To Gallantmon of the Hazard- Hai, Mamoru is the mysterious evil guy with the masked servants. No, he did not do it of his own free will. I mean, seriously, do you really think he could willfully hurt Usagi? Not a snowball's chance in Hell, my friend. Of course you can use the masks in your stories! Thank you for asking first, though. Can I have a link to your stuff there? I'm afraid Mediaminer and I haven't gotten along at all since they dropped that one fic for being NC-17. Good luck to you, too!
Chibi-Usa took a bit of getting used to. She tried hard to help out, but she had a tendency to wander off with her task half-finished, and she was apparently very used to privacy and privilege.
Bit by bit, with the help of a few spankings and one skipped dinner, Rath managed to wear away at her stubborn refusal to do anything more than she wanted to do – pick up a bit, play with Fire and Water, and snoop. Of course, all this disciplining and teaching meant Rath didn't have much time for anything else, which meant Rune had to do most of the defending, and defending made Rune cranky.
"Rath-sama, I'm tired." Chibi-Usa complained with a pout. "Can we stop now?"
"No," Rath said almost absently. "We can't stop until we're done. Gimme the hammer, will you?"
Chibi-Usa sighed theatrically and did as she was told, then sat back and watched Rath finish up the repairs to the temple wall.
"Rath-sama, why are we fixing the wall?" She asked. "Aren't you a warrior?"
"Yeah, but no amount of fighting's gonna make this hole fill in." Rath told her. "You do what you're good at, kiddo. And why do you keep calling me Rath-sama?"
"D'ya want me to call you Rath-sensei instead?"
"Depends on what sensei means," Rath said. "I'm still getting used to this Japanese stuff."
"Sensei is teacher, and sama is a term of deepest respect." Chibi-Usa said. "San is also respectful, but not as much as sama. Kun is what you call a friend, chan is what you call a good friend, and sempai is your superior in the workplace or at school. I don't have any sempais."
"Why can't you just call me Rath?"
"Because, silly, if I just called you Rath, you'd have to be my bosom buddy and very bestest friend, my equal in every way."
"I'm your only friend, right?"
"Yeah," Chibi-Usa said with a sigh, kicking a stray rock.
"Then that makes me your very bestest friend. Call me Rath."
Sea and Sky regarded Sailor Pluto from behind their masks, perhaps wondering why it was taking her so long to die. Fact was, Sailor Pluto was dying faster than she was letting on. Not wanting to kill your opponents when they were trying to utterly destroy you could be a distinct handicap.
"You shouldn't have meddled, Pluto." Sky said, her midnight blue mask preventing Pluto from seeing more than the white drops splashed across it. "Master would have been content to let you live, if you hadn't meddled."
"Master must be kind," Pluto said sarcastically. "Exceedingly so, to make such a loyal slave out of you, Uranus,"
"Uranus is no longer my name," Sky said coldly. "She is dead, and will never return."
"Have you been blessed with the ability to see the future, Sky?" Pluto asked sarcastically. "Has Master granted you my power, too?"
"Master has changed us for the better." Sea interrupted. "Do not mock him."
"I will mock whomever I please, Sea." Pluto said coldly. "This Master of yours deserves no better, and as one who can see the future, I can tell you that he will fall. Serenity-hime will rise again, and the evil that controls you will be destroyed."
"Master will reign forever, witch!" Sky yelled, hurling an orb of dark power at Pluto.
Pluto dodged it, but doing so put her in the path of Sea's attack, with no time to dodge again. Unable even to close her eyes, she saw her own death.
It seemed that death wasn't ready to claim her yet. That, or the gods loved her more than she'd thought, because someone picked her up and moved her out of harm's way with only half an instant to spare.
"Are you all right, Setsuna?"
"T-tetheus?" Pluto stared at her rescuer, hardly believing he was really there. "What are you doing here?"
"Later," Tetheus said, pulling his sword and setting Pluto down in one swift, smooth motion. "After the fight,"
"Of course, dearheart," Pluto said, adjusting her grip on the Time Staff. "I'll make you some tea."
As the only warrior currently in the stronghold, Death bore the brunt of Master's wrath.
Not only had the upstart warrior-boy escaped without anyone the wiser, he'd also managed to steal away Master's child. The loss of Fire and Hate had angered Master, but the loss of Chibi-Usa enraged him, and he blamed Death for not stopping it.
As she did so often these days, Death wished she were dead. Only in the grip of the eternal rest she was named for could she hope to escape Master's punishments, and Master was fond of punishing his warriors. The only one to ever escape Master's anger was Thunder, for Thunder was too precious for Master to damage.
Death envied Thunder her safety, but not her task. Ever since Master rose to power, Thunder had not left Master's castle. Thunder served as Master's personal servant and bodyguard. Master would trust no one else, not even his other warriors, so close to him. Thunder was hard, harder than the others, and lived in enforced solitude. She was not even allowed to speak to Death and her fellow warriors.
If she looked up and to the right, Death would see Thunder, her half-mask the same dull, dead green as her armor, broken by black lighting bolts. She would see the indifference with which Thunder regarded her as she shivered in pain and terror before Master's throne.
"I should kill you," Master said softly. Was it only an illusion cast by hope, or had some of the anger drained from his voice?
"Yes, Master," She whimpered, for it was expected of her.
"I should flay the skin from your body, rip out your still-beating heart, and leave you for the vultures to eat."
"Yes, Master,"
"You are unworthy to serve me, Death, as you have proved twice over,"
"I am," Death moaned, praying that maybe this time he really would kill her.
"You deserve to die. I should name you a traitor and give you to my soldiers to deal with."
"Yes, Master,"
"I won't," Master said, dashing her hopes again. "Instead, I charge you with a mission. Find my daughter, and bring her back. Capture as many of these renegades as you can and kill the rest. Bring me back my warriors and my child, Death, or I shall see to it that you never die."
Master dismissed her, and Death rose sobbing to her feet and fled.
"Thunder," Master said, smiling ever so slightly when Thunder snapped to attention and saluted him. "Follow her. If they turn her, kill them all. Bring Chibi-Usa back alive. The rest can rot for all I care."
"Yes, sire," Thunder said, saluting again before she turned and stalked to the small door behind his throne that led directly to his chambers and from there to the stables.
When she was gone, he sat back at ease. With Thunder gone, he might be more open to attack, but with all his warriors gone as well, there was no one in the castle that came close to his power. He was safe enough to muse.
He turned his attention inward, to his nearest and dearest prisoner. The former inhabitant of this body, Mamoru never ceased to amuse him. The poor human couldn't stand the things Master did with his body, and his anguish was the best amusement Master could find.
Today, they would replay the pain he'd inflicted on the Senshi when he made them his warriors, and the agony they'd endured merging with the Crystal shards he'd given them; Mamoru hated to hear them scream, hated that he was powerless to help them. The more Mamoru suffered, the more power Master drew from him.
Jupiter followed Death at a discreet distance, pacing the girl's movements with only half her mind on the job.
The armor and half-mask that made her Thunder, leader of Master's army and his personal bodyguard, were light and flexible, closely fitted to avoid hindering her in a fight. It also provided good camouflage in the dense greenery; only the left half of her face was not forest-colored, and it was only half a face.
It astonished her, sometimes, to think that having a shard of Serenity-hime's Crystal forced into her could make her the most powerful of the remaining Senshi. She could barely believe the luck that had allowed her to keep her own mind and will when Master had forced her mask on her as well. The masks controlled the others, turning them into nothing more than glorified war beasts that answered only to Master's will.
She eased carefully between two trees and caught a glimpse of an open area in front of her. If her memory wasn't faulty, they'd reached the part of Tokyo not overgrown, where a last handful of rebels made their stronghold. Her last hope of saving them all lay there, and she had to keep Death from reaching it first.
Sailor Pluto smiled wearily to herself as she removed Sea's mask. Pale from lack of sun but otherwise healthy enough, Sailor Neptune tossed fitfully in her sleep until Tetheus pulled Sea's mask off. Even unconscious, the two were amazingly close.
"I wonder how many more of my sisters I'll have to face in battle," She mused aloud, using the Time Staff as a crutch to help her stand. "I hope I don't have to hurt them too badly."
"Are you sure just removing the masks is enough?" Tetheus asked, interrupting her thoughts.
"Yes," Pluto assured him. "The masks were how he controlled them. Sea and Sky are gone."
"If you're certain, I'll trust to your judgment," Tetheus said after a thoughtful pause.
"So serious, Tetheus?" She asked with a laugh. "Come, I'll make you that tea I promised, and we'll talk about what brings you here."
Yatte!
I'm finally done! Stupid chapter. I'm sleepy now. I hate working.
I have a job, so my already sporadic updates will become even more irregular.