Got a "constructive" comment to make? That’s what the address is for…and please, behave yourselves. Or the Grand Inquisitor shall have you totemized on behalf of Frobozz Electrics.
See you in part ten…if you make it that far…
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"life by its very nature is cruel and unkind and unfair"
by Celeste Goodchild
Part Nine: Paint the Sky with Stars
The group looked at each other in wonder, though Minako seemed perfectly at ease. She pulled Zoya to her unsteady feet, and said "Let’s go."
"What about Nephrite and Naru-chan?" protested Usagi, and Minako smiled enigmatically.
"I think you’ll find that Morganite will deal with that – Leucite must have told her through their mind meld as he told us to go to the park. Morganite will get them there."
Usagi sighed, looking worried. "Does Naru-chan really have to come with us? I’m afraid she’s gonna get hurt…"
"Let’s just go," sighed Luna, and Zoya nearly fell over in shock. Minako smiled, and patted her shoulder. "It’s only Luna – I guess you never noticed her talking, ne?"
Zoya’s brow creased in thought, and she grimaced. "Don’t…" she murmured, clutching at her head like it hurt. "I…I think I remember. Yes…" She looked at Mamoru, tears in her eyes. "I just remembered all I did to you…I was able to block the memories, not dwell on them…but I was wrong! I did so much-"
He took her into his arms, and held her tight. "That was Zoisite, not you."
No one heard her words as she mumbled "I wish I had your faith."
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Kunzite sat on the edge of his opulent bed, staring at his hands with blank eyes. Nothing had changed…except present company. His rooms were exactly as he had left them, though Phenakite had pointed out, Beryl and Metallia had "died" not long after he had passed into the realm of Angelikarma’s judgement.
Phenakite moved over to the bed, and seductively moved closer to him, looking up into him with her liquid eyes. "I thought I told you not to dwell on the past – you can’t change it, any more than you can change the traitor. I am your destiny now." She moved her small hands with practised ease over his chest as she pushed him back onto the bed, and he noticed how she had grown her fingernails into red talons. No wonder she didn’t wear gloves.
As she moved to kiss him, his gaze wandered to a certain, familiar alcove – and he threw the girl aside, and she shrieked in protest. "Kunzite!"
He turned on her, eyes blazing. "Where is my picture of Zoisite?!"
The ‘young’ girl pouted, appearing youthful for all her ten thousand years of existence. "I put it away, Kunzite. I told you, you don’t need him! You have me!"
"Damn you, Phenakite!" he cried, his heart disintegrating in his chest. "It’s not true!"
"And you called me a fool!" she sneered suddenly, referring to an old argument. "HE LOVES ENDYMION!"
Kunzite let the girl kiss his lips, his throat, and stared at the ceiling with stony eyes as the girl desperately tried to make him desire her as much as she desired him. Kunzite, however, was hardly one to simply make do with what was available. He knew what he wanted, and he was going to get it.
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Zoya smiled at the assorted Senshi, tucked comfortably under Tuxedo Kamen’s arm, in Usagi’s former place. She had changed at the apartment during their brief stop over, into a long linen dress that was a deep maroon, lined with gold. Her wide sash-like belt was of a warm green material, like her verdant eyes, and the dress was like a jacket at the top, revealing the white shirt she wore beneath it. Around her slender neck was a pretty gold necklace that consisted of a filigree gold pattern, interwoven with shards of the crystal zoisite. When asked why she wore it, she shrugged and smiled sadly. "I wasn’t exactly going to dress like Zoisite, you know. I’m not him…besides, that drab grey THING was disgusting! It clashed with my hair!"
The others looked at each other in amusement. That sounded like Zoisite, for sure.
"So?" asked Sailor Moon, walking into the park. "What are we actually doing?"
"Don’t worry," replied Mars snidely. "If you shut up and do it, I’ll buy you a donut at the end of it."
"That’s not gonna work, Rei-chan," snapped Sailor Moon, then reconsidered. "What kind of donut?"
"Chocolate," put in Venus, looking like she was enjoying herself, despite Jadeite’s condition.
"With sprinkles," giggled Jupiter, as Sailor Moon began drooling. Mercury smiled.
"Enough, you guys – this is serious." Without thinking, she moved to the other side of Zoya, and took her hand. Zoya looked startled, but she didn’t pull away. "I think that Beryl must be alive again. And it’s our duty to kick her ass!"
"Right on, Mercury!" cheered Jupiter. "So my influence is working, after all!"
Tuxedo Kamen smiled at the girls’ vibrant energy, and felt a tug at his heartstrings as he looked at Sailor Moon. She was such…a beautiful child. And Zoya was something else, a stranger part of him. He didn’t understand how he could love this unusual woman, and in so short in time, but then…Jadeite had fallen for Minako in as short a time period. Love worked in mysterious ways.
"Hey, losers! What took you so long?" cried Naru, running forward, Masato trailing her. A strange woman in a grey uniform followed, the long skirt making her seem to float over the dewy grass.
"Naru-chan?" asked Sailor Moon cautiously. "Do you know…"
"Of course, Usagi-chan!" she cried, and threw her arms around her friend, laughing out loud. "Explains a few things…oh, Usagi-chan! Nephrite’s alive!"
"In a manner of speaking," Masato said quietly, obviously not as delighted to have his memories back. The unusual, unfamiliar woman took his hand, and looked at the others. "Morganite?" guessed Mars.
"Indeed," she sighed heavily, looking bored. "So where’s Leucite?"
"Can’t you talk to him through your mind?" asked Jupiter quickly.
The woman scowled, making her cruel face even darker. "He can talk to me, but I don’t have those powers anymore. Not since Beryl killed Éowyn."
"Éowyn?" asked Mars, looking to Zoya. She shrugged.
"My former self," she snapped, and still looking around, added "Where is he?"
"I’m right here," said a friendly voice, and the gang turned to see a man in a long black cloak, and another man in a grey uniform…
"Jadeite!" cried Venus, and she threw herself into his arms, tears rocketing down her cheeks. "He was right! He could heal you!"
"Shush, angel, don’t cry," soothed the gentle voice of the King, stroking her beautiful, pale hair. "I would never leave you…"
"I find your faith in my abilities commendable," giggled Leucite, and he sobered as he took in the group. "Masato – are you ready? I understand it was you who wanted Naru-chan to come." He eyeballed Morganite, and sighed. "Is that really wise? Given your past?"
"Morganite…we’re through." He said it decisively, and the others looked intrigued. Zoya filled in. "Kunzite used to be married to Morganite, long before Zoisite – I mean, I got involved with him. And they divorced because those two were having an affair."
"Shut up," he said uncomfortably, pulling Naru closer. "It’s over now. I’m ready to go back to the Dark Kingdom."
"Do you want to take on your old form?" asked Leucite, staring at him with burning blue eyes.
The man sighed, shaking his head. "No – maybe, maybe when we’re there. Until then…"
Leucite looked at his hands, then at the others. "We’re not going to the Dark Kingdom. At least, not yet. As Morganite already knows, there is one place we must go first."
"I’ll stay here!" piped up Sailor Moon instantly. She looked at Luna, a twinkle in her eyes. "SOMEONE has to look after the cats."
"Hey!" yowled Luna. "I’m going too! And so are you, Usa-chan!"
The assorted Senshi giggled at this exchange, and Zoya smiled wistfully. She wished she could have a friendship as powerful as theirs…her mind shifted as a fuzzy memory entered her mind. Of a time long forgotten, but somehow, always remembered by a mourning earth…when she had been different, light…his friends, the Prince’s honour guard…
The tears were there before she knew they were coming, and she choked back a sob. Tuxedo Kamen simply pulled her closer, and didn’t ask questions. He knew the answers, in his heart.
Leucite shifted uncomfortably. "Gating would be a mistake," he said, looking at the others. "Besides, Jadeite is the only one with his old powers still intact, and he is too weak to transport all of us. And I’m not allowed to, because of…circumstances. We’ll have to transverse the Omni-zone."
"Now there’s a question," put in Mercury, putting on her visor, and whipping out a little computer that was surprising powerful for all its unremarkable appearance. "How did you heal Jadeite? And not to mention you just waltzed out of the hospital, no questions asked…a cerebral haemorrhage like that isn’t exactly a ten minute fix-it-and-done-all-better-now kind of medical job!"
"Human minds are easy to manipulate," said Leucite, looking kind of…ashamed? "It’s not something I get any perverse pleasure out of, let me assure you, but it had to be done. As far as this dimension of earth is concerned, Jonathan Troubetzkoy is fine, and in Greece." He turned to the crater, and to every one’s amazement, a huge black gateway opened, shaped like a circle, with silver and gold energy sparking across the surface as if it were made of glass.
"Hang on just one second, buddy," snapped Mars, looking at the portal with distaste. "What in the hell is the Omni-zone?"
"A point in space where all the realities converge," Mercury said, tapping furiously at her computer. "It should be okay…according to this, nothing can happen to us as long as the calculations are correct."
"And if they’re not?"
"We could end up in any one of a billion realities – whether they be other dimensions, parallel universes, or alternative realities. If we do miscalculate, we’ll probably die." She looked up, a twinkle in her eyes. "But that’s the bad news. The good news is, we’ve got him to guide us. And he knows what he’s up to."
She was pointing at Leucite, and Mars leant over, trying to read Mercury’s computer screen. But she pulled it away and smiled. "Mars, just trust me on this one, okay?"
"Are we there yet?" whined Sailor Moon, and Tuxedo Kamen burst into laughter.
"Some things never change, ne? Odango atama!"
Luna looked like she was getting a headache, as Sailor Moon blew Tuxedo Kamen a raspberry. "Let’s just go."
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"It’s all dark and horrible in here," announced Sailor Moon, as she passed judgement over the dark nothingness.
"Just don’t look down," said Leucite, a tic of amusement flickering across his worried features. Obviously, there was something bothering him.
"Why not?" asked Jupiter, trying desperately to keep her gaze upward. Luna had to force Sailor Moon to keep her head up with her paws.
"We’re walking on nothing…don’t you ever watch cartoons? We won’t fall unless we look down."
"Really?" asked Venus. "I don’t believe – OH SHIT!"
Everyone swung in surprise to see Venus standing beside Jadeite, looking innocent. "Only joking."
"Enough," spoke Leucite wearily. Mars could sense the vibes of unease emanating from him as if they were in fact tangible. "I don’t think we’re going to have a problem, but still, you have to calm down."
"Problem?" asked Mars, wrinkling her nose. "There’s a problem?"
"Not necessarily," Leucite sighed, and the gang gasped as they saw it – before them was a huge gateway, of wrought iron, that shimmered like mother of pearl, set into a huge stone wall. Stairs lead up from the nothing on which they walked, as it was here that Leucite lead them. Beyond the locked gates lay a swirling mass of white, silver, purple and gold, a portal like no other.
"Thank Oberon," breathed Leucite in relief. "She’s not here."
"Oh really," spoke a disembodied voice, and to the shock of all, a light shot out of the portal, and formed into a human-like figure. A flash of light gave the figure features…mid-length dark red hair, strung with strands of molten gold, and eyes to match the sweetest of golds, dressed in a simple white dress. She looked like a nice woman, but she was pissed. "Puck, Puck, Puck, Puck, PUCK! I thought I told you not to interfere with Breccia’s Trust. It is hers to decide, not yours. You try to do good, but it’s too late to redeem yourself, child. Go back to your own dimension, heal the wounds there."
"What would be the point!" he shouted, blood staining his cheeks. "I’ve been banished! I can’t go back! I don’t want to go back! And David and Fox don’t need me right now, either. I can stay!"
She sighed, and her angel-like aura faded, to be replaced by a purple dress, covered by a black, floor length jacket with a purple sailor collar, clasped with a strange red pendant. In her left hand was a tall wooden staff with a purple orb at the pinnacle, with was carved with intricate patterns. Into these grooves, molten gold had been poured, and these were still set there. "In your heart, you’ve always wanted to go home."
"NO I HAVEN’T!" he shrieked, then he regained some control. "Celestine, let us past."
"You know I can’t do that, Puck. It’s against the rules."
"Whose rules? Breccia’s?"
"Mine. But surely you know, Puck – you cannot interfere anymore than you already have. Let go."
He bowed his head. "You know I can’t, Celestine. Let me pass."
Celestine sighed heavily, eyes sad. "You’ve done this to me too many times Puck. I am the Grand Inquisitor, I am not supposed to be swayed by emotions. I am above and beyond you, I feel nothing." A single tear slipped down her cheek. "Your pain is great, Child of Oberon, but I cannot let you past. You’ve got to go home." Her voice was husky, pained. "I have broken the rule too many times as it is."
Leucite lowered his head, and nodded. "I understand. But can I not…Breccia’s Trust…it is one member short! Can I not take his place?"
A smile so sad. "You know I cannot change the will of Breccia, Puck. And neither can you. It is time you returned to your own dimension."
Celestine stepped backward, and looked at the others. She guarded the gateway with a power none could see, but could sense.
Leucite lead the group away from the strange guardian, and sighed. "Great," said Mars. "So where does this leave us?"
"In a rather compromising situation, I’m afraid," he said sombrely. "I’m so sorry."
"Who was that?" asked Sailor Moon, looking back at the ‘girl,’ if she could be called that. She seemed very old, somehow. Older than even Puck. "At first, I thought it was Beryl…"
He laughed dryly. "Hardly. That is Celestine, the Grand Inquisitor, and Guardian of the Omni-zone. Generally, she never gives me trouble…but obviously, she can sense the cosmic unbalance in Breccia’s power, thus she is blocking me out."
"Can’t you just…I don’t know, toast her or something? You must have a great deal of power, even more than us combined, I would figure." Mercury appeared hopeful.
Leucite quashed that hope easily. "As Leucite, I have a degree of power, but hardly as much as even Kunzite. As Puck, I am much more powerful. Though there are two problems – one, I do not have unlimited access to those powers any longer, and two, Celestine could kick my ass any day. She has a power beyond measurement. She could take Beryl out with just a flick of her wrist – though she never would, unless Breccia ordered her too. Besides, her power is obsolete in the Dark Kingdom."
"Who is Breccia?" asked Mars, starting to get agitated. "You two keep mentioning her, but we don’t…"
"It’s okay," Leucite broke in. "Do you remember the plaque on the entrance to the Temple of the Ancients?"
"The one about Breccia’s wayward children?" asked Venus, still clutching Jadeite’s arm.
"Yes, that’s the one. It means that those five are the five that Breccia has deemed worthy of her trust. To become the bearers of her fury that must be released on the darkness that has destroyed the Dark Kingdom.
She chose them because of what Beryl had done to them in the past…and their leader would have been, should have been Phoebe, Princess of Nemesis. The avatar who could hold the power of Angelikarma."
"Did someone turn over two pages at once?" Jupiter looked lost. "I don’t get it. Who’s Breccia? Who’s Angelikarma? And who the smeg is Princess Phoebe?"
"Yeah," agreed Sailor Moon, eyes wide. "Could you do the big writing version with pictures? One word per page?"
Leucite smiled. "Angelikarma is not a who, it’s a force. As is Breccia, in a manner of speaking. Breccia is actually similar to Metallia, in a way. Both are formless creatures without mortal forms. The difference is, Metallia was never supposed to incarnated. Breccia was. Until Metallia trapped her in Nemesis. But Breccia’s story is long, involved, tragic. All you need to know is that Nemesis, home to the Princess Phoebe, is the book end to the Dark Kingdom, home to Queen Beryl. Celestine is involved in this only because she is a servant to Breccia – if you could call her anyone’s servant. She has the title of the Grand Inquisitor, while Breccia doesn’t have any honorific, though she is certainly the more powerful of the two. Basically, Breccia is the Metallia, or even the god of Nemesis, Phoebe’s fallen Kingdom. Angelikarma is the force that these people lived on, like the denizens of the Dark Kingdom thrived on stolen human energy.
"The priestess Celestine is the token guardian of Nemesis, and is the only one who can directly contact Breccia. But as she is not a being of Nemesis, she cannot take the power of Angelikarma into herself. Thus, Breccia needs to invoke her Trust, to enable the Princess to have a united force to join her power with. Angelikarma is too powerful for one alone, so she created the Trust on life and love. Breccia’s Trust." He sighed. "Phoebe is dead, the circle is broken. This is the end of any hope of Phoebe leading Breccia’s Trust, which is already short one member as it is. Somehow, we must reawaken the power through some other means. I thought that I could help out…but Celestine is blocking my path. You will have to do this alone."
"Alone?" squawked Sailor Moon. "But we know nothing about this Breccia thing! And…how can we do anything? We’re part of another group – we can’t be that part of Breccia’s Trust that is missing."
"Indeed you can’t – but there is a way. You must go to the heart of Nemesis, to Breccia’s temple. There, you will find the answer to the question. The one who can take the places of Princess Phoebe-hime and Lord Kunzite-sama. Those who will form the new trust."
"You mean – we’ll ask Breccia?"
"Weren’t you listening, Mercury? Only Celestine can directly communicate with Breccia. She will direct you to the temple, and speak on your behalf. She will, too – she knows it is her duty. She will not deny you as she has denied me, have no fear of that. The Grand Inquisitor will lead the way."
"You say that there are two missing people from Breccia’s Trust," spoke up Zoya, still holding on to Tuxedo Kamen. "I think there are more."
Leucite looked at her in horror. "Zoya, you can’t! There is no choice! Don’t make it a choice!"
"Why not?" The girl sounded pissed off. "I made a choice to turn my back on my dark half, and from the way you’re talking, it was my dark half that was a part of Breccia’s Trust. Therefore, when I rejected Zoisite, I rejected Breccia. I am no longer a part of this." Suddenly, twin rivers of tears spilled down her cheeks. "Why can’t any of you understand? I want to go home…"
Sailor Moon felt her heart tug – she knew exactly how the girl felt. She had felt the same way when she had discovered her past, her duty. "Zoya, please. You must let Zoisite come to the surface."
Everyone gaped in amazement at the girl – she had let Princess Selene come to her surface, and there she stood, looking at the stunned girl with gentle understanding. "You are a part of this Trust, for good or bad. The Choice you made did not extend enough to break your bindings to Breccia and her vengeance."
"Vengeance?" Venus looked upset. "Hang on, I didn’t realise this was a trip for revenge!"
Leucite smiled crookedly. "Think about it, Venus…I mean, Breccia is the embodiment of the land of Nemesis. And in Greek mythology, Nemesis was the goddess of retribution. And let me assure you, there is a lot to be paid back in the area regarding Metallia and Breccia. But that isn’t the point…"
Princess Selene took the hand of Zoya, who resembled Zoisite remarkably in the way her hair was styled, but not in her dress sense. "You must join the forces of Breccia, to combat the power of Metallia and Beryl. Then, and only then, will you be free to your Prince." She smiled with melancholy as she looked at Tuxedo Kamen. "You were sweet, Endymion. I’ll never forget…"
She collapsed, her Princess form fading as she returned to Sailor Moon, Jadeite moving to catch her, with the assistance of Sailor Jupiter. "Another one of those fainting spells, hmm?" asked Mars, but not snidely.
Mercury nodded as she checked her pulse. "She’ll be fine."
The girl who had been Zoisite before she had chosen mortality appeared stunned. "I…I’ll come with you. But only as myself…as Zoya. I rejected Zoisite, and I don’t want to be him anymore, okay?"
Masato sighed. "Leucite, could you give me a hand here? I want…I want to be Nephrite."
"I can’t help you – the desire has to come from your side, and your side alone. You probably won’t regain your former self until your deepest part makes that choice."
Leucite indicated they should follow him, back to where Celestine stood. She didn’t appear to be bored by her wait, but as Venus thought about it, it was hardly surprising. Her job must involve a lot of solitude.
"Are you ready to let them go, Leucite?" From the way she spoke, it was obvious she had heard every word that had passed between the members of the group.
"Yes, my lady," he said quietly. "You are to take them to Nemesis, and I shall return to my own dimension."
"That’s not completely necessary," she said quietly. "I can allow you to go to the Dark Kingdom – alone."
Leucite appeared stunned. "What for?"
"In case you are needed. You do have some legal influence there, regarding your sister, it is just that you have no business whatsoever in Nemesis – no matter what your feelings."
He nodded, and turned to the group. "I’ll see you all later, I guess. Morganite…"
"Yes?"
"Behave yourself, won’t you. If she wants in…"
"I know my own mind," she snapped, and added more gently "I’ll be fine."
Celestine waved pointedly, and Leucite opened a gateway, warping to the Dark Kingdom. That left only the five Senshi, Tuxedo Mask, Zoya, Masato, Naru, Jadeite and the cats. The ageless gate keeper sighed, and motioned for them to follow. The gates opened slowly, and they stepped inside, and into…
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Leucite looked around warily. These were Nephrite’s chambers, and there was only one thing he was interested in.
Titania’s mirror.
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The group looked around, flabbergasted by the beauty of the temple. It was made of white stone that shimmered with many colours, and the centre was a circular clearing, looking up into a sky of many stars, coloured with all hues of the rainbow. If one was silent, one might think they could hear the stars speaking…
"Masato?" asked Naru quietly, looking at him in worry. He had halted, and was staring upward in a brooding silence.
"Shoosh," said Morganite softly, pulling Naru away. "He’s listening to them speak."
To the united shock of every one, except Celestine, who probably never got overexcited, a light from inside engulfed the man, and when it faded, Nephrite stood alone.
"The power of the stars," he sighed sadly, taking Naru’s outstretched hand. "It’s brought me home."
"Where did Celestine go?" asked Sailor Moon. Everyone was stunned – no one had seen her leave.
"I’m over here," she said, sounding bored. "Now THERE’S a surprise." She looked annoyed as she walked out of the centre circle, into which she had vanished only seconds before. "Come on, I know where we have to go now."
"What’s the surprise?" asked Jadeite curiously, speaking up for the first time in a long while. He still slightly leant on Venus for support.
"Breccia’s ruling," she said impatiently. "I know who the fifth member is now, and I have to go and get her. As for the leader…I KNEW I shouldn’t have said anything."
"You’re the leader?"
She rolled her eyes. "Yes – and I have a very bad feeling about it, too. I’m not supposed to go anywhere near Angelikarma – and now, she wants me to take in into myself." She pulled the others towards the gate through which they had entered. "I’ve got a horrible feeling about all this."