anything seems truly wrong, I promise I will come see you."
Minutes later we were shown into the Queens room. There on the bed, sleeping, lay Endymion.
As much as I wanted to rush to his side and wake him I knew better. I knelt and addressed Serenity. "Your Majesty."
"Mama, why is Daddy here and what did you want to see us about?" Chibi-Usa asked her.
Serenity took a deep breath. That was when I noticed that her face was tear-stained and her eyes were all puffy and red. Her voice was thick as she replied. "Usagi, Helios. I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry."
"Mama...what happened?" Chibi-Usa wondered, her voice dripping with worry.
A horrific thought popped into my mind and I jerked my head over to Endymion. I rushed over to him and tried to wake him. When he didn't respond I placed my ear to his chest and dread struck me like a knife.
"He's dead." My voice came out in a hoarse whisper. I turned and found Chibi-Usa had taken a few steps towards me. Tears covered her cheeks. Apparently while I'd been checking on him, Serenity had told her daughter the news.
I fell to the floor. A new wave of tears burned at my eyes. I croaked out, "What happened?"
Serenity wiped her face. Licking her lips she replied, "Helios...I made a horrible mistake. I just wanted him to be hurt the way he hurt Usagi and myself. I wanted to make him wish he were dead, not actually die."
"What did you do Mama!" Chibi-Usa asked sternly, turning towards her mother and staring at her with cold eyes.
The Queen slumped down onto the floor, holding her arms around herself. She looked at me and continued. "I made a deal with Chigau. If she helped me break up you and Endymion, I would guarantee that Usagi would wed her nephew. But I wasn't counting on this to happen. I didn't want him dead. You have to believe that."
Chibi-Usa let the tears flow freely now as she ran from the room.
I watched her leave and wished I could go with her. But I knew I couldn't. Not yet. "How? How did he die?" I asked. It was the only thing I could think of to ask.
Serenity took a deep breath. "The Golden Crystal. You're the keeper of it, even now. When I broke your heart, I broke the Crystal and that killed him, just like if something were to happen to the Silver Crystal, something would happen to me. In my blind quest for vengeance I forgot all about it. I forgot about the thing that connected the two of you in the first place, the thing that brought you two together from the very start."
I nodded my head. In truth, I'd forgotten about it as well. "When did he die?"
"Just minutes before I sent for you." she told me. I knew it was true. She had no reason to lie, not now.
"About the time I blacked out." So that was why. Now my chest hurt, but I knew it was more because of Endymion's death than because of the connection of the Crystal.
I slumped against the bed, turning my head to face him. "I wish he looked peaceful. He didn't even get that much."
The only other noise in the room was the sound of Serenity sobbing.
xXxXxXx
Chibi-Usa ran. She wasn't even paying attention to where she was going. She went around a corner and bumped into someone, knocking both of them down to the ground.
Looking up she saw that it was Koibito. Rage filled her eyes as her mother's words came back to her.
"You!" she shouted. "You were part of it! The entire time you knew you were guaranteed to be picked because of your Aunt's deal! You're part of the reason my father is dead!"
Koibito looked at her in confusion. "Princess, what are you talking about? What do you mean your father is dead?"
"Don't lie to me!" Her throat hurt and her words were harsh but she continued to scream at him. "I don't ever want to see you or your Aunt here again! You had better get out of this Kingdom now, because if you don't, I will have you killed!" She stood, towering over him.
"Princess," Koibito stood as well and bowed, keeping his voice as even as could, "I'm sorry to hear of your loss, but I truly don't know what you're talking about."
"I SAID GET OUT!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, shoving him to the floor again. She ran off a moment later.
He stood one more time, brushing himself off. He needed to go find his Aunt and find out what the in the world was going on.