Tides Of Darkness

Explanations, Accusations, Reciprocations

"You set her free?  My dear prince, you had better explain before I rip your head off for such… such... words," Pluto spat out, hardly believing that Mamoru had dared to try and distort the facts in his favor.      

"I saw where everything was going.  I knew that sooner or later she would become dissatisfied…  unhappy…  if she was not already.   I had begun questioning my so called 'destiny' as soon as I knew of it. And I suspected that she had started to as well."

"So you decided to end everything on mere suspicions?!"

"Don't be so quick to judge. I thought you were the one with a time key. Aren't you supposed to know everything?  Obviously not.  So hear me out, and you will understand, even if you don't like what you'll hear."

Pluto leaned on her time staff, and glowered at the man before her. "Go on," she growled, frustrated that she could do nothing more than listen.

 "Thank you. Now, as for ending everything on suspicions – of course not.  I wouldn't be that rash.  I had thought about it, turned over the possibilities, tried to think of an alternate course, anything else." He was clenching his fists, eyes turning dark.  "Nothing came to me.  And so, I was reduced to the cruel method with which she found me out."

"Oh, I get it," Pluto said sarcastically. "Your supreme logic helped you along this course. Only a genius could have thought up the kind of scheme you concocted.  You decided to cheat on her.  That wasn't just crude, that was one of the stupidest actions I have ever seen you take."

"I am becoming more annoyed by the moment, Guardian of the Gates. Just shut up and listen for the moment." Mamoru's eyes flashed blue fire, and his whole body was tense with fury. "I didn't cheat on her." He  paused a moment to let his words sink in, to hopefully make an impact on the stoic warrior before him. Pluto nodded, not saying a word. The air between them was charged with static electricity, as if their auras were trying to put up a barrier.

"It was easy enough to plant the seeds of doubt in her mind. I've had enough practice acting distant in my life. If you know how, you can block out the world and everyone in it. But simply shutting her out wasn't working. She wasn't letting go. So I went to extreme measures, and  let a few 'things' slip around her friends. Her ever alert, ever loyal friends." And all at once his stance relaxed, and when he spoke again his words were laced with tones of grief and regret.  "Once they began to think that I might be cheating on her, I went even further, concocting half assed excuses when I started missing meetings, starting missing fights, started avoiding Usagi. And when her friends thought they knew for sure, they broke the news. But I never cheated on her. Not once." Mamoru's eyes were deadened, and he continued on in a lowered tone as he hid his clenched fists behind his back. 

"Of course I still love her.  And I always will.  But love – it's not enough to keep someone happy with a life in which everything was already planned for you.  But I've gone over that, and I think you have too.  No, I didn't want to cast her off like that, but how could I be so selfish as to try and keep her by my side?  I was her first in everything. Everything. And if she stayed with me her whole life… Let me put it this way. When I first met her she was the most naïve person I knew, and the sweetest. I fell in love. Who could resist her? Yes, we had a relationship. She ended up having sex with me.  We were so close and there wasn't time for anything or anyone new or different.  I was the first, and would have been the last.  Isn't it a good thing to have more than just one relationship in your life?"

"But you were meant for each other. You were each others soul mates!"

"Maybe in this timeline, in this universe.  And I suspect Usagi is no longer in this universe.  I'm sure in her new life, in that different dimension, she will have to dig a little before she finds her soul mate."

"You have no idea, do you? You have no idea how much you have just changed the future of this universe."

"No, I don't. And I want it to stay that way."

*****Back to the Future – oops… no… Back to the DBZ Dimension*****

            A week had passed, and it was nearing the end of the girls stay in the ever cheerful, (although sometimes violent) Son household. Everyone was gathered at the dinner table, enjoying the mounds of very tasty food placed before them. Since it was the last night the girls were staying, the dinner was actually a very casual going away party.  Everyone seemed to be in a good mood, and even Piccolo was smiling.  As the dinner dishes were put away and the desserts came out, the sake began to flow in quite copious amounts.  Hugs were given more and more freely, and the spirit of – er – goodwill, ran rampant.

            Chi-Chi knocked her chair to the ground as she stood up suddenly, a huge silly grin on her face. "Here's a toast to you, girls! You've become such good friends with my Usa, and we all wish you weren't leaving so soon! Good luck back home, and visit us again soon!" She raised her glass to the ceiling in a toast, and, throwing it back in one gulp, promptly fell over. Laughter ensued as she sprung back to her feet, a blush spreading across her cheekbones as she waved off the fall.

            "She gets like that sometimes," Gohan said, turning towards the girls. "When exactly are you all leaving?" He asked directing his questions toward all the girls, not realizing that everyone else saw that he was mainly directing the question toward Rei.

            She blushed slightly and smiled at Gohan, saying, "Tomorrow morning, unfortunately."

            "Aww man! I hoped you guys were gonna be staying at least a little bit longer!" Usagi spoke up, frowning at her realization. "You guys are really leaving!" She pouted as her friends nodded.

            "I'm sorry Usa, but we have to." Rei stepped forward to give the blond girl a hug.  "We promised that we would only be staying for a little bit, and if we go back on that promise, well – we just can't, I don't think that would go over too well with Setsuna."

            Usagi heaved a sigh, then suddenly brightened. "Wait! Who did you promise? Maybe I can talk to whoever you promised and convince them to let you stay longer!"

            "Errr…" Rei sweatdropped and looked to the other girls for help.

            "The thing is, Usa," Ami spoke up, "its our mom." As the other girls collectively fell over, Ami continued on smoothly, keeping eye contact with Usagi. "And we don't have any way to contact her, so we need to meet her where we said we would be. And since it's a long way back home, she wouldn't appreciate coming and going all this way for nothing.

            "Why don't you call her or somehow get in touch with her, so you can let her know your staying longer?" Usagi asked. Ami nodded slowly, getting some time to think up a proper sounding answer.

            "We can't talk to her. We don't have any way to communicate."

            "Awww… well, lets not worry now. I'm sure I will see her tomorrow! Then I know I can win her over, and you guys can stay! Just you wait!" Usagi's bright smile ended all arguments for the moment, and the conversation turned to everyday silly issues.

            They sat in a small white room, devoid of any windows, with a steel panel that looked like it might be a door. The room was bare and austere, the only furniture being a long rectangular glass topped table, with the proper amount of chairs for the 15 people currently sitting in them. There was approximately 2 feet between the chairs the wall on either side. The only spacious thing about the room was the ceiling, which was 15 feet tall. There was no accounting for modern construction. The people seated around the table were quietly talking among themselves. The tension in the room was heavy and oppressive.

            At the far end of the table, a tall man clad in a black suit with wavy neck length brown hair stood up and politely cleared his throat. "I apologize about the abrupt call to assemble the Counsel. I'm sure I've taken some of you away from important business, but let's not waste anymore time on trivialities." He pushed his chair back in and walked to one wall. As he pointed, a screen immediately flickered to life, showing a high-resolution map of the Black Forest.

            "As you know, here at the Bureau of Information, we keep up on the current times. This means keeping track of what powers pass through our areas, which powers are currently residing in our area, and what kind of threat they pose to our land. What are the new threats, you may ask?" Pausing for dramatic effect, his emerald eyes flashed with an unknown emotion. It may have been concern, apprehension, anxiety  – or it may have been something darker.

"Our sensors picked up 4 very distinct unidentifiable powers about a week ago. The reason we didn't immediately alert our members and employees about the new powers was that the computer didn't recognize them right away. The power we picked up couldn't be classified in our database. We thought perhaps there was a bug in the program - I had the readings checked for errors, had the best technicians dig deep into the programming, and looked over the report myself. There was no program error, flaw, bug, what have you. What we do know about these powers is that they are massive. The energy is not of our universe. We could not ascertain as to what 'side' they would position themselves on." He stopped for a moment, enjoying the fact that his audience was hanging on his every word.

Kiyu Magaski had always insisted he wasn't the director of the Bureau for the power – he just wanted to keep the citizens safe. But as the saying goes, absolute power corrupts absolutely. And Magaski had complete control of the most powerful government agency there was.

"I have decided – yes, Yumi-san?" He nodded to the warrior in the corner who had stood with a question.

"Are these powers threatening us? Have they gone after the citizens, or perhaps destroyed a building or two? Are they dangerous?" Pemna Yumi was one of the most valuable members of the Intelligence Counsel, a group of 15 or so members that made decisions on any major actions taken by the Bureau. A young man, his white hair and wrinkled features made him look much older than his 33 years. Still a virulent and hale fighter, his looks were considered an advantage, as very often his opponents would go easy on an old man. It was only when he had killed or beaten them down did they realize their mistake.

"As of now, no, they havn't. BUT there is a possibility that they could. Which is why we need to continue to keep an eye or fifteen on them." Magaski appreciated his strength, but resented Yumi's intelligence. His words of caution had often killed attempts at hikes in taxes, new laws that would constrict the people, and other generally bad moves.

"Does the Bureau know the whereabouts of the mysterious powers currently?" Yumi asked, keeping eye contact with Magaski.

Magaski smiled as he said "Oh yes. We have been keeping track of them, although after the first surge in power they did a damn good job cloaking themselves. However, never underestimate the power we wield. We have pinpointed the location of the powers."

"So your saying that you know what wields the power? Is it people? Or something else?"

"That's the problem. We can't pinpoint the powers to specific people, only the area in which they are situated. As it stands now, we haven't sent out any scouts or any other sort of spies other than our computer keeping watch. Which brings me to this. I need some talented people to go scout out the area and pinpoint the individuals that hold these powers."

"I nominate myself," Yumi said, standing up again.

"I second," Magaski nodded towards the fighter. His slim stature would serve well for the type of work he would be doing.

"And I nominate myself." Her name was Terya Quetzoatcl, and her bright black eyes dared anyone to speak against her motion.

"I second," Yumi smiled towards Terya, who relaxed and smiled back. Her glossy purple hair was shot through with white streaks, and she flipped it back over her shoulder as she sat down.

The rest of the counsel approved the pair, and waited for Magaski to continue. Magaski began to fill the two in on their mission. Inwardly, he wondered if the right people had been chosen. He had wanted people that he knew were loyal to him and would follow his commands without question or conscience. Well, time would tell.

***

That's it for this chapter. I'm gonna try and finish this quickly, but the plot isn't agreeing with me! Lets hope I update soon. Hope you guys enjoy the chapter, it's been a long time coming. Any critiscms or compliments can be directed towards my email or the review box. Please! I need to know if anyone is still reading my stuff!