A/N: Thanks for the reviews once again!
Spirit of the Dead: Lol, doesn't really seem like I've let anyone get a break in this story. And time will answer that but I do like happy endings so...
aquafina rain: Because I end up taking forever to update my stories probably. XD That's definitely good to hear, but you definitely don't need to make my head any bigger than it is already. While I love the idea of a more emotionally open Hiei, pretty sure we can all agree that nothing beats our original snarky, fire demon. And glad to hear that someone enjoyed seeing Yukina get a little spotlight; I've often felt she's majorly overlooked and too easily thrown into a love interest role. It's like, hello, she's an ice demon with awesome powers and has no qualms about using them if you make her mad. Lol, only time and waiting will answer the question of happiness. And don't worry, I definitely haven't forgotten about Kizami...in fact, you'll see him again in this chapter.
Mew Aqua Spirit: Well yes and no, it was just the one time. But besides this one time here, all time-related things will be Setsuna's responsibility. I've just always been intrigued by the fact that Hotaru and Setsuna's power are technically 'swapped' if we're going by Greek-Roman mythos (and it's just one of those ideas I've always wanted to put into writing). So I figure the gods Cronus and Pluto would be a little caring over those who've received their powers, kind of like daughter figures. Unfortunately, this also makes Kizami correct about the Hades/Persephone story so it really does beg the question of how much this guy uncovered when he was trying to usurp Saturn's power. Maybe we'll see some flashbacks in this chapter? *shot*
SissyPerigrin: Sorry I wasn't able to give a personal response the first time, but thanks for joining in reading my story! I really appreciate it. Lol, what I can tell you is that Cronus (who was once the protector/guardian) took pity on Hotaru and allowed her to make a timeline that suited her but only in so many words (he can't bring back someone who was already meant to be dead, like Kuronue, etc.). By sacrificing her Cronus Key (the same kind Pluto gives to ChibiUsa in the series), he allows her to do such but she can't time travel or dimension hop ever again. As for whether everything turned out fantastic...let's find out.
Evangeline11: Not a problem lol, I'm getting slower and slower with my updates! Aaah! I generally surprised that so many people want a happy ending or at least something good to happen soon...makes me feel like a bad writer. XD
She felt...cold concrete beneath her cheek.
It was dark, probably the middle of the night.
Had long had she been gone? A day? Two days? Not even a single one?
Opening her eyes, she pushed on her hands and pulled herself into a sitting position. From the looks of it...this was the park, the same one where she and Hiei had met. It looked just as abandoned as it had the day they met, the equipment aging with disuse. Not to mention, it was extremely quiet. She couldn't even hear any nearby cars or bicycles or anything that could have been passing above on the nearby bridge where that gang had attacked her at the underpass.
Standing up, she looked around, able to see only as far as the street lights allowed her. Her leather bag was still draped over her shoulder, only, it felt a tad lighter than usual. Her Cronos Key was gone now, gone forever. She would never be able to time travel or dimension hop again, not even if the senshi required her powers elsewhere. They would have to fight that kind of battle on their own. Her henshin wand, amongst other things, made up the normal weight of the bag telling her all should be right with this world...or so she hoped.
Removing the henshin wand, she prepared herself to call Saturn but stopped...something happened to cross her mind. If Setsuna had moved them from a different time line then why hadn't she restored Hotaru's memories yet? She could only collect bits and pieces and even those were skewed; the pieces she did recall only coming to her because she had information that was indeed another time line. And another thing, why had Saturn shown her those memories of Hiei's past if she knew there was a chance that she (Hotaru) may try and time jump again? It didn't really make sense when you thought about it...of all the things to be worrying about at the moment but...the worry was still there. In fact, there were a lot of things worrying her at the moment; she had more questions than she had answers.
What about the Inner Senshi? The Outer Senshi? The Spirit Detective group? Were they...okay now? Was everything back to normal? In the long run, she knew her happiness didn't matter...as long as these people, her friends, were happy then that was all she really needed.
Well, now was a better time than any to ask Saturn her questions. Channeling as much of her spirit and willpower as she could into her henshin wand, she hoped that Saturn would take notice and allow the wand to draw her spirit to it. She'd gone too long without feeling like a whole person; without Saturn beside her, she may as well have been cut in-half.
"Saturn..." Hotaru sighed happily, the surge of the warrior's mystical essence flowing throughout her body.
"Hotaru." Ethereal hands wrapped around her neck from behind in a semi-hug...Saturn wasn't too familiar with the idea but had taken her own approach to hugs either way. Hotaru was back and was safe, nothing else mattered. They were one person again.
"Oh Saturn, I've got so much to tell you!" Hotaru nearly shouted, whirling around to meet the hazy image of the warrior who floated just a few feet from her. "Well, not all of them are good things. I kind of...kind of got us banned from time traveling and dimension hopping. Sorry about that..." And that's when it hit her...she hadn't...she hadn't made any wish for Saturn to Cronus! But...Saturn was still here with her only...she was the Saturn with the dark past. The dark past that involved an exile and sentence to eternal slumber but then again...that is what made the warrior who she was right? She couldn't imagine Saturn acting any other way. So everything was okay...right?
"That's doesn't matter as long as you're safe, Hotaru." the warrior stated matter of factly, crossing her arms in concern. "Did you...did you finish what you set out to accomplish?"
Hotaru gave a small smile, "Well...not exactly. You see, I realized something. No matter what we want, time is never going to stop and it's definitely not going to go in the direction we want it to no matter what. We're slaves to time, and the only thing we can do is let it run its course." Those words were Hiei's, and she'd never forget them. "I think that's why Setsuna does such a good job as Time Guardian. She's much more mature than I am." Here, Hotaru laughed, a thankful one. While she and Saturn carried an equally troublesome burden on their backs, there were some tasks better left to the professionals.
"I see..." Saturn replied, not entirely understanding what had transpired, "Well, as long as you've learned your lesson then I think you've matured quite nicely." Now it was Saturn's turn to smile albeit a small and sad-looking one, "Come on then, the others must be worried sick about you by now."
"Just how long was I gone?"
"No more than a few hours." Hotaru blinked in surprise...that was the guess she would have made but that good considering they still needed time to prepare themselves for Kizami's attack. Time really was a strange thing... "Are you ready?"
"Yep! Let's go home!"
"...YOU'RE...NOT...GOING...ANYWHERE..."
The petite girl stopped in her tracks and slowly turned to look over her shoulder. What she see then...rivaled every nightmare and vision she'd ever had in her life.
It was Kizami. He was bloody, beaten, and looked to be on the verge of death. His right arm appeared to be broken if the way he was carrying it was any indication, his clothes were covered in slash marks and look singed at the edges. Certain portions that showed his skin also appeared to be burned. And if her eyes weren't deceiving her, that damn Taioron Crystal was hanging around his neck. Just what had happened to him? Had the senshi gotten a hold of him first? Had Hiei?
"You...fucking bitch..." he spat out, spraying blood as he spoke, two thin rivulets stuck running down the corners of his mouth. "You fucking humans...ruin everything! First the Moon Kingdom, and now...my own! Do you think anyone wanted your mercy, bitch? ...attack me and leave me to die...the ghouls from the Netherworld tried to rip my soul apart!"
What on Earth was he mumbling about? The ghouls from the Netherworld attacked him? So much for being king...they must have caught wind of his defeat and tried to take over the throne. He was lucky to be alive...but that wouldn't be the case for much longer if things were headed where she thought they were.
"So now...what am I? Powerless and beaten...a nobody...I hope you're fucking happy, you bitch. I hope you enjoy your realms merging together...at least I tried to do it with some grace and finesse! Those LESSER demons and ghouls won't hesitate to open a portal into your world. Do you get what I saying?" Here Kizami coughed and hacked up more blood, a small puddle beginning to form around his feet...how was he even standing at this point? It wouldn't be much longer until he succumbed to blood loss or so she hoped.
"Do you get what I'm saying? This battle is far from over! And so is my dream! I wanted...I wanted you, Lady Saturn and only you. I could have been...happy with that. But again these fucking humans ruin everything. But now...this body is almost at its limit. But I've thought of a new way for us to be together for all of eternity. I'll force that fucking human's soul of that body and use the destructive power of Saturn to destroy the entire world! It will be glorious...beautiful! We'll be together in death. How fitting...romantic."
"You shut up, you freak!" Hotaru shouted, surprising even the see-through warrior that stood by her side. "You're not getting anywhere near me or Saturn. I don't care how strong you are! In this state, even I'm more than enough to take you on."
"Hotaru, don't do anything rash." Saturn warned, but the girl only shook her head.
"Don't worry Saturn we can take him. I know we can!"
"You bitch, how dare you talk to me like that! I'm actually doing your pathetic world a favor! In just a few hours, your world will be nothing but a battlefield, overrun with the demons of Makai and the ghouls of the Netherworld. Wouldn't a nice guy try and stop that?" he asked sarcastically with a laugh, a hideous crazed laughter. "...time to die." he whispered before mustering as much strength as possible, a visible aura collecting around his broken husk of a body. With an inhuman scream, the power from the aura collected itself and shot out like a beam straight for her; his eyes and mouth filled with bright, white light. There was no way for her to dodge, it was too fast...she'd need a miracle to get out of the way in time.
But that miracle never came.
"Aaah!" The first scream was Hotaru's, one done in pure agony as the beam hit her head-on, effectively allowing Kizami's tainted soul to enter her body. Almost instantly, her eyes widened, her pupils as large as dinner plates, as she collapsed to her knees and hugged her arms around her. She was in pain...everything hurt...but her mind was so numb she'd lost the ability to scream. She felt like...tearing out her own eyeballs. The pain was so intense. This was what it was like to have 3 souls inhabiting the same body at a single time...just like back then with Mistress 9.
"No Hotaru, you have to fight him!" Saturn yelled out, taking control of the body, her cry piercing the night as Hotaru pushed back through to regain control.
"I'm trying! I won't...give in to him! No matter how strong he is...no matter...how painful it may be...I won't give in! Aaah!"
He felt...cold wind brush against his face.
Perched high on a construction beam that overlooked the city, he stood with face emotionless and hands hidden within his cloak.
How much longer would he have to wait? He was anxious for battle, the very thought of the carnage and destruction he could cause to the false king the only thing that kept his mind from...from her.
That stupid little girl wouldn't get out of his mind. He knew it was pointless to worry about her; the Pluto-woman had told him that much. However, she was without the protection of that warrior spirit and her weapon...and if she disappeared...
The smell blood in the air hit his nose dead on. As a demon, he knew that particular smell above all others, but oddly enough, there was something off about it. The blood didn't belong to a human nor to another demon. It smelt...dead. As if necrosis had settled in the bloodstream and turned the liquid rotten; the only thing that smell could have belonged to was an undead. The longer he stood, the stronger the smell became and the more the fire demon had the urge to vomit...it was practically overpowering at this point.
So...some undead creature was wondering around this human town? It was really none of his business but the longer he waited to do something about it, the quicker the Spirit Detective and his team would be called together to thwart it. Still, he couldn't rightfully say his curiosity wasn't peaked...undead generally didn't exist in the Makai unless someone was bringing them back and forcing them to do their bidding. So then, perhaps there was another demon involved. Of all things, it was highly unlikely a ghoul managed to cross over from the Netherworld.
A scream shattered the silence of his thoughts...that scream was familiar. He could clearly put a face to the voice and his eyes shot open.
In a flash, Hiei disappeared in a flash of black and headed for the source of the scream.
"Come on, you fucking bitch, just give in already!"
Hotaru felt her entire body shudder, like someone was plunging a knife into her skin over and over...nevermind one knife, it felt more like a million. Oh God...she had to hold on...she couldn't let him take over her body...if he did, he was going to destroy the planet. He was going to destroy the future she had managed to create for everyone. Was everything...really going to be for nothing...? No! But...it was getting so hard to hold on, her strength was running out...
She couldn't even stand on her feet anymore, now reduced to rolling on her back on the ground in pain. She would have looked a sight had there been any passerby, and she was thankful there were none. She knew she couldn't get anyone else caught up in this. Besides, it would be impossible for her to reach her communicator at this point.
She winced in pain, shot her eyes back open, then winced again. Through the pain, she managed to pull her eyes open again...someone was there. But who? Her vision was starting to get blurry. That someone quickly grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her up, her body flaring up in even more pain as a response.
"What's happening to you? Tell me!" the person demanded as they violently shook her back and forth. It wasn't just any old person, she knew that voice.
"Hiei...help me..." she whispered, immediately screaming out in pain afterward as she buried her face into his chest, his grip on her shoulders never ceasing.
Without warning, and with strength uncommon to the small girl, she pushed and threw him backward. Hiei landed a few feet away, expertly landing on his own two feet as the small girl drew back. Her body shuddered a few times before the girl calmly climbed to her feet, slowly lifting her head with a maniacal smile...eyes an ugly red color that didn't suit her body.
"Stay back swordsman, this body belongs to me now."
Almost as soon as Kizami had pushed through, Hotaru's hand flew to her head and gripped them in pain. His soul was pushed back for a brief moment before the Saturnian warrior gained control.
"Listen to me and listen to me good. I don't have much time to explain this. You have to stop Kizami, even if that means killing Hotaru and myself. To fully defeat him, we must...we must destroy his soul for good. The only way we can do that is through the use of that dragon of yours." Saturn explained quickly, the eyes back to the placid purple color of the warrior, only they were much harder and wear-worn than Hotaru's. "What are you waiting for? Kill us! Now!"
Time felt as if it had slowed again...he had to make a choice, and fast. The fire demon could feel his eyes waver back and forth in uncertainty, his well-crafted mask beginning to crack and slip as emotion shown through. Why...why did it have to be him? Why did he have to make this choice? His mind went blank...killing something, or rather, someone had never proved so difficult before. He'd killed complete strangers without remorse. Countless bandits and other thieving comrades had fallen to his sword before his code had been constructed, a swift stab in the back after the deed was done so that he could claim the spoils. But never had he...faced something like this. To kill someone with whom a connection had been formed...an ally. Not only would he be doing the world an injustice by killing a great warrior who's true power he'd yet to see, but also the innocent little girl that was attached to her.
"Hiei, please!" Hotaru's scream broke him from his trance, his left hand absentmindedly going to his right hand, ready to undo the bandages like some kind of machine. Why didn't his mind order his hands to stop? He couldn't do this...he couldn't break his code...he couldn't kill Hotaru...
"I...I forgive you." Hotaru managed before her body convulsed again, somehow managing to have stayed on her feet throughout the ordeal. By now, multiple cuts had begun to appear on her body, tiny spurts of blood following the cuts from the massive aura around them. She was in pain...he had to end this.
She said...I forgive you.
What else do you have to fear?
When the fighting stopped, he held me...
He set down his sword, and I began to think...
One day, I want him to hold me for a much different reason...
I don't want to fight anymore...
When he awoke, or rather, when the fire demon broke his thousand yard stare, he saw nothing. The area was empty, devoid of life...not even the sounds of the humans that occupied the city dared make a sound. He stood motionless, hand outstretched still and face contorted in disbelief; his right arm no longer suffering the injuries the dragon had once caused him. What had happened...why was he here?
Oh right...he'd killed Hotaru.
...disintegrated her soul with the Dragon of the Darkness Flame to where not even a burned and charred figure lined the ground.
He lowered his hand, closed his eyes and gaping mouth before allowing his mask to return. What was done was done...he'd broken his code of never attacking a true ally. That annoying little girl that plagued his thoughts, that tried to heal his injuries, that tried follow after him when he just wanted to be alone...she was gone.
Hiei walked a few steps forward, slow unsure steps on the concrete pavement below. Overhead, the sky began to grow rather dark, much darker than what would be expected of a typical nighttime sky. Thunder rumbled overhead as more dark clouds made their way overhead, and a flash of lightning signal the oncoming torrent of rain. Dark gray spots littered the pavement beneath his feet, the spot merging together to turn the entire thing in to a dark, wet mass as the rain increased heavily. This storm had practically come from nowhere...
However, despite the downpour, something managed to catch his eye. Where Kizami's abandoned, broken body had once laid, there lay a crystal. Without a soul, the body had no chance of resurrecting and no longer proved a threat to anyone...it's absence wasn't much of a concern. More than likely, when Kizami's soul was oblierated, the body had simply followed suit without a soul to inhabit it. Kizami's corpse was a rotting, walking undead...in all essence of the matter, a ghoul from the Netherworld. That explained the smell that had assaulted his nose. The rain had begun to make quick work of the bloody puddle left behind by the false king, making it appear as if nothing had happened here. But that crystal...why didn't the crystal disappear along with him? Surely it was something that...it didn't matter, the crystal was broken anyways...shattered into a thousand pieces. Now that he thought about it, the crystal must have shattered due to the blast radius of his attack.
Why he bothered to concern himself with the crystal was a mystery, perhaps it was just a way his mind trying to divert him from the truth of Hotaru's death. And it wasn't as if he fancied the idea of taking the thing with him...Hotaru had proven many times she despised this thing so taking it with him would be pointless. No...there was no keepsake left behind...there was no trace left in this world that Hotaru Tomoe continued to exist.
He couldn't stand around here for very long, he knew that. His resilience would keep him safe from the rain and a fever, but the news of Hotaru's death would not go unnoticed for very long. In fact...this may have been the reason for the impromptu storm...if that legend about the Celestial Warriors was 100 percent true. He'd recalled the story during the Dark Tournament, a story he hadn't given much thought to as a child. But, one of the very last lines of that story mentioned that if one of the warriors were to ever die of unforeseen circumstances, then the world would be thrown into disarray and chaos as it would be devoid of one its necessary elements. After all...death and destruction were an imminent part of life, as was rebirth, and this was true for both humans and demons. Perhaps the Pluto-woman already knew...
Without warning something floated in front of his face, a small orb of whitish-light outlined by a purple glow. It was tiny and small but gave off a warm energy...a familiar one...
"Hotaru?!" he gasped, quickly reaching out for the orb. Despite his great speed, the orb slipped through his hands, separated into six pieces, and flew off into different directions. Just...what was that?
The time is the Silver Millennium. The scene is the Saturnian palace, Titan Castle.
A young man with dark-black hair and ominous looking purple eyes heads down a corridor, his destination firmly set into his mind. He laughs to himself, hands shoved deep into his pockets to keep his excitement under control.
His name is unknown to the Saturnian royalty despite him being one of their people, but knows it won't be long before everyone knows of his existence; the Saturnian royalty, the Lunarian royalty, and even the Gods themselves.
Just recently, he'd gotten a hold of something quite wonderful. His prize takes him weeks to obtain, and a long drawn-out plan that involves shadowing the adviser of the Saturnian royalty until the man knew his routine perfectly. While the adviser sleeps, he creeps in and steals as many keys as he can find. Pardon his excitement, but all the knowledge the royals sought to keep hidden were about to be out on display for everyone to see.
He began in the library, sneaking in after hours when the caretaker had turned in for the night. He meticulously pours over books, learning about the dawn of time and creation of man. He reads on as many subjects as his mind can handle a night before having to retreat back to his own room on the outskirts of the palace. He eventually comes across a marked-off section, one that even the royals themselves feared to dwell on for too long. It concerns topics like black magic, necromancy, the netherworld, demons, ghouls, and other things of the sort.
When his mind is satiated with reading, he begins to copy down spells and rituals and performs them en masse until he becomes quite the little warlock. Quite pleased with himself, he continues to take his chances with the other locked doors. One room leads him to a giant glass case that housed a glowing orb. He know this orb, but only from his readings in the library...if one knew how, one could converse with the very Gods of old with it. The Gods were real, not some simple child's fairytale. To keep himself hidden, he restrains himself from activating the orb, instead reciting to himself the very story he'd come to love; The Rape of Persephone. It's romantic and beautiful, and the more his powers over the dead and undead grow, the more the man begins to see himself as the new Hades. Now all he needed is a Persephone and his life would be perfect...well, that and the power to rule the entire Cosmos, of course.
When it comes down to his last key, he has no doubt to where it leads. Only, this door will be much trickier to enter as it is located underground. Somehow, he manages to sneak in and chalks it up to fate. Wonderful, beautiful fate. The door is old, made of rotting wood, and it creaks like a dying animal when the hinges swing back. Almost immediately, the door descends downward by way of a staircase; the stairwell is just barely lit with torches that are in an obvious state of disrepair.
Again, the man shoves his hands down into his pockets to control his excitement, the fingers of his left hand absentmindedly twirls something between them as best they can. He can feel sweat break out all over his body as his muscles begin to tremble and lock up, making walking a very difficult task indeed. He pauses only for a moment, his right hand coming up to brace himself on the stone wall...he was so close, he couldn't stop now.
The temperature feels normal although admittedly the air is a little musty. Surprisingly, there is no great aura, no terrifying or threatening feel to the air. So then...just where was the princess of Saturn?
After all, these were her holding chambers, were they not? Her disgusting parents and the do-good Queen Serenity feared her powers and had her locked away deep underground in the bowels of the palace. Here, she was forced into an eternal slumber although from what he read in a journal in the library, the spell wasn't always absolute and sometimes the princess would wake from her slumber and cry and scream in despair. That thought alone is enough to make a perverted grin creep across his face, a red line across his cheeks accompanying his thoughts. Now, now, he had to keep himself in control...the princess was more than likely malnourished, being granted the mere minimum of food sources to be kept alive. In other words, she was definitely not fuckable, at least not to where their joining would be beautiful to suit him.
A few stone steps bring him to the bottom, and to his intended target.
By the Gods...she is so lovely. He can only imagine what she looked like when she was overflowing with power and vitality, ready to bring that massive Glaive weapon down upon the heads of the unworthy and righteous alike. Death kills indiscriminately, so shouldn't his princess? Death to anyone who opposes him...he laughs. She is shackled, wrists and ankles, both links of chain keeping her in place on the wall. A think rung of chain winds its way under her neck to hold it up and keep the bones and cartilage in their rightful place. A dirty blindfold is wound around her eyes, and this makes him frown. He wants, wishes, for her to look upon and see him as her savior.
He walks forward and bends to one knee, trying to keep himself on eye-level with his princess, his Goddess. Silently, he pulls the blindfold, breathe uneven as it hitches in his throat. He's overcome then, unable to stop himself from reaching forward and cupping her face, leaning in close to catch her scent...beautiful. She may have been an exile but she was still a royal...someone certainly had been coming in here to take care of her. He envied and hated that very person, asking why that position did not fall to him.
However, he finds it too hard to stay angry in her presence and his smile resumes. He swiftly moves his lips to her forehead, then both eyelids, letting them linger as long as he dared. Waking her was no concern of his, in fact, he relished in the thought. He moves his lips to hers finally, seemingly trepid in his movements when actually he is forcing himself to stay gentle and go no farther than that.
What happens next is sort of a blur to me...I remember being found out by some people who ended up dragging me off. I started screaming at them, anything that came to my mind to really...after all, I'd been found out in a forbidden chamber, it wasn't like I was going to survive that. So I suppose I may have shouted a things about taking control of the throne and some of my plan to rule the entire of galaxy.
Most of you should know what happened after that. I was executed and pulled down in the Netherworld where I managed to stay out of the way until I'd gained enough power. Luckily, Yakumo, the most well-known ruler, decided to go and get himself offed by a few humans playing hero. It was after that I rose to power and the throne.
My name is unknown to most people and ultimately history. I've had many names and alias, the most recent being Kizami, one I chose for it's double meaning. After all, my lovely Lady Saturn's reincarnation happened to be in Japan so I might as well follow suit.
Ah well...my story's gone on too long, but I thank you for listening this long and hopefully, someday soon, we'll meet again.
A/N: This has literally taken a month to write, how sad is that? Now it's not so much college taking up my time, but work! It sucks being one of the more experienced people there because yes I get more hours but that leaves less time for fun stuff. Seriously want to go back to being a kid and spending summers just writing fanfiction. XD
Anyhow, yes, more terrible stuff. *dodges thrown objects* Maybe there will be a happy moment soon...or a happy ending? Always darkest before dawn and all that? Eh, I've tossed so many ending ideas around in my head I'm not sure which one I like the best but at least it's been narrowed down! And I sincerely hope Kizami's backstory sounds okay...I'm not a present-tense writer, in fact, I actually had to go back and correct myself like a dozen times. x_x I just wanted to try something new is all, but despite the last line, believe me, he won't be coming back.