Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Saga of Mercury ❯ Swan Song for the Shrine? ( Chapter 23 )

The Saga of Mercury

Chapter 23

"Swan Song for the Shrine?"

Written by Jose I. Ramos

Portions based on "Mercury Knight stories" by Ryuuen No Miko

"Sailor Moon" and all related characters are copyrighted by Naoko Takeuchi, Kodansha, TOEI Animation and other agencies.

Storyline © 2003 Jose I. Ramos

DISCLAIMER

As usual, "Sailor Moon" and all related characters are copyrighted by Naoko Takeuchi, Kodansha, TOEI Animation and other agencies.

The Saga of Mercury story is copyrighted by me, however content in some chapters is based on the Mercury Knight Stories as described in the Chapter 1 Introduction.

Please feel free to write a critique or send your comments to JRHORSE98@AOL.COM with the subject line, in all caps, SAGA OF MERCURY.

Chapter 23 - Swan Song for the Shrine?

Quartzia approached Queen Sorinya's chambers in the Negaverse.

Quartzia bowed and said in a loud voice, "My…"

Then Quartzia stopped suddenly, a sweatdrop on her head, when she realized that Sorinya was asleep on the throne.

Sleeping on the job, Quartzia thought. Well, it's too bad she can do it but I can't… oh well. I guess I'll surprise her when she wakes up to see that my new plan to target Amy Mizuno finally works, when I go after… her friends!

Meanwhile, at Hikawa Shrine…

The sun was beginning to set - causing streaks of orange and pink to shoot across the partly cloudy sky - as the last group of visitors entered the Hikawa Shrine. Chad and Raye were on duty selling a wide variety of lucky charms.

"This charm will help you become a huge rock star, just like me!" bellowed Chad to a young man.

Raye turned to Chad and gave him a stern look. "No, idiot!" said Raye, slapping Chad upside the head. "Um… I'm sorry sir," she said, turning to the young man. "What he meant to say is that this is for good wishes in music… this is NOT specifically a rock star charm, because we don't have any like that, but this music charm will cover it just as well."

"Thank you," said the young man, bowing and departing.

"You just had to say that, huh?" said Raye.

"He-heh, I just wanted to cheer you up," said Chad.

"How can you do that?"

"By reminding you of the old days, back when I was a peddling rock singer before entering the shrine."

"Your past doesn't cheer me up… the present, the now, does," Raye said. She paused before continuing. "Such as a few months ago, when you became the Mars Knight right in front of my eyes…"

"Mars Knight?" said the boy waiting next in line. "Hey, he's my hero!"

Chad faced the boy. "I… ahem… I mean, he is?"

"Yes," said the boy. "I wish I could meet him one day and become just like him."

"Well, young guy," said Raye, "Here's a charm that I can give you for more endurance, that should be a start."

"Thank you, bye!" said the boy, departing.

Raye turned to Chad and whispered in his ear: "Well, there's at least one person that likes you."

Raye was paying attention to Grandpa Hino who was at the entrance about to close up.

"Grandpa's talking to a few girls again," said Chad.

"AGAIN?" said Raye, standing up. "Grandpa has you and he has me, that's enough for assistants, isn't it?"

"I'm always looking for some new assistants," Grandpa said to two young schoolgirls. "So are you ladies interested? Would you like me to sign you up?"

The girls giggled. "You're funny," said one girl. "Goodbye!"

"Oh well," mumbled Grandpa as he locked the gates.

Grandpa walked up the long set of steps to the steps of the shrine. He rang the bell-tied rope and prayed silently for a few minutes before returning over to where Raye and Chad were packing up the charms stand.

"You know," said Grandpa to the two, "when I think about it, I'm very, very lucky to have the two of you around to help around at my shrine. My daughter and a young, tough lad. Nothing better than that! Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go over and take a nice, hot bath. See you in the morning!"

Raye and Chad bowed to Grandpa as he left to walk inside the shrine.

"Wow," said Chad. "Isn't that like the first time he said something like that?"

Raye shed a tear. "Yeah… well… he's said it before, but not too many times… Most of the time… he just bosses us around and tells us, clean this, clean that, sell these… he's very… well, I don't know what else to say…"

"Cheer up, Raye!" he said. "He's a changed man! It's time to celebrate!"

"Celebrate? I don't know if…"

Raye stopped talking and held her head.

"Raye? What's wrong?" asked Chad.

"I… I feel an evil presence… it's… very close…" she said.

Chad thought for a moment… and then remembered what Mercury Knight had said to him days ago in Kyoto…

"…Don't you worry… something deep inside me says you're going to see some action real soon…"

Is this what he meant, Chad said to himself.

Chad then turned his attention to the roof of the Hikawa Shrine…

"Look up there," said Chad. "Phobos and Deimos are acting strange."

Indeed, the two looked up to see that the two birds were flying around the roof of the shrine in distress.

Raye looked intently up at them, and then extended her two hands up in the air. "Come down here, you two," she said to the birds.

The two crows began to slowly swoop down to where Chad and Raye were.

Their rate of descent became faster… and faster… and faster…

"They… they don't fly down THAT fast!" said Raye.

At that instant, the beaks of Phobos and Deimos opened up… and a stream of fire began to shoot out of their mouths.

"LOOK OUT!" yelled Chad, pushing Raye out of the way of the fire stream.

The fire stream struck the charm stand… sending it sky-high in smoke and flames.

"AAAH!" yelled Chad. "The charms!"

Chad and Raye saw the charm stand burn to the ground… the hundreds of charms that were in the stand going down with it.

Before they knew it, Phobos and Deimos were sending their streaks of fire all around the shrine… lighting up several of the surrounding trees in the process.

Phobos and Deimos then took aim on the shrine itself.

All the while, Grandpa was taking his hot bath inside, not knowing what was happening on the outside.

With many trees already burned and charred to a crisp, the birds opened their beaks…

"GRANDPA!" yelled Raye.

In the Urawa household, Greg and his father were in the living room, along with Amy, Sasha, Lita, Ken, Mina, Jamie, Luna and Artemis.

"I thank all of you for coming here tonight for a very important announcement," Mr. Urawa said to everyone.

He then turned to Greg.

"Greg… my son… you have matured very well in life, and I am very happy for you. Your committed support for Sasha has just proven to me what a wonderful person you are."

"Thank you, father."

"Greg, I received a phone call a few nights ago from the president of the company… The president needs me to travel all the way up to Sapporo in a few days, and I won't return for at least four months…"

Greg looked at everyone else in shock. Turning back to his father, he said, "I have to go with you on the road for four months?"

"Greg… you…" said Mr. Urawa, "will… you will be staying here."

Greg's face froze.

"I'm putting you in command… you're going to be in charge of this house while I am gone."

Greg's face was still frozen.

"I… I don't know… what to say," Greg said.

Sasha ran up to Greg and leaped into his arms.

"Congratulations!" said Sasha, hugging Greg tightly.

The others in the room broke into applause… with Ken throwing in some whistling.

"Thank you," said Greg, bowing while still holding on to Sasha. "I won't let you down, Dad."

"You'll do fine, Greg," said Lita.

"I'm behind ya," said Jamie.

"Let's celebrate!" said Mina.

Luna and Artemis were meowing their approval.

Amy walked up to Greg and curtsied.

"May I have this dance?"

Greg was stunned by the request.

He looked around, noticing that Jamie had his finger on the power button to the stereo, ready to press it.

He looked at Mr. Urawa, who was nodding, as if he was giving his approval.

He looked at Sasha, who was doing the same.

Then he looked at Amy.

"Sure, let's give it a whirl."

The others applauded as Greg set Sasha down and escorted Amy to the center of the living room floor.

Greg and Amy looked at each other, while the others looked on.

"I have to do this to you before I die," said Ken.

Lita laughed. "I'll never forget what you just said!"

Amy nodded to Jamie to start the stereo.

Jamie pressed the button…

"WZZZ FM, THE LATEST AND GREATEST IN SMOOTH JAZZ MUSIC, BRINGS YOU THIS SPECIAL NEWS BULLETIN FROM THE TOKYO DISTRICT."

Everyone sighed and reacted in disgust.

Amy looked at Greg… grinned… and laughed into his shirt.

"This… this is set up, isn't it?" asked Greg.

"No, no it isn't," said Jamie. "I tell you, it's very rare that a station like this would break in with a news bulletin."

"Might as well listen to it," said Mina.

"Perfect timing," said Greg.

"THIS IS TETSUYA RASHIMOTO WITH THE LATEST NEWS BULLETIN FROM OUTSIDE THE JUUBAN SECTION OF TOKYO…"

"Juuban?" said Amy.

"METROPOLITAN FIRE OFFICIALS ARE ANNOUNCING THAT THEY ARE RESPONDING TO THE SITE OF A FOUR-ALARM FIRE. THE FIRE WAS REPORTED TO TAKE PLACE AT THE LOCATION OF THE OLD AND HISTORIC HIKAWA SHRINE. THE SHRINE, WHICH HAS BEEN A MAINSTAY IN THE AREA FOR OVER A HUNDRED YEARS, IS CURRENTLY OWNED AND OPERATED BY MISTER HINO, CARRIED DOWN FROM THE SECOND GENERATION."

Everyone looked at each other.

"Did he say Hikawa Shrine?" said Mr. Urawa. "Isn't that where your friends live? Uh… Raye, and Chad?"

"Yes, it is," said Greg.

"This is serious, we'd better run over there to make sure they're all right," said Lita.

"Yeah," said Greg, "let's all go."

"I'll stay here to see if I can find out anything else," said Mr. Urawa.

"Thanks, dad," said Greg.

Mina gathered up Luna and Artemis as she and everyone else ran outside and down the empty street.

"Stop! Everyone, STOP!" yelled Luna when they were halfway down the block.

"Luna, what is it?" asked Mina.

"I have a strange feeling that this fire is being caused by the Negaverse," Luna said.

"Do you think so?" said Greg.

"Think so?" she responded. "I KNOW SO!"

"I feel the same," said Artemis. "I think you guys should transform and be prepared."

"Well… yep, we SHOULD transform then," said Ken.

"Right," said Greg.

Greg looked around…

"Wait for this postal truck to pass… all right, we're good to go!"

"Let's do it!" said Lita. "JUPITER STAR POWER!"

"JUPITER KNIGHT POWER!"

"VENUS STAR POWER!"

"VENUS KNIGHT POWER!"

"MERCURY STAR POWER!"

"MERCURY PRISM POWER!"

"MERCURY KNIGHT POWER!"

When everyone was donned in their battle attire, Mercury Knight said, "OK, we've got a bit to travel so we'll have to do a Planet Teleport. Everyone, join hands!"

Everyone joined hands and began to concentrate. Sailor Venus grabbed Artemis, and Sailor Jupiter carried Luna, in the process.

"Ok, everyone jump at the count of three…" said Sailor Mercury.

"To the Hikawa Shrine!" said Sailor Mini Mercury.

Mercury Knight started the count.

"One… two… three!"

Everyone leaped up into the air… and seconds later, found themselves on the street, at the entrance of the Hikawa Shrine.

When they opened their eyes, they saw a mess.

The entrance to the Hikawa Shrine was busted open by the fire department.

Fire trucks were sprawled all over the street…

And two firefighters looked right at Mercury Knight and the others.

One walked up to them. "The Mercury Knight! I've heard a lot about you! I am the fire chief."

"Pleased to meet you," said Mercury Knight. "What is going on?"

"Well," the chief said, switching to a more somber tone, "I'm afraid the Hikawa Shrine was completely destroyed."

The sailors gasped.

"Destroyed?" said Jupiter Knight.

"I'm afraid so, and we don't know what caused it... well, you know what I mean… what caused the fire."

"Can we go to the site to see what's left?" asked Venus Knight.

"It's a very sad scene at the top of those steps," said the fire chief. "I saw Sailor Moon, Tuxedo Mask, and that other pink-haired girl there consoling the two that lost the shrine's master."

"Shrine's master?" said Mercury Knight. "Mister Hino?"

"Yes," said the chief. "I'm afraid… I'm afraid he is missing, and after an exhaustive search, we believe that he may have… perished, inside the shrine."

Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus were crying at this point.

Sailor Mercury was holding back tears, clutching tightly to Mercury Knight's arm.

Jupiter Knight and Venus Knight were holding their girlfriends.

And Luna and Artemis stood beside a frozen-faced Sailor Mini Mercury… with her youth, she couldn't understand any of this in her head.

"Have you tried your best?" asked Mercury Knight.

"Yes, here, and even within a few blocks as well. No luck."

Mercury Knight turned to the others.

"Well guys, it's a real hard thing to do… but I think it's time we go up there to be with Chad and Raye."

The others nodded in agreement.

Mercury Knight… whose brain was in a confused and concerned state… led the group of sailors, knights and cats up the stairs to the main promenade of the shrine.

Tuxedo Mask was the first to spot the group, and walked up to them.

"You'd better not go up to them," he said.

Mercury Knight and the others looked behind where Tuxedo Mask was standing.

Sailor Mini Moon was with Chad, whose head was looking down on the ground, shaking in disbelief.

In front of them, Sailor Moon had her arm around Raye… who had collapsed on the ground, tears streaming from her eyes, yelling "RIN, PYOU, TOU, SHA, KAI, JIN, RETSU, SAI, ZEN!" desperately hoping that it would help save her grandfather.

Several yards in front of them were the charred remains of what was once the Hikawa Shrine… as well as the home of Chad, Raye, and Grandpa.

Mercury Knight and the others went up slowly to Chad.

"I…" was all that Chad could say out of his mouth.

Jupiter Knight wrapped his hand around Chad. "We're with you all the way, buddy," he said.

"We're very sorry," said Mercury Knight.

"Th… thanks guys," said Chad, "but I'm thinking about Hino-sensei…"

Mercury Knight looked up into the sky… and then felt strange vibes going through his body.

"I'm thinking about him, too…" said Mercury Knight, activating his computer visor.

Sailor Mercury looked at her knight. "What do you see?" she asked.

Mercury Knight zoomed in on two things that were circling the sky, high overhead.

"It's Raye's pet crows," he said. "They're acting strange."

"Phobos and Deimos?" said Chad.

Sailor Mercury activated her computer visor and joined hands with Mercury Knight.

Together, using their super computers, they detected strange pulses going into and out of the birds.

"It's that unique signature again," said Sailor Mercury. "Make no mistake about it, the Negaverse is controlling those birds."

Chad looked at Sailor Mercury. "You sure about that?"

"OHH yeah," said Mercury Knight. "She's sure, and so am I."

"Then…" said Chad, "you… you mean to tell me that the Negaverse is responsible for all of this?"

"I'm afraid so," replied Luna.

Sailor Mini Mercury looked up in the air.

"They're coming for us!" she cried.

Indeed, Phobos and Deimos were starting a high descent from where they were circling, aimed straight for the group.

"Shields!" yelled Jupiter Knight. "JUPITER THUNDER SHIELD!"

"MERCURY ICE SHIELD!"

"VENUS LOVE SHIELD!"

Mercury Knight ran forward… Sailor Mercury following close behind… to shield Sailor Moon and Raye. The others got behind the shields of Jupiter Knight and Venus Knight.

Raye looked up for a moment at her birds… and then brought her eyes behind the Ice Shield.

Suddenly there came a bright flash of light from in the sky… and Phobos and Deimos began to drop like flies from the sky.

Mercury Knight looked up in the air. "They're falling down," he said.

Phobos and Deimos were falling toward the ground at a great rate of speed… until they both flapped their wings as they neared the bottom for a soft landing.

Mercury Knight de-activated his shield, and Raye ran up to her birds. The birds were standing upright, but were wobbling around.

Jupiter Knight and Venus Knight de-activated their shields, and everyone walked up to where the birds were.

Sailor Jupiter went up to the two birds. "Lucky their landing wasn't harder than that," she said. "They'll be all right, they're just tired."

"There's one small thing to be happy about," said Raye, "but nothing compared to… to… my…" She started to tear up again.

"Did any of you see that bright light in the sky?" asked Tuxedo Mask.

"We did."

"Mini Moon? Mini Mercury?"

The two pointed to a forest to the right of the shrine site. "I think it came from over there," said Sailor Mini Moon.

Mercury Knight used his visor to zoom in to that particular part of the forest…

And then, Mercury Knight realized something very important about Grandpa.

On a hunch, Mercury Knight went up to Raye and helped her to her feet.

"Guys," said Mercury Knight, "if you don't mind, Raye and I are going to go for a small walk here. You guys stay there for now."

As Mercury Knight began to walk, arm around Raye, around the shrine ruins, Sailor Mercury crouched down to Sailor Mini Mercury's eye level. "Sasha," she said, "did your parents ever… I mean… did Greg and I, ever tell you… about death?"

As Mercury Knight brought Raye around the ruins, he said to her with a smile, "You know Raye, there's something you should know about your Grandpa."

At first, Raye was struggling to look into Mercury Knight's face, his eyes still covered by the visor. Then, she had a thought.

"Is Grandpa alive, Greg?" she asked. "You… you have psychic powers… you can see into these things… please tell me… is he alive?"

Mercury Knight hesitated for a moment before Raye stepped in front of him and stopped him.

"PLEASE," she said with watered eyes. "You don't know how much he's really meant to me in my life. You HAVE to tell me, Greg…"

Mercury Knight calmly said to Raye, "Well, you have to remember something… He's really, just like me, in a way."

Raye looked at Mercury Knight before figuring out… "He used to be a rainbow crystal carrier, right?"

"That's correct," said Mercury Knight, looking around and using his visor. "The crystal always gave him a strong will to do his best and survive, no matter what he was faced with…"

"You got that right," said Raye.

Mercury Knight pointed into the forest with a finger.

"He survived," he said, "and you're going to find him in that direction."

"HE SURVIVED!!" yelled Raye.

Mercury Knight quieted her down. "Ssh! Calm yourself down. After all, being another one of the crystal carriers, it does help my search a bit… Now, go ahead and walk over there. I'll be right behind you."

Raye now held her head up high as she began to walk toward the bushes that were in front of her.

She was just inches away from the first set of bushes…

"BOO!"

Raye yelped and fell back onto the ground.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! You really think I was going to stay in there after all that?"

Raye's eyes went wide open.

"G… Grandpa?"

Grandpa Hino smiled. "Yep, iiiinnnnnn person!"

Raye's tears became tears of joy as she got off the ground and wrapped her arms around Grandpa… tighter than handcuffs would feel.

"Oh, was my granddaughter worried?"

"Yes…" said Raye, "very much…"

"Grandpa," said Mercury Knight, "I'm willing to bet that you did something to Phobos and Deimos."

Raye looked at Mercury Knight.

"Who are you?" said Grandpa.

"I'm the Mercury Knight, have you heard of me?"

"Oh yeah, yeah, Raye talks a lot about how you save the world and all that… well anyway I felt something come out of me, as if I was fighting an evil force that was in my presence before," said Grandpa.

"Yeah," said Raye, "that was the time Chad entered the shrine and you started to act strange!"

"That was Grandpa's natural reaction to the negative energy," said Mercury Knight.

"Negative energy?" asked Grandpa.

"Don't worry about that," said Raye, hugging her Grandpa again. "What's important is that you are safe."

Raye then looked back at the shrine. "Too bad I can't say the same for home," she said.

"Oh, Raye, look on the bright side, at least we can finally become one of those other shrines that they tear down and rebuild every twenty years, or something like that."

Raye smiled when she understood that Grandpa wanted to rebuild their shrine… and their home. She looked up to Mercury Knight. "Thank you very much for finding him."

"You're welcome," said Mercury Knight, who started to walk away.

"Wait!" cried Raye. "Where are you going?"

"Back to the others," he said. "You stay there with your Grandpa until the two of you have enough strength back."

Mercury Knight walked back to the promenade. Sailor Mini Mercury ran forward. "What happened?"

"Grandpa is all right!" he said.

Everyone cheered… especially Chad, who was tending to the birds at that moment.

"Grandpa's back, and the birds are, too!" said Sailor Jupiter.

"Great!" said Mercury Knight. "Then I have to talk to you guys about something."

Sailor Venus and the others looked at Mercury Knight.

"What's up?" she asked.

Mercury Knight looked at the shrine, then at the group again.

"I think Grandpa could use our help."

The Saga of Mercury Chapter 23 - Swan Song for the Shrine? 11

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