Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
“Usagi-chan!” One crystal blue eye cracked open at the sound of Minako’s voice, and she smiled, looking up. Way up. Minako’s cheery smile was a little weak at the edges, but it held. “How are you feeling? Do you think Mamoru-san and Alex-chan will be back soon?”
“He should be almost done,” Usagi replied, yawning just a little at the end. Whatever strange magic had shrunk her body had seriously tired her out, and she was only now allowing herself to feel it. She had been putting on a strong front for her prince, but she was completely exhausted. Chibi-Usa had been doing the same, but she had succumbed to sleep quicker, and she was now burrowed under the covers of the hospital bed.
Minako kept twitching an eyelid every time she looked at the pink odango rising conical from Chibi-Usa’s head, and Usagi didn’t blame her. The memory of Black Lady was a terrible reminder of what her neglect could accomplish, even if she doubted her future self had been aware of it. She had been promising herself, ever since she had seen the bleak future, that she was going to make sure it didn’t happen that way. The future would be beautiful and bountiful, and Chibi-Usa would be raised by a queen and king not so busy with saving the planet.
Of course, then there were days when she decided she obviously hadn’t punished the kid enough in the future, and a severe daily beating would be necessary.
This was not one of those days.
She was, instead, too busy vacillating between terror at her prince’s condition, and outright fury at whoever had shrunk her down to a child. Everything was too high and too big, and Chibi-Usa’s uniform didn’t fit quite right. Her clothes were too small for Chibi-Usa, who was at least half a centimetre shorter than her, and slightly skinnier. They both looked ridiculous, as far as she was concerned.
Minako was standing by the door in an ill-concealed attempt at standing guard, arms crossed as Usagi rubbed at her eyes. “Minako-chan, you don’t have to do that. You’re making my neck hurt, looking up at you.”
“Constant vigilance, Usagi-chan! Who knows what the enemy might try while you’re here. Look at what they’ve done to you already!” She waggled a finger at her, then resumed her pose. “Besides, sensei told me to make sure no one got in without permission.”
The tall red-head had been the only one, along with Minako, to go to the hospital; Makoto and Ami were trapped in a math class, and Rei was in Ancient History. Minako had been the only one free to sneak out without making a scene, and frankly, her teachers were already used to it; remarkable, considering the new school year had just started. Alex had taken one look at both the girls, twitched an eyebrow, and patted Usagi on the head. “I haven’t seen you this short in years,” was all she had said before the doctor had arrived.
Doctor Mizuno had been specifically requested once they realized which hospital they had gone to, and she had been graciously accommodating. They had all introduced themselves as Ami’s friends as she took Mamoru’s pulse, commenting on how rapid it was. When she excused herself and Mamoru, taking him to a second room for x-rays, Alex had gone with, presumably for the same reason Minako stayed: protection.
“Usagi-chan, who do you think these new enemies are?” Minako asked quietly, looking out through the window on the door. “They’ve been so brazen, attacking like this. Attacking you and Chibi-Usa-chan so directly….!”
“They blocked the time gate,” Usagi replied, glancing around at her daughter. “She left early, leaving a note. We found her just after she tried opening the gate. She can’t go home to the future.” She smoothed the covers at her side, anxiously pulling at the edges. “She said the Pegasus came to her in her dreams, and told her we had to protect the beautiful dreams of everyone on Earth.”
“That’s right.”
Chibi-Usa’s voice was slurred by sleep, but strong in conviction. “Pegasus came to me. He showed me the beautiful dream Ami has, that Mako-chan has…mama and papa’s wedding.”
“Not me?” Minako asked, sounding a little petulant.
“Iie. Not you, or Rei-chan…Alex onee-chan’s dream was…strange. Pegasus said it was a happy memory, not a dream.” Chibi-Usa shrugged, tugging at the covers with a scowl; Usagi was still sitting on top of them. “But he said we have to protect everyone’s dreams.”
A rapid knock on the door had Minako jumping nearly out of her skin with a shriek. Mamoru opened the door and stepped inside, with Alex behind him rolling her eyes. “Some guard dog you are,” she growled at the blonde as she shut the door behind her. “What if someone had just barged in and started shooting? Would you have tried blowing out his eardrums with your dulcet tones?”
“I would have known it was an enemy,” Minako huffed.
Usagi slid from the bed to throw herself at her prince, a somewhat awkward move thankfully saved by his quick reflexes; he caught and lifted her, hugging her to his chest. “Usa,” he said into her hair as she cuddled into him. “Are you all right?”
“Are you, Mamo-chan?” she countered, looking up at him. He smiled so confidently that she didn’t notice the way his eyes avoided hers for a second, or that Alex was frowning at him. “Did Mizuno-san say you were fine?”
“Stress. I over-exerted myself, apparently. I must be out of shape. I’m coming back tomorrow for a follow-up exam.” He set her on the bed, kissing her forehead. “Don’t worry over me like that, Usa. You’re the one that needs concern. Look at you and Chibi-Usa!”
“Hai, look at me! I’m grown-up!” Chibi-Usa preened a bit, showing off her face. And she had reason to do so; she was a lovely young lady. “I’m no longer chibi! I can’t wait to show Pegasus….”
“Ok, time-out. Pegasus who? When did a flying horse come into this story?” Alex glanced at the window in the door, then back at Chibi-Usa. “Spill, p’tite. Who’s Pegasus?”
“Pegasus came to us in the park during the eclipse,” Usagi said meekly.
“And then he came to me in my dream, and told me we have to protect the dreams of Earth,” Chibi-Usa added. “He showed me Ami-chan’s beautiful dream, and Mako-chan’s beautiful dream—“
“The flying Greek myth did what?” Alex interjected, rubbing her forehead.
“—and your dream.” Chibi-Usa shrank into the covers. “He told me they were in danger from the new enemies. They stopped me from using the time gate. Oh! And he gave me a bell to summon him. He said his name is Helios.”
Alex was still staring at her. Then, very calmly, she said, “What dream did this voyeuristic horse show you?”
Chibi-Usa stopped in the act of producing the bell, and bit her lip. “There was a lady and, and a man. A kind of rumply man.” She frowned at the memory. “He smoked. And you looked different.” She stopped as Alex smiled distantly, glancing away. “Were they your friends, onee-chan?”
“In another lifetime. Heard they broke up. Probably his fault. Once in a while I try to look in on them.” She shook her head, surreptitiously swiping at the corner of her eye. “Anyway. Big damn flying horse. Is there any reason we should trust it? How do you know it’s not a trick of those crazy circus folk?”
“I saw Pegasus as well,” Mamoru interjected, taking Usagi’s smaller hand in his own. “I’m not sure if we can trust him either, but Chibi-Usa says we can.”
“He came to us when Chibi-Usa called him,” Usagi said. “He gave us new rods, changing our kaleidoscopes. And a new power to go with it.”
Minako shrugged when Alex glanced at her, presumably for a bit more clarification. Sighing, she palmed her forehead, saying, “Ok, so the big damn flying horse is magic. No surprise. Could you sense evil? Just because this Pegasus gave you a new toy doesn’t mean he or she might not be double-crossing you.”
“He’s our friend!” Chibi-Usa burst out before Usagi could say anything. She held out the bell, careful not to make it ring; she didn’t know how the others would react, if Helios suddenly appeared. And she didn’t know how Helios would react if he were called for no reason other than to prove he existed. “He needs my help to stop the Dead Moon Circus! The dreams of Earth are in danger from them. They’ve blocked off the dimensions, and I can’t use my key to get home.”
Everyone was staring at the bell. She held it up higher for them to see clearly, then lowered it. “He gave me this to call him. Me. The chibi princess. He trusted me with this,” she said quietly, setting it on the covers.
“I think we should listen to Chibi-Usa,” Minako murmured, tapping her finger to her lips. “But we’ll be watching this Pegasus closely. Ne, minna? If he arrives, we have to be on guard.”
“That’s not trusting me at all,” Chibi-Usa said sullenly, grimacing as Alex ruffled her hair.
“We trust you fine, cherie. It’s the horse we don’t trust. Don’t get yourself worked up over it.” She tugged one of the longer pink ponytails now trailing down the child’s back, and Chibi-Usa felt a pang of guilt. After some of the stunts she had pulled in the past, hearing that she was in fact trusted despite her habit of breaking that trust…growing up wasn’t as fun as she hoped it would be.
“I was told by Dr. Mizuno to go home and rest immediately,” Mamoru said, glancing down at the two odango’d girls. “How are we going to explain this switch to your parents, Usa?”
“School play?” Minako suggested.
“Not unless that play is ‘Freaky Friday,’ and we’d still have to explain how they managed to switch hair and eye colour too. They’re obviously not wearing wigs, people. And contacts are a ridiculous excuse.” Alex drummed her fingers against the walls before adding, “We do have an advantage: Chibi-Usa’s still nonexistent to them. It’s mostly Usagi that’s the problem.”
Everyone was silent for a few minutes in thought, until Chibi-Usa exhaled an obviously annoyed grunt. “I’ll just use Luna P to trick Ikuko-mama into thinking Usagi was always this way! It’s the simplest solution.” Then she added, “And Shingo and Kenji-papa too. And then I’ll explain that she’s staying at Mamo-chan’s again!”
Alex and Minako cracked up at Mamoru’s suddenly pained expression. “Wait, what? Again? Kenji-san will kill me!” Usagi and Chibi-Usa flashed him their best doe-eyed expressions while the other two simply laughed harder. Kenji was still openly disparaging of his daughter’s boyfriend: she was too young, they had met without his permission, both of them were still in school…about the only thing he conceded about the young man was that he would be an excellent provider once he became a doctor. Ikuko had her reservations, but unlike her husband, she didn’t loudly pronounce them every time Usagi let them know she was going to see him. She only worried Mamoru would get tired of her and leave her heartbroken before long; after all, they were so different from each other!
The whole family had gotten into it at dinner once, when Alex and Mamoru had been over; Usagi’s heartfelt explanation of “destiny bringing them together” had left Alex nearly inhaling her soba as Mamoru choked on his tea.
“A ‘Miracle Romance,’ I’d call it,” she managed to gasp before losing it. Kenji had gone bonkers, Ikuko patted her on the back as she tried to calm her husband down, and Shingo had just rolled his eyes as Usagi fielded her father’s tirade, holding Mamoru’s hand. It hadn’t been a true fight by any means, but it had been damned hilarious in retrospect…and Alex’s intermittent play-by-play recollections whenever Usagi and Mamoru began to schmooze.
Suffice to say, Mamoru was glad they hadn’t invited him over for dinner since that night. Standing in their living room was trial enough.
“It’s a plan!” Minako crowed and slapped her hands together. “Let’s get out of here and get the pachinko ball rolling!”
Zirconia stared into the mirror as a slender white hand slowly stroked the glass, trailing long fingernails perfectly oval. “I despise cages,” Nehellenia sighed, pacing the length of her netherworld prison on the opposite side of the mirror. “Zirconia, have you destroyed the White Moon people yet? I want to be free of this prison soon, queen again as I was destined to be.”
“Nehellenia-sama, these things take time. Those silly girls have enchanted their pets to do their dirty work. Perhaps they’ll do well, with such unlikely allies. But once they fail…” Zirconia let the sentence trail off, stroking the hilt of her staff slowly. “I will take pleasure in ridding ourselves of them quickly.”
“Ara ara, Zirconia. Do you intend to be so cruel to them? They remember nothing of the truth, and it would be such a waste to destroy them so soon.” Nehellenia stopped pacing, staring out at the world beyond her mirror. Through the crack in the curtains, she could see the bright light of the circus stage, and a flurry of colour as the show went on. Her eyes softened only slightly as she watched the specks of light dance by, as if wishing she could join them. Then they turned cold and cruel again, and she snarled at her servant, “Why is this taking so long? Eating the dreams of the people of Earth should be a simple task! Why are you not working faster? Lure them to this circus! Release the lemures to feed on their dreams!”
The old woman flinched slightly as Nehellenia’s voice grew louder in pitch, though she said nothing. As her queen calmed down, she rolled her eyes back towards the sound of the circus, knowing the girls were now entertaining the crowd before they hypnotized them, allowing the lemures to feed freely. “We are, Nehellenia-sama. But this is merely a small circus in a human city. The entire world is still out there, waiting to be overcome. And until we defeat the people of the White Moon, we must be subtle.” She spoke cautiously, her head bowed in submission. When such moods overtook her queen, all she could do was acquiesce and try to get out of her sight as soon as possible.
“Yesss….subtle. Weak as children they are, but dangerous still. But do not kill the princess immediately. No. No, I want her brought before me, and slowly strangled, to prove that I hold the power of life and death over her! I want to see the life bleed out of her eyes.”
Nehellenia rubbed her palms together as she smiled, her eyes beginning to drift again. Slowly she turned away, her long gown trailing along the ground as she walked to her throne, forgetting Zirconia was there.
Zirconia needed no further encouragement to get the hell out of there, and fast. As fast as her legs would go, she hustled out of the small room into the main tent, seeing the unconscious humans slumped in their seats. The lemures were gone, having already feasted; the Amazones Quartet were sitting in the middle of the stage, lazily tossing one of Palla-Palla’s balls back and forth.
Ves-Ves sat up, waving her arm. “Konnichiwa, ojii-san! How’re you?”
She bared her teeth in a grimacing parody of a smile, shuffling past them in silence. Aware of four heads turning to watch her go, she stopped at the door of the tent, staring out into the bright April day, squinting hard to see. Everything was so clear and brilliant out there, a far cry from the dark side of the Moon from where Nehellenia had risen, presumptive queen of a wretched kingdom. Earth was bright and marvelous, just as the White Moon kingdom had been; a lovely pearl, sparkling with life and happiness. It had taken jealousy and spite to destroy it all, and her queen had crowed with glee as the spires came tumbling down, and the magic ceased to exist. However, glee had soon turned to anger as she realized she was still trapped within the mirror, staring out across the wasteland from the ruins of the castle. The bitch had never bothered to even give the gilded piece a proper place to hang; it had been unceremoniously stored in a dusty closet, facing the wall. Her view had improved marginally when the walls had fallen, but to still be trapped…!
Zirconia had guarded the mirror ever since, a lonely sentinel in a bleak world. She watched herself grow older in the glass, the two of them staring at each other in silence; Nehellenia growing panicked as she thought she, too, would age and wrinkle. When it became obvious she would not, she laughed at Zirconia, mocking her drooping skin and loss of height. She would never grow old; she would stay beautiful forever, and find a way to escape her prison. Zirconia had long ago sworn to help her, but not because she expected rewards; she planned to extract her own sweet revenge in the end.
“Ojii-san?”
Cere-Cere was at her side, a concerned look on her face that was at total odds with her normally sly, devious smirk. Almost immediately, Zirconia’s hand swung around to slap her hard enough to fling the smaller girl to the ground, knocking the concern off her face. “Idiot girl! Don’t take such a familiar tone with me!” she snarled, scattering the other three away as they came close to grab their companion. Her fingers twitched around the hilt of her staff, but none of them appeared to be a concern; all three were giving her sulky, distrusting looks. She could only imagine what had prompted Cere-Cere to break her conditioning, even if only slightly. Zirconia knew that if they had fully broken free, they would have done their best to destroy her and run to their previous masters.
The pink-haired brat was slowly sitting up, rubbing her face with an angry scowl. Zirconia was mollified to see nothing but hatred in her eyes as she stood, gathering her other hand into a fist. Pink petals began to swirl as she gathered power, and Zirconia actually smirked at her, bringing her staff up to strike the girl again, swinging it like a bat to send her flying again. The other three merely stepped aside as she flew by, watching her strike the floor again.
“Stop dallying around, you four little brats. Haven’t you struck again at the sailor soldiers? Our queen wants results, not just plump little lemures! Attack them again while they’re still surprised!” She rapped her staff on the floor, punctuating each sentence. Ves-Ves appeared to be picking her nose as she spoke, flicking unidentifiable bits at her; Jun-Jun yawned. Palla- Palla was actually helping Cere-Cere up, though not exactly gently; the two seemed to be bickering over the process. Idiot children, she should have just destroyed them when they found them.
Finally, Jun-Jun said in a rather bored tone, “Don’t worry, ojii-san. We’ve got a plan. If you worry too hard, you’ll get wrinkles.” Ves-Ves snorted into her hand.
Zirconia ground her teeth as she walked away, visions of bloodied children in her eyes. Palla-Palla pretended to trip her as she passed by, and got a sharp rap on the shin for her trouble. Palla-Palla yipped and hopped back, holding her shin as Zirconia disappeared back into her room. “Bitch!” she hissed under her breath, scowling.
The other three were watching her with sly smiles, wondering what she would do next; flying into a rage was not uncommon with them. So often they completely forgot themselves and went to the extreme, destroying whatever happened to be in their way like children in a temper tantrum. If their heads had been clear, perhaps they would have questioned why they seemed to have no control; but they questioned nothing except why Zirconia was such a demanding old hag, and why they couldn’t go out and play.
“Play, yes…let’s play! Our little trio have not truly bloodied their teeth. Let’s see whom we can play with first of the guardians of the White Moon. Mirror, show me a playmate.”
All four turned to stare at the sun-shaped mirror, watching as the surface blurred, melting into a swirl of colours. Then it began to refocus, showing them not one, but two? “Who is that other person? Not one of the sailor soldiers at all!” Ves-Ves snapped, poking at the glass.
“Whoever she is, she must be one of the White Moon. Should we ask ojii-san?” Jun-Jun asked thoughtfully, hopping up onto a swing. The others shook their heads in unison as she idly swung back and forth. “I didn’t think so either. But who should we send?”
“How about Fish Eye? He seems eager.”
“I sense fire and ice. Do you think Fish-Eye could handle it?”
“Does it truly matter? It would be fun to try.”
“Hai, let’s send Fish-Eye.”
Palla-Palla held up a ball and smiled. “Fishy, fishy, fish.”
Pete’s face was partially obscured by cigarette smoke, but she knew he was uncomfortable. No powers were needed to sense the tension in his wiry frame as they sat at the back of the pub, two smudged glasses filled with beer and a soda for her sitting untouched in front of them. “Bad idea, you know,” he finally sighed, blowing a plume of smoke away from her. “You don’t know what’ll happen, you try running to America. Hell, is your passport even legal anymore?”
“So you can get me another one. C’mon, Pete; I can’t stay here! That weird woman was at the flat the other day again. I know she’s up to something. And I’m not going to sign up. I may be a citizen of the commonwealth, but I’m also a Seppo, and I’m going.”
The soda tasted flat and sugary as she drank, filling the awkward silence. Pete just continued to smoke, glaring at a water stain on the wall. When that cigarette was done, he immediately tapped out another, tipping the end towards her for her to lightly ignite. He’d managed to forget his matches again.
Chester the barkeep wandered by, giving them only a cursory glance. Pete watched him go, only his eyes moving, before he said, “Scicluna may be a right bitch, but she’s my boss. I’ll talk to her, make her back off a bit.”
She tapped a fingernail off the side of her glass, watching the ripples. “She won’t. She’s spook, and she’s dangerous. Just like you. And she knows I’m useful. I need to get out of this bloody country before she decides she doesn’t want to play nice and wait for you to take me to Black Air yourself.” She looked up, frowning as he avoided her eyes. “Pete, you know what’s going to happen. Just give me a hand on this, or I’ll do
it myself. That woman’s as mean as cat’s piss, and she has the power to do what she wants.”
Pete finally picked up the beer and quaffed a good half of it. “You’re a kid, Alexander. You do remember that, right? Kids don’t order the grown-up around.”
“Pommy bastard. Just because you’re a Sex Pistols fan doesn’t make you that much older than me. What’s a decade and a half between friends?” She finished the last of her soda and flashed him a cheeky smile, which he brushed off with a wave of his hand.
“You’ll need a passport then,” he said after another long minute; it wasn’t a question as he held out his hand. She pulled it from her pocket – it hadn’t left her body since she had started to run – and handed it to him dutifully. He flipped it open and smirked at her. “You still travelling under that name?”
“Haven’t used it, honestly. You pay in cash, and freak out that your mama left you behind by accident, and you can get on planes pretty easy on the continent. Plus, hitchhiking.” She turned the glass upside down. “And don’t give me that look; I can bloody well take care of myself, thanks.”
“Perish the thought of my concern. Obviously a little powder puff like you can take care of yourself.” He thwapped her on the head with the passport, not very hard, and ground out his cigarette. “Should I just make up a name, or do we have something in mind for our little American returnee?”
“I always thought Wisdom was a good name, even if it came attached to a pom.”
He reached into his pocket to withdraw money, and pulled out a hand glowing as bright as the sun.
Wait, what?
The actual stab didn’t even hurt. The whiplash as Alex sat up in bed; now THAT hurt. She touched her chest where the hot knife would have gone in, shaking her head. “I don’t remember that part happening.”
The clock read two in the morning, and the city was still awake; she palmed her forehead, rubbing at the gunk in the corner of her eye. No matter what the hour, the low level, insistent buzz in the back of her mind never went away. Concentrating on blocking out the sound of millions of minds in constant activity had not gotten easier. Even when she slept.
She had been horrible at it when she lived with Wisdom for those six months, and she was always throbbing with a headache. Even though she had barely gone out of the flat, she was trying like mad to shield herself, watching TV and self-help programs and attempting to meditate. That was exactly the reason she had avoided big cities, but the same stubbornness that had kept her on the run had taunted her with the challenge.
Almost gotten her run over by a Mini, too, as she missed a curb and stepped out into the street. All she remembered was a pack of Man U fans in front of her, drunk and pissed and throwing off so much vicious red anger that she had a migraine. She was on the edge of passing out from the pain when she miss-stepped, toppled forward, and felt someone grab her arm and yank her back right before the damned car had hit her. Rather auspicious first meeting: both she and Pete had automatically flipped the two-fingered salute at the driver, who had merely cursed and continued on.
Some days, she really missed the bastard. The desire to show up one day and tell him everything was a hard lure to ignore. She was quits with that life, and he, ironically, had gotten right into the thick of it, despite his disgust. She wondered if he was still adamant about the costume; it didn’t seem right if he wasn’t wearing his usual rumpled black suit and tie. She wondered what he would say if she told him about the Dead Moon Circus. Or the Black Moon. Any of the villains they had faced, honestly; there were some days she would stop whatever she was doing, and marvel at how utterly absurd it all seemed. She was helping a pack of girls in tiny skirts (and high heels, in some cases) save the world. And saving the world often meant fighting people who should have been relegated to the loony bin. Or a Doctor Who episode at any rate. When she put it like that… “The villains are worse,” she gasped, half choking on her laugh. Hell with it; she finally lost it, even if it wasn’t very funny. She didn’t get back to sleep until nearly an hour later, hearing the tinkle of a bell on the edge of unconsciousness.
Helios turned his head, hearing the ring of the bell. Reluctantly he stepped forward, making a quick, graceful leap into the air of dream space, flying towards his maiden. Ever since he had found her, he had watching the dreams of her companions, knowing they were the legendary sailor soldiers who had bravely fought at the fall of the Silver Millennium. He knew who the Crystal Guardian was, having seen her on Earth during her attempts at diplomacy. They were all fascinating as they slept.
He did not, however, spy on his prince; some things were sacred. And he was loathe to spy on his master’s princess, though he had that one time with his maiden. He knew the power she wielded, and he desired not to have it turned on him, though she seemed to be so sweet and innocent, in stark contrast to her mother.
All of them were an interesting mix of naïveté and battle-tested bravery, though none of the soldiers seemed to remember anything of their past lives. Whereas the Guardian clearly did, and dreamed heavily of a rather interesting previous life, none of the others did. They dreamed of the future; they dreamed of childhood; they dreamed of battles won; they dreamed of their own deaths in the cold snow. He was somewhat relieved, knowing how deadly they had been, and how likely they were to mistrust a creature loyal to Earth.
But his maiden was a joy. She was still young, but in her eyes, he could see her future. He could see the love she had for everyone, and her exuberance spilled over. She would be beautiful when she grew up.
He landed just as gracefully as he had taken off on the roof of his prince’s apartment, bowing his head immediately. “My lovely maiden.”
“Helios….”
Something didn’t sound right. Her voice was different; her scent had changed. When he lifted his head, he caught a glimpse of long legs beneath a night shirt and blanket, and long pink ponytails that hung to the ground. If it were possible for him to blush, he was definitely doing so as he stared. Oh, how correct he had been. “Maiden…you’ve grown. What magic has done this to you?”
She smiled nervously at him, holding the bell in her hands. It looked so much smaller now. “We think it may have been the enemy. But, Helios, isn’t it wonderful? I’m no longer chibi! I’m a beautiful woman as I’ve dreamed of becoming. Even if I change back soon…”
“But you’re not truly grown yet. This is only an illusion. An act of trickery on their part, granting you such a wish. If you remain this way…you’ll be a lie.”
Her face dropped.
He felt ashamed to have hurt her feelings. He stepped forward to nuzzle her cheek. “Princess, you’re lovely no matter what size. And your dreams are beautiful. But don’t be fooled by their tricks. You have to be strong!”
“Helios…Usagi and I switched sizes when we tried to transform back to normal. I know…I know, truly, that I’m still chibi. But it’s so nice to be grown-up. I even have breasts!” She grabbed them rather comically, beaming for a moment. “Mama is much prettier than me. But I think I’m bigger!”
She sighed and let go, still holding the tiny bell in her hand. “The enemies are tricky. Giving me just what I want like this…it’s cruel!”
“They are powered by cruel intentions and deadly tricks,” he agreed, flicking his tail. “If only I had not been taken unaware…but what they’ve done to you has shown that you are, truly, my maiden. It is a vision of you as you are now, a lovely adult, which I saw.”
“Then why aren’t you happy with me, Helios?”
“Because this isn’t the real you. Not now. It is a dangerous magic that changed you, and I fear for you if it isn’t reversed. Nothing the Dead Moon Circus does can be considered good.” He began to pace, his hooves making no noise on the rooftop. The cold breeze was making her shiver despite the blanket she had brought with her. He stopped beside her, blocking the wind. “You have the power to free me. To finally reveal the golden crystal. Everything will change, thanks to you.”
She reached out to touch his mane, curling up against his flank. “To free you? Are you imprisoned?”
“This body is not my true form, princess. Once the enemies are driven away, I will be able to show you my form. But until then, I must send my mind out with the body of my loyal creature.”
Her fingers stilled in his hair. “So…you’re not Pegasus? Are you truly Helios, trapped within?”
“Hai. Pegasus is my loyal friend. He was not imprisoned. He allows me to travel within his mind, and it through him that I am able to speak to you.”
“Oh. Well, don’t worry. I’ll free you, Helios.” She smiled at him, kissing the tip of his nose. “Even if I’m chibi.”
He whickered, and a minute later, she stood alone on the rooftop, watching the wind carry him away.
“Ami, Chiba-san should be fine. Are you all right? You look strange.” Her mother was speaking to her as she stared out the window, alone with her thoughts. She had come directly from school after promising Usagi she would, knowing Mamoru was coming back for his follow-up. It had disoriented her quite a bit to realize she had been thinking of her parents all day, ruminating on their separation and her part in it; even as a young woman with intelligence enough to realize the truth, she still blamed herself. She hadn’t been creative enough for her father, hadn’t made him proud of her.
At the exhibit in Ise, they had talked about anything but their relationship: her schoolwork, his painting, mother’s new position at the hospital. Impersonal things, general things, things any stranger could ask another. At the end, he had kissed her cheek, and given her a hug, which she returned, and simply said to her, “I’m so proud of you, musume-chan. No matter what.”
What had he meant?
She hadn’t thought on his words until recently, when she found one of his postcards while moving a stack of books. It was a few years old, with a lovely blue fish on the front; all it had were a few simple words of congratulations, a description of his newest painting, and a small sketch of herself in the corner. Sparse and simple, like he himself.
Like she herself never had been. Not the girl who needed five different textbooks to answer a question the next day in class, colour-coded filing systems for her papers, and an almost neurotic arrangement for her clothes according to colour, season, and fabric. Since becoming Mercury,
it had only gotten worse as she bounced from school to home to fighting, needing to manage her time and space even more efficiently. She functioned like a machine hell-bent on perfection during exams.
She only wish she could slow down and stop, if just for a minute. To be like her father and appreciate the scenery. Her childhood dream of becoming a doctor was always keeping her on the move, fighting for space with her destiny as a soldier. Even though she wanted to do her best and she knew she didn’t need to work nearly as hard, she felt hard-pressed to make full use of her time. The future had shown her exactly how much of it she had left, and it was a phantom always lurking behind her back.
With a blink that rasped dry eyes, she turned to smile at her mother. “Hai, mama. I was just thinking. How is Chiba-san, then?”
Her mother flipped a few pages on her clipboard, scanning Mamoru’s paperwork. “Well, he checks out perfectly fine, except for a slight pain in his chest. Dr. Sakurai will see him in a few minutes.” She dropped the pages and smiled at Ami. “I declined examining him as Dr. Sakurai has more experience with heart problems. He’s a very gracious young man.”
“He is, mama. Usagi-chan is very lucky to love him.”
They stood in a slightly awkward moment of silence before her mother wet her lips, but seemed to think better of whatever she was going to say. Instead, she reached over to give Ami a one-armed hug, and a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll see you at home later, musume.”
Ami kissed her back, and they parted, though Ami stared after her as she walked away. She knew what the end result would be, later on; Ami would be nearly asleep over her books as her mother walked through the door, and they would go to sleep without doing anything more than passing each other in the living room. Only rarely did her mother come home early enough for them to share dinner anymore, and it tended to be some kind of carryout noodle. It was laughable now to remember her concern over her life as a soldier taking away the time she had with her mother; it had barely existed beforehand.
It was a surreal life she lived, no doubt about it; it had taken destiny to give her friends, neatly deciding her life for her. Before, the only friends she had existed in her mind, phantoms of the children she would see at school that were only too happy to laugh at her. Even in a society where hard work was appreciated, she was scorned for preferring books to conversation, her nose deep within the pages whilst everyone talked over her. To set down her pencil and honestly try and make friends was absurd, because she knew that once she picked up her books and her papers again, she’d lose them.
Maybe in a way it was reflective of her home life, where silence was nothing out of the ordinary, and conversation was hasty, snatched in passing as mother and daughter went about their lives. Would she have been able to free herself from the glass cage she had willingly locked herself into for the sake of her dream?
She heard a shrill cry as she passed the maternity ward, giving it only the slightest glance. Children loved her, and she loved them, innocents all; but after their trip to the future, she had buried her hope of husband and family deep inside. It hurt to think of the children she had wished for on sleepless nights, envisioning a happier household than she herself had been raised in. Now, she knew better. There would be no babies at her breast, no husband to hold her hand. Merely a loveless mission and a future devoid of choices.
On the emergency level, she found Mamoru sitting alone, obviously having finished his examination. He was staring out of the window, unaware of Ami’s presence until she made a polite amount of noise, hands clasped at her back. When he turned his head, the strangely lost expression he wore had her frowning before she could help herself. “Mamoru-san, what’s happening? Are you well? Are the enemies attacking you?”
“I don’t know; yes, for now; could be.” He shrugged. “Sometimes, I think I’m tired of this. Of these situations. The doctor told me something strange, and I don’t know what to think about it. And should I tell Usa? All she’ll do is worry over me, when I should be the strong one. I’ve already lied to her.” He smoothed a hand over his shirt, pausing over his heart. “Ami-san, talk to me. As Usa’s friend, we never really talk. But I want a friend right now.”
“I…Mamoru-san, what can we talk about? As you said, we’ve never truly spoken. You’re Usagi-chan’s beloved. Both of you will live glorious lives together. I’m merely a foot soldier in the war to protect you.” Bitterness threatened to invade her voice as she spoke, swallowed hastily; it wasn’t his fault. He was as much a victim to destiny as the rest of them.
His smile caught her off guard. “Ara, Ami-san. I’ve thought about those things too. When Haruka-san spoke to Usa, I wondered about our lives together. And I realized that despite what brought us together, I still love her. Perhaps it’s silly, but I’ve found my happiness in an unchangeable situation.” Lifting a hand, he gestured vaguely all around them, before tipping it towards her. “Have you thought about the future in such detail? What we both lose and gain?”
“Hai. My dreams as a doctor will go unfulfilled; I am trapped in a pattern that will only death will release me from.”
“That’s true; when Usa ascends the throne, you’ll still be in school, won’t you? In my case, I’ll have perhaps a year of my profession. You’re right to be sad. I’ll have made that pinnacle before having to take up the crown, but what use does a king have for medical knowledge? I’ll be trapped within a crystal cage with my wife. As a soldier, you can still use your schooling to help the people.”
Ami’s mouth twitched as she bit back the urge to snap uncharacteristically at him; so she could still use her knowledge. She could still help people as she always desired. But the deepest, vainest depths of her soul still screamed at the loss of achievement, that she would only make it halfway where he would succeed. The king still trumped the knight.
Mamoru seemed to realize he had struck a nerve, and he glanced away again, looking out of the window. In the distance, the banners of the circus tent were colourful flashes against the skyline, teasing the eye. “The Dead Moon Circus,” he muttered, lifting his hand to touch his breast; Ami frowned as he seemed to wince. “Ami-san, what do you think would happen if we simply stopped being the protectors of this planet?”
“If we walked away from our responsibilities as soldiers?” She hugged her arms tight to her chest, hesitating as if she hadn’t devoted such time to the daydream of doing just that. “No one would be able to stop the enemies. The world would be doomed, I think.”
“Iie. There would be others. Alex, I suspect, knows more than she wants to say, but could we rest comfortably in laziness if we gave it all up? No longer wielding our incredible power, but being just normal again?” He waved a hand, gesturing at the outside world.
“Sometimes, I wonder what would drive me to do such a thing. I’m so happy with Usa, but would I have found her and loved her without the interference of our past lives? Would we still be happy if we gave up the prince and princess?”
“I think so. Usagi-chan loves you above all,” Ami said simply, smiling. “As a sailor soldier, I won’t have that. But to see the love she has for you…it’s beautiful. I wish I could know that joy, but it will never be. Not unless I gave this up. And could I? I am merely Mercury. I don’t wield power like Jupiter, or Mars, or even Neptune. The soldier of water.” She clenched her hands tight, biting her lower lip as she stared at his back. “I’m the weakest of all. But I don’t…I don’t want to give up something so special. Even if it means the loss of love.”
Mamoru closed the drapes with a tug of the string. “Because you’ve finally been given something amazing that you didn’t have to work for. The power is yours, and will always be.” He nodded, stepping back to sit on the edge of the bed. “I know, Ami-san. I know entirely.”
“Do you?” she whispered to herself, turning away as she heard her mother approach. “Do you really?”
“I did NOT plan on ending up in a prison cell this morning.” Her voice sounded hoarse and disused, her tongue dry as the desert. To her lack of surprise, her head also hurt like hell. Opening her eyes was going to be a bad idea.
“None of us did,” a similarly sarcastic voice said, from the vicinity of down. “Yet here we are.” She felt something rubbery across her legs and she slapped her hand down immediately, grabbing at what felt like putty. “Hey! Kindly loose the vaisa, chica.”
Growling under her breath as she opened her eyes a crack, she saw what looked like an arm in her hand, boneless as a clean chicken. She followed it up to a grey-skinned, sagging face and a mop of brown hair giving her a look that was clearly intended to be a bad ass glare. She squinted and let go. “Interesting problem you have there. Maybe it’s your diet.”
“Don’t mind Angelo, honey. He’s not good with people.”
Both of them glanced at the girl sitting a few inches away, and Alex felt her eyebrow crawl upwards. She looked familiar in a very distant way, with blonde hair and pale skin that likely burnt if the sun looked at it funny. The voice screamed southern girl, and she could imagine why the obviously Latino boy was giving her a look of annoyance. The chip on his shoulder had to be immense.
The blonde was twitching in eagerness to tell her everything she knew, which was, from the way she was projecting her thoughts, only partially useful. Besides her name – Paige – she had way too much faith that they would be rescued immediately simply because of her brother, and otherwise considered herself the resident expert on all things “X.” Save me from the over-eager. “Anyone know where we are, besides what looks to be a rusted-out hole in the wall?”
“The Phalanx—“ Paige started, only to be cut off by a sharp gesture.
“Yeah, know that. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. I know it’s the bloody Phalanx. But do you know where we are?”
Paige frowned at her as if she were a particularly stubborn student. She stared back, unfazed. Finally, Paige admitted, “No. None of us saw anything, ‘less Monet did, and she’s not telling.” She looked past Alex to a dark-skinned, black-haired girl in the corner, who was absently picking at the sleeve of her uniform. All of them – including her, she realized – were wearing them. They felt rough and metallic, though they didn’t seem to inhibiting their powers. Stranger and stranger.
“Ok, so the Phalanx brought us here, wherever here is. Why haven’t you tried to get out? One of you must be able to do something useful.”
“They told us if we tried, they’d know.” Paige actually sounded a little scared. “There was another boy who tried, before you were brought here. They took him, and…”
She hiccupped, trying not to sob. The grey-skinned boy finished for her: “They never brought him back. The cabrón who took him came back and told us he was an example.” He spat off to the side, then grimaced as he pulled himself upright, no longer a rubbery mass of limbs.
“We never knew his name,” Paige whispered.
Alex shook her head, palming her face. Fuck. When she had gone to bed last night, nothing had been amiss. Everything had been quiet, until she had woken up to the feel of something crawling up her body, smothering her face; and then there had been nothing but pain, and the hum of voices like bees in her ear, laughing at her as she tried not to scream. She had been separated from the rest of the team, that much the techno-organic bastards would tell her, and the reason was obvious; she was one of the youngest members. But Lee wasn’t locked up with them, which worried her. They shared a room; she should have been there.
She glanced over at the other two in the room, neither of whom she had ever seen before: a bland-faced, completely forgettable hulk of a boy, and a lavender-skinned, purple haired girl who would never be mistaken for human in public. “That’s Gregor and Clarice,” Paige said as she pointed to each one, though she had not been asked.
Clarice looked as if she had been crying her eyes out since she had arrived, though she did manage to nod and sniffle at them in response to hearing her name. Gregor had a sunny, shit-eating grin on his face, which disturbed Alex for some reason; it looked mechanical and fake. No one had a reason to be that happy facing certain death.
The room was barely big enough to fit them all, and the air was stifling. Paige was a nervous sort, constantly squirming in her seat, which rapidly conspired to drive Alex crazy; she was ten seconds away from mentally commanding her to sit still when she said, “Don’t worry, guys! I can still figure something out to get us free. The Phalanx are just bluffing, I bet.”
“That’s what you said three hours ago, chica.” Angelo looked around very pointedly. “And yet, here we still are.”
“Yeah, well, I’m still thinking, all right?” Paige retorted defensively, crossing her arms. “Besides, someone has to keep thinking positive. We’ll get out. I’ll bet the X-Men know I was kidnapped, and they’re on the way now.” She leaned in towards Alex and said rather proudly, “My brother’s a mutant too. He left home years ago to go to Xavier’s school.”
Alex twitched an eyebrow at her, rolling her eyes away towards Monet as she thought a moment. “Ohh. Now I know why you look familiar. You’re Cannonball’s sister.”
Paige looked rather surprised, which gratified Alex immensely. Angelo just looked interested. “Ah, so the country mouse wasn’t entirely talking out of her ass?” he asked, looking just as pleased as Alex did at the thunder being stolen out from under the rather annoying blonde. “She’s been talking like she and the X-Men are best buds.”
“Well, I…my brother’s—“
“In the junior strike squad. I’ve seen him a few times. He likes wearing that stupid looking pilot’s cap.” Alex tapped her head, miming a hat for Angelo’s benefit, who snickered. Paige’s face turned from surprised to mutinous.
“And just who do you think you are, making fun of my brother? He’s an X-Man!”
“No, he’s in X-Force. Bit of a difference.” Alex stretched, touching the wall behind her. It was strangely warm, but that wasn’t comforting in the least.
Paige was still glaring at her as she leaned back against the wall, wincing as she hit a bruise on her shoulder. The Phalanx had not been gentle in the least. Remembering the last few hours reminded her of why she had thought staying with her father was a bad idea; this sort of escapade wasn’t fun, just deadly. If she got out of this, she was going to be working harder on convincing him to leave with her. Being a hero wasn’t worth all of this.
She closed her eyes as Paige snapped at her, “Well, just who are you, then?”
“Prometheus!” She started awake as a hand slapped her on the shoulder. The hot sun of Israel blinded her as she opened her eyes, the pain searing her brain. She groaned and pulled her sunglasses out of her pocket, sliding them on before cautiously opening them again to see a blue-furred face looking down at her.
“Beast. Do me the honour next time of not waking me up. I’d rather sleep through the end of the world, not watch it come.” She sat up, shaking sand off her coat. Wearing the full uniform to the middle of the desert was probably not the smartest idea she had ever had.
Hell. They were all going to die in the next few hours anyway.
It was such a depressing slap of reality that she flopped back down, rolling over, only to be bodily lifted back up onto her feet. She glared down at him. “What’s so important you needed to interrupt me?”
“It would be ungentlemanly of me to allow any of us to sleep through something so momentous. Besides. I do believe your father would desire your presence at his side.” He gestured out towards the dunes surrounding them, where she could see two figures standing, holding hands. She snorted, dusting at her pants as she turned away.
“He doesn’t need me there; he’s got Ms. Untouchable with him to make him happy. I’ve been blown off enough times to get the hint, Henri.” She sat back down, folding her legs. The sun was oppressive, and she should have been baking in her black clothing, but the nice side-effect to her powers was a tolerance to heat. However, she knew Beast wasn’t quite as lucky, and she was only making him even more miserable by being stubborn.
She sighed, getting up again. And promptly walked to the shadows cast by the starship, where she immediately sat back down. Beast followed her, giving her the mildest of smirks as he cottoned on to her devious plan, and stood just out of range, still in the sun. She rolled her eyes. “Fine. Broil to death. I’m still not moving. Anymore than I already have for your benefit, anyway.”
“Alexandria, please. Stop acting like a child.” She glowered at him as he finally moved into the shadows, sitting next to her. “You stayed in the X-Men whilst Jubilation went to Generation X because the professor made a decision not unlike his decision to keep Kitty; your maturity and skill. Ignoring your father because of your dislike of his relationship choices does you no credit.”
“You ever give him this speech? Does anyone ever notice how often he forgets I’m there so he can follow her around like a damn dog, hoping for a bone?” She gathered a handful of sand, letting it slip through her fingers. “I want to be there with him. But I’m tired of trying to fight for his attention. And yes,” she added quickly, forestalling his retort, “I’m aware how stupid that sounds, when the end of the world is nigh. I’m just tired, Henri. Everything in the last few years…I traded a dead man for a deadbeat.”
“That’s not true; Remy is hardly a deadbeat. Merely smitten.”
“Yeah, well, ‘smitten’ doesn’t work with ‘dead man’ as well.”
They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes, watching the sand blow by. Finally, Beast said, “Did I mention that you amongst all of us have the option of watching the world end at your father’s side, whereas the rest of us must remain ignorant of our families’ last minutes?”
Alex glared at him. “You blackmailing salaud.”
He graciously shrugged. “I do my best.”
Her father hugged her when she finally came to the top of the dune, holding her so tight she could barely breathe, and murmuring in her ear nonsensical words of French. Rogue looked uncomfortable, though she stood close to them as the glittering wave of crystal came closer, freezing the world in a beautiful prism.
“Guardian!”
The stench of blood was thick in the air as she turned around, shoving a soldier from Earth away from her. Mercury came trotting up to her side, her right hand glowing with power; without looking, she lifted her arm and twitched her fingers, blasting another soldier away with particles of ice. “Mars and Jupiter are still defending the gate. Venus is defending the main path to the castle.”
“And the princess? The queen? I couldn’t find them; please tell me you were luckier than I.”
“I don’t know, Guardian-sama. I merely wished to pass on what information is available.” Mercury’s eyes were as cold as the ice dancing at her fingertips as she awaited Alex’s response.
“Split up, all of you. Leave the defense to the soldiers and knights. You have to find the queen and princess before the Earth army does. Go!” Alex barked, and Mercury nodded sharply, taking off at a speed unmatched by the soldiers who tried to follow. It would be hours before she saw any of them, when she killed Kunzite to spare Venus the heartache of doing it herself.
She had never seen such violence before that day, and she hoped it never happened again. She had trained for years to defend herself with her powers, learned to use a sword; but never had she expected to use either one to kill so many, so efficiently. Soldiers clothed in the regalia of the Golden Kingdom fell beneath her sword, as well as peasant farmers who had foolishly joined Beryl’s campaign in hopes of reaping part of the riches. Fire chased them away, terrifying them. Her arm ached as she cut through the frenzied army, her head throbbing with the nearness of the black, malicious intent of Metallia.
After the queen destroyed Metallia, the entire battleground fell silent. The Earthen soldiers dropped where they stood, puppets whose strings had been cut, and never moved again, save to breathe. Only a few of the Lunar knights were still standing; everyone else was dead, or injured too badly to be moved. Alex found the bodies of the sailor soldiers near the princess, who had run to defend her and the fallen Venus, only to finally be overrun themselves. Endymion lay underneath the body of Serenity, his eyes half-open and at peace.
“Alexandria…is this what is left of our kingdom?” The elder Serenity was regal despite the blood on her dress, as she cradled her daughter’s body in her lap. It wasn’t a rhetorical question; the world seemed decimated.
“It’s a fixer-upper. The buildings can be rebuilt, the gardens replanted. But nothing is going to bring the dead back,” Alex replied quietly, dropping her sword to kneel at her queen’s side. Serenity looked up at her, eyes rimmed with tears.
“My daughter is dead. The line of succession has been broken, and cannot be repaired. What can I do, anata?” She hugged her daughter to her breast, rocking back and forth.
The taste of blood was still in her mouth as Alex woke up with the sun.
Later that night, Ami stared with something akin to shock at the image on her computer. Over her shoulder, Alex was shaking her head. “Well, they’ve made sure to get our attention. The entire shopping district is completely obscured.”
“No map can locate it.” Ami rapidly tapped at the keyboard, trying to zoom in. All that they could see what a murky darkness, completely hiding the circus from any type of satellite. “To do some magic in the middle of Juuban and not be noticed…they’re quite bold.”
“I think it’s been noticed, but not in the way you think.” Alex picked up a folded newspaper off the desk, gesturing at Ami with it. “The police are actually being busy for a change. Vandalism has gone up; even minor traffic infractions are rising. It’s a black pit of despair, affecting everyone.”
Ami nodded, glancing out the window. “Every time an enemy appears, they’ve been stronger, more insidious. I wonder sometimes why so many have appeared since we’ve awakened. Is it our fault?”
“It might likely be. Usagi wields ridiculous power. All of you do. And quite frankly, what’s left in this galaxy to overtake except Earth?” Alex sighed, setting the newspaper down. “I don’t think anything will stop them. It’s the proverbial opened jar, letting loose all sorts of demons and tricksters upon the world.”
The black spot was visible no matter how far Ami zoomed out. It gave her shivers to look at it, knowing it was just down the street. “This is our fault, then. And nothing we do would stop them, would it? Even if we set our power aside and lived as normal girls.”
Alex sighed, sitting on the edge of her bed. “You can never really do it. I know. The power will still be there, luring them to Earth. It’s a responsibility only death will relieve you of.”
“As it did once before,” Ami whispered, her lips barely moving. She knew the tall red-head heard her.
Instead of chastising her, she merely nodded. “It did. But it only relieved you for a certain span of time; otherwise we wouldn’t be talking about it now. And, she said, in an attempt to change the subject, is that a fish?”
Ami turned in her chair to see where Alex was gesturing, smiling now. “Hai. I went into the shopping district today, to see what I could find. The fish reminds me of my father.”
“Do you think it wise to be buying something from a vendor in the district?” Alex didn’t sound too worried as she crouched by the tank, watching the fish do nothing, as fish tend to do. Ami shrugged, leaning over to pick up the fish food and gently tap some into the water.
“I don’t think so. It just happened to remind me of my father. He sent me a postcard, years ago…it had a fish just like this one on the front. A lovely blue fish, with graceful fins.”
They watched it nibble on its food for a little while in its little bowl, oblivious to them. After a while they turned back to the computer, studying the black space. It was obvious that the Dead Moon Circus was magically obscuring themselves from sight, but they were doing a piss-poor job of being subtle about it. Various user comments noted the aberration, some angry, some unconcerned. A couple were outright crazy and nationalist. Tech support swore they were working on it, but obviously they were getting nowhere.
Hacking into the police monitor system (thanks to Minako and her police friend), they could still see the majority of the shopping district through the camera system, but in blurry, unfocused pictures. “Whatever it is, I’m going to guess it’s constantly in the air, diffuse lower to the ground, but concentrated when looking from above. Their magic is creeping through the district like gas,” Alex sighed. “And no one notices because computer malfunctions can always happen.”
Ami tapped rapidly at the keys, adding numbers to an evolving set of equations. After a few minutes of quiet humming in concentration, she said, “At this rate, in less than a month, their insidious magic will cover most of the Tokyo metropolitan area.”
“I guess we have less than a month.”
The front door opened with a quiet creak of hinges, at which Ami frowned. “Mama? Are you home so early?”
No one answered. Ami glanced around at Alex, who quirked a brow at her questioningly. Ami glanced back towards the front door, slowly rising from her chair. Her mother was never home this early, unless something was wrong. Even slow days at the hospital kept her until at least
midnight. However, even if she were home early, she should have responded to her.
“Ami, is something wrong?” Alex asked quietly as Ami walked out of her bedroom.
“Iie.” Nothing was wrong, why would there be anything wrong? It was a silent mantra running through her head as she walked through the living room, heading into the darkened kitchen and turning on the light.
Her mother was home, but not alone. Ami stumbled back, torn between shock and embarrassment, at the sight of her mother in the arms of a man she had never seen before, kissing her passionately. Neither of them seemed to notice her until the man opened his eyes and stared right at her, pulling back far enough to chuckle. “Ne, your daughter is awake? Mizuno-san, you said she would be asleep at this hour.”
“G…Gomen nasai, I didn’t mean….”
“Oh, don’t mind Ami, she’ll just go back to her room and study. Isn’t that right, Ami? All you do is study, after all. Study, study, study. You’re so boring and unnatural to enjoy it. Studying is a chore for children. Sometimes,” she laughed, as Ami stood there, utterly stricken, “I wonder if we’re related at all.”
The man holding her mother laughed with her, only to pull her back in for another kiss. Ami choked back a sob, fleeing from the kitchen. The sudden feeling of despair and utter hopelessness overwhelmed her as she dropped to the couch, gasping for breath and trying not to cry. She shuddered with the force of her emotions, clenching her teeth. “It can’t be…it can’t be, not at all….”
She looked up, seeing herself in the mirror; eyes puffy, lips trembling as she fought to control herself. The feeling grew worse as she saw herself shrink, becoming a child running to her father. “Papa!” she and the mirror image cried, reaching out to him. “Papa!”
He brushed them away, gathering up his canvas. “Don’t bother me, Ami, you’re a bore. Both you and your mother drove me away with your seriousness. Neither of you made me very happy at all.” Ami cried out as he disappeared, walking out of frame, as she tried to grab onto him.
Distantly, she heard an explosion as if glass had shattered. It didn’t faze her in the least as she stumbled to her feet, tears falling down her face. “Why do I drive everyone away? I don’t want to be alone like this!”
Someone touched her shoulders, pressing into her back. She froze, suddenly cognizant of herself, as Fish Eye materialized in the mirror behind her, smiling. “Darling girl, why do you suffer so? You don’t need anyone. Are you jealous of your happy friends and family? Why bother?” His hands slid down her arms, vaguely wet and slimy, and she shivered. “Just relax, and Fish Eye will make everything better, as I did your friend.”
“Alex! Iie!” She pulled away from him, running towards her bedroom. A stabbing pain in her foot stopped her dead, just short of the door; glass was everywhere, from the broken fish bowl. Black shapes swarmed over the unconscious red-head on the floor, blood trickling from cuts on her face. “Alex! Wake up!”
She could sense Fish Eye behind her, coming closer. Her feet stung from the glass already cutting through her socks; so she took a deep breath and ran into her room, swallowing a cry of pain as they were cut further, and shut the door. Grabbing a coat off the back of the door, she snapped it at the black shapes, driving them back, swatting them like flies as they tried to move back in. With a cry of rage, she leapt over
Alex, bringing the coat down like a bag to trap the little monsters, quickly gathering it up around them. She tied it with the sleeve and threw it aside, kneeling to shake her friend awake. “Alex, wake up! Wake UP!”
A hand shot up to grab her by the throat and slam her into the bed before Alex opened her eyes; once she did, she let her go immediately. “Sorry. What the hell is going on? The fish bowl suddenly exploded, and that’s the last thing I remember.”
“The enemy is in the condo,” Ami coughed, peeling off her socks. The glass went with them, but her soles were still bloody. “I found my mother with a man, and then, I saw papa in the mirror….”
“I was dreaming some crazy shit myself.” Alex ripped at her shirt, kneeling to wrap up Ami’s feet as she protested. “How much time do we have?”
“I don’t know. I chased these dark monsters away from you as you slept.” Ami gestured back at the wriggling coat-bag. Alex nodded as she tied off the bandages, reaching over to grab them.
When Fish Eye opened the door, his malicious grin spoke volumes; he assumed Ami would be an easy target, trapped in her room with an unconscious ally. Instead, his grin turned to a howl of rage as Alex swung the bag at him, releasing the monsters to swarm over their supposed master as she and Ami ran past, heading for the balcony. “You bitch!” Fish Eye screamed, batting the monsters away. “Lemures! Capture the sailor soldier!”
The lemures changed course and slammed into Ami’s back, throwing her head over heels into the mirror. Alex skidded to a stop, only to find Fish Eye standing in front of her, between her and the mirror. “Yare yare,” he sighed, waving a finger at her. “My mistresses are confused about you, but not so confused about the sailor soldier. My orders are absolute; kill her. You I can take my time with.”
Ami heard nothing of their interplay as she sank further into the mirror, a weightless body plagued by doubt. “Captured by the enemy so soon…am I that useless again? Do I depend on my friends that much that I can’t defeat Fish Eye alone?”
His voice echoed around her as she fell, laughing. “Don’t worry, little sailor soldier of water, this world will be your tomb. Your home has become the playground of our lemures, a wonderful breeding ground for our nightmare monsters. Sleep now; there’s no reason to wake up and fight after all.”
“Hai…I’m so weak, anyway. There’s nothing I can do. And I’m so tired of fighting,” she whispered, closing her eyes, feeling the same hopelessness and depression that had slowed her down return full force. She forgot that Alex was fighting by herself, likely depending on her to back her up; she forgot that her mother was in the apartment, in possible danger. Nothing bothered her as she continued to sink, feeling everything that was Mizuno Ami drift away into the darkness.
“Don’t you dare! Don’t you dare give up, Mercury!”
“Nani?”
She opened her eyes.
Everything was dark and murky as a swamp, oppressive and bleak. In front of her face, however, floated a miniature version of Sailor Mercury, glowing like a star. An angry star. She pointed at Ami’s face, saying, “Don’t give up! You’re stronger than this!”
“You’re…me?”
Mini Mercury nodded sharply, folding her arms. “In a way, I am. And I’m here to remind you that you have an enemy to vanquish! You can’t just go sleeping the battle away!”
“But I’m not very strong. As Mercury, I continue to be the weakest one.” Ami flinched as Mini Mercury came in close, glaring directly into her eyes.
“Baka! You allow yourself to be hobbled by your emotions. You are the Princess of Mercury, the soldier of Mercury, and you will fight! Think of your truest dream; what is it?”
“I want to help those who can’t help themselves. To be a doctor.”
“And can you help them when you’re unable to help yourself?”
Ami mutely shook her head.
“Find that strength inside of you. You’ve made these restrictions. Now make the next level! Break free of your limitations and find the power to help the Guardian!”
The water was beginning to clear around her, cleansing the taint. Ami slowly began to smile as her heart beat faster. “Is that what I have to do? Free myself…hai. ar around her, cleansing the taint. Ami slowly began to smile as her heart beat faster. “Is that what I have to do? Free myself…hai. I’m not alone. And I’m the soldier of Mercury. Iie, the Princess of Mercury!”
She burst free of the water and out of the mirror, surprising Fish Eye and Alex; only a few seconds had passed in her strange prison, for which she was strangely glad. If she defeated the loathsome man on her own, it would be without Alex having worn him down first. “Fish Eye! Your nightmare ends now!”
Her chest was burning with a strength she had never felt before, and she looked down to see a glowing blue heart in the center of her breast. She touched her fingers to the blue glow and smiled, lifting her other hand as she shouted, “Mercury Crystal Power! Make Up!”
The power was intense. It lifted her and caressed her, draping her in her uniform. The bow at her back lengthened, trailing long ribbons; her brooch became a heart. In her hand a harp took shape, beautiful and perfect. As she stood straight, Fish Eye’s look twisted into one of intense fear. “You! Of the Dead Moon Circus! How dare you invade my home with your nightmares!”
She barely noticed Alex stepping aside as she advanced on Fish Eye, holding the harp in the crook of her arm. She was calm as he suddenly snarled at her, snapping an arm around to point and shouting, “Lemures! Attack her!”
Her fingers danced across the strings of the harp, playing a tune she was unable to name, though if she were honest with herself, she would admit that she had indeed heard it before. And, as in a previous life, she shouted, “Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!”
The lemures disappeared in the surging flash of light and wall of water. Fish Eye screamed, clutching his ears as the magic tore him apart, dropping a flopping, desperate fish to the carpet. After a moment, the fish stopped moving altogether, and disappeared into a smear of ash. Ami’s mother dropped to the floor in the kitchen.
Everything was quiet, except for the faint breeze tickling the strings of the harp. Alex slowly began to clap as Mercury smiled, triumphant. She said, simply, “Arigatou.”
