Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Shitennou ❯ Of the End ( Chapter 10 )

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

AN: I hope you enjoy! Thank you faithful Becx, it's good to know someone is reading. I enjoy my story and always apprieciate the comments!

I do not own the characters or stories of Naoko Takeuchi. They are hers. I'm just borrowing them for a story.

Chapter 10: Of the End

“Now the time has come to leave you
One more time let me kiss you
Close your eyes, and I'll be on my way

Dream about the days to come
I wont have to leave alone, and
I won't have to say:

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you wait for me
Hold me like you never let me go.”

-- John Denver, Jet Plane

Kunzite woke up the next morning in a cold sweat. He looked out the window, it was still night. He felt worn out. Thinking what had happened a few hours earlier that was no surprise, he grinned thinking all the expectation of his wedding night were met - and then some.. But this was a different kind of worn out. His head ached intensely and his body felt as though he had been in battle all day. He looked over to his new wife who was soundly asleep in his arms. How lucky I am… Then, in a flash the images he had been trying to fight poured over him. He saw himself leading an attack on the Moon. He could actually see hatred and malice in his features that he had never seen before. No… Before him stood Venus, her eyes glittered with hatred and she was looking directly at him. She was wielding a sword he had never seen before. There was a voice calling to him…gravelly and powerful.

Return to Earth…summon the troops. The Moon is trying to use this marriage as a way to take over the Earth and rule all of its people. This planet is not for you…

Kunzite frowned and shook his head. Protecting the Earth had been his duty since his first days as a young squire. This love he felt was a new thing. Maybe he had rushed things. Anyway, Mina would understand. She was a leader and strongly felt the responsibilities that came with the position. He would be back before she knew it.

Prince Endymion has come under the spell of Serenity. He can no longer be trusted.

This shocking revelation almost caused Kunzite's head to split open. The Prince,four years his younger, had been under his protection since Kunzite could pick up a sword. Was he that bad a General…that bad a friend that he wouldn't have noticed his own Prince…?

Bzzt!!! An intense electric jolt shot through Kunzite's mind.

I will not accept this insolence! Leave immediately for Earth!

As if under a spell, he got out of the bed, making sure not to wake up the deep sleeping Mina. Seeming to contradict his own self,Kuznitedressed very slowly…almost hoping that Mina would wake up and ask him what he was doing. Why was he fighting this command? It made perfect sense. The small part of him that still fought to exist as Kunzite cried out for him to get back in bed with his wife...where he belonged.

He was at the door, one gloved hand on the handle. With entirely more strength than it should have taken, he strode over to the bed and kissed Mina savagely. She woke up surprised, but returned his kiss passionately. This kiss wasn't like anything they had shared before. Kunzite stopped the kiss almost as soon as he had begun. Placing his hand on Mina's forehead, he used some of his telepathic power to erase the memory of what had just happened.

This is only temporary, I will return to you...

Kunzite walked to the transport room and was very surprised to find the rest of his Generals there. None of them said anything. Zoisite took a minute to rip something out of the transporter. The shitennou shared a look and transported back to Earth. This was the only way…

Rei woke up the moment she sensed Jadeite leaving the Moon. What in the hell was going on?! Rei tossed and turned in her bed and waited for Jade's return. I'm not finished with you yet! Less than a half hour later she heard muffled crying outside her door. Pulling on her dressing gown, she opened the door to find Ami, tears running down her face. Rei pulled her in for a hug and walked towards Mina's room.

Mina awoke to a tap on her door. She was startled. It was still dark outside. She looked to her left and was immediately on edge. What had happened to Kunzite?! Surely he knew that he didn't have to knock. The knocking became more persistent. Mina arose, slipped into her silk dressing gown and picked up the Sword of the Moon. She called out, “Who's there?”

Rei answered, “Your senshi. We're alone.” There was something in the way she said alone that made Mina desperately sad. Venus opened the door to her fellow Inner Scouts. They all gathered on the bed.

“What's up girls? Why are you all here? Isn't this supopsed to be our wedding night?”

“Umm…hello, earth to Mina, our husbands are all missing,” said Mako in an unusuallytired voice.

“Well, I'm sure they're close by. Maybe they had to complete some Terran tradition we've never heard of,” said Mina brightly.

“No,” said Rei, “I had a very brief, but powerful vision this morning - all of them have returned to Earth.”

“But that's impossible,” responded Mina, “Their Prince is here on the Moon. You know at least one of them would have remained behind. Their sense of duty is just as strong as ours is.”

“I checked the transporter,” said Ami, “Four men transported to the Earth about an hour ago. But that's not all. Whoever used the device also did something to break the converters that power the machine. No one will be able to transport in the near future.”

“What the hell is going on here?!” said Mina.

The Shitennou cautiously made their way through the castle. With swords drawn they made their way into the Throne Room. There, on the throne, sat a woman, dressed in flowing purple robes.

“Come to me,” she whispered.

The Generals approached. They weren't cautious. They didn't ask why she was in their King and Queen's throne room. They didn't wonder where the normal servants were. She was the only thing that existed at that moment.

Jadeite, Nephrite, and Zoisite kneeled. Kunzite bent over and took her hand to kiss it, then kneeled with the rest of the men.

“Swear your allegiance to me, Queen Beryl and the Dark Kingdom.”

For the briefest of moments, the men hesitated. Sweat appeared on their brow as their minds wrestled with what was about to happen. Brief flashes of the Princesses shot through their heads. There was simply no good choice, but perhaps, if they sacrificed themselves, the women they loved and their Prince would be spared.

“We swear,” they replied in one voice.

“Then I dub you my Shitennou. Your orders will come only from me. You will never question my authority or command.”

The men remained silent.

“Now, you will go to your armies. You will train them ruthlessly for the next week, then we will make our attack on the Moon. There will be no prisoners. We will kill all those who stand in our way -- especially Princess Serenity. Prince Endymion will eb spared. There is still hope for him yet...” Beryl said in a seductive voice.

The men stood and turned in the direction of the barracks. They were silent as they left the room.

The Inner Senshi, Queen Selenity, Princess Serenity and Prince Endymion had gathered in the Armory. The Outers had transported back to their respective planets after the reception, but before the transporter had been broken. It had been a long day and night for everyone. The Prince seemed the most upset, as if he was personally guilty for what his Generals had done. He was pacing, unable to sit down or be comforted by the Princess.

“There has to be a logical explanation,” said Endymion, for about the tenth time since he found out his Generals had returned to Earth, “Did any of them leave a note? Or mention that they might be leaving?”

The senshi all sadly shook their heads no.

“I have been trying to contact them telepathically, but it as though I am being purposely ignored,” sighed Endymion.

“I guess all we can do then is prayfor their return,” said Serenity dejectedly.

“I'm going to work day and night until I fix the transporter,” vowed Mercury in a determined, but quiet, voice.

“In the meantime - we train,” said Venus angrily. She didn't like this situation. Something had ruthlessly come between her and the man she loved. She wanted to be ready when she finally came face to face with this evil.

Kunzite sat in his room in the barracks. He had been training his men almost without break for the past week. Without question the army was a terrifying group. The armory had provided weapons to armeveryone to the teeth. Beryl had overseen the entire training. It seemed everyone she came in contact with gained some sort of evil power - and lost their soul in the process. Kunzite looked to the sky, the moon was a tiny sliver, tomorrow there would be a new moon and the sky would be black. He sat in a trance until the early morning - it was rare for him to sleep the night before a big battle. Even in his brainwashed state, Kunzite sat and reflected. He looked to the sky again. There was the planet Venus. A shining star in the very early morning. He was transfixed by the planet.

An image appeared before him…

There was an exquisite blond woman alone in a large bedroom that seemed familiar somehow. She was crying; desperate sobs were wracking her body. She kept repeating a name over and over again.

Why was she so sad? Kunzite reached his hand out to the image. The girl stopped crying suddenly. She looked around the room, searching for someone. When she saw nothing, she began crying softly again.

Who had made her cry like this? Kunzite felt anger towards anyone that would make such a beautiful woman feel this way. Even though the sounds he heard were faint, Kunzite knew from her cries that her heart had been broken. There was nothing he could do. He felt desperate to comfort her. The image faded…dawn was near, and preparations would soon begin for the final attack.

Kunzite's last bit of self broke through to the surface. He realized there was nothing he could do to stop the day. There was nothing he could do to even see his beloved Mina one more time. Kunzite searched around desperately. He found a pen and paper and began scribbling furiously.

Beloved Mina,

I am sorry. I know this apology can never make up for what I have done to you, your people, or your Princess. For a short time you made me the happiest man alive. Please know, no matter what happens in this life or the next, that I love you. I am lucky to have been a small part of your life.

Kunzite

Kunzite was in tears as he signed his name. He sealed the letter, kissed the back of it and put it in his desk, knowing that if he found it a few minutes from now that he would simply rip it into pieces. The last of his former self washed away. Evil Kunzite stood up and went to go put on his armor. Why were his eyes wet?