Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Crow Sailor Moon ❯ The Despiration of Love ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Episode One:
The Desperation of Love
Mamoru
Usagi giggled. We were driving along...I was driving. We were both
laughing, and talking, then suddenly, I jerked the wheel, trying to
avoid--
I awoke sweating from the nightmare, sitting upright and breathing
heavily. I clenched my jaw as I tried to calm myself. I had just had
another nightmare...my love...
I slowly turned and looked at the nightstand. Sitting there was a
picture of my wife, Usagi. My late wife...she had died three nights
ago in a car accident. I had been in the accident as well, but I had
survived...somehow. I can't remember...everything was blurry after
those last fatal moments. I've had nightmares every time I've slept
since, and I haven't eaten, either. I feel like I've lost an integral
part of myself...I'm still in denial. I can't believe that it
happened, why did it have to happen to us? What have we ever done?
I'm sorry. I'm not in a very good thinking mood.
I rolled over, and almost immediately feel back asleep. Nothing
strange about that. What was strange was what followed. I felt myself
asleep--I was conscious, awake in a sense, but my body was asleep,
lying there on the bed. I traveled somewhere...how far and what
direction, I couldn't tell you--but I felt my spirit moving...through
something...
It was like there was a fog over my eyes...I couldn't see more than
ten feet in front of me. Suddenly, I was standing at the end of a
bridge, looking across the long ravine over which it stretched. I
started walking across, then stopped. Walking to meet me
was...Usagi...
I couldn't express the feelings that swept through me when I saw her.
It was so real, not like she had come to meet me in a dream, but like
she had brought me here. She was only a few feet away now...I could
feel my legs shake.
"Us...Usagi," I stuttered, barely able to speak. She stepped up to me,
placing her finger over my lips, and smiling so sweetly, so serenely,
I could feel a flood of emotion wash over me.
"Ssshhhh," she whispered, "let's share this moment quietly..."
She leaned up, removing her finger from my lips, and kissed me softly,
and gently moved back. "Why do you tremble...?" she asked softly, then
placed her arms around my neck, and kissed me again. This time, the
kiss lasted longer.
That's when I suddenly felt...like I was awaking from a dream, coming
out of the dream state. The image of Usagi was fading....
"No....don't...," I whispered.
I was awakening...but I was standing. And when I opened my
eyes...Usagi was there! She was standing with me, her arms still
wrapped around my neck. I fell to my knees, unable to force myself to
stand any longer. She fell with me, fell into my arms. She was gasping
for breath, as if trying to conquer a deep pain of some sort.
I was utterly, completely dazzled. "Usagi...what..."
"No," she whispered, "not now....let's live in the moment..."
She kissed me again. This time, the feeling of reality was there in
all its glory. This was really happening. She wasn't dead. You know
that you're truly awake after you have awakened...and I was awake...
***
I kissed Usagi's forehead. We were lying in our bed, her head cradled
on my chest in a tender motion of love.
"Love," I said gently. "Love...what has happened? What brings you
here?"
She sighed, then sat upright. I followed her motion, and she clasped
my hand. "Mamoru...it was the Crow."
"The Crow?"
She nodded. "The spirit of the afterlife. It came to me, and told me
that we should both protect Tokyo. If we do, than we could live
again."
"But....," I stammered. "But I never died..."
She smiled, and choked back her tears. "No...no, you did die. But you
never realized it."
I could feel my hand slip from hers. "Then why was I made to live
through that pain?!"
She placed her hand on my face, a gentle touch, and softly shook her
hand. "But love, you didn't. The dream you had before coming here was
actual reality."
"Before coming here?"
She nodded. "We're still in the dream world. The dream world shifts to
form what the Crow wants us to see...and feel."
"The Crow?" I asked her softly.
"The Crow," she said, "is the spirit of the Afterlife."
"Then...we..."
She nodded. "Yes. We are both dead, drifting through the dream worlds
created by the Crow."
"But....why..."
She clasped her hand in mine. "The Crow spirit wants us to do a job
for him. He told me that I hold the spirit of the crow of the moon,
and that I must return to Earth to capture and return the other crow
spirits that escaped."
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"You mean...you're one of them?"
She nodded. "One hundred and thirteen of the three-hundred crow
spirits in existance escaped the dream worlds, and now they must be
returned. Thirteen of the most powerful spirits are dormant, like I
was, but now we must be awakened and protect Tokyo from the rest. They
plan to take over people's dreams to capture their energies, starting
here in Tokyo, but if we can bring them back to the dream worlds, then
we can keep humanity on its destined path."
"So...the Crow wants both of us to help?"
She smiled. "I told him I refused to go back without you."
I brushed a few dangling strands of hair from her face, and gently
kissed her lips. "I believe you," I said softly. "Whatever you need me
to do, I will do."
"Very well," she replied, "if you have decided to become a soldier for
the Crow, then you must obey his orders, and allow him to enter your
body."
Anything for you, Usagi...I nodded, and then...
I felt a falling sensation, and then something...something wet,
dripping against my cheek. I opened my eyes...the pain was immense.
There seemed to be a black cloud surrounding me...and it was raining.
I was lying in a puddle, in the middle of the street. It was
definitely night...maybe midnight. I don't know. I didn't have any
conception of where I was, what time it was, or where I needed to go.
But somehow, I was alive...
And I knew that this time...it was real.
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I stood, feeling...not the same...more inhuman...than I was when I
left. I could feel a presence in my body, and that's when I
realized...it was the Crow. I didn't know what he wanted me to do...he
wasn't saying anything, wasn't letting me know anything, just
that...he was present.
I started walking, looking around to try to grasp my bearings. It
wasn't long before I figured out where I was--three city blocks away
from the apartment Usagi and I shared. I headed in that direction,
hoping that she would be there when I made it home.
***
I turned the key in the lock, and stepped inside. "Usagi?" I called
out, hoping she would answer.
"She's not here," said a small voice.
I looked over on the couch. "Rini..."
She jumped down, and walked over to me, looking up into my eyes.
"You're probably wanting to know how I knew you'd be coming back,
right?"
I shook my head in confusion. "What...what do you mean?"
She blinked, looking at me like I was nutts. "Mamo-san, you've been
dead for a year."
Now it was my turn to blink. "Wha...what?" I stammered.
She walked around me, then closed the door to the apartment, which I'd
left open. She grabbed my hand, and lead me over to the couch. "Sit
down," she said. "Traveling around in the Afterworld will leave you
kind of drained."
I shot her a look. "How do you know about that?"
She shrugged. "Usagi visited me earlier. Turns out I have a crow
spirit, too. Spirit of the light. It's my destiny to help you
re-capture the escapee crows and take them back to the Afterworld."
I looked at her solemnly. "Where did Usagi go?"
"Mamoru," she said, placing her tiny hand on my shoulder, "she's
waiting for you, in the Afterworld. Once you've finished your job
here, you can go to her, and the two of you can be together forever."
After saying this, she looked down at her watch, and whistled. "Man, I
need to get going, mom's gonna kill me."
She ran over to the coat-rack, grabbing her raincoat, then turned to
me and smiled.
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"See you later, Mamo-san!"
After she left, I walked around, looking around the apartment and
thinking about everything that had happened. For some reason, the
apartment was exactly like we left it, even though a year had
passed...although it was a bit dusty. I started walking back towards
the bedroom, when suddenly, I looked in a mirror, and saw...him...
"Do dead men sleep?" he said rather mockingly, his voice resonant and
reverberating in my head.
"Am I dead? Is this all just another illusion?"
He laughed. "Mamoru, I am the king of illusion. Nothing is as it
seems."
Suddenly, his image faded away from the mirror, and all I could see
was myself, looking rather shocked.
"And all that is or what may seem
Is but a dream within a dream." Then I heard his laughter, mocking
me--and my ignorance.
Although, granted, he was right--I didn't feel the least bit tired
anymore. So I headed out.
I walked a few city blocks away to a "hotspot" club called Jupiter
Lights. They had a live band playing, and the club itself was
semi-crowded. Must be a weekday night or something. I should have
found out what day it was before I left. I sat down at one of the
tables, at first thinking I'd order a drink, but then realized I
wasn't thirsty, either. I guess there are certain advantages to being
dead.
I sat there for a while, just listening to the band and wondering what
the heck it was that I was supposed to do here. That's when I found
out.
I guess the band was on a break or something. They walked up to my
table, all three of them, and invited themselves to sit down.
One of them, having greyish-white hair and green eyes, looked at me,
and smiled. "It's great to know that there's someone in the world we
can trust on now."
I was confused by what he said. "What?"
"You know," said one of the others, with auburn-colored hair. "We've
been waiting on the Crow to incarnate somehow."
"And here you are," added the third, with black hair. For the first
time, I noticed how...feminine they all looked. I wonder what they
were talking to me about.
"We are the fates," he said, looking at me and smiling. "We only
figured it out just recently."
I shook my head in confusion. "Figured what out just recently?"
The one with the white hair gave an exasperated sigh, then looked up
at the ceiling. "Forget it," he said to his comrades, "he was only
recently incarnated. He doesn't know a thing."
He turned, and walked back towards the stage. The other, with the
auburn hair, followed, while the third turned back to me. "Come back
to us when you have learned a bit more."
I just stared at him, as he turned, and followed his friends. I could
only what was in store for me...and what I had gotten myself into.