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kyralih · 6 years

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cardinal king, arc two, chapter nine

Ongoing Sailor Moon fanfiction where the roles are reversed, and instead of Beryl and the Earth Kingdom attacking the Moon, the Moon Kingdom attacked the Earth Kingdom and now, thousands of years later, Mamoru and his Four Heavenly Kings fight to keep Earth safe.

While their past business was wrapped up in the First Arc of their story, their return to Tokyo was met with little in the way of peace, as Mamoru encountered a red haired, red eyed little boy who also calls himself “Mamoru” and insists on being with Usagi, despite the dangers that dog him at every turn. To make matters worse, a surprise attack has them down two Kings and leaves them with very little information to go off of to get them back.

Can they solve these mysteries before it’s too late?

For more information, media, and links to prior chapters, see this page: Cardinal King

Name reminders! Zoisite–> Hanada, Kaito –> North King Jadeite –> Moegi, Yuu –> South King Nephrite –> Midori, Nero –> East King Kunzite –> Kobai, Khalid –> West King

He kept replaying the scene, trying to figure out what he could have done to change what had happened, but he just drew blanks. His head pounding, his body sluggish and sleepy, he knelt there in the debris and stared at the place where Nero should have been, feeling empty and useless in the sudden silence. The Archons had one more of his friends, and if all they needed were the Kings, then it was only West left before they could do whatever it was they were intending. He struggled to his feet, stumbling as he lost his balance, and staggered towards the crystal that oozed the miasma that had sapped them of their strength. Without it, would Nero have been able to defeat Iao without repercussions? Would his attack have done more? A rose came to his hand; he twirled it, forced in energy that nearly blinded him with pain, and stabbed the Rose Sword into the Archon’s gemstone. Cracks spread across its surface and the purple mist dissipated, and Mamoru turned back towards the entrance, only to be met by West King and Helios.

Neither said a word. West put a comforting hand on his shoulder, and Cardinal King put his hand atop it, keeping it in place. West wasn’t going anywhere - he wouldn’t let that happen. “Helios,” he called, and the unisus glided down to the level of his eyes, white wings beating carefully. “Something is wrong with my powers; I know I can do more than I am doing, but something is in the way, choking off what I know I can do. We need to figure out what is blocking it and remove that block as quickly as we can. Are there further attacks?”

‘Not at this time.’ Helios replied, sounding exhausted, ‘I’ll keep my senses open and consider the problem with your powers; the moon will be rising soon, and once that happens I can research any potential causes in Elysion once Rin has gone to sleep; I’ll go to him now to keep an eye out for --’

“You sound awful,” Mamoru cut in, trying to drum up a sense of levity that had not been with them in days. The statement shocked Helios into silence, so he continued with the half a smile he could force, “That Archon - Iao - seemed to have been behind the attacks today, and, thanks to Nero, he won’t be back again. When was the last time you slept? Last week? Go home, get some rest; you’ll think clearer with some sleep. We’ll handle the rest of it from here.”

The unisus drooped, ‘I did not mean to disappoint you -’

“Who said you did?” he interrupted again, quick to discount any issue on Helios’s part. “You’ve done more than any of us have, worked harder than anyone here. You deserve a full night’s rest. I need you at your best, Priest of Elysion,” he said, the last like a tease. “Take a nap, we’ll wake you when we get home.”

Helios nodded, but added before he disappeared, ‘Don’t let me sleep past midnight; there’s more I need to do before dawn.’ With an affirmative nod, he disappeared, and it was just him and West.

As the shop’s patrons stirred, they walked towards the door and detransformed; he was too exhausted to go jumping around the city, and apparently Khalid agreed. His cleats made a drumming sound as they walked, his practice clothes colder as dusk surrounded them, but he was too tired and numb to care about the discomfort beyond the notion that Nero had been wearing the same thing. They walked in silence to the nearest bus stop, boarded, and headed towards the arcade to collect Rin. “It wasn’t your fault,” Khalid stated quietly, and Mamoru nodded, though Iao’s words about saving Earth’s future from him never quite left the back of his mind. “I should have been there,” he continued, and Mamoru shook his head.

“If you were, you may have been crushed or taken with him,” he stated firmly. “They need you and your energy to summon something they called Demiurge; I don’t know what these crystals have to do with anything, but that Archon, Iao, made it clear that you and the others were necessary for their plan, but I was not.” He paused, swallowing, and did not meet Khalid’s eyes as he continued. “He used me against Nero, Khalid. You can’t let them do that to you; if this future they see is all that bad, then fight to save it, with or without me, okay? Don’t let yourself get caught.”

Khalid said nothing, but nodded. Mamoru didn’t quite know if he believed the motion, but wondered if he could talk Khalid into disappearing into Elysion until they figured out what to do, just in case. He had fought alone in the beginning, and he’d rather fight that way in the end by choice, rather than through loss. He didn’t think Khalid would agree, but maybe he could get Helios to agree and work with him to convince Kobai that it had to be done.

The bus rolled up to their stop and paused to let them off; they walked the short distance to Crown Arcade with its interior lighting spilling out onto the street as the sun finally fell below the horizon. He spotted her immediately, her blonde buns and pigtails easy to find even if she hadn’t been bouncing up and down behind a driver’s seat for a racing game. They entered to an electronic beep and she turned to the sound in a way that suggested she had been doing that for a while, and a smile broke across her face upon seeing him. His chest warmed against the bleakness it had been filled with as she hurried over and bounced into him, her arms wrapping around his neck as she held him close. He returned her embrace, eyes closing for a moment as he let her warm weight settle on him, the familiar feel of her easing the loneliness inside him in an almost unfair way. When he let her go enough for her feet so slide to the floor, she turned to look at Khalid and he released his grasp completely. She looked to his other side and her demeanor changed for a second as the realization hit her, but she did not ask the question to be sure, probably for his benefit.

“How was it?” he asked.

She took his hand and led him over to the racing game, “He’s pretty good, you know? Almost caught up to your score, Mamo-chan!” she said, though the cheerfulness of her tone was forced. She kept hold of his hand as she leaned over to smile at the kid in the driver’s seat, “We had a good afternoon, didn’t we, Rin?”

The young redhead grinned up at her, then turned his gaze to Mamoru and the smiled faded and he returned to the game.

“Where are your friends?” Khalid asked conversationally, looking casually around the arcade for signs of the “retired” sailor senshi.

Usagi replied, “They had to go; Ami-chan had some studying to do and Minako-chan complained that her mother would ground her for life if she wasn’t home before sunset. It’s been just Rin and me since then!”

“Thanks for watching him,” Khalid replied, “Has he told you where he lives or where we can find his parents yet?”

“Rin?” Usagi prompted, “You can tell me, you know. It’ll be okay - we can help you if something bad is happening, alright? You can count on us.”

Rin kept playing the game, until he suddenly, deliberately, crashed the racecar into a digital guardrail. “It’s time to go back to Mamoru’s place now, isn’t it?” he asked flatly, turning to take hold of Usagi’s hand as he hopped down out of the driver’s seat. He looked up at her, “I’d like to play with Minako-chan and Ami-chan again,” he said, “Can we do that tomorrow?”

Usagi smiled wide, “Sure! I’d like that, too.” She straightened, still holding his hand, and walked towards the exit. Rin grabbed his little backpack and slid it into place as they all walked through the door to another electronic beep. “Can I pick you up from school again tomorrow?” she asked, swinging his arm playfully. He appreciated that she made the offer, but now that it was just him and Khalid, the reason why she had to offer made him feel almost sick to his stomach.

The kid beamed up at her, “Okay!”

“See you tomorrow then!” Usagi enthused, releasing his hand at the corner. Rin looked up at her, then grabbed the straps of his backpack and waited to cross the street, Khalid stepping up to stand nearer to him. Usagi took a few steps back, towards her bus stop, and caught his hand in hers, the warmth spreading from her into him. She squeezed, he squeezed back. They didn’t speak - they didn’t need to. He didn’t want to talk about it and she didn’t need him to, but as her eyes filled with tears he held her. “I’m sorry,” she whispered into him. He knew what she meant.

“I’ll get them back,” he said, his whispered voice cracking before he could stifle the emotion.

“I know you will,” she said, then pushed back from him, brushing the back of her hand across her cheek. She cleared her throat and stepped back, “I’ll tell you if Luna finds anything,” she said, glancing towards the eastern horizon for moonrise.

“Thanks,” he replied, adding, “If ‘Archons’ did not return anything, have her search for ‘Demiurge’ - their goal is to summon it, whatever it is.” She nodded, worry etched in her features, and he looked up as a bus rumbled towards them. Kissing her on the top of her head, he whispered, “You’ll miss your bus. I love you, stay safe.”

She pulled on his jersey to kiss his mouth, the movement quick but sweet. “I love you, too. Take care, and tell me if anything happens, okay?” He nodded, and she picked up her school bag, turned, and hurried for the bus stop before the bus left her behind.

He turned back towards Khalid and Rin, just in time for the Shapeshifter to wheel out of the air towards them, insect-like wings beating, barbed elbow bared to strike. “KHALID!” he shouted, heart in his throat, adrenaline throwing him into motion. Khalid never hesitated; he bent down, scooped up the kid, and dashed off towards the park, away from the direction of his apartment, the weaponized body part of the pink-skinned enemy skimming just above where his head had been.

“Oh Little Red~” the sing-song voice of the shapeshifter called, her voice ringing above the street traffic as she swung up and followed them from above.

His head pulsed even before he called on his power to transform, the pyrite pendant shining briefly as the change overcame him, but as his feet hit the pavement in boots rather than cleats, his headache tripled in its discomfort. His run wobbled, but he pushed through the pain to follow after. He had to help them - he would help them, pain or no! He wasn’t going to let them get Khalid or Rin, and he wasn’t going to let himself black out trying! He covered the distance quickly, the powers of his transformation propelling him to run faster than he ever could hope to untransformed, and he caught up with Khalid and the kid quickly. He summoned a rose and threw it on the go, aiming for the monster that coasted easily above them; she dodged it, but he used that time to take the kid from Khalid and run ahead, allowing Khalid to transform without revealing who he was. They disappeared into the park, the pink creature still on them - or so he thought; his vision was filled with black and white spots, images that he tried to force away but was having less and less luck doing so.

West King caught up to them, his cape streaming out behind him as he ran. Tired as he may be, he jumped up, kicked off the trunk of a tree, and was airborne, his scimitar flashing as he yelled out a battle cry. Taking advantage of the surprise attack, Cardinal King stopped by one of the large construction tubes that kids liked to crawl through and deposited Rin into one, sure that the creature that stalked them would be too distracted to see. “Stay here!” he ordered as frightened red eyes stared out at him from the darkness within the tunnel, and he dashed off, heading for the playground to mask a more convincing hiding place. Panting, he turned in place, sending playground wood chips flying into the plastic playset behind him, and summoned another rose as West King fell from the sky, just barely missing another strike from the creature. He sent the projectile flying as he turned, trying to pinpoint any other movement - any sign of backup for their enemy. He now knew there were at least four of them - but, for the moment, it seemed the pink one was alone.

West King appeared at his side, breathing heavier than he normally would, scimitar still drawn, a red line of blood across the blade. Good. They bled. “Leave now,” Khalid called up in challenge, his shoulders rising and falling hard with the effort, “And you’ll leave with your life.”

He readied another rose to make the point, backing West’s attempt to scare it off.

“Same to you!” the voice called back, the pink skinned female figure in the revealing outfit floating above them. She shrugged exaggeratedly so they could see it from the distance between them, “I couldn’t care less about you - hand over the redhead and I won’t have to kill you, simple as that!”

“Why do you want him?!” Mamoru yelled up, making the effort to breathe evenly, concentrating on the notion of pulling energy from the planet beneath his feet, just as he had less than a week ago, but it still felt like he was pulling on a string rather than letting the energy flood into him. The world spun dizzyingly, his head felt like something cold and sharp was pushing through it, and his muscles ached with exhaustion. They weren’t prepared for this fight; they couldn’t afford this fight, but if they could keep her talking they could attempt to use the time to reenergize themselves and attempt to piece more of this together.

“Listen, I get that you guys are “superheroes”, but he doesn’t even belong here - we’re just trying to get him back to where he belongs!” she called back, using her fingers to make quotation marks obvious.

“Then where does he belong?!” West called up.

“With us,” she yelled down, rolling her eyes. “I’ll give you to the count of five. Just walk away. I’ll find him and we’ll never have to see each other again.” With a flourish, metallic blades appeared in either hand, catching the light from the streetlamps around them.

“Not the best answer,” Khalid dryly muttered, “If we were in better shape I’d suggest catching her for information.”

“No kidding,” Mamoru agreed, his answer airier than he had intended. He kept an eye on her as she slowly counted down, watching to make sure she didn’t launch herself at them early.

“One~”

“We’re not letting her get him,” West stated, and he nodded, though the movement threatened to knock him over. West seemed to notice. “Think you could get away with him?”

“Not in this condition,” he replied, glancing quickly to him in an attempt to evaluate his fitness. “You?”

“Two~”

“I couldn’t get far, not after earlier,” West replied honestly. “That leaves just one option then.”

Cardinal King took another deep breath and held it, keeping himself oriented, prepared to break the moment Khalid did.

“Three~”

West King rolled his wrist to ready his scimitar, his eyes skyward too.

“Four!”

West dashed to one side to ricochet off of the tall playground slide to gain some air; Cardinal King threw a rose to keep the shapeshifter off balance, her surprised call of “Hey! Not fair!” showing enough that it worked. Dizzily he called forth another rose, his head swimming and fire shooting up his arm as the flower materialized in his hand. A warning blazed through his addled mind and he barely turned the instrument into a sword and blocked before the pink enemy was upon him, her blades meeting his and forcing him back, though the effort needed to accomplish that was much less than it should otherwise have been. It took everything he had to keep his sword between himself and her and off his chest. She grinned down at him, her demonic smile alarming as her long, wavy light brown hair fell in the short space between them like a veil. She leaned in and blew on his face, his hair fanning away from her as she knocked his mask askew, and he could do nothing to stop her. “Silly Prince~ This could have been avoided, you know.” She pressed in closer and his muscles screamed; all he could do was glare, every ounce of strength he could muster fully involved in not letting the blades pierce his skin.

“Illusionary Silver Crystal, hear my prayer! Let me save him - help me fight to protect this world and its people as a Sailor Senshi!”

Usako?

“Moon Princess Power!” she called, her voice ringing in the night, echoing from a place near the park’s entrance, “Make Up!”

Light flashed beyond the curls of the enemy; she turned her face aside with a perplexed expression, and he turned to see what was going on, equally as hopeful as afraid for her. If it worked… but what if it didn’t? What if the power were too great?! He closed his eyes against the bright light just in time, the shapeshifter tensing and releasing a slight hiss to reveal she had not been so lucky, and as he blinked in the aftermath his spirit surged. Usako was gone, but in her place stood a Sailor Senshi - one unlike the others in color scheme and accessories - one that was clearly her. Her front bow was pink, the back made of lace and longer than any of the other senshi, her skirt and collar a shade of blue darker than Mercury’s, her skirt underlaid with some sort of lace petticoat that similarly puffed at her sleeves. Her white elbow length gloves and knee-height boots were lined in pink ribbons and pearls, her tiara made of yet more pearls surrounding a red stone reminiscent of her Jewel Tiara days. In her hair, done in the familiar odango style, were the pearl accessories from her past life and new pink hued gems in front of the double buns. She was beautiful, but the determined, almost murderous look in her eyes made him nervous -

“I’m the Pretty Guardian of Love and Justice, Princess Sailor Moon! In the name of the Moon, I’ll punish you!” Her blue eyes burning, she held out her hand and her Crescent Wand appeared, the Silver Crystal itself sitting couched within the tool. Was she still Usagi? She held it high above her head and changed her stance, her body moving like a dancer’s as she focused on the creature that pressed into him. “Moon,” she called out, summoning palpable power around her. “Princess,”

“What is this?!” The pink creature remarked, pressing down on him to sit up straighter. He groaned, her added weight on his hands finally enough to overcome his strength. Her twin daggers cut into him, piercing his flesh on either side of his chest. Something cracked. The pain on top of everything else finally overwhelmed him.

“Halation!”

The last thing he saw was glittering light slicing through the creature that straddled him.

He awoke in a haze of pain, his head swimming as notions of where he was and what he was doing slowly tried to take hold of him; the moment they did, his eyes shot open and he called out, twisting to stand and fight, only to be entangled in sheets and blankets tucked in tight. He was in his room?! Light angled through his bedroom window, tracing across his bed, and for half a moment he wondered if it had been all some sort of horrible dream, but as Helios teleported in just above him, the concerned and haggard look about him was evidence enough that the events of the past few days had been real.

‘How are you feeling?’ the unisus asked, voice choked with concern. ‘You had us all worried, Mamoru - take it easy.’

He pulled his hand out from beneath the tightly-pulled bedding and rubbed at his head in an attempt to ease the residual pain there, noticing as he did so that his chest was bound with gauze, faint red stains coloring the white fabric in near center of each side of his upper body. The light through the window disconcerted him - how long had he been out? They couldn’t afford this - he had to get up and transform and figure everything out before it was too late. Carefully, he turned to look at the time on the clock on his bedside table - 11:50 am - only to catch on something. His heartbeat slowed to a crawl, beating painfully as he reached out for the Pyrite Pendant that lay on the table beside him, the fool’s gold cracked completely through its center. As his hands touched it, one hemisphere of the crystal twitched out of the facing entirely. His transformation item… he turned to look at Helios, the realization heavy and frightening. Did this mean he couldn’t…?

Helios landed at the edge of his bed, offering no explanation or words of comfort. ‘You nearly died last night. If it hadn’t been for Usagi’s transformation, both you and Khalid could have…’ he trailed off, but Mamorus’s full attention was still on the broken pendant now cradled in the palm of his hand. His transformation item; did this mean that he couldn’t be Cardinal King anymore? But if he couldn’t be Cardinal King, what would happen to Kaito, Nero and Yuu?

He swallowed, “I couldn’t call up my powers. Something was fighting me - it’s been fighting me. Helios, what… what does this mean?” he said, motioning to the pendant. “Is it symbolic? Am I not supposed to be fighting as Cardinal King? Will I not be able to fight with everyone anymore?”

‘Mamoru…’ Helios trailed off, and Mamoru met his gaze, the regret he found there making his gut clench. He wouldn’t let that happen - he’d fight, he’d keep fighting, transformation or no - ‘I figured it out,’ Helios continued, slowing his train of thought as he waited to see what his advisor had in store - had he already found a way around it? ‘Just… too late to be of any assistance to you. I should have seen it earlier - figured it out sooner. If I had…’ he trailed off, breaking eye contact to shake his head in shame. ‘I should have realized when your nose bled back at the Midori manor. It’s been holding you back, Mamoru. I’ve been holding you back - that pendant has been restraining your abilities.’

He waited for Helios to continue.

‘I’m sorry,’ Helios continued. ‘When I made the Pyrite Pendant for you, I didn’t know who you were - the transformation was not intended to handle or wield the amount of power you are now able to draw upon, and when you awakened, your transformation into your Princely attire covered the mistake I made as it had no restraints placed upon it. Cardinal King was never meant to handle the amount of power you are now used to - there were inherent restraints in place within that transformation to stop you from burning through your life force, restraints meant to protect your life - the lives of all of the Heavenly Kings - that you have now grown beyond. Your inability to wield the strength you needed was because you were trying to direct a river through a kitchen funnel.’ He nodded towards the pendant. ‘And it very nearly killed you yesterday. It’s why you have been getting headaches - the block in place made you strain far harder than you ever needed to. Yesterday night, as you started to bleed out, the Golden Crystal reacted by breaking the pendant in order to channel the energy needed to save you.’

His brows furrowed, remembering how he had transformed into his previous life’s form for the first time when he needed the Golden Crystal to heal Nero; how he had only used that much energy again successfully when they were all in Elysion and he was once more garbed in the wear of his past self. He always recognized that the Golden Crystal was easier to use as Prince Endymion, but he had never realized it was because Cardinal King was inherently limited. He closed his palm around the pendant that had, for so long, been a lifeline, and slowly deposited it back on his nightstand. “Am I still able to transform and fight?”

Helios flipped his mane in the unisus equivalent to a shrug, ‘You should be able to, but… unleashing your power as Prince Endymion regularly - in this world and this age - without the full practice in wielding the Golden Crystal’s power, you could very easily do damage you never intend to do, and without a safeguard in place you could go beyond the limits and use your life energy in its place.’ He paused, ‘I may be able to figure something else out; but for the immediate future -’

“Helios, I have to be able to fight. The Archons won’t stop just because my transformation is undergoing technical difficulties,” he stated and pulled back the covers to swing his legs over the side of the bed. Mention of the organization brought them to the forefront after the knowledge that he was alive and could transform to fight them - even if he needed to be careful in doing so. As Prince Endymion, able to wield as much power as Helios suggested, he may be able to stop them in their tracks. He stood, intending to get dressed and plan their next move, only to stumble in lightheadedness. He reached out, steadying himself on his dresser before he could fall over, and turned to Helios, who had jumped up off his perch to follow after him in concern.

‘You’re still healing,’ Helios explained quietly. ‘You strained yourself and need more time to recover -’

“They won’t give us that time!” he growled, pushing back, “And since when have I needed this much time? It’s been over twelve hours, Helios - we can’t afford to wait for this; it’s just me and Khalid now. People will be in danger and we have to help them. If they summon this Demiurge thing there’s no telling what will happen to everyone.” Still bracing himself on the dresser, he reached and opened his door, intending to find Khalid and figure out their next move, only to be greeted with a surprised -

“Mamochan!”

- that kept him in place as Usagi sprung across the living room from the kitchen. She wore her school uniform and a cheerful look that fell to concern as she looked him over, stopping before she could jump on him, blue eyes trailing to the gauze on his chest, lingering on the red stains on either side. He glanced down, glad to see pajama pants on, and readjusted to hold on to the door frame. “Usako - what are you…?”

“Doing here?” she finished helpfully, glancing back towards the kitchen sneakily before stepping closer. “Keeping watch. I - look,” she said, motioning down to the bow of her school uniform, in the middle of which a new brooch was clasped. In the shape of a heart, it was decorated with stones of red, blue, green and orange surrounding a pink gem. She unclipped it and flipped it over to reveal the moonstone that had made up the feature point of her Jewel Tiara belt, the same gem that allowed her to communicate with the Moon Kingdom. “It holds the Silver Crystal,” she stated, opening it with a deft twist of her thumb to reveal the silver gem sitting cushioned within its center cavity, “and with it I can transform - I tried it again last night after the first attempt. Mamochan, I was so scared, but now - now I can help you. Really help you. I can fight with you guys, just like I used to, but this time I can do more than just sneaky sideline things!” She caught his free hand in hers, smiling up at him in earnest, “I can fight alongside you to keep our world safe, whether from those Doom and Bloom girls or the Archons or anything else thrown at us.”

“Doom and Bloom girls?” he repeated, grasping her hand comfortably, his stomach squeezing with discomfort with the thought of Usagi putting herself in danger, even as his mind recalled that glittery blast that had taken the enemy off of him last night.

“The shapeshifters,” she explained, “That’s what she called herself before she left - something like “You’ll never defeat the Doom and Bloom Girls!” I… at least that’s what I think she said. I was - you’re okay, right?” she said, the excitement that had filled her as she shared with him her new item fading to be replaced with concern.

He nodded, “I will be.”

“You should get back to bed; Rin and I will make you something to eat -”

“Rin knows?” he reflexively asked, eyes darting past her to the kitchen, the table barely visible from that angle.

“Not about me,” she said quickly, her voice shushing him as she paused, looking up at him, before pushing on with the answer, “but he was there when you lost your transformation. He knows who you are, and about Khalid.” Mamoru’s brows furrowed; with all of Rin’s secrets it had been a given that they would hide their identities from him until they figured out where he came from and what he was after. He hoped now more than ever that they had been correct in trying to protect the kid, and that it wouldn’t come back to bite them. “He was really worried about you; he didn’t want to leave you to go to school, and Khalid hadn’t wanted to leave you alone, so he called to ask me to take him.” He nodded his understanding; if their positions had been reversed and Khalid was hurt, with everything else going on there was no way he’d leave him alone, anywhere, and with Usagi’s recent transformation abilities it seemed safe enough to ask that she escort the kid to school so they could get some work done. “Only, on my way over…” she paused nervously, glancing to the window over his desk, “there was another attack, this one at Rin’s elementary school. I guess it went off earlier than intended - hardly anyone was there. The news reported that the site was dangerous and the officials called off school all over the city - they’re citing gas leaks.”

He wavered in place, suddenly feeling weak, despite what he wanted to do. While he had been laid out, people were getting hurt, their energy drained, that same energy building to help the Archons with Demiurge - they couldn’t let it continue - “The elementary school - have they pulled people free of the miasma? Do we know anything about the crystal in --” he paused, dread rising in him as he realized that, if their positions were reversed, the only way he would leave a healing Khalid was if there had been -- “Where’s Khalid?!” His heart raced and, immediately this time, he clumsily fell to the ground, startling Usagi back a step as he placed his hands on either side of him and focused on the pink glow of Khalid’s Kunzite soul stone, prepared a burst of power, and sent it out --

Only for the door of his apartment to open. “What are you making?” Khalid’s voice called softly to Rin, the pink of his gem pinging brightly in Mamoru’s mind. He nearly fell over in relief.

“Rice balls,” Rin returned as Usagi reached out her hand to help him up. He took it, though also held onto the door frame to inch his way back to standing, only for Helios to appear in the crook of his arm, wedging his neck beneath his arm and growing in size until Mamoru was standing again. He held on to his mane to regain his balance, shooting the unisus an incredulous look, but the moment he steadied the unisus shrunk back down to his typical house-cat size, flew over, and landed smartly on the couch in front of the television.

“Are they edible?” Khalid asked, the question only halfway teasing.

An indignant reply met his query, “Yes.”

I don’t know, He could almost hear Nero needle, I’ve eaten some questionable things and even I’m having second thoughts about eating this. What do you think, Yuu?

I think it’s risky, Yuu would say, We’d better make sure he eats the first one, just to be sure.

What flavor are they, anyway? Kaito would wonder, that note of light derision glancing off his tone.

“Then may I have one?” Khalid said instead, and Mamoru waited another moment in the doorway to his bedroom before walking across the living room with Usagi to join them.

He missed his friends.

#sailor moon #mamoruchibaweek #mamoru #shitennou #sailor moon au #cardinal king #cardinal king arc two

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kyralih · 6 years

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cardinal king, arc two, chapter 8

Can they solve these mysteries before it’s too late?

For more information, media, and links to prior chapters, see this page: Cardinal King

Name reminders! Zoisite–> Hanada, Kaito –> North King Jadeite –> Moegi, Yuu –> South King Nephrite –> Midori, Nero –> East King Kunzite –> Kobai, Khalid –> West King

((!! I finished this and the next chapter while out of the country and lmao it’s right in time for @mamochibaweek XD))

“Who’s missing?” Nero’s groggy voice was sharp with half-awake concern as the brunet jolted up from lying on the couch, his hands rubbing his face as he made to stand, throwing off his blanket and reaching for the nephrite pendant that hung around his neck even as hit feet hit the floor.

Mamoru held out a hand to keep him in place - they didn’t know anything about the situation, or even if they could do anything to help, so jumping up and transforming wasn’t a good use of their energy, especially as Beryl hadn’t been… here. He caught Helios’s gaze - she had been in Elysion. If the Archons had found a way into Elysion - his stomach knotted. “Are they still there?” Were they now, too, using the seat of the Golden Kingdom as their base of operations, as Diana had? Were they attempting to siphon its energy, as they had attempted to bargain for Kaito’s and, supposedly, Yuu’s?

Helios shook his head, at a loss as he replied, “No, and I’m fairly certain they never have been.”

Nero glanced at him and he returned the quick look, waiting for Helios to continue as Kobai quietly joined them, shutting the bedroom door securely behind him as he worked to tie back his silver hair.

“I never sensed - the barrier never faltered. Nothing entered or exited Elysion by any means. The dimensional pocket still exists, uninterrupted. They would be wholly unable to enter the sacred ground without an immense amount of power and exact knowledge of its whereabouts or…” he shook his mane.

“Our stones,” Khalid finished for him, the thought falling with finality in the quiet room. “Would you have sensed if either Jadeite or Zoisite had entered Elysion, through their own will or otherwise?” That they could have made it on their own, escaped and somehow used their powers to make it safely to Elysion… Mamoru wanted to believe the possibility, but it didn’t add up. They would’ve come back with Helios. Khalid’s second option drew darker connections that he couldn’t shake --

“No,” Helios stated assuredly, “I would have felt it. Moving Elysion and its Temple to that plane has tied that place to me like nothing else - it’s connected to my mind as closely as it’s connected to the Golden Crystal’s heart. When I say that nothing has entered or left, I mean nothing.”

The Golden Crystal’s heart?

“Beryl,” Khalid returned, a reminder more than a challenge. “You seemed surprised the first time you met her - obviously she didn’t register as something that had left Elysion. She could have escaped your notice again. Is it possible that the Jadeite or Zoisite stone have done something similar?”

“No.” Helios replied with some force. “Beryl is different - she doesn’t have a soul crystal; I can’t register her comings and goings, but the inherent power of the Jadeite and Zoisite gems would be unignorable. Even Diana’s Phases registered. The Archons have not entered Elysion; they shouldn’t even be able to find it, I double checked when we thought the shapeshifters after Rin may have been through there.” He twitched his wings irritably, landing on the coffee table that had been pushed to the wall beside the television, staring down Khalid as though waiting for another challenge, but the other just nodded in acceptance. “Nothing is damaged, besides,” He continued in a softer, more disturbed tone. “Books left wide open from where she had been searching; I looked for her but to no avail - even where she’s taken to sleeping was empty. I read the passages she had the books open to, but there were no clues therein - some notes on shapeshifters and ancient cities that had fallen, but nothing that would indicate where she had gone.”

“And no way to find her,” Mamoru added after a beat, realizing that any attempt he could have put forth with his psy-location would have been useless without Beryl having a power gem he could hone in on.

“Then we just… wait for her to come back?” Nero supplied, rubbing his eyes as he leaned forward, supporting his elbows on his spread knees.

No one replied. Beryl wasn’t the type to just up and leave without telling anyone… was she? … Then again, just Saturday she disappeared completely to find the senshi’s gems without telling anyone, so it wasn’t completely out of her wheelhouse. Mamoru looked to Khalid, the West King having had the most experience with her, but he seemed as ill-at-ease with the suggestion as Mamoru initially felt; however, the other pushed forward. “It seems we have to. In the books - what cities had she found? What shapeshifters? Did you get a chance to search for mention of Archons?”

“Atlantis, mostly,” Helios replied, “Multiple mentions, but no artwork or plans to work off of to match to what Mamoru saw; the shapeshifters were of the normal variety - if shapeshifters could ever be considered ‘normal’. Werebeasts, mountain spirits; nothing with descriptions like the creatures chasing after Rin.” He paused, thinking back, “And I must have searched… upwards of fifty references while waiting for her to return. There were no mention of Archons thusfar, but that’s one small piece of our libraries. I left a message, should she return; it may take several nights to sift through everything, weeks if I am more thorough…”

“Maybe the Lunar computers will come up with something,” Mamoru replied, hoping they would if, for nothing else, relieving Helios just a little. He had thrown a lot at his guardian and his limits were showing - a few nights without much sleep and teleporting to and from Elysion a handful of times, always missing the fight and so relying on descriptions rather than being able to pick things up himself and yet trying to work through it anyway, and now finding that the one person that could have helped him has mysteriously disappeared - he wished he could tell him to take a break… but the moon would be setting soon, and Rin would be waking up. What Helios did was something only Helios could do. “Thank you, Helios. If there’s--”

Their watch alarms sounded, sharp and loud and repetitive, breaking in and mounting the tension higher. Nero was the first to answer, calling out as he stood up, even as Mamoru’s dials turned up to 12. “Where?!” he called in lieu of greeting, slight panic in his tone putting ideas in Mamoru’s head. He had immediately thought of Usagi and danger, but Nero’s phrasing reminded him that Kaito or Yuu might --

A sharp intake of breath met Nero’s question, but the brunet changed, softening; Mamoru knew who it was before her image materialized above his own watch face. Usagi recovered from the surprise and replied quickly - “Energy spike at --” she paused uncomfortably, looking away, chewing at her lip - “I think it’s the new cake shop! Maxi-5!”

“A cake shop?” Khalid repeated dubiously, energy rippling around him as he transformed into West King, “This early in the morning?”

Mamoru offered Usagi a nod, encouraging her, just in case she took Khalid’s tone as a knock against her rather than the enemy’s choice in target. East transformed and Mamoru stood to follow suit, activating the Pyrite pendant to become Cardinal King. Khalid was right - choosing a cake shop at this hour was strange; the only targets would be any bakers who came in early. It could be a trap to catch Khalid or Nero, but they couldn’t let it pass. “I’ll go -” he stated quickly.

“And we’ll go with you,” Nero replied, blue eyes challenging through his orange mask. “No one goes anywhere alone, right?”

It had been a false alarm.

When they arrived they had found nothing out of the ordinary - just workers getting ready for the day. The lights were on, faint music was playing as bakers baked and the owner went about putting finishing touches on the interior. The most interesting thing to happen was when the young woman stepped outside to put the menu board proudly proclaiming the store’s Grand Opening on the sidewalk. No explosions. No chaos. No dark energy.

When the sun was fully above the horizon and its light streamed down the streets, they retreated. The Moon had set; if the Lunar computers had picked up anything else Usagi would have told them, but it seemed like either something tripped the sensors or the attack was called off before it began.

The four of them retreated to the apartment and got ready for school, running Rin through the motions.

Part of him didn’t want to go today. They had to figure out what was going on. They needed to. But at the same time, what would they do? How could they even attempt to figure this out? They could only react to attacks, and that was recent development, if it even worked. They had a super-computer working for them to find out anything they could on the “Archons” and mentions of cities destroyed by… whatever Rin had shown him. Rin wasn’t talking, so they couldn’t even figure out where he came from. If they stayed home from school the tension and stress over their current situation would just rise and continue to rise.

For now, they could do nothing but wait. And as much as that bothered him, he had to accept it and let it go. School was the perfect distraction for doing that.

… and when an insistent voice broke loudly into their thoughts at the end of the day they were in a generally localized position from which to spring into action.

‘The Cake Shop!’ Helios called, popping into existence so far above the soccer field so no one would spot him before he disappeared. Immediately he and Nero excused themselves, leaving the pitch at a jog and not even bothering to remove their cleats before they were out of sight, transformed, jumped to the roof and were gone, racing over the streets of Tokyo towards the attack.

As they ran he dialed in on the communicator; Khalid would have been similarly visited by Helios, but Usagi maybe not. His heart raced as the watch hands hit noon, first willing her to answer and not prove the others wrong. He didn’t like doing this one bit, but they were all backed into a corner. The moment her face appeared he all but blurted, “You okay?!”

“We’re fine,” she smiled, “We’re at the arcade. Is there trouble?” Her smile faltered, but she pushed it back into place.

“At the cake shop,” he replied, “The one Luna pointed out.” He followed Nero’s lead, trusting him to get them to the right place while he spoke with Usagi.

She just nodded, keeping the smile in place, “Don’t worry - we’ll stay put. It’s crowded. Minako-chan and Ami-chan are here, too.” She had probably meant that to comfort him, but it wasn’t comforting at all. If she were attacked, would her senshi from their prior lives suddenly remember everything and transform to protect her? Was Diana’s control truly out of them? What if they never remembered and -- “Don’t worry about us,” Usagi’s voice firmly cut in, “We’ll be okay - take care of them, and - and keep me updated.”

He nodded and they ended the call; East glanced back at him, “They haven’t tried splitting our attention yet; let’s just kick their asses quickly and not give them the opportunity to try this time, either.”

They dropped onto the street in front of the shop that had been so ordinary just hours ago, the lack of conversational street noise eerie, the bodies strewn about on the street eerier still. He stopped quickly by one of them but felt a pulse - they weren’t dead, just unconscious. Carinal King set his jaw and stood, shaking his head at East’s probing glance, and the pair of them entered the restaurant, the little bell jingling over their heads the loudest thing in the area. Soft music played to a room filled with unconscious people, their bodies collapsed in their chairs or on the ground towards a dessert bar; the hostess lay collapsed on a greeter’s lectern; it looked eerily similar to a Senshi attack, but the slimy quality to the air was something new. He met Nero’s glance and the pair of them split up, working their way around the room to find the source of the energy drain. “West?” he called out cautiously as he summoned a rose, fully expecting his voice to drum up the creature responsible for the attack -

“In here,” Khalid answered from the kitchen, and both he and East were quick to respond, moving swiftly to back him up --

Only to find him completely in control of the situation. Some creature was pinned to the wall by his scimitar, it’s form turned to stone around the blade that had run it through. West was not standing down, however; instead he held out an arm warningly, silently telling them to keep their distance from the odd purple-black crystal that jutted out of the floor in the corner of the room.

Just looking at it made him feel strange, like the air was filled with some sort of sludge that mentally repulsed him even as it made him want to move closer.

“It may be responsible for the blast,” West stated.

“The ice-cream shop, too, then?” Cardinal King replied, carefully walking a perimeter.

“Could be,” West replied, “But there wasn’t a miasma like this there.”

“In time it should dissipate then,” he surmised, studying it.

Helios appeared overhead, ‘First responders are nearly here,’ he reported, their sirens growing louder. The unisus studied the crystal, garnet-eyes practically swirling as he moved in close, then stopped, jerking back. ‘This is bad.’

“Do you know what it is?” West asked quickly.

‘It’s not healthy, I know that much,’ Helios replied.

“We should go,” East stated, glancing back into the restaurant and the approaching sirens. It was true that they weren’t needed here any longer, but if this crystal wasn’t healthy, he wasn’t just going to leave it.

Frowning in concentration, he threw some energy into the rose and snapped his wrist to send it flying into the black crystal. It stuck, a crack forming in the crystalline surface. The miasma all but dissipated nearly immediately, but the crystal itself remained. He readied another, “If this is what they’re using we should take some back and study it,” he stated as he threw one more, intending to knock off a piece, but even as the rose struck and a crack formed where he had intended, the crystalline piece did not dislodge. The sirens were loud and close - the emergency vehicles stopping. They had no time.

West grabbed his sword and pulled it out of the wall; the golem fell to the floor and became dust. “East!” Khalid called, even as he hooked his arm around Mamoru’s bicep and pulled him along towards the back of the kitchen and the emergency exit that was slightly ajar there. Nero joined them, and as they exited, Helios disappearing after one last look at the crystal, Mamoru concentrated and sent out a burst of healing energy from the Golden Crystal, hoping to stabilize anyone who had been critical from the blast. A dull pain pounded in his head in response, but he did not regret it.

He felt sick as they jumped away. They had known. They had been warned, and still this happened. It was his fault for ignoring Luna’s alarm, for dismissing it with the others when nothing had immediately happened. They should have searched more thoroughly. They should have done something -

“We know now,” West calmly stated, as though reading his thoughts. “This won’t repeat--”

Helios cut him off, ‘Another blast!’ The unisus paused to pinpoint the location and the three of them skidded to a halt.

“So soon?!” East exclaimed, looking to Helios.

“There!” Helios shot off and they followed, ignoring the question that none of them could answer but worried them all. This enemy - the Archons - was nothing like Diana had been. Five attacks on Tokyo in three days, not even counting the three against Rin, suggested immense resources or an attack a long time in the making. How long had they been plotting this?! Why these places?! What did they really want with his friends?!

He and West landed hard in front of a cram school - Eisai Juku the placard read - but East kicked off against the roof across the street and, stone knuckles first, crashed through the glass doors at an angle. Cardinal King raced forward through the hole Nero had made and followed his friend as he rolled up from the impact and used the momentum to keep running, seeming not to care about the glass caught in his hair or stuck in his grey uniform or cape, even as it rained down when the latter disappeared. The air was thick with the same oily miasma the crystal at the cake shop had produced, and the receptionist behind the desk was slumped over on her side. East paused as Cardinal King placed his hand on her to check her vitals and immediately felt a feedback shock fly up his arm and he recoiled, shaking his arm as foreign emotions creep into mind. You're not smart enough for this. You'll never be able to figure this out. Just give up -

“Cardinal King?” West probed, and he shook his head to clear it before answering.

“Alive - the miasma may be responsible for the energy drain. We should split up and find the crystal -"

“No,” East stated firmly, shaking the glass chunks out of his long curly hair with annoyance, “We stay together - that was the deal.”

They were in the same building, they were prepared, and the people here may not have time for them to search together, but... Mamoru nodded. He wasn't going to give the Archons any upper hand if he could help it, especially with this miasma slowly draining them, the sluggishness of his muscles clear enough on that point.

“Together, then,” West strode past them into the first room, then broke into an easy jog towards the connecting hallway, Cardinal and East following behind, Helios branching off to search elsewhere. As a quick pace they glanced into each classroom, computer lab, and down hallways, each filled with the purple-hued miasma, each with bodies coating the floors or slumped across desks, until finally they found themselves in the private tutor offices -

West crossed his arms in front of his chest and braced, calling out a warning as a gust of energy threw him back into a wall. East’s hand yanked back on the collar of his shirt, and Cardinal King was pulled to a stop before a second gust of energy buffetted into Khalid. He and Nero fell to the floor in a pile but quickly scrambled up, East’s hands forming fists that were quickly covered in energy that coalesced into stone knuckles, and he launched himself forward and around the corner the moment the wind stopped. As he roared a challenge and reverberations of his attack shook the floor, Mamoru reached into the hole in the wall and, once West’s hand clasped his, pulled back to free his friend. Judging by the lack of sweet talking going on, he surmised that the enemy in the other room was not a recruiter, but that was no indication that one was not coming. One like the guy Kaito had known online, or the other student at the debate Yuu was attending. Khalid masked his heavy breathing well, but it, and the fatigue it hinted at, didn’t escape Mamoru’s notice. They had to finish this quickly, lest backup arrived and tried to take someone else from him.

With a thought and an effort of power, Cardinal King summoned a rose and deftly spun it in his hand, the thorned flower erupted into the length of his sword as he purposefully strode forward around the corner and through the door, the Rose Sword ready. The enemy was a slight creature dressed in light green whisps of material, but its base body appeared as dried mud, and as he met Nero’s eyes his friend adjusted his postion, rushed foward, and punched the creature towards his waiting sword. The momentum sent the animated puppet full through, skewering it onto the length of his blade, and as it stiffened and lost signs of life, Cardinal King shoved it aside, the body falling to the floor and cracking in half.

“Another golem,” West stated, joining them, one hand holding the opposite shoulder supportively.

“A ridiculously easy thing to destroy, too,” East replied suspiciously, blue eyes searching the room through his orange mask.

“We need to find that crystal,” Cardinal King stated, reaching back to lay a hand on Khalid’s shoulder, sending a pulse of golden crystal power through to him to ease his hurt, pushing back against the stab of pain through his forehead. They could wonder about the strength of the protector later, the more important thing was to destroy the crystal else leave it as ineffective as they had made the last one, to stop the miasma’s energy draining before it was too late for these people. East nodded and left through a connecting door, called out that he had found it, and a half second later the sound of stone on crystal rang out and the miasma surrounding them lessened and disappeared.

Khalid nodded at him gratefully, dropping his hold on his arm, and leaned across the office to hand him a tissue without a word. With a quiet sigh, Mamoru pressed it to his face to soak up the blood that oozed from his nose. “Can you break it completely?” Khalid asked, moving then to see what East had done. While he no longer held his shoulder, it was clear that the drain of both places had taken a good amount from him. Mamoru frowned in concern as he followed --

‘Another!’ Helios cried, cracking into the air above their heads, eyes whirling.

East turned, fixing Helios with an incredulous stare as he again punched the tall, hazy purple crystal that broke through the floor at his feet. The crystal shook but did not break, the original crack Nero’s stone knuckles had caused the only flaw on its surface, “Now?!”

‘Now! Somewhere across town!’

Mamoru looked from the unisus to Khalid, even as West King turned towards the exit, his cape rustling as he pushed past Mamoru. “West!” Mamoru called after him, tossing the bloody tissue into a nearby trashcan as the three of them moved through the cram school. Around them, some of the prone forms started to stir. “Are you sure you can do this?”

They left the building and West lead the jump, following after Helios, “So long as you’re fighting, I’m fighting,” Khalid returned with a calm smile, “Don’t worry about me, I can handle it.” East caught his gaze and, with West in the lead, nodded to each other; they’d protect him. In the state he was in he’d make for an easy target otherwise.

Helios led them a similar distance and stopped, hovering above another storefront, this one called Misanga Mansion, a collectibles store. The purple miasma was evident even before they hit the ground, the ilk seeming even thicker here than it had been at the cram school, making Mamoru feel sluggish the moment his feet struck the ground. He pushed back against it, and followed as East rushed this store front, too, but went for the door rather than crashing through. East entered, Cardinal King followed, but before West could make it through a rock wall sprung up behind them.

Both Mamoru and Nero turned with a cry and attacked the stone that separated them from Khalid, the ease with which their friend had been split terrifying. “Helios!” Mamoru called, their attacks seeming worthless against the granite-colored rock; if they couldn’t get through, Helios needed to get Khalid as far away as possible, before he could be --

“He can’t hear you,” a masculine voice called with amusement, and he and East turned, a unease creeping from his toes up to his head.

The shop was strewn with a handful of unconscious customers, but towards the center wall there was a bank of old arcade towers set up across from each other, as though to allow competitors to look at each other as they fought for the high score. A young man in green stood by one, leaning casually on its surface, the purple-black crystal just beyond him pulsing with malefic energy. He smiled and inclined his head, “Midori Nero, nice to meet you. I’m Iao, and I’m here to share with you the opportunity of --”

Nero shot forward, arm cocked back, stone knuckles forming as his momentum carried him clear across the room and towards the enemy’s face. He punched forward at just the right moment, but Iao dodged the attack adroitly, punching upward with blinding speed to catch Nero’s stomach as he flew past. Nero hit the ceiling and Mamoru dashed forward, Rose Sword called to his hand again, his stomach flipping with worry even as he closed in to fight this Iao before he could do anything else. It wasn’t Khalid they were after, it was Nero - but this time, he was here. He could help - he wouldn’t let Nero be taken!

His advance was met with boredom on Iao’s face as he easily evaded his slashing attacks, so Mamoru switched it up and hit him instead with a blast of Golden Crystal energy, the accompanying stab of pain in his head nothing in the face of what could happen here. Iao’s smile fell from his face and he crossed his arms before him as he skidded back across the floor, crashing into a handful of objects as Nero plummeted from the ceiling, missing Iao by inches, the floor beneath him crumpling into a crater. They recovered and Mamoru prepared another blast as East made to break the crystal and stop the oozing of power out of them, but all of the sudden the floor beneath Mamoru’s feet erupted as rock rose unexpectedly and the ceiling above his head cracked as another flat stone lowered to meet it. He instinctively dropped and dashed to escape the trap, only for the acceleration of the blocks to increase dramatically and snap shut on his cape. He was pulled backwards, his back and head hitting the stone solidly, the cape’s power working to slow his head down so it didn’t hit so hard, saving him from what would have otherwise knocked him out for sure. The cape dismissed itself in a whiff of energy, dropping him to the ground, but before he could move anywhere another stone wall shot forward, pinning him in place from his neck down.

“a lifetime.” Iao continued firmly, wiping pink blood from the corner of his mouth as he stepped forward out of the mess of random odds and ends the store sold.

“Run!” Mamoru shouted, even as the stone crept forward as the air left his lungs. He took a deep breath against it, fighting back against the encroaching rock. East suddenly appeared on top of the stone that pinned him, his fist raised to smash down on it, and the rock pushed in even closer, driving the air from his lungs.

“Try it and I’ll just smash him, kid,” Iao stated calmly. “Come on now, have a chat and I’ll let him breathe a little.”

Their eyes met - his and Nero’s - and he shook his head minutely, but Nero just swallowed hard and stood, jumping down from his perch. “What do you want?”

True to his word, the stone inched back to give him room to take a breath. “Your assitance in saving the world, but, judging from how things went with Saboth and Elaios, I’m guessing your answer will be no, too. So let’s try this another way. I want you to beat me in Tekken.” He stood back and positioned himself in front of one of the machines in the middle of the room.

Cautiously, suspiciously, Midori Nero, the King of the East, inched forward. “And what happens if I do?”

Iao threw in a couple of quarters and punched a button on the machine and the music changed, “I’ll let him live and I’ll let you both go.”

“And if I lose?” East replied, just as cautiously, even as he stepped in front of the other machine.

“You give me your energy - all of it.” He shrugged, pressing a few buttons and messing with the joystick, “and he dies. I don’t think they need him alive for the ceremony anyway, and if they do, oops.”

East paused, eyes twitching back towards Mamoru. Cardinal King, pinned, shook his head, but Nero asked anyway, “And what if I don’t play?”

In response, the rock raced in so quickly Mamoru was forced to cough, blood landing on the stone in front of him. Nero’s eyes doubled in size and he put the quarters resting on the machine into the slots, and the stone crept back. He coughed again, and spat out more blood, and, in frustration, used golden energy to heal himself and push back against the stones, but the headache that reacted against him was too intense; breathing heavily, he tried again, only for the stabbing pain to intensify further. The miasma must have pulled more than he had thought, and, if Kaito’s ‘battery’ theory was the right of it, he was frustratingly out of energy. Useless, when his friend needed him.

“Too bad for you, I’ve got the top score at this game at every arcade I’ve ever been in,” East stated confidently, “Get ready to crawl away in defeat, moron.” He hit a few buttons, eyes intent on the screen in front of him.

Iao tsked, “If only you knew, kid, what this planet was in for if we hadn’t come along.” He hit a button, and “Game Start!” resounded through the store. “You’d be begging for our help.”

“Yeah?” Nero replied, a smirk on his lips as the game began in earnest.

“I’m telling you, you guys have the wrong idea of us. We’re just here to help, and with you on our side we can make the transition faster and save more lives.”

“Find it hard to believe you’re here to help, given recent events,” East shrugged his shoulders to indicate the fallen people around them. The game sounded in his favor, “Tell you what, let’s sweeten the deal. If you win, I’ll tell you where the redhead kid is, and if I win, you give Yuu and Kaito back.”

“Can’t do that,” Iao replied easily, “We need their energy to summon Demiurge, just as we need yours and the West King’s.” Demiurge? “Tell you what, though, give up now and I’ll take you to them. I’ll call off the bet, set your leader over there free, and we’ll go together, sound good?”

“Don’t!” Mamoru called; there was no guarantee this guy would hold to his word in any case, let alone in one that meant that much. If they needed all of them to summon this Demiurge, then under no circumstances should Nero or Khalid go with them.

“Pay him no attention,” Iao stated easily, the game sounding hits over and over again, though this time Nero was not looking as confident as his hands flew across the controls. “He’s just upset that our future has no place for him - selfish leaders tend to respond this way when we save the worlds out from under them. There’s still hope for your planet, Nero; you don’t have to give up your future to serve him and his evil whims. Come with me, and serve as a king in your own right. Help us reshape your planet the way you believe it should be, free from the tyranny of the Planetary Crystal’s reign. Live out your own dream instead of following him into the nightmare he will inevitably create. We have seen the future of this world, Nero, and we only wish to save the lives of these innocents. Join us!”

What was he talking about?! He couldn’t really see the future, could he? And what did he mean, evil whims?!

“Mamoru isn’t any of those things and will never be,” Nero replied, a fire in his tone meant to silence Iao’s claims. His stalwart support buoyed Mamoru’s thoughts, but the way he said them gave him just enough warning to pay attention as East King released the controls and threw himself across the surface with his stone knuckles encasing the leading edge of his fist. East King screamed out as he punched Iao, but Iao had expected the move and as the punch landed, the game machines launched upward and the ceiling down, intending to catch Nero in a vice the same way he had earlier attempted to catch Mamoru. Nero, however, had been in mid-air, completely unable to get away before the slabs slammed together.

Iao was gone, the punch having sent him flying, slamming into the far wall, impaling himself on a horizontal flag display with a pointed metallic tip. The man turned to stone and disintegrated, and, with him, the stone work around the room. As the slabs disappeared from around him, Mamoru stumbled forward, pushing himself to where Nero should have been released only to fall on his knees in the mess of game machines, completely alone.

Nero was gone, just as Kaito had been. Just like Yuu.

#sailor moon #mamoruchibaweek #mamoru #shitennou #usagi #sailor moon au #cardinal king #cardinal king arc two

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