Hope had taken up residence in the shrine,
posing as a martial arts teacher that had offered to teach them in return for
lodging. Not a far cry
from the truth, except for the fact that it had been an order as opposed to a request. The Senshi had
picked up that her orders were to be followed from the
way in which she gave them, and they agreed meekly, also realizing that there
was a lot to be learned from her, if she was indeed who she claimed to be.
The girl was not an easy master.
“You’re not trying hard enough,” Hope reprimanded.
Rei, who
had the privilege of receiving her individual instruction on Monday afternoons,
sighed in frustration at the wooden sword in her hands. “I don’t see why I even have to practice with
a sword,” she complained. “I use fire,
not metal.”
“Understanding, to be quite
honest,” Hope began, “is not something I expected you to gain
straightaway. But
you may be sure that it will come in time, if that’s comforting at all. The exercises are designed
to make you stronger, physically and mentally.
The type of weapon, while not unimportant, does
not bear the sort of significance that is typically placed on it. The simple
presence of a physical object allows you to channel your physical energy more
easily, an ability that has been badly neglected by your guardians,” she added,
with a pointed glance at Luna. The cat
ignored her. “Onyx is a very powerful
enemy, as I shouldn’t need to be reminding you.
Her powers are strong, it’s true. But worse than that,
they’re deceptive, and the only way to see through an illusion properly is to
have clear vision. The only way to have
clear vision is to know your mind, and the only way—“
“To know your mind is to know your
body,” Rei finished wearily.
“Well, it’s nice you know you’ve
been listening at least some of the time.
And in any event, you train with the sword
because I told you to train with the sword.
I should think that would have been enough.”
“Why aren’t you training Gwyn?” Rei inquired quickly,
anxious to draw attention away from her inadequacies as a student. “She’s not that strong after being reborn and
everything.”
“Gywn is
not your concern, Rei. I will concern myself with who is in need of
what training, and you will concern yourself with that sword.”
“Thank you, sensei,” she muttered
sarcastically.
“Rei,”
Hope said sharply, her tone stifling all complaints. Rei waited in
reluctant silence. “Continue with the
exercise, please.”
Jadeite stared fixedly at the flaw
in the granite-like flooring of the room.
He didn’t so much like being awake. He didn’t so much
like being asleep, either. Wakefulness
brought memories, sleep brought dreams.
Neither was a good choice.
The tears, the screams, the begging eyes. He took a deep breath and held it for a moment,
willing the nausea to pass. It did,
after a fashion, but the shame, the shame of it all, of everything, burned in
his throat like acid.
His eyes closed and saw that girl again, with skin that was soft like
flowers and a voice that laughed like water. No sense in that. Despite his innermost desire to scream at the
self-loathing such remembrances induced, he stood, silently, staring downward
and tried to recall why he was here.
Onyx.
He raised
his dark sapphire eyes, slowly, as he remembered he was in the chamber. An unusual side effect of the crystal, he
presumed. Concentration was severely limited, his focus was constantly being disrupted. Except when it dwelled on
his past…
“General,” the new Queen commanded
quietly. Jadeite responded. There was something about
her voice that affected even the strongest of wills. As a result, Onyx never raised her
voice. It was calm, composed, and
quiet. Always quiet. She sat regally on her sister’s throne, her
undeniably elegant form draped in black, a smooth, ebony tiara perched above
the loose, flowing mass of hair that framed her terrifyingly flawless
features. Her blood red lips moved once
more, fixing his eyes on her words. “You
will recover shortly, Lord Jadeite.” Her
smooth voice echoed in the wide, black chamber.
An empty chamber. It was him and the
Queen, their private conference. It
unnerved him. “My sister did badly to
exile you the way she did,” Onyx continued, rising, her soft voice speaking,
luring, wrapping around him as if to convince him of its friendship. “You were an excellent General,” she said,
running a long, curved finger under his chin.
“It’s a pity big sister never saw what I did, isn’t it, Jadeite? Perhaps
it may have saved her. Alas,” she cast
her eyes downward, her long, dark lashes brushing against her smooth pale skin,
“she did not.”
She’s
trying to influence me with her sorcery.
The warning arose from within his newly awoken subconscious, that of
the Guardian of Earth and its Prince.
Unfortunate that this conscience failed a thousand years before…He
thrust the painful memories from his mind.
“Queen Beryl was destroyed?” he ventured.
“Yes, by the very same little girl
that defeated you, ironically.” So Sailor Moon won in the end. Good to know. “And now, I will extract my revenge, and
take the earth for my own, as it would have been had she succeeded.” Here it comes. “You will be very useful to me. I will make you a General again, Jadeite, my
chief General. You would like that,
wouldn’t you?” Her voice hinted that it
was what he truly desired: revenge for the humiliation and imprisonment they
had brought about, destruction and victory, after all of those years of
confinement…confinement that liberated him from Beryl’s brainwashing, he
reminded himself, stunnedì¥Á5@
ð¿4W
bjbjÏ2Ï2
&fXX4Oÿÿÿÿÿÿˆ°°°°°°°h[1]Ì
Ì
Ì
Ì
ì¥Á5@
ð¿4W
bjbjÏ2Ï2
&fXX4Oÿÿÿÿÿÿˆ°°°°°°°h[1]Ì
Ì
Ì
Ì
ì¥Á5@
ð¿4W
bjbjÏ2Ï2
&fXX4Oÿÿÿÿÿÿˆ°°°°°°°h[1]Ì
Ì
Ì
Ì
è
h[1]
ë
ë
ë
’[1]””””””$R[1]ed¸°Âë
ë
¸°°
ÛÍööö¶[1]°
°
’öÂ’öTöJ°°J
ðI;5™QÃÌ
x"J’ã0JÉšFÉJÄd([1]@°°°°É°JHë
L7
6öm
,™
)ë
ë
ë
¸¸h[1]h[1]d
Ì
àh[1]h[1]Ì
[1]ì¥Á5@
ð¿4W
bjbjÏ2Ï2
&fXX4Oÿÿÿÿÿÿˆ°°°°°°°h[1]Ì
Ì
Ì
Ì
è
h[1]
ë
ë
ë
’[1]””””””$R[1]ed¸°Âë
ë
¸°°
ÛÍööö¶[1]°
°
’öÂ’öTöJ°°J
ðI;5™QÃÌ
x"J’ã0JÉšFÉJÄd([1]@°°°°É°JHë
L7
6öm
,™
)ë
ë
ë
¸¸h[1]h[1]d
Ì
àh[1]h[1]Ì
[1] I was in pretty good
shape,” she complained. “I try, you
know. But she says I only think I’m in shape because I’m comparing myself to ‘normal’
people. I thought she was just being
cocky, but then she had to go and prove
it. I’ve never been this sore in my
life.”
“She told me I couldn’t focus!” Rei fumed. “I can
focus enough for the fire. That’s focus, if you ask me.
The things she wants us to do are ridiculous. I don’t care if she can do them; she’s had a
thousand years to practice.”
“I never thought it was a bad thing
that I relied on my computer,” Ami mused worriedly. “Hope said that I was physically weaker than
you guys because I relied on data and rationale, and that weakness made my
intellect less effective. Do you think
that’s true?” The others shrugged, not
really wanted to offer opinions over whether she was right or wrong, only on
how cruel she had been in pointing it out.
“Actually, I agreed with most of
what she said about me. I know I could
be a lot better fighter than I am, and I’m lazy. Although I don’t think her comment about my
hair was necessary,” Minako added.
“Your hair?”
Usagi asked.
Makoto shook her head, mouthing, “I’ll tell you later.”
“Everything’s all messed up now that
she’s around,” Makoto commented. They
contemplated this in silence, wondering whether it was a good thing or a
bad. “Gwyn
seems nice, on the other hand.”
“Despite her sense of humor,” Rei put in. Now that
she spoke Japanese fluently, she would take turns telling dirty jokes with
Grandpa when they ate. It was uncertain
so far as to which knew more, although Rei figured
that after a thousand years of accumulation, Gwyn had
probably surpassed even the enormous reserves of the wrinkled old priest.
“Hope told me that she’s the strongest of all of
us,” Minako remembered, thinking slowly. “That once she regains her powers she will be
more powerful than the five of us combined.
Stronger than even Saturn,” she added.
Ami nodded.
“It makes sense. The sun is 99%
of all mass in the solar system. Gwyn has much more
raw energy to fuel her powers than do we.”
She put a thoughtful finger to her chin.
“It seems strange, now that I think about it. The moon was the center of the Silver Millenium, despite the power of the Sun.”
“But only the royal family of the sun could draw
on the power of the sun, or so Hope says,” Rei
related. “If I understand correctly, all
of the Moon people were deeply connected to the same powers as princess over
here, even though they were not as strong.”
She nodded toward Usagi, who was indulging in
a large carton of ice cream. “And also,
the—” she stopped. “Guys, I’m getting
the vibes,” she whispered hurriedly.
Minako straightened, narrowing
her eyes. “It’s out in the street,” she
said. The five of them stood, Usagi sadly tearing herself from her ice cream, and forced themselves to walk calmly out of the arcade. “Over there!” she called, pointing to
suspiciously dressed man holding sway over a large group of people in front of
his store.
They glanced around for a place to change,
ducking in resignation into an alley and leaping out again in their senshi forms.
“Hold it right there!” Sailor Moon cried. “I am Sailor Moon. I fight for love and justice, and against all
evil. In the name of the Moon, I will
destroy you!”
The youma
laughed. It was a horrible, grating sort
of noise, and was accompanied by its humanoid form
transforming into a large, aquamarine reptilian. Its yellow eyes blinked as it continued its
hissing laughter, wrapping its numerous tentacles around his hypnotized
bystanders. “If you’re going to destroy
me, you’ll have to kill them, too.”
Mercury was on her computer as the Mars, Venus, and Jupiter spread away
from her and Sailor Moon, cornering the enemy against the wall. Jupiter had already powered up her attack,
and she darted suddenly to the far left and yelled, “Jupiter Oak
Evolution!” The ball of energy flew
toward one of the few unblocked portions of the youma’s
body, and the youma screeched and whirled a tentacle
into the attack. The hard scales
reflected the attack, and Jupiter barely managed to duck her own attack as it
bounced toward her.
“It’s not vulnerable to lightening,” Mercury
reported.
“Now she tells me.”
“We have to get those people away from it!”
Venus reminded them. “Venus Love Chain
Encircle!” The chain flew from her fingertips and wrapped around the nearest
tentacle, wrenching it to the side. It
recoiled, dropping the unfortunate civilian to the asphalt. Mars skidded under the flailing tentacle and
grabbed the unconscious victim, leaping away again just as the enraged
appendage crashed into the street.
“There are still two more!”
“Moon Tiara Magic!” Sailor Moon cried, and
the tiara sped toward the youma full force. It reacted this time, flipping a free
tentacle to swat the energy disk aside.
“Mercury, we need some help in the visibility
department!” Venus informed her, recovering from the backlash of her Love Chain
as her second attempt likewise failed.
“Right! Super Aqua Illusion!” As it attempted to recover from this
onslaught, Venus and Moon hurriedly disabled the tentacles holding the
remaining captives. Mars executed a
quick “Mars Flame Sniper” and called, “Finish it!”
Sailor Moon produced her wand and yelled, “Moon
Gorgeous Meditation!” spinning and releasing a wave of light. It pierced the enemy through its body, the
reptilian creature evaporating into dust.
They had just begun to celebrate when the youma
they thought had been destroyed arose out of the
ground behind them, looming at twice its original size. It grabbed Sailor Moon before she could
react, swatting aside the other four and hurling their leader into a concrete
wall. As it reached down toward them,
its tentacles sharpened into knives. The
senshi leaped out of the way as they hurtled forward,
but Mercury and Venus were raked across the back as they dodged and thrown to
the side. Mars and Jupiter attacked it
with a “Celestial Fire Surround” and a “Jupiter Thunder Dragon” but it
deflected both attacks into their masters and moved toward its main
target—their leader.
Suddenly, a dark shape hurtled through the sky
toward the youma.
“Hope,” Venus managed. The girl
landed on his head, sword first. The
blade ripped through the hard scales and slit him open, top to bottom, until
the youma burst into a wicked green light with a terrifying
shriek. Hope took a step back,
recovering, and wiped her sword clean.
The blade vanished, and she hurried toward the senshi,
worry in her eyes.
None of them were seriously injured—even Sailor
Moon, who was slowly sinking into coherency—and they accepted Hope’s aid in
leaving the scene before the citizenry could react. After they had reached a safe point, they detransformed, and Hope began to lecture.
“I told you!” she admonished harshly. “I told you that you aren’t strong enough to
defeat these youma on your own yet. This isn’t Beryl
you’re dealing with; it’s Onyx. She’s dangerous. I
almost didn’t make it in time.” The senshi were silent, unsure of whether they should refuse
her right to dictate them or apologize for failing her. After a moment, she continued, “You should
all go home and get some rest. You were
hit pretty hard.
Sere—Usagi, I need to talk with you.”
The weakened teenager followed without question,
the other four dispersing with a mixture of reluctance and relief. “I’m sorry to yell at you so much,” Hope said
after a few moments. Her voice had
softened slightly. “I don’t want you to
get the impression that I don’t understand what you’ve been through. You know how to fight, or else you wouldn’t have made it so far. I didn’t see the fight today, but I know that
whatever happened out there, it happened because you’re fighting like you’ve
always fought, and it’s just not going to work that way anymore.”
“Hope,” she replied, in a quiet voice, “I don’t
understand what you want from us.”
The girl sighed.
“I know that you’re having trouble with my being here, Serenity. I know it doesn’t
seem right for me to be taking control of you and your Court this way. But please
understand that what I want more than anything is for evil to be
destroyed. We’re
basically doing the same thing, only I’ve been doing it a lot longer. And I don’t want to see you girls getting
hurt because you don’t know how to fight the enemy.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“You’re the Princess,” Hope responded, as if
this should explain everything. She
glanced at Usagi’s pale face and sighed. “You look like you’re about to faint,
child. Go home and rest.”
Hope swept the temple stairs. Rei had been more
badly injured than she had initially thought, and Hope had taken over her
Priestess duties in order to let her recover from the burns. Gwyn was helping as
well, when she wasn’t training to grow strong enough
to be able to transform. Her inability
was frustrating her, and Hope suggested that helping her train the other senshi might help her to grow stronger more quickly. It was unlikely, but it would help give her
something worthwhile to do.
The dark-haired girl sighed as she moved a step
down, taking to the dust with less vigor than the previous. It was becoming apparent why Rei was always sweeping the temple stairs. They never got clean. As she worked, she began to sense something
approaching the temple. A very unusual force.
She glanced at the street, pausing her duties momentarily,
and saw a man stumbling down the street.
He glanced up as she found him, balked, and then continued again. As he began to stumble up the temple stairs,
the dark blonde hair and the pale skin grew into a face she recognized.
“Jaedite,” she said,
dropping the broom and making ready to draw her sword.
He looked up as she said his name, wavering on
the stairs. His face and clothes were covered in blood, his hair matted from exertion. Jaedite watched her
uncertainly for a moment. “Hope,” he
said at last, with a ghost of a smile, and collapsed at her feet.
