Eternally Yours
by Ai-chan
Chapter 7- Infinite possibilities
Mamoru felt awful. Really awful. It was the absolute worst hangover he had ever
had. He couldn't even remember where he had been or been doing that had left
him with bleary vision, a cotton mouth and aching limbs. As his eyes slowly
started to focus, he saw two giant, blue, watery orbs staring concernedly into
his own eyes. Suddenly, everything came flooding back to him and he sat up
quickly causing a splitting headache. You see, the dark energy Domitric used to
heal him had done its job. But unlike the healing energy of the Ginzshou, which
left the healed feeling euphoric and light, the dark energy left the victim
feeling as if they had just awoken from a bad night of drinking. But Mamoru
didn't care about any of this. His only thought was of the shaking blond in
his arms who was weeping in fear and relief. When she had finally regained her
composure, she lifted her head from his shoulder and looked him directly in
the eyes. "Mamoru? What are we going to do?" she whispered fearfully. "I don't
know Usako. I just don't know" he sighed, looking at the ceiling in hopeless
abandonment.
"That was a lot more difficult than I imagined, Luna" Minako said looking
tiredly down at the feline climbing the porch steps with her. Minako had a
few close calls trying to convince Usagi's parents to let "Usagi" go on the
fictitious ski trip. In the end, when
Minako had been close to tears of frustration, Luna had had to step in and
use a tiny bit of persuasive magic on them, an act she did with much regret
and disdain. Both hated to deceive Usagi's parents, but it was necessary for
the sake of getting her back. "I wonder how Artemis and Jadeite are doing"
said Luna looking at the silent house. "We'll soon find out, one way or
another" said Minako grimly as she opened the door. "Mom! Dad! I'm home" she
called to the silent house. "Out here!" yelled Artemis. "Must not be home"
muttered Minako. They walked out into the bright family room to find
Artemis right by the door and Jade on the opposite couch. The tension in
the air was thick. "Your parents went out with some of their friends" said
Jade tersely. "Did they buy it?" asked Mina, sitting down in an overstuffed
armchair. "Yes, they did, but this...this...*he* almost blew it" Artemis
practically spat. Luna and Mina looked at each other. *This does not look
good* thought Minako, sighing as the two scowled at each other.
"Ow! No Usako, don't put your foot mwamphgup!" "What did you say Mamoru?"
said Usagi, looking down at her beloved, who presently had her ever dainty
foot stuck halfway down his throat. He choked back at her. "Ooops! Sorry
Mamoru!" she said, gracefully leaping off of his face (which caused her foot
to forcibly be pushed another 3 inches down his throat before it finally
left) and landed flat on her face. "Owwwwie!" she moaned. "*cough* Uh...well
that didn't work" said Mamoru, massaging his throat and glaring at the
tempting window, 30 feet above. "Oh Mamoru how will we get out of here? We
can't transform and we can't use my communicator and the Ginzshou isn't
responding and I'm...I'm HUNGRY!" Usagi wailed deploringly. "It's okay
Usako!" said Mamoru while assuredly patting her back, but
staring hopelessly off into space. "We'll get out of here. Somehow."
"That's not even close to being done. Keep sweeping Stony." Rei grinned
maliciously at Ken as he fruitlessly swept the leaves away, only to have
the large tree drop double that amount right back on the ground 20 seconds
later. Rei gave a small, satisfied smile and went back into the shrine to
do a fire reading. *Stony? Oh ha ha Miss congeniality!* thought Kenneth
bitterly. *How are you supposed to sweep these stupid things! They just keep
coming back. Grrr* he thought angrily as he kicked pointlessly at some leaves.
*The dumb wind. If only it would blow them AW- Hey now, there's an idea* he
looked shiftily around him, making sure the coast was clear. Focusing his mind,
he began to gently glow a silvery gray. The wind began to whip around him and
the leaves started to glide away. Presently, the tree was completely stripped
of all its leaves. "And when you're done with that "started Rei, snickering as
she returned to check on Ken's progress, "you can-" she stopped abruptly as she
caught sight of the leaf free lawn and tree, and Ken putting away the broom
while whistling. He waved at her as she stood open-mouthed. She stared a
little longer then abruptly turned on her heel, grumbling as she slammed the
door. Ken laughed and resumed his whistling.
"So you add in some oregano? Interesting...and goooooood!" said Nate as he
tasted the sauce. "That's my secret!" said Makoto, as she added a few more
spices into the bubbling sauce. "And then you... HEY! Are you paying
attention?" she said angrily as she smacked the spoon away from Nate, who was
still going into ecstasies over the oregano dashed sauce. He shrugged his
shoulders at her, and licked a bit of sauce off his cheek. Makoto giggled and
wiped a bit more on his nose. "Mmm mmm good!" he said wiping it off and smacking
his lips. Makoto rolled her eyes and smiled affectionately at him. *Oh good
Goddess, I've fallen for her all over again.*
*Damn straight you have Nephrite!* thought Sailor Pluto watching the two
through the window. *If you hadn't you would have ruined my plans! At least
one of you couples is working out. Now those two...* she looked in the living
room window and sighed, disappearing in a sparkle of dim light.
Ami glared. Zach smiled charmingly back. She glared deeper, scrunching up
her eyes until she couldn't see. He grinned wider, stretching his lips so far
over his teeth that he felt his mouth was tearing off. They continued this
"face-off" for another five minutes before she finally broke, throwing her
hands in the air. "Wipe that moronic grin off your face you big doofus!" she
yelled at him. Nate and Makoto stuck their head through the swinging door and
then quickly went back to their oregano, once they saw how intense the two
seemed to be getting. "Are you always this charming or did they teach you at
your little school?" said Zach sweetly. Ami turned four shades of purple.
"AND WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW ABOUT MY SCHOOL YOU IGNORAMUS! YOU ARE THE BIGGEST
NARCISSISSTIC DUNCE I HAVE EVER MET! DO YOU TIE YOUR OWN SHOES OR DO YOU GET
KUNZITE TO DO THAT FOR YOU!?!?!" she screamed at him, glaring in anger. Zach
held her gaze for a few seconds then looked away, walking towards the window
seat, which had an assortment of game boards around it, including the ever
discussed Scrabble and, more importantly to Zach, a chessboard. "MAKO-CHAN! I
NEED YOUR *HELP*!!" Ami yelled deploringly. "I can't hear you, I'm broiling.
Lalalalalala" she shouted back, while banging some pots and pans together and
turning on the electric mixer. Nate gave a small chuckle and in the other
room, Zach stifled a laugh as he set up the chessboard, blocking it from
the view of Ami. She cautiously tried to see around him to see what he was
doing. Finally, her curiosity getting the better of her, she walked over to
him, still sulking. "I think you got the wrong board, the Scrabble one is over
there" she said sarcastically, pointing to the much abused board game. Zach
looked at her for a few seconds, then continued setting up the board, humming
softly. Ami plopped down across from him just as he put the last pawn up. He
then sat back, folded his hands and looked over to her. She stared defiantly
back as if to say 'I'm not moving that God-forsaken piece so you can just
kiss my a-' Zach sighed and moved his first pawn. He then leaned back again
and waited. And waited. And waited. Ami began to sweat as she looked at the
pieces. Inviting her. Imploring her. Calling her. Her fingers itched to move
them. To humiliate this cocky bastard with the cute smile. But no, she
couldn't give in. She must keep her dignity. It was all she had left. But he
had left an opening. No, no she couldn't give in no matter how tempting it was
to just...move...the...pawn. "ALL RIGHT!" she screamed, startling Zach out
of his admirations of her, causing him to fall off the seat as she hungrily
moved her first piece. He peeked his head over the cushions, a teensy bit
afraid of this raving mad goddess. "I don't have all day. Make your move" she
said impatiently. Zach cautiously inched his pawn over and then, even more
cautiously, slid snakelike over to and up into his seat. Ami stared hungrily
at the board and then made her move, looking expectantly up at him. It was
going to be a long game, he thought, staring back into her ice blue eyes.
"Well, by all means, please stop with your cheerfulness! You're getting
on my nerves!" said Minako exasperatedly. Jared stared glumly back at her,
unblinking, his head on his hand. "Ooo-kay then" said Minako sighing.
"C'mon, let's get you over to the shrine. I have a feeling this is a
spiritual thing and, well, that's not my department. C'mon" she added, tugging
on his arm, as one would tug on the leash of a hesitant dog. "C'mon boy,
c'mon" she said, whistling and pointing to the door. He cocked an eyebrow
and heaved himself out of the armchair. Artemis rolled his eyes at
Luna and stood to follow. "No Artemis, you and Luna should stay here
until my parents get back. They might need a memory jog about our cousin" she
said, jerking her thumb at the despondent Jade, who was dragging his feet
towards the door. "Oh boy" she said rolling her eyes skyward and up stretching
her palms in a 'why me?' gesture.
"WHY ME?!?" screamed Rei in frustration. Ken shrugged and turned back to
gathering water. Rei squeezed out her hair, which was soaking, wet, thanks
to the "accidental" dunking Ken had just given her after one of her
tirades. "Freaky wind" she grumbled, looking at the sky. Ken coughed
and looked the other way. 'REEEEEIIIIII-CHHHAAANNN!" yelled a familiar
voice, though not as cheerfully as normal. Rei looked up and smiled as she
saw the familiar red bow bob into view, followed by its attached head
of spun gold. Her smile fell as she saw another familiar blond head lagging
behind her, not even a smidgen cheerfully as normal. "Ooh great" she
sighed. "Rei-chan, we need a little help" said Minako, as she embraced
her friend, whispering in her ear. "WHAT!?!" screamed Rei in shock.
Minako looked at her with wide, watery, sky-blue eyes. "Fine, that one
was driving me nuts anyways. Keep him out of trouble while I attend to
Mopey over here. *Mopey?* thought Ken and Jade together, each raising an
eyebrow. *What are we the missing dwarfs or something?* Jade shrugged and
trailed behind Rei and into the fire room, giving his friend a small wink.
Ken turned and sighed inwardly. "Sooo...Minako. Umm...what's up with Jared?"
*Oh boy* thought Minako her eyes snapping back to his face after admiringly
uhh admiring the rest of him. "Huh? Oh. OH! Jared, right. I don't know, he
is just really sad so I wondered what was wrong. I think he's just stressed.
You know, that whole coming back from the dead thing can really drain a guy,
you know? Oh yeah right, you do..." she said, trailing off awkwardly. "Yes.
Yes I do know" he said, almost inaudibly, his eyes downcast. Minako looked
up at him, alarmed. "I'm sorry" she said just as quietly, her hand
reaching out to touch his. "For what?" he asked, looking deep into her
sky-blue eyes. "I don't know" she said, drawing her hand back, puzzled.
"I just feel like I should feel sorry for something I've do-" she continued,
only to be interrupted by Jared's yell of anger and a sob from Rei. Ken and
Minako looked at each other and then without a word, transformed and
sprinted off towards Rei's heart-breaking sobs.
As they entered the shrine, still running at breakneck speed, they heard
what sounded like one hell of a struggle taking place in the Fire room.
They both ran, a little more cautiously, towards the entrance where they
heard Jared yell in pain and an all to familiar feminine cackle.
Venus' eyes narrowed as she heard it, and she threw caution to
the wind, bursting into the room in all her golden glory, itching
to get at Vega. Kunzite, who had been summoning the other two generals,
yelled "No! Venus!" and followed. She was standing just inside the doorway,
openmouthed. Rei lay hunched over the form of her wizened grandfather,
who didn't look to be breathing. Jadeite was on the floor, clutching
onto his right arm, and small pool of blood was forming around him as he
looked defiantly up at a large grotesque imitation of what used to have
been a stone engraving on the wall. The engraving was now
eight feet tall and was carrying a large stick. He was completely
made of clay. And, perched on a chest of drawers above the mayhem, sat
Vega, eyes bright with delight. Venus' eyes narrowed even more.
"Where is my Princess?" she said acidly, biting off each word.
Vega just shrugged and laughed. Venus took a step forward and Vega
shook her head slightly, the monster pounced and Venus had to
quickly dodge, although not fast enough, as the monster took
the stick and whipped it under her legs, bringing her down,
hard. With an audible crack of breaking bones, she hit
the ground, her leg sticking out at an odd angle, her face tinged
green. Kunzite and Jadeite both screamed in rage, hurling bolts
and orbs of scarlet-gold and silver-gray at the monster, who lazily
flicked them away with his stick. Venus made a small whimper as she
sat up. She stubbornly hit her communicator for Jupiter and Mercury.
Ami's face popped pleasantly into view, then wrinkled with concern as
she heard roars in the background. "Trouble?"
she asked. "Just a bit" said Venus sarcastically. We'll be right there"
said Ami, as she transformed into Sailor Mercury and closed off
the connection. Two seconds later, Venus' communicator beeped again
and Mercury's face popped into view. "Where's there?" she said rather
sheepishly. "Fire room, at the shrine," said Venus shaking her head.
"Right, NOW we'll be right there" she said and closed the connection.
Venus sighed and willed herself to get up. She looked over towards
the rampaging battle to see Kunzite and Jadeite shooting off sporadic
energy bursts at the creature, which lazily fended them off. Jadeite was
definitely looking worse for wear, as the gash on his arm leaked
more and more blood. She heard a sob and quickly looked to her left to
see Rei, still bent over her grandfather, quietly sobbing. "Rei" she
said, dragging herself towards the distraught girl, "Rei please! We
need you. We can't do it alone" Her sobbing suddenly stopped, but she
was still trembling. Minako saw that it was not from fear, but from
rage. Rei looked up at her friend and Minako's jaw dropped.
Her eyes were scarlet and the inferno in them promised revenge for
her grandfather.
"Something's wrong" said Luna, her eyes unfocused and her crescent
glowing brightly. "Where?" said Artemis distractedly. "A new Senshi"
said Luna in that same haunting voice. "WHAT?!?" said Artemis in shock.
"You go get the outers, I'm going to help" Luna snapped her eyes gaining
focus again as she darted off towards the shrine. Artemis gazed after her
worriedly and then took off running towards the Haruka and Michiru's
mansion, running away from where he could sense Venus in danger.
Once again, Venus' communicator beeped. She continued looking at Rei as
she absently opened the connection to hear Jupiter's voice. "What?"
said Venus, tearing her eyes away from the now glowing Rei. "Right, about
being on our way, well scratch that" she said as Mercury screamed and a
resounding thud was heard followed by a few blasts from one of the
Generals. "Oh geez" said Venus in frustration and then "Where
are you?" "Oak evolution! Ahh, damn. Sorry Neph! Don't worry the
leaf burn will go away in a few hours. What? Quit your whining you
big baby. AHHHH! Not funny Neph! Oh right V-chan, we're at the mall."
"The mall?" said Venus, raising an eyebrow. "We were taking a
shortcut and then suddenly big and ugly here jumped out of a shop. I
never knew that crystal figurines could be so mean. And that nasty
Rehn is here too. AHHHHHH!" "We'll be there as soon as we can Jupe.
Hold on" said Venus closing the connection and looking back to the
ever-brighter Rei, who now had the beginnings of one hell of a bonfire
at her feet. "Oh crap!" said Venus, rapidly inching in the
other direction from Rei.
"We've got to get him away from that stick!" exclaimed Jade, gripping his
arm. "No, you need to help heal Venus and yourself. I'll hold him off" said
Kunzite, throwing a bolt of glowing gray at the monster, which (surprise
surprise) was repelled. "Go!" he added and Jade didn't need anymore
prompting. He lunged across the floor over to where Venus sat, as she
tried to get Rei to move. Suddenly fire and ribbons exploded around Rei,
blinding all present. Vega laughed harder, thinking she had been destroyed.
When the fire subsided, there stood Eternal Sailor Mars, outfitted exactly
like Venus, only in a deep scarlet where V's was gold. Vega stopped laughing
abruptly and began to pout, worriedly chewing her lip. Kunzite continued
throwing bolts at the distracted warrior, which hit pay dirt, as one of his
orbs blasted its shoulder, slightly chipping it. The monster howled in pain
and turned itself to the offense. Jadeite, who had been staring at Mars
in amazement, quickly recomposed himself and grabbed Venus' hand. "C'mon
sis" he said, grinning "you know what to do" Venus looked dazed, but
grabbed his hands all the same. With both their eyes closed, they began to
glow gold and both focused their energy on one important thing.
"Heal" they said together softly. The light increased and then faded slowly.
Jade blinked rapidly, then grinned at Venus who was looking worriedly
at the fray. Kunzite's luck had run out and the monster was now severely
kicking his ass. He had long ago given up on trying to hit the monster
and had now taken to dodging and teleporting out of harm's way,
occasionally throwing bolts at either the monster or Vega, who
laughed and sent them right back at him with a wave of her hand. Mars
continued to survey the scene, her eyes still burning, then as one
of the Vega-deflected bolts went hurtling back at Kunzite, who was
trying to prevent himself from being skewered by the stick-monster,
Mars leapt into action throwing a ball of fire at the bolt which
exploded harmlessly a mere two feet from its intended target, Kunzite's
head. Venus smiled in relief and then turned to the prone body of Rei's
grandfather. His finger was twitching. She smiled wider and put a "Light
heart shield" around him before jumping into the fray on Jadeite's heels.
"Okaaaaaay" said Nephrite as a disgruntled Zoicite went flying by and
into a nearby kiddy ride. "Energy is repelled by this thing, Jupiter's
attacks aren't working and Mercury can barely get it to freeze before it
thaws itself out. What the hell can we kill it with?" he said exasperated
as Zoi unwedged himself from the cockpit of the airplane in which he was
stuck. "Well we can't get it to stay still long enough to take it out
with a sledgehammer" said Mercury, tapping away on her keyboard "what
we need to do is hit with an attack of some really brutal energy all at
once. A Sailor Planet Attack would definitely do it, but
unfortunately, we are not all here. Neph and Zoi, keep throwing your
energy thingies at them and Jupiter and I will throw our most powerful
attacks. We need to hold it off long enough for Mars and Venus to
get here. Venus might be able to put it down" she said jumping up with
her harp in hand. "Let's do it!" said Jupiter leaves rushing around her.
Nephrite looked cautiously at the leaves then began to gather a large
amount of energy in between his hands, as Zoicite did the same.
"Now!" screamed Mercury sending off her Aqua Rhapsody, as Jupiter
sent off her Oak evolution and Neph and Zoi sent off their energy orbs.
Seconds later they all threw themselves flat on the ground as millions
of crystal shards hurtled over their heads and stuck in the opposite
concrete wall. "Your next brilliant idea?" said Zoicite scowling.
"Pray" said Mercury in total seriousness.
"Oh, he's screwed" said Jade as Mars walked towards the monster. The
monster stopped conking Kunzite, who was dazedly on the floor asking
for more juice, and turned to meet the new challenge. Mars didn't even
give him time to raise his stick. Bringing her arms straight over her
head a mighty flame erupted at her feet. "For Grandpa" she said
quietly and then she brought her hands directly in front of her, pointing
straight at the surprised monster as she yelled "Scarlet inferno!" and
a verifiable conflagration erupted around the monster and Vega, who
disappeared in the nick of time, a tiny flame on the ends of her
brown hair. A small pile of cinders was all that was left of the monster.
"Who's up for roasting marshmallows?" said a familiar croaky voice.
"GRANDPA!" screamed Mars as Venus rapidly hissed "Secret identity Rei!
Secret identity!" "Hello Rei" said Grandpa, smiling. "How? started Mars
but he interrupted her "Yes, I knew you were a Senshi all along Rei.
I'm old, not blind and deaf. Too much strange stuff happened around this
old place, and you were always in the middle of it. But I'm very
proud." Mars cried openly at the sight of her grandfather, and a
sniffling Venus waved away the barrier as the two embraced. Venus'
communicator suddenly beeped the urgent code and Venus yelled "Oh NO! The
others! C'mon Mars, we gotta go!" "Right" said Mars, wiping away her
tears as she waved her hand and whispered "Undo" and the damage wrought
was instantly fixed in a glitter of red. Jadeite quickly helped the
still dazed Kunzite to his feet and with his cry of "But I don't want
to go to school today Mommy!" they were off.
"Okay, OW!" said Zoi as a crystal shard lodged itself in his left arm.
Mercury absently yanked it out, none too gently and Zoi let out
another loud 'OW' of pain, glaring at her. "Now THAT, is something you
don't see everyday" said Jade's cheerful voice and Mercury sighed
in relief as she and the other's peeked their head through the broken
window in the shop where they had been hiding. Then they all screamed in
shock as they caught sight of Mars. "How...how...WHAT THE HELL!?" screamed
Mercury in complete confusion. Mars' eyebrows raised in surprise and
then she and the others deftly jumped out of the way of several crystal
shards. "What do you say Jade? Time for our secret weapon?" asked Venus
cheerfully. Jade nodded, smiling. The two joined hands and their eyes began
to glow gold as golden light swirled around them, centering around their
joined hands. The monster, tired of waiting, threw crystal shards at them,
but they rebounded off the two and headed straight at Rehn who teleported
away cursing his stupid monster to its inevitable doom. The light increased
and the two turned to face it Venus' hair floating above her, both holding
a hand of the other. The other hand was pointing, hands clenched fist-like,
at the crystalline monster which was frozen in place. Together, in voices
that sounded like wind chimes, Jade said "Solar scorching" as Venus said
"Solar sparkling" and they both unclenched their hands yelling
"ELIMINATION!" Golden sparkles erupted from Venus as a jet of gold
flame erupted from Jadeite, and the two streams of gold intertwined
in a complicated strand as they slammed into the monster, shattering it
into millions of tiny pieces which rained down upon the awed group. The
two let go of the others' hand and faced their friends. "So...wanna
explain WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU!?" asked Jupiter. Before Mars
could open her mouth, Luna came sprinting towards them from the east
as Artemis, Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn came huffing and puffing from
the west. "What'd we miss?" asked Uranus looking around, puzzled at
the ruined mall, the unconscious people, the ripped outfits of Mercury,
Jupiter, Kunzite, Nephrite, and Zoicite, and the new change of clothing
for Mars. "I'd say we missed a lot" said Neptune, smiling her mysterious,
all-knowing smile.
|
