The Exiles By - Starsea Rated - G (will change) -------- Prologue -------- Regret is an appalling waste of energy; you can't build on it; it's only good for wallowing in. -- Katherine Mansfield “Why are you talking to her? You know she never hears us.” “Because it’s better than listening to you two bicker?” “You never know, she might hear him this time.” “You always say that, and she never does.” “Maybe she would if we all worked together?” “Ever the optimist.” “Do you have any better ideas?” “Does this mean you three are going to help me?” “Sure.” “Got nothing better to do. Well, what do you suggest, oh mighty leader?” “Wait, how do we address her anyway?” “The same way Kunzite’s been addressing her since she started coming here?” “Sorry, I wasn’t listening.” “Nephrite…” *** Tsukino Usagi was not good at lying to her parents. At least, this was what they always told their friends. Her eyes were so clear, her face was so open. They had always been able to know what was going on in her life just from looking at her. They had believed that when she was fourteen, and they still believed it now, three years later. They saw what they wanted to see, but people rarely want to see the truth. The truth was that Tsukino Usagi had become adept at lying to her parents. When she was fourteen, she had been chosen as a sailor senshi, a defender of all that was good and true against evil. She had discovered that she was destined to rule the world, lost her soulmate, died and come back to life… and that was just her first year. So it didn’t take much for Usagi to phone her mother and tell her that she was studying at her friend Mizuno Ami’s house when in reality she was sitting in the flat of her unofficial fiancé Chiba Mamoru, curled up on his bed, wearing one of his old shirts over her pyjamas. “You know, Usagi-chan, you’ve become far more dedicated to your studies since you met Mizuno-chan. I’m so pleased.” Usagi bit her lip silently. She was good at lying but she didn’t like it. “I’ll phone you tomorrow when I’m coming home, Mama.” “Alright, sweetie. Good night.” Usagi repeated the greeting and hung up. Then she pulled up the collar of Mamoru’s shirt and inhaled deeply, stroking the stiff material with her index finger. Even now, it still smelled faintly of aftershave, “Eternity” she thought, although Usagi had never asked. The smell was just part of Mamoru, like the scar on his left elbow and his love of chocolate. She swallowed hard and carefully took off the shirt. She didn’t allow herself to do this very often, because it was painful as well as pleasurable, the pain even outweighed the pleasure sometimes. She missed him with a deep abiding ache, like there was a hole deep inside. Phone calls, letters, e-mails – they were all very well, but they were not him. They could not touch her, hold her, kiss her. Sometimes Usagi believed that was what she missed most of all, Mamoru’s sheer physical presence. It was such a quiet presence but it was very strong, she realised that now, strong and sure and always there, always warm and reassuring. /Princess…/ Usagi paused and looked around. That voice again… It was like the air had whispered in her ear. She saw nothing. A shiver crept over her skin? Ghosts? Despite the fact she was nearly eighteen, she still harboured a great fear of anything spooky. She’d heard something call her name before, and if this hadn’t been Mamoru’s flat, she would have run out and never come back, but she missed him too much to stop coming simply for something that might be her imagination anyway. /In here, Princess…/ Usagi rubbed her arms and tried to figure out what was going on, like Ami would in her place. A ghost would not call her “Princess” – she didn’t know what it would call her, but she doubted it would use that name. The only people who used that name were the Outer Senshi if they were either being particularly formal or if they forgot her plea to be informal, and Elios. People who had known her as a Princess in the Silver Millennium. In where? She looked down at the drawer of the bedsite cabinet and hesitantly drew it out, wondering if something would leap out. There was nothing in there except a box, but not an ordinary box. As she lifted it out, Usagi realised it was a case, a glass case lined at the bottom with velvet. Something glittered inside. Usagi lifted the latch and flipped the lid up. *** “It’s working!” “Finally!” “Yell louder.” “I can’t believe we’ve sunk to this level.” “Just shut up and yell, Jadeite.” *** Usagi stared at the precious stones: there were four of them, all different colours. First a pale pink crystal, then two green ones; having a jeweller’s daughter for a friend rubbed off on you eventually, Usagi was certain that they could only be jade; finally there was a purple-blue chunk. “Stones?” she murmured, puzzled. “Why would Mamo-chan have stones… and in here…?” /Princess./ The voices were definitely louder now. “Yes?” she said cautiously. The stones suddenly glowed and Usagi almost dropped the case in shock and fright as four figures began to rise from each of them. Soon they were distinct: men dressed in vaguely familiar uniforms, who bowed to her in unison. /We are glad to see you again, Princess./ Usagi’s eyes widened. “You… you…” Memories were suddenly falling into place, memories of this lifetime and the last, when she had been the Princess of an interplanetary empire and they had been… “The Guard,” she whispered. “Shitennou…” They looked up at her, standing to attention almost like toy soldiers. “What… what are you doing here?” /We advise our Master,/ one answered. He had short hair, and judging from her hazy memories of last time (and much sharper ones of this life) that meant she was talking to Jadeite. Even as he was, she could see one corner of his mouth lift in an ironic smile. /Such as we can./ /We protect him as best we can,/ another chimed in, the fourth and last one in the line. /Unfortunately, due to our present form-/ /We’re practically useless,/ interrupted the third. He folded his arms. /All we can do is stand around and give him advice. Advice which he sometimes doesn’t even *take*,/ he added angrily. /What’s the point of calling us up if he won’t listen to what we say?/ /He listens./ Usagi looked at the first man in the row. He hadn’t spoken up until now, but the others fell silent at his words. /Listening to advice and following it are two different things,/ he went on, and Usagi suddenly knew who this was, because her memories of him were stronger than all the rest. “Kunzite! Why… why are you like this?” There was an awkward silence. The four spirits looked at each other. The last one in the row, slightly shorter than the others, began to speak. /Well, you see… when we were, um…/ /When we were evil madmen bent on ruling the world…/ /Jadeite!/ /What? I don’t see the point in sugar-coating it, Zoisite, that’s what we were./ Usagi giggled and then slapped a hand over her mouth, horrified to be laughing at their misfortune. Jadeite glanced up at her. /You were meant to laugh, Princess./ /Exactly,/ said the third, who must be Nephrite. /We don’t like to see you miserable. We’ve wanted to cheer you up so many times, but you didn’t hear us. Well, you didn’t hear Kunzite. He was the one trying to speak to you. This is the first time we’ve all called out to you./ “Kunzite?” She looked at the first spirit, who was watching her carefully, and tried to smile. “Arigatou.” He nodded, but said nothing. /Anyway, this is our punishment,/ Jadeite continued. /This is our punishment./ Usagi bit her lip. “I didn’t know…” /He could never think of a way to tell you, Princess,/ explained Zoisite, holding out his hands. /And besides, it’s not as if you knowing would do any good./ “No!” Usagi said sharply. “You’re wrong!” They stared at her. /Wrong?/ “I… I can do something,” Usagi said hesitantly. “I can – put you in bodies.” The tennou seemed frozen at this idea, staring at her intently. Eventually, Kunzite cleared his throat and said, /Princess, are you serious?/ Usagi nodded. “Yes. Well, *I* can’t do it,” she added, thinking hard. “I’m not powerful enough yet. But I know someone who can do it. She’s done it before, and it worked well, and you would be able to protect him properly, and be his friends, he needs more friends…” Jadeite and Nephrite seemed electrified by this idea. /A body,/ Jadeite whispered. /A proper body… one not reliant on the energy of others…/ /We could actually *do* something!/ Nephrite exclaimed. /We could make amends! We could teach him what he needs to know! We could-!/ /No./ The quiet voice stopped them both in their tracks. /No?/ questioned Zoisite. /But Kunzite, think of all we could do if we were reincarnated! We could fulfill our purpose!/ /Not so fast,/ said Kunzite with a frown. /Incarnation isn’t problem-free, you know that. We were almost instantly captured last time. Who’s to say that won’t happen again?/ “Beryl and Metallia are gone,” Usagi said confidently. Kunzite glanced at her. /I know that, Princess. I mean that somebody else may try to use us. We will be highly vulnerable until we awaken. We will forget our Master, we will forget each other, we will forget ourselves. It may be years before we arrive, and even then, there is the reaction of the senshi to consider. They will not be pleased to see us./ Usagi sighed. The reaction of her friends and guardians would not be welcoming, she had to acknowledge that. “Well, you are his Guard,” she said stubbornly. “I would have thought you’d leap at the chance…” /Believe me, Princess, you have no idea how much we want to agree to your offer,/ Kunzite interrupted. /We did not hope to have a second chance – a *third* chance. But we cannot rush into anything – we have learnt the hard way that rushing into things only brings trouble./ He stopped and glanced at the others. Usagi nodded soberly. “At least think about it,” she pleaded. /We will definitely do that, Princess,/ Jadeite promised. Nephrite nodded. /You have no idea… what this means to us./ “I think I have some idea,” Usagi told him, noticing how they glowed brighter now, their features more distinct. Kunzite seemed to be deep in contemplation and turned to the others. They moved together and seemed to be discussing something. Eventually, Kunzite turned back to Usagi. /We must discuss this with our Master,/ he declared firmly. /We can make no decision on such an important matter without his approval. Pending that…/ He paused. “Pending that?” Usagi repeated. Kunzite shrugged. /I can make no promises or final decisions before we have discussed this with our Master, Princess. This affects him, too. It affects a lot of people…/ He glanced up at her from under his eyebrows, but Usagi pretended not to know what he was talking about. “I’ll talk to Mamo-chan about it as soon as he comes back,” she assured him, eyes sparkling. “I’m sure he’ll agree.” /Yes, Princess,/ Nephrite smiled, but the other three looked slightly skeptical for some reason. /We will also discuss this with you and let you know our final decision,/ Kunzite added, and once again they bowed before fading away. Usagi closed the lid of the case, wondering if she had just dreamt the past few minutes. No, she usually dreamt about Mamoru. She slipped the case back in the drawer, closed the drawer and sat down on the bed again. She realised with some surprise that she felt better. Maybe it was the prospect of helping other people. Maybe it was the prospect of helping Mamoru. Usagi wasn’t going to analyse, she was just grateful for the upswing. There were going to be problems, but they would handle them together. /No more regret,/ she suddenly thought. /They won’t be chained to the past anymore. They’ll make new lives for themselves… just like we did. Everyone deserves that chance./ She nodded in emphasis, got into bed and switched off the lamp. /Everyone./ DISCLAIMER: These characters do not belong to me. They belong to Naoko Takeuchi and other rich people. So do not sue, for I have no money. AUTHOR’S NOTES: This story is based on information in the manga. See the author’s notes on the title page of the story for more information about the manga background. Ta-da! The prologue of a new story, which is not actually new at all but has been kicking around in my head ever since I first read that the shitennou were reincarnated in stones to help Mamoru. Unfortunately, it’s shown in the Dead Moon saga that what help they can give is very limited. Plus, they are not mentioned in the future and I refuse to believe that Mamoru leaves them stuck like that forever! Just the image of King Endymion summoning them up as stones is laughable, so this story was born and went through *many* metamorphoses before this form. Then my computer which had the first Prologue and Chapter Cne was stolen, so this is really Prologue V.2! Expect this story to be very long and hopefully thoughtful and thought-provoking. There will be a lot of poetry. I hope that you stay with me all the way. Love, Starsea xxx