Title: The Rising Phoenix
Author: Sailor Antique
Length: one part only
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Konnichiwa minna-san! This is gonna be a long one-part only story. As you
may
have noticed, I usually seem to write about Usagi and Mamoru mostly, and
Minako sometimes. This time, I am going to be
writing about a character that in my other stories (stories plural? Yes! I
have a story that is exclusive to my webpage! It is called "Seperation
Anxiety" and if you want to read it (not now! after you read this one!) my
page is at http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Ginza/5884/index.html) has been
mostly (I admit) neglected. This story has its background in the manga.
I think I might try something new, like rating my stories, 'cause I think
this one needs a rating. I'd give it a PG-13 for violence and gore (not my
usual material, eh?) 'cause it's kinda a war story, and (I quote
Sgt. John Robert Slaughter) "...War is hell."
"The Rising Phoenix"
Everything was crumbling. The beautiful tapastries that
adorned the walls were shredded to pieces as large chunks of the carved
marble
ceiling gave way and came crashing to the floor. Everything was in chaotic
disarray. People dressed in formal eveningwear were screaming and running
for
their lives. The panicked masses surged through the hallways of the palace,
and Rei was nearly swept away by the tide.
"Why, of all nights, did Queen Serenity have to throw a ball on THIS
one?!" she gritted as she pressed herself tightly against the wall to avoid
being trampled. *I mean, really,* she thought angrily. *Here we are, being
invaded by the Dark Kingdom, people we don't know anything about, people
who have already destroyed most of the Silver Millenium-including Mars,
my home and most of my family and friends there-and taken over the people of
Earth, who are now being used to attack and destroy us.* She looked up at a
painting on the wall. It was of Princess Serenity of the Moon and Prince
Endymion of the Earth. They were standing in a picturesque garden, holding
hands and looking very happy. *This must be awful for him, knowing that his
people have been turned against him and are out to destroy his love and
himself and everything they helped to build.*
Her thoughts trailed off as she noticed a thin spot in the crowd.
Knowing she had to find the others, she made her way toward it. There was a
servent's corridor there, one that would lead to another which would take
her outside and into the thick of the melee. Carefully, she picked her way
through the panicked partygoers, and after having her feet stepped on
numerous times, and looking slightly battered, she emerged on the other side
of the hall. She ran her hands over the smooth stone of the wall, searching
for that invisible seam, and the catch that would release the door. After a
few moments of careful probing, her fingers came upon the small button,
hidden in a swirl of the marble, and she pressed it. The portion of the wall
that comprised the door slid aside, revealing a long, narrow, passageway.
She quickly stepped inside, and just as quickly, the door slid shut behind
her. The first thing that struck her about the place, besides the fact that
it was now so dark as to be almost impossible to see, was the smell. It
smelled of dampness, of mold and mildew. "Ewww, gross. I am going to
complain about this!" she muttered. Her voice was barely audible to her own
ears, yet it still managed to echo off of the walls and into the darkness.
The place gave her the creeps, but she had to get outside. The others were
fighting already, without her, and she knew they needed her help.
She squared her shoulders and began to make her way through the
passage, squinting to see through the dark. She placed her right hand
against the
wall to serve as a guide. She remembered from her days of
playing hide-and-go-seek with the princess that the passage that would take
her outside would be on her right, and not trusting her eyes, decided to use
her hand instead. She had been walking for some time, and had begun to think
that perhaps she was in the wrong place when she nearly fell over sideways
at the loss of support under her right palm. If it was possible for
something to be
blacker than black, then she could see the new passage
branching off to her right. "Aha! Found it!" With renewed confidence, she
began to run down the hall, pulling out a small, red stick and raising it
above her head.
Rei shouted a few words and bright ribbons of fire shot from the
stick
and spiraled down around her. When she emerged from the tunnel, she was no
longer wearing her long, red ballgown. Instead, she now wore a short, red
sailor-style outfit with red high heels.
She looked around her. Everything was in ruins. The beautiful
gardens that were the envy of every planet in the Silver Millenium were now
blackened ash, sitting in piles where there had been flowers of every shape
and color. Looking over her shoulder, she could see that the palace was
badly battered and was ready to collapse. *I hope everyone got out safely*,
she thought as she watched a large portion of the main dome cave in. She
shook her head vigorously, attempting to clear it of the thoughts of what
will happen to this place, to these people, if she and the others are
defeated.
Determined not to fail, she picked up her feet and began to run
toward
the sounds of battle in the distance. She could hear the sound of metal
clashing against metal, and the cries of the wounded, the dying. They were
all very close to her now. Something snaked around her ankle, and she let
out a small shriek of surprise. She looked down and saw a soldier, bleeding
badly from various wounds over his body. One in particular caught her eye.
He had been impaled through his chest with a spear, and it was that spear
which was prolonging his death. It was plugging the wound, so the blood
trickled slowly out of the opening. It would take this man several hours,
perhaps even days, to die. He looked up at her through bloodshot eyes.
"Water..." he begged. "...just a little..."
Rei closed her eyes and looked away. Even she, a master of the
healing
arts passed down throughout the centuries, could do nothing to help this
man. He was too badly injured. Even with the best help, he wouldn't live.
*I can do one thing for him. I can make it end quickly.* The means which she
would have to use sickened her, but it was all she could do. She knelt down
and removed his fingers from around her ankle. "Shh..." she whispered
soothingly as she began to pray silently. She placed her index finger on his
forehead and chanted an ancient spell that would bring him peaceful,
painless sleep. When his eyes had closed, Rei stood and walked a short
distance away. "I'm sorry." she whispered as a tear slowly slid down her
cheek. She raised her hands in front of her. "Fire...Soul!"
The flames enveloped the soldier, and within seconds, his body had
turned to ash. Soon, even that was gone, as a gentle wind picked up the
ashes and scattered them over the field. Another nameless soldier, returned
to the soil of the Moon which he had so loved, and died for.
Rei continued on, and soon found that the unidentified soldier was
only an inkling of what was to come. The closer she got to the sounds of
combat, the more dead and dying men she found. She had trouble walking
around the bodies, there were so many. Friend and foe alike begged her for
assistance, demanding that she save them, or just give them water. All
around her, she could hear their cries, their pitiful moans of pain and
agony. She found one man who was literally drowning in his own body fluids.
The ground was slick with the red tide of blood. Rei passed the
great reflecting pool and the water was dyed scarlet with it. She wanted
to shut it all out, to pretend that it wasn't real, only some grisly
nightmare that she would soon wake from, but she couldn't. This was real.
This was war. She pressed on.
"Let her go!! Please...!" Rei heard the desperate cries of a young
woman. She ran faster, and found her over a hill. A Dark Kingdom soldier was
tormenting a small girl, which Rei guessed was her daughter. Rei wanted to
attack the man, but the girl was too close. Perhaps she could distract him
enough that he would release the girl. She readied herself. "Fire..."
The man cackled wickedly. "This is boring." he said, then promptly,
without a second thought, took his sword and slit the girl's throat, ear
to ear. She collapsed to the ground in a wash of blood. Rei was momentarily
stunned.
"YOU MONSTER!!" the woman cried as she threw herself at the man. He
caught her and tossed her aside like a rag doll. He smiled. "Now, knife
practice."
"NO!! FLAME SNIPER!!!" Rei aimed her flaming arrow and let it fly.
The
man looked about in surprise as the arrow seared his flesh before impaling
him. In a flash of red-orange light, he was gone. The woman looked at where
he had been in shock. Rei ran to her, and she could smell the faint stench
of scorched flesh. "Are you alright ma'am?"
The woman contiued to stare at the spot. Then she looked up at Rei.
Her face was pale, the flesh drawn tight around the bones. Her eyes were
red-rimmed with grief and fatigue. She looked past Rei, at the body of the
little girl. Rei followed her gaze. "Was she your daughter?"
The woman began to crawl on her hands and knees to the still form.
She reached it, and took the lifeless child into her arms. Rei watched as
she began to rock the girl, and stroke her face. She began to sing a soft
lullyby to her, as if she were still alive.
"Rest your head, little one.
Dream sweet dreams, little one.
The stars say 'Good night'
I say 'Sleep tight'.
And when you wake,
I will be here..."
Rei choked back a sob. She could remember her mother singing that
same
lullyby to her when she was a tiny girl. *Oh, mother...* she thought. *I
miss you so much..." Rei wiped an errant tear from her eye and walked to
the woman. "Please, ma'am. You should get out of here. It isn't safe." The
woman didn't appear to notice her presence. "Ma'am, there's nothing left
for you here."
The woman stopped singing and turned a stony glare up at Rei. "You
would know, wouldn't you?" she said coldly. "You're no better than THEM!!
You KILL just as easily as they do!!" Her voice was now a hoarse scream that
rose in pitch and fervor as she got to her feet. "You are a MURDERER!! Now
leave me alone in my grief!!" With that, she moved away and sat down again,
and resumed singing to the dead child.
Rei was shocked. The woman accused her of being no better than the
soldiers of the Dark Kingdom. She had called her a 'murderer'. Was she?
Surely not. She was fighting for these people, for the good guys. How could
she be anything like those who would destroy this world and all who inhabit
it? She had been quick to kill the man, but it was the only choice, wasn't
it? Rei put her hands to her head, gritting her teeth in frustration. The
woman had made these accusations out of grief. It wasn't true. War is ugly,
and Rei was seeing this firsthand. All she could do was move on. As she
walked away, she could still hear the woman's soft singing, interrupted by
an ocassional choked sob, floating on the air.
"...dream sweet dreams, little one.
The stars say 'Good night.'
I say 'Sleep tight.'
And when you wake,
I will be here..."
She picked her way as quickly as she could through the downed
soldiers. They continued to plead for her help, but she shut their desperate
cries out, choosing instead to focus on her main goal of reaching the
others.
"AIEEEE!!"
Rei spun around at the sound of the battle cry, narrowly avoiding a
sword in the back. The man lunged for her again, this time, the tip of the
sword nicked her cheek, drawing a narrow line of blood. She lifted her leg
and spun off a good, swift kick to his jaw, sending him reeling. Rei pulled
out a spirt ward and cried "Akuryou...TAI SAN!!"
The ward attached itself to the man's forehead, leaving him
momentarily paralyzed. Rei hoped that her spell would free the man of his
evil, and a moment later, she got her answer.
The man shook his head and ripped the ward from his face. With a
roar,
he lunged at her, sword raised high.
There was no time to think about morals. "FIRE SOUL!!"
The man's ashes drifted slowly to the ground.
That was three men that Rei had killed, and she tried her best not
to
think about that fact. If she suddenly had an attack of higher morality,
she would be no good as a soldier. She carried on.
The battle sounds were almost deafening now as Rei ascended the
final hill. She paused at the top and looked down. Below her, she could see
thousands of men fighting. Their cries echoed in her ears as they constantly
came crashing together in a flurry of silver weaponry and armor. She cast
her eyes about for her friends, but didn't see a trace. "Oh no! I'm too
late!!"
Suddenly, a streak of lighting shot down to the ground in the thick
of the crowd. Dozens of soldiers were felled as the lightning danced through
the melee, choosing its victims at will and leaving a deadly caress as a
parting gift. A golden beam followed it, and a geyser of water washed away
the bodies.
"They're still alive!!" Rei cried as she ran down to join them. She
was immediatly besiged by attacks from all sides, so to clear her path, she
summoned her most expansive attack. "Mars...BURNING MANDALA!!"
The rings of flame shot through the crowd, picking off enemy
soldiers
with ease. The path was open, and Rei could see the others fighting for
the Moon, as well as for themselves. "I'm here everybody!! I'm here!!" she
cried as she caught up to them.
A tall brunette girl wearing a green suit similar to Rei's looked
briefly over her shoulder at Rei. "Glad you could join us, Mars." she said,
smiling.
"We need all the help we can get!" A girl with long golden hair tied
up with a red bow and wearing a orange sailor suit gritted. "Jupiter!! Look
out!! CRESCENT BEAM!!"
The golden beam picked off an enemy that otherwise would have had
the
brunette for lunch. Jupiter called back to the blonde "Thanks, Venus!" then
returned to her attention back to the fight.
A girl with short blue hair and wearing a headset and blue sailor
suit
cried out as a dagger sunk into her knee-high boot. Rei jumped to her
defense. "FIRE SOUL!!"
She killed the two men who had been tormenting the girl. "Are you
alright?"
The girl pulled the dagger from her leg with a slight groan. "I'll
be
fine. It's not deep. These boots are so thick, not much gets past them."
Venus called over to her. "Mercury!! What are Luna and Artemis
saying?
Found any weaknesses yet?"
The blue-haired girl tapped her headset. "Nothing!" she called back.
"We just have to hope we can defeat them before they beat us!"
"What about the others?" Venus responded as she ducked a spear
throw.
Mercury relayed the question through her headset, and her shoulders
drooped slightly as she recieved the response. "The others are too busy
defending the Outer planets. We can't depened on them for any kind of
assistance. We're on our own!"
Venus's eyes widened. "This can't be happening!! We can't possibly
win
against these odds!"
Jupiter called out from behind her. "Shut up! Don't talk that way.
You're our leader, remember? If you lose hope, what are we to think? We have
got to win...we don't have a choice!!"
Venus regarded her, and a bright smile lit her face. "Thanks
Jupiter!
We're not here to lose..." A man came up behind her and raised a club above
her head, but she noticed him in time. Reaching behind her and grabbing his
wrists, she hoisted him up and over her head and threw him deep into the
mass of people. "It's not in our job description!"
The crowd surged, and the four girls became separated. Rei was
pushed
through the fighting, and found herself under the balcony which led into
the princess's room.
"BURNING MANDALA!!"
She took four more enemies down. She could feel someone's gaze on
her
back, and she turned around. Looking up, she saw the princess, bedecked in
all her royal splendor, still in her ball gown, looking down at her. Her
hands were folded together, and her eyes were full of tears. Her lips were
moving, and Rei relized that she was praying for them. Rei smiled up at her
reassuringly.
The princess's head suddenly jerked around. Rei followed her gaze
upwards, and beheld a most wicked-looking woman with fiery red hair and
gleaming yellow eyes. She held a staff which glowed brightly with dark
energy in her hand. Rei guessed that she could only be one person.
Queen Beryl.
*I've got to protect the princess!!* Rei began to fight her way
toward
the entrance of the palace, but the crowd was too thick, too demanding. She
kept on getting hung up in fights.
"FIRE SOUL!!" She cleared a path, but only briefly. Rei found
herself
being pushed away from the palace. She looked up and saw Beryl lunging for
the princess. *It's over.* she thought.
But no, it wasn't.
At the last possible moment, something halted Beryl's advance. Rei
wondered what it could have been when she saw a extremely handsome young man
with short, thick, ebony hair and deep, midnight blue eyes. He wore the
ornate battle armor of Earth, and his cape billowed behind him as he stood
on the balcony, facing Beryl down. *That's Endymion! But how...? It
doesn't matter. He'll protect the princess with his life. She still has a
chance.*
Rei turned her attention to the fight around her. Slowly, ever so
slowly, the crowd was thinning. Her side was winning. She could see the
others fighting, the enemy slowly falling back under the onslaught of their
attacks.
"VENUS LOVE ME CHAIN!!" Venus wrapped the gold links around the neck
of one enemy soldier, and contrary to its name, the Love-Me chain gave off
a nasty shock, and the man was electrocuted.
"SHINING AQUA ILLUSION!!" Mercury instantly washed a few soldiers
away
with the very real torrent of water.
"JUPITER OAK EVOLUTION!!" Jupiter promptly sent a dozen soldiers
scrambling for cover as she let fly leaf-shaped bolts of electricity.
Rei spied a group of enemy soldiers heading the way of her friends,
obviously hoping for the element of surprise. Well, they wouldn't get it.
"BURNING MANDALA!!" Rei cried as she sent the flaming rings toward
the
would-be assailants. They heard them hissing through the air and turned
about just in time to see the rings and run.
Rei quickly joined the others. They were all battered and bruised,
nursing mostly minor wounds, like cuts and abrasions.
Jupiter looked around. Bodies of the fallen littered the battlefield
as far as the eyes could see. The soil had been stained red with the
combatants' blood, and the stench of decay filled their nostrils. "Looks
like we've won." she said finally.
Mercury nodded hesitantly. "Perhaps. If so, then it is an empty
victory. The loss of life has been great. And we don't know how the Outer
planets are faring."
A piercing scream suddenly cut through the air.
"The princess!!" Venus cried.
"We've gotta get over there!" Mars added unnessarily as they ran
toward the palace.
"You'll have to put that off for later."
The four girls stopped running as they heard the voice echo around
them. They felt the air vibrate, and heard a faint, humming sound. Soon,
four shapes shimmered into being before them.
Jupiter's eyes widened as they fell upon a man with long, wavy brown
hair. "Nephrite..."
"Zoicite...?" Mercury breathed disbelivingly as she took in the man
with the long blonde ponytail and light green eyes.
"It can't be..." Venus peered at the tall white-blonde man before
her.
"Kunzite?"
Rei gasped as she saw the man with short, blonde hair and arresting
blue eyes approach her. "Jadeite?"
"Yes. You're right, you are all right." he said.
"But...what are you doing here? Why aren't you fighting on Earth,
Kunzite?" Venus asked as she stepped up to her lover and raised her hand to
touch his face, as if to assure herself that he was real.
"We came here for all of you." Neprite responded as he took
Jupiter's
hand.
"It seems that you are wanted very badly on Earth." Zoicite added as
he gazed at Mercury.
Rei stepped up to Jadeite. "I don't understand..."
Jadeite took her hands. "It is simple, really. You see, our master
wants you very much..." His grip tighted savagely on her wrists. "...to be
destroyed."
Rei was speechless. "The Earth Prince..."
"No." Zoicite answered. "Queen Beryl." With that, he wrapped his
fingers around Mercury's neck and began to strangle her.
"Mercury!!" Jupiter tried to move, but Neprite's hold on her was
solid. She turned on him. "Let me go!!"
He chuckled deep in his throat. "I always liked your spirit." He
delt
her a solid blow to the side of the head, and she fell limp.
Mercury was still trying to escape Zoicite's grasp. Finally, she
delt
him a hard kick to his nether region, and he dropped her like a hot potato
as his face turned an interesting shade of puce. She immediatly turned on
Kunzite, who had Venus by her long golden hair. "Shabon Spray!!"
The dense fog blanketed the area. Venus took the opportunity to aim
a
kick at where Kunzite's face ought to be, and heard him grunt as her heel
made contact with his chin. His grasp loosened, and she pulled away, leaving
him with only a fistful of hair.
Rei was still struggling with Jadeite. She landed a solid knee to
his stomach, and he let go of her wrists, but she stayed in to fight. "What
happened to you? Why are you doing this?"
He aimed a kick at her. "We had a change of alligence. Queen Beryl
opened up new world for us, offered us power..."
Rei dodged the kick. "I don't think that's it. The Jadeite I know
and
love wouldn't have left the prince for anything! Neither would the others!"
"So what do you think it is then, love?" He sneered at her as he
threw
a punch.
Rei caught his fist. "I think that you have been filled with Dark
energy."
"Is that so?" he said.
"Yes!" Rei responded with conviction. "I also think that deep down,
you are still good."
"Am I?" Jadeite cooed, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Rei suddenly felt a hard pressure in the pit of her belly. She
looked
down. Jadeite's dagger was buried to the hilt within her abdomen. He pulled
it out, and the blood flowed forth freely.
Jadeite leered at her. "Do you still think I'm good?"
Rei collapsed to her knees, clutching her abdomen, trying to staunch
the flow of blood. She looked around. All except for Venus were in similar
positions, battered and bleeding. Venus was still fighting Kunzite with all
her strength. He was looking very bad, and it seemed that she might win.
"VENUS LOVE AND BEAUTY SHOCK!!" She blew a deadly kiss at him and he
recieved it full on. His body withered away to nothingness as the attack
enveloped him. "Kunzite..." she choked as she stared at the space
he had just occupied. "...I'm so sorry..."
Rei tried to cry a warning, but her voice had gone hoarse. "Venus,
behind-!"
Venus never saw Zoicite come up behind her with his sword drawn. Her
eyes widened in surprise, and her body shook with the force as he plunged it
into her back, and then she collapsed onto her face and lay still.
Mercury raised her head from the ground. "Venus...no..." she said
weakly.
Jupiter stood shakily. "You bastards can't get away with this..."
she said. "SUPREME THUNDER DRAGONS!!" Four mighty thunder dragons, glowing
with energy, descended from the clouds. They began to attack
Zoicite, Nephrite, and Jadeite.
Jupiter collapsed to the ground, utterly spent. The dragons were
being
defeated by the Dark energy being thrown at them by the three Generals, and
soon they were gone. "Please...Mars...Mercury....please don't let them win."
she exhaled. Her chest did not rise again.
Mars and Mercury stared disbelivingly at Jupiter's body. Rei could
see
that though her eyes remained fixated on herself and Mercury, there was no
spark of life behind them.
Neprite looked down at the body. He gave it a slight prod with the
toe of his boot. "Poor Jupiter. She had so much spunk."
A high pitched scream cut through the air, followed rapidly by
another lower, more masculine one. Both sounded like they were in agony. The
men and the two girls looked in the direction of the sound.
In the air above the princess's balcony hung both the princess and
the
Earth prince. Their bodies were limp, unmoving.
Rei looked over at Mercury. She had her head cocked to one side as
she
listened to her headset, which was, remarkably, still functioning. She
looked at Rei, and what Rei saw in her large, blue eyes horrified her.
]
Utter defeat.
"They're dead." she whispered hoarsely. "The princess has been
killed,
as has the prince of Earth. There is no hope now."
Rei looked back over at the now lifeless forms of the prince and
princess. They were to have been married very soon, and it would have been
a joyous occasion. They had be such a happy couple, so in love. Nobody
thought his love was real. They thought he sought only to live for a
thousand years like the Moon people, but he proved them wrong time and
again. Now,they were both dead. After enduring so much to be together, their
lives, their futures, had been snatched away in the blink of an eye. Rei
looked at them, saw the future unfolding before her, and her eyes began to
burn with tears of anger and hatred. She saw Queen Beryl, gloating above the
bodies, raise her staff in an obvious gesture of victory.
"No..." Rei murmured through clenched teeth. "No...there will be no
victory for you." Behind her, she heard Zoicite's grating voice.
"Your princess is dead. So is her prince, and soon so shall you be."
Jadeite chimed in. "We'll make you an offer. Join us, work for the
Dark Kingdom, and you will be spared."
Mercury spat at his feet. "We'd sooner die!"
Nephrite laughed jovially at her. He walked to her and knelt down.
Taking her face in his hand, he said "Nobility won't save you. Joining the
Dark Kingdom is the only way you can survive."
Mercury jerked her head away and stared defiantly at him. "Why don't
you just kill us now and get it over with?"
Rei stood up, ignoring the pain her wound was giving her. She
removed
her hand from her abdomen, and the white glove came away stained with blood.
"No. We won't die. You haven't won yet, and as long as I am alive, I won't
let you!"
Rei shut her eyes. She began to look inward, searching for her
center,
that hidden reserve of strength that she could use to defeat them. She could
see it, glowing faintly. She needed to fan the flame of her soul, before it
flickered out forever. She thought of her friends, Venus, Mercury, Jupiter.
She thought of the princess, her best friend above all. She remembered their
many fights, and how much fun they had been. She thought of the Earth
prince, how happy he had looked with the princess. She remembered Luna and
Artemis, the feline guardians who had trained her in the art of being a
warrior. The flame grew brighter. She thought of all the unknown soldiers
who had died in the course of this war, and who had already been forgotten.
Finally, the images of her friends, with the men they loved. Then, those
same people being forced to fight each other. She thought of her own love,
Jadeite. Memories of him flashed before her eyes.
Their first meeting a little over year ago at the Princess's
sixteenth
birthday ball. She had been sitting at a table, alone. A shadow fell upon
the table, and Rei had looked up. He had been standing there, a shy smile
on his lips. He offered his hand to her. "Would you like to dance?" She had
accepted, being drawn in by his sky blue eyes and school-boy shyness.
That memory melted into another...their first offical date a few
days later: "Would you like to come to Earth and go boating?" he had asked.
"I would love to." she had responded. She had noticed as Jadeite was
rowing the boat that he was watching her covertly from under his lowered
eyelids, and that he wasn't paying attention to where he was going. Soon,
the oars were tangled in a mass of underwater weeds, and Jadeite leaned over
the side of the boat to fix the problem. Rei had felt the boat waver, and an
instant later they were in the water. She had popped up, sputtering in
anger. That anger had faded, though, when she saw the thoroughly ashamed and
embarrased expression on his face. Like her, he was soaking, the water
dripping from his blonde hair and running in tiny rivulets down his face. He
had looked so adorable and innocent that day.
"I'm so sorry." he had said. "It's my fault. I should have been more
careful. I'll understand if you hate me."
Instead, Rei had swum over to him and gently caressed the water from
his face. She had looked into his eyes and found herself falling into
them. What she had done next surprised them both. She put her arms around
his neck and drew him down into a gentle kiss. Hesitantly, he responded to
her, putting his arms around her and drawing her closer.
Her first kiss.
When they had parted, Jadeite had been blushing furiously. Rei had
felt her insides turn to gel, and suddenly lost all of her confidence. She
had begun to apologize when he had put a finger to her lips, silencing her.
Then, he had tipped her chin up and kissed her deeply. Her whole body had
felt electrified. They drew away, and Jadeite had said "Rei, will you be
mine?" She could only nod, and together they had righted the boat and rowed
back to shore.
Then, a memory came to her that was only a few weeks old. Rei had
been
at home on Mars. Jadeite and the other Generals had been there to discuss
defense tactics. Rei had been walking the corridors of the palace when she
had heard a pair of male voices coming her way. One was Jadeite's, the other
was Kunzite's.
Kunzite had been saying "...if you love her that much, why don't
you ask her to marry you?"
"I plan to!" Jadeite had responded passionately. "As soon as this
job
becomes a bit more stable, I am going to ask her to marry me. I love her,
Kunzite. She is my soul mate, and I feel so wretched when I'm not with her.
It's like she's the better half of my heart or something."
"You've got it bad, my friend." Kunzite had said, a pitying tone in
his voice.
Jadeite chuckled. "Me? What about you? I've noticed that you and
that
blonde beauty from Venus have been spending an awful lot of time together,
and that whenever she's around, you start acting really wierd and begin
running into things. Like walls, plants, royalty..."
Kunzite had said something rather loudly in response, but Rei had no
longer been paying attention. She was heading away from them, Jadeite's
voice echoing in her head "...I am going to ask her to marry me. I love
her." She had felt so elated that she spent the next few days in a sort of
dreamy daze. Now, that memory was going to give her strength.
She returned to the present. The flame now burned more brightly than
it ever had before. Rei knew she could do it now. She could win. That
thought filled her with a profound sense of relief. *I'm going to beat them
for you, everybody* she thought.
"Strong words, girl. But can you back them up?" Zoicite hissed.
Rei smiled at him. "Sure I can, little man."
A faint red light that was slowly growing in intensity began to
envelop her. She looked at Jadeite, and tears glittered in her eyes. "I'm
sorry that this happened, and that now-" her voice began to tremble. "-now
we won't be able to get married..."
Jadeite's eyes widened. "Married?" he echoed.
In the depths of his eyes, Rei could see something flickering. An
emotion, or a memory perhaps. *Is it possible? Could he be remembering?* Rei
walked toward him, still enveloped in the soft red light. The pain of her
wound was forgotten. There was only emotion now.
Jadeite drew his sword. "Stop! Don't come any closer!"
Rei kept moving. She reached out with her hand and touched the tip
of
the sword. The red light traveled up the sword and Jadeite was bathed in its
radiance. "Do you remember that day at the ball?" Rei began softly. "When
you asked me to dance?"
Jadeite shook his fist at her angrily. "That is meaningless now!" He
tried to raise his sword, but found his arm was paralyzed.
Rei continued. "What about that time on the lake?"
Jadeite put his free hand to one ear in a vain attempt to block out
her voice. "Stop doing that!" he cried.
"You got the oars caught in some weeds. When you leaned over the
side
to free them, you flipped the boat over. I was so angry at first, but then
I saw your face." At this, she looked up into Jadeite's eyes and smiled
fondly. "You looked so cute, with the water dripping down your face, and the
weeds in your hair, mumbling apologies to me."
Jadeite now had a faraway look in his eyes. "I...remember..." he
said haltingly.
Rei went on. "That was the day we had our first kiss." She lowered
her
eyes momentarily, then raised them to his again. "A few weeks ago, I
overheard you and Kunzite talking...you told him you wanted to marry me."
Jadeite slowly lowered his sword. His eyes were light and clear, his
expression soft. "I did, didn't I?"
Rei nodded.
He looked at her. "So now I can't surprise you?"
"Jadeite..." Rei whispered as she walked to him. He extended his
hand
to her...
"TRAITOR!!" Nephrite cried as he lunged for Jadeite, sword drawn.
Jadeite spun around and raised his own sword in time to counter Neprite's
attack.
Zoicite ran to attack Rei, and Mercury cried out in warning "Look
out!"
Rei turned and Zoicite punched her wound. She doubled over in pain,
the light that had been surrounding Jadeite and herself fading away.
"It's over!" Zoicite yelled as he raised his sword, intending to
remove Rei's head.
Rei heard a metallic clang and lifted her head. Jadeite was in front
of her, defending her valiantly. He knocked Zoicite back and turned to help
Rei.
"You need to get out of here." he said as he helped her stand.
"Maybe later." Rei responded. She glanced over Jadeite's shoulder.
"Behind you!" she cried.
Too late. Nephrite's sword left a terrific gash in Jadeite's side.
He
and Rei collapsed to the ground. Rei got to her knees next to Jadeite. "Oh
god, no..."
Jadeite was lying in a pool of blood. The life was draining out of
him
at a rapid rate.
Nephrite was holding his own side, and Rei noticed that he too, was
bleeding. He was soon joined by Zoicite. "You see?" he hissed. "Love makes
you weak. We thought Jadeite knew that, but we were wrong. Now look at him,
look at what your love did to him."
"No..." Jadeite took Rei's hand and brought it to his lips, kissing
the knuckles. "Don't listen to him. If it wasn't for love, I wouldn't be
free of the dark energy."
"Jadeite..." Rei murmured.
He continued. "Rei, I want you to hear me say this, because I know
that I've never said it to you before...I love you."
"I know. I love you, too."
"When this is all over, would you consider marrying me?" His voice
was
strong, betraying nothing of the pain Rei knew he was feeling.
Rei leaned over and pressed her forehead against his. "Of course I
will."
Jadeite smiled, his eyes were glossy with tears. "That's good. This
has got to be the best day of my life."
Rei smiled. "Mine, too." she said. She saw a tear break free of
Jadeite's eye and slide down his face. She bent closer and with her lips
kissed it away. She then pressed a deep kiss against his lips, and felt him
respond whole-heartedly. Then, she felt him die. The gentle force behind
his kiss subsided, and Rei let her lips linger on his. She slowly drew away,
and she saw the expression on his face was a peaceful one. She stroked a
lock of blonde hair back into place. "Today was the happiest day of my
life, too." she whispered.
Rei got to her feet. She closed her eyes and again searched for her
inner fire, the fire that would give her the strength she needed. She found
it much more easily this time, as it was burning brightly, her love and
determination its fuel. Once again, the red glow enveloped her.
"Mars...what are you doing?" Mercury asked. She had watched
everything
helplessly, her energy stripped from her by the dark power.
"Don't worry. I'm going to win this one. Everything's gonna be
fine."
she responded. Raising her arms into the air, she cried
"Mars...Rising...Phoenix!!"
Zoicite and Nephrite shielded their eyes. "What's happening?!"
Starting at her feet, bright tounges of flame licked up Rei's body,
soon completely enveloping her. What had been her arms became flaming wings.
Her legs shortened and her feet bacame sharp, black talons. Her head was
replaced by the fiery visage of a bird. She had literally become the
legendary Phoenix.
"Mars..." Mercury breathed.
With a cry that echoed throughout the battlefield, the Phoenix rose
into the air. She swooped down on the surprised Generals and gathered them
into her talons. Savagely beautiful, she ascended, her flaming wings
scorching the ground where their tips had touched it. Mercury watched as,
high in the air, the Phoenix rolled over onto her back and flipped the two
Generals into the air with her talons. Quickly righting herself, she dove
down beneath the falling forms and caught them in her beak, swallowing them
whole. The Phoenix let out a mighty cry, and then began to head for the
palace, and Beryl. The wicked queen saw her coming, and was ready. She sent
her Dark Warrior to fight her. The plucky Phoenix dodged all of the attacks.
Then, the Dark Warrior summoned all of its strength, and unleashed its most
powerful attack, striking the Phoenix square in the chest. She was knocked
backward, so much so that she landed on her back very close to where Mercury
was still kneeling.
When she hit the ground, the flames evaporated, leaving only Rei in
her red uniform. Mercury crawled over to her and took her head into her lap.
Rei opened her eyes weakly. "Did we win?"
Mercury smiled warmly down at her. "Yes. Thanks to you."
"Liar..." Rei smiled.
Mercury tilted her head. Something was coming through her headset.
"...gave...Queen...needed...defeat...Beryl..."
Rei closed her eyes. She was exhausted. The Rising Phoenix attack
took
a lot of energy...energy that Rei didn't have to give. None of it mattered
anymore. All she wanted was to sleep. She felt her eyelids drooping. *I
suppose that I deserve some sleep. When I wake up, everyone is going to be
there...* she thought. Slowly, she surrendered to the darkness.
Mercury tapped her headset, and twisted a dial located on the
earpiece. "Artemis! Come in! You're breaking up!"
The signal came in more clearly now. "Mercury!! Whatever you guys
did,
it took a big chunk out of Beryl's dark energy supply!! Queen Serenity is
launching a counter-offensive with the Silver Crystal! We're gonna win!!"
Mercury felt her heart leap with joy. She looked down at Mars.
"Mars!!
We're going to win!! Can't you hear me? Mars?! MARS!!" Mercury reached under
Mars's chin and pressed her fingers to the side of her neck to check for a
pulse. There was none. Rei's body was already beginning to cool.
Mercury felt the tears begin to well up in her eyes. "Oh, Mars...you
did so much. You didn't deserve this. Nobody did..." She looked over at the
palace. A warm glow was enveloping the horizon, and was growing ever
brighter as it approached them. It was a beautiful, white light that
enveloped their bodies, as well as the bodies of Venus, Jupiter, Jadeite and
all the others that had died. It felt so warm, so comforting, like being
wrapped up in a blanket of pure love. It was the light of life, of renewal.
Mercury's last thought as she felt her soul being bathed with this light and
carried to she knew not where, was *The light...Oh, if only they could have
seen the light...*
On Earth, a storyteller told his listeners "... and when the Phoenix
felt her end was near, she laid an egg. She set fire to that egg, and from
the ashes rose the Phoenix reborn..."
~The End
Still here? That's good, 'cause I was afraid that the violence and gore
might scare some people off. Was it too violent? Too graphic? I really don't
have ANY intention of writing like this again. This story came to me one
night when I was just wondering what the last day of the Silver Millenium
was like. I was also thinking "Did the Senshi have to fight the Generals?"
Talk about tough, being forced to hurt the ones you love. So I decided to
write a story about it. This had actually been intended to be a war/romance
type thing, with Rei and Jadeite starring, since in the manga they were a
couple in the Silver Millenium, before the Generals (who were loyal to
Prince Endymion of Earth) were somehow brainwashed and turned to the side of
the Dark Kingdom. As you saw, this turned out to be much different, with
only a little of the original plot intact. I don't understand it, but I
start a story off with one idea, but when I start writing it, the story
takes over and writes itself. Now, don't get me wrong about the violence and
stuff. I do NOT like blood and guts, and hate going to yucky-violent R-rated
movies. This was a war story (maybe an epic? nah.) and war is terrible. My
great uncle, a World War II veteran (but not the guy I got the quote from),
told me all the gory details, and told me never to forget it. He also told
me not to believe the way they glorify it in the movies and in books and
stuff. So I chose not to glorify it here. Okay, this is some heavy stuff!!
I need to lighten up!! Guess what folks? I have a Japanese pen-pal!! Her
name is Rie and she is sooooo sweet!! Do you want a Japanese pen-pal? Go
here: http://village.infoweb.or.jp/~fvbb2510/ . These people are great!!
Also,(just a friendly reminder) I have totally redone my webpage. It looks
much MUCH better now, and I have a fanfic that is exclusive to it. It is
called "Seperation Anxiety". Please, have a look! While you're there, sign
the Guestbook! Another thing that you can do is read part of the legend that
inspired Sailor Moon (you know, the one about the Moon Goddess and the
shepherd?). The address is:
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Ginza/5884/index.html. Not all of the new
pictures are up yet in the galleries, but most of them are there. Have fun
(and don't forget to sign the guestbook)!
Matte ne!
~Sailor Antique
(
geocities.com/tokyo/gulf/4463) (
geocities.com/tokyo/gulf) (
geocities.com/tokyo)