Memory 23

“Do you mean we have to go to Planet Jupiter?” Rei asked uncertainty. If they have to go to somewhere underground or to the future, she wouldn’t be that doubtful. But Molly was suggesting that they go Planet Jupiter where even in the real world, people had never been there.

“Yes, I remember it clearly. After the destruction, the people in the Planet Jupiter were in chaos. They demanded for a new capable ruler and since my mother, The Duchess of Callisto Kingdom, was the oldest and the wisest of all the lords and ladies, they had decided to choose my mother to be the ruler of Jupiter.” Molly stopped for a while. Her mouth was dried and she took a sip of cold lemonade that was served on the table.

“When I was trained to be a rightful ruler after my mother…” she continued. “…I was taught to listen to every rumors and gossips that flew through the servants and my people. It was very important. It kept us, as a ruler, alert and aware of what was happening in our kingdom,” Molly explained. “Anyway, one day, I heard a news about the former Queen of Jupiter. The rumor said that she was still alive and was trapped underneath the ruins of Jupiter Fortress, though I was reluctant to believe that.”

“So, are you saying, Lita was somewhere underneath the ruins on Planet Jupiter?” Mina said carefully. She was fascinated at Molly’s strong memories.

“Exactly.”

Serena played with a wisp of her golden hair as the thoughtful look plastered on her face. “Is there any chance that the queen will send monsters while we’ve gone?”

“Maybe. I think that the queen was not alone. Think about it. The queen was trapped in Jupiter but she can still manage to take Lita from Earth to Jupiter.” Molly said.

“Then, we cannot go altogether to Planet Jupiter. Half of us will stay here,” Serena said. Rei looked at Serena approvingly. She is beginning to act like a Queen. Perhaps I shouldn’t be too watchful over her.

“I’ll go,” Molly said abruptly. “I’m from Jupiter Planet. You will need my help to find Lita.” Serena nodded her head agreeably .

“I’ll go too,” Nephrite spoke up. Serena nodded her head once again. After Nephrite had confessed his affectionate feeling to Lita, Serena knew what he was going through right now. It was exactly how she felt when Queen Beryl kidnapped Darien long time ago. She didn’t need him to explain why.

“Okay,” Serena made up her mind. “Me, Molly, Nephrite…um…” she looked around. “Rei and Jadeite will go to Planet Jupiter and the rest will stay here. We’ll go tomorrow morning.”

“Okay,” the nine voices chorused. They were too tired to argue anyway.

* * * * * *

Lita groaned in pain when she woke up the next morning. Although she was trapped underground, the lights could still get in through the cracks and Lita estimated that it was a little before afternoon. Using the lights, Lita twisted her body a little to see the wound. The bruises had gone but not entirely and the whip wounds weren’t any better than yesterday except they didn’t hurt as much as they did yesterday.

Slowly Lita stripped off the bandage and straightened her clothing. Her head was still suffering from the headache but it was lighter. She was getting weaker. When she was staying with her master, a few whips like this wouldn’t make her unconscious. But now, after so many years living in luxuries, she had become weak. Maybe her master was right – she had forgotten her place.

However, after considering the price for willingly stayed with her evil master, Lita felt like she had done her responsibility as Princess Serenity’s protector and she was very proud of it. She had sacrificed her freedom, her life, her love and all of hers for her princess, her friends and Earth’s safety. And she hadn’t regretted it even for a second.

No matter how hard she tried to tell herself that her dreams to be with Nephrite was impossible, her heart still couldn’t accept it. Nephrite was alive around her. His smile, his eyes, his beautiful wavy hair lived within her, flowing through her body and creating a powerful emptiness. Every word he had said colored her days and comforted her when she was in pain. For her, Nephrite was everything she had ever needed and had ever wanted. Hell, she didn’t know whether he loved her or not.

Lita closed her eyes, trying to wash away the disappointment and the sadness. Things happened the way she had planned and Lita was already melancholy. She was unhappy but not regretted. Suddenly her door being opened and she saw her master with a very enraged look across her beautiful face. Lita timidly looked up; feeling scared and started to ponder what she had done to make her angry.

“You, stubborn and stupid little slave! Haven’t you paid any heed to what I had said?” A slap hit Lita on her cheek and a little blood started to ooze at the corner of her cheek. It was hurt but now, Lita refused to let out any gasp or wince. She had chose this path and she had to deal with it bravely. But her mind furiously whirled, thinking what in the world she had done. Well, at least tell me why you slap me like that! Lita’s mind retorted.

“When I said you mustn’t tell anyone, I meant you will not and can not tell anyone! You disgusting slave!” Another slap hit her and again Lita stubbornly stayed quiet and unemotional, even though her cheek started to burn hotly and painfully. “Why did you tell your imbecile little princess that you’re here?!”

Lita’s head snapped up in surprised. Her princess is here! She’d come to save me from this maniac! She was so happy and relief. She was angry and furious too, because she expected them to see Molly only because they wanted to know the truth not because they wanted to know where did she go. Perhaps she had made a mistake by leaving a letter. Now her master was angry and all the things she had risk her life for, were now in great danger.

“Yes, my slave! Your pathetic friends are here and so does your best friend – Callisto!” her master said snidely. Callisto should know better than bring her friends here! Lita thought angrily. But her thoughts shattered away when she saw something that made her eyes widened in fear when she finally noticed what was in her master’s hand. The black whip.

“Are they here to save you, my beautiful and infuriating little slave?” she murmured softly that made Lita’s skin crawled. “Ah, but you know it would be impossible and hopeless. Their powers are too weak to compare with mine. You do know that, don’t you?” The queen’s fingers ran through Lita bruises cheek and touched slightly at the oozing blood at the corner of her lips. “I can easily drew their blood out as easy as I drew you blood out! You hear that!”

“You’re crazy,” Lita bravely let out those words. She was tired being scared and beaten and it satisfied her so much by saying those words. But those words had their own price.

Instantly, her master’s eyes narrowed in disbelief and angrier than Lita had ever seen. “Why, Jupiter. I believe you are getting braver than the Jupiter I’ve known,” her voice was strained and her face was red in anger. “But…” she slapped the leather whip to the floor, which made Lita slightly jumped in surprised and feared. “…I know you are still afraid of this whip, aren’t you?” She slapped the whip to the floor again.

Lita took a shallow breath as if she couldn’t draw enough air to her lung as fear tightened around her heart. She hated that whip. She hated so much that leather whip! Her mind chanted as she slid backward in fear. Curving up a vicious smile, her master landed the whip on Lita’s leg and blood rushed out from the opening. Impulsively, Lita put her hand on her thigh, trying to make the blood stopped and she bit her lips, trying to endure the overwhelmed pain on her thigh. She hadn’t cried out.

Her master landed another smack on her slender arm but this time it didn’t drew out any blood. It was just a huge red line that started to turn into blue. And Lita still didn’t cry or even let out gasp in pain. She just dug deeper her teeth into her lips and she didn’t aware that her lips were bleeding. The master noticed that she hadn’t let out any sound and she started to get angry.

“So, you think you’re tough? I’ll make that toughness go away with one more hit,” she said evilly as she raised her whip high in the air. Lita had a very bad feeling that her master meant every word she had said about the last hit and that made her body turned cold in frightened. The truth was, she couldn’t take another spank because the yesterday’s wounds was about to heal and now adding the new gash on her thigh and a long red-blue bruise on her arm was too much. She was afraid she might pass out for a very long time if her master added more of the new wounds.

Closing her eyes tightly, Lita let the fate took control as she waited the next blow to come. But it never did. Vanessa suddenly rushed in with an alarm look and whispered something on her master’s ear. Lita saw her master’s face started to turn grim and then expressionless. But she could see that her master’s eyes were cold and narrowed dangerously when she whispered something to Vanessa’s ear. I must warn my friends. They must leave this place before her master does something very dangerous! Lita thought frantically.

Unexpectedly, her master grabbed Lita’s bruise arm, which made Lita, winced a little. “Come, you little witch! I’ll kill your friends in front of you! That’s a punishment for disobeying my order!” her master hissed angrily as she dragged Lita out of her room. She tried to stand up but her bleeding leg forbid her. But her master refused to understand her condition and she kept dragging her.

They passed the dark and empty corridor and went up using the ruining stairs. Climbing up those stairs had been a painful experience for Lita. Her thigh was hurting like hell and when her master pulled her up through the stairs, her wounds accidentally knocked against the stairs.

Holding her hurting thigh, Lita started to plead. “Master! Please! They had nothing to do with us! Let them go!” Her master seemed to be deaf at her pleading request. She pulled Lita roughly and her winces turned into gasps. She felt like she couldn’t take it anymore.

“Master! Please – “ Lita’s pleading stopped abruptly when she finally saw her shocked looking friends when they saw her condition. Suddenly, Lita felt humiliated and embarrassed because her friends saw her like this – torn clothing, dirties face and bloods were everywhere on her body. Her hair was no more tied up into a ponytail. The rich mahogany hair spread wildly on her back and over her shoulder.

Nephrite tightened his fist angrily. Seeing Lita like this slashed his heart and he was fighting the urge to run to her and heal her hurting with his love whether she accepted it or not. She had just been missing for three days and she looked like almost dying. Her unshed eyes looked humiliatingly at him and finally settled down on the ground. Lita thought he looked at her disgustingly and pitifully but the truth was he looked at her hurtfully and sorrowfully.

Serena’s tears dropped to her cheek. Her friends had suffered so much and she couldn’t imagine how she could even stay so mad at her yesterday. “You let go my friend immediately, you ugly old woman!” she shouted. The queen could be an old woman but ugly?

Her master let out a terrible laugh as she evilly clutched Lita bleeding thigh. That was more than Lita could endure and she grabbed the handful of ground and cried, holding back her tears of pain. “You stop doing that, you stupid queen!” Molly shouted. Nephrite narrowed his eyes ominously as he tightened his hands into fists, longing to punch that smirking look off her face.

“Ah, the new Queen of Jupiter. Or should I say ex-new Queen of Jupiter?” the queen said but still didn’t let go Lita’s thigh. She tightened her clutch, which made Lita screamed in pain. Tears flowed down to her bluish cheek. Rei was furious and started to attack but Jadeite held her firmly.

Nephrite couldn’t take this anymore. “We must attack now!” Rei nodded her head agreeably. She couldn’t just watch her friend being tortured and do nothing.

“Mars Flame Sniper!” Rei shouted. The queen wasn’t aware of the attack until it was too late. The fire started to surround her and she stepped back. This gave them an opportunity to save Lita. Nephrite ran towards her and then lifted her and ran away.

“Lita are you alright?” Serena said concernedly after Nephrite reached to their spot. But instead of answering her, Lita grasped Serena’s hand, ignoring her pains. “You must leave now! You are no match with her!”

“We can’t leave you here! You are only here for three days and you looked like a mess!” Serena argued but she couldn’t stop her tears from kept flowing.

“I’ll survive…” Lita started. “Survive?!” Nephrite shouted furiously. He had been so worried and she didn’t even care or appreciate their concerns. “Look at yourself! This is what you called surviving?! This suicide! You are KILLING YOURSELF!!” Lita was stunned by his sudden outburst.

“Nephrite…” Lita asked him, her voice was slightly quaver as she looked at him with her eyebrows drew closed. “Why are you so angry?”

He looked at her dirties, tear-streaking face and her huge green eyes but her beauty was still vivid. Instantly his anger extinguished, leaving worries and fears. God, how he’d loved her and she didn’t even know about it. “Forget about it,” he said finally. How could he expect her to understand what he had been through for three days?

The queen finally managed to survive unhurt after that fire blasting but it made her angrier. “You’ll pay for that!” She raised one hand and bright greenish light performed. She threw the beam towards Mars. The beam was so fast that Mars couldn’t see it. Luckily, Jadeite pulled her closed to him and pushed her aside.

But before they could untangle each other, the queen let out another greenish beam toward them and it hit right on Jadeite’s back as he protected Mars. “Jadeite!” Mars shouted.

The queen was about to throw another beam to them but Serena let out an attack that drew the beam away from Mars. “Moon Healing Escalation!” the brilliant light surrounding Jadeite healing his bleeding back and at the same time hit the queen.

“Jadeite, are you okay?” Mars said worriedly. But when the blue eyes flicked opened and his mouth quirked into a grin, Rei let out a relief sigh. “Worried that much for me?” He teased him. Strangely Jadeite was pleased immensely by her concerned. “Huh, just because you had saved me, that’s all,” she pushed him away and heard him chuckled.

It was the second time the queen was being hit and it pissed her off. She raised both of her hands and the bigger and more powerful beams performed in her hands. Serena staggered back a step in shock when she saw how enormous her power was. “Maybe, Lita was right,” she whispered at Nephrite. “We shouldn’t dare the queen.”

The queen held the enormous beam in one hand and the other she performed a smaller beam and attacked Serena. She, who was still awed at how powerful the queen’s power, see the beam came to her but it was to late and she was easily being hit at her right leg. Nephrite ran toward Serena, without knowing he gave the queen to opportunity to attack him. The queen let go the huge beam to Nephrite and Serena.

“Nephrite, look out!” Molly screamed. With his hands still on Serena’s leg, he looked over his shoulder. He couldn’t possibly avoid the beam if he evaded the beam with Serena. Quickly he made up his mind. He pushed Serena’s away from the beam’s path. Lita saw what Nephrite intended to do and she quickly tried to stand up.

“No! Nephrite! Don’t!” Lita shouted at him as she limply headed toward him as fast as she could. Her eyes widened in horror when she saw the beam hit right on his chest. Her heart ached painfully when she heard the gurgled sound from his throat and saw bloods tickled down. She quickened her paces and arrived exactly for Nephrite to fall into her embrace.

Jadeite started to run to Nephrite too but Mars quickly held him. He turned his head and looked at her questionably. “We have to stall the queen before she could perform another attack.”

“My friend is dying there! You think I’m selfish enough not to see him!” He yelled angrily.

“And my friend, too, is dying there!” she shouted back, referring to Lita. “But I’m not that self-loving that I’d rather let that witch attacking them again!” Jadeite looked at her, torn between shocked at her outburst and admired her temper.

“My friends are your friends and your friends are my friends. After all, we’re team, right?” She could see his blue eyes softened. “Let’s joined Sailormoon before she be attacked again.” Rei tried once again as she held his arm. Jadeite considered her words and reluctantly nodded his head.

“That’s hurt,” Nephrite complained when Lita repositioned his arms so that he would be as cozy as possible. With his head on her lap, Lita’s eyes shining heartbreakingly when she saw her love’s condition. It hurt when he laid his head on her injured thigh but she didn’t care. The worst part was his chest, which was soaking with bloods.

“Did you know what I think when I was lying injured like this when I was a general?” Nephrite asked Lita and he saw her shook her head. Through her blurred and teary eyes, Lita could see he was uncomfortable and bracing himself for another pain if he accidentally moved any part of his body. It was so hurt and helpless to see him like this and knowing that she couldn’t do anything to ease his pains.

“When the pains surged through my body…” he stopped tentatively as he took shallow breaths, hoping that Lita didn’t know that talking made him hard to breath. “…I wished so much that the pains would go permanently. I wished that I had another peaceful life where no bloods, pains and deaths. Sometime…” he raised his tormenting eyes to meet her soaking ones. “I wished that I…was dead-,” Lita immediately put her finger on his lips, giving him a warning look.

“Don’t say that! Ever!” Her teardrops fell onto his forehead. “Because everybody needs you. Your company needs you. Your brothers need you,” I need you Lita added silently. It was the truth. She needed him so much that it scared her. She needed his touch, his smiles, his wonderful laughs and most of all she needed his love.

“But I was tired. It feels like I was swimming against the currents. And I…” Pains shot through his chest, forcing him to stop talking. Bloods tickled down from the corner of his lips. Lita was horrified and she quickly wiped it off. “…And I saw you and my responsibilities…across those currents, waving and looking at me. I’d tried…”

“Don’t talk,” she interrupted. “Rest.” For the first time in her life, Lita couldn’t stop crying. Her whole world was tearing apart, her heart was crushing into millions pieces and it was all because of him.

But he refused to listen. “I’d tried to fight those currents for responsibilities but I could see that my prince has…another three powerful guardians beside him and three of my brothers to…to run the company.” He stopped to let out a few coughs causing a new and fresh blood oozed out from his mouth. “And then, I’d tried to fight the currents because of you…” Lita shot her head down to face him. What he means by that? Lita thought as her feelings mixed with variety of happy, sad and scare feelings.

Nephrite was too much in pain and he didn’t know what he was talking. He was hoping that he could forget the pain by talking but it only made the pain worse. “…But I can’t see any reason to do that. We always fight…fight and fight, so why must you care for me?”

Lita grasped his cheeks with both of her hands, forcing him to look at her. “You’re wrong. You must win. You must defeat the currents for me because of two reasons.” He looked tiredly to her eyes, remembering how beautiful her eyes were if they were glowing happily and radiantly. Now they were clouded with her thick eyelashes and rained with tears. Were the tears for her love to him or her pity to his condition? “What reasons?”

Taking a deep breath, Lita blurted out the secret that had burdened her from the day she woke up on the island and saw him holding her protectively. “The reason that I love you more than anything in this world. The reason that if you lose, I, too, will lose and I’ll follow you everywhere you go, from Earth to Heaven.”

Nephrite closed his eyes, unable to believe her confession. Pain was becoming worse and he couldn’t breathe as something in the corner of his mind was pulling him farther from Lita. He was losing consciousness and Lita’s voice seemed so far. The currents were consuming him, threatened to take him away from Lita but because of Lita, he fought. But he weakly knew that he was fighting the losing battle and he hadn’t much time left. If only he could say to her that he loved her too…

“Nephrite! No! You can’t leave me!” He heard her calling him desperately. He wanted to answer but he felt like his lung was about to burst and his chest was pressing his life as his life slowing draining out. Lita quickly touched his wrist, frantically searching for pulse but found nothing. Fear rose threateningly when he was lying unmoved as if he was…dead. “No!” She cried pressing her lips onto his to give him her life. “You can’t…CAN’T leave me!” She furiously pounded his chest. But still not working. He lay sprawling on the ground with his thick hair was spreading beautifully on her lap, leaving powerful aches in her heart.

“Lita!” Molly grasped her from behind but she was too hysterical to listen. “Lita!” She tried once more and this time, Lita released him and hugged her friend, crying very hard. “I’m sorry…” Molly whispered.

“I…I finally told him that I love him but now…he’s…” she mumbled in her friends shoulder, releasing everything and anything that she had kept it inside. “I haven’t got the chance to say everything that that I’ve been wanting to say.” Lita was torturing herself with her own words. “And…and it was their entire fault!” her eyes blazing angrily as she pushed Molly aside and walked toward the battlefield. “All was that stupid, cruel and foolish master’s fault!”

“Lita!” Molly ran toward her. “No…” her voice quavered when she saw that Lita was shining with the bright green beam.

“You have killed him!” The fight stopped and the four fighters looked at Lita. “You have killed him and I’ll make you PAY FOR THAT!”