Abduction
Usagi watched as the stunned raven-haired woman’s head fell into her hands as tears poured down her face and trickled through her splayed fingers. Rei’s shoulders shook as violent sobs took control of the usually calm Miko.
Unsure what else to do, Usagi found herself putting a supportive arm about the distraught woman to comfort her, turning her eyes to the double glazed doors looking out onto the patio , as was her custom whenever an emotionally confronting situation made itself manifest as if the solution lay out there beyond in the garden. She then pulled her thoughts together, the shock of what this meant to all of them starting to sink in. She then turned her attention back to Rei. Usagi, pulling up a chair, took the other woman into her arms. All the resentment she felt earlier evaporating, replaced with a genuine need to comfort this shattered young woman.
Usagi whispered words of comfort and patted Rei on the back. After a time, Rei ceased her crying and blew her knows into a wad of tissues Usagi had handed her.
Rei smiled, looking a little sheepish, “Sorry for all the water-works, but I find myself stunned by this. My father knew who I was and hadn’t thought to tell me. I know he must have wanted to, and had been afraid. I am not that stupid that I cannot see how a man can be so reticent to reveal his truth. I have seen it too many times before, and don’t trust just any man with my feelings. He’d have to earn my trust and respect. Though in this instance, I feel betrayed. It is different on this occasion, and I know now that he must have suffered much for my sake,” she managed between retreating sobs, “I know how love can make people do the most difficult and impossible things. It all seems very mad to the rest of us. The poor fools that are on the receiving end of such good intentions…I know the proverb, but I wish things had been different. He is indebted to my mother, not only for her work in curing the pandemic, but because he loved her. He forged the vision of a united Asia – a new superpower to rival and surpass that of the United States. Oh, and I was a love child, a little blossom that fell by the wayside in the dust of history... I am sorry, but I need time out to think this through.”
“Hey, and I thought I had problems…, its all right… I know what it is like to have your life ripped out of your hands,” Usagi responded as Rei padded her eyes dry.
~*~
Mamoru sat on the beach lost in his swirling thoughts, almost at the very same spot Usagi had sat when she had seen Rei hanging off his arm. “How did you get yourself into this mess… Chiba Mamoru, you really know how to mess things up,” he addressed himself in a sarcastic tone, kicking the pitiful sandcastle to pieces he’d unconsciously built whilst lost in his dark mood.
He closed his eyes and thought of his father. Then, in that brief moment, the burden of leadership seemed not to weigh so heavily on his father’s shoulders. Mamoru admired that about him, and perhaps even envied him. “Oh, not so much the power and the trappings of high office, but the love of his people,” Mamoru said in a low tone to the empty beach about him. He wanted that. Then thinking about Usagi, the delicate tightrope he walked for all those days, weeks that became a chain of months. He had watched every step both he and Usagi had taken. Each groomed for the halls of power, but somehow he never thought he wanted it.
Dragging a broken lone twig in the sand, he pictured Usagi, so fragile she seemed, but he knew better. She had strengths and depths within her petite form that remained untapped, a tenacity that grabbed life with both hands and allowed her to take her fill. But was he responsible for making her so unhappy, and was the princess right. He thought about the relationship that like a cat’s cradle, entangled them in the deadlock of political expediency. But a wry smile crept across his face as thoughts of how in recent times it had become something else. And within its complex web, a man and woman were beginning to see one another for the very first time, not the brash hothead and cloistered young princess. No, she was different, cloistered was one thing she was not. She was vibrant and irrepressible, and she survived it all, albeit a struggle she was finding difficult to handle. But he knew with a certainty he’d not possessed until the other night when she stood before them ready to lynch Rei -- he chuckled at the thought of the petite woman stringing the hapless Hino Rei up by the thumbs and planning to roast her alive – but knew things had changed between them.
~*~
Rei was taking a shower while Usagi prepared a light salad in the kitchen. Mamoru had sent her a text message on her personal com band, he apologized for not making peace and denied any wrong doing, promising to talk to her that night and wanted to explain it all by sending this communiqué to break the deadlock and hoped she would hear him out. At first, she was furious, not because he was guilty of anything -- not now -- but because he was being such a coward about it all. She wasn’t that unreasonable, was she? No, she would hear him out; after all, he was being faithful, even if Rei hadn’t been his half sister.
And another disturbing thought occurred to her, had her father realized the moral dilemma he was placing his daughter. What if she hadn’t read the documentation, what if… she allowed the thought to trail off, not wanting to go there. She felt relieved, yet, guilty as well.
~*~
Usagi stood like a statue, vegetable peeler in hand, a far away look on her face. She looked pensive Rei thought, as she watched the princess from the doorway. One of the world’s most powerful women, so like a typical young teenager, difficult too imagine her in royal attire. But there it was, and there she was, Hino Rei, daughter to the Chinese president, a Shinto priestess emerging from a cocoon woven by her mother Kamui and her father, and she, an Asian princess as much a fish out of water as were Usagi and her half-brother, Mamoru.
She coughed, and Usagi’s eyes fluttered and lost their far away look.
“Hi, didn’t know you were there, Rei. I was just thinking. Men are such strange and unreadable creatures,” Usagi chuckled philosophically, setting the peeler and the potato she had prepared with its companions on the chopping board, and started on the ingredients for the potato salad before chopping some chives and mashing the avocado into the tuna and folding it in lemon juice and black pepper.
“I was genuinely scared the other night…, you know, I thought you would flip out… I mean, he really cares for you, you know.”
A brief silence fell between them as Usagi bit her lower lip and squared her shoulders and shrugged. ”Am I that transparent? I didn’t come across as the put out dutiful wife, who wanted to protect her country’s national interest?”
“No, Usagi,” she giggled, “you are a woman falling in love and there is nothing wrong with that. I saw it in your eyes, not just the way you confronted us. But how you have treated me since I got here. I am simply grateful I am your sister in law….”
Usagi burst out laughing. “Who would have thought this collaborative stunt by the Kamis would find my main rival…, actually family, brought about by the most bizarre twist of fate.”
“Yeah, tell me about it,” Rei said shaking her head.
“Wanna help with the tomatoes and rice salad while I get the dressing ready?” Usagi beamed.
“Sure…, I love this place. It is so spacious, and the gardens are beautiful.” Rei gushed, her violet eyes taking on that familiar look Usagi recognized whenever anyone came to stay with them.
“Yes, it certainly has its charm,” Usagi agreed with pride. “I hadn’t seen it before, but now it’s more appealing to me since my perceptions have altered,” Usagi said good-naturedly.
“You two are going to have to sit down and have a long talk.”
“I know, but I am a little scared. He might think me too intense, a possessive type…”
“I am sure he doesn’t. You are only human, so cut yourself a little slack. I am sure he is just as uncomfortable as you are. You guys are beginning to see the people behind the titles and the institutions that had manipulated you. It’s quite romantic really. But I know these things should be handled with care.”
Usagi and Rei made light work of the kitchen chores, and soon sat to a delicious Tuna salad, Spanish style and two glasses of iced coffee and a platter of potato wedges and sour cream with guacamole.
The sun was beginning to set and it was then they herd the purr of Mamoru’s hover-sports car in the drive.
~*~
“Hi guys,” Mamoru gave his bravest smile as Usagi leaned forward on the kitchen bench glowering at the sheepish expression on her husband’s face. But when Rei began to giggle and Mamoru looked so adorably tortured, she burst out laughing. Mamoru just stood there, hands by his side, keys forgotten as they fell to the floor. This brought more giggles from the two women, both he would have thought might cheerfully rip each other’s eyes out the previous night. He grinned and soon all three were laughing uproariously while Usagi hugged Mamoru as he sat stunned and confused upon a chair while Rei and Usagi slid a glass of wine before him, followed by a delicious salad platter.
“Well, what have I done to deserve this,” he enquired, waving his hand over the kitchen as if blessing the food and drink.
“I owe you an apology, Mamo-chan. I must say, I had you guys going.”
“Usagi, I am sorry. Please forgive me, but I haven’t the slightest idea what you are talking about; obviously, Rei is in on it, too. So enlighten me.”
“Well, eat something first, and take a few sips and I will explain.”
He nodded and tucked in. The food was delicious; the fusion of light seasoned fish and tangy dressing and delicious trimmings were lifesaving, for he had only managed a sandwich and coffee for lunch. He was ravenous.
“Okay, hit me with it. Why are you girls…getting along so well? I am intrigued.”
“Rei cleared her throat and sat beside him and Usagi fell quiet, allowing the story to take hold. When Rei had finished, he sat staring at the two of them for a long time before a single tear trickled down his cheek.
“I am sorry, but all this is just too incredibly wonderful. You are my half-sister…” Rei and Mamoru embraced this time and Usagi smiled. Happy to leave the reunited siblings to have a moment of privacy and busied herself in the lounge room, programming the holo-imager so they could sit and watch an assortment of movies and a couple of Anime films.
~*~
Nephrite sat at his desk in the small cottage on the property scanning the grounds as he always did that night, at midnight, Jadeite would begin his shift and he could get a little sleep before doing his rounds in the morning. The moon formed a sickly pale crescent resembling an assassin’s blade, or slither of bloodstained glass suspended on an invisible tether that at any moment would snap free, fall to Earth and shatter into countless fragments.
It was almost 11:50; he stretched and ran his fingers over the virtual touch screen to make sure all was well. Then he heard something. At first, he thought it was a sonic boom off to his right. But as he strapped on his pulse pistol, and stepped out the door into the warm night air, he felt a curious sensation rush up his legs and as he lost consciousness, several black clad figures sprawled over the perimeter fence and sashayed their way towards the house.
~*~
Rei got up and headed for the bathroom, she thought she heard something, but thought it might have been Onyx, Wauneta’s beautiful black and white cat investigating a possible mouse or moth on the patio. At first, she ignored it, but then she heard it again. It was hard to pinpoint. But a minute later, all hell broke loose.
~*~
Jadeite rushed up the drive and crouched low into a firing position. He had found Nephrite, out cold, two other guards were slumped in the front seats of their cars, one with a broken neck and the other unconscious, but otherwise all right. Mamoru and the others were in trouble.
Hitting his wrist alarm, he cursed himself for not anticipating this. The local authorities had been first rate, every contingency accounted for, or so he’d thought. But obviously, their security regime was compromised, and for months, they had protected the princess and her husband without incident. But the power cut. The township plunged into darkness. Whoever these people were, they were well organized.
~*~
Mamoru heard the hissing sound coming from the kitchen the moment the window shattered into a fountain of glass fragments and shouted for everyone to get down. He tried to get to Usagi, but a tall athletic figure with a dark bodysuit had a steel blade at her throat.
“Now, Endymion, we don’t wish to hurt the princess. What-- all that royal blood spilt needlessly… such a pity.”
“You animals… Harm her and I will see you pay dearly for it,” Rei shouted as Usagi struggled, kicking the man in the shins, that was all Mamoru needed.
He took out the ninja with a swift kick to the abdomen, and followed up with a chop to the back of the neck. “He won’t be bothering anyone for a while.”
“Where's Rei!”
Mamoru turned white, and rushed to the back of the house to search for her, that’s when Hernandez stepped out of shadow with a casual look on his face. Rei lay crumpled in a heap at his feet, a long scratch on his face was visible where Onyx had leapt at the intruder. The cat was nowhere to be seen, but Usagi was terrified.
“Well, I didn’t know you had it in you, Endy. Now…, move!”
He opened the door to the hover car and shuffled the reluctant Usagi inside, his weapon trained on Mamoru all the while as he ordered him to carry the unconscious Rei onto the patio and tie her to the chair. Grunting, at Mamoru to step outside, as the man’s wolf-like countenance dominated the doorway; the assassin grinning, his pistol fixed on Mamoru’s head.
“Chiba Mamoru, I think it time you say goodbye to your charming wife and ask the Kamis for guidance as you travel to the afterlife…” Hernandez pushed the restrained Mamoru to his knees, stepped back, assuming a firing position, and was about to pull the trigger… Time seemed to slow right down. Two shots were heard, the familiar sound of a conventional early Millennium automatic machine pistol and the second sound, a pulse weapon firing. Then a third shot and a struggle a little further away along the drive, it was mayhem . The man aiming for Mamoru fell to the ground dead.
A woman crouched in the firing position flanked by two black clad figures. She rose slowly to her feet, and sauntered over to where Hernandez lay, and took the weapon from the dead man’s grasp. “You are a damned fool, I told you. He is not to be harmed. I am having him for myself. Princess, you will be pleasing your new master. Seiya has a thing for blondes and as he, or is it she…, as body modeling has the obvious advantages of allowing one to pleasure both a man and a woman. Take it from somebody who knows, Seiya will be so much more fun and a most skilful tutor in matters of the flesh than pretty boy Mamoru, or is it more appropriate to call you Endy?”
At gunpoint, she ordered Mamoru into the vehicle.
~*~
Jadeite opened his eyes, struggling to clear his head to find his arms and legs tied and he was lying on his belly inside a hover car. Overall, he was grateful to be alive. He wondered why they hadn’t killed him.
It was dark in the back, and he could hear the sound of people being thrown into another chamber within the disk-like hover transport as it began to glide away across the vast grounds of the property .
Aboard a Manta-class Space Plane at 80000 feet
Mamoru woke up on a soft sofa, a woolen blanket covering him. Seated on the makeshift bed was a young woman in a skin-tight body suit, the cut of the neckline of her top leaving little to the imagination, her fiery red hair adding to her vixen-like appearance. She looked hungry, hungry for him.
She rose with grace like a dark Lilith, and the sound of a zip punctuated her intent. She peeled off the tight-fitting body suit to reveal a glorious physique. Beryl’s tumble of red curls adorning her comely figure Mamoru found hard to ignore.
She stroked his face. He pulled away. She slapped him. She then spoke in a seductive purr, “Now, is that any way to speak to your new Queen, Endymion? How do you like the sound of Queen Beryl of the Dragon Empire…? Has a nicer ring to it than your Pan Asian Federation -- such a boring name, don’t you think…I like sexy and sophisticated names, and I like my men that way, too. Be a good boy and I will take you places you could only imagine in dreams.” She leaned forward. Then she kissed him on the cheek. He pulled away. But she pressed her breasts against his chest, her erect nipples and the ruby pendant pushing against his skin and kissed him hard, forcing her tongue into his mouth. Mamoru couldn’t do a thing, the drug was sapping the last of his strength to fight her off. Tears of frustration ran down his cheeks. Without releasing her grip on his shoulders, she licked them away with tenderness and he groaned.
“Not quite the sound I had in mind coming from your lips, but in time, honey…”.
“In your dreams, bitch…not going to happen,” he snapped back.
“Now, if you keep that up, I might have to hurt you.”
“I will never play your games, Beryl…I wouldn’t touch you if you were the last woman on Earth….”
“Oh Endy, what an awful cliché, now you really have to do far better…I am patient, and you will come to see that…and if you don’t, your little wifey… will suffer.”
“Leave her out of this…”
“That…Endy, depends on you.”
With that, she pulled him to her and kissed him with unbridled passion on the lips. Withdrawing, she turned to face the newcomer who had entered unannounced, much to Beryl’s annoyance.
“Beryl, stop this crap. He isn’t interested. You would have to sedate him to have your way with him…that would be no good, as he couldn’t do anything.”
“What do you know, Seiya ! I should have killed you back there, too . I told you not to harm him… You get Hernandez killed and cross me… You want that little Chrysanthemum brat for your own bed. So don’t criticize me for wanting to have my way with Endy,” she growled.
“Oh Endy dear boy, she’s so inpatient. Queen Beryl shall ware you out, I think you’re up to the challenge, have fun…prince!” Seiya turned and shook his head at the naked girl and walked out of the chamber.
Beryl licked her lips and once more approached Mamoru. He was helpless, the drug Beryl had injected making him so aroused. He hadn’t remembered how he ended up on the huge bed. Beryl stood naked before him but for her ruby pendent, giggling. She straddled him and began her seduction rite. He could barely move. But he knew it was only a matter of time before she had her way with him. He sobbed as Beryl stroked his face and began to undress him, savoring every movement, her body musky with the scent of desire.
Much to his disgust at the reaction of his own body, now stirred to arousal despite his best efforts to fight the effects of the aphrodisiac, now that she’d removed his clothing, it was too late.
“Usagi, I am sorry…” Beryl through back her head and laughed as she slid herself down upon him and gasped.
