Planet Bound: Venus
by Marj
Note:
arigato - thank you
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 is mine. So please don't sue, as I don't earn anything from
this other than the satisfaction of making a story.
Chapter Ten: Rei and Artemis
The girls were up in Makoto's apartment. Each senshi was doing what
she usually did: Ami was studying, Makoto was cleaning, and Rei and
Usagi were fighting.
The cats were lying down on the sofa, with an unusually quiet Minako
beside them.
"It's kind of stuffy in here. Minako-chan, could you open the window
for me?" Makoto asked.
Minako looked hesitantly at the window, but she stood up and walked
towards it anyway.
Seconds later, they heard an explosion. When Makoto turned around, the
section of wall where Minako had been standing in front of had
disappeared. The girls rushed forward to the spot and looked down,
seeing their friend hanging in mid-air, desperately clinging to a piece
of metal jutting out of the side of the damaged building.
Makoto reached out for her hand. "Minako-chan! Grab my hand!"
Minako tried, but she began to lose her grip. She quickly retrieved
her left hand and placed it back on the metal.
Rei tried to help. Makoto grabbed her ankles and started lowering her
down to Minako. "I'm almost there! Just a little more! Hang on,
Minako!"
Artemis looked down at his master. She returned the look and smiled
reassuringly.
The metal gave way.
Minako plunged down to her doom.
"MINAKO!!!" Artemis and the others screamed.
Halfway to her death, a man in cape and armor jumped up and caught her.
They both landed safely on the ground.
Artemis ran down to the ground floor as quickly as he could. When he
reached the sidewalks, the man still held Minako in his arms. She was
unconscious, and Artemis couldn't tell if she was all right. The man
was facing the remains of the youma that had caused the disaster. How
he had defeated the thing while Artemis was rushing down the stairs,
the cat had no idea.
"Who are you?" Artemis asked.
The man began to turn around . . .
Artemis gasped . . .
*****
He woke up.
Artemis had only been able to get a glimpse of the man's face. It had
seemed familiar as if it had been registered somewhere deep in the back
of his mind.
The face reminded him of someone. Someone from thousands of years ago.
he thought. His dreams were finally becoming more
vivid, but they had not yet reached past the point where the man began
to turn around.
He needed Rei's help.
Artemis looked at the time. "11:11 PM. . . ." he murmured. He glanced
over at his companion. She was sleeping peacefully, despite having
difficulty breathing. Her chest was rising and falling with effort.
Minako had been staying in bed, sick with fever, since she had first
fainted. She was paler now from lack of sunshine, but she seemed to
glow whenever her friends were around as if their presence made her
stronger.
Artemis
decided. He settled down beside her again and tried to get some sleep.
*****
"Rei-chan!"
Rei looked up from her meditation and searched for the person who had
called her name. What she saw was a white cat with a crescent moon on
his forehead . . . "What is it, Artemis? Is it about Minako?" she
asked, concerned.
He shook his head as he walked towards Rei, who was sitting in front of
the great fire. "No. Well, yes, in a way. I've been having this
dream lately, and I hoped that you could help me out with it."
Rei scooped him up in her arms. "When did it start?"
"Before we found out that Minako-chan was sick."
His human companion frowned. "Then why didn't you tell me sooner?"
Artemis looked down. "It seemed like a normal nightmare . . . until
things suddenly began to come together. It's telling me something that
I can't make any sense of. Can you help me, Rei?"
She looked at the temple floor, doubt shadowing her face. "I don’t
know." She had never tried probing deep into the mind of another
person before. But when she returned her gaze to Artemis, her heart
ached for the forlorn cat that it willed her to at least try and make
an effort for him. "But I’ll . . . I’ll see what I can do."
The cat gave her a small smile. "Arigato."
Rei took Artemis from the floor and laid him on her lap. "I’ll try to
see what your dream is all about. I need you to sleep, so relax,
okay?" She started stroking him until he fell into deep slumber.
The raven-haired girl felt sorry for Artemis. He and Minako had gone
through so many trials and adventures together, that the two of them
could rarely be seen apart. Artemis's health had always been one of
Minako's main concerns during a battle, and the cat had always been
there to help her out of tight spots. Although it seemed as though they
were always trying to find each other's faults and make fun of him or
her for it, they understood each other's feelings and they knew each
other better than anyone else.
Rei knew that when Minako was gone, out of them all, the biggest blow
would be to Artemis.
She started to concentrate hard. She mumbled a few spells towards the
huge flame that was in front of her. "Great fire, please help me see
the vision that has given much distress to my friend . . . "
A few moments later, the fire flickered in and out. Then, in response
to Rei’s prayers, it enabled her to see what was in Artemis’ dream.
She watched in horror as the nightmare took shape in the fire before
her.
Then, Rei saw the man who had rescued Minako. He began turning around
. . .
Although she could not see him clearly through the fire, the blue
center of the flame stood as his eyes, and his built seemed very
familiar.
"Hi . . . Himeru-san . . . !!!" Rei whispered.
But it wasn't Himeru. It was someone who bore a remarkable resemblance
to him. The differences were so small that at first glance no one
would have been able to tell that it was not Himeru.
Rei thought.
She saw Artemis fidget, and he started to wake up.
"Well?" he asked sleepily.
Rei shrugged. "I can't make heads or tails of it," she admitted, "but
the guy who rescued Minako-chan looks familiar. He looks like Himeru,
but it's not him."
"Yes, he does look familiar, but I can't place him in my memory. I need
something to trigger it," Artemis said.
"You really want to find out who that guy is, don't you?"
The cat sighed. "I . . . I can't help myself. This dream means
something . . . I know it does. And that guy . . . it's all starting
to make sense, but . . ."
"We're both so frustrated over Minako that we can't set our minds
straight," Rei finished for him.
"Precisely . . ."
They were quiet for a while.
"Art . . . Artemis . . . what do you plan to do when . . ."
"I don't know . . . I don't want to think about that now."
"But you're going to have to, eventually!" Rei argued.
"I don't want to!!!" Artemis cried angrily.
Rei gawked. "I thought . . . I thought that you were the very first
one to accept Minako's fate . . ."
"That was only on the outside!"
His human companion fell silent.
Artemis's eyes brimmed over with tears. "You heard Minako-chan!
'Don't pity me,' she said. She didn't tell us earlier because she
didn't want us to cry over her. So I'm putting on a brave face in
front of everyone for her! But, the fact is that I never accepted the
fact that she's dying! I never did! I . . . I've always wanted to
scream in anger and frustration at the world that would let . . . but .
. ."
"I understand. Is there . . . is there anything I can do for you?" Rei
asked.
Artemis smiled sadly. "No . . . just let me . . . just let me cry here
with you . . . please."
So they cried, cat and girl, over their best friend. Only with each
other were they were able to let out everything that they had been
hiding. It wasn't normal for Rei to cry - she had always tried to act
bravely in any situation that she faced. And Artemis, although a cat,
was still very much a man inside. Men don't like to cry.
It took them a long time, for the pain they felt was immense, but they
soon stopped their tears from falling. "It felt good to get everything
out in the open . . ." Rei said softly.
Artemis agreed. "Rei-chan, please. Don't tell anyone."
"Don't you tell anyone, either, or I'll be having roasted white cat on
my plate tonight!"
They laughed a little. The cat made as though to leave.
"Umm . . . Artemis . . ." Rei began.
He turned to look at her. "Yes?"
She looked very awkward. The question she had was quite sensitive.
"When . . . when the time comes, would you . . . would you like to stay
here . . . with me?"
Artemis stared at her seriously. "I'll think about it."
(
geocities.com/tokyo/field/Field/4723) (
geocities.com/tokyo/field/Field) (
geocities.com/tokyo/field) (
geocities.com/tokyo)