Creeeeeeeeak.
(Minako)
When I was born, I heard that the doctors were worried that I didn’t inherit any of the royal power. Or, I guess you could say that it was my family who was worried. I didn’t know about it at the time, but it’s just like Haruka said. It was unheard of for a Goddess to have more than one child, yet, for some reason, my mother chose to have eight. Because of it, I heard that my sister before me only displayed a faint trace of Godly power compared to our elder siblings. She was barely stronger than an ordinary person. So when I came along…
As far back as I can remember... my earliest memories began with that room. I can remember it so clearly, even now. It had a fancy bed, soft pillows, toys... a private bathroom and a desk; almost everything someone could ever wish for. Almost. But it was missing the most important things. There were no windows to look out of… to stare out into the sky, to watch the clouds go by… It didn’t even have the comforting warmth that came with being around another person. I knew that there were other people out there. When I was small, there were the maids and I could often hear them… just on the other side of the door…
. . .
Tup…tup…tup…
A small six-year old Venus Minako poked her head up from beneath the bed covers upon hearing the loud footsteps. She blinked twice with her young, blue eyes before realizing that she really was hearing what she thought she heard. Hurriedly, in a blink of an eye, the girl threw the bed covers aside and rushed towards the large door with everything she had, hoping to hear who was outside. Perhaps it was one of the maids?
Tup…tup.
The footsteps abruptly stopped outside her door. The child pressed her ear against the cold, solid frame. From the sounds of it there was more than one of them this time.
“This is ridiculous!” A voice protested. Minako blinked once again; this was a new voice. She had heard many voices beyond this door before, but for some reason she was rather fond of this one.
“Lord Eleutherios, please! Calm yourself,” His companion advised. “You know it has to be done-- it’s for the best, for everyone’s sake.”
But the other individual would have none of it. “You really think it’s for the best? For whose sake, again...? Certainly not for the child! How do you think locking her up in that room will benefit anyone? She hasn’t even met her own Mother for God’s sake!”
Minako pressed her ear closer to the door, wishing that she could see what was happening. Her eyes scanned the door’s frame in a desperate attempt to find a way, until, finally, she spotted it. The keyhole, why hadn’t she thought about it before?
Pushing herself up onto the tips of her toes the girl was finally able to glimpse a peek into the outside world. Up until then, she had never met a human being who looked at her fondly or a Goddess either for that matter. Every day the food would be pushed past the door, the brightness of the light always thwarting her attempts to catch a peek at whoever delivered the life sustaining substance. Other times, once in awhile, a maid would make sure she had bathed before rushing out to do other duties. They always seemed to be in a hurry to leave and she couldn’t understand why, why they would always leave her alone. Far up on the ceiling of her room, there was a small metal device that would blink down at her-- her other companion. It would make a whirling sound every once in awhile, perhaps saying some gibberish that she couldn’t understand, almost like it was now. Despite the mechanical creature, though, Minako continued to watch through the viewing hole; her blue eyes had adjusted enough by now that she could clearly make out two figures.
There were two people as she had suspected, but the larger man was now shaking his head at the shorter boy. Did the boy do something wrong? She wondered.
“I understand what you are saying Lord Eleutherios, but Her Majesty, your mother, has agreed that we cannot let the young Lady out until we have verified whether or not she possesses royal powers.”
“And how long will that take? She’s-- a person too!”
“You were about to say human, weren’t you?” The other man caught on. He managed to push up his thick glasses with two fingers despite the bagginess of his white lab coat.
“She’s my sister! I don’t care whether she has Goddess powers or not!”
“I see. Well, there’s no reason to fret, young master. Queen Aphrodite will not abandon the child even if Lady Minako is not a true Goddess. There are still advantages of being a human with a Goddess’s body.”
“Grr--” Eleutherios’s eyes sharpened threateningly at the man. The implication infuriated him. “What did you just say?”
“N-Now Lord Eleutherios, please! Be reasonable!” The scientist quickly stuttered. He knew better than to piss off the heir of Venus. ANY individual who would dare to incur the wrath of a God or Goddess for that matter would be a fool. “I am only stating that you should not worry so much about your ‘sister’. Besides, Queen Aphrodite will be taking you under her wing shortly, no? Shouldn’t you be concentrating on your studies instead?”
“…Move aside.”
“E-Excuse me?”
“I want to see her.” The heir stated very clearly. His eyes still hadn’t waned in their intensity.
“B-But you know I can’t do that! It’s best if the girl is monitored in solit--”
“I said, MOVE!”
Crackle!
Minako jumped back when a bright, orange light shot out of the boy and knocked the scientist out of sight. He then turned around, seemingly unperturbed by his actions, and approached the door. There was a strange orange glow around his body; it was so pretty that Minako felt herself become entranced by it. Did it feel warm as it looked? She was so dazed that she was startled when the door began to open.
Creeeeeeeak.
“Eep!” The girl hurriedly scampered to her bed and slid underneath it. She remained there, peeking timidly past the bed covers that hung over the mattress’s sides to watch that strange person appear in the doorway. It greatly reminded her of how she received her food every day, how the bright light appeared whenever the tray entered the room. Except this time, it was not a maid and there was no food. Now that she had gotten a better look at him, she could tell that he was different from the staff. She just didn’t know how. It took almost everything the child could do to prevent from wriggling about; she felt anticipation and excitement all at once.
The teenage boy at the doorway scanned the room for a moment before something caught his eye up on the ceiling. Minako craned her head to try and see what had caught his attention when an exploding noise hit her ears.
Crackle—boom!
Small shards of metal fell to the floor in front of her. Instinctively she buried her head in her hands until everything went silent again.
A minute or two quickly passed by. When she heard nothing the girl found the courage to open her eyes once again. For a moment she feared that the stranger had left…
He hadn’t.
“Minako?” Eleutherios called.
‘Minako’ The child heard that name many times before. It was her name, wasn’t it? The maids had always called her, ‘girl’ but somewhere, unconsciously, in her memories someone else had called her by that name. She was sure of it.
“Minako?” He asked again. The hardness in his gaze was gone and was instead replaced by worry.
Where had that warmth come from? The girl wondered. She was so caught up in his eyes that she never sensed the orange aura that had snuck up behind her.
“So there you are…”
Tup…tup…tup…
Minako felt her eyes widen as the stranger approached her hiding spot. She was caught up in a whirlwind of emotion. She wanted to be found, yet at the same time she wished that he would pass her by.
In the end the girl did nothing but huddled herself tightly.
…Tup…tup.
The footsteps stopped and the teen kneeled a small distance from the bed. An awkward silence ensued.
“Minako...? Will you come out from under there…? I would like to see you, please?”
Minako opened one eye, surprised at the kind tone that she heard. There was warmth in his voice; could it really be directed at her? Now she was afraid, yet she wanted to meet this stranger too. The unexplainable bond that she felt between them was stronger now that the distance had been closed. Who was he?
Taking a chance, Minako slowly poked her head from beneath the covers. She was quickly amazed by what she saw; now that they were this close, Minako could make out the stranger’s features much better. He had short blonde hair and blue eyes-- the same blonde hair and blue eyes that she saw in the mirror every day.
Eleutherios held out his hand to her and smiled. “Finally we meet. Minako, I am your older brother Eleutherios.”
“Brother?” Minako repeated quizzically. “Ele---eleutha--”
Noticing this, Eleutherios quickly offered, “You can just call me Eros.”
“E-Eros.” This time the girl repeated without difficulty. A proud smile lit her face when she saw her brother smile back at her. She had said it right. And when he opened his arms out to her, she laughed and jumped into the hug without hesitation. “Eros!”
They stayed like that for a long time. Minako had never felt anything this warm before. Maybe it was exactly what she had been longing for this entire time.
“I’m sorry. I can’t go against Mother’s wishes…” Eleutherios solemnly began as he cradled her. “But I just can’t stand how she let’s those idiots watch you like a test subject with their cameras. I know she’ll punish me for sure after I leave, but, at the very least, when I meet her, I will be able to request for someone who can take proper care of you. Someone... who can love you, instead of seeing you as just some…”
Failure…
A tug at his shirt drew his attention. “You can’t…?”
For a moment her brother was speechless and a sad look entered his eyes. “I wish I could. Hah, Gods, I wish... but I will be very busy soon. I might not be able to talk to you for a long time, but I wanted to meet you, even if it was just once.” He drew her tighter into the hug. “But even if we’re far apart, it doesn’t mean that I will care for you any less. It’ll just be a little longer Minako. By the time you’re thirteen, we’ll know for sure.”
…For sure…
…… For sure….
………..For sure…
(Seven Years Later…)
Minako was thirteen years old now. Both her body and her mind had changed considerably since her brother’s first and only visit. Of course, one could not control when one’s body decided to grow up. However, the teenager had gained considerable knowledge with the help of her tutor, who was the very reason why she was sitting at her desk reading a book at the moment.
Knock, knock.
Someone rapped at the door.
“Come in!” Minako called over her shoulder. She knew who it was even before the door opened to reveal the young woman behind it. “Morning Taya!”
The woman addressed appeared to be in her early twenties, dressed in the traditional white garbs that the palace intellectuals wore. And like many of the other Venusians, she possessed golden blonde hair, which was tied up in a bun today, and sparkling blue eyes. The fondness in her expression, which was absent in the earlier maids from Minako’s past, was proof itself that Eleutherios had indeed kept his promise.
“Good morning, Lady Minako.” The woman greeted in turn with a smile. She noted the growing stack of books on the nearest corner of the desk. “I see that you have been busy with your studies. Where are you now, hm?”
“Mars!” The teen gave a laugh. She turned around in her chair and held the book up for Taya to see. There was a picture of the War God, Ares, standing on a pile of bloody corpses, holding a necklace comprised of human skulls in his grubby fist. No one could overlook the river of crimson blood draining from the dead bodies below him either.
Her tutor’s face went pale.
“O-Oh… H-How…erm… interesting.” She weakly commented. She couldn’t recall whether that image was there before or not. More importantly, she was concerned about the mental health of her young charge; for the life of her, she didn’t know why Minako wasn’t bothered by the image. In fact, she was grinning from ear to ear.
Wait a second.
“You don’t like blood, do you Taya?” Minako slowly said. Without waiting for a reply, the girl gave the book a few hard shakes and the image had faded away to reveal its original form-- a picture of the Martian capital. There was no maniac War God, pile of corpses, or a river of blood, only the red desert and a bunch of harmless buildings.
Taya raised an eyebrow at this.
“Lady Minako…please don’t tell me that Sapphro has been teaching you…”
“Yup! Wasn’t it great?! I got you but good! You should’ve seen your face, it was priceless!”
Taya twitched, feeling her patience already beginning to slip. Great, teaching the child pranks was the last thing she needed.
“Wait until I get my hands on that…” She started.
“Taya?”
“Hm?”
“Don’t tell me that you still don’t trust Sapphro.”
There was an awkward silence. Minako’s tutor hadn’t expected to hear that question from the teen again, not ever since she had been asked about it upon their first meeting. What did she really think of her partner in childcare, Sapphro? As was caught up in her pondering she never noticed the glint of mischief in Minako’s eyes, something she should have picked up on right away. Minako HAD changed considerably from the quiet, shy child she was at the beginning.
“That blue hair of his…” Was all Taya could mutter at the moment.
“But you know he takes pride in it!” The girl quickly interjected. “It’s natural you know?”
“Yes, yes, since he was originally from Mercury,” Her tutor reluctantly agreed. She had to admit that she was positively aghast when she first met the man; all Venusians took pride in their trademark features. And then Sapphro showed up. She really thought that he was raised in Venus because of his blue eyes (visitors from other planets were virtually non-existent), but that he had dyed his hair blue. It ended up being a terrible misunderstanding and she had reprimanded him for something he could not help, resulting in embarrassment of herself in front of the young Lady. She sighed, the things that Lord Eleutherios brings back from his travels.
Still, as smart as she thought her partner to be due to his background he has yet to show a shred of it in the proper educational ways to their charge.
“No, I don’t think it’s a matter of that quite so much anymore.” Taya reluctantly admitted. “It’s just… he gets on my nerves sometimes.”
“Someone call?”
Minako’s tutor flinched when the familiar voice at the door called. She knew it was him, the flirt.
“Sapphro!” Minako laughed, and ran up to give her friend a hug. She was always fond of the carefree man, not only for his attitude but also his face; she couldn’t remember her brother’s face very well, but from what she did remember Sapphro seemed to resemble him very much. At times she wondered if Eros had grown his hair out to look something more like Sapphro’s long blue.
“Hey there kiddo! Long time no see! What have you been up to?” He greeted her warmly. When the teen embraced him he took the extra effort to quickly spin her around for a moment before releasing her gently.
“Like you wouldn’t know!” Taya scolded. Sapphro knew that she had a weak stomach for blood-- how dare he teach Lady Minako to do such a dirty trick? To pull on her no less!
Whack!
“Ow! That was kinda harsh T-muffin.” Sapphro complained. His partner had hit him over the head with her clipboard. Normally she was so mild tempered too.
“Shame on you for teaching the child such things! Lord Eleutherios entrusted us with his little sister’s physical and mental well being! Teaching her the proper ways of the court is our duty, not some cheap parlour tricks!” She took a moment to check her watch. “Tsk, and you’re late too!”
“Yeah… I guess.” He shrugged. The fact he was looking so unconcerned right now was really pushing Taya’a patience.
“You guess?! Do you realize that Minako is thirteen now? The tests could come back any day now!”
“That’s right...” Both guardians turned their heads towards their distant eyed charge. “My brother said something about that once, too…”
Minako had grown up learning about what lay outside the room through her books and her friends’ stories. The wonders that existed in the ‘outside world’ that she saw in her imaginations and dreams: The deserts on Mars and Jupiter, the magnificent ruins on Uranus, Mercury’s machinery capital (from Sapphro) and the rivers on Neptune. She wished she could see those places someday, but more importantly she wanted to see her home. Not some toy filled room. Not the same bed and emptiness that she awoke to every day. She wanted to see her actual home, the palace and the gardens, to meet her family and new people. So what if she was the youngest of eight siblings? Why did it have to matter if she had powers or not? The teen cherished Taya and Sapphro dearly, but her heart ached for more. Just to know her mother, the place she was born, was it too much to ask for? It was enough to make the girl sometimes cry herself to sleep at nights.
Sapphro’s blue eyes fell down to the small bandage on Minako’s arm. It had been where the scientist had inserted the needle to draw blood for testing.
“You really want to see what’s outside of this room, don’t you Minako?” Her blue-haired guardian questioned. The forlorn expression in his charge’s face tugged at his heart, but he had a secret for her-- a very good one that he couldn’t wait to tell. “...To see your sisters perhaps? And Lord Eleutherios too?”
“Sapphro!” Taya immediately interjected; they had both agreed not to give the girl any false hope. Although, secretly, Taya vowed that if the worst did happen she would not allow the girl to be locked up here for the rest of her life. Sapphro knew how Taya felt as well. The both of them promised each other that they would commit an act of treason if necessary to bring Minako freedom.
“Yeah, I really do…” Minako sighed longingly.
A grin suddenly lit Sapphro’s features, confusing the heck out of Taya and Minako. The man looked like he was about to dance on the spot with excitement.
“Sapphro, if you need to use the restroom…” Taya began.
“Oh, I can’t hold it back anymore! The tests have already come back! They’re positive Minako! Do you hear me?! Positive!”
“What?” Minako blinked. What was this strange feeling growing in her chest? Did she really hear what Sapphro was saying?
“Positive? Are you sure?” Taya persisted.
“… It’s true.” A kind voice rang out.
Sapphro’s smirk didn’t diminish one bit, but Taya and Minako were left speechless. The teen’s tutor knew very well of the young woman who stood in the doorway, but Minako didn’t have a clue.
“Oh! Your Highness! This is such an unexpected surprise.” Taya bowed, much to Minako’s dismay. She never saw her guardian bow her head to anyone before.
‘Who is she…?’ Minako thought to herself. Her heart was racing, and she was sure that her cheeks were tinged pink. The woman in the doorway looked so surreal; she stood tall, her long, golden, blonde hair gently cascaded down her shoulders in waves, reflective of the light that lit her entrance with a royal air. It greatly reminded Minako of her brother, when he had stood in that exact place all of those years ago. There was this feeling that she felt between them, a bond of familiarity. And those blue eyes-- they were the prettiest blue eyes that Minako had ever seen.
The teen suddenly felt self-conscious. What should she say? Should she bow too?
“See? What’d I tell ya? She’s so shocked that she’s speechless!” Sapphro laughed.
Whup!
“Ugh…”
Taya had elbowed him into silence. “Be quiet.” She hissed.
The woman at the doorway smiled warmly. There was amusement dancing her blue eyes. “Minako? Please allow me to introduce myself. I am your older sister, Marie. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. Eros has told me much about you.”
“Eros did…?” Minako thought aloud absent-mindedly. She almost had forgotten to introduce herself in the process. “Ah—oops. I-It’s nice to meet you too… Marie.”
The other woman nodded politely to both Sapphro and Taya before stepping forward towards the girl. When the two siblings were an arms-length apart, she offered out her hand.
“Would you like to meet Mother, Minako?” The girl held her breath. “Because she would very much like to meet you. She’s waiting right now. We shouldn’t keep her waiting… right?”
With her heart pounding in her chest, Minako slowly reached out for Marie’s hand. She never thought this day would come. Finally, she would be able to meet her mother.
They walked like that, hand in hand out the door. Minako was almost blinded by the brightness of it all, but she didn’t dare to close her eyes to the sights she was witnessing. The gardens, the statues, and the scenery itself, the real thing was better than she had imagined. However, she still felt greater excitement for what was about to come.
Allowing her older sister to lead her through the large palace structure, they soon came upon a large, majestically engraved door. Venus’s insignia, the girl recognized, was on the door. Could this be it?
Lubb dubb! Lubb dubb! Lubb dubb!
Creeeeeeeeak.
Minako was trembling by the time the door had fully opened. Even before it had opened to reveal the enormous audience chamber, the girl had felt it. THAT strange bond, but it was so strong- the strongest she had felt it in her entire life.
Feeling her little sister tremble, Marie gave the younger girl’s hand a gentle squeeze. Even Marie, though she had become used to her Mother’s presence, still felt the ruler’s strong influence.
As Minako nervously scanned the room she saw many unfamiliar faces gathered around the court. The teen was able to identify the maids and other servants by their uniforms, but there were five other girls, dressed up royal robes, that she had never met before. They all regarded her with hard stares-- the weight of their gazes was incredibly intimidating. However, there was that small bond between them that she couldn’t ignore. By now, she had come to realize that this meant that they were her remaining siblings. But unlike Marie or Eros, they hardly seemed to care who she was.
Minako quickly averted her gaze, feeling unfounded shame and guilt for being in such a majestic place. Perhaps she really didn’t belong here after all.
“...Minako.” A strong voice beckoned to her.
The girl hesitated to look at the throne, already guessing what awaited her there. But after so many years of pining and longing, she felt compelled to do so. When she finally looked, she finally laid her eyes on the Goddess Aphrodite, the ruler of Venus. The rumours that she heard about the woman were true. She possessed a mesmerizing beauty: Long, golden hair, which was left unbound and loose, and a finely shaped body that would surely make even the most critical artist weep in worship. She radiated an air of ancient majesty that commanded the attention of all within her presence. The only one who appeared relatively unaffected was her heir, Eros, who stood dutifully at her side. He hadn’t seemed to change much over these past seven years. Perhaps he gotten taller and there was some new maturity in his features, but there was still warmth in his blue eyes. The small smile on his face offered more comfort to her than any speech of words could.
“Minako, my child, let me see you.” Aphrodite called to her again. As the Goddess did so, she rose from her throne-- allowing the pink cloth of her dress touch the red carpet beneath her feet.
Minako flinched back into Marie’s side as the Goddess gracefully descended the row of steps towards them both. How powerful her Mother was-- the girl wasn’t sure whether she should be afraid or not. Taya had often praised Aphrodite for being a great ruler, how she was strict, but kind, but now that she finally got to meet her she found it was too much to process all at once.
When the ruler stopped at a short distance away, Minako curiously peeked out from her sister’s side. Her mother was also so very tall.
Queen Aphrodite appeared to be unfazed by her daughter’s apparent lack of trust in her. Rather, in fact, she was feeling mixed emotions of relief and pride-- relief that the tests had come back positive. Now Minako could finally be treated like the royal she was. The woman detested the thought that any of her children should be excluded. And pride--Aphrodite did not recognize it at first, but it was the child’s meekness that had caught her attention. Unlike her other children, who had grown up knowing her, grew up being worshipped, many of them had become spoiled. They would all respect her, yes, yet there was hardly any genuine love or attachment to the woman who had born them to this world, to the very positions and power that they took great pride in, or to their own siblings for that matter. Eleutherios and Marie must have noticed it as well, this difference when they met their youngest sister.
Power can corrupt, can change… The Goddess was well aware that. But could this child, one who was born with hardly any…
She wondered…
Sniff-sniffle…sob…
Something suddenly caught Aphrodite’s eye. What was this? The child was crying?
Marie immediately understood when she met her Mother’s eyes. Whispering words of comfort to the younger girl, she gave her sister a comforting pat on the shoulder before gently loosening the girl’s grip so that she may step back.
“It’ll be all right…” Marie whispered.
Minako was startled by the suddenly coldness that enshrouded her when her sister let go of her. But it was immediately replaced by something warmer when a pink garment obscured the girl’s vision. Gentle arms wrapped themselves around her, to cradle the crying child with as much love as the Goddess could muster.
Feeling this, Minako was finally able to let out a choked, “…Mom…”
“Shhhh… It’s all right. I’m right here…”
I expect many great things of you…
. . .
Lubb dubb!
“You can just call me Eros.”
Lubb dubb!
“Minako? Please allow me to introduce myself. I am your older sister, Marie. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. Eros has told me much about you.”
Lubb dubb! Lubb dubb!
“Shhhh… It’s all right. I’m right here…”
Lubb dubb! Lubb dubb! Lubb dubb!
“It’ll be all right…”
Lubb dubb! Lubb dubb! Lubb dubb! Lubb DUBB!
“Ah!” Minako woke up to find herself in cold sweat.
The woman’s heart pounded in her chest, racing with a sudden uncertainty. W-Where am I? The last thing she remembered, she was with her brother and then she was suddenly being escorted away by a pair of guards. She whipped her head around the room, glancing around at all of the familiar surroundings. Despite the dim lighting, her heart knew where she was.
“Oh no…” She mouthed. This room is--
DOOOOOOOM!
The warmth of the dream had already begun to fade away, leaving Minako alone to face the cold winds of reality once more. The room was cold and empty as she had remembered it to be. Or perhaps, it was worse now: The remembrance of tasting freedom for the first time, the joy that came with it, fuelled her revulsion for this prison. The years of loneliness that had accumulated here-- she could have sworn that, for a second, an abandoned shard of her broken heart was finally returning home. The pain and frustration of her own helplessness hit her all at once.
Mother…
Minako could still feel the lingering effects of those gentle arms, how they once held her tight and comforted her when she was a child. It had only been in a dream, but it had felt so real. For that one moment all of her worries of the past and present were forgotten. But now, she was forced to face the bitter truth: Her mother didn’t want her anymore. The kind mother who had showered her with love, trust, and guidance over the years had decreed that she should be banished to this forsaken room. How long she would be faced with this miserable isolation?
Eros…
Minako clenched the spill of sheets in her fingers. Her older brother, the first person she ever met that she thought would always care for her, now hated her. She could still see how cold his eyes were when he looked at her. It was as if he hardly acknowledged her presence anymore.
He said that he had other matters to attend to. So, does that mean... that I’m not important anymore?
His words still deeply stung: “…You’ve failed your mission. That is all I have to say to you.”
The woman’s lips trembled. The one other comfort in her life, her sister-- tears were threatening to blur her vision now.
And Marie…She’s… she’s…
“Dead…!” Minako choked out.
Her breathing hitched, but she stubbornly fought her body for control. The woman tried to distract herself, and limply looked up to the ceiling where the broken camera stand still remained. Before all else, that had been her light in the darkness. But now, there was no longer any light there; there was no warmth, no light anywhere. She had given it all up for one person. And how did that person respond to her feelings? Yes, Minako remembered it quite clearly; she had been pushed away and rather hard at that. The way she had looked at her. Was Rei now disgusted with her? Was she also, like many, disappointed with her?
A muffled sob escaped her throat when the dam finally broke. Hot tears fell down her face, staining her delicate cheeks as her body became wracked hard with sobs.
I promised myself that I would be strong, that I wouldn’t cry, no matter what happens! But-- but I… I can’t… My heart is worthless! I’m…worthless!
...Somebody...
She couldn’t think straight. The room was beginning to blur, to go dark…
… I just want to disappear…
BAM!
The room door was violently flung open. Minako hardly flinched at the sound, but through her blurred vision she could see a person at the doorway. They had spotted her. They were running towards her.
“Lady Minako! My Goddess, are you all right?!”
That voice…
“Ta…ya?” Minako felt herself quickly swept up into an embrace. She could feel someone trembling more than she was.
Taya… The darkness began to slip away from this cursed warmth. Unwillingly, everything slowly came back into sharp focus. The first thing she saw was her tutor looking down at her with a very worried and concerned expression.
“Lady Minako! Please say something! Oh, I knew this wasn’t a good idea! What was Her Majesty thinking?!”
Without much thought, Minako absently whispered, “Taya…what happened? M-Marie…” Her guardian froze at the mention of the name, but she was far more perturbed by the strength at which Minako grabbed her with. It was a very strong grip, but there was an underlying power of promise beneath it. The woman could feel that the air around Minako was different, and it was steadily growing stronger.
Minako gripped the sleeve of her tutor’s coat as if she were her lifeline.
It’s really her.
“What happened?!” Minako demanded. The light was quickly returning to her blue eyes, breath to her lungs, and strength to her muscles, only to awaken to feel anger and anguish. “Why is she dead?!”
Something’s changed this girl. Taya silently contemplated. Her aura, it’s much stronger than it should be!
“Taya!”
“T-There was a battle...” The other woman replied hesitantly. She wasn’t sure how well the younger woman would take the news. A look of grave seriousness had also entered Taya’s blue eyes.
“A battle...?” Minako loosened her hold a little, feeling slightly calmer now. Not everyone had abandoned her quite yet. “What battle? Against who?”
“Please, my Lady, now is not the time-”
“Taya.” The commanding tone of Minako’s voice startled the other woman into silence. “I want to know the truth. Everyone is hiding something from me, I just know it! But they won’t tell me what it is... Taya, you’re one of my closest friends...”
“No... Lady Minako, please...”
“I don’t want you to treat me like I’m still some little kid! Please, Taya. Please tell me what happened to my sister. What’s going on around here?”
Her guardian felt her resolve wavering at the determination in Minako’s eyes. There was a new level of maturity in them that she hadn’t seen there before.
“If I tell you... then you must swear to me that you will not tell your mother that I told you any of this. Do you understand?” She saw Minako slowly nod. Her guardian took a deep breath. “All right... A short while ago, sometime after you left, we had been receiving strange reports that a black mass had appeared outside of Cytherea’s city limits. We sent a small scouting party to investigate, and what we found out was that it wasn’t a black mass, but rather a gathering of...these, strange black creatures. They almost looked like...how to put it... the shadows of deformed humans, but they were definitely something more monstrous. It was a miracle that the entire scouting party wasn’t wiped out. From what the survivors told us, the enemy were like demons. They all possessed dark, red eyes, and were skilful with a dagger.”
Minako gasped. She hadn’t forgotten her last encounter with the beasts. It can’t be! Did they follow me here? Wait, no... Taya said that they appeared while I was away. But I thought that they were only after Hotaru, and she’s still back on Neptune. So then, why are they here? What are they after...?
“We have sent a small group of armed soldiers into battle, hoping that they would be more than enough to quell the threat. However, it turned out that we had sorely underestimated the enemy. The entire squad was... slaughtered. After that, many more went into battle with permission from our Queen, your mother. Even as I speak, they are still people out there fighting.”
“Taya...?” Her guardian’s stern features hadn’t changed, but Minako was getting a gut feeling that something was terribly wrong.
“I--I don’t know how they’re doing it. Apparently, from our scouts’ reports, despite our best attempts the enemy is somehow replenishing their numbers…”
It’s only a matter of time until... The woman paused for a brief moment in thought. She considered not telling Minako this in case it would frighten the girl, but a logical voice in her mind pointed out that her companion was taking this much better than she had anticipated. Minako was patiently waiting for her to continue.
“But... it appears that those monsters may be the least of our concerns…”
“What do you mean?”
“Her Majesty, Aphrodite, has recently confided in me that she senses a large swell of power building outside of our city limits. It has even the Queen worried, my Lady.”
“A power that my mother is afraid of…?” But...I don’t remember sensing anything unusual when I arrived...
“Your sister,” Taya began slowly, getting to the heart of the matter, “volunteered as a medical aid when the battle was deemed as a national emergency. She… she died on the battlefield while helping the wounded.”
Once again Minako felt her heart being crushed. She had really hoped that Marie was still alive somewhere, that it was all just a big misunderstanding, but it wasn’t after all. She was never going to see her beloved sister, alive, ever again. But it was because of that, that it especially bothered her; if their enemy was that powerful then why was her brother going into battle?
“If that’s true, then why is Mother sending Eros into battle?! He’s her heir, he could die out there!”
“Lord Eleutherios is not going to fight.” Taya’s looked on sadly as she said this. Minako was confused now.
“But I just saw him! He was wearing armor and everything!” She protested.
“Perhaps the one you saw was not your brother, but Sapphro.”
“…S-Sapphro?”
“Yes. But it is true that the people have called on Lord Eleutherios to do battle. They want the heir to lead them, to inspire moral and courage within them. He is their future leader after all… But Sapphro objected to this plan with the very same reasoning that you have just stated, and instead, because he resembled Lord Eleutherios so much, he volunteered himself to go into battle as the prince’s double. He cut his hair, and dyed it blonde… and led an army of soldiers out into the battlefield. We still haven’t heard any word from them…” Taya bit her bottom lip—she could already feel herself choking up at the thought of the man dying out there, alone.
“No.”
“Minako…?”
Minako shook her head. “That wasn’t Sapphro that I saw—it was Eros! I’m sure of it!” She insisted with confidence. “I could feel it Taya! His aura, our bond- -it was Eros! You have to believe me!”
The woman looked shocked for a moment. Siblings usually could feel the bond they shared. If what Minako said was true then…
Is Lord Eleutherios leaving without permission? I must inform Her Majesty immediately!
“Wait! Where are you going?” Minako cried out when her guardian suddenly stood up. Now that Minako thought about it, why was the woman dressed up in such a strange uniform? It wasn’t the white garments that she usually wore; she wore a small, brown jacket that fitted over her white vest. Her white pants had also been traded in for a tighter pair of brown pants, and her slip-ons for boots. For some reason, her outfit greatly resembled something of the military style that Minako had seen on her adventures.
While her guardian maintained her silence, the princess spotted Venus’s insignia on the shoulder of her coat.
“Why are you dressed up like that? Y-You hate blood...”
The other woman appeared relatively unfazed by what Minako was implying because it was true.
“Sapphro has already gone into battle… I cannot sit around idly by and watch it all happen before my eyes, and not do a single thing about it! Thus I volunteered to become a tactician.”
No. Minako froze. “Please don’t go Taya! I don’t want anything to happen to you too!” She could hardly believe that Sapphro was doing something so dangerous as well.
BOOM!
“AHHHHH!” Someone cried out.
“What was that?!” Another voice demanded.
The two women peered through the doorway to see that the sky beyond it was a blood red. Something was going on out there, and it was sending the people in the palace into a storm of confusion and chaos.
“What is that…?” Minako quietly mouthed. She had never seen the sky turn that color before.
“ I don’t know…” Taya answered worriedly. But it can’t be good…
(Rei)
Rei paced around within a shuttle, occasionally looking out of the window with anticipation. She was brimming with a newfound confidence, and was itching to get on Venus; the first thing she wanted to do was to find Minako and straighten out their misunderstanding that they had on Neptune. But first things first-- she needed to finish her preparations for battle; Ami had already scanned her armor with her computer (newly rebuilt), assuring her that it was in top working condition, and she had gone over the terrain maps with Haruka. None of them had been on Venus before, so it was uncharted territory for everyone involved. As for their numbers, while she had relayed orders to her men on Uranus to stay put Haruka and Makoto had summoned a good number of their troops to battle in their stead. Anything could happen, so it was best not to pool all of their resources at once on the offensive.
Just a little longer... And then, the real battle will begin. Ares... Already Rei could see that their shuttle was breaking through the clouds. It wouldn’t be long now.
BOOM!
PING!
Rei’s stomach lurched at the feeling. It wasn’t the racket that nearly gave her a heart attack-- it was those vibes. She was momentarily distracted when she felt the beginnings of the bloodlust begin to stir again. Taking a few deep breaths, Rei pulled out a small, gun-looking machine and pressed the tip against her neck. There was a quick jab and she felt mildly light-headed at first, but to her relief the sensation began to subside. Another useful gift from Ami; she didn’t particularly like the idea of shooting strange substances into her body, but it was relatively painless and it would have to do until a cure is found.
She panted for a moment longer. Ares...!
That aura was unmistakable to the young woman. She was his heir. She should know better than anyone else who the owner of that aura belonged to.
With a sword in hand, Rei raced out of the room to the bridge. She had to tell everyone.
(Rei, Venus)
As soon as ships had docked, the Inner Alliance’s forces charged out of the shuttles. Rei, Haruka and Makoto all grouped together at the front as Jupiter and Uranus soldiers were beginning to line up into their squad positions.
“Shit...!” Haruka growled. It appeared that they had arrived too late; the ground was already littered in corpses upon their arrival, and the ones who were left alive were swinging wildly at their opponents like amateurs in desperation.
“GAAAH!” A soldier cried out. His opponent had slit his throat at the space beneath his helmet. There was heavy silence amongst the Inner Alliance as they watched the man’s body crippled to the ground.
“Grr...Why you--!!” The shadow creature turned its sights on them. “Don’t bother with your position! Spread out, and kill every last one of them!” Haruka roared. She didn’t waste any time and leapt immediately into action.
You’re mine!
“Uranus Planet Power, Make Up!”
FOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
“World…SHAKING!”
Wham!---Wrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiir----Kablam!
The creature screeched and practically evaporated in the blast. This small victory prompted the rest of the force into action. All of the soldiers charged off in every direction and began to engage with the enemy.
Rei glanced around and caught Makoto and Ami pair off to her right, while Michiru quickly transformed and moved to catch up with Uranus up ahead. With no other choice left to her, Rei made a sharp turn left and took the remaining side of the field.
Ares! I have to find him before he gets to Minako! She desperately thought.
Tup! Tup! Tup! Tup---skssss….
Three shadow creatures jumped in her path, forcing the woman to slow in her steps slightly.
“Oh for--- GET OUT OF MY WAY!”
Slash---CRACKLE!
They all perished with a single swing of her sword, disappearing in the glow of her red aura. Much of the journey was the same for Rei. She would barely make fifty meters before a new group confronted her.
Slash---Crackle!
Slash---Crackle!
Slash---Crackle!
“Nng! HAAAH!”
Crackle!
She evaded a dagger to her head, from the side, and was forced back a few steps. She then planted her foot in the ground and stabbed forward with her sword, piercing the creature’s midsection and blowing it up from the inside.
Damn it! They just keep coming! For some reason, they were being particularly resistant in this area.
As she continued to steadily battle through the black mass, she was beginning to lose sense of her location relative to the others. Somewhere between the kills she could feel her friends’ signatures become fainter and fainter as the distance between them widened. They were becoming dangerously separated. Soon, she would no longer be able to detect them in this nightmare of the dead-- secretly, though, it worried them all. It was nothing like they had ever faced before. Their enemy was quick and skilled, not even human for that matter, yes, but in this sickening atmosphere the living’s souls were at risk of being dragged down into hell before they had even died. Intimidation, fear-- the false futility of it all-- no matter how many times a soldier slaughtered his enemy it would seemingly be reborn and stronger than before. Soon, one may lose the ability to distinguish a friend from foe and lash out at everyone around them; that is, if they weren’t one of the lucky and died first.
Without the bloodlust, Rei could clearly see the insanity that they had sentenced themselves to. This time, the smell of blood only magnified her disgust and it made her stomach knot painfully. She was only human as well. She had to find the War God before her senses become overwhelmed, before she lost his trail.
“Lord Eleutherios, please hang on!”
Eleutherios? Rei thought to herself. She fought off another persistent assassin and took the chance to boost her detection spell. In her mind’s eye she was briefly able to see a flicker of spiritual energy a distance away to her left. However, it wasn’t what she considered a short distance now that her opponents were really pressing her. If she went to investigate, she may not only risk her life but also lose Ares’ trail.
Rei evaded another strike and rolled in the direction towards the signature. To her surprise, her opponent’s eyes flashed and they all leapt to bar her path.
What? Realization dawned on the Martian. Is there something there that they want me to see?
“You’re all pretty persistent. I’ll give you that.” Her crimson aura began to flare up. “But you’ll need more than that to stop me...! Move aside!”
CRACKLE!
She blew a path through her enemies and charged through the gap. They were all chasing her now but she wasn’t about to stop and waste any more time. Rei pushed her spiritual sight and locked onto the signature she sensed before. It was fainter than earlier, barely there, and much harder to locate, but she eventually found that she didn’t need to. The next step Rei took, she felt a strange sensation rush through her body. Instantly she knew what it was.
A barrier?! The monsters behind her collided into the transparent spiritual wall and shrieked in surprise when it burnt them. Rei held her breath as she watched the one closest to her continued to verify the barrier’s effectiveness through its stupidity, while the others began to lurk around its outside edges.
Rei flinched when she suddenly felt the signature that she was tracking begin to flicker, but now that she was within the barrier she felt not one but two signatures. The Martian Commander slowly turned her head around and finally spotted the source of it all. There were two men a short distance away from where she stood. For a second, Rei thought she was seeing double but her senses told her that this was not the case. The one who was dying in the other man’s arms wasn’t human.
“Lord Eleutherios! Oh no. What should I do? The bleeding! It won’t stop! This is exactly why you shouldn’t have come!” There was a heavy tone of regret in his voice. None of them seemed to have noticed Rei’s presence yet. “This is why I went for you! After what happened to Lady Marie...Nng...Did you ever stop to think about your Mother? About how would she feel if you died?! What about Minako?!”
Minako?!
“Hey! What did you just say about Minako?!” Rei demanded. Was she already too late? Something in her chest clenched tightly at the thought.
The man gasped upon sighting her. For a moment there was only shock in his blue eyes, but then they turned into hate. Rei recognized that emotion very well.
“You…! What are you doing here?! If you’re here to finish the job then you’ll have to go through me first!” The soldier stepped in front of his dying friend and brandished his sword out in a defensive pose.
Rei did a quick assessment and noted that he was injured as well, though not as severely as his companion. Still, she doubted it would be an easy fight if she were to accept his challenge. The energy barrier around them had to have come from somewhere, and it was surely not from a dying man.
The barrier...it’s his doing. That meant he had power, and the will to use it. But she didn’t fight all the way to here to pick meaningless fights with injured Venusians.
“Put your sword down! I’m not here to fight you.”
“That’s a lie!”
Rei was somewhat taken aback by the raw emotion in the soldier’s voice. He was clearly losing it. Did the people on Venus really carry that kind of hatred for Martians that much?
“...Who is it?” His companion whispered. His eyes closed, but he could still hear.
“It’s... It’s the heir of Mars. You are, aren’t you?”
He stared hard at the shorter woman. She was wearing Martian armor, a model that he had never seen before but it still bore the red paint and Mar’s insignia. And her aura; it was slightly different, but he was sure it was nearly identical to the God of War’s. Ares, that was forever burnt in his memory from the moment he was unable to protect his Lord.
To his surprise, Rei didn’t come out and blatantly deny it.
“So what if I am?”
“Then...I’ll kill you.” He raised his sword a little higher and slipped into an offensive position. Rei also raised her sword in response, and half-expected an attack when the dying man cried out.
“Wait! Sapphro, please! I-It’s all right.” Eleutherios gasped. “I had called… for help. Stand down…” To the two fighter’s surprise, the prince then motioned for Rei to come closer. The Martian was hesitant at first, but she warily began to step towards him. This greatly bothered Sapphro; he was ready to brush his friend’s request off due to some kind of madness, something that he needed to protect him from in his time of need, but that all ended when Eleutherios warned him. “Sapphro.” Somewhat hurt, the man finally let Rei pass.
Rei approached the dying man and crouched down. She felt a twinge of pity for the man named Sapphro behind her, but she also wondered how the soldier in front of her could persist so long with his injuries.
“You’re not human.” It wasn’t an accusation, but rather a simple statement.
Eleutherios chuckled. “No, I’m not. But you are.” This made Rei twitch inwardly, and sensing her annoyance made him smile more. He liked her already. “So... we finally meet. You’re the one... my little sister has been traveling with.”
“Your little sister...? Are you talking about Minako?” She took the smile for a yes. “But how did you know something like that? Did she tell you?” There were so many questions going through her mind. Was Minako telling the people at home about their adventures? Did she come to Mars as a spy? Did that mean that he knew about Uranus as well? When he didn’t answer, she skipped the subject. “You two were talking about her earlier. Where is she? Is she all right?!”
Eleutherios was gathering his strength to reply when Sapphro stopped him. “Wait, save your strength. I’ll tell her.”
Sapphro then looked up at the Martian for a moment, analyzing her features. The intensity and determination in her amethyst eyes were something he had expected, but not the worry that accompanied them. If Lord Eleutherios hadn’t spoken up for her then he would have struck her down without a second thought. He still would if she were to try anything funny.
“Ares came.” Sapphro said, as he tried to keep his voice calm. “He attacked us, and slaughtered many of our troops. Lord Eleutherios...tried to stop him, but he turned out to be stronger than we had anticipated. Even with the both of us fighting together, we couldn’t stop him. And now...”
Rei’s facial expression had barely changed, but she felt like her blood was boiling. That was all she needed to know. While she was busy, stressing out how to rule his planet, he was off ruining people’s lives again. Well, that was about to stop.
When I find him, I’ll---
Rei moved to leave when Eleutherios spoke up.
“Wait. She wasn’t...spying on you.”
“Huh?”
“My Mother...just knows these things...She knows, about Uranus, as well...” Rei’s heart skipped a beat. “Minako…is... being held…in the palace. That, way,” The prince coughed violently, hacking up more blood. He knew time was running out, for everyone.
“Lord Eleutherios?”
“Please-- tell her, it doesn’t...matter...! My Mother and Minako-sav-”
Rei flinched when he suddenly grabbed her arm. She should have pulled back, but for some reason she couldn’t. The way he looked at her-- for a moment, she thought she saw Minako’s face-- the one that she hid from her on Neptune.
Marie has already gone before me, but… I thought at least… I could protect the rest. It looks like... I was wrong.
“Lord Eleutherios! Hold on!”
Eleutherios struggled hard against the cold that was closing in all around him. Death was clutching at him, beckoning him to eternal rest. He didn’t want to go. He was afraid of what awaited him there, but he had to. He had made a choice and now, he would accept its consequences. There was only one thing he regretted now…
Lubb dubb, Lubb dubb…
“…Mi-na-ko…”
Lubb dubb…
Please save her.
Lubb--
His struggles ceased. Rei was left speechless.
“Lord Eleutherios...? Lord Eleutherios!” Sapphro shook the man, hoping he was only catching his breath. “N-No… NO! DAMN IIIIIIIIIIIT!”
As his companion mourned, Rei felt the spiritual energy in the area begin to wane. She gasped.
...The barrier! She thought she might have been imagining it, but the barrier was falling down all around them. That was strange. It had begun to disappear the exact moment when—
Rei slowly turned her head at the deceased God. Even while he was dying, he was holding up a barrier? How? Why...? She didn’t really need to ask it. She knew why. It was the very same reason why his companion was still likely alive now. Sapphro seemed to be aware of the fact, too.
Rei stepped forwards in the direction that the prince had pointed. When she focused hard, she could glimpse a powerful source of energy in the distance. Likely, that was where Aphrodite waited. Finally, the path was clear. The threat was still very imminent. But for some reason, the woman didn’t know why she was still standing there and listening to the soldier cry. There was no purpose to it: She was useless at comforting others from experience, just like on Neptune.
Behind her, Sapphro began to stand up. He refused to let the enemy see his tears. “Why are you still here?”
“I’m sorry... for your loss.”
“Tch!” Sapphro wiped his face, and sniffed. The pain was still very real, but he knew what he had to do. “Just get out of here. You checked where he pointed, right? You can sense where the palace is.”
Rei said nothing for a moment. “The barrier is coming down. Once it’s gone, things are going to get dangerous.”
“I know. You don’t have to tell me that.”
“Do you really intend to stay and fight?” She could see the assassins along the outer edges becoming excited.
“Yes.”
“But--” Rei was cut off when the man’s aura began to flare up. It wasn’t orange as she had expected it be. Instead, it was blue.
He isn’t a Venusian!
FwoooooOOOOOOOO---!!
Rei took a few steps back, shielding her eyes as the energy continued to build like a flaming inferno around him. For an instant, even Rei was fooled. In the backdrop of the ghostly pale light, one could mistake him to be the revived, Venusian prince.
Sapphro gathered his energy around the tip of his sword, and raised it above his head.
“You might not understand this... but he was my friend. He was the closest friend I that I had. That’s why... I can’t just leave him here. But you, you heard what he said. Yah!” Sapphro swung his sword and unleashed a blue wave of power. Rei had almost swung at it, but it ended up passing her right by and destroying a line of black assassins. She looked at the man questioningly.
“That’s why, you better save her! Now GO!”
The woman glanced at Eleutherios for a moment. Because of him she might be able to reach Minako in time.
“…Thank you.”
Before she knew it, Rei was sprinting towards the palace. Please hold on Minako! I’m coming!
After the Martian woman had left, Sapphro braced himself for the struggle of his life. The assassins were all beginning to close in around him.
Please forgive me, Lord Eleutherios. Please, just this one wish... After this, I swear...
He brought his sword up as the assassins rushed him.
“...Come ON!”
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