Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Mended Wing ❯ Mended Wing - Chapter Nine ( Chapter 9 )

Authors Notes: Anyone really angry yet? Hehe. Don't worry, I'll be setting things right in the end… or will I? ::cackles insanely:: You'll all just have to wait and see what evils await you within the story! HAHAHA! Trenchcoat Man: Keep that conduit open! Astral realm ahoy! And there's a REASON all his sisters hate him. Geez. ::sighs dramatically:: Marika Webster: Bleh… feh… Fuuzaki-chan: How's that chicken? Tweety: No diamonds!! ::wails::

 

Hey look, I'm answering questions again! Za Kaze no Nisou: All shall be explained in time, my child. Patience. Patience is the key. And fudge bunnies. Girl-chama: Yes, yes it was a big step for me. However, a somewhat necessary one in this story, for reasons not everyone will understand. Hehe. I just love being obscure, don't I? Sakura yuy: Putting emotion into my stories is something I always try to do. If you are taking notice, then I must be doing something right. Thank you. Trenchcoat Man: Oh, feh. We talked about this. I just figured I'd feed your ego by giving you another mention. Hehe. ;o) Tasie: Erm… well… Usagi-chan won't be coming back for a little while yet. I'm actually trying to see how long I can go WITHOUT her! BWHAHAHA! Hime: If they don't get Usagi back then Crystal Tokyo will never exist, the GBoys will be permanently screwy, and eventually the Universe will implode. Anon: Is this your name, or are you anonymous? Well, anyways, anyone who knows me knows the answer to this Q and T dilemma… you could ask Girl-chama, Trenchcoat Man, Marika Webster, Tensei or Fuuzaki. Any of them can tell you. Hehe. Static Scythe: You there! No biting your arms off on MY watch! Am I going to have to put you in a cage?

 

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing and Sailormoon… not mine. Deal with it. Fudge bunnies courtesy of Fuuzaki-chan.

 

 

Mended Wing - Chapter Nine

 

 

Hell sure was funny. Hell didn't really seem so bad, actually. It was very familiar, with familiar sights, and places, and people and couches. The buildings certainly didn't look like they were on fire. Then again, wasn't Hell a Christian thing? She wasn't sure whether she was Christian or not. In fact, she was pretty sure she wasn't. Okay, well, that took Hell out of the picture then, didn't it?

Then what? This wasn't Nirvana, no, not Nirvana, not Nirvana at all because she didn't have any sense of enlightenment at all. Heaven? Christian again, and anyway, Heaven was supposed to be nicer. Clouds, angels, harps, haloes, that sort of thing. This was just plain old Tokyo the way she remembered it in her more lucid moments. But it couldn't really be Tokyo, because Tokyo was in the place for living people, and she had to be dead. Death was the only way she would have ever escaped that dark place, because no one knew she was there.

Oh, was she still there after all? Was this another hallucination? Of course. That's why she was back in Tokyo, because she wasn't REALLY back in Tokyo, she just thought she was. Though in Tokyo Usagi was dead, and it was Usagi's death that trapped her in that place to begin with and the five boys had been there too, right before she couldn't remember but those five boys were different than these five boys but they were the same and why couldn't she seem to remember how to work the key-stick thingie? The key-stick thingie was the key . . . hehehehe, the key-stick was the key! Oh where oh where did the sanity go, oh where oh where could it be?

“Setsuna-san!”

She blinked and looked towards the Ami-hallucination. Couldn't be the real Ami-chan, of course, because the real Ami-chan lived in the real Tokyo while the real Setsuna was trapped trapped trapped in her own Time Gate with no way to get out out out and living in a hallucination Tokyo place.

“Setsuna-san, please, you've got to snap out of this. We need you.” Ami-hallucination sighed and placed a bowl-hallucination in front of Setsuna on the table-hallucination.

“I need the key-stick. I need to go to Crystal Tokyo and warn the NeoQueen and King . . .” Yes, yes, yes! The Black Moon Family! They were in the past! Going after Small Lady! Setsuna was sure the NeoQueen could hear through all that crystal, and she'd want to be kept updated. Setsuna had to get the key-stick back!

“Setsuna-san, there is no Crystal Tokyo. Not without Usagi-chan. Usagi-chan is dead, and we need to get her back before you can go to Crystal Tokyo.”

“Dead?” That's right. Usagi dead. No Small Lady. No Crystal Tokyo. Who would turn away the Black Moon Family? Or the invasion from Ikatha? Or save Queen Venus from the attentions of that horrid Prince of Ooggfel?

“Yes, dead.” Ami-hallucination leaned close, placing a hand on Setsuna's. It was tight, stern. Setsuna squirmed, wanting to get away. “We can't disobey the laws of Father Time and go back to stop her death, so we need some way to bring her back now, before your Time Shield collapses because of your mental state. Onegai, Setsuna-san, give us something to work with! Anything to go on! Help us!”

Help? Help how? How could she help when something was already done? Why hadn't she stopped this before it happened? That was okay, or at least there was no law against it. Yet. But Father Time could be a real prick, and obsessive about his rules, so if he found out that she took liberties with the loopholes, well she'd be looking for a new permanent position and she didn't have the qualifications to be anything other than what she was, the Guardian of Time that is.

“The Eye of Hecate!”

“The . . . what?” Ami-hallucination, which may or may not be an actual hallucination, but Setsuna figured she'd better help just in case.

“The Eye of Hecate. On the Moon. Big cave.” How how how to say this? Setsuna paused and mustered all of the sanity she could in order to make a coherent statement. “Hecate is the Goddess of the Dark Moon. Not evil, just dark. The Eye of Hecate is . . . is . . . very powerful. It grants immortality, or mystic knowledge, or the gift of one miracle to a heart pure enough to deserve it. The Eye could grant a miracle for us.” Setsuna blinked as a shadow on the opposite wall shivered. My, what brilliant hallucinations her mind came up with. “Queen Serenity's great-great-great-great-great grandmother finally hid the Eye in a cave just west of the Moon Palace to protect it from . . . from . . . those people . . . the ones who wanted to use it for evil, and they could, `cause purity of heart doesn't necessarily mean pure goodness. And there are . . . are . . .” It got harder to remember with each second that passed, harder and harder to . . . “Challenges. One for . . . each of the . . . Inner Court.”

Her small bit of sanity fell away and Setsuna forgot again where she was.

 

 

~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~

 

 

Ami left Setsuna babbling in the kitchen to her bowl of cereal. Since revealing the knowledge of this “Eye of Hecate,” the Guardian's words had degenerated into incoherent clumps of jumbled words. Some dealt with Crystal Tokyo and the NeoQueen or other shadows of the now uncertain future. Others were painful reminders of the cold darkness Setsuna had endured locked inside the Time Gate. Others at last made no sense whatsoever. Ami took her computer into the living room to escape the woman's grim insanity.

Though she had to admit to herself that caring for Setsuna was vastly easier than dealing with the arrogant version of Quatre Raberba Winner.

Fingers flying over memorized keys, Ami accessed the Mercury computer's history files, specifically anything downloaded from the Moon's main computer just before its destruction. A brief memory of sparks, flames, and panic seized her before Ami shook it off. Her eyes settled on the screen. Blue letters read REQUEST RESULTS: 0. Ami frowned. Could Setsuna be mistaken? Had that seeming moment or clarity been nothing more than cleverly disguised incoherence? She sighed and massaged the bridge of her nose, behind which a dull pounding had begun.

Eye of Hecate. A talisman? A jewel of power like the Silver Crystal? Or simply the ramblings of an unbalanced woman?

Eye of Hecate.

Hecate is the Goddess of the Dark Moon . . .

Goddess of the Dark Moon . . .

Ami typed in a historical search for any past Moon Queen named Hecate who might have called herself the Queen of the Dark Moon. Meanwhile she tried to drive away memories of Nehelenia and her horrid mirrors.

REQUEST RESULTS: 0.

Ami gave a low groan of frustration.

Goddess . . .

Ami blinked and squinted at the screen as if doing so would drive away her insane notion. Indeed it was a notion as insane as the Guardian. Despite her best efforts, however, her fingers moved and shifted her search from historical files to those listed under mythology.

REQUEST RESULTS: 1.

By Kami-sama, it actually worked. She clicked the number and pulled up the found file.

Hecate: On Earth, one of the Greek moon goddesses, said to rule the dark side of the moon. Her power grew with the waning moon and was at its fullest during the New Moon. Hecate's power over the Dark Moon did not make her evil. The moon was the source of mystical knowledge, especially the dark half. Hecate ruled over magic, and was often called the Queen of Witches. She is pictured as an old wise woman standing at a crossroads, also her domain. Crossroads represent choices, and as an old wise woman, Hecate represents the wisdom to make the right choices.

In the Moon Kingdom there are stories of Queen Hecate, the legendary second daughter of Queen Selene, the first of the Moon Queens, before the traditional name of Serenity. Hecate was said to be strong and stern, and very powerful. The stories say that Diana, Selene's first daughter and heir, was killed in the invasion of the Moon by Jupiter, and Hecate returned from her self-exile on Mars to take her sister's place. According to legend, it was then Hecate, not Diana, who fought Jupiter and eventually formed the truce that led to the forming of the peaceful Silver Millennium. It is rumored that she created the Silver Imperium Crystal after the invasion of the Jupiter army in order to assure that future generations of Moon Queens would have a weapon to defend their kingdom. However, the existence of Queen Hecate or the stories of her rule cannot be proven. It is only hearsay that gives us these stories, though all of the histories claim that Diana lived to form the Silver Millennium. The true origins of the Silver Crystal remain unknown.

Another legend involving Hecate is that of her wish-granting talisman, the Eye of Hecate. It is said that when she knew she was about to die, Queen Hecate created the Eye to carry all of her power after her death. The Eye can grant immortality, knowledge of the deepest mystical secrets, or the gift of one miracle to one person of the purest heart. Hecate gave this to her successor, in case a time should come when the power of the Silver Crystal would not be enough to save the Moon Kingdom. The next Queen, Isis, hid the Eye of Hecate somewhere in the Kingdom, where it has yet to be found if it exists. There are supposed to be five obstacles in the journey to find the Eye, with failure of any challenge met with immediate death. The rewards for passing all five challenges are greater than the risk.

Of course, none of this can be proven either.

Ami took a deep breath and sat back in her chair to assimilate all that she'd read. Myth and legend, every bit of it. Not one piece of true history, except for the mentioning of Queens Selene and Diana. Ami remembered those from her snippets of recalled history lessons on Mercury. Selene was the first Queen of the Moon, and her daughter and successor was Diana. Never had Hecate been mentioned, not once. Later she had discovered the fictional moon goddess still worshipped by some of the Earthians, but never thought there might be an actual connection to the Moon Kingdom.

Every pore of her scientific being screamed against this. They couldn't rely on mythical knowledge to lead their search to bring back Usagi, they simply couldn't. The entry itself had said twice that none of it could be proven. Stories. Gods. Setsuna, in her madness, had given Ami a useless piece of information.

Is it really?

She stood and began to pace, trying to outrun the crazy thoughts that wouldn't be outrun. If there stood any chance of this Eye of Hecate being real, and being the key, could they really pass it up? It might be the only thing that could help, seeing as the only other thing capable of it was the Silver Crystal and Usagi was the only one who could use it. Speaking of the Crystal, surely it had been a myth for a long time itself, something no one would ever believe really existed unless they saw it. All myths and legends had some truth to them, because they wouldn't be so powerful unless based on something that had truly affected the culture that created them. The Silver Crystal, according to this legend, had been created by Hecate and it was real enough. So why shouldn't the Eye of Hecate be just as real?

Ami sat down and read the entry again. Five challenges, just as Setsuna had said. Wait, no, she'd said there was a challenge for each of the Inner Court. That would make four, not five. The blue-haired doctor deliberated on this. Did this mean a fifth challenge existed for Sailormoon, the Princess of the Moon Kingdom? It would make sense considering that she would be the most likely person to use the Eye. Or could it mean something totally different? She sighed, unable to fathom this complication. She knew one thing, however. No matter its origin, this lead was the only thing they had.

Ami rose again and crossed the room to her telephone. She passed the door to the kitchen and glanced to see Setsuna splashing her spoon in the milk, maroon eyes floating over the room but not really focused on it. With a shake of her head Ami picked up the receiver, paused to decide who to call, and dialed.

“Moshi, moshi?”

“Minako-chan, can I talk to Triton-kun for a moment?”

“Uh, sure,” Minako's voice lilted with her confusion. There came muffled sounds over the line and finally Triton's voice came flowing through.

“Ami-san?” He sounded just as confused as Minako, and for good reason.

“Triton-kun, I'm sorry about this but I want an objective opinion before I tell everyone else. I thought one of you five would be best, and you're the most objective one I could think of.”

“I'll help if I can.” His voice was so much nicer than it had been before. Not that he hadn't been nice. Just . . . well . . . there. This was a boy that could be anybody's friend if they'd let him.

So Ami proceeded to tell him what Setsuna had said, then what the computer came up with. She explained spot portions of Moon Kingdom and Silver Millennium history for him, as well as some other potentially pertinent myths. He listened so silently she could almost believe he had reverted to normal Trowa. When she finished the line remained quiet, and after a moment she said he name to be certain he was still there.

“I think it's just a story. That's all legends really are. I mean, they're based on a truth, but how long ago was this? By now the truth has been covered over and weeded out so much there's probably hardly any of it left.” His voice wavered strangely as he spoke, “I don't think it's even worth telling the others about.”

Ami paused. She wanted another opinion, but hadn't expected him to completely blow the idea off without even considering it. His words had the rushed quality of an excuse. She had the feeling there was something Triton wasn't saying underneath the words he had said.

“Arigatou, Triton-kun, but I have to tell them even if we don't follow this course of action. I can't keep a possible solution to myself. I only wanted to know your opinion. Thank you for it again. Please put Minako-chan back on the line.”

Ami waded in her thoughts as she waited for Minako's voice to return. Suddenly she didn't trust Triton, and she really couldn't pinpoint the exact reason why.

“Ami-chan?”

Ami proceeded to tell Minako what she had discovered, without mentioning Triton's condemning of the idea. The blonde of course wanted to jump on the opportunity immediately.

“There's only one problem,” Ami reminded her, “There are five challenges to get to the Eye of Hecate, if it even exists. Setsuna-san mentioned one for each of the Inner Court. That's four, which doesn't fit. However, there's the possibility that the fifth challenge is—“

“For the Moon Princess!” Minako wailed.

“Possibly. Or it could be a challenge for the four together. Either way, we need all four of the Inner Senshi in order to even search for the Eye. Which means-“

“Rei-chan.”

“Right. There is no more chance for us to simply change the kidnapping by preventing Usagi-chan's death. We have to rescue Masurao-kun and Rei-chan NOW.”

 

 

End Chapter Nine.