15 days ------------------ "Wait, you did what??" the princess cried. Mars cringed. 'Yeah, some brave warrior.' Venus shook her head. "I can't believe this..." "Look, we had to. He's obviously a threat." Rei grumbled defensively. "Well, I know he seemed kind of daft sometimes, but really..." a confused Venus replied, eyes wide. The princess shot an accusing glare in Mars' direction, and the fire soldier actually took a step back. "Hey," Rei held up her hands, as though she were calling a truce. "It's our job to protect you., and that means retaining crazy boyfriends who work for the dark side." Minako winced. "Dumb move, Mars." Rei threw a panicked look in her direction and took another step back, still holding up her hands, as if to ward off Serenity's blows. "Crazy boyfriend??" the princess cried. "It sounds like he just wants to protect me too!" "By siding with Beryl??" an incredulous Mars questioned. "That's enough." Venus declared, stepping between the two. "I'll question him myself, and get to the bottom of this, but from the initial sounds of things, our crew did the right thing. Honestly, Princess, please take a moment to think about it clearly. He's on the side of the woman who intends to destroy us all." Serenity's eyes welled up with tears, and Rei felt a sharp pang of guilt in her chest. 'Great. This whole time, all I wanted to do was make sure she didn't get hurt. Complete Mission Failure.' The princess stood stock still, head bowed. She clenched her fists so tightly, she was visibly shaking. Minako rested a hand on her shoulder, and spoke gently this time. "Hey, why don't you sit down for a few minuets? It's a big shock to get first thing in the morning." "Sorry." Mars muttered quietly. "I just figured telling you myself was better than finding out at an inopportune moment, from some insensitive fool." Venus raised an eyebrow, and cast a sardonic look in the fire soldier's direction. Rei shrugged helplessly. "You know," Serenity murmured, gaining their attention again. "I didn't love him. Everything is always duty, duty, duty. I'm sure you all understand what that's like. I'm supposed to choose a good, strong husband, so we can carry on my family's line. All the other suitors just seemed so wrong for me, you know? But he seemed so warm, and kind." She raised her head, and the tears running down her cheeks hit Mars where it hurt. "I wanted it to work. I thought I could even grow to love him. I did honestly care about him, but it doesn't matter now, does it? It's all going to end anyway." "Princess, please don't say that..." Mars tried weakly, voice cracking. Serenity shook her head sadly. "I was trying so hard to make my mother happy. I thought this huge ugly mess would go away if I ignored it long enough. But even he was on Beryl's side, fooling us all. It's my fault really, I should have seen through it sooner." "It's not your fault." Minako proclaimed fiercely. "Don't try to pin the blame on yourself. He deceived us too. As your guardians, we failed you. We're supposed to weed out people like him." "What...what if the information he gained through being with me causes our downfall?" Serenity whispered tearfully. "First of all, he's in our custody. That means he has no chance to report what he's found. Secondly, as long as there's a breath left in me, the only downfall that's going to occur is Beryl's." Mars replied. Serenity smiled weakly, though it didn't reach her eyes. "Really?" "Of course." Venus said with a grin. "Alright." the princess replied quietly. "I'm going to just freshen up before I go see my mother. And...I'm sorry I yelled at you Rei." "It's ok." Mars smiled. "I'll be out here waiting, whenever you're ready. Take your time, ok?" Serenity nodded, and slipped back into her room. Once the door clicked shut, Venus let out an exhausted sigh. "Sounds like you had an exciting night, Pyro." "Yeah." Mars muttered tiredly, rubbing her eyes. "You ok?" Venus questioned softly. "You look like you didn't get any sleep. Anything you want to talk about?" Rei almost told the blonde everything, right then and there. The creepy voice, the horrible crawling feeling, and her god awful doubts, but her brain went into self defensive lockdown. "I'm ok. Just thinking about Pretty Boy." Venus chuckled darkly. "Yeah, I guess I should have let you beat him up, way back when." "Could've should've would've." Mars grumbled. stifling a yawn. "You sure you're going to be ok? I can pull a double if you want." the blonde said with a warm smile, lightly resting a hand on Rei's waist. "No, I'm ok. You should get some rest yourself, and besides, we'll need you to question the prince. If I go near him again, they'll need tweezers to pick up the pieces." Minako nodded slightly, and brought her eyes up to meet Rei's. "You know, I've always wondered how someone so sweet could be so violent." "The princess is violent?" Venus rolled her eyes. "What?" Mars asked, feigning ignorance. The blonde turned her features down into a rather serious expression, and crossed her arms. "Whatever. It's nothing." she replied in a flat monotone, though her eyes sparkled with mischief. "I'm gonna go punch some random guy in the head now, and then sit all alone and think dark thoughts." A smile tugged at the corners of the raven-haired woman's mouth. "You're doing it all wrong you know. You have to get drunk first. And besides, it's pretty rare for me to punch random people in the head." Venus shook her head with a laugh. "I'll work on it." "See that you do." Rei replied with a smirk. "Now you better get going. I've got a job to do, and I can't do it with you distracting me." "Really can't have that now." the blonde whispered, pushing up slightly on her toes to kiss the fire soldier. "Can I see you later?" Mars tried to control the dopey grin that spread across her face, but failed miserably. "Of course." Minako slid out of Rei's arms and took off down the hall, turning back briefly to blow her a kiss, leaving the fire soldier alone to deal with a rather distraught Serenity. Mars rested a hand on her hip and scratched the back of her neck absently. She had the sneaking suspicion that it was going to be another long day. As if to confirm her suspicions, a timid princess stepped back out into the hall, and cast a guilty look over at her bodyguard. "Would it be alright if you took me to see him?" Rei crossed her arms, and gave the princess a weary glare. "Are you kidding me?" "Please Rei? Only for a moment. I think it will help if I hear it from his own lips." Mars groaned and clapped a hand to her forehead. "You know that's a bad idea Serenity." "Please Rei?" she tried again, resting a gentle hand across her soldier's forearm, and batting her eyelashes. "I hate blondes." Mars grumbled in defeat. "You're going to get me in trouble, you know that?" "Thank you Mars." The princess breathed thankfully, wrapping her arms around Rei and hugging her tight. "Yeah yeah, whatever. Let's get this over with." the warrior mumbled, shaking her princess off. She didn't like the surge of conflicting feelings it gave her, but chalked it up to exhaustion. ------------------- Rei pushed open the door to the brig and stepped aside, allowing her princess to enter. She cast one more worried look down the hall to be sure they hadn't been seen, and shut the door firmly behind her. Serenity hovered near, obviously nervous about being in such a place. "Hey, no worries Princess. He's the only criminal in here." "Do you have to say it like that?" Serenity asked in a hurt tone. "Hey, I just want you to remember that fact." Mars stressed gently. "Well, if you want to see him, he's in the cell at the far end. I'll give you a few minuets, and then we're out of here. Understood?" "Yes. Thank you again." Rei nodded gruffly and stepped aside, allowing Serenity to pass. The warrior's eyes closed involuntarily as the scent that was unmistakably her princess invaded her senses, sweetly intoxicating. 'Now where the hell did THAT come from? Never bothered me before.' The princess paused before Endymion's cell, shaking hands wrapping around iron bars. The prince was asleep, curled up on a corner of his lumpy mattress on the hard stone floor. Mars gritted her teeth as another stab of guilt pricked her heart. Serenity looked like an angel in her pure white dress, so horribly out of place is this dark room. Her thoughts drifted to Venus, and an image of her beautiful smile and honey blonde hair caused the soldier to suck in her breath. 'Yup. I'm crazy. Lost my marbles, I have.' "Endymion?" Her charge's voice brought her back to reality. The prince stirred slightly, and raised a sleep tousled head towards the bars. "Serenity?" he murmured in disbelief, scrambling to his feet. "Is it really you? You didn't bring that crazy Mars here, did you?" Rei smirked and stepped out of the shadows, sliding her sword between the bars. "That's as close as you get lover boy." The princess cast a disapproving look in her direction, and Mars shook her head. "Sorry Princess, but I'm standing firm on this one. I don't want him near you." "What happened to your face?" Serenity asked the Earth Prince, though the look on her face said she could already guess. Endymion eyed Mars and her blade warily. "I fell." Rei chuckled internally. She was kind of glad she hadn't killed him now. He was rather entertaining. "You burned yourself by falling?" she questioned dubiously. 'Uh oh. Busted.' "I don't think that's why you're here." he muttered weakly. 'Good answer.' "I want to hear the truth, by your own admission." He swallowed painfully, and jerked his head in Rei's direction. "She may be crazy, but she's not a liar. I'm sure she has told you the truth." "So you are working for Queen Beryl?" Serenity asked softly. "Yes." he admitted quietly. "I only wanted to save you from certain death, which is what these people are guiding you towards." Mars banged her gauntlet on the bars as a warning, but Serenity stilled her by placing a hand on her shoulder. "Tell me the truth. Are things honestly that hopeless on Earth?" the princess questioned. "The bodies of the rebels line the streets of every city." the prince answered darkly. "I didn't want to see the same thing happen to you." The princess shook her head, and an honest smile lit her face. "My warriors will protect me, and even if the worst should occur, I would rather die free than live as a haunted prisoner." "You say that now," he whispered, eyes taking a far off look, "but when you see her armies slaying everything, including women and children, you tend to tilt your view. You want to condemn people to death?" "Death sounds better than the life you've described." she replied, turning slightly towards her bodyguard. "I'm done here." Mars nodded and sheathed her blade. "One more thing Endymion." The princess added quietly. "I'm so thankful now that I didn't fall in love with you. I don't think I could love someone who completely gives up all will to fight for what's true and just." Rei turned her head, violet eyes following her princess out of the room. Once the door to the brig had been shut behind her, Mars turned her gaze back towards the defeated prince. "I don't even know why I'm saying this, but I'm sorry I hit you so hard." Endymion nodded blankly in comprehension. "I'm sorry too, for all the choices I made." "Can't help you with that." His eyes met hers. "Don't let her die. Please. It would kill me to know I turned traitor for nothing." "As long as my heart beats, I'll protect her." Mars promised. "It's funny." Endymion mumbled faintly. "But I think you and I have a true understanding. I think you love her even more than I do." "It's impossible not to love her. All you can do is stand back, and try not to drown." Mars admitted with a sad smile. He nodded. "I know it's asking a lot, and it will sound crazy, but I have one more favor to beg of you." "Which is?" "It will be hard, almost impossible at times, but try your best to ignore the helper." "The helper?" she repeated, obviously confused. "It starts in your head. Whispering things, promising to help. Drives you mad. You can't sleep, can't eat. Before long, you find yourself doing things you never would have imagined, and you can't stop." Mars felt her blood run cold. "It feeds on your thoughts." he continued darkly. "It dangles what you love, or want, right in front of you. It forces you to try and grab it, and then everything goes horribly wrong. It's strange, but since the lot of you threw me in here, the whispers have all but gone away." His eyes met hers again. "This isn't some excuse either. I'm trying to warn you. You seem loyal, and devoted. Don't lose that, no matter what. It likes to strip that away from you, because then it has you." Rei had the horrible feeling that she was already familiar with the prince's phantom. The blood rushed in her ears, and she had to fight the urge to run. She shook her head roughly to clear her mind. "I believe you." she replied faintly, focusing her energy inward to steel herself. "I do believe you. But I can't let you out of here. I'm sorry. I will however speak to the Queen on your behalf, and ask for mercy." "I don't want mercy. I want you all to live." ---------------------------- "Everything alright?" the princess asked when Mars finally emerged from the prisoner's quarters. "Yeah." the fire soldier lied, forcing a smile. "I was just seeing if he knew anything that could be of use to us." "You didn't hit him again did you?" Serenity asked disapprovingly. "No." Rei muttered, looking thoroughly chastised. "Even though he may deserve a good thumping, having compassion is an important aspect, even for a soldier like yourself." Mars smiled. "And when did you become so wise?" Serenity smiled warmly in return. "When the four of you entered our lives. Now, I think I'm going to visit with my mother. Shall we go?" "Lead the way, Princess." ---------------------------- Mars paced the hallway outside the door to the throne room anxiously as she awaited her princess' return, mind racing. 'The helper huh? At least now I know what to call her, should she try and make an appearance again. It makes sense now. She showed me that horrible vision of the Dark Army, and I responded by suggesting we surrender. She knew I'd do that.' The warrior paused briefly, resting her hand on the grand door of the throne room. Her mind flashed back to her nightmare, and the scene that awaited her and Jupiter in it. She still couldn't shake the image of Mercury, battered and bloody, slumped against the wall, with what looked to be thousands of lacerations all over her slim form. Mars let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. 'Fifteen days. That's all supposed to come to pass beyond this door in just fifteen days.' The two guards posted on either side of the door eyed her strangely, and cast nervous glances between themselves. One of them finally got the courage to ask, "Uh...sir? Are you alright?" Mars turned towards him abruptly. "You. You're in my squad, right?" "Yes sir." It took her a moment, but recognized him. It was the soldier from her dream, the poor bastard hanging from the wall by an enemy's spear. She righted herself. "Do you have a family?" "Yes sir. A wife. Two small children." She nodded. "Starting tomorrow, I want you stationed near the Queen's quarters. I also want you to take leave the night of the Princess' ball." He blinked. "Sir?" "A family man needs an extra night off every now and then." she allowed herself a small grin. "Think of it as some compassion." "Thank you, sir." The door to the throne room eased open at last, and Serenity reemerged. "Wait long?" Mars smiled. "No, my Princess." "Good. Now how about some fresh air? I think I'd like to watch the other soldiers train for a bit. Maybe I would even be privileged enough to see one of your infamous sparring matches?"
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