Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Every Time I Love You ❯ Three ( Chapter 3 )

Notes: I am surprised to see that my Muse has decided to return after a long few days doing so. I managed to get a small break, but I also knew it would end soon when she relaxed. Anyway, I need to clear up who is who on the Shitennou:

Zane - Zoycite
Theros - Nephrite
Tianyu - Jadeite

Every Time I Love You
By Suseh

Who is she..?

Malik wanted to know. Everything about her seemed to recall a memory long forgotten, yet he did not remember her. If he had, he would have let her go. Yet, the feeling was unshakable. She was everything he had dreamed of. She was tall, and elegant with lemon-blond hair that had been swept up away from her heart-shaped face. Sapphire eyes that glittered with the wisdom of a world long forgotten. And a figure that had been toned and honed into the warrior princess of Venus he knew her to be.

She was the stuff that he dreamed of. A woman who called out to him. Faceless. And yet, all too familiar to him. Yet, he could not remember her. Her silhouette is always outlined by something bright and bright orange against the darkened sky. He could never see her, but she always seemed to beckon him to remember, come to her.

There were moments he thought he had clarity of remembrance, but it seemed to slip from his fingers like sand through a glass. Even the others seemed to have had the same dreams. Different women. Different situations. They had pushed each other to remember, and recall the world before with the hopes of some tangible piece that would give the direction needed. All failed.

Even Theros had been unable to see anything within the stars. He had searched for signs anything that would give them the opened paths to take. Nothing. Everything remained in a haze. Theros was one to never give up his search among the stars, but with no direction or answer from the stars he had seen no further reason to look.

Easing himself from his thoughts, Malik watched the approach of the Curator of the Museum happily stop before him and turned to take the hand of the lovely princess.

“My lord, may I present to you Lady Minako, Princess of Venus,” the Curator introduced and allowed Minako to step forward and into the light.

“A pleasure to meet you, Crown Prince,” Minako remarked reaching out a hand.

“A pleasure is all mine,” Malik purred taking her hand and placing a kiss upon her knuckle.

“Her Highness has inquired about the sword,” the Curator reminded him. “Since I did not have the information she required, I had hoped you would come to the gala and offer any further information on the sword.”

“Of course,” Malik gestured to the table in the corner, “would you like to join me so that we may talk?”

Minako looked over at Artemis, who raised his hands and stepped back.

“I’m going to enjoy the gala,” Artemis stated and looked around to find something that could entertain him enough for Minako to get the information. “Enjoy!” Artemis waved taking the Curator with him and melted into the crowd.

Minako narrowed her eyes at the retreating figure of her companion. She would make that cat pay when they returned back to the Crystal Palace. For now, she would need to charm the Crown Prince for the sword’s past.

“Lead the way,” Minako gestured to the Crown Prince to lead the way. It was a small corner quite out of the way of the crowd and had muffled the music down just a bit for conversation to flow. It was a place where Minako saw an opportunity for a casual conversation and perhaps – perhaps, what? Minako was not sure what she was expecting from him, from her, or from this entire conversation that would come.

Malik pulled out a chair and she took a seat as he took the one opposite of her.

“To what do I owe to the Princess of Venus?” Malik inquired curiously.

“Your sword,” she replied.

A slender brow rose upward and a smirk slithered itself on the corners of his mouth. “My sword or would it be the family heirloom you are inquiring about?”

Minako realized her mistake and blushed furiously. “I meant the family heirloom. The sword – my King seems to believe there is something almost familiar about it. He wishes to know more about the heirloom and the former owner of it.”

“The sword has been in my family for centuries,” Malik stated. “It goes back as far as I am aware of. I believe the last real wielder of the sword belonged to a long-forgotten ancestor. From what I know from past records, my ancestral line is the only one who has been able to wield that sword. Many have tried to use it for their own gains but have been met with either horrible fate or have gone insane from visions.”

“Visions?” This seemed to pique her interest.

“Yes,” he nodded his head. “From the records we have, some of them spoke of fire and destruction. Of a world crumbled and destroyed. Bodies littering the planet and some sort of shadow laying over the planet.”

Something about this sounded familiar to Minako. She furrowed her brows and tried to summon some form of memory that would offer some form of truth to his words, but the past had always been surrounded by mist.

“What about the wielders of your bloodline?” She pressed.

“I don’t know,” he supplied with a slight shake of the head. “Most of the records have been lost to time but the ones we have are mostly of enemies who have gone insane upon touching or daring to master the sword. I have picked up the sword but once.”

Minako sat up straight. She was interested in his collection of memories. “What happened?”

“Small visions as if I were living the life of the previous wielder. Lush beauty everywhere. A beautiful palace rising above the lands and a figure dressed in black armor with a cape. That is all I see.”

Minako’s eyes widened. The armored figure – could it be Endymion? Perhaps past Endymion? Or maybe another, lesser prince from Earth? Minako was not quite sure. It could be anyone and without any solid proof that this sword belonged to one of the Heavenly Kings then it was mere speculation.

“I see you were hoping for more information,” he stated seeing the look on her face.

“I suppose I was,” she admitted. “There is someone who feels that the sword belonged to someone he once knew which is why I am here. I was hoping to be able to piece together enough information that could be given to him in a report, but there is so much of the history missing that it would be impossible to pinpoint exactly what era the sword came into play.”

“I see,” he said somewhat suspicious as to why this sword was the focus of the Princess of Venus’s attention. It did not make sense to him that she would hold any interest in it. After all, she had centuries of honing her craft to be bothered by just a sword.

Malik wondered if there was something more that she was not saying. She had just said that there was someone she knew who felt the sword belonged to another. But who was that? The sword had belonged to his bloodline. It went far to the first ancestor who had built his family’s empire, but even now the ancestor was nothing more than a legendary figure with no story of his life or his fate. It was gone from the records. It seemed that the ancestors that had followed had either erased him or her from the record or that ancestor had been killed off by the next in line.

“Does the person who is asking about the sword know anything further that could help us look for more on the first owner?” He asked.

Minako shook her head. “That is it – the person does not have all his memories from the very past only glimpses of it. I know this is not enough but I had been hoping you would have the puzzle pieces that would help him.”

“Would you be interested in returning with me to my country?”

It was spontaneous.

And very unexpected.

The whole thing had caught Minako by surprise. She had not expected to be invited back to his country, especially when she had only come to gain information. And yet, she could not say no. A part of her had been quietly feeling there was something that drew her to him. It was as if he were some flame and she was the moth. At first, she had waved it off believing that any attraction she may have had been simply from her Venusian bloodline, but it was not that.

It was there. Something wanted to ignite between them and both seemed to be trying not to fan the flame. Minako knew that she was inviting trouble if she were to take his offer, but she had to go. Had to find out the truth about the sword and give Endymion the peace he had been looking for.

“I would love to,” she said breathlessly.

Minako’s return from the gala had been welcoming. Her body had ached sitting at the table with Malik for the entire night. The two of them discuss the sword among other things. She had not even known for sure how exactly sword talk went to the invitation to his home country. She had not even given it thought before she told him she would most certainly love to.

In hindsight, she should have taken the time to consider the offer. She was going to another country far away from Tokyo and although she had her Senshi abilities, she could not use them without repercussions. Any incident she could create would automatically cause problems with relations between the two countries. Minako did not want any sort of incident to occur.

Perhaps, she should decline the offer, she considered.

And though the thought had danced in her head, Artemis had been the one to tell her that the invitation had been one of the best things she could ever gain. A chance that could open doors to all of them having memories of the Silver Millennium.

Minako had nearly throttled Artemis. It was enough her beloved companion had thrown her to the wolves, but to suggest she go was mutiny.

Touching her temples lightly, she tried to stave off a headache. If it had not been to report her findings to the royals, she would have gone to her rooms for a long-needed sleep. Sleep, however, would have probably been the last thing she would do. As it was, she had been trying to decide when she thought Malik Hussein had been handsome with his long flowing silver hair to his piercing silver eyes. Everything about him had caused something within her to awaken. Something within her wanted to spend her time with him and even sent a thrill through her body of the proximity they would have together.

Minako had tried to wave off these feelings while in his company but it had been hard. There was an ache in her heart that had never gone away. She had felt it during her years as Sailor V. None of them belonged to Alan. She did have a crush on him during her time in London, but she also knew that none would ever come from it. It had never meant to be and Minako often wondered if it was really a crush at all. Maybe it had been, but nothing would ever come from it, and maybe that had been the sign for her to realize she may not have actually loved him at all.

Pushing away her thoughts to the back of her mind, Minako paused lifting her hand and knocking softly on the large double white doors.

“Come in,” Selenity’s muffled voice came through.

Minako opened the door and stepped into the room. Selenity had been standing over her husband talking softly over the electronic tablet. She pointed out something and Endymion seemed to be nodding in agreement.

“Mina!” Selenity exclaimed happy to see her Senshi leader.

Minako gave a formal bow to both sovereigns. “Good morning to you both.”

“I wish you would stop being so formal when you come in as Sailor Venus.” Selenity frowned.

“I came to give a small report,” she replied giving Selenity an apologetic smile. “You know I have to be as formal as the other Senshi that formality is needed when it comes to reports.”

Selenity sighed knowing Minako was correct in her assessment.

“What did you learn?” Endymion inquired changing the subject back toward Minako’s appearance in their private quarters.

“I did meet the Crown Prince,” Minako began, “but the information on the sword has very little information as to its previous owner. He went on to say that much of the sword’s past had been lost to time, but he did say that only members of his bloodline are the only ones who may wield the sword. Those who are not part of the bloodline have gone insane when they touch it. But there was something he did say about his bloodline being able to touch it.”

Endymion’s interest seemed to pique immediately. “And that is?”

“He said that when he touched it, he had visions of another life,” Minako stated. “Visions of a past through the eyes of the original owner, at least to my belief. To quote him, ‘Lush beauty everywhere. A castle rising over the land and a figure dressed in black armor’.”

Endymion half-rose with his gloved hands gripping the large desk tightly. His heart had skipped several beats. Could it be..? Or was he just hoping too much that the sword had once belonged to one of his Shitennou..? This sounded promising to him and yet he could not get too wrapped up in his hope. This could easily be nothing more than a red herring and they would be back to square one in their search for them.

“Endy?” Selenity’s sweet voice wafted through his thoughts bringing him back to the present.

“I am fine,” he assured her before turning his gaze back to Minako. He could see her fidgeting and this was not a normal occurrence. She was usually stoic and to the point in her reports but there was something she seemed to be hiding in this meeting. “Is there anything more?”

Minako bit her lip, wrestling with herself to tell him about the invitation. She did not want Selenity to start teasing her as she often did whenever someone showed an interest in her.

It was at this moment that her dread set in as a light went off in Selenity’s head and a sly smile tugged on the corners of her mouth. Minako wanted to run away. She did not want to say what Selenity seemed to be thinking. Whenever she was involved, there was always trouble to come with it.

“I was invited to come to his country,” Minako murmured hoping it would suffice enough for Endymion to have heard.

But it was Selenity who smiled like the devil. It was Selenity who put her hand to her ear and spoke, “Come again? What was that, Mina-chan? We could not hear you.”

Minako’s eye twitched and her hands clutched at her side. A mantra of “I can’t throttle her” played itself over in her head.

“I said,” Minako replied through clutched teeth and a glare in the direction of her best friend and sovereign, “I was invited to come to his country.”

Selenity squealed and Endymion just looked surprised by her admission. The young queen rushed over and hugged her friend.

“I always worried that you took your duties too seriously to find someone,” Selenity replied gleefully. “I think this trip would be wonderful for you. Just think of it as meeting the family sort of thing.”

“Usa,” Minako whined wishing more than anything for the floor to open up and swallow her whole. “It is not what you think!”

“I think it would be a marvelous idea,” Endymion remarked breaking into their conversation.

Minako turned her gaze toward her king and glared even more at him, only to have him shrug as if it were out of his hands. This was clearly mutiny.

“When do you leave?” Selenity asked.

“I am not sure,” Minako admitted. “I have to call him.”

Another squeal from Selenity as she pushed Minako out of her arms and over to Endymion’s desk. Minako knew this was not going to end until she confirmed with him the date of departure.

And it did not seem that she was going to be free of Selenity until she had done so.

Watching the three of them settle on the couch made Malik nearly uncomfortable. He had wished he had never told them of meeting the Venusian Princess nor that she would come along with him to his home country hoping to find answers to the sword’s origin.

“I cannot believe,” Zane began clearly loving this, “you managed to snag a princess – the Venusian Princess at that. I never expected that our stoic leader could be capable of any emotion. I am surprised the world has yet to come to an end.”

“Now now,” Tianyu scolded playfully, “we all know that our leader is still a vir – ack!”

It had been at this moment that Malik had grabbed the nearest couch pillow and thrown it straight into Tianyu’s face. “I don’t need you speaking on behalf of my private life,” Malik hissed.

“So you are a virgin,” Theros deadpanned.

Malik could feel the onslaught of a migraine oncoming. He had not expected that this conversation had spiraled out of control especially with Zane and Tianyu using it to take shots at him.

“I don’t believe our fearless leader is a virgin,” Tianyu replied once he tossed the pillow back to its place. “He couldn’t be especially with that harem his brothers have. I am sure one of those was able to peel back the layers of ice and manage to make him lose his cool long enough for him to lose his virginity.”

“I am surprised that there was anyone that could remove the stick from his ass,” Zane stated factually.

Another round of laughter filled the room.

“Are we done laughing at my expense?” Malik inquired glaring at each other them.

“Yes, yes,” Theros waved his hand back to the topic at hand.

“Do you think this endeavor might be able to help us?” Zane asked tapping his chin.

“I can only hope it will,” Malik stated hoping that he had made the right decision of inviting the Venusian Princess.

“All jokes aside,” Theros brushed off the fun and games to become serious, “you said that you felt something – a connection. Did it give you any sort of vision?”

“Malik sighed unsure of how to answer the question. Instead, he replied, “It was like I knew her and yet I did not. I felt something I have never felt. I cannot explain it. It is like my soul found its other half. Like being in her presence had felt like home. Yet, I could not understand any of it. Even the more I stayed in presence, the feeling became strong to the point I wanted -”

The words trailed off and the other three understood where this was going. Perhaps, they all hoped, that this was right – that the Venusian Princess was their key to learning of their past and Malik was the lock that needed to open for them.