Planet Bound: Venus
by Marj
Please e-mail your comments and constructive criticisms at
. Thanks!
Disclaimers: The characters of Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon were created
by Naoko Takeuchi-san, its copyright owned by Toei Animation, Kodansha,
Nakayoshi, Sterling Animation Inc., and many other companies scattered
throughout the world. Meaning, I cannot claim the characters as my
own, and am mearly borrowing them. The character Ayukawa
Himeru and all the characters of the . . . umm . . . characters not
found in the manga are mine. So please don't sue, as I don't earn
anything from this other than the satisfaction of making a story.
Chapter Twenty-one: Another Loss
Himeru stared in shock as his brother stalked towards him. "Wait!!! I
was only saying good-bye!"
"Yeah, right! Do you expect me to believe that when you're practically
embracing her?!!!"
"I was going to leave! Believe me!"
"No, you weren't! You're a traitor! And traitors deserve to die!!!"
Ares brandished his sword and started to attack his brother.
"Ares, no! He *was* saying good-bye! He did it because he didn't want
to interfere with the decision of our parents . . ." Minako said.
"Stay out of this!!!" he yelled, glaring at her. He swiped his sword
at his brother numerous times, but his feelings had taken control of
him, and all he could hit was air. Himeru simply avoided the onslaught
of his brother. He didn't fight back.
Ares stopped, his sword gripped in his hand. "All I did . . . all I
ever did was to love you with all my heart . . . I did everything I
could just to take you from my brother . . . I went as far as the
darkness itself just to make him disappear forever!!"
Himeru's eyes widened. "What did you do? WHAT DID YOU DO?????" he
screamed.
Ares smiled evilly. Minako thought.
"I was the one who told the Dark Kingdom about the ball. I told them
to attack when the soldiers were all drunk from partying. They
promised me your hand, but they betrayed me! They killed you!!!" Ares
said, pointing his sword at Minako. He laughed. "It was all Vulcan's
fault! He was your protector, but he didn't protect you! People like
him don't deserve your love! So I killed him!"
Himeru stared at his brother in shock as Minako gasped. All of the
puzzle pieces that Cassandra had left started to click into place. It
was Ares who had betrayed the Moon Kingdom. It was Ares who had killed
Vulcan, one of the best warriors of the kingdom. All because he loved
her!
"But Anchises was born, and he looks like Vulcan! I didn't think he
would be a bother to me . . . you were mine, now! Mine!!! Nobody ever
found out that I had killed Vulcan, so my parents gave you to me!!!
But I was wrong . . . I should have killed him a long time ago!!!" Ares
continued, raising his sword again.
Himeru felt his hand tighten around the handle of his own sword. "You
killed them! My brother . . . and countless others . . . the entire
population of the Silver Millennium . . ."
Ares smiled. "Surprised? Fight me, now! We shall see who will take
the princess!"
"STOP IT!!! Ares, please! You're being crazy . . . snap out of it!"
Minako pleaded.
"I said stay out of this!!" Ares cried, pushing her away. She landed
on the flowers a few meters from them.
"Minako!!!" Himeru cried.
"You're not even calling her princess anymore. What kind of a duke are
you? Fight me, now!" Ares dared.
But Himeru took his hand away from his sword. "I won't fight. A
woman's love is to be earned, not to be fought over."
"COWARD!!!" Ares started swiping his sword again. Himeru just dodged
the blows. He pulled out his sword, but did not attack his brother
with it. Rather, he used it for blocking. Ares could not get through
Himeru's defenses. That is, until his younger brother tripped and
landed on the grass.
Ares’s dull eyes lit up with raging fire. "Now, you will join our dear
brother in the grave!!!" He raised his sword . . .
Minako stood up and quickly jumped on top of Himeru. "If you're going
to kill your own kind, I might as well die too, for what is the use of
being the goddess of love if I am the cause of a fight between two
brothers that has already killed thousands of others?!?"
Ares brought his sword down. "You know I can't kill you. I love you
too much . . ."
"Don’t you love your brother just as much?" Minako asked, gripping
Himeru’s shirt tightly. "Can’t you not kill him as well?"
The duke looked away.
Minako looked at him, tears streaming down her eyes. "Ares . . ."
"I have caused your mother so much pain by being responsible for your
first death . . . I caused the downfall of a kingdom because of my
selfish desire . . . and if I can't have you even after all of this
destruction, then I might as well disappear forever . . . I’ve got
nothing left to live for . . ."
Minako and Himeru watched as his loose grip on his sword became
tighter. Himeru’s eyes widened. "Ares, you’re not going to . . . "
Ares looked at his brother with intense hate and sorrow. "Yes, I will.
I don’t deserve to live!"
Minako shook her head. "Please! Even a man who had comitted so much
sins don’t deserve to die!"
"I let Metallia take advantage of my hatred. I was insane, insane with
jealousy. Evil has corrupted me. Don’t you understand? It was
because of me why so many people died. Vulcan was right. I killed
them. I killed you. *I killed your princess!!!*"
Minako cried. She buried her face on Himeru’s chest.
Himeru was staring at his brother, and he gasped when he saw wet tears
falling out of his dull eyes.
"The High General Kunzite, though killed and overtook by evil, still
couldn’t bring himself to harm you with his own hands. Do you
remember? He knew that you *were* Sailorvenus on the night when he had
hypnotized your friend, yet he couldn’t kill you even with this
knowledge."
Minako trembled. He was right. Kunzite knew that Sailor V and
Sailorvenus were one and the same, yet except for Katarina, no youma
had tried to kill her alone - which Kunzite could have done.
"But look at me. Look at all the deaths I’ve caused. All you held
dear I destroyed. All because of my love for you."
"Ares . . . " Himeru said.
"Then . . . everything is my fault!" Minako cried.
Himeru looked at Minako’s tear-strained face. "You haven’t done
anything wrong! Just because he loved you, it does not mean that you
are guilty!"
Ares shook his head, finally agreeing with his brother. "It’s not your
fault. You never knew my feelings. It was all me. Me and my
decisions. I would die for you. I killed for you. It became a hidden
traitor among my kin. Me. A respected duke." He glanced at his
glittering sword. "I had said that traitors deserve to die. I stand
by my word." He looked at Minako sadly. "Goodbye, my princess. My
beautiful princess."
"No . . ." Minako pleaded.
Ares raised his sword again . . .
"NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Minako and Himeru cried.
. . . and pushed the sword through his chest.
Himeru watched with grief, anger, and disbelief. "NOO!! Ares!" He
rushed to his brother's side, pulled out the sword and felt for a
pulse. Ares was dead.
"No! No, Ares, you jerk! You weren't supposed to die . . . Ares!" he
cried, holding his brother close to him, his tears flowing shamelessly
down his cheeks.
He looked at Minako. She was just standing there, not moving an inch,
staring at Ares and Himeru. She didn't do so much as blink. She stood
like a statue, with only her tears moving down the unchanging
expression of shock on her face.
"Minako?" Himeru said, fear enclosing his heart.
It was then that Minako fainted and crumpled down on the ground.
"Minako!!" Himeru cried. He looked between her and his brother,
confused if he should stay with his dead brother or attend to his love.
His mind was so mixed up that all he did was scream and scream, his
loud voice, full of grief and sorrow, echoing throughout the castle,
startling all of the people inside.
When the guards finally arrived at the scene, they saw one of the
Venusian dukes dead, the Princess of Venus barely breathing on the
floor, and the youngest duke staring blankly ahead of him.
*****
Watching this scene from a far distance was Cassandra. "So the truth
has finally been discovered, after hundreds of years of being buried
deep in a young man's guilty heart . . ." she whispered to herself.
(
geocities.com/tokyo/field/4723) (
geocities.com/tokyo/field) (
geocities.com/tokyo)