Chapter 22-Separation Anxiety
Venus knelt beside Kunzite, who was struggling with his bonds on the floor. She had quickly dispatched the Jovian and Venusian Knights to rescue their comrades Ryo and Yuuichirou. Jupiter and Saturn had joined the circle of the Outer Senshi (plus Mars) around Serenity, facing off against Mercury.
As she tried to peel the restraining bonds off him, Venus kept an eye on her fighters. Suddenly, it felt as though her hands were on fire, being eaten away by some type of acidic substance. She looked down hurriedly to see that her previously-impenetrable gloves were melting out of existence, baring her flesh. A rash of some sort had appeared on her palms, and the boils were throbbing painfully.
It wasn't until Kunzite, glowering at her, the sticky dark ropes plastering his mouth shut, telepathed, ‘The Venus I knew would never have wasted the time to untie me. You would've left me like I deserve to be left,' that she looked straight into his eyes.
She glared right back at him. ‘Yeah, well, things change. I'm not as ruthless anymore; I don't have the experience.'
‘It's all in your mind, still. By the way, Jadeite looks a bit lost over there. You forgot to tell him where to go.'
She cursed, and he would have smiled had his lips not been immobilized. She wasn't used to dealing with Jadeite, especially in this life, and giving him any commands had completely slipped her mind. In the past, Venus had been very careful not to intervene in matters concerning Kunzite's authority and the Shittenou he commanded and vice versa. He had been equally reluctant to give the senshi any orders. She made a mental note that they would have to fix things if they lived through this whole mess. "Jadeite, get over here and help me."
He looked helplessly at his commander and crouched beside him. "While we're on the subject, how do we get these damned things off?" he asked, yanking uselessly at the ropes, then yelping and yanking his hands away.
Kunzite's voice sounded in both of their minds. ‘I have no idea, but the harder you're pulling, the tighter they're winding around me! If you don't get them off me soon, I'm going to be strangled!'
"Why don't we just cut the stupid things?"
"Good point–er, question." Jadeite whipped out a blade with a flourish. "Now hold still, Kunzite. I don't think you want a lasting memory of this, and besides, you're charming enough without any battle scars. Don't you think so, Minako? You liked him well enough in the Silver Millennium."
The general's icy gray eyes bored into Jadeite's light blue ones. He didn't find the situation amusing at all.
"Jupiter, on your left!" Venus yelled, her attention distracted from Jadeite's unsuccessful attempts to saw through the bonds. In fact, his blade was melting all over Kunzite, and judging by his muffled shouts, it had become quite warm. She winced as the ice spear nicked the Jovian senshi on the arm, resulting in a long scratch that went from her wrist to her elbow. Angrily, she ordered, "Jadeite, get out of the way."
He moved away instantly, and she focused her power. Kunzite held very still, anticipating her next move: golden light, thin as laser beams, sliced through the ropes neatly. They melted into nothingness, and he got to his feet instantly. When his eyes met Venus's, they were instantly in agreement: she moved towards her senshi, he grabbed Jadeite and went to confront the Knights and the other two Shittenou.
~*~*~
The only thing Mars could think as she dodged a spattering of sharp icicles was that they had done this to Mercury, that they, her friends, had pushed her over the edge somehow. But it isn't true, another part of mind insisted. She pushed aside her doubts and looked up as Venus approached them, biting her lip as she stripped off the remains off her gloves.
And yet, she didn't seem to be overly concerned with her pain as she told her comrade in a low voice, "This shouldn't we happening. Mercury was never the strongest senshi in offensive battle, and we're fighting six–seven, if you count Serenity–against one."
Slowly, Mars replied, "I think it has something to do with the fact that our minds are still in the process of awakening. We've never fought before in this life, and my skills are a little rusty. Hers are as sharp as they were in the past, but that's probably Mamoru's doing."
"Still...something doesn't make sense. This fighting–is useless. We have nothing to gain by fighting Mercury, and she doesn't get anything out of doing this to us. I don't understand what Mamoru's getting at," Jupiter cut in.
Suddenly, as Mercury's next barrage of ice scattered the Outer senshi, the renegade senshi made eye contact with her princess...and her eyes began to take on a dream-like cast. Instantly, the blue of her eyes darkened, and she was jerked abruptly out of her trance. When the Inners, sensing a weakness in her, began to talk to her, to shout at her, she closed her eyes, held her gloved hands over her ears, and floated to the ground to become encapsulated in a sphere of pure medium blue.
The senshi began to hear distant conversation, as if it came from afar, as if it was a memory. The first was easy to recognize–it was hers, Ami's. The second was harder to place, but the light dawned in Serenity's eyes first–and then it died. It was Endymion's voice, corrupted by hate, sullen anger, and darkness. There was a hint of amused malice in his tone as well. As the voices issued forth into the room, everyone froze, even the combatants on the other side of the room–especially Nephrite and Zoicite.
Ami sounded tremulous and unsure of herself as she asked, "So–so you promise, if I give myself over peacefully...they won't be harmed? The senshi?"
"I promise," the entity replied silkily.
A new voice entered the conversation then, sounding pained and panicky. "No!! Ami, don't listen to him! He's lying!"
"Why should I listen to you? What can you do to save them? You don't even love me. If you really loved me, Zoicite, you would understand why I'm doing this and why I have to do this. If you were really good again, you'd make the same deal. But you don't love me, you never loved me, and there's nothing for me now except to do this. There is no other way!"
"I'm waiting, Miss Mizuno. Do you accept?"
"Yes."
Zoicite closed his eyes as he heard himself shout out too late. The words became inaudible then, just the sounds of screams of denial from Ami. But she was overpowered, the darkness already extending its hooks into her when she first agreed–not that it particularly needed her permission. It was just easier that way. It took less energy.
"What did he say?" Jupiter asked softly.
Nephrite met her eyes from across the room. "‘I always loved you. Believe me.'" And she did not look away from him as he gazed at her with his heart in his eyes.
Meanwhile, the green-eyed general and the Knight of Mercury had both moved to stand over Ami's huddled form as the sphere and her transformation disappeared. They glared at each other with full-blown animosity, which had been increased by the pounding they had given each other: Ryo's ribs had fresh bruises on them, whereas Zoicite had a black eye and a dripping cut across his right cheek. Zoicite reached her first, and he crouched beside her. "Ami–" was as far as he got before recoiled from both of them.
"Don't touch me–don't touch me!" she cried. "This is all my fault!"
Neither of them had time to contradict her before they were all swept away by a great, unseen force...
~*~*~
Nephrite fell to the floor with a heavy thud. He picked himself up dazedly, cursing the enemy's ill-timing. The only thing that pounded through his numbed mind–that made sense–was that he had to find Jupiter and explain everything to her as soon as possible. Only one thing stood between them: the enemy.
His foe materialized before him: a misshapen blob that looked faintly humanoid. Everything was crystal clear in the general's mind now–to get to Jupiter, all he had to do was defeat this physical form of the enemy. He smiled grimly, crouching into a fighter's stance. He was looking forward to repaying the blows, hurts, and injustices done to him.
~*~*~
The Knight of Jupiter looked at his new surroundings in confusion. They seemed to be nothing more than an ordinary training room...the walls were a plain, unpatterned beige, and the floor was comfortingly solid. The room was empty, and if knowledge served Shinozaki correctly, he had practiced here many times with his fellow Knights...it was a training room on the Moon. He wandered around the door-less room for a few minutes in bewilderment, testing the walls and trying to blast his way through. He couldn't figure out what had happened. Surely he hadn't traveled back in time...had he?
Suddenly, a deep voice from behind him inquired, "Here for your lesson?"
He turned around quickly and blinked as he saw General Nephrite coming towards him, shoulder epaulettes rustling in an unseen wind. "No...I didn't sign up for any lesson...Nephrite?" The Jovian Knight's voice trailed off as the general's eyes began to glow with an inhuman light.
"Well, I'm here to lesson you anyway–it's one you won't forget, boy, since it'll be taking you to your grave!!"
He stood there, shell-shocked, until a star with razor-sharp edges nearly sliced through his jugular. Then, Shinozaki began to strike back against the general standing before him, hate and rage built up from over a millennium before making him enjoy his bittersweet revenge.
~*~*~
Zoicite spun around wildly as another blow struck him. This one caught him right between the shoulder blades, and he tumbled to the floor in a heap, the wind knocked out of him. A trickle of wetness dripped into his eyes, and when he wiped it away, he found that it was blood from a cut on his forehead.
He couldn't see his adversary, but he could feel that unfriendliness and something that wished him ill harm oozed all around him. Multiple images of a blurred person, whose features his sharp green eyes couldn't quite define, ringed him, taunting him in echoing voices of different pitches. A sharp crystal materialized in his hand, and he leapt at the image, only to find that he had missed...but he kept trying, going on doggedly, telling himself that once this temporary, troublesome nemesis was defeated, he could find Ami again.
~*~*~
Uranus blinked as a peaceful seascape appeared before her. The waves crashed onto the shore violently, but the skies were clear and calm. There were no seagulls flying overhead, no trash on the beach, and no children running around. Strange. All signs of a fight and darkness had disappeared...the world was at peace.
She found herself taking off her boots and leaving her Space Sword on the blazing golden sands without a qualm...and she slid into the water, feeling relaxed and at ease. Water was Michiru's element; it would never hurt her. Or that was what she thought before the undertow began dragging her into the deep, frigid, airless depths of the ocean...
~*~*~
Mars opened her eyes to find herself meditating peacefully before the Great Fire, back at the temple. Under her billowing priestess robes, she still wore her fuku. She frowned in confusion and attempted to get to her feet, but the robes, several sizes bigger than the one she was used to, hampered her movement. She tripped and fell to the ground.
Her arms were too heavy to stop her fall, and she closed her eyes as her face contacted the ground. When she looked up, her eyes widened–she was right before the fire, its flames licking at her face. Something was wrong here, Rei thought to herself. She had been in close proximity with the fire before, and it had never scared her this way.
The answer to her mental query soon made itself visible as a dark figure appeared in its depths. It seemed to be all made up of shadows, composed of a sticky-black substance that resembled the one she had seen on Kunzite.
"What–what are you?" she asked.
It smiled sinisterly, revealing sharp, glinting, metallic-white teeth that were a great contrast to the rest of its dusky form. "I'm your dark side, Rei. I am all your evil, your hatred, your dark thoughts...every ill thought you've hard towards someone else...every time you lashed out at someone, you made me stronger. Every time you let your temper get the best of you, it was my triumph. You've seen me in one of your attacks before, Rei...and I've grown even stronger than you now. Let's see how quickly you die!"
~*~*~
The Mercurian Knight landed on a platform of sorts. It felt as though he had been strained through some fluffy clouds and then reassembled. There was nothing but empty space around him...everything was colorless: no tufts of grass, not even any dirt. The only other thing there was–General Zoicite.
Ryo caught his breath as he noticed the mad manner in which the general seemed to swinging wildly and lashing out at invisible things. Had he gone mad? "Zoicite?" he called warily, unwilling to approach him.
Instantly, the gray-garbed man swung around to face him, his eyes filmed over and the muscles of his face working crazily. His entire form seemed lopsided, and all of a sudden, an evil smirk formed on his perverted features. "You," he whispered, venom and malice in his voice.
There was no warning given to Ryo as he was tackled to the ground...and suddenly, Ryo was filled with a sparkling white anger. This was the man Ami had chosen over him in two lifetimes. This was the man who, pathetically, could never retain his soul. He would beat this evil before him, and he would prove himself to her. Best of all, Zoicite would be out of the picture–forever.
~*~*~
Kunzite faced his opponent reluctantly. "Ace, I really don't think that now is the time–"
"Now is the perfect time," the blond-haired Knight cut in, his blue eyes flashing angrily. "We're being given the perfect opportunity. Can you see any other way out of here?"
The silver-haired one cast an apprehensive look at their surroundings. He couldn't see any way to get out, and they had spent what seemed like an eternity wasting their powers by hurling them at the walls. They absorbed the powers, and no change had occurred.
Then Ace had somehow gotten the idiotic idea that to get out, one of them had to kill the other. Kunzite figured that the Venusian Knight, always a bit unbalanced, had finally been pushed over the edge. Maybe Mamoru had stuck them in here together so they would finish each other off, but Kunzite wasn't going to give the thing that controlled him the satisfaction.
He was not going to fight Ace, no matter how much the other man wanted to kill him...no matter how much he wanted to get revenge on Ace for terrorizing Mina. Kunzite had always been good at keeping his emotions under control...he wasn't going to raise a finger against Ace–unless–he wondered if self-defense counted as a bolt of brilliant power raced past his leg. "Ace, be logical!" he shouted, jumping out of range. "This is insane!"
"I'm not going to wait here forever, Kunzite! You hate me, I know you do! You loathe me just as much as I hate you! Well, now you can finally show me how much, and I can't wait to do the same. I'll be the victor this time, Kunzite."
He had to duck another streak of power. "What did I ever do to you?" he shouted.
"Besides taking the one person I ever loved away from me? A whole lot, High General!! I died for her that day the Moon Kingdom fell...it fell because of you. You broke her heart, and she still loved you! It wasn't fair! And when I was dying, she didn't even cry for me. She didn't even wait until my heart stopped beating...she went to you, Kunzite, and I will never forgive either of you for it!"
~*~*~
Neptune stood atop a high cliff, the playful breeze ruffling her wavy hair. Everything seemed peaceful and tranquil, and she reveled in the silence. After a few minutes, however, she began to feel that the dead silence was chilling and creepy.
She walked around a bit to find herself atop an isolated pinnacle. The rock she stood on was a circular platform, far removed from anything else that might exist in this strange place. But before the senshi could begin panicking, she heard a familiar shout of her name–it was Haruka; she would recognize her voice anywhere.
Neptune raced over to the edge of the spire and looked down. The height was dizzying, but all she cared about at that moment was the sandy-haired figure below, thrashing in the ocean. Immediately, the senshi readied herself to jump: the sea was her element, and she had to save Haruka.
She leapt from her perch, plummeting down towards the blue-green sea below...but to her horror, as she got closer and closer, the ocean was replaced by a black-tiled floor that looked very hard. Michiru's arms flailed in the air as she tried to stop her descent, but there was nothing she could do...
~*~*~
The last words she had heard from Nephrite, before she had been deposited in her new setting, was that he loved her. He had been repeating Zoicite's words, but Jupiter had been able to tell that he had been expressing his own feelings to her.
Unfortunately, it seemed that destiny was adamantly against the possibility of their ever getting a chance to work things out, as usual. She was trapped what appeared to be a large cage composed of iron bars and a sheet of metal across the top. Through the bars, Jupiter saw empty space for miles and miles around her, as far as her eyes could see.
All of a sudden, shadowy figures began closing in on her, and fear gripped her heart even before she recognized them. But as they came closer and closer to her, surrounding her on all four sides, she cried out in distress when she saw her parents...images of the senshi the way they had lain in death at the Silver Millennium's end...and Nephrite.
The specters converged on her and spoke as one in an eerie, wraith-like voice: "Look at us, Makoto...we're dead...all of us are dead...anyone, everyone who you have ever loved, who has ever loved you...has died. You're cursed, Makoto...everyone you love will die because of you. Death surrounds you, it lingers in your shadow and follows in your footsteps. Better that you give in to it and save those that don't deserve to die from your ultimate fate!"
There was only one word she whispered in denial before the gray mist of angry, accusing phantoms reached the enclosing bars. "No..."
~*~*~
AN: Such happy thoughts we end on...don't worry, I haven't forgotten the rest. Next chapter, which will probably take another three months to get out (as usual), we return to haunt: Yuuichirou (ew), Jadeite, Mercury, Venus, Saturn, and...Serenity, of course! And then, finally, it will end (maybe), and I will be saved!
~Ice
P.S. Please excuse the insanity...it's winter break, and the fact that this story seems like it's never going to be finished frustrates me.
P.P.S. Thank you for the encouraging reviews, everyone! ^^ I appreciate it so much. Normally, I avoid the conflict with this story on my computer ^^;; until some nice person comes along and leaves me such a nice review that I feel guilty and come back to it ^^;;. Thanks for reading!
Paths of Thorns
