Their intimate moment did not last forever, but Loni was content nonetheless. They separated gracefully as a knock on the door ushered in an excited guard.
“What is it?” she asked, putting distance between her and the injured Shitennou.
“They have captured a Delar and taken him to the Relic. The queen calls for you, Sailor Venus.”
Feelings of retribution filled her chest. “I see, I will be out momentarily."
Kunzite stood up and like a warm coat wrapped his arms around her shoulders. She leaned against him, breathing in the scent of strong soap and clean bandages.
“I promise we’ll stop this. I won’t let anyone be hurt again.”
“I know you’ll do your best.”
A calm silence filled them. Loni didn’t want to move. She could feel Kunzite breathing against her back and tried to match him. Yet her desire to find out the truth moved her away and down to the bowels of the palace. The Relic was the oldest part of the city and buried beneath different editions by various monarchs. The only remains of the first attempt were two rooms hidden beneath layers and layers history. It was the perfect place to conceal valuables or things better left to the dark places.
Venus found the Relic heavily guarded with soldiers wearing grim faces that she could not understand. They should be exulted with their captured prize. However, when she finally faced the culprit inside, she understood.
General Tular, instructor of the Omesa soldiers, stood before a battered and aged table. His bound hands branded him as the enemy, but even with them she couldn’t believe her eyes. Despite a staunched wound and the weight of capture he kept his held high. Venus remembered warning Kunzite about this man’s prejudices, but never dreamed the esteemed general would go so far. She wanted to reached across the table and throttle him. Before she could continue the idea further another presence entered the room.
Queen Jocelyn moved in like an unsuspecting maelstrom, quiet but dark and brooding. Her face was a mask of poise and serenity, but Loni could feel power vibrating beneath the surface. The Sailor Senshi found it frightening. The ruling monarch sat in the room’s only chair, lounging back while the general shifted on his feet.
“Tell me the name of your leader.”
Tular only missed one beat. “No.”
“I know you cannot be this Phage. You may have many strengths, but such conniving leadership is not one of them. You would rather fight in the open, without masks. How strong this man must be to convince you to fight in shadows. I do not intend to stretch this out so let me be brief. The Delars have terrified my people, destroyed our celebrations and attacked my family. You spread a dogma of unity, but your sermons breathe hatred. We have tolerated you in respect of free speech, but you have gone too far. This must end. Tell me.”
“I will never tell you, no matter how long you torture me.”
Loni watched her mother rise, a sinister cloud forming over her features. Jocelyn leaned forward, splaying her fingers across the wood like strong roots.
“I know your body and will power would sustain you. However, as they say, your emotions will betray you.”
She reached across the table as quick as a viper strike. General Tular forcibly jumped at the touch. Ripples of power ran through Loni's skin. Both queen and soldier were locked in a silent battle with their eyes wide and wild. There was a strength the young warrior princess had never known before and now she realized why Kirabati were so respected, and feared.
Unexpectedly, Queen Jocelyn reached out to grasp Loni’s hand. Her mind was thrust into a violent world. Emotions were as clear as the room around her. Anger flashed black and red, Serenity was calm, flowing blue. Hatred moved across the floor like tar while Love was a bright, golden light that expanded and shrank. In the midst of the tornado of senses stood her mother and the Tular. Jocelyn was bombarding him with the emotions littered around the room. Loni watched as the vibrant strands seemed to pass through his chest, no doubt directed by her mother’s blazing eyes. Every time a new emotion traveled through him, Tular shuddered or let out a groan.
“Valonisabaetha, come here,” Jocelyn called, her voice echoing into eternity. “Give me your hand.”
Loni found herself afraid. She had never felt such a force. She looked down at her hand, knowing in the real world she was already clasped together with her mother. “What will happen?”
“Trust me.”
As their fingers touched, Sailor Venus felt like her body was on fire. The energy in the space was instantly amplified and it seemed like the air was as thick as honey to breathe. She realized her mother was using her, draining her power to control as her own. Tular let out a vicious cry and crashed to his knees as Jocelyn sent every emotion streaming through his body at once. They disappeared into his back in a violent storm only to spiral out of his chest in every direction of few seconds later. He screamed out a name, but it was the enemy’s familiar face Loni saw instead.
Abruptly she was wretched from that state of being and thrown back into the real world. The general was kneeling on the floor, his bound hands doing little to cover up the horrible sobs coming from deep within.
“Live with your guilt- that emotion is all your doing.” Jocelyn said quietly for there was no need to venomous condemnation now. “Come, Daughter.”
Loni followed instinctively, her mind still far elsewhere.
“Manpyre…Devlin Manpyre. How could a Kirabati betray us? How can he be the Phage?”
Manpyres were the second most powerful family on Venus, besides Queen Jocelyn’s lineage. Loni thought back to the man on the podium with his jingling cap. He had encouraged the game of Danshata between her and Kunzite; she wondered what his goal could have been in doing so.
“Mother…what did I just see?”
Jocelyn let out a delicate sigh and stilled. “What you saw is your lost legacy. It is a Kirabati’s gift: we can see emotions and manipulate them if we wish. With your strong energy added to my own, he could not resist. I…apologize for not asking permission or warning you. I was not in complete control of myself, I admit. All I could think was how many were injured, how I almost lost Ashani.”
Loni realized she used her matchmaking powers more than she thought. Emotions had never been so clear, but she could always sense the moods of others. Now she was sure things would change; some things could not be unseen.
“I will lead the search for Manpyre. If anyone can find him, it will be the other Kirabati and I.”
“But-”
“Loni.” The queen stepped close, putting a soft hand on her daughter’s face. “I know what has happened between you and Kunzite. You are aglow with happiness and love. Go spend time with him while you still can.”
The Sailor Senshi tried to push down her blush at being so transparent. She was losing her touch, her control, and it would not do. “No, that is selfish-”
“And when have you ever been so?” Jocelyn interrupted fiercely. “You have made enough sacrifices for now. Besides, this is an internal Venusian affair and you no longer have authorization, not until he threatens the Silver Millennium as a whole.”
“Mother…” Loni was annoyed, but in her traitor’s heart she was relieved.
The golden monarch smiled, as if knowing. “Go. If we need you, I will call.”
“I…” Princess Serenity’s guard sighed, giving in. “Thank you.”
“Remember what I said, my dearest: you cannot have both. Be happy I beg you, but know that you will eventually have to choose. You straddle two paths and cannot hope to stay on both for long. They will diverge and never meet again…at least not in this lifetime.”
“I know,” Loni admitted. “I know I will have to make a choice, but-”
“But for now love each other like tomorrow might be the last. With the destiny of a Sailor Senshi, it might be.”
++++++++
Kunzite’s holo-call with his prince and the others went as he had expected. While Zoicite asked about the concert and his attire, Jadeite and Nephrite raged at the audacity of the attack. Endymion remained silent throughout, listening and watching. As the story ended and the Shitennou cooled, the prince quietly dismissed them.
“What you did was very noble and brave, my dearest friend,” Endymion admonished. “Surely the Silver Millennium will accept our desires for this alliance, knowing how sincere we can be. Although it seems this coalition is not as sturdy as I previously thought. They tell me Mercury is a dead planet and they struggle to survive on their space station. Mars is split in two and the outer planets lost gravitational stability. This empire is dying.”
“Then they need our support. We can be strong together.”
“Perhaps, or we will fall with them. I…I want this to work, Kunzite.”
“I know, Master.”
“Be safe and watchful; only a week left until your return. I will be glad to have you back.”
“Venus is interesting, but I will be glad to be home as well.”
As Kunzite signed off, he truly realized how much he missed his world. He missed the other Shitennou and their antics although he would never freely admit that to them. He missed Endymion’s friendship and leadership. He wondered if they were done decorating for the Fall Festival at his castle, if his wolves hadn’t destroyed the place in his absence. He yearned for home, but he could not imagine leaving Loni now. He had found so much here.
A knock at the door excited his heart, yet he was ashamed at being disappointed when Lelaine popped her brown curls inside the threshold.
“May I enter?”
“Of course.”
In her arms she was trailing brightly colored ribbons of silk. “You look well on your way to recovery, my lord. When they first brought you in and I saw the blood- I am glad you are all right.”
“As am I. Were you hurt in the attack?” he asked.
“Only bumps and bruises.” She motioned to the stream of colors in her arms. “Not enough to get me out of my work; barely making it alive is still alive, my father said. These are part of the last shipment from two days ago and I haven’t had time to sort them. May I?”
As Kunzite nodded his assent, she let her burden down upon the nearby bed. They fell like leaves in the dying forests of home. The Shitennou’s eyes lingered on a bright red ribbon. It seemed to stand out among the rest.
“How much do you know about Savéol?” he asked. “Even though it is associated with the near year, I can find very little about it in our tongue.”
“I’ve been here for quite some time and I don’t fully understand it, but there are some factions on Venus that look at it with a more open eye. It might be easier to know what you know first.”
As Kunzite answered, she made her way to the window and the view it offered. “I know that Queen Jocelyn matches people together based on some ancient procedure, that it is customary to give a gift to your match on this day. It seems to be a celebration of love.”
“As I understand it, Savéol is the highest form of love to Venusians, not necessarily an event. The new year is just the day they’ve set aside to celebrate this love formally. To them, there are many different types, different ways to love. We have a few words to describe this emotion. Here, there are seventeen separate terms and each represents a stage. Savéol is the greatest of all, the most sacred and special.”
Lelaine reached out to touch the glass, outlining one of the far buildings. She had a distant look in her eyes. “Savéol links people together somehow, although I don’t know if it’s true or just a romantic notion. It’s almost, as if to them, love is an entity, a type of matter. They are quite…strange, but the idea of going beyond normal love is interesting.”
“Thank you for enlightening me.”
“That’s why I’m here actually.” She waved her hands quickly, as if swatting away her previous words. “I mean, I’m not here about Savéol, but about Venus. You…you’re leaving soon, correct?”
Too soon, he thought. “Yes I am.”
“My father’s last shipment left yesterday and another will not return for five months. I was wondering, hoping, that you could take me with you when you leave.”
Before Kunzite could form proper words, she blazed on. “I promise I won’t be a bother or take up much space. I’m going to sell or leave most of my things here. I will help on the ship anyway I can. I have money as well and-”
Kunzite held up a hand. “Lelaine, after the services you’ve provided me and the friendship I like to think we’ve formed, I would never make you pay a fee or sell your possessions. You are welcome to my ship if that is your wish. However, I require your father’s consent.”
Lelaine’s premature grin faded. “By the laws of my land, I have reached the age of adulthood and no longer need…permission.”
“I take it your father wishes you to stay?”
“I haven’t told him. Coming to Venus was his dream and I…I followed him because I had nowhere else to go and no one else left on Earth to care about. Venus is truly amazing and I have learned so much, become a better person.”
She paused, her fingers resting above the city and into the sky. When she began again, her eyes were closed. “I miss the clear sunshine. I miss salt in the air, sand between my toes. I miss the waves lulling me to sleep. I miss the sounds the most, I’ve found. The market, horses on stone, even the seagulls. I could live here indefinitely, find a home and settle into their society but I have realized I would feel incomplete. There would always be something missing. Do you understand?”
The homesickness in her voice had brought memories of Earth to the surface unbidden. Home had changed for him many times; his house on the plains, the rocks of the mountains, Prince Endymion’s palace. He thought that would be the last place he would call home. Now he wasn’t so sure. Could someone have two homes at once without splitting apart? Clearly Lelaine did not think so and he could not argue with her feelings.
“Speak to your father, Lelaine. Explain what you have told me. I will speak to him if I can at the final ceremony. If it is your honest wish, we all shall do what we can to see you back to Earth.”
“Thank you Kunzite, I appreciate your help. I will go speak with him now; I might as well get it over with.” She went to scoop her inventory and exit his chambers.
“There is something else I wanted to ask you,” he said, his eyes once again resting on the shimmering scarlet ribbon.
