The Diamond Affair part 8-9
Chapter 8:
"Till we meet again . . . I always get what I want."
and disappeared through a portal.
"USAKOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!"
The spell that held them defenseless was now broken.
Tux ran to the portal only to see it close. He dropped to his knees
in despair and cried out in anguish as tears fell from his eyes.
The others, just comprehending what had happened, ran
to their prince. Malachite kneeled down and placed a hand on his
shouldar. Tux immediately pulled away.
Everyone fell silent. No one knew what to say or do.
Neptune: "We have to get it together and find her . .
. she's counting on us."
Zoicite: "Mercury and I should do a scan of the area
to try and determine where he took her."
Mercury took out her computer and with Zoicite's aid,
began scanning the spot where the portal opened. She also activated
the locator buttion to search for the silver crystal's signature.
A sudden, loud, beeping sound brought everyone out of
their thoughts.
Mercury: "Oh, no!"
Mars: "What!?"
Mercury showed the computer screen to Zoicite and a
grim look came over his features. Uranus being very impatient
exclaimed, "WHAT?!"
Zoicite: "The silver crystal is here, not with the
Princess."
Mercury walked with her mini data computer as the
beeping became louder and louder. She bent down and picked up the
locket that held the silver crystal. She clutched it in her hand and
walked over to Tux.
Tux had not moved from his spot. He was too distressed
to do anything. Upon hearing that she didn't have the crystal, he was
even more distressed.
'She can't even protect herself,' he thought.
Mercury knelt down before him and held the locket
before him. Tux looked at it. He stared at it for a long while before
slowly reaching out to get it. He took it and held it close to his
heart. He hoped that something would happen, anything. He hoped that
maybe the crystal would somehow begin to search for its keeper and lead
him to his beloved.
Malachite: "There's nothing more to do now. Lets go
back to Darien's and see what new information Luna and Artimas found."
Jedite: "He's right, Dar. Maybe whatever they found
out will shed light on this whole thing."
Dejected and unable to object, Tux got up and began
walking slowly towards his apartment, as the others followed behind
him.
As they went out of view, Saffir came out of his hiding
place.
'So, the Prince has the crystal. Diamond will want to
know right away.'
Just as he was about to leave, he felt a sudden gust of
wind. It began intensifying and hee used his arms to protect his eyes.
"What will Petz think about this?"
"Huh?"
A lone figure came out of the wind. She had green hair
put up in one "meatball" and wore an outfit similar to the sailor
soldiers. The only difference was that her skirt and fuku were green.
"You heard what I said. What will she think of your
involvement in this?"
"Why should I care about what she thinks?!"
"Because you love her."
"No, I don't."
"Keep denying it all you want, but you know in your
heart that you do. Before you say anything more, let me finish. Petz
and her sisters are quite fond of Serenity. They are also very
grateful to her for all she's done for them, as well as what she will
do for them in the future. You and I both know what your brother is
doing to her. He's keeping her there against her will and filling her
with more dark energy than she can handle. If he's not carefull with
how much he gives her, he could kill her, which is even more possible
since she doesn't have the silver crystal to protect her. Peta won't-"
"Don't you think I know that! But Serenity is the only
thing that hasn't completely made him like Wiseman. She has kept him
human and has shown me that my brother still has a heart. I can't help
you, I know its wrong, but I want my old brother back . . . I love
him."
With that, Saffir disappeared through a portal, leaving
Sailor Pluto by herself.
A lone tear made its way down her cheek as she too
disappeared into the night.
To have and not to hold
So hot yet so cold
My heart is in you hand
And yet you never stand
Close enough for me to have my way
To love but not to keep
To laugh but not to weep
Your eyes they go right through
And yet you never do
Anything to make me want to stay
Like a moth to a flame
Only I am to blame
What can I do
I go straight to you
I've been told
To look but not to see
To kiss but never be
The object of your desire
And there's no one at all
To break my fall
Chapter 9:
At Darien's Apartment . . .
Everyone sluggishly came into Darien's apartment
through the balcony, detransforming as they walked through the glass
doors. They had tired and grim features on their faces.
The dark, gray and black clouds had just engulfed the
warm, blazing sun they had woken up to, and the rain started falling.
You could hear the pitter-patter of the rain become louder and louder
as it fell faster and faster from the dark skies above. It was as if
the Lady Earth (AN: just means the earth) felt her Prince's anguish
and despair of losing his sun . . . his light . . . his Princess . . .
his Serenity . . . his Usako . . .
Luna and Artimas came out of Darien's bedroom to a very
tension-filled room (AN: remember, they were keeping an eye on rini).
Luna: "What happened?"
Artimas: "Why does everyone look like that?"
Darien didn't say one word. He slowly made his way to
his favorite chair and sat down, still holding onto the locket as if
his life depended on it.
Luna noticed that her charge was no where to be seen
and exclaimed, "Where is she!? What happened?! Why do you have her
locket?! ANSWER ME!!!!!!"
No one answered. They all bowed their heads in shame.
Each one feeling his or her guilt of what had happened and for feeling
helpless when their Princess needed them most.
Mina, feeling bold enough to put herself head-on into
Luna's wrath, spoke softly, "They have her . . . he took her . . ."
Luna: "How the HELL did YOU let this HAPPEN?! HOW
COULD YOU NOT PROTECT HER?! There are ELEVEN, ELEVEN of YOU! WHY
COULDN'T ONE OF YOU KEEP HER SAFE!!??" She yelled with tears welling
up in her eyes. Artimas tried comforting her as everyone else felt
stung by her words.
"Luna, calm down. Rini is still sleeping. We don't
want to wake her and scare her, nor do we want her to worry about her
mother just yet," Artimas replied soothingly to Luna as she cried
on his shouldar.
Darien felt even worse after Luna's outburst. The
Earth responded to its Prince's mood by causing the sky to turn darker
and darker and the rain to fall faster and faster.
After a long silence, Darien finally spoke up, "She's
right, you know. There are eleven of us . . . " he couldn't finish
his thought because the tears that he thought were gone and those he
thought he could hold back, could not be stopped. He fell off the
chair onto the cold, hard floor. He landed on his knees and held onto
the locket tighter and tighter against his chest.
"Usako!! Please come back!! I cant' be without you!!!
Please come back . . . come back to me . . . please?!"
The senshi looked shocked. They had never seen Darien
like this before. They only now comprehended how much they (AN: the
they refers to serena and darien) meant to each other . . . how much he
needs her . . . how much he loves her . . .
As the senshi stared with awe, the generals felt guilt
and pain . . . guilt for breaking their promise and not protecting
the princess . . . pain for the condition their prince was in.
None of them knew what to say or do. They wished with
all their might that someone would hear their cries and return Serena
to him . . . to them.
As if an answer to their prayers, a portal opened. A
woman dressed in a senshi uniform stepped through (AN: wonder who it
could be?). She saw their dejected faces. Her eyes fell upon the
Prince. He was curled up in a ball, clutching the silver crystal,
begging her to come back. She felt his pain . . . she, who had the
power to know all and see all, could never have forseen this . . . she
never expected it. When she found out, it was already too late to do
anything . . .
In Diamond's Chamber's: 30th Century Crystal Tokyo . . .
Serenity is tossing and turning in Diamond's bed. She
is feeling many emotions as she tries to fight the evil that is
seeping inot her mind, body, and soul. She feels her Prince's pain, as
well as that of two others. She doesn't understand who these two other
people were and why she would be feeling their pain. The only person
whom she is connected to is her beloved Mamo-chan, and that's because
of their soulmate link/bond.
'How can I feel their pain so much? Who are they and
how and why am I connected to them?' she thought (AN: keep this in
mind, its important to explain the ending).
A figure walked into the room (AN: who could it be?
diamond?). He saw her tossing and turning. He knew she was in pain.
He also knew that she was trying harder and harder to fight the efforts
of the Dark crystal. He had mixed feelings about this. Part of him
wanted her to give up . . . to give into the crystal, so that she would
not suffer anymore. The other part of him wanted her to fight . . .
continue to fight as she was now . . . he wanted her to resist and to
never give up. This part of him knew that if she gave up, she would
change . . . she wouldn't be the same person she was before, and he
didn't know if anything or anyone could change her back.
He had grown quite fond of her and felt a sort of
protectiveness over her. He was amazed at all she did for her friends,
even her enemies . . . always forgiving . . . always wanting to help.
He did love her, but not in the way he loved another. He just wished
things could've been different . . . he wanted her to be his friend,
and teach him all the things she's taught the world and will teach in
the future.
'She won't be able to teach any of those things in the
future,' he thought bitterly. 'Not if she gives up . . . not if the
Wiseman wins.'
He was broken out of his thoughts by her constant cries
of pain. He didn't understand what was happening to her.
'Why is she in so much pain? Is it the dark crystal?
Maybe Pluto was right (AN: if you can't figure out who this person is,
then i can't help you anymore than i have, j/k)? . . . she can't handle
all of this dark energy . . . what if . . . what if she dies? . . .
what will happen? . . . What will Petz think? . . . ' with these
thoughts in mind, he left the room in search of his brother . . .
(AN: for those of you who haven't figured it out, the figure was
. . . saffir).
Back at Darien's Apartment: The Present . . .
(AN: when pluto is thinking about serena, she calls her serenity, when
everyone else is thinking about her, they call her serena).
Everyone stared at Pluto. Each felt angry at her for
not warning them about this. She sensed this animosity and spoke up,
before one of them had a chance to verbally assault her and dampen her
already guilty frame of mind,
"I know that all of you are mad at me over this. I
feel guilty enough as it is. Although I am the keeper of the Time
Gate, and know what happens before it does, there are certain things
that even I don't know, this was one of them. There are other powers
at work her (AN: the p.t.b. = powers that be) . . . these powers
control what I can and cannot see. I found out about this too late . .
. by the time I found out, it was too late to do anything . . . I
should've tried harder . . . but-"
At this point, Pluto could no longer hold back the
tears that had welled up in her eyes. She and Serenity were very
close, Pluto was considered by both, as well as others, as being
Serenity's older sister. Pluto felt helpless. The knowledge of
what's happening to Serenity at this very moment (AN: getting filled
with dark energy) wasn't helping her feeling any.
They all saw Pluto in a new light. No longer was she
the stoic, omnipotent, emotionless woman they all thought she was, but
she was what Serena saw in her. Serena always told them stories
about Pluto . . . how she jokes . . . how she laughs . . . how she
cries . . . They never believed that the Pluto they were accustomed to
was the same Pluto Serena told them about.
Darien saw her and realized that she felt the same way
as him . . . as all of them. He began to understand her. He spoke
softly to her, "Pluto, it wasn't your fault, nor is it fair for us to
blame you alone. I guess we just needed a scapegoat. Please accept
our apology, we should not have blamed you. Please forgive me, forgive
us."
Pluto did not expect such understanding, especially not
from the distraught prince. She looked at everyone and saw that they
were indeed sorry, "Please, your majesty. It was I who should be
apologizing to you," Darien was about to speak but Pluto cut him off,
"At any rate, I forgive you, all of you."
Darien spoke for everyone when he said, "Thank you."
Zack, hoping to change the subject and figure out
where Serena could be asks, "Luna, Artimas. What information did you
find out?"
Artimas: "Not that it will do any good now, but we
found out that Diamond has some sort of infatuation with Serena's
future self, Neo-Queen Serenity. Something happened to her in the
future, so he figured-"
Darien interupted, his fingers clenched in anger and
jealousy, "If he can't have her in the future, why not take her from
the past."
Pluto: "Yes. Those attacks on her were to make her
weak enough to accept energy from the dark crystal. I'm afraid that
Diamond's obssession may kill her."
Rei: "What do you mean?"
"Diamond will do anything to get what he wants. He
doesn't realize that Serenity will resist with all her might, nor does
he realize that filling her with too much dark energy could kill her,
especially now that she doesn't even have the silver crystal to help
protect her."
Pluto stopped and waited for everyone to absorb all the
knowledge.
Darien: "What happened to Usako's future self?"
Pluto: "She fell under the same spell that has put all
the inhabitants of Crystal Tokyo to sleep. The senshi's future selves
encased her in a quartz shell, hoping to keep her safe until we figure
out how to wake her up. The only ones still awake are your future
selves. The future senshi are keeping the Palace safe by pooling all
their energies together and creating an invisible force-field. The
General's future selves are working on a way to wake up the Queen. The
King was injured in battle, and the silver crystal has disappeared."
Lita: "Do you know where it could be or where he took
Sere?"
"I don't know where the crystal is . . . I'm afraid
that no one does. I do know that he has taken Serenity to the future,
to his fortress. It is located in the outskirts of the city."
Jay: "How can we get there?"
"I can't allow all of you to pass through the gates of
time. I can only allow five of you to go so that there won't be
anymore rifts caused. Your majesty, I suggest due to your current
condition, you should stay behind. But, I know that you will disagree
with me and come anyway. So, since the prince is going, you must
decide which four of you will accompany him."
Everyone looked at one another. They were all eager to
go. Before they could say anything, Darien spoke, "I want Ami to
accompany me, just in case soemthing happened to Usako. Zack, I want
you to stay here and keep an eye on Rini, just in case something bad
happens to Rini (AN: if serena ceases to exist, so does rini). As for
the rest of you, try to decide without arguing too much. I'm going to
tell Rini what's going on. Zack, Ami, please follow me." The three of
them proceeded to the bedroom, leaving the remaining senshi and
generals to decide who will go and who will stay.
Luna and Artimas realized that it would be a difficult
choice, so they decided that everyone should draw straws. Those that
drew the shortest ones would go. Pluto got the straws and held them in
her left hand, as each one of them came up and took a straw. Jay got
the shortest, followed by Haruka and then Michael.
Darien and Ami came out of the bedroom. Jay, Haruka,
and Michael stepped forward, indicating that they were the ones chosen
to go.
Darien: "I guess its us then. Guys please keep an eye
on Rini. She's really upset that the Nega-moon has her mother. Try
and keep her distracted. Zack's with her now." He then took out a
rose and transformed, the others followed his example as Pluto opened
the portal that led to the time gate.
Everyone said their "Good luck's" and "Be careful's,"
as the six of them disappeared through the portal.
At the Time Gate . . .
The atmosphere is foggy and desolate, leaving everyone
but Pluto with an eerie feeling.
Pluto led them to a large door. She explained that it
would lead them directly to Diamond's fortress and that they should
concentrate all their energy on getting there. She warned them if they
didn't, they could end up anywhere in time.
Tuxedo Mask stood in the middle. Mercury and Jedite
were to his right, Malachite and Uranus were to his left. They held
hands and Pluto opened the door. Some strong gusts of wind blew out of
it as they proceeded to walk towards it. Once inside they heard Pluto
yell "Good luck and be careful," before hearing the closing of the
door.
They were flying through this gateway, focusing on
their destination and reaching their princess.
After what seemed like an eternity, they reached their
destination. They landed on a hill that overlooked the city. They
looked around them and saw what the war had done to this once beautiful
city. The skies were dark, everything was destroyed . . . the streets
were empty. The only light came from the force-field surrounding the
Crystal Palace. The palace was the only structure left standing.
Malachite saw the fortress on the outskirts of the city
and pointed it out to the others. They began walking towards it . . .
Later . . .
They reached the entrance of the fortress. It was
dark, and they each felt the evil eminating from it. Mercury turned on
her visor and took out her data computer. She began to scan the area
to check for guards, a way in, and most importantly, any signs of
Serena. She didn't have to worry about finding her since Tux felt the
familiar tug at his soul. He cried out in pain as he felt what she was
going through. Malachite and Jedite rushed to his side.
Tux: "She's in there . . . she's in a lot of pain.
Mercury, did you find anything?"
"My computer found that the west side fo the fortress
is unguarded at the moment. We could climb up the wall to get inside."
Uranus: "Good! Lets go before we're spotted!"
They all ran to the west side and sure enough, no one
was there, or so they thought.
A figure watched them as they climbed up the wall using
the vines, and then he saw them go through one of the doors. He had
made sure no one would be there to bother them. Now he had to help
them once they got to the room.
The door led them to a long, narrow stair-case. The
only light was that of the candles on the wall. Cautiously, they went
down the stairs. Uranus led the group, followed by Mercury, Tux,
Malachite and Jedite.
The stairs led them to a large room covered by mirrors.
Uranus felt an evil presence and warned everyone to stay close.
Too late.
Tux fell through a portal that opened and closed before
anyone had a chance to do anything. Mercury realized that Tux had the
silver crystal, giving them a way to track him down. The computer
began beeping and all of them followed Mercury.
The lone figure watched them again, hoping that the
portal he opened would help the prince find his princess (AN: know who
he is? i do!).
Another part of the Fortress . . .
Tux fell through a portal and landed on the cold marble
floor. He got up and looked around at his surroundings. He ended up
in a long corridor and decided to follow his instincts, hoping that
they would lead him to her.
A few moments later, he began sensing her . . . her
presence. He didn't know exactly where she was, but knew she was near.
He closed his eyes and let his senses take over once
more, allowing them to feel her . . . guide him to where she had been
taken.
He was very determined . . . he would not lose her . .
. not now, not ever! Nothing would stand in his way . . . he almost
felt bad for anyone who dared come between him and his goal . . . his
beloved . . .
ALMOST.
He began feeling her presence become stronger and
stronger as he walked faster and faster towards her.
He felt mixed emotions. He was happy, almost giddy, by
the thought that he would see her again . . . touch her . . . feel her
. . . hold her and never let go. He also could not wait to taste her
sweet lips on his own . . . he hadn't kissed her for . . . for months
. . . he didn't understand how he was able to go on for so long
without a kiss from her.
Although he felt this way, he also felt like killing
someone . . . especially the man responsible for all of this. Tux was
angry and kept thinking of ways he could kill Diamond. He smirked
at the thought of a slow, torturous way for Diamond to die. But, he
had to put these feelings aside.
He stood in front of a large, white door. The door was
beautiful . . . its intricate designs accentuated its regal look and
splendor. He knew that she was in there . . . he felt her presence
most strongly there. He placed his hand on the knob and slowly turned
it . . .