Chapter 9-Clash of the Guardians a.k.a Something Gained, Something Lost

Mizuno Ami was relaxing....it was peaceful and calm. All around here was sparkling blue, when she looked up, a shimmery cornflower blue that was somehow familiar met her eyes. Until something in her changed, it shifted, and she went under. Choking on water, bitter and salty, her eyes stung. What had she lost? Was it something she had gained?

Turning over, she wiped away a few tears and wondered how a dream could affect her so much. For some reason, it seemed like floating on your back-you could stay afloat as long as you didn't panic and become scared. What......what had she misplaced? Had something been added to her, fear, fright? Before the realms of sleep claimed her once more, she gazed around the dark room, moonlight tinting everything a glowing white-blue. It was so eerie, and running a hand through hair slightly matted by sweat, she turned over and faced the wall. As large sapphire eyes closed, desiring a peaceful and undisturbed rest, an inner voice whispered, "Zoi...."
~ * ~ * ~
Delicate silver coils moved this way and that, keeping a careful eye on their master. Shippou figured he was getting enough experience roughing it this way, he may as well consider a career as a tree snake...shrugging off the strange thoughts that pervaded his mind, he smiled in satisfaction when Chiba Mamoru didn't appear again to hound the poor general. Before he could slither off and find his fellow guardians, a bit of dull brown stuck out for some reason, although he wasn't sure why. So many people here had brown or black hair, why did he suddenly notice a boy with brown hair? Ah. That was Urawa Ryo, he thought, coils tightening. "Tokage! Erimakitokage, you idiot! Where are you?"

Irritated, the lizard appeared within seconds and complained, "Stop calling me Erimakitokage, PLEASE. It's so embarrassing when you do it. I'm going to have to talk Sets into letting me go back in time so I can persuade Zoicite not to name me that. What's up?"

"Now look, he's given me the slip!" whined Shippou, scanning the crowd.

Staring at his commander, who had never acted babyish in any way before, Kouseki Yosouya's guardian asked, "Who's he? Kouseinou?"

"No, Urawa Ryo!"

"But we aren't tracking him now, are we?" came the logical, steely answer. His friend joined his search for the missing brown-haired, brown-eyed Ryo, that had become semi-friends with the silver-haired general after Yosouya had....."deserted".

"Can't hurt, maybe he's got another interesting drawing."

Shaking his head, the frills around the reptile's neck unfolded and folded again agitatedly. "You're insane."

"Got a report for me?" asked his leader sharply, expectantly.

Turning red, although already camouflaged to the brownish-gray of the wood, he nodded. "Not much, but it's bound to be worth a bit. Chiba Mamoru has recently bought many shares of the most expensive stock running around, of a company that holds all claims to economic ups and downs. Apparently, they have the best resources and people working for them in the field of technological study."

"I hate it when you talk like that, as soon as Yosouya will acknowledge our presence again, I'm going to beat him. Even though it's not proper, okay, I didn't mean it," his fellow guardian sighed in return. "Look, there's that young blond girl Kouseinou's been talking to a lot lately, think she could pose a threat?"

Narrowing his eyes, Tokage shook his head again. "Nope, you dolt. Jealousy must be affecting your sense-that's Aino Minako, an actress formerly of Japan then of London."

"Your point?"

Smacking the large snake beside him, the green lizard sighed. "Why is it always me stuck with....caretakers like you?" Before the annoyed Shippou could open his mouth and answer indignantly, he hastily said, "Never mind, never mind. Let me say it in simple terms then: if it has been possible for us to conclude that-"

*sigh*

"Shut up!! Now, as I was saying, we concluded that Mizuno Ami of Juuban was indeed the Princess of Mercury-"

"And thus the senshi of Mercury," continued the bored snake.

"We did?!"

"Good gods, don't you remember ANYTHING? The last generation of the planetary senshi in the Silver Millennium just happened to be all princesses, a feat which was both remarkable and sad, since many thought and knew it meant the end of the world as we knew it. Are you implying that Aino Minako is the Princess and senshi of Venus?"

Shrugging, he replied, "Could be. Glad you finally caught on. You remember those prissy guardians of the senshi?"

"Why?"

"To help us, maybe? The generals are obviously going to come face to face in the future with the past *snicker*."

"What makes you think they were awakened?"

Smirking, the green one retorted, "Just a large power surge a few years back, shortly after whatever's currently got a hold of Chiba Mamoru. Bet you....my guardianship that they awakened as many as they could get their hands on."

"They haven't GOT hands, and I don't want to see them!" Shippou whined.

"What's WRONG with you?"

*whimper* "Phobos and Deimos are creepy...."

*whap*
~ * ~ * ~
Knowing that a headache coming on, Mizuno Ami hastily exited the temple quietly and sat outside, under some flowering cherry blossom trees. Even from her seat on the rough wooden bench, she could hear her friends's squabbling. As soon as she had passed the kitchen, seen Makoto covered from head to toe in batter and Rei holding some dripping egg beaters, looking sheepish, she had decided to leave. Quickly.

Pondering over her strange dream the night before, the word still came to her mind. 'Zoi? General Zoicite,' she reminded herself. 'But he's dead and gone, not to mention evil. I wonder what he looked like though? I mean, just in case he was reincarnated in this life as well. Long, curly blond hair....and his eyes. I forgot what color his eyes were.'

Feeling a slight tickling on her bare leg, she reached down to flick off what she supposed was an annoying ant or bug when a leathery, soft body met her fingers, and she tried not to scream. "Konnichiwa, tokage. It's very interesting to see one of you in the wild, who do you belong to? Surely not Rei-chan or Mako-chan, they have Phobos, Deimos, and Aoao. Good gracious," she said softly, coming eye to eye with tiny green emeralds that glinted intelligently. "Those were his eyes.....almost the exact same."

"Whose eyes?" asked Tokage, before he remembered that lizards weren't supposed to talk. Mentally hitting himself over the head, he watched warily for the chance that he might be dropped or even thrown.

Stifling a shriek, she tried to slow her heart's pounding. "You...you must be a guardian. Although they aren't any more senshi, except perhaps some for the outer planets."

"That's right..." he mused thoughtfully. "Now, whose eyes do mine look like?"

Hesitantly and at his gentle prodding, she replied, "Zoi's. General Zoicite's, excuse me."

"How? How do you remember? Who....?" he demanded, panicking, feeling deja vu come on. Why did this girl speak of his master? She had a guardian, that he was sure of. Otherwise, she would have fled long before. Phobos, Deimos. Those were the crows of Mars. Aoao, the annoying one of Jupiter.

"I'm Mizuno Ami."

"That's not exactly what I meant, but it's nice to meet you. My name is Erimakitokage. You called me Tokage, didn't you?"

"It means lizard, a general name. What did you mean?"

"You must have a guardian, if you know about them. An animal that talks," he responded coolly. "Either you're a senshi or a clever trick of Chiba Mamoru's. Hold on. Mizuno Ami?"

"Hai?"

"You......you're the Princess of Mercury." Tokage's mouth dropped open, an interesting look for the lizard. Here was the former love of his charge, the senshi of Mercury. Her name revealed everything, as had the generals's.

"Hai. I suppose you want to see my guardian then? Luna-san's here, too, but she hasn't found the Moon Princess. Care to tell me who you guard?"

Nervously fumbling for a name, he knew she wouldn't react well to hear General Zoicite's name come up, and he wasn't about to reveal that the reborn general was Kouseki Yosouya. "Eh.....no one yet. Looking for my charge, like Luna."

"They're all hiding in the room of the Great Fire, I'll take you there."

"Hiding?" he asked curiously, not objecting to the gentle ride.

"From Rei-chan, Mars, and Mako-chan, Jupiter. They're fighting."

Resisting the urge to groan and smack his head on something hard, Tokage sighed, "They haven't changed, have they?"

"Not a bit, but don't you like them more this way?"

"I'm betting Hokushin and Tansei won't......."
~ * ~ * ~
Aino Minako and Tsukino Serena walked into Serena's house, talking animatedly, setting their book bags down, taking off their light spring coats and shoes. Tsukino Ikuko came out, running a hand through slightly-mussed purple hair. "Konnichiwa, girls. A snack is on the table, even though you keep insisting you're too old to call it that. Except Sere-chan. Don't forget to do your homework." Before the two blondes raced off for the kitchen, ravenous after a "strenuous" day at school, burdened with many "frustrations", she called, "By the way, Mina-chan, some boy has called for you. Twice."

"Honto?" she asked calmly, while Serena squealed with excitement, ignoring the previous joke. "I wonder who thought could be...."

"Apparently, a Torit Sukareru said he knew you in London, while you were filming 'Sailor V' and wants to get back in touch with you. He says he's back in town and left you this phone number and short message, asking you to call him back," explained Ikuko.

Glowering darkly, she took the paper with a quick "Arigato." Once she and Serena were in the kitchen, eating sugar cookies, she folded the paper meticulously first in halves, then quarters, eights, and finally ripping it into hundreds of little pieces.

Watching, with an uncanny expression on her face, while her friend dumped the bits of paper in the trash bin, Serena mumbled (with her mouth full, of course), "Why'd you just do that, Mina-chan?"

"Because he's a pervert. Um...did I just say that...?"

"Hai," she replied, nodding emphatically.

"Nevermind that, then. Anyway, he was always after me on the set, a co-star. He's...hm..two years older, seventeen now. Torit-SAN must be a senior in high school, wonder if he's going to attend Juuban?"

"I hope not, if he affects you that much. What does he look like?"

"Oh, blond hair and dark blue eyes. He had a lot of female admirers there, even though he was only our age then."

Serena protested, "You talk like we're babies or something."

Shingo snuck in and grabbed a napkin full of cookies. "Hey, Sere-chan, maybe it's because you are! *snicker* Ja ne."

"Ja....nani?! OOH, I could kill that little brat!!!"

"I wouldn't recommend first degree murder just because he called you a baby," Minako advised, eyes twinkling once more, looking like the surface of a lake in the summertime.

"Iie, it wasn't that, he stole some cookies!!"

*sweatdrop*
~ * ~ * ~
"Mamoru-kun?"

"WHAT, Souya-kun?" asked the addressed, flexing his fingers in case the general had come to annoy him with some trivial manner.

*gulp* "The stock you've invested in, actually stocks, have skyrocketed with your purchases, and they've directed the money to the bank. From my calculations, by next month, you should be able to buy the company with all the stock you own. Do you plan to....want to plan...?"

Smiling darkly, he praised, "This is indeed a good sign of fortune. Ick, I sound like Endymion now. Hai, I should find some delicate way to talk the owners around it. Any ideas?"

"Maybe it would be a good idea if Kasen-kun and Kyosei-kun were here, as well?"

"But Kasen-kun is never very tactful....very well, call them both," he ordered with a casual wave of the hand.

Closing his eyes, the blond general used the highly-efficient skill of telepathing that he had recently acquired. 'Kasen-kun, Kyosei-kun....Mamoru-kun wants to discuss polite ways of taking over businesses. Can you get over here?'

'Souya-kun, can't this WAIT?' came the exasperated reply from his brother. 'I'm trying to ask this girl out....'

The ever-wise brunette rolled his eyes. 'It's okay, Souya-kun, I'll grab him. Kasen-kun, you've got enough girlfriends to be called a player, and if you want to be choked again by our prince, that's fine with me.'

'Shimatta, I forgot about that.'

'What you two HURRY?!' *ahem* Smiling apprehensively at the impatient prince, he said, "Um....they should take a while to get here from college, seeing we're not allowed cars or anything like that, they'll have to use public transport."

"Public transport?" he asked, raising one black eyebrow.

*sweatdrop* "Buses, etc."

"Oh....I should talk to the college about that rule."

"Maybe when you finish, they would take the hint better," Yosouya suggested tactfully. "There's also the fact to consider that we would never be able to afford cars anyway."

Grinning in a way that the blonde wasn't quite sure that he liked, Mamoru said, "You seem to have forgotten certain....powers I have. Very persuasive powers. You have no cars?"

Slightly stung, he retorted, "I don't see you flying around in one, you have a motorcycle, and none of us have those anyway."

"True, true. I admire your wit, Souya-kun. Cars are not a problem with the ever-present money we've gained. And bank clerks are easy to...mislead, shall we say. Especially if they are female, all we need is Kasen-kun."

Resisting the urge to groan, the gen asked, "Arigato, I think. Isn't that...a bit illegal?"

Raising both eyebrows this time, Mamoru laughed. "Of course it's illegal, but I grew up an orphan in this life. The orphanage, rotten and horrible as it was, paid my education up to high school. Then I began...developing my powers, which was how I got through college and some other things on the side I won't mention. Really, you have just too high a sense of honor, still."

"Still?"

"I mean, from the past," he substituted hastily. At all costs, Kouseki Yosouya was to be kept from finding about his memory alterations. Luckily, the two absent generals burst in, panting. "Well, konnichiwa, Kasen-kun, Kyosei-kun. Nice of you to join us after so long."

"Konnichiwa, Mamoru-kun. Gomen, the first bus was full," apologized Kasen, excusing himself. Or so he thought.

"Explanations are excuses, Kasen-kun, and I DON'T like excuses. Kyosei-kun? Anything of importance YOU want to say?"

Jumping, the brown-haired one shook his head quickly. "Iie, Mamoru-kun. Shall we start, then? Unless there's something else you want to ask?"

Looking at him sharply while Yosouya gulped, used to certain habits of his already, black eyes narrowed for a moment. "Of course," he replied easily, a few moments later. "One thing, Kyo-kun."

"Hai?"

"I conduct the meetings, here."

"Gomen nasai."

"A quick reminder, nothing more."

"If you say so, Mamoru-kun."

"Oh, I do."
~ * ~ * ~
Breathing heavily, Luna hissed, "What are you DOING here?"

Casually shrugging, Tansei replied, "We came to find you. Enough explanation?"

"What for?"

Hokushin turned gravely to address Aoao. "To get help for three bewitched generals and one evil prince, doesn't it sound like a fairytale?"

Phobos and Deimos tried to cover up bird-like grins. "Yes, it does."

"BUT that doesn't excuse the fact that the generals became evil. They were brainwashed, true, but they broke the hearts of our princesses. They have no right to see them again in this life." The cold statement came from the usually silent Koori as she glared angrily at Erimakitokage, who just shrugged the look off.

Outraged, Shippou hissed, "It wasn't exactly our fault, was it?"

"Perhaps not," agreed the Lunar cat, 'but the fact remains that they killed or attempted to kill the princesses and senshi."

"LOOK! They were reborn perfectly normal in this life, just as they were born as the Four Kings in their past lives. It wasn't their fault, either, that a cold darkness came and stole the prince, who in turn recaptured his generals," squawked an indignant Tansei, furiously bobbing in funny motions, a blur of bright blue with red spots.

"And you said that Jadeite started an ejection process of his soul, obviously commandeered by Endymion, that Zoicite had amnesia after a high fever, recalling nothing of this life but everything in the past. But we can't forgive Nephrite if you said he willingly turned 'traitor', shall we say, can we?" asked the two crows pointedly.

Hokushin winced under the glowers from his fellow guardians-he had forgotten about their annoying habit of talking at the same time. "I suppose not, but you can blame it on the stars. He's not one to choose his own destiny sometimes."

"EXACTLY! Which means that there is no way in this world I'm letting an evil OR good Nephrite near Makoto!"

"MUST you be so close-minded?" asked Tokage.

*humph*

"What makes you think they haven't already met? After all, Aino Minako is currently in the Crown Arcade with Kunzite, Mizuno Ami met Zoicite as a child, then again when he was in the hospital," continued the green lizard, ignoring the incensed green bird.

"Aino Minako? Oh no.....Artemis, the flea-bitten-nevermind! He brought the senshi of Venus back without telling us! I have to find her, him, and the Princess of the Moon." Luna disappeared from their interesting gathering with a backwards look for HER fellow caretakers, indicating that a thorough fight should be put up.

"There, see? You've been keeping information form us, not telling us that Venus was here."

"Well, excuse US for not knowing that you couldn't find the Princess of Venus when she was right under your noses! Artemis should have told you, he's Central Control," huffed Tansei.

"This isn't going very well," commented a slightly bored Koori. "I mean, so far, we've accomplished nothing except the fact that you want us to help you 'rescue' Prince Endymion and three generals, senshi Venus has been found, and we've been insulting each other." While the majority of the "fighters" breathed a sigh of relief, thanking the gods that one of them had some sense or impatience, a minority was upset that they didn't get to continue brawling.

"Why should we help them?"

"Aoao, for Queen Selenity's sake! If Prince Endymion is evil, you must remember the great power he had. After all, that was why the union between him and the Moon Princess was suggested. Since he's been overtaken by some alien force, this could obviously create complications for the senshi. Better to stop diseases before they're full-blown."

"Who says we can trust them?"

*sighs*

"Today is going to be a long day, alright."
~ * ~ * ~
One Lunar cat crept up on his mistress, frowning deeply. He didn't like Seishou Kouseinou, not one bit, and the fact that Minako had absolutely no clue as to who he was irked him. Only a blind fool could have missed General Kunzite, what with the silver hair and eyes, his name, everything just REEKED. At least to Artemis's wrinkled nose. Outside the Crown Arcade, he sniffily declared to himself that he was way too old for her and not to be trusted.

"Ahem."

He turned around quickly to find very angry blue eyes staring into his own lighter blue ones. "Uh oh, I knew this day would come. Hello, Luna. Long time no....see, right?"

"I'm not here for chitchat, you never told us that you were back in Japan, with the senshi of Venus, nonetheless!"

"Don't you read the newspapers, kitty-cat? Mina's been in the news as Sailor V in London."

"That's another thing, how could you expose her to street filth like burglars, murderers, and rapists?"

"Kitty-cat, it was the only was the only way I could train her. You want me to find youmas or something? I wasn't about to take human form, and there weren't any other senshi around."

"Stop calling me kitty-cat, I'm a full grown cat now."

"Liar," he smirked in the most aggravating way.

Glowering darkly at the senseless white cat, she sniffed. "What were you doing lurking around London, anyway? If you told me the rest of the senshi and the Moon Princess were in Japan, you should have stopped her from leaving."

"Luna, for Selene's sake, do you expect me to see the future or something? I didn't KNOW it was her, I saw her leave the airport one day and hitched a very uncomfortable ride. Still haven't found the Moon Princess, I see," he reprimanded in return.

Blushing darkly, she stuttered, "Artemis...I...I..."

"You nothing! Just look in the window, my precious Mina simpering over that idiot general!"

"You're in love with her, aren't you," stated the midnight black cat.

"Me? Of course not!" he laughed off, trying to see casual, but two burning red spots had appeared on his cheeks. White didn't exactly hide color well, at least not as well as black did. "It's Kunzite!"

"The rest of the generals's guardians are at the temple. With Phobos, Deimos, Aoao, and Koori," she added, before he could ask. She knew the pompous fool all too well, much better than she would have preferred. For some reason, it stung her deeply that he loved his charge. But it was just because he was too old for her and that he could never have her, ne? Just sympathy for an old friend, that was it.

"I suppose I'll have to leave my watching over Mina to go and talk to them?" he asked expectantly.

Tartly, she replied cheekily, "Stalking, you mean. Spying, if you prefer it. The temple's not the best place to be at the moment, although we should go. Aoao's losing her cool, even though it's not uncommon. Did you know that our Central Control is located under this very arcade?"

Giving her a patronizing look, he said, "Of course, Luna, what do you take me for?"

"An idiot! For Queen Selenity's sake, what nincompoop would build the Central Control under an arcade?!"

"Me," he smirked.

"You're impossible," she muttered, indicating that he should follow her back to Hikawa Temple.

"I know, but that's my charm, and you've gotta love it!"

He winked comically at her while the Lunar cat's heart jumped alarmingly before she scolded herself. The strange behavior was jut fondness for seeing someone she hadn't met again for a long time.....right? 'If I ever hear about the river in Egypt again, I'm going to make sure Pluto NEVER, EVER allows that saying to go around about de Nile....'
~ * ~ * ~
One seething storm cloud proceeded to Rei's temple, the strangest one anyone had ever seen, with brownish-red hair and sharp green eyes. Kino Makoto, a sight with bruised knuckles on her right hand and steaming tears rolling down her cheeks, was something to be handled with great caution at the moment. When the raven-haired miko came out, she silently just stood there, wondering what had happened now. After a split-second argument with herself, Makoto threw herself on the smaller girl's shoulder, although Rei wasn't THAT many inches shorter....Short blue tresses waved in the breeze that accompanied the brunette, and Ami helped her purple-eyed friend and her burden into the temple, glaring icily at anyone that might have stopped to comment. "Ahem.....Mako-chan? What happened?"

"Hai, I thought everything was going so well. You came home singing last night after a date, saying your boyfriend asked you to the tenth grade semi-formal?" Wincing, the black-haired girl handed her a tissue as the tears became abundant.

"My EX-boyfriend was and IS a *******, and I don't even want to hear him mentioned again!!" Makoto furiously wiped away traitorous tears, while Ami quietly exited and came back with some white object a few minutes later.

Rei winced, purple eyes compassionate, and said, "Gomen nasai, Mako-chan. Do you want to tell us what happened?"

"Not really. Okay, hai."

"This should help your hand," came from the petite girl, kneeling beside her brunette friend, who was sitting on Rei's bed. She rubbed a cool, soothing, thick white paste from a tube onto purple-blue knuckles.

"It does, arigato." Sniffling, she dried her green eyes roughly and started, "He was cheating on me the whole time-"

"With who?"

"Some brunette girl, and even though I don't use the stereotype often, I'm surprised it wasn't an airheaded blonde with blue eyes. It doesn't really matter. Anyway, he just asked me out and to the semi-formal to see if I would actually say yes and believe him, wasn't I such a baka? And then today, with some of his loser friends, he dumped me and told me everything. They were laughing, and laughing, and laughing, so I....I lost control."

The raven-haired one gulped. "Should we ask about that? Actually, I probably would have sent a Fire Soul at him if it was me."

"Hai, I punched him, thus the bruised knuckles."

Softly, Ami smirked, "He has a hard yet hollow head, ne?"

Disbelievingly, the other two stared at her for a moment before they all burst out laughing. Putting an arm around her two friends, Makoto hugged them tightly and said, "Arigato. It's so nice to have friends like you to talk to, and Ami-chan's laughed again."

"Anytime, Mako-chan, anytime. Friends are for everything except causing trouble and breaking hearts."

"But don't they break hearts sometimes?"

"Ami-chan.........."
~ * ~ * ~
"Boy, if you don't mind me calling you that-"

"I do," came the steely answer from Chiba Mamoru.

"Alright then, you can't possibly believe that I would sell my prospering, flourishing company to a college student, do you?" asked the owner of the business, astonished.

Darkly glowering at the flabbergasted man, he tried to smile. "Of course I do, for the fact remains that I own over ninety-nine percent of the stock. I'm willing to negotiate a much higher price than you paid when you first got the company."

"Which can only be expected, since I bought it over ten years ago."

"Exactly. Now, are you willing to do business, or am I going to have to do some dirty work?" Mamoru was not a patient man, and he was getting restless.

Snorting, the man said, "I have your name, Chiba Mamoru. What kind of monkey business are you going to do, murder me?"

"Actually, I could force you to sign the papers at gunpoint," he said coolly.

Staring at the ebony-haired student, the man asked, "You're really insane, aren't you. You can't possibly own a gun."

"You're about fifty percent right about that. I could, but I don't. I do, however, have three very willing generals that would be happy to use something close to it."

"Like what....." drawled the businessman. Smiling evilly, Mamoru held out his hand and let an ember of black fire grow, then dissipated it when a sizable amount gathered. "Magic tricks?"

"If you put your hand in it, I'd say there would be some very drastic changes to the composition of you body. Think how distressing it would be to lose a hand."

"You aren't serious, are you?"

"I just told you to try it."

"I could call security."

"And I could call my generals. You haven't heard what they can do, have you. One of them is VERY friendly. He likes blue fire very much, with quite a few other abilities I wouldn't care to mention. My second in command, you wouldn't like to meet him, his least powerful attack sends razor, five-pointed stars through you."

Pretending not to sound scared, he asked, "What, is he an astronomer or something?"

Once again smiling at his companion, Mamoru nodded generously and said, "Hai, we call him stargazer. My last in command, he's got very high intelligence. You wouldn't like to be trapped in thorny, man-eating vines with spears of green ice stuck in you, ne?"

Gulping, beads of sweat standing out, he whispered, "Prove it."

"Uh, uh, uh, then you would be dead, see? I need you alive to sign the papers, or I swear I'll kill everyone in the company," promised the black-haired, black-eyed man with great conviction. The owner of the company needed no urging after another bolt of black flame consumed a piece of paper in the blink of an eye while Mamoru watched with immense satisfaction. Things were going his way, alright. For once. And he liked it.
~ * ~ * ~
Kouseki Yosouya frowned, staring about the dark room with distaste. While Kasen was....occupied in their room, Chiba Mamoru had told him he was free to escape to other places besides his room, for he liked to be....occupied sometimes as well. It wouldn't do to invade Kousei Kyosei, the blonde was slightly wary of the large puffs of blue appeared, his way of "communicating" with the stars.

Here he was, with a enormous empty space to make his laboratory, as Mamoru had told him. Furrowing his brow, he scribbled down the need for a computer, chair, tables, sanitizing equipment, and new tiling. Other things could wait, he promised himself. Life had just gotten very strange to find that almost everything was at their disposal, but he wasn't one to abuse the privilege, anything he needed that was urgent to their cause, Mamoru had no trouble in providing. That wasn't to say, however, that he approved of the trifles his brother sometimes wished for. Kyosei had just gotten a gigantic telescope, and, needless to say, was happily playing with his new "toy."

The reason he had wanted to be truly alone was to think. His memories were foggy, misty, and his fellow generals had told him it was because of a high fever he had gotten, causing amnesia. So all he knew was that his parents had never cared about him, only Kasen, that he had a guardian who had deserted him when he'd been sick, and nearly all of his memories from the Silver Millennium, except nearing the end. He had taken a trip to the Moon yet recalled nothing, except fatally wounding a blue-fukued person, and when he'd leaned over to check if she was alive, the angel had stabbed him. Although there wasn't a trace of any injury on his ribs, not even a scar, he rubbed an uneasy hand over his left side. But this life, there had been someone else he remembered from childhood, someone that wasn't family. A petite blue-haired child that he'd never seen again, but how did she tie in with his life? Just a friend, an acquaintance? And if she was a friend....where was she now? Shaking disheveled blond curls, Yosouya wondered if he'd be better off listening to Kyosei muttering to himself about any stars or odd particles that had suddenly appeared in space....and promptly decided against it. With a sickened expression, he knew he was better off with just some dust.....at least, he HOPED that was the only thing lurking around.
~ * ~ * ~

Paths of Thorns