Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Hearts in time ❯ Doubts and Darkness ( Chapter 13 )

Hearts in Time part 13: Doubts and Darkness
By
Lance the Flamesniper

Wraith Wills sat staring into the roaring fire that had been built to end this little beach party, though he severely doubted that most beach parties included youma attacks. Sitting quietly next to him was his lovely would be girlfriend Mina. However, even with her at his side something was gnawing at his mind. Just a little more than a year ago he'd been a normal teen, or at least as normal as a person who is trained in the use of a whip can be. He'd gone to classes, hung out in the student lounges, did all the things a normal student did. Then he met Lance Jayd.

Wraith frowned. From day one, the man from the mountainous part of Ohio seemed a little odd. For one, he never seemed to worry, ever. Not about tests, not about his dating problems; nothing ever fazed him. Even when he came to his two best friends with disturbing dreams about fighting in some by-gone war and of this strange green haired woman it didn't seem to bother him, though he did seem frustrated when his family sent him to a shrink to have the problem dealt with. Of course after that Lance got a little weirder, searching out the answers to questions he didn't have was how he'd put it. A little more than a week ago he'd found his answers.

Now Wraith felt like he'd fallen through a rabbit hole, or walked through a looking glass into a world where his sanity seemed to have taken a vacation. In this world Lance lived, no thrived very easily. Katana and martial arts skills on hand as well as blessed with power from who knows who, he faced down monsters for the sake of his beloved, this world and because the damn things were trying to kill him. Still, despite the danger he didn't seem to care too much save for where the whole Sailor Pluto/Setsuna Meioh/Lance Jayd love triangle was concerned.

From what he'd seen of the two lovely ladies Lance was torn between, he could understand his friend’s plight. Setsuna Meioh seemed to be this beautiful, elegant woman, a class act to steal an old phrase. From the look in her eyes, though, she also seemed to be quite alone sometimes.

Sailor Pluto on the other hand was equally beautiful as well as quite powerful, if that mattered to his friend. Also many a time in the recent past Wraith had seen Lance and Sailor Pluto battle together with spectacular results. Results that didn't make one damn bit of sense. Results that spoke of two people who'd spent years perfecting their teamwork. It was mystery to be sure. The only problem was that Wraith wasn't Sherlock Holmes, Matt was not Watson and this certainly wasn't 'Elementary'.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Mina chimed in seeing how serious Wraith's face was getting.

"Nothing to worry about darlin'. I'm just wondering what Lance and Setsuna are up to. They've been gone a while," Wraith lied. The last thing he needed to know was what those two might be up to. In fact images of that would likely keep him awake at night just from surrealness of them.

"Don't worry Wraith. I'm sure that Setsuna will take good care of your friend. Heck I almost envy her for finding someone who loves her as much as your friend does," Mina replied.

Yes and that's what worries me most. Wraith thought blithely. Between his strokes and these Youmas he's likely to die in this world. But he's not thinking like that. In fact he's not thinkin' at all!

Just then Lance and Setsuna returned to the group. Wraith noticed some things others didn't however. First thing was that Amara was missing from the group, though he didn't know what the significance of that was. The second was a collection of bruises on Lance's forearms. Bruises that he didn't have when he left. Immediately Wraith's opinion of Setsuna dropped as his mind took him immediately to the wrong conclusions.

*******

Lance winced as he saw Wraith look at his forearms then glare at Setsuna. He couldn't possibly think that Setsuna had done that to him, could he? "Didn't your mother ever tell you not to make faces like that Wraith?"

"Yes, but my mother also said that only a fool stays with someone who hurts them," Wraith growled pointedly.

"And I'm not foolish enough to beat a man who I care about," Setsuna replied her eyes hardening into magenta ice.

"Then where did the bruises come from?" Wraith intoned as he walked toward the two. He winced internally as Lance stepped between he and Setsuna. "Step aside Lance. She's hurt you and your too blind to see it!"

Something welled up inside Lance. It was cold, colder than any anger he'd ever felt. "Are you a fool Wraith? Or do you simply not understand words spoken to you?"

"I understand that she's lying about hurting you. And I understand that you're blind because you love her!" Wraith snapped.

"Then you are a fool, Wraith Wills," Amara said as she walked from the shadows. "Setsuna didn't cause those bruises. Sailor Uranus did."

"Who?" Wraith and Matt both said as the other girls looked on.

"Sailor Uranus. One of the Sailor scouts," Amara said. "I saw the whole thing. She was testing him to see if he was truly as strong as Sailor Pluto said."

"Why would she want to do that?" Matt asked suspiciously.

"Her reasoning was that a person who courts a Senshi must be strong enough to hold their own against them. I guess I passed," Lance replied with a shrug. "Regardless it's time to go I have to get up early tomorrow to do my chores."

"And we have work tomorrow," Matt added.

*******
Nercos looked at his newly resurrected warrior. He was tall though his hooded cloak also concealed him so that only his ice blue eyes could be seen. Yes, this warrior would do nicely.

"You have a mission for me?" The Swordmaster Adept asked.

"Yes. His name is Lance Jayd. I want him dead."

"Jayd you say. Didn't someone kill him once already?" the Swordmaster replied.

"Yes. But somehow he got better."

"Very well, I'll kill him for good this time!" The swordmaster snarled as he disappeared.
*******

Morning came too early for Raye Hino. She'd had a blast with her friends at the beach, but for some reason she was awakening to the sound of clanging. At first she thought it might be some new kind of migraine, until it was joined by laughter. Two sets of laughter in fact. "What the Hell is going on here!?" Raye raged as she stomped into the courtyard. The sight before her was like deja-vu all over again.

Sailor Pluto in all her Fukued glory was gleefully battling Lance Jayd in what for all intents and purposes was an all out spar for the ages. When she came on the scene Jayd was on the roof of the fire room his blade tangle-locked with Sailor Pluto's staff. The two twirled as if this was nothing more than a dance only to have Lance back flip onto a rail in the courtyard. Raye could only blink at how he could do such acrobatic things without being able to transform. The thought had barely formed when Sailor Pluto was there again battling him on the railing. Probing strikes were met with graceful counters followed by lively-yet savage reposts with both blade and staff. There was a look of serene yet loving passion on the combatants' faces that made Raye almost want to transform and join in.

Almost.

"Okay you two cut it out now!" Raye screeched.

The two combatants shrugged then complied without argument. This both surprised and incensed Raye. She'd expected to have to yell over the sound of weapons clashing and deal with smart remarks from Lance Jayd. This response completely dumbfounded her. People were supposed to argue with her or at the very least wail loud enough to shatter diamonds, not give up without a fight.

"Sorry to have awakened you Raye," Lance replied sheepishly. "I'd finished my chores early and well...I didn't think you'd mind."

"I sincerely doubt you could help awakening me! You two made it sound like my temple was under attack!"

"Again I we apologize," Sailor Pluto began. "We were merely having a little fun got carried away."

"What are you doing here anyway Sailor Pluto?"

"I came to see your handsome groundskeeper," she replied as she and Lance shared a kiss.

Raye blinked, blushed, and then glared at Lance. "So.... you want me to tell Setsuna you're cheating on her, Lance?"

She hoped to make him cringe. She was expecting a stammer or an attempt at back-pedaling. What she got was a look of amusement from Sailor Pluto and a slight smirk from her target.

"Oh I'm sure Setsuna won't mind me kissing Sailor Pluto," He drawled.

"Oh really? And why is that?" Raye asked as a sinking feeling formed in the pit of her stomach.

"That.... is a secret," Retorted Lance causing Sailor Pluto to collapse in a fit of uncharacteristic laughter.

Raye was trying to figure out a comeback when a hooded man appeared from nowhere and used his surprise appearance to stab Lance through the stomach. Sailor Pluto charged the nemesis intent on saving her beloved only to be stabbed as well. With a skin crawlingly familiar yet sinister laugh the Swordsman disappear as Raye pulled her communicator.

"We have a scout emergency! Sailor Pluto and Lance Jayd have been stabbed!" Raye screamed into it before beginning CPR.

TBC
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