Fractured Loyalties
Chapter 2: Unexpected Allies
By Contrail
Disclaimer: Sailor Moon was created by Naoko Takeuchi, not me, and I'm using the characters and setting without her permission. I'm not making any money off of this.
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All Mamoru could see around him was featureless, swirling mists save for the silhouette of a woman with long hair that was barely visible through them.
"The Phantom Silver Crystal..." The mysterious woman's voice cut through the mists to reach him.
He moved closer to where she was standing, the mists clearing enough to see that she had her hands raised to her face. Her desperation and her need were almost palpable, and his heart ached with the desire to help her in any way he could. But his desire to see her face and know who she was was even greater than his desire to help her. Something told him that she held the answers to many mysteries, if he could only find her!
"Please, find the Phantom Silver Crystal," she asked of him again. He continued moving forwards toward her, her features becoming clearer as the mists cleared from between them. He could almost see her face. Just another step. He started to take it...
And he woke up.
That dream again, he thought to himself, before sitting up in his bed and starting to rub the sleep from his eyes. It always ended just before he would get to see her face. He'd been having the dreams for several months now, although at first they had come once a week, if that. But the frequency of them had increased gradually, so that he now had the dreams more often than not.
The first few times he had had the dream, afterwards he had found himself wandering the streets of Tokyo as Tuxedo Mask, searching for the Phantom Silver Crystal. Those times, it had almost been like he was still dreaming. It wasn't until he had accepted those incidents as more than very strange dreams that he'd been able to become Tuxedo Mask at will and he'd stopped transforming automatically because of the dreams.
But he was no closer now to figuring out who the woman in the dreams was now than when the dreams started. He could never see her clearly enough to make out her features, tell what color hair she had, or even determine what her hairstyle looked like other than it left at least some of her long hair to trail around her.
And his search for the Phantom Silver Crystal wasn't going well either. All of the possible leads he'd found had turned out to be dead ends, and another person or group appeared to be searching for it as well, one who could brainwash people and create monstrous servants that could disguise themselves as ordinary humans. He didn't know why they wanted it, or what use they might be able to put it to once they had it, but he didn't trust the intentions of anyone who would do such things.
Then there was Sailor Moon. He didn't know if she was searching for the Phantom Silver Crystal herself, or if she was specifically an enemy of the ones who created those monsters. What he did know is that twice she had shown up and defeated the monsters, with a little bit of help from him. He wasn't entirely sure why he'd helped her on those occasions. He guessed he felt protective of her, a beautiful girl who looked like she was even younger than he was; She should be worrying about grades and boyfriends instead of fighting off monsters. She'd been so scared of them, but with just a little encouragement she'd been able to stand up and fight, defeating them. He admired that about her, his intriguing enigma.
Her identity was one thing he had a lead on, at least. He'd spotted a girl twice now investigating strange happenings while talking to her cat, who was able to answer her back in perfect Japanese, of all things. Yesterday he'd even seen her disguise herself by using some sort of magic pen and try to follow the bus responsible for all the kidnappings through some strange sort of portal. She'd failed to keep a hold of the accelerating bus, and had ended up landing in his arms. She'd refused to answer his questions and fled the scene, unfortunately. And she resembled Sailor Moon quite a bit, even having the same unusual hair style. A pity he hadn't noticed and remembered the name on the test paper she'd thrown at his head the first time they'd met instead of being distracted by the pathetically low test score.
Reaching over to his nightstand, Mamoru picked up his pocket watch and glanced at the time. Seeing that it was already 6:30 AM made him wince a little. He hadn't expected to spend so long just thinking in bed. Ah, well, at least he left enough time in his morning schedule that he wouldn't be late, even though he'd have to get ready for school a bit more quickly than usual.
Before too long, Mamoru was showered, dressed, fed, and waiting for the bus that would take him from his apartment to Moto Azabu High. The bus pulled up shortly after he arrived, and he spent the ride idly watching the scenery go by. Getting off at the closest bus stop to his school, he was soon surrounded by other students. He nodded in response to people waving at him and gave brief greetings to those who greeted him or that he recognized.
He had passed through the school gates and was halfway to the high school building when a stationary figure caught his eye. The person standing there was looking around as if he wasn't certain where to go. He was dressed in the school's uniform, but Mamoru thought he would have remembered the rather distinctive long, wavy wheat-blond hair if he'd seen it before. A new student who had transferred in, perhaps?
Seeing that no one else appeared to be interested in helping him, Mamoru walked up to him and said, "Excuse me, but are you new here?" The other student turned around, green eyes in a face so well-formed it was almost pretty focusing on him. A sudden feeling rose in Mamoru that the person in front of him was familiar, one he knew well, but he couldn't remember ever meeting anyone who even looked like him.
The other boy blinked at him for a moment, then a small smile crept on his face. "Yes, this is my first day, and I'm afraid I'm a little lost," he told Mamoru somewhat sheepishly.
Mamoru returned the smile. "Well, if you tell me what class you're in I should be able to tell you how to get there."
"I'm in class 2-A."
Mamoru chuckled. "That's the class I'm in, so I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other this year. I'm Chiba Mamoru," he said, offering a hand for a handshake.
"Minamino Zoushou." Zoushou reached out and grasped the offered hand. As soon as their palms touched each other, a spate of images flashed through Mamoru's mind, none staying long enough for him to grasp them, but all of them feeling like they were from some time long ago, long enough for civilizations to rise and fall and rise again. Surprised, Mamoru quickly shook Zoushou's hand and let go, resisting an impulse examine his own hand. Zoushou was giving him an odd, almost calculating look, so he turned away.
Steading himself, Mamoru asked, "Let's go, you don't want to be late on your first day, do you?" He led the way into the building that housed the high school classes. During the morning classes Mamoru kept an eye on Zoushou, his curiosity having been stirred by the odd feelings Zoushou had caused when they met. Zoushou appeared to be somewhat quiet and very intelligent, paying close attention in class and answering all the questions he was asked correctly, although he never volunteered answers.
When the lunch bell rang, Mamoru made his way out to the school's courtyard, carrying his lunch. He would have been welcome enough at any of a few different clusters of students, but he chose to find a secluded spot so he could eat alone. He wanted to think more about that morning's events, and being around other people would just be a distraction. Part of him wished there was someone he could talk it over with, but he just wasn't close enough to anyone to trust them with his normal problems, let alone the strangeness that had recently entered his life.
Lost in thought, Mamoru didn't notice that someone had approached where he was sitting until he heard them clear their throat. Looking up, he saw Zoushou standing nest to him. There was no trace left of the somewhat calculating expression he'd had that morning; He looked a bit nervous, but otherwise open and friendly. "Can I eat lunch with you, Chiba-san?" Zoushou asked. "It's just, I haven't really had a chance to get to know anyone else yet..."
Well, the more he could learn about Zoushou, the easier it would be to figure out the odd feelings he'd gotten when they'd met. He didn't really have the heart to tell Zoushou to go away, either. "You can if you want to, Minamino-san," Mamoru replied easily.
Zoushou seated himself on the grass within easy conversational distance. "You don't have to be so formal towards me. I'd like it if you'd call me Zoushou-kun."
Mamoru nodded. "Okay, Zoushou-kun it is. Although... You don't seem the type to be that informal with someone you've just met."
Zoushou shrugged and smiled a little. "Not usually, but even though we met just this morning, it feels like I've known you for a long time."
Mamoru looked away from Zoushou while nodding. After a long moment, he said quietly, "I don't understand why, but I feel that way about you, too." He paused, then continued, "Have you lived in Tokyo for very long?"
Zoushou shook his head. "No, just for a short time, although I did when I was younger, before I went to live with my grandparents in Kyoto." His face turned curious. "Why do you ask?"
Mamoru wondered if he should tell Zoushou his true reasons, or just give him a non-answer, the way he did when anyone asked too personal of a question. His instincts were telling him Zoushou could be trusted, but... Deciding to go with his instincts, Mamoru said, "I can't remember anything from before I turned six, so I was just wondering if we might have known each other then."
Zoushou considered this statement for a few moments before answering. "I see. I don't think so, Tokyo is a large city and I think I would have remembered you if we had met before." He paused, then continued, "Do you... believe in reincarnation?"
Mamoru raised one eyebrow at him. "No, I haven't seen or read anything that would convince me that it happens."
Zoushou gave him an odd, melancholy smile then looked off to the side. "I felt like that once, too, but recently, well," Zoushou's green eyes turned back to look at him with surprising seriousness and intensity, "I found out some things that made me believe that it can happen." Even after he stopped talking, Zoushou's serious gaze remained on his, as if trying to find answers there. "Have you had any interesting dreams lately, Chiba-san?" he finally asked.
He can't know about the dreams, there's no way he could... Feeling distinctly uneasy, Mamoru shot back a question of his own. "Do you always ask new acquaintances such weird and philosophical questions?"
Zoushou blinked once, then divert his gaze to the grass by his feet, his embarrassment evident. "Not usually. I'm sorry if the questions bothered you."
Relaxing a bit, Mamoru said lightly, "I guess I must be special, then."
Zoushou looked up at him again, eyes still serious. "I think you are, more than you realize right now."
Mamoru thought of all the strange things going on in his life and smiled to himself. "I don't know, I think I'm pretty special already," he said, his voice amused. Zoushou raised an eyebrow at him, but before Zoushou could say anything more, he changed the subject by asking, "What do you think of our classes so far?"
The rest of the lunch period passed with them eating their lunches and talking about the safe subject of school. It felt comfortable and somehow familiar to Mamoru, just talking and eating with Zoushou in a relaxed fashion. When the lunch bell rang, they both got up to return to class. As they walked back to the building, Mamoru hesitated, feeling oddly uncertain, then said, "Zoushou-kun... You can call me by my first name as well, if you'd like."
Mamoru knew he'd done the right thing when Zoushou smiled at him and said, "Thank you, Mamoru-san."
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Kitano Kaneo sighed as he opened the door to his apartment and stepped into the entryway, pausing to remove his shoes. His job with his father's financial corporation was enjoyable if tiring at times, even though it was no longer the most important thing in his life. But duties from a life long gone and forgotten had been thrust upon him unexpectedly, taking precedence over everything else and placing him in situations he had never anticipated.
Kaneo called out a greeting to his decidedly younger roommate, and heard a reply come from the boy's room. He started walking towards there, wanting to ask his roommate a question or two. Zoushou looked up from the homework he was working on as Kaneo entered the room, stopping next to his desk.
"So how did your first day at Moto Azabu High go, Zoushou-kun?" Kaneo asked.
"Well, it looks like the coursework here will be more challenging than my last school, and..." Zoushou bit his lower lip nervously, then pressed on. "I think I found the Prince."
Kaneo gave him a sharp look at this news. "Truly?" he questioned.
Zoushou nodded, a smile tugging at his lips. "There's a student in the same class that I'm in named Chiba Mamoru. He's the right age, he matches what I can remember of what the Prince looked like, and when we first met... I just felt like I knew him." Zoushou's smile faded into a slight frown. "But I don't think that he remembers much if anything about the past. I talked to him at lunch, and he thought I was familiar, but that's all. And we shook hands when we first met; I think he picked up on some of my memories of the past when he did that, but if he did they only surprised and confused him."
Kaneo nodded, his silver eyes thoughtful. "For now, keep an eye on him, see if you can befriend him, and try to jog his memories of the past without being too obvious about it. We can't tell him why we're here until he remembers enough to not think that we're insane, but if you stay close to him with any luck you'll be there to protect him from the darkness if necessary."
Zoushou nodded. "I don't think becoming friends with him will be too difficult, although he doesn't seem to be someone who allows people to get close to him easily in this life. But some of the feelings of friendship he had for me before seem to be coming back to him, even if his memories aren't coming back yet."
"Good," Kaneo replied while staring off into the distance, lost in memories of the past. "This time we won't fail him," he said with a voice full of determination.
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Over the next few days, Mamoru found himself spending a lot of time in school with Zoushou. His initial impression of Zoushou being quiet and intelligent, but friendly, was shown to be accurate, though he was more inclined to speak his mind when other people weren't around. Nothing weird happened after that first day, and Mamoru enjoyed talking with him. That was probably why Mamoru had agreed to show Zoushou around Juuban a bit after school today when Zoushou had asked him to. Since Mamoru wasn't sure what Zoushou wanted to see, they were mostly wandering around with Mamoru pointing out the occasional useful or interesting shop. They'd stopped for a while at the Crown Arcade Parlor because Zoushou had professed a great love for arcade games, although he'd seemed more interested in figuring out how they worked than actually playing them to Mamoru.
"Hey, what's with that really busy shop?" Zoushou asked, pointing in the direction of the shop he was talking about.
Looking at where Zoushou was pointing, he could see that a lot of people were going in and out of a completely unfamiliar shop. Looking up at its sign, he saw that it was named 'Jove Flower and Garden Shop'. Mamoru shrugged and answered, "I've never seen it before, it must have just opened."
"Why don't we go see what all of the fuss is about?"
"It's up to you, but they're probably just taking advantage of an opening sale."
Zoushou just shrugged and moved to join the line of customers waiting to enter the shop, with Mamoru following behind him. Once they got inside, Mamoru could see that the interior of the shop was clean and well lit, with a large number of different types of cut flowers on prominent display. Oddly, the flower that the shop had the most of was one he'd never seen before; There were signs that declared it to be a special variety only available at this shop. He stopped by one of the displays to take a closer look at them. The flowers looked a little bit like a lily but only had three petals each. They were a deep purple that was almost black, with a thin stripe of red running down the center of each petal. When he reached out and picked one of the flowers up, he got an odd feeling as he was holding it. The flower seemed... hungry in some strange fashion. Suppressing a shiver, Mamoru was about to put the flower back when a female voice coming from behind him said, "Our Jovian Purple Trililies are an excellent choice if you want to give someone something unique, sir, and you can only find them here."
"I was just looking around, miss," he said as he returned the flower to the display and turned to face the one who had addressed him. It was a tall girl who looked to be about his age, dressed in the store's uniform with her auburn hair tied up in a neat ponytail with a thin green ribbon.
"Ah, but sir," the girl pressed on, "these lovely flowers will soon be out of season. Surely your girlfriend would appreciate a small token of your regard?"
"I don't have one," he said shortly and turned away to find Zoushou. When he glanced back over his shoulder a few moments later, the girl was already busily trying to sell flowers to another customer. Finally spotting Zoushou through the crowd, he made his way over to him and said impatiently, "Let's get on out of here."
Zoushou raised an eyebrow at Mamoru but put down the flower he was looking at and followed him out of the little shop. Once they were a few feet away from the shop, Zoushou asked, "Why were you in such a hurry to leave there? It may not be the most exciting sort of place, but that's no reason to rush out of it."
"Their speciality flowers... I know it sounds strange, but I think there's something wrong with them... something dangerous." Mamoru looked over at Zoushou to see his reaction. Instead of the disbelief he was half expecting, Zoushou was looking at him with a serious, considering expression.
"Dangerous... You mean like the odd occurrences Sailor Moon investigates?" Zoushou asked.
"I think so."
"Well, let's hope that she's investigating this one as well, then."
Mamoru nodded, wishing that he knew a way to contact Sailor Moon. Even though he thought he'd figured out her civilian identity, he didn't know her full name and address, or even what school she went to. Still, if he couldn't let Sailor Moon know about it, at least he could investigate it himself. It had to be connected to the other incidents, which meant they might have information about the Phantom Silver Crystal that he didn't. He couldn't let any lead go unexplored.
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Late that same night, Mamoru returned to investigate the store in the guise of Tuxedo Mask. He'd had an odd feeling of being watched as he'd made his way through the city, but he hadn't been able to spot anyone following him. Warily, he worked his way to the back of the flower shop and found a rear entrance to it. Trying the doorknob, he could tell that it was locked. Pulling out some thin metal rods with a sigh, Tuxedo Mask set to work on the locks, wishing he hadn't had reason to become as skilled at this task as he had. The final lock came open with a click, and he carefully opened the door, peering around the edge of it to see what kind of room it lead to.
It looked to be a storage room, with a maze of narrow aisles of shelves filled with gardening equipment and other supplies. An eerie greenish light came from further into the room, fluctuating in an odd rhythm reminiscent of a heartbeat. Tuxedo Mask moved through the doorway and silently shut the door behind him, then quietly crept towards the source of the light, making sure to keep himself concealed behind the shelves. Looking around the corner of a set of shelves, he finally saw it; On a worktable set up in a somewhat more open area, a plant that had to be the source of the flowers he had found so disturbing was sitting. Many flower stalks sprouted from the top of a squat, almost bulbous trunk that was the main source of the light he had spotted. The girl that had been tending the shop earlier, now wearing an odd looking black and green school uniform, was seated by the plant and caressing its trunk. She took out a crystal with her other hand and held it up towards the plant. The light flowed from the plant and into the crystal.
This must be another plot to drain people's energy and brainwash them into finding the Phantom Silver Crystal, Tuxedo Mask thought to himself as he watched the girl extract the energy from the plant. I can't just let this continue! He concentrated, causing a sharp-stemmed rose to materialize in his hand, then threw it at the plant. The flow of energy into the crystal ceased just moments before the rose impaled the trunk of the plant. The flowers wilted in seconds and the trunk began to shrivel up into a dead, desiccated shell.
The girl whirled around to face the direction the rose had come from and shouted, "Who's there?! How dare you hurt my precious plant!" Not wanting to get stuck fighting her in such narrow spaces, Tuxedo Mask abandoned all stealth and ran towards the entrance with his pulse pounding in his ears and the angry girl hot on his heels. He was almost to the door when he heard her cry out from behind him, "Gotcha! Dark Thunder!" He turned to look back and saw a torrent of black lightning baring down on him. There wasn't enough time for him to dodge; All he could do was brace himself for the blast. He couldn't help but give a short cry of pain as it slammed him into the door with enough force to rip the door off its hinges. He landed heavily on top of the door in the middle of the alleyway, sparks of the black lightning crackling over and through his body for several seconds afterward.
The girl calmly stepped through the now doorless doorway and raised one hand towards him. "For what you've done, you'll feel the wrath of the Dark Senshi of Jupiter! Dark Thunder!" She lashed out with the black lightning again. Tuxedo Mask gathered his strength to roll his somewhat battered body out of the way but before he could do so the blast unexpectedly struck a dome-like shield that had suddenly shimmered into existence around him.
A couple of seconds later he heard a familiar voice shout, "Phoenix Fire Strike!," from further down the alley. A large red and gold bird trailing flames flashed through the sky and dove at Dark Jupiter, bursting into a cloud of flames as it struck her. Dark Jupiter let out a shriek of pain and vanished in a bolt of black lightning.
Tuxedo Mask tried to sit up, closing his eyes and stifling a groan as numerous developing bruises and aches made themselves known because of the movement. He jumped a little when he felt a large hand grip his right shoulder to help steady him. "Are you all right?" a voice asked from the right, its attempt at impersonal calm not able to completely conceal the note of concern in it.
"I should be fine in a few moments," he replied as he opened his eyes and turned to look at the man who had his hand on his shoulder. The man had shoulder-length straight white hair even though he didn't look old enough to be going gray yet, and his serious silver eyes were looking Tuxedo Mask over as if he didn't quite believe that he wasn't hurt. Taking a good look at the man, he saw that his clothes were odd yet familiar; He was wearing a white uniform jacket with silver-gray piping, silver-gray pants, and black leather boots. A black cape with a silvery-gray lining was clasped to his shoulder by two onyx pins carved into the shape of a turtle. He was certain he'd seen this man in a uniform similar to this before, even though he couldn't remember when or where he had. The man's name was... "Kunzite." He didn't realize he'd said that aloud until Kunzite's gaze snapped up from examining him to meet his with a searching look.
The sound of boot steps on asphalt made them both look up to see who was coming towards them. The dome-like shield had disappear at some point when Tuxedo Mask hadn't been paying attention to it. The man walking towards them was wearing a uniform that matched Kunzite's, although it had no cape, the piping and pants were a deep green, and the pins on his shoulders were red and gold phoenixes. He recognized the green eyes and long curly blond hair, but his mind was supplying another name for the man as well... "Zoisite."
Zoisite's eyes widened a little, and he asked hopefully, "Do you remember us, Prince?"
"Not really, just your names and that I know you some-" Tuxedo Mask started to say before halting abruptly as something Zoisite said sunk in. "Wait, why are you calling me Prince??"
Kunzite gave Zoisite a long look that made him hang his head a bit, then said to Tuxedo Mask, "We'll explain what we know to you, but this isn't the place for it. If you know of someplace where we can talk privately, please lead the way."
The only private place Tuxedo Mask could think of was his apartment, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to take them there. He'd recognized who Zoisite was when he wasn't in that uniform already, and thought that Zoisite had figured out who was behind his mask as well. That wasn't the cause of his concerns. But he didn't know who Kunzite really was or if he could be trusted. From the way Zoisite was acting it looked like the two of them did know each other, though, and his instincts were telling him that he could trust Kunzite with anything. With a small sigh, he decided to trust Zoisite and his instincts, and ignore what his logical side was saying about how foolish it would be to trust someone he doesn't know anything about. Following his instincts instead of his logic; That was something he'd been doing a lot more often since his life had started getting strange.
"We can talk in my apartment. It's over this way," he said finally, turning to leave. Kunzite and Zoisite fell into step behind him as he lead the way to his apartment.
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Dark Jupiter knelt before Queen Beryl after giving her report, still singed around the edges from the fire attack that had struck her. She was aware of the presence of her mentor, Nephrite, behind her, as well as Jadeite and his apprentice Mars. "So," Queen Beryl said in a surprisingly calm, even voice, "instead of staying to defeat those who interfered with your assigned task, you returned here with only the energy your plant collected to show for yourself?"
"My apologies, my Queen," she answered, "but I felt that it was more prudent to return with the energy that had been gathered than to battle three opponents whose strength and abilities are unknown to us and potentially lose everything."
"She just didn't want to get her pretty little curls singed anymore," Dark Mars hissed in a whisper deliberately loud enough to carry to her.
Refusing in show Queen Beryl disrespect by moving out of her kneeling position, Dark Jupiter merely clenched her fists and hissed back, "You were too busy running from the Sailor Senshi to keep them from rescuing those hostages."
Dark Mars sniffed haughtily. "They only managed that because I had no idea they could do such a thing. By the time I figured out what they were doing, it was too late to stop them."
"Oh, really? You-"
"That's enough, girls." Queen Beryl's voice cut cleanly through their argument. "Since you did manage to bring back energy for our great ruler, Jupiter, I won't punish you for your failure this time. See that your performance improves in the future."
Dark Jupiter bowed her head respectfully. "I will not fail you next time, my Queen."
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After the three men had reached Mamoru's simply furnished apartment, Kunzite and Zoisite let the uniforms they wore shift back into their regular clothes. Mamoru hesitated a moment before following their lead. He hadn't been surprised to see that Zoisite was Zoushou, but Mamoru didn't recognize who the well-dressed man Kunzite had become was at all. Before Mamoru could ask, he introduced himself as Kitano Kaneo.
"Kitano-san, you said you would tell me what you know know about what's going on once we were somewhere we wouldn't be disturbed, correct?" Mamoru asked as he took a seat in the chair by his computer desk.
Kaneo and Zoushou seated themselves on Mamoru's couch before Kaneo answered him. "Yes, I did." Kaneo took a few moments to collect his thoughts before saying, "In a past life, Zoushou and I were warriors of a grand kingdom that once ruled over the entire Earth, but destroyed itself due to the manipulations of an evil demon who called herself Metalia. Metalia was sealed away after everything was already in ruins, but recently the seal was broken. We were reborn in this time and place to keep Metalia from taking over the world again, and to find and protect the Prince we had pledged our loyalty to, who had been reborn as well."
Mamoru tensed a bit. "And you think that I'm the prince you're looking for," he stated with more calm than he felt.
"Yes. We believe you were once Endymion, Crown Prince of the Golden Kingdom of Earth," Kaneo stated with certainty.
Endymion... Something buried deep within him resonated in response to that name, recognizing it. "I don't remember this past you describe, or being a prince in a previous life. But, something tells me that you're right."
Zoushou gave him an encouraging smile. "I'm sure that you'll start remembering the past over time. My memories of the past are still somewhat fuzzy and fragmented. Kaneo-san's the one that really remembers what happened."
"Perhaps," Mamoru replied uncertainly. How likely was it that he would remember a previous life when he couldn't even recall the early years of this life? Changing the subject, he asked, "What do you know about those responsible for the recent energy draining schemes? Do you know why they would be searching for the Phantom Silver Crystal?"
"They are servants of Metalia, trying to restore her strength with energy stolen from others. She must still be weak from having been sealed away for so long." Mamoru nodded, this fit with what he had heard on that brainwashing disk they had been using.
Kaneo continued, "The Phantom Silver Crystal was a magical artifact said to possess limitless power. If Metalia ever gains possession of its power, she will become unstoppable. That is why her servants are trying so hard to find it, and why we can't let them succeed."
Mamoru felt cold inside at the idea of that happening. "We can't let them win," he agreed. "What about the girls who have been fighting them as well, Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury?"
"The Sailor Senshi served the Silver Millennium, a kingdom that existed on the Moon in the past. Sailor Mercury was one of the guardians of the Moon Princess. If they've been reborn, Princess Serenity must have been reborn as well, and they'll be trying to find her and the Phantom Silver Crystal. The royal line of the Moon were the ones who the Phantom Silver Crystal belonged to in the past."
"Princess Serenity..." Mamoru repeated in a whisper. Just the sound of that name sent what felt like a jolt of electricity through his body. The one the Phantom Silver Crystal belonged to... Could she be the one who begged him to find it in his dreams? He could ask them about it, but he didn't want to tell them about the dreams quite yet. They were special to him. But he still wanted to know more about her... "Was she... Did I know her, in the past?"
Kaneo paused to exchange an uncertain look with Zoushou before answering his question. "You were deeply in love with her, as she was with you," he said simply.
Mamoru stared at the carpet beneath his feet, unsettled by this information. He had been in love, with a princess... "But we died," he eventually said, not quite making a question of it.
Kaneo nodded. "You died protecting her during the fall of both kingdoms."
He'd loved her enough to give his life for her, and now they had both been reborn... If they met in this life, Mamoru wondered, would they fall in love again? Did he want to?
"Did you have anymore questions?" Kaneo asked, interrupting Mamoru's thoughts.
Mamoru shook his head. "I'll probably have more questions later, but that's enough information for now. Also, I need to go to sleep soon if I don't want to sleep through my classes tomorrow," he said somewhat wryly.
Kaneo nodded as he stood up. "Of course." He paused, then continued in a more formal tone, "Now that we have found you, my Prince, it is our duty to serve you again as we did before."
Mamoru shook his head a bit. "I appreciate the offer, but you don't have to do that. I may have been a prince back then, but that doesn't mean that you have to treat me like one now."
Zoushou said, "Serving you is why we were reborn. Our powers and memories would never have been awakened if you didn't need us."
Kaneo added, "We... did not serve you as we should have before. Please allow us to make amends for that now." Kaneo's silver eyes met his own, the regret and shame visible there showing how important this was to him.
Mamoru nodded to them. "You can serve me if you wish."
Zoushou returned his nod and gave him a small smile, while Kaneo simply said, "Thank you."
Goodbyes were exchanged, and then Kaneo and Zoushou left his apartment. After they were gone, Mamoru let out a sigh. He'd gotten the answers to some of his questions, but they had only raised more questions. But there was something reassuring about knowing that whatever happened, he wasn't facing this alone anymore.
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Author's Notes
I know that Tuxedo Mask never actually throws roses in the manga, but I think it's kind of cute and (as this chapter demonstrates) it can come in handy sometimes.
