Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Guardian of Love: The Origins ❯ Midnight Eyes ( Chapter 24 )

Guardian of Love

The Origins

Chapter 24 - Midnight Eyes

By Angel Love

 

Author's Notes: This chapter happens right before the Sailor Starlights make their appearance in the last season of Sailor Moon.

 

Warnings: Um, none that I am aware of.

 

Standard disclaimers apply. I don't own Sailor Moon, the Greek Gods or any of the various characters that I have used to fashion them after. However, the Guardians are mine. Please ask me before you use them, you can email me at bree101_nace@hotmail.com

 

 

Things were never quite the same between Hades and me after that day that I spent with him. There wasn't a tension that I somehow expected to occur between us, but more of an awareness, and a closeness. I guess it was because we understood each other better and he had helped me discover quite a few things about myself that I had never known, and perhaps I had helped him as well. It was a noticeable difference because both Rose and Eros commented on it, but for some reason neither Hades nor I told anyone else what had, or had not happened. It was better left as something shared between him and me anyways.

 

It was one day that Eros was watching Hades and I sorting through what Hades called “a box of trinkets”, which actually turned out to be an array of small knives decorated in some form or another with jewels and precious metals, that Chesna came hurrying in the room. “Angel! You've got to do something!”

 

I blinked slowly up at her before I saw Vega walking silently in behind his sister. The looks on both of their faces was enough for me to mentally call to Rose to come as soon as she was done with Brenna in the training room. “What's happened now?”

 

Chesna rushed over to me, nearly bowling Eros over in the process, and grabbed onto my hands. “I just had the most horrible vision of that Golden Senshi destroying Vega's senshi one by one. Their deaths were so awful, Angel! You can't allow it to happen.”

 

I spared a glance at Vega, noting that he would not look at me but at the large box at my feet. I looked back at Chesna, trying to give her the most soothing look that I could manage even as my heart began to twist inside my chest. “You know I cannot do anything, Ches. Hera has made it perfectly clear that she will not tolerate us stepping in again.”

 

She shook her head, her large blue eyes full of tears that didn't fall. “Angel, you just don't understand. If you saw the vision you… you couldn't stay here.” She grabbed my hands again when I sighed and tried to pull away from her to hide the way the pain was twisting me inside. “Angel, you and Rose are the only ones who can do this. You are their only chance to survive.”

 

I bit my lip and looked at Vega, and again he refused to look at me. I took in the way his hands were clenched tightly and the tension in his body. He was upset, it was obvious. He was also worried, which wasn't something that I saw often. Chesna was right. I couldn't just sit here. I didn't want to face Hera again, especially after the punishment that I had gotten from my near-challenge of Rosely. I bit my lip a little harder and then slowly turned to look at Hades and then Eros.

 

Eros shook his head slowly at me. “We cannot tell you what to do, Angel, but I have never known you to not do something when you have the opportunity to do it.”

 

There was something in the look in his eyes that gave me hope. I had an opportunity. My eyes widened a little and I turned to look at Vega. “Where is Rosely today?”

 

He still did not look at me but he answered me as he reached down and fingered a rather large topaz embedded in the handle of a breast dagger. “She is with Hera and Zeus. She will be behind closed doors all day.”

 

A slow smile spread across my lips as I met Eros' eyes again and I saw the glimmer in his emerald eyes before Rose moved into the room as if she were stepping right out of the shadows of the door. “That will give us plenty of time to go, but not enough to rescue all four of the senshi. We would also have a slight problem in hiding them from view.”

 

I nodded my head and chewed on my lip again. “Elusion is still in too fragile of a condition to try to hide anyone in as well.”

 

Chesna's eyes bounced back and forth between Rose and me, nearly dancing on her feet in her anxiousness. “There has to be a way. Angel, these senshi aren't going to give up. They are going to go out fighting.”

 

For some reason that thought caused me pain deep inside my chest and I couldn't help but rub it as my brows furrowed. I felt Eros place his hand on my shoulder and I looked up at him. He shook his head but gave me a soft look, keeping his hand there. I sighed softly and laid my hand over his and then looked at Hades. “Is there anything that you can do?”

 

He shook his head. “If nothing is done then they will die as Chesna has seen. You only have one chance to save them all and that is to save their princess.” I knew without asking him that he was willing to help us with hiding the princess. I could see the promise in his eyes and I gave him a grateful smile.

 

Rose frowned just a little before she nodded her head slowly. “I can see the possibility of getting them to go to Earth. We will have to go now though.” As I gave my sign of acknowledgement, both of us transformed into our Guardian forms, flexing our wings out as we prepared to once more try to turn the odds in our favor instead of Galaxia's. My twin swept her eyes around the room to everyone there. “We will trust you all to be ready when we return.” Without another word from her she swept her staff through the air, opening the Gates of Time.

 

Eros reached out and placed his hand on my shoulder once more and I reached up and squeezed it as I turned to meet his emerald eyes. “I promise that I'll be careful,” I said softly, already knowing that this was his way of telling me to do just that.

 

However instead of smiling and releasing me, he clenched his hand just a little. “See that you do, Angel. I do not expect that this will be easy for you.” He then gently caressed my face with his fingers before he turned and walked away, making me blink in confusion and glance at Hades for an explanation. If I had been expecting one, I was disappointed, because he only just confused me more with the way he just gazed back at me with a look that almost reflected sadness before he too turned away and followed the path out of my chambers. Shaking my head, I put the odd behavior of my two God friends out of my mind for the moment and turned to join Rose at the Gates, just to be stopped by Vega.

 

He grabbed my hand and slowly pulled me to him, gazing down at me for such a long moment that I heard Rose clear her throat impatiently. Finally he spoke softly, “Do not sacrifice yourself for my senshi. You may think that it is worth it, but it won't be to the ones here you leave behind. Just do what you need to do and come back here.”

 

I stared at Vega for a moment before I shook my head. “I will do anything within my power to make sure that your senshi are given the best chances of survival, just like I would do with anyone else, senshi or otherwise, Vega.” When he opened his mouth to argue with me I held up a finger to silence him. “I'm not planning on dying again any time soon. Do not worry; I will be as careful as I can be.”

 

Vega studied my face before he nodded his head and then surprised me by leaning down and kissing my cheek softly and whispering in my ear, “Do not look into her eyes.” Then he swept away from me and quickly moved out of my chambers, taking Chesna with him.

 

I turned to look at Rose, who had a guarded look in her eyes as she stared at the closed door, before she turned to look at me. “Do not worry yourself with his warnings. He has his own reasons and not your heart in his mind.” She held out her hand for me. “Come, Trista is waiting for us. She is eager to be back in the action of things again since her `death'.”

 

I felt the twist inside me that I had the first time I had learned of Trista giving up her life when she stopped time. Hades had stepped in then too, but right now was not the time for me to dwell on what happened in the past when I had to keep my mind concentrated on what I was about to face. I took Rose's hand and together we stepped into the Gates of Time, instantly transported to the destination that our minds had asked it to take us. When the Gates opened we were no longer in the place of beauty that was known as Olympus but in a desolate, burning hot planet that looked as if it were about to explode at any moment.

 

I knew this place had once been a wondrously beautiful planet and it hurt inside to know that it may never be that way again. Both of us had our staves out and ready, looking around for any sign of an enemy or even of the Sailor Starlights. I frowned a little. “I thought Trista was going to join us.”

 

Rose shrugged as we carefully moved around some debris. “Perhaps she was just a little delayed. She will be here.” She held up her staff, which was glowing just enough to illuminate the area around her but nothing more. “I am wondering just where those senshi are. We do not have the time to search the whole planet to find them.”

 

I shook my head and sighed deeply. “I do not know, but I wish that Vega had been helpful enough to tell us.” I closed my eyes for a moment, trying hard to sense any sort of feeling of pain and despair, knowing that would likely come from the direction that I wanted. I clenched my staff in front of me, almost seeing the heart stone through my closed eyes as I searched, then all of a sudden I saw a flash of the image of midnight blue eyes and I gasped.

 

Rose grabbed onto my arm, staring into my eyes with her concerned black orbs. “Angel, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost or something.”

 

I shook my head slowly to clear my thoughts before I looked at her and whispered, “He's here. I felt him.” Then without answering her questions on who I was talking about, I took off in the opposite direction of the way we were heading, beating my wings hard until I finally lifted off the ground and taking flight, forcing her to do the same and follow me.

 

I don't know why I was determined to find him now, when I knew I had a job to do but my heart could not allow me to do anything else. If he was here, then he was in danger. I had to save him and then I would save Princess Kakyuu. I sensed the attack seconds before it was sent directly at me, giving me the chance to pull myself back and avoid the attack. I looked down to see Sailor Iron Mouse glaring darkly up at me.

 

“You are invading a private party,” the tiny, white-haired senshi sneered at me just before she put her wrists together and sent two more orbs of magical energy at me from her gold bracelets.

 

Destiny shot in front of me and pulled out her shield, destroying the orbs before both of us shot towards the ground, landing gracefully on our feet, our staves ready for combat. Sailor Iron Mouse glanced from my sister and I as the ground rumbled at our feet. “We do hate to disturb a party, but I'm afraid that we just don't like all the noise you are making,” I said, allowing the electricity to dance up and down my staff.

 

“It makes it so hard to sleep peacefully,” Destiny added, sending me a slight smirk when I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye. Then she spun her staff above her body and gathered the wind around her, causing her hair to dance wildly around her. “Moerae,” she brought her staff around the front of her and sent out the golden wave that her energy had formed, “SQUALL!”

 

As Sailor Iron Mouse went sliding back a few feet, her arms crossed in front of her to block her face, I spoke mentally to Rose. `Can you handle her on your own for now?'

 

She brought her staff back over her head, already preparing for another attack as she answered me. `Yes, go find him. Where he is, you'll find the princess. I'll be along right after I render the mouse here unconscious.'

 

I nodded my head once, pausing only long enough to tell Rose to stay careful, and then I began running across the ground, knowing that I was so close to my goal. I could feel him as if he were burning inside me, calling me to him. I stopped short at the edge of a cliff. I searched the area underneath me, seeing the ruins of a building. I could see Sailor Aluminum Siren and Sailor Lead Crow fighting two of the Sailor Starlights, while the third one was trying to attend to an injured senshi whom I knew to be Sailor Fireball, or the princess that we were here to take with us. They all looked pretty badly beaten up. I felt a twisting in my heart. If they were this way, how would a mere mortal look like? Where was he?

 

I closed my eyes and pulled myself together. I was a Guardian. I was here to do a job. I couldn't allow myself to become distracted like this. I would just have to trust in the Fates for once that they would not have allowed me to come this close to him and take him away without giving me the chance to at least see him, speak to him.

 

When I opened my eyes again I was once again focused. I swept my eyes back over the situation. With one arrow aimed directly at the base of the pillar just in front of Sailor Star Fighter I could cause a domino affect, temporarily trapping Sailor Lead Crow inside, leaving me only to deal with Aluminum Siren. “Eros' rage,” I whispered, the fire ran down my fingers, forming the arrow and I pulled on my staff as it formed the bow for me. I closed one eye and aimed carefully then let the flaming arrow fly.

 

The arrow flew through the air, over Sailor Star Healer's head, startling her slightly and then hit the pillar. Unfortunately my plan did not quite work the way I had planned because Siren had seen the arrow coming and pushed Lead Crow out of the way, putting her in the line of fire. Instead of trapping her though, she was hit with several large boulders and she lay, seemingly unconscious on the ground. “Let's hope I didn't kill her,” I muttered under my breath as I took flight and headed to the battle.

 

I landed right between the two startled and wary Starlights, but I didn't dare look at either of them because Lead Crow was looking mighty upset. Instead I spoke softly, quietly to them both. “Do not worry; I'm here to help your princess.”

 

Fighter nodded her head once but Healer continued to stare at me for a moment, even as Lead Crow's pretty face screwed up into a dark scowl. “Just who do you think you are?”

 

I narrowed my hazel eyes at her, giving her my full attention even as the heart on my staff began to glow brightly. “Someone who's here to make your day a really bad one,” I said in a light tone voice.

 

She snapped her whip out at me, making Fighter and myself jump back as the earth where we were standing suddenly exploded. “Really? I highly doubt that a blonde bimbo like yourself can do something like that.”

 

I could barely contain the urge to flip my hair and snap my tongue like I had gum in my mouth. “Gee, then I will try so hard not to break a nail while I kick your sorry behind.” I felt the electric sparks in my eyes as I yelled out my attack, and the stone on my staff flared to life before I shot five electric discs towards Lead Crow.

 

Her staff cracked out striking four of the five discs and she jumped up, just barely avoiding getting hit with the fifth one. She narrowed her crimson eyes at me even more and then she sent her whip out at me. I misjudged her intentions as I threw my staff in front of me, giving her exactly what she wanted and her staff wrapped around the center of Eros and she jerked it towards her.

 

My staff sparked angrily as I gripped it, trying to hang onto it. It sent sparks out at both Fighter and Healer, making both dodge away from me and drawing my attention away just long enough for me to loose my grip and it went flying over to Lead Crow. She tried to grab it but it burned her threw her gloves and she threw it away from herself where it hit the ground several feet away and rolled halfway under some debris. She smirked at me as my eyes turned back to her. “How will you fight me now?”

 

Before I could respond to her, Fighter jumped in front of me, lifted her hand in the air and called out, “Star serious laser!” A ring of stars appeared around her, she flipped her hand up and it formed one large beam of light which she shot just behind Lead Crow, bringing the rubble down around her, trapping her as I had intended to do when I first arrived.

 

I blinked slowly when Healer immediately grabbed my arm and jerked me to look at her, her jade eyes flashed dangerously. “Who are you and why are you here?”

 

To further add to my surprise, Fighter pulled Healer off of me and glared down at her fellow senshi. “You don't need to treat her like that. She obviously came to help.”

 

“It looked like it was you who helped her, Fighter,” Healer sneered, sending another glare in my direction.

 

“I think you are a little ungrateful for her help,” a new voice said, one that soothed me right away. We all turned to see Sailor Destiny kneeling down next to the badly injured princess, checking her over carefully. Her black eyes softened when they met mine before she focused down at Sailor Fireball. “Hello Princess Kakyuu, we are here to help you.”

 

Kakyuu looked directly at me as she nodded her head slowly. “I have been expecting you.” Her eyes lit briefly on each of her senshi, lingering for a moment on Fighter before they returned to me. “I did not expect you to arrive so late though.”

 

I knelt down on one knee by her next to Sailor Star Maker, making her frown at little at me as I took her princess' hand gently into my own. “I am sorry for that, we...”

 

My words were cut off as a low rumbling was heard and all of us swung around to stare at the debris behind us, watching with wide eyes as it shook and then blew apart. Standing there panting, was a very ticked off Sailor Lead Crow, and rising to her feet was an equally unhappy looking Aluminum Siren. I took a quick glance at Sailor Destiny, speaking to her mentally. `Take care of the details with the princess. I'll buy us some time.'

 

She nodded once to me as each of the Sailor Stars and I stood up to face the enemy once more. Fighter glanced sideways at me, concern evident in her voice. “How will you be able to fight without your staff?”

 

I shot her a smile and winked at her. “Oh don't worry about that. I'm perfectly capable without it.” To prove my point, I brought my fingertips to my lips and kissed them. Suddenly a golden chain of hearts shot out from them and I whipped them around like a whip at just the same time that Lead Crow had snapped out her own whip, causing the two to hit each other and set off a large explosion between them.

 

The battle that occurred after that was really all a blur to me. Somehow Sailor Iron Mouse had shown up again, attacking Sailor Star Maker and Healer, forcing Sailor Star Fighter and I to team up against Sailor Lead Crow and Aluminum Siren. We managed to work ourselves over to where my staff lay some two feet away from us, but I had been unable to leave Fighter's side to grab it. She tried desperately to give me cover but it just couldn't happen. I knew the only way that I would be able to retrieve it would be to use my ki in order to call it to me.

 

She seemed to know that I was planning something because she nodded her head once to me and brought up her hand to form her attack. I closed my eyes and focused my mind on my staff, holding my hand out to it. Just as I felt it respond to my call, I felt a shift in the energy around me. There was a new enemy that had just arrived.

 

My eyes flashed open just in time to see the attack heading straight for Fighter's blind side. Without a thought, I grabbed her arm and pulled her to me, turning my back to the attack and wrapping my wings tightly around her. I took the full force of the attack in my back and it sent both of us into the ground, ripping at my feathers as my wings protected Fighter's back. Two more attacks hit us full force, ripping through me, making me scream in agony but I didn't give up my protective hold on the senshi underneath me. I knew she had to feel the attacks as well, I did hear her small cry of pain through my own, but at least she was spared from most of it.

 

I prepared myself for more, but for some reason it didn't come, instead I heard a soft voice. “Are you okay?”

 

My eyes opened slowly and for the first time I fully looked into Sailor Star Fighter's eyes. I gasped softly and stared into them. It had been so long since I had seen them; I almost couldn't believe that they were real. “Goddess,” I whispered.

 

She blinked slowly at me before slowly her midnight eyes seemed to dawn the realization that I had. Her gloved hand slowly moved up to brush my messy golden curls out of my face so her eyes could study me, almost as if she had to make sure she was seeing things right. She gradually moved from underneath me, helping me to sit up in front of her as we stared into each other's eyes. It was a long moment before she spoke in a voice that was barely above a whisper. “You are the angel that has been haunting my dreams.”

 

I nodded my head slowly, wincing a little at the pain that it caused. “And you have haunted more than just mine,” I said, slowly reaching up my hand just for her to grab it in her gloved hand and hold onto it. “I've waited...”

 

Just then Sailor Pluto wrapped an arm firmly around me, startling me as we both looked at her. Her face was anxious as she looked from me and Sailor Star Fighter. “Angel, we have to go. Now.”

 

It was like someone had just forced reality upon on us both. The fighting was still going on around us, and it was obvious that the planet was in its last moments. I also noticed in a flash that Sailor Destiny and Princess Kakyuu were no longer there. I quickly looked back at Fighter just as she turned her eyes back to mine. Urgently I squeezed her hand and whispered, “Follow the trail of the butterflies to the planet Earth.”

 

Fighter blinked in confusion at me, standing up as Sailor Pluto pulled me up from the ground. She didn't seem to want to let go of my hand. “What?”

 

I felt the tears fill my eyes as I pulled my hand from hers to grip her arm, leaning towards her on very unsteady legs, my eyes still locked on hers. “Please, just do it.” She nodded slightly and we got close enough that our noses gently brushed each other's before suddenly Sailor Pluto was pulling me away with a whispered apology. We were through the Gates of Time before I even had time to glance backwards.

 

We stepped into the hall right in front of my chambers, and she stood there for a long moment staring at me as she supported me. I stared down at the ground for a long moment before my eyes turned up to hers. I could see the sympathy in her eyes and I knew that she had known all along that this was going to happen and there was nothing that I or she could have done to change it. I closed my eyes and clenched my teeth at both the pain in my heart and in my body.

 

“Angel, I'm so sorry. I wish I knew what to say to make this better,” Trista said in a soft voice. “I think we should get you patched up. You're hurt rather severely.”

 

I just closed my eyes tighter, trying to fight the tears that wanted to come. “Goddess, the Fates are crueler that I ever imagined. The one who would mean everything, I am not allowed to do a damn thing for.”

 

Footsteps came hurrying down the hall, making me draw my head up slowly to see Vega coming towards us with a concerned expression in his black eyes. “Angel, are you alright?” He took one look at the blood sliding down my sides and legs to pool onto the ground before he looked into my eyes. “You're hurt.”

 

A single tear slipped down my cheek as I stared up at Vega, whispering, “No, I'm not alright.”

 

To my surprise, his jaw tightened quite visibly and his eyes hardened a little. “I told you not to look into her eyes.”

 

My mouth dropped open and I felt a wave of something sweep through me. I don't know what it was; it could have been anger, despair or just a moment of insanity. It caused me to push away from Trista's supporting embrace to punch Vega's chest twice. “You knew?! Why didn't you tell me?”

 

The pain of my body overwhelmed me and suddenly the whole world was going black and I felt as if the floor was giving out from underneath me. Just before the darkness completely took me, I felt Vega's arms surround me and his voice in my head. “I couldn't tell you. I couldn't let you love her.”

 

To be continued...