The scenes from this chapter are taken from Episodes 27-32 of the PGSM Live Action.
Chapter 14 – PRINCE IN LONDON
A/N: To make the story flow better, I had shifted the episodes around a little. This chapter will start with scenes from Episodes 29-32 before moving on to Episode 27 (when Usagi was "killed" by Ami. Hope it still makes sense. =)
Piano strains sounded in my apartment. I had bit back a groan.
Zoisite. He is here again. Why am I even surprised?
Ever since I had reached London and moved into the on-campus residence, he had been appearing almost every other day. Not the most conducive atmosphere for a little inner peace and figuring out what to do with my future when a ghostly apparition popped up all the time to remind me of my past.
I had sat up on bed, idly deciding whether to just ignore him today. But as the melody crescendoed, I had sighed. He wasn't going to make it easy to be ignored. Giving up, I had thrown on a shirt and got ready my books for class before making my way to the floor length mirror in the hall. He had been there, as usual.
It had been unnerving the first few times to look into the mirror and see another person instead of your own reflection.
I had sighed again as I got ready to argue with him the meaning of my existence for the twentieth time, give or take a few times. Impasse, all right.
I recalled one of the arguments we had.
"How long are you going to fear your past life? Even though the path you must take is already decided." Zoisite had started the first volley.
"If everything was decided by my past life, then what am I now?" I had rebutted. That had been the crux of everything for me.
"You are... yourself."
That had been a fine answer. Which had answered nothing, in my opinion.
My name, my past, everything might have been controlled by strangers or my past life but that had been why I did not want my future to be the same way. I had not known if I could find my answer in London, but I was certainly going to try.
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But Zoisite had not let me be.
One moment I had been in my residence, the next, I had been transported to the Dark Kingdom.
I had tensed, ready for a battle.
Zoisite. Nephrite.
Then Kunzite had walked in.
"So now you're interested in your past life as well?" he had taunted Nephrite before turning to Zoisite. "I know you remember what the Master did!"
His voice had been full of bitterness.
Zoisite had looked down, pained and unable to deny the truth of his words. And snapshots of the Shitennou's death had invaded my mind. Perhaps it had been the presence of all four of the Shitennou, or that Zoisite's memory-awakening music had finally broken through.
My head had throbbed painfully as I suddenly remembered the destruction of the Earth Kingdom. Jadeite, Nephrite, Zoisite. All dead. Kunzite, the strongest and the only one alive, roaring his fury to the dark skies.
As the Shitennou argued before me, over whether or not to kill me, and if their past life was integral to their present one, a memory had become clearer and clearer. I remembered them arguing in the same way before. In a past life. The issue they were arguing over had still been vague in my mind and the splitting headache I rapidly developed had not helped matters. All I knew at that time was that I had to stop them before my head burst.
"Cut it out!" I had shouted.
They paid me no heed. That had been the trigger. I felt something shift as another personality took over me. It had been as if I was shoved to the background, making way for another spirit deep within my soul.
"Stop it!" My voice had taken on a rich timbre, echoing in the hall. It had been a command, as if I was used to being the authority all my life.
"Kunzite! Zoisite! Nephrite! Jadeite!" For some reason, I had known Jadeite was listening from beyond the doors.
I had not been able to control what I was saying. By then, I realized that the personality that had taken over was probably Prince Endymion. My previous life.
"Things like the past life... why concern yourself with something so long ago?! Why is that so unpleasant?" My anger, or rather, our anger had reached a peak and I felt a brief transformation. It had been too brief for me to decipher what I had transformed into, though from the expressions on the Shitennou’s faces, it had been something momentous.
At that moment, the spirit had left.
Zoisite had looked delighted. Kunzite sneered.
"Master," he had called mockingly, "Will you continue as you are now and go back to some nook somewhere? If you do that, you can live in peace until the day of your destruction. However, if you can't..." he stepped forward threateningly.
I had ignored him, concentrating on the newfound memories and what my past life had said.
"Zoisite. You said before, I am myself... you might be right."
I had finally understood what he was trying to tell me. My past life might have affected everything in my life, but I was still myself. Only I could make the decisions on how much I would let the past affect my future.
I had looked straight at Kunzite. "I've decided. I'm not running anymore." I might have caused their deaths so long ago in a past life but that did not mean I was going to repeat it. I had wanted to change the outcome this time round.
Kunzite had angrily slashed at me with his sword, to no effect. It was then I had been transported back to my own room again. I realized that I had not really been there. It had simply been a mind flight. Zoicite's trick.
I had settled heavily into the sofa, exhausted. The flight had drained much of my energy. But my mind had been clear.
I had made my decision.
All of a sudden, there had been a sharp pain in my chest. I couldn't breathe. It had been all I could do to not fall into a faint. I knew Usagi was in trouble. My connection with her had all but hit me on the head with it. Even thousands of miles away.
It was much later that I found out Usagi had been knocked unconscious at that precise moment, after being attacked by Sailor Mercury who had been controlled by the Dark Kingdom at that time.
She may be injured... more than injured... I had not been able to continue that line of thought.
It was as if the light that had been sustaining me had just winked out of existence. I needed to get to Usagi. Staggering to the hallway, I had tried to reach the door, but before I could do so, darkness had swept over me, and I hit the ground.
When I awoke, the pain constricting my chest had gone. I had looked at the clock and realized that I had been out cold for hours. Usagi! For a moment, I had panicked. But then... somehow, I knew Usagi was safe. I had not known how I knew, but there was no doubt in my mind about it. As I staggered into an upright position, I finally noticed that something was not right. My clothes had seemed heavier than they should be. A flash of white on the mirror next to me had caught my eye. I was in a formal attire. Not a black tuxedo, but a white formal attire.
Recognition.
The colour was a mark of royalty in the ancient past. Prince Endymion's royal attire. My royal armour.
As I gazed into the mirror, I realized that I was clutching the hilt of a sword hanging off my side. I slowly withdrew the sword out of its scabbard. It was heavy. But suddenly, I had realized that I knew how to wield it.
A flash of memory.
A man teaching me how to fight.
But the image was gone as swiftly as it had appeared. Then the strike of the clock announcing the hour had brought me out of my reverie.
I need to get to Usagi. It had not been a conscious thought. I knew she was safe, but there was an overwhelming need to see her. To see that she was safe for myself. As soon as I thought that, I felt something shift. The room had been a blur. In an instant, I had moved. Shifted between space.
What do you know... teleportation. That's convenient. Moving my head, I had caught a glimpse of a building sign and froze. Tenth Street Elementary School, Los Angeles.
Wonderful. I'm in America.
It seemed that I had not regained all my ability to teleport after all. I needed to be a lot more precise if I wanted to get back to Azabu Juban (Translation: Tenth Street), Tokyo. Where Usagi was.
I had not even questioned my need to get to her. After that near-death experience (I had presumed) for her, I had come to a realization. Or perhaps, an epiphany.
She is my life.
It was not as if I was not coming to that conclusion on my own anyway. Those past few weeks away from her had been something akin to pain. If there had been one thing I had realized after weeks of contemplation, it was that I loved Usagi.
In Japan, I had not realized how much I depended on seeing her, either accidentally or in the form of a fight with youmas. I had told myself that it was to protect her when I threw myself into her battles, but it was an excuse to get close to her, to be near her.
The thousands of miles away from her had made me realize my need to be with her. I missed her. I had thought about her almost constantly. I had wanted to be by her side. It had not matter whether or not she was the princess. That might have played a part too, but I had accepted that, along with my own past life. More crucially, it was Usagi that I had needed to see. That cheerful, loving girl who had captured my heart in the few months that I had known her. The need had been so strong that it had bordered on the painful side at times. If that wasn’t love, I did not know what was. At least I had been sure of that.
I had also been sure of another thing.
I would not let the past destroy my future with Usagi.
And so, I had concentrated my energies and tried again. That time I had shifted into somewhere in Australia.
At least it’s closer now...
Glancing around again, I had sighed. It was going to be a long journey.
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It won't be long till he's reunited with Usagi now. =) What do you think of this chapter? Do review!
