Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Consequences: Book One- A Changing Destiny ❯ Chapter Thirteen ( Chapter 13 )

Title: Consequences: Book One- A Changing Destiny

Rating: 13-R

Genre: Alternative Universe

Author: Sean Wright

Editor: Amethyst Serenity

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon; I'm just a fan.

Chapter Thirteen

The scared fire flared brightly and then sank down into its regular height. Jonathan Hino was kneeling before the scared fire, searching for answers for questions he did not know. All was coming to a head and soon. He could sense one of the key players was standing at a crossroads; just one of many in this person's life and the spirit was wavering in the center. Time was not on this one's side, for the fate of the Universe depended on how this one person would react.

Jonathan Hino, King Ares of Mars and son of the God of War, did not like this. The Universe was a large and vast place, made up of billions of people from all the planets in the Solar System. Its fate should never rest in the hands of one lone soul. The Silver Millennium fell because of the belief that the life of one person was more important than the lives of billions. He had rejected Pluto's visions of the future when she stood before the Alliance and foretold the end of the Silver Alliance with the death of its Princess. And he denied it still. The future was never written in stone, even Cronus said that none of the prophecies was certain. Chance played an equal part in life as did Destiny and Fate; Queen Serenity accepted this wisdom all too late and when she sought to change the 'fate' of her daughter and Kingdom, it was over.

"Master?" Chad called from the doorway; "I am going into town now. Was there anything else you wanted me to pick up?"

"Hai," he said without turning around. "Would you buy a few bottles of plum juice? It is Rei's favorite drink."

"Anything else?"

Jonathan shook his head, "No, thank you."

Chad turned away from the door and silently slid it shut. He heard footsteps behind him, he turned around slowly and saw the old man's granddaughter coming down the corridor and he was taken aback by her appearance. Her violet eyes were dull and glassy, her pale skin looked sickly, slightly yellow and her long, dark hair was unkempt like she hadn't washed it in weeks.

Chad knew the girl was on some medications, but nothing had prepared him for the sight of her. He frowned as she passed him. Rei grabbed the wall desperately as she tottered forward.

She couldn't stay here, she felt the call of her leader in her blood, but something was keeping her away from them. Rei made it out to the courtyard and stumbled again, this time she fell against the low wall. She could hear Phobos and Deimos cawing in the background and something else but she couldn't make out the words. Blood was rushing to her head; it was filling her ears and deafening her to the world around her and all she heard was that same unrelenting voice that promised her death.

"Rei!" Jonathan ran to his granddaughter's side and helped her up. "You should be in bed. You are still too weak."

Weak? Why should she be weak? She had to get up; she had to go to her---

Bunny's face flashed before mind's eyes. It was Bunny's face with a golden crescent moon tattoo on her forehead.

"You refuse to let go. You are a stubborn wench." A woman with fiery red hair stood in front of Rei. "Yet I will not allow you to go any further."

"Who," Rei swallowed, "Who--?"

The woman looked down at Rei, her scarlet eyes holding no sympathy or compassion for the girl. "I am what you will never be."

"I don't…"

"I will never allow you to hurt the Princess." She told her. "You will die, succubus. Even if I must die with you, I will never allow the Darkness to pass me."

And with that pronouncement, Rei collapsed in the courtyard, screaming in agony as her body seemed to literally burn on the inside. Chad tried to help her up but let her go immediately, she was too hot to his unprotected touch. It was worse than any fever. He looked to the old priest worriedly. Jonathan hurried over, catching Rei's gaunt face between his hands. The symbol of Mars appeared on his brow as he used his will to reach inside her mind and pierce her soul so he could fight whatever demon held his granddaughter.

He ran into a wall then, a wall of holy fire with crimson flames that spread as far as he could see. Yet, all except the wall was darkness. He felt envy, greed, vanity, and lust in the darkness and it all pushed at the wall, but the wall held strong. Jonathan turned back to the wall and saw the symbols of Mars and the Senshi of Mars emblazoned in its center. He reached out to touch the symbol of his Kingdom and was thrust back into his own self.

He came out of his trance with a start. He looked down at his granddaughter's agonized expression and he was at a loss.

"Master." Chad's voice broke through his puzzled thoughts.

Jonathan stood up, "Pick her up, Chad," he said quickly. "And bring her inside the temple."

The novice bent down and did as he was told. He was careful not to let any of her flesh come into contact with his skin. "Master, do you think you can heal Rei?" Chad asked as he hurried after the old man.

Jonathan grimaced. "I don't know but I now know for certain that Rei has been possessed. I pray that I can save her soul before it's too late."

******

It had been a night of revelations for the refugees of Silver Millennium. As soon as they were out of arcade, Ami had contacted Mina and briefly described the situation. Mina told Ami to take Bunny home immediately and that she and Lita would join her soon.

Once at the Tsukinos, Ami did a quick scan of the perimeter and found to everyone's horror that not only was the area surrounding their house being watched, but the two were being monitored within their home as well. Ami, with Bunny and Ilene's help, ferreted out dozens of hidden microphones and hidden cameras in the house. Eiji had arrived and was disabling wiretaps on the telephones, the ones in their cellular phones and the tracking devices in Ilene's cars.

It was worse than living in a nightmare. There was no one who could be trusted. No matter where they went, even in their own home, people had been watching them. And it was only intensify since the terrans knew that the Senshi knew about them.

The girls and Eiji stayed that night. Bunny had exhausted herself with the teleportation and then, the incident with Molly had drained her physically and emotionally. The Senshi remained on guard all night, taking shifts while they awaited the terran backlash. Nothing came during the night, but that was small assurance to them.

There was no way that Ilene would allow Bunny to go to school, not that the girl was complaining and the Senshi did not want them out of their sight. Around midmorning, Ilene managed to talk the girls into going upstairs and resting. Mina stayed downstairs while Ami and Lita went up to the guestrooms for some sleep. Bunny had come down soon after, not looking like her usual perky self, but that was to be expected after all she had gone through.

Ilene was getting up to bring her daughter some of the delicious breakfast that Lita had prepared for them when someone started banging on the front door. Ilene looked to Eiji worriedly. Mina was already at the window closest to the door. She hadn't morphed but she did have her sword in her right hand. She moved one of the heavy drapes aside and did a double take.

"Of all the arrogant…" She muttered.

"Eros," Eiji said, "What is it? Who's out there?"

Mina looked back at him, her eyes showing her disbelief. "It's Endymion of Terra. And he's not alone."

Bunny had gone to her mother's side, the two clung to each other desperately. "Why would he come here?" She asked in a frightened little voice. "What does he want from us, Mama?"

Ilene wrapped her arms about her daughter, trying to comfort her. "I don't know, Bunny. I think we should find out."

Mina let the drape fall close and put her hand on the doorknob, as she looked back at Ilene. "I await your orders, my Queen."

"Open the door," Ilene told her after a slight hesitation. At the same time she sent up a silent prayer to her patron Goddess for protection. "We cannot hide from him on his world."

Mina pulled the door open and stepped back quickly, her sword at the ready. "What do you want, terran?" she demanded. She glared at Kris, Troy, and Andrew who stood behind their lord.

Endy removed his sunglasses and stepped forward. "I've come to make my apologies to your Queen." His dark blue eyes went past the Senshi of Venus to the two petite Lunarians who stood as far back from the door as possible, and he smiled, almost wolfishly. "And I have also come for a treaty, Queen Serenity. It seems as if your Senshi are running a bit wild these days, your Majesty."

They were sitting about in the living room, having tea and eating pastries from a box. Bunny and Ilene in true fashion had finished off their own boxes of cupcakes and were now devouring the tray filled with cookies. They ignored the strange and slightly horrified looks of Endy and his companions; both mother and daughter were dangerously low on energy and needed to replace it fast.

Eiji had run over to his house and returned with provisions. Lita was now preparing a meal for the royals.

Endy could take no more. He had been there for fifteen minutes already and all he had done was glare at Eros of Venus, drink tea and watch his bride to be and her mother gorge themselves on prepackaged junk food.

"Look, I want to get this over with," he said testily. "Either we talk now or you people pack up and get off my planet."

So much for the subtle approach.

Ilene polished off another cookie and started to say something, but Bunny cut her off.

"You want to get something over with, fine. Get out," she said around a mouthful of half eaten cookies. "We did not want to talk to you at all. You are the one who came to my mother, slinging accusations that she was trying to take over this paltry little floating rock."

Mina nearly choked on her tea. Who knew her princess had such a spiteful tongue in her? Silently, she cheered her on, wanting desperately to say "You go, girl!"

"Paltry?" Endy said coolly.

"Don't forget that I also said little." She said sweetly.

"Bunny!" her mother cried in shock. She could have thought of few more adjectives to really turn the Prince's ears red, but for the moment she had to look like she was willing to listen to him. She wanted to know what hell had been going on and damn that Artemis for not keeping her better apprised of the situation with the Outer Senshi.

"Endymion," she said with hint of ice her voice as she turned her attention to the Prince. "We are not here as your enemies. We are but refugees seeking asylum from our closest neighbor. It is not our intent to take over Terra."

"Well, you could have fooled me, with four of your Senshi incubating a world destroyer practically within your backyard," Endy said flatly.

Ilene looked to Eiji for clarification; Bunny was watching Mina and Ami. It was Mina who spoke up for her baffled Queen.

"You cannot accuse the Queen of what was done in the Mugen Delta. None of us knew what was going on there-We were never there except for Ami and she was but a child then. She knew nothing other than there was something was not right about that place."

The look on his face said he did not believe her but Andrew came to the Senshi's defense.

"It does stand to reason, my Prince, the Sailor Senshi have never gone into the Delta, neither has Queen Serenity. As far as our surveillance has shown us, none of them has had contact with any of the Outer Sailors, except the Queen. Her contact was restricted to Sailor Pluto and that was usually relayed through a third party. Princess Eros is not trying to mislead you." He looked at the girls who sat on the opposite side of the room with their Queen and Princess, "If my guess is correct, until recently, these four did not know there were any other Senshi on this planet, much less in the solar system, other than themselves."

Lita placed a tray loaded down with an assortment of sandwiches on the coffee table and then sat down on the arm of Mina's chair.

"You are right," she told them as the others helped themselves to food. "We did not know. We did not even know about ourselves. As you know, Bunny was first of our group and from her stories, she could have died or been seriously injured in many battles from complete lack of knowledge and skill. And then Ami came on board and she had been reduced to one of her most basic powers, Shabon Spray, a fog that did almost nothing except blind the target and her teammates and she was not allowed to fight. Then, Rei was tossing about her Fire Soul; that was a bit more effective, but nothing they had or brought to the team was strong enough for any of us to stand on our own or trigger something in us that would make us want more. Plus we all had so much emotional baggage that it would have been impossible for us to focus on much else than living day to day and surviving an attack by Beryl. So we did not know about the others and I will admit right now, that I would have not cared to look for any other Senshi unless they showed up during a battle to help us."

"Which is was what Mina did," Bunny said quietly. "If Mina hadn't come when she did, I might have died that night."

"I had known about them for months. I had been watching them and I am sure your people had been watching me." She said with a glance in Andrew's direction.

"I don't want to hear about your histories," Endy told them, "I have the files. If I needed something to put me to sleep, I would read them. I am only concerned with the here and now and future. As far as I am concerned, you all are not a part of Terra's destiny."

"Then what do you want from us?" Ilene demanded.

He looked the Queen right in the eye and said, "I want you to leave Terra."

"Not until we kill Beryl," Mina said quickly.

"That's not even an option," Endy told her. "Beryl is mine. She killed my parents and my fiancée."

"She destroyed my parents and killed my husband and my Senshi and their families." She said in a low deadly voice, "As well as murdered my Princess and Queen. I get that bitch's head."

"Don't stand in my way, Eros." He said menacingly.

"Don't get in mine," she shot back.

"I want Beryl," Endy told her, "I will kill anyone who gets in my way."

"Ditto," Mina said with a deadly smile.

"So it's a race," Bunny chimed in, "We Senshi versus you and your army."

The room suddenly got quiet. All eyes turned to the petite pale blonde girl huddling in her corner of the overstuffed couch and munching on a half of sandwich.

"Bunny," Mina said softly, "Honey, you gave up your broach, we have no other way of summoning the power of the Silver Millennium for you to harness."

Bunny pulled the crust off her sandwich and tossed it aside. "I know," she said absently.

"So she can't fight anymore?" Endy demanded.

"Wrong." Bunny opened up the sandwich to look at the filling. "Leets, are these bean sprouts?"

"What do you mean he's wrong?" Mina asked, her eyes a bit wild. "How can you transform?"

As if to answer, the crystal on the chain on her neck started to glow. "Endymion, you are more than welcome to join us in the destruction of Beryl and Metallia."

"Unfortunately, Serenity, I have to decline," Endy told her, "In five days we will have a lock on Beryl's location and we will be moving out."

"Well, you will be five days too late." She put the sandwich aside and took another. "Ami has the location in her computer and we can leave any time now," Bunny told him.

Endy looked at the small, blue haired girl for confirmation. Mina just wanted to laugh but refrained, but she could not keep the smug smile from her face. "We've had the information for some time now…"

"How do you know where that witch has been hiding?" Troy exploded.

"How do you think?" she asked smartly.

"Luna." Andrew said in disgust.

Ami reached for another sandwich, "It was a part of her original strategy in double crossing her partners or so we surmised. But then…"

"Give us the coordinates." Endy commanded.

"No," Ami said evenly. "There's a full moon tomorrow, Mina decided we are to leave then."

"I will not allow you three to deny me my vengeance." He told her.

"Then you work with us," Mina said firmly. "What happened in the past affected more than just Terra. The royalty of the entire solar system died that day, entire civilizations were lost and worlds destroyed- This is more than you wanting to avenge your parents, Endymion. It is about is the laws of the Silver Alliance and the witch that broke them. We are Beryl's judges and executioners and we are going to make sure that Beryl dies this time and stay dead." She meant every word of it and Endymion could respect that.

But the terran Prince had another matter he wanted to clear up. He noticed that Bunny had been watching him throughout the proceedings. To his chagrin or something else, it had not been with interest. His poor, abused ego had suffered.

"Serenity," he said, "I would like to have a word with you if I may."

She inclined her head, giving him her consent to continue.

"In private." He told her.

Bunny frowned slightly. "Fine, I need to get outside for a while." She put her feet down on the floor and stood up. "Mama, we are going to take a walk around the neighborhood."

"Do you want us to come along?" Ami asked her.

Bunny shook her head, "No, we will be fine. Besides, what I have to say won't take long." She tugged at her jeans that had bunched up around her knees. "Come on, your Highness."

They walked with no particular destination in mind. Bunny was keeping enough distance between them to discourage touching but they could talk without being overheard. Following her lead, Endy kept his hands in pockets and avoided any possible contact, but he thought it was ridiculous. He had waited his entire life for this moment, to see her once again and be in her presence. Yet, she was behaving as if he had leprosy or something. She did not look at him, keeping the conversation strictly on the matters at hand and not once moving towards anything personal.

They entered Juuban's park and Bunny veered off towards one of the lush trails that led to the center of the park.

"How long have you had memories of the past?" He asked, hoping to finally have acknowledgement that they did have a relationship at one point.

She tried not grimace when he called her by that name. "A few weeks now," she said with a slight shrug. "It's nothing like what Mina and the others are going through."

"What do you mean?" He asked, taking in the scent of the air. Cherry blossoms, he loved coming to Japan for the Cherry Blossom Festival, but he had missed it this year. Maybe next year he would be able to see it with Serenity.

Bunny who was completely oblivious to his thoughts was busy trying to work her way out of her own, "What I have been remembering has been only fleeting bits that have no real connection with anything." She explained. "Like I can sometimes recall one of Serenity's favorite gown or toy or her going to a ball, but it's just a picture to me but it's not mine, ce n'est pas véritable, it's not real, it doesn't feel real to me, you know. My mother says it's because up until recently, I have had a very stable and secure environment to grow in. My psyche doesn't need to create a comfort zone or safe haven, if you will, in order for me to be a confident and strong person. That's not so with my Senshi. Their lives were in constant upheaval until they met each other and started to form bonds. But the damage had already been done leaving them basically as emotional and mental wreaks. For them or any of us to be strong, we must have security or, for us as Senshi, we can't fight. So, their minds are creating or rather wiping away the hurt and negative aspects of this life and reconnecting with their past and it's very real to them."

"Kris and others will be pleased to hear that," he told her with a hint of a smile.

"Maybe," Bunny shook off the philosophical air. "Maybe not. I have a great many holes in my memory. I only have a true spiritual connection with Ami stemming from the past. This current closeness I have with Mina and Lita, both of whom I had almost no contact with back in Silver Millennium is new for me. But then I have no relationship whatsoever with Rei and she was my spiritual advisor in the past and we were very close. I guess there are positive and negative aspects to having your memory."

"And what does that mean for me?" Endy started to reach for her.

She looked at him then, "It also means that I don't remember you, Endymion, or what we had together. From the way things are now, I don't like you very much."

His hand hung between them, disbelief clearly written on his face. "You don't like me?" he asked incredulously.

Bunny nodded, "What did you think was going to happen, Darien, Endymion or whatever your name is?"

"It's Endymion," he said testily, "And what I expected was to find you and for us to be together."

"But you don't know me." She touched his hand, sympathy in her luminous eyes. "You don't know anything about me that hasn't been stolen by the Golden Order. I am the Princess of Silver Millennium and at the same time I am not. Who I am today is Bunny Tsukino and I have been only she for fifteen years and I really don't want to become anyone else. I am not the daughter of Queen, my mother is writer, and I am bad student who became superhero because of some stupid talking cat."

"I would know you anywhere," Endy said fervently.

Bunny shook her head sadly, "You would know Serenity, Endymion, not me."

"But you are Serenity," he said hoping desperately to have her see that her logic was faulty.

"No," she reached up to wipe at her own wet eyes. "Can't you see that I am not her? She is a part my soul, she is what I used to be, but I am not her, I will never be Serenity."

"You are my Princess," Endy caught her small face between his palms and stared intently into her watery eyes. "Why are you fighting our destiny? Don't you know I would do anything for you and your happiness? I love you so much."

"But I don't love you," she cried. "I don't love you, Endymion."

*******

Andrew helped Eiji load the dishwasher; Ilene had retired to her office saying she had just been inspired, therefore leaving the three Senshi and two guardians alone in the living room.

Lita was making herself comfortable with the latest edition of Ilene's historical romance-thriller series. Ami chose a soap opera for her guilty pleasure while Mina had a staring contest with Kris and Troy.

Troy caved and decided to check in with the others. He excused himself and joined Andrew and Eiji. Mina smirked, her glare becoming more than a challenge. She had Kris sweating bullets.

"Mina," Kris tried out the name but it just didn't feel right.

"Kunzite," she said coldly.

"Actually, it's Kristopher," he said with a charming grin. "But you can call me Kris."

"Isn't he the one who almost peed on himself because he laughing at us awhile back?" Lita asked nonchalantly.

Kris had to wonder if it was possible for a beautiful woman's smile to become so shark-like. It was damn near unsettling.

"Well, I wasn't laughing at you, uh, Nike-I mean Lita. I was, hmm, uh, effected by the sight of that giant Furby with claws who was shooting fireballs at, umm, what's Bellona's name?"

"Rei." Ami supplied.

Kris looked perplexed, "Ray?" he asked, "Isn't that kinda of masculine?"

"It's spelled R-E-I," Ami told him. "Not R-A-Y-E."

"What I want to know is why was she prancing about and trying to make poses and speeches in the middle of battle?" Kris asked seriously. "I remember watching you all train back in the Silver Millennium…"

"We did not have our memories," Mina answered him. "We had only Luna's memories to follow and before you comment," she held up one hand to stop his question. "We did not know who Luna was. All we knew was that she had triggers and she told us to find our princess."

"That's not a great deal to work with." Troy said from the doorway.

"It's all we had at the time." Mina told him. "It took our losing Bunny to break free of whatever spell was cast over us and realize…" She was cut off by a slight tug on her heart.

Dropping the remote, Ami was rushing to grab her shoes and get out of the front door. "Bunny needs us," she said as she threw open the door. Mina and Lita were right behind her. Kris and Troy remembered that Endy was with the Princess and were right on their heels. Shouting to Andrew, Kris let him know what going on and told him to call the others.

His pain hung over him like a heavy pall. Bunny watched Endy from her place on the park bench; he stood with his back to her, absently tossing the change from his pockets into the fountain.

Bunny pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms about her legs.

"I'm sorry, Endymion," she said softly. "I'm so very sorry."

"Why?" his voice with thick with raw emotion. "It's not as if I meant anything to you, Serenity." He let out a bitter chuckle, "No, forgive me, I meant Bunny."

She closed her eyes to shut out the sight of him. God it hurt, his despair was choking her. "I don't like cause another person pain," she said helplessly.

"Spare me your pity." He said bitterly.

"I don't pity you, Endymion," She opened her wet eyes and looked at him sadly. "I just don't want you to hurt any more because of me."

"You don't give yourself enough credit." He hurtled the rest of the money into the water and then he turned to face her. "You haven't just hurt me, Serenity, you have destroyed me. With your thoughtless words, you have dashed my dreams, my hopes and the only thing I have ever cared about."

"I'm sorry," she whispered, "I'm so sorry."

"Damn it, Serenity, I don't want your apologies," he burst out. "I want you."

Bunny looked away from him, tears falling rapidly down her face. "I'm sorry." Her voice choked with tears. "I wish there was more I could say, but I don't…I just don't know you, I don't have a relationship with you, not like what you think we have."

He came up short with that remark. "Are you saying that I've imagined what we had?"

"It's in the past, Endymion," she cried. "Our dead past. It doesn't exist anymore. We are two different people from those two who lived thousands of years ago. You are not the same Endymion who was to marry the Princess of Silver Millennium. You can never be him and I can't be Serenity. I am nothing like her; she was graceful, delicate, charming, and not a warrior. I am a warrior, I trip on flat surfaces, I am not half as smart as she was; I… you have some sort of protocol that resembles your former life?"

"I do," he replied.

Bunny nodded, "Well, I don't. Vous comprenez? I am not a princess. I'm not her. You are a prince and I am sure you will be king of this world one day. But it's not the same for me. I am not a princess; I have no desire to be a princess again unless I have to. And right now, I don't have to be one." She heard Ami call her name and she stood up, wiping her eyes. "I have to go."

"Endy." Terran came stomping into the clearing with Erebus on his heels. "Kris called me. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Serenity and I were just talking and-" He turned back towards the bench. "She's gone."

Bunny ran blindly towards the feeling of concern that projected by Ami and the others. They pulled her into an embrace and wasted no time in asking pointless questions with the terrans hiding in the trees. The Senshi teleported their Princess back to her home and the comforting arms of her mother.

Endy did not talk to anyone. When they reached the condo, he just went to his room and closed the door. Erebus followed his master and faithfully guarded his door.

The others filled Terran in on what had happened with Ilene and the others. They did not know what had transpired between Endy and the Lunar Princess and could only guess. The most surprising bit of information was that the Senshi knew where Beryl was hiding. Terran immediately contacted Artemis; they needed a new strategy and a peace offering to the Sailor Senshi and their Queen.

Artemis was suffering from the stinging tongue-lashing he had received from Ilene for not informing her of the Outer Warriors' activities and the fact that they were active and in Tokyo. He told her he only knew of Pluto as being the only active Outer Senshi and he did not know about the World Destroyer. But then he was on his way to Tokyo and everything could wait until he got there.

*******

Chad left the overheated room to fetch another bucket of cool water. He pulled the heavy oaken door closed and rested his tired back against it. Inside the sweltering den, Jonathan Hino was chanting over his granddaughter's bound figure and tearing apart her ego.

Chad went outside and headed to the back of the shrine to the blessed well. He put down his bucket and started to haul up water.

"I've been out here listening for most of the night. What is that old man doing to Bellona?"

Chad whirled about quickly; from out of his robes he pulled a semi automatic, but lowered it when Jamie disentangled himself from the shadows of the nearest group of trees.

"Sir, I did not expect to see you back here. Is the Prince alright?" he asked. He returned the gun to his holster and turned back to his task.

"Yeah, Endy's well, physically. Emotionally, I think he has been struck down." Jamie glanced up at the clear night sky, then back at the temple. Rei's screams had lessened in volume but they were yet to stop. "What is he doing to her?" He asked again.

"He said Lady Bellona has been possessed," Chad told him. He poured the blessed water into his bucket. "He did not explain how she came to be so and he is upset that he did not see it until now. From what I have surmised, another identity was placed over Lady Bellona's which mimicked her in a few aspects, but it was not her true soul or personality."

"Wait a minute." Jamie rubbed at his brow as if that action could clear up his confusion. "I don't understand what you're saying. There is something inside Bella."

"It's attached to her mental self-"

"But it's not a manifestation of Bella's subconscious?" Jamie said as though he had it figured out.

"Someone or something tried create a dominant personality on top of Lady Bellona's that could wreak havoc on the Senshi and destroy their Princess."

"Now you lost me." Jamie told him.

"She was brainwashed," Chad said wearily.

"Naw, it has to be more than that."

"It is."

"Then tell me."

"Sir, I have been trying to, but there is a lot I just don't understand myself." Chad confessed. He bent to retrieve his bucket, "Oh, I was curious, Sir."

"Yes?"

"Did the Lady have short male relatives back on Mars?"

Jamie frowned, "No, all the men of Mars were quite tall, her grandfather was a giant by even today's standards. Why do you ask?"

"It's the old priest, he has the symbol of the Martian Royal House on his brow."

Jamie stared at him and it dawned on him. "He's alive?"

"Who?"

"King Ares." Jamie shook his head, "But the priest, he looks nothing like-I mean he's so short, it not possible, but I think it's the only explanation or Phobos and Deimos would not let him near Bella. Unless-"

"Jamie." Mike leapt over the high garden wall and landed beside his friend. "We have to get moving. Kris just called, Endy's gone."

Endy looked up at where Erebus had led him and felt betrayed by his pet.

"So you want to kick me when I'm down, eh, boy?" He asked the dog.

Erebus whined and pawed at the front gates of the Tsukino house and then he barked.

Endy pulled the five hundred plus pound wolf hound away from the lights and marched across the street with Erebus whining and resisting all the way.

"Damn it," Endy growled, "I wanted to lick my wounds not pour salt in them. What were you thinking anyway, Erebus? Serenity doesn't want to have anything to do with me right now." He leaned back against a tree, folded his arms over his chest and sulked. He glanced down at his faithful companion; the dog was watching him with a look that seemed to ask if his master was giving up.

"No, I will never give up," he said testily. "I just to need to regroup and come up with a different strategy to win my Princess. But I am not giving up."

"I don't love you, Endymion."

He closed his eyes against the memory, to shut away the pain.

"…I don't remember you, Endymion, or what we had together…"

He would make her remember. He would be relentless but he would not stop until she was his once more.

"I would know you anywhere," Endy said fervently.

Bunny smiled sadly. "You would know Serenity, Endymion, not me."

"And that's you," he said desperately.

"No," she reached up to wipe at her own wet eyes. "It's not. She is a part of my soul. She is what I used to be but I am not her, I will never be your Princess."

"It's in the past, Endymion," she cried. "Our dead, dead past. It doesn't exist. We are two different people from the two who lived thousands of years ago. You are not the same Endymion who was to marry the Princess of Silver Millennium. You can never be him and I can't be Serenity. I am nothing like her…"

He would make Serenity see that she was wrong. She was still his Serenity.

"…I'm not her."

"Endy?"

Endy opened his eyes to find Kris standing before him. He tried to give his usual cocky grin, but the overwhelming pain would not be pushed aside so easily.

"She rejected me," he said brokenly.

Kris grabbed him immediately. "God, Endy." He was shocked.

"I can't live without her, Kris. I just can't," he sobbed.

Kris said nothing. He just let his brother cry it out. Each of them had that fear ever since they became men and their memories of the past lives had become more solid. Kris said a prayer to Endy's patron God for his brother. If there was any justice in the universe, Endy would find his way back to his Princess. Hopefully, they all would. It wasn't fair that they lost their soul mates, not this time or ever again.

Remember: NO FLAMES. IF YOU DON'T LIKE THIS, DON'T READ IT.