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The Aminoto drew his hand back from Endymion's with a hiss. "Mother..." he whispered coldly, staring beyond Endymion and through the crystal glass of the tower.
"Naru?" Astrael shifted his gaze to look out the window, still cradling Selenity protectively.
The Aminoto whirled about to face him. "She will not have you again. You are mine."
Endymion reached for the Aminoto, lunging toward him as he twisted away, desperate to catch the crimson-eyed creature's hand and ask him again who he was. Aminoto shoved him aside roughly and disappeared. Astrael leapt forward to catch his lover as he fell to the floor, struggling to maintain his hold on both Selenity and Endymion and his balance at the same time.
The Aminoto appeared in the midst of the Guardians and Senshi gathered at the base of the tower. They crowded close about Naru as if they could sense his intent.
"Will you not let me kiss my sweet mother? Will you deny me her love, the love I barely had time to feel before I was snatched from her arms and slaughtered?"
"Get out of here, you filthy creature." Mars spat.
"Your lust for your princess is pure, Senshi? Are not love and lust different? How strange that I, a simple demon, know this, yet men--and angels--do not. How strange indeed..." He focused his crimson eyes upon Makoto's deep green ones. "My dear Pretty Girl, will you not bring my mother to me?"
"She won't, you monster, leave Mako-chan alone!" Venus shifted closer to Makoto.
Aminoto frowned in mock anger. "How many times must I tell you Pretty Girls that I am a demon, not a monster? You do not think me to be a monster, do you, Ma-ko-to?"
"I...no..."
"I would again love my Pretty Girl if she would allow me to hold my dear mother."
Makoto stepped forward involuntarily, lulled by Aminoto's glowing red eyes, then shrieked with fury as Nuriel caught her about the waist, holding her back. "Damn you, Nuriel, get your filthy hands off of me!"
"Are my hands as dirty, Senshi, as those that would caress you in secret? Do you forget your vow to Selenity, to love and protect her?"
Makoto froze. "Selenity...I..."
"Why do you hesitate, my Pretty Girl? Do you no longer love your Aminoto?"
"I never--"
"You never loved me? How sad, Ma-ko-to, you break this poor demon's heart, the heart that he loved you with the best that he could, the heart that loves you still, though you have rended it in two." He bowed his head slightly, a single crimson tear tracing a path down his pale cheek.
"Aminoto!" Makoto wailed, breaking free from Nuriel with the strength of her desperation and leaping across the space that separated them. He caught her up in his arms, kissing her passionately.
"I have truly missed you, my Pretty Girl." he whispered into her ear as he slid his arm about her waist. She fell against him with a sigh of contentment. He looked up, meeting the eyes of Nuriel, who had assumed Makoto's place in the protective ring about the Princess of the Earth. "You cannot protect her, angel, you are not a Guardian, nor are you Senshi. This woman is Senshi." He bent to kiss Makoto again as she flung her arms about his neck and caressed his cheek.
"Do not touch her, you monster!"
"I am no monster, Guardian, nor am I touching her. My Pretty Girl chooses to touch me, a demon, not a monster, not like you who killed my pretty Ma-ko-to when she belonged to you. She is safer here with this jealous demon than with a human monster."
Jadeite stepped forward, sword drawn. "Release her, demon."
Aminoto stepped back. "Come and take her, then, Guardian." he sneered, kissing her again. Jadeite flew at Aminoto in a rage.
"I will not allow you to kill her again!" Aminoto cried as he shoved Makoto to the side, away from Jadeite's blade, and fell onto her. "Farewell for now, my Pretty Girl, I will miss you..." he whispered, kissing the inside of her ear, then rose, easily pushing his way into the gap that Jadeite had left in Naru's protective ring, taking her into his arms and soaring up into the air. Naru clung to him in fear, squeezing her eyes shut so that she would not see the ground below. Aminoto giggled.
"I knew not that you feared heights, Mother. We are not so high, look."
Naru opened her eyes for an instant, then closed them again, paralyzed by fear. "Oh, God..." she moaned.
"Perhaps we are high enough that He can hear you, Mother, speak louder. Oh, do not tremble with fear, Mother, you are quite safe, I am holding you." He leaned to whisper into her ear. "Mother, could you imagine falling from this terrible height, tumbling through the air forever and ever before you strike the ground? Would that not be horrifying?"
Naru moaned in terror, clinging closer to her son.
"It would be like this, Mother." he whispered, and released her.
Zoisite slowly stepped back from the smoking pit, smiling with grim satisfaction as the huge iron door slammed shut with a note of finality. He turned about and began retracing his steps, seeking the tower's exit. This tower, those fools, how they found it so impossible to navigate...he laughed aloud, thinking of how utterly simple the maze was that surrounded Endymion, twisted, yet simeple, so easily understood by the equally twisted.
The torches flickered, then went out, transforming the brightly burning halls into dead, cold tunnels, blacker than the heart of the man who cried out in surprise and confusion. A harsh laugh echoed all around, ringing in his ears. Zoisite spun about, sword in hand.
"Show yourself!" he demanded, but was answered only by echoes, his own voice and the terrifying laugh. A pale blue glow shone out of the darkness before him, and he stepped back involuntarily, spinning about as a high-pitched giggle came from behind him. All he could see was another sphere of cold blue light. The torches flared up again, burning with the same blue light, leaping from the walls, reaching for him with tongues of hungry flame though he stood in the exact center of where two halls crossed. He slowly turned, staring down each hallway. Laughing, giggling globes of harsh ble light approached from all four directions, inching closer and closer with each passing moment. As they came closer, the flames grew larger, reaching for Zoisite's hair and face, singing his uniform and filling his eyes with smoke. He turned about in confusion with a growing sense of fear. The lights crept closer, slowly, slowly, so slowly that he though that he must be imagining their movemen, and he laughed at himself for giving in to this horrible vision, for feeding it with his imagination until what was false became real. He laughed, watching the lights as they wavered and faded from view. All was dark.
And then the lights were upon him.
Astrael screamed in horror as something--someone--hurtled through the air outside the crystal tower. "Naru!" He rushed at the glass, frantically banging on it with his fists.
"Astrael, will yourself outside! Are you not an angel? We will break it!"
"Endymion--"
"Go!" Endymion placed his hands on Astrael's shoulders and pushed as if he would shove him through the glass. "Astrael, catch her!"
Astrael closed his eyes and envisioned himself outside the tower, hovering below Naru and catching her safely in his arms. When he opened them, he was suspended in the air below her as she fell. He opened his arms to catch her.
Something smashed into him from the side, slamming him against the outside wall of the tower. He cried out in pain and fury as he watched the Aminoto swoop down and catch Naru neatly in his arms. She clung to him, shaking, hiding her face.
"Mother, why do you tremble so? We are not nearly as high as we were before." He met Astrael's eyes and smiled. "Ah, Father, here is your wife." He held her out to him. Naru shrieked in terror and clung to the Aminoto, shaking so violently that he also trembled.
"Give her to me!" Astrael lunged forward.
The Aminoto shot straight up in the air, laughing as Naru moaned in fear. Astrael followed, again reaching for her. "Endymion, do not do this!"
"Do not do what, Father? This?" he sneered as he threw Naru straight up in the air. She screamed as she fell, reaching out to Astrael, grabbing his wing, but continuing to fall with nothing more than a few feathers in her hand. He folded his wings and fell after her, but he was again pushed aside. The Aminoto caught her easily. Astrael rushed at him, reaching for his wife, who had fainted from fear.
"Oh, look, Father, your dear wife has fainted." the Aminoto smiled coldly as he danced back out of Astrael's reach. "Do you know what this means?"
"It means that you have frightened her to death!" Astrael snarled, calling his sword to his hand.
"No, Father, she is not dead, but she will be if you do not stop swinging that like a madman!" The Aminoto shifted slightly to hold Naru between himself and the enraged angel. "It simply means that she will not longer scream when I drop her, see?"
Astrael swooped down below the Aminoto, but he did not let Naru fall, instead, he tossed her in the air a few times as if she were no more than a toy ball. "I am glad that my mother weighs so little, I may truly drop her otherwise. But, then, Father, there was only one thing that you allowed her to eat." He smiled at Astrael, looking the angel up and down slowly.
"Endymion!"
The Aminoto giggled. "Do not worry, Father, that is enough to satisfy even the greatest appitites. My poor, dear mother has been starved for a thousand years. It is a wonder that she is still alive."
"Endymion, do not do this. Give her to me. I will not leave you. Return her to me. There is no need to hide behind this visage of a demon any longer. Release your mother and return to yourself. Listen to me. You are not alone, you will never be alone, you can never be alone, for without you, there is nothing in this world."
"You are the only world that I know, Astrael."
"Endymion. I love you. We love you. Give her back."
The Aminoto half nodded, moving closer to Astrael, holding Naru out as if to settle her into Astrael's arms. Astrael reached for her, eager to hold her close and safe. The Aminoto's eyes narrowed and his lips formed a cruel smile as he dropped Naru into the space between Astrael's outstretched arms. She hurtled toward the ground. The cry of horror was not hers, but Astrael's.
"Endymion!!"
"I think you dropped her, Father. You have a bad habit of doing that, don't you?"
Astrael stared at him for another moment before folding his wings and plummeting after her, knowing that he would never reach her, but unwilling to believe what he knew to be true.
"Naru!"
"Mother!"
Endymion and Selenity ran to the edge of the room, backing away from the panel of glass that they had nearly split with a huge crack. Endymion reached for the Princess's hand and held it tightly in his. As one they stepped back and rushed at the glass, flinging themselves at it and through it, sending shards of crystalline glass everywhere. Astrael fell past them, alternately crying for Naru and Endymion, calling their names as he allowed himself to fall with no intention of stopping.
"He dropped her again!" Mercury gasped. "He's...he's letting her fall!"
"Usagi, you fool, what in hell are you doing?" Mars screeched as Selenity and Endymion crashed through the glass of the tower. "BAKA! Someone catch her!"
"Why are you just standing there, Nuriel, go!" Makoto screamed, but he was in the air before she could speak his name. He streaked up into the air toward Naru, catching her easily and continuing up, reaching for Astrael, but someone else had already pulled him close and stopped his high-speed descent. Nuriel grabbed Selenity's hand. Her other hand was still locked with Endymion's. He slowly began to spiral to the ground, trusting that Astrael was safe with either Kunzite or Jadeite.
Astrael felt himself being pulled into a strong, close embrace. A soft giggling filled his ears and his mind. He allowed his eyes to snap open, recoiling as he found a pair of crimson eyes burning into his.
"Do not be afraid." The Aminoto bent to kiss Astrael deeply. "You are mine now. I will keep them all from you."
"No!"
Yes, Father. Oh, yes. I will never let you go. I will not lose you again.
"Endymion! You betray our love!"
I do not. I simply reclaim what has always been mine. You.
Astrael was silent, terrified.
Do not weep, my beautiful Astrael. Beautiful, beautiful Astrael. More beautiful than anything else in this world. I will take you back and you will love me, and I you. Isn't that what you want? Isn't that what you were sent here to do? Love me, protect me. Forever.
The Aminoto streaked away with his weeping angel, a tiny crimson dot against the infinity of space.
Cease your troubled weeping, my angel, sleep...close your lovely eyes and sleep...
The Aminoto sat at Astrael's bedside, transfixed by the beauty of his face in sleep. Moonlight flowed through the window curtains and illuminated the sleeping angel's face with a soft, pale light. His face was calm, almost serene, revealing that his dream was not like those that had plagued him since he had first slept. The Aminoto studied Astrael's face, wondering what he could be seeing in his mind that would allow him to sleep so peacefully, carefully studying his long, thick lashes, the way his hair fell across his face and down the side of the bed, cascading over the edge like a coppery waterfall. He reached out with one hand, slowly, tentatively touching that crimson waterfall, lifting several soft, wavy strands to his nose. Sweet and strong, like the wildflowers of the field. He turned away for a moment and flung open the window, filling the room with cool night air that carried the heady perfume of millions of flowers. The gentle breeze stirred the downy feathers of Astrael's graceful wings. Astrael sighed in his dreaming, shifting slightly so the moonlight no longer fell directly across his face.
Beautiful. So beautiful, and it was his. The Aminoto reached out to Astrael again, running his fingers through the delicate white feathers that lined the inside of his wing. "Astrael." Aminoto whispered softly in his ear, a faint stirring of breath, barely audible. "Open your eyes, my angel, and be mine again. Awaken, my father who is not my father. You sleep too long. Do you dream of the Princess? Do you dream of my mother? Do you dream of me, my brother, who? I must see your beautiful eyes, my angel. Let me see your eyes, your eyes that sparkle and shine with more light than heaven's jewels."
Astrael merely turned his head, sighing as he fell deeper into his dreams.
"What is this sleep that holds you fast? Will you not wake for me?"The Aminoto leaned across, pressing his lips to Astrael's. The angel stirred beneath him. "Yes, my sleeping beauty, your prince awakens you with a kiss." he murmured as Astrael slowly opened his eyes, eyes that were already filled with shining tears. One hovered at the edge of his eye, then spilled over, slipping from his eye and down the side of his face.
"Already you weep?" the Aminoto asked. "Are you a weeping woman, my angel?"
"Are you a jealous woman, Endymion? A woman who delights in breaking hearts and stealing boyfriends?" Astrael asked quietly, another tear sliding down his face, following the first.
The Aminoto giggled. "Father, your wit never ceases to amaze me. You have always been a master of words, the well-turned phrase. Did it not often help you to lie so masterfully?"
"I never lied to you!" Astrael sprang up from the bed. The Aminoto rose from the floor and faced him.
"Is that so, Astrael? How many times after my mother arrived did you claim to be so, so tired, Astrael, too tired to love me, though you went sneaking off to my mother's room as soon as you were sure I was asleep? How many times, Astrael? Do you even remember?"
"You certainly showed her no love."
"Of that kind, I hope not."
"Yet you would do the same to me, your father?"
"You are not my real father. You are mine."
"Your what?"
"Mine. Period. You belong to me." Aminoto reached for Astrael.
Astrael slapped his hand away. "I belong to no one but myself."
"Tell that to my mother."
"She is my wife."
"You are my angel."
"I'm not an angel!"
"Such beautiful, beautiful wings." the Aminoto sighed, lightly touching the soft feathers. "You are indeed an angel. Will you put on your pretty halo for me and sing?"
"I don't sing, nor would I ever be worthy of a halo, if such things existed."
"Are you sure you don't want to sing? I am sure that you have a beautiful voice."
"I don't have to listen to this!" Astrael snapped, slamming open the door and flying up into the air above the field. Aminoto sailed after him.
"Where are you going, my pretty Astrael? Pretty, pretty Astrael, are you really a pretty, pretty girl?"
Astrael stopped and whirled around so swiftly that Aminoto flew past him. "Stop, Endymion!"
"Why, Astrael? Why should I stop? This is all I can do to you. You abandoned me for my mother, you betrayed me, you took my wife, and all I can do to you is hurl insults like a child! That is what we both are. Children! Especially you."
"You are nothing more than a spoiled child, Endymion."
"Spoiled? I think I've turned out rather well for someone who watched his abusive father beat his mother and whose lover abandoned him for his mother."
"I never abandoned you!"
"What do you call it, then? What is it, tell me!" He turned away and stared across the endless meadow of wildflowers. "Tell me...that I may know what to call it." Aminoto bowed his head. A crystal tear splashed on the petal of a delicate pink flower. "Astrael. You were my first love." he whispered. "You will always be my first love." He turned back to Astrael, who could only stare back at him. "You foolish, lustful, deceptive, lying creature! Not an angel, not a demon, obviously not human, what are you? Damn you, Astrael, what are you?!" he cried furiously.
"Endymion--"
"Shut up, Astrael! Shut up and do your job."
"I--"
"Shut up!"
"Is that an order, Endymion?"
"Then keep your damn mouth open if that's the way you like it!" the Aminoto snapped as he closed the small space between them, pulling Astrael close and kissing him deeply, spiraling down into a soft bed of wildflowers.
Endymion...
Astrael...I love you. Don't you ever forget that.
I never forgot.
"Selenity, you idiot, what in hell possessed you to fling yourself through a glass window half a mile above the ground? What were you thinking? You--"
"She was thinking of someone other than herself, Senshi Mars. You would do well to try that sometime. Your concern for your princess is purely selfish, Senshi."
"Endymion, how dare you--"
"I am your commander, Senshi. I dare." Endymion gently ran his fingers across Selenity's many scratches and cuts, healing them with murmured wrods, removing tiny shards of glass that had embedded themselves in her wounds. Selenity bore it all without a whimper, hugging her child to herself, whispering to him. Endymion winced as his motions aggravated his own bleeding wounds.
"Endymion, heal Selenity, but do not forget yourself."
"Mother, I have hurt her so much, let me do this for her."
Naru knelt by her son, leaning forward to kiss and heal the scrapes and cuts nearest her. Endymion turned to her, surprised. "Mother, I thought you had lost all your power at my birth."
She shook her head as she kissed a scratch on his face. "Endymion, do you not remember falling in the field? You were always crying of scraped knees or bruises. I have healed far worse for you. This power all mothers have, the power to 'kiss and make it all better', it is only stronger in me."
He smiled faintly, turning back to Selenity. "Yes, Mother, I remember."
"Everyone who fell is accounted for, then?"
"No, Mercury, my Aminoto is gone."
One less demon to worry about. Jadeite scowled.
"Where is Astrael, Senshi Makoto?"
"Where do you think he is, Nuriel? He is with Endymion, Selenity, and Naru."
"He is not there."
"What, did you forget to catch him? Is he now nothing more than a mark on the ground? You are indeed a great angel, Nuriel, if you allowed him to--"
Nuriel smiled faintly. "Senshi, calm yourself. My son is an angel, and angels have wings, do they not?"
"Your son, Nuriel? That is forbidden, mighty archangel, or are the rules different for those at the top?"
"Astrael is not my true son. The Creator, knowing how I longed for a child, placed him in my care when first he was brought into heaven. I could not care for him more if he were my own son."
"Oh? You do not seem very concerned, Nuriel!"
"Silence!" Endymion stepped between them. "There is no time for this foolishness. Where is my Astrael?"
"Where is Selenity?"
"She rests with my mother and the Senshi Mars. Where is my angel?"
"You would do well to ask the archangel, Endymion. I have not seen him."
"Nuriel?"
"I did not catch him, Endymion, I know not where he is, thoug I suspect that the Aminoto has taken him."
"You knew!" Makoto accused. "You knew where my Aminoto was!"
"Yes, Senshi Makoto, I knew. However, I was only permitted to speak of it to Endymion."
"The Aminoto..." Endymion murmured as Makoto stalked away, followed by Nuriel. "Anchises..." He sighed. "Of course. I will call him back."
Anchises...
Who is this who speaks to me in my dreams? Why is it that you call for Anchises? There is no Anchises.
There is an Anchises, and you are he.
No, Endymion, that cannot be! I am you.
No, Anchises, you are not me, you never were me, and never will you be me. I have been deceiving you all your life. I swore that I would begin to let you know the truth. Who is it that you lie beside, Anchises?
The angel Astrael, whom I love at your command.
And what else, Anchises?
There is nothing else, Endymion.
It is in this that I have deceived you, Anchises. The angel Astrael is your father, not only in name, but in truth. You are his son, Anchises, you are not me.
How is it that he can be my father? Endymion? Endymion?
Anchises woke as the voice left his dreams. He turned to gaze into Astrael's sleeping face, studying him closely. "Father..." he whispered, then sighed, smiling slightly, and bent to kiss him. Now I understand why my brother...will do anything to keep you.
Astrael was awakened by the Aminoto's soft whisper. "Father, do you like secrets?" He giggled.
The red-haired angel slowly opened his eyes and turned to him. "Endymion, you have been keeping secrets?" he murmured as Aminoto brushed his hair from his eyes.
"Oh, yes, Father, the most wonderful secret of all. Very few people know this secret, and I will tell you now." The Aminoto leaned close and whispered in Astrael's ear. "I'm...not...Endymion. Isn't that the greatest secret you've ever heard, Astrael?"
Astrael sprang up from the bed and stared down at the giggling demon. "Endymion!"
"I told you, I am not Endymion."
"Then who are you?"
"I am...Anchises."
"Anchises, Endymion? I know no Anchises, when was it that Anchises was created?"
"I am not Endymion! I am Anchises. And it is to Endymion that I will return, for it was he who created me and he who controls me!" He stepped out the front door and disappeared into the sky, calling behind to Astrael. "Coming, Father??"
"Endymion!" Astrael spread his wings and followed the quickly fading crimson dot.
I am not Endymion...
"What is--"
Minako's startled cry was cut off as something crashed to the ground in the midst of the Senshi and Guardians, exploding with a fierce red light. When the light faded, the Aminoto stood there, holding Makoto in his arms. "Hello, my Pretty Girl. Did you miss your Aminoto?"
Endymion stepped forward. "Anchises."
The Aminoto turned to face him. "Endymion, there is no Anchises."
Astrael fell from the sky to stand between the Aminoto and Endymion. "Endymion, what is this that you have done to yourself? When did you create this Anchises?" He pointed accusingly at the smiling, blonde-haired man.
"I did not create Anchises."
"Who, then?"
"I did not create Anchises alone."
"With whom was he created?"
"Astrael, calm yourself, do you not recognize your own son, Anchises?"
Astrael looked from Endymion to Anchises and back again. "My what?" he whispered.
"Your son, Astrael."
"Tell me, Endymion, that what you say is not true. Endymion..."
"It is true, Astrael, this Anchises is your son."
Astrael nodded slowly. "My son with Naru."
"No, Astrael."
"With whom, then?" Astrael cried, frustrated. "I had no children with any other!"
"How soon you forget me, Astrael." Endymion murmured as he stepped closer, leaning into Astrael to whisper into his ear. "Our son, Astrael, Anchises."
"Our...?" Astrael turned back to glance at Anchises once more, then stepped back. "No..." he moaned. "No...I thought him to be you, Endymion, we..." His eyes flickered to the Aminoto's face again, then he moved to stare at the ground.
"Astrael?"
Astrael lifted his eyes to Endymion's face. "Endymion, were I not already damned, I surely am now." He slipped away, hiding his face in his hands, pushing through the ring of Guardians and Senshi, then shot straight up in the air. Endymion watched as he settled on the top of the tower. He turned to the Aminoto.
"Anchises, you have disobeyed me."
"Endymion, I did only as you commanded me."
"Never did I command you to sleep with your own father, Anchises!"
"I knew not that he was my father. You told me that I loved him, Endymion, you commanded me to love him. That is all that I did."
"That is not the love that I meant, Anchises!"
"You did not tell me that it was not, Endymion."
"I tell you now, Anchises, you are to love the angel Astrael as one would love his father. No more. Is that understood, Anchises?"
"Yes, Endymion." The Aminoto hesitated.
"What is it, Anchises?"
"Endymion, Astrael is my father, but this woman is not my mother." he said, indicating Naru. "Who, then, is my mother?"
"Anchises, I am your mother."
"No, Endymion, how can that be? You are...you are..."
"Yes, Anchises, I am a man, yet, I am your mother. My mother passed great power to me, including the power to create...children..."
"Endymion, what is it?"
He looked up to stare at Naru. "Mother, the power that was passed to me...did you not possess it yourself before my birth?"
"Yes, Endymion, though I was unaware of--"
"Including the power to create children, Mother?"
They stared at each other. Everything froze. "Endymion, do you think--"
Naru was interrupted by a loud cry that came from the base of the tower. Zoisite stumbled out of a wide crack in the glass, his hair and uniform singed, torn, and dirty. Four glowing, snakelike shapes persued him, hissing with horrible, harsh voices, laughing as they caught Zoisite and threw him to the ground in the exact center of the ring the Guardians and Senshi had formed, leaping upon him as he screamed in terror.
"Zoisite!"
"Father!"
Astrael was the first to react. The fact that not many hours before Zoisite had been perfectly willing to shove both he and Selenity into the everlasting torments of hell meant nothing to him. Astrael was a Guardian first, no matter how despicable Zoisite was he would honor his oath to protect him. He would make every attempt to save him. Astrael called forth his flaming sword then shot down out of the sky, the sword blazing before him. After a split second of shocked disbelief, Kunzite unsheathed his sword and leaped into the fray followed closely behind by Jadeite and Endymion. Makoto moved as if to join in the fighting but much to her annoyance Anchises held her back.
"Anchises, I am Senshi, you cannot hold me here. Endymion, I must defend him. I am sworn."
"You will not enter this contest, Makoto, I will not lose you to this. You will allow the Guardians to do as they are sworn. You forget your duty is to the Princess, it is you love for Endymion that speaks this need. You will stay and look your duty and not you heart."
"Anchises---
"I will hear no more, Senshi, I will not let you go."
Makoto fumed but she allowed Anchises to hold her back.
Instinctively the Prince and the Guardians took their accustomed places, each selecting an individual adversary but attacking at the same time. They were repulsed by a massive explosion of flaming blue fire that flung them spinning end over end high up into the sky. Below them the hissing, clawing creatures swarmed all over the shrieking Zoisite who was pinned to the ground by the sheer weight of the snakelike monstrosities. They tore at him, harrowing his flesh with their razor sharp talons. Rivulets of blood streamed from him soaking into the ground.
The Guardians recovered quickly regrouping around Endymion. At Endymion's silent command Mercury, Venus and Mars combined their attacks hoping to create a diversion that might at least get the creature away from Zoisite and out into the open where they could be more easily attacked. Mercury created a blinding mist to surround the creatures while Mars, sensing that these must be evil demons from hell, attacked each one of them with her anti evil attack. Her hunch proved correct, the creatures retreated, howling in agony, into the air.
As they rose they changed form, growing larger, taking on the appearance of reptilian, winged dragons. The Guardians moved in for the kill slashing at the blinded monsters with their swords. Endymion's blade tore through the chest of the largest beast but this seemed only to strengthen the creature. Makoto sensed Endymion's peril; she fought her way out of Anchises arms and launched herself into the air bent on protecting her Prince. The dragon towered over Endymion bellowing fiercely but Endymion would not back down. He circled around it attempting to angle his blade to slice the creature head from its body but he did not bank on the dragons massive tale studded with sharp, stiletto like projectiles. The creature swung back her tale bent on swatting Endymion out of the sky but she was too slow. Makoto slammed into Endymion batting him out of the way of the deadly tale. The two of them plummeted down out of the sky but their fall was arrested by Anchises who easily caught them both. Meanwhile, Naru and Selenity attempted to administer to the needs of the torn and bleeding Zoisite. Endymion commanded Makoto to gather the Senshi to form a protective ring around them, then he shot back up into the sky where the Guardians continued to hack at the creatures who seemed to grow larger and more powerful with every blow. Suddenly all four creatures flung back their heads emitting a deafening, ground shaking roar then, miraculously, they disappeared. All was silent.
The Guardians hung suspended in the sky searching of the creatures in vain. They descended slowly to place where Zoisite, still surrounded by a protective ring of Senshi, lay delirious and bleeding in Serenity's arms as Naru tried her best to heal his ripped and mangled flesh. He cried out feebly for Kunzite who roughly broke through ring to kneel at his side
"Give him to me, Princess."
"Commander, he is not yet healed wait only a moment and---"
"Let him go, Princess give him to me."
Selenity clearly heard the desperation in Kunzite's voice yet she hesitated.
"Commander.."
"Must I beg you, princess. You cannot heal him, he is beyond healing. He will die. Let me have him before he dies."
"He will not die, Kunzite I will not let him. He is my father. I will heal him."
"Endymion, not even you can heal him. Let me have him. Please."
"Of course Commander." Selenity answered defeated by the determined resignation in Kunzite's voice.
Tenderly Kunzite lifted the mangled body of his beloved up into his arms. Zoisite moaned in his anguish yet it seemed he knew that it was Kunzite who held him. The somber ring of Senshi parted as Kunzite walked slowly out onto the rocky plain bearing his pitiful burden away. Selenity rose, her gown was covered with blood but she did not seem to notice.
"Where are going, Selenity?" Mars shrilled.
"After them, he cannot be alone, not like this. It is too much even for him to bear."
"Let him go, dearest. It is the way he wants it. He wants to be alone with him. Can you not see that."
"No Endymion, this is not as it seems. You must feel it? Those creatures they are not done with him--they--I?have seen them--I cannot remember...Endymion! I know who they are! They are the sisters. Oh, my God, Endymion, it is Eudialyte and her sisters. It was like this in the tower, the same feeling. They tried to kill you all, she had my tiara, the dolls-- she tried to slice you all in two with my tiara."
Before any of them could stop her Selenity turned and ran after Kunzite begging him to come back to the protection of the Guardians and the Senshi.
"Usagi, come back here!" Mars cried. She took off behind Selenity, followed by Endymion and the rest.
Kunzite stood on the rocky sea wall cradling Zoisite in his arms. He covered his beloved face with kisses, he murmured his final endearments to him, he prayed that Zoisite could hear him in his delirium of pain. Vaguely he could hear someone calling his name, he turned about to see Selenity running toward him. Suddenly he heard a loud hissing, then the sound of wings. He felt strong talons dig into the flesh of his legs, something yanked at him and he was falling. At the same time Zoisite was yanked from his arms. He fell hitting the ground hard. He rolled over, slashed at the snake that curled up his legs with his sword, and leaped to his feet in time to see Zoisite being borne up into the sky by four she devils whose snakelike hair streamed out behind them. As they rose higher into the air he saw to his horror that they were devouring him. Like reptilian piranhas they each consumed one of his limbs while they laughed. Hideous, wet, gurgling laughter filled the sky as a shower of red rained down on him and Selenity who had caught up with him.
"Zoisite!" he screamed. "Zoisite!"
He prepared to launch himself into the air but Endymion caught him and wrestled him to the ground. He threw himself on top of him shielding him from the sight of the horrible feast of flesh in the air. By now the others had arrived to witness the final seconds of gruesome spectacle. Mars and Jupiter surrounded Selenity shielding her from further harm. Astrael held the hysterically weeping Naru in his arms as Venus and Mercury huddled together protected by the visibly shaken Jadeite.
"Let me go, Endymion, damn you, let me go to him." Kunzite roared as he attempted to force Endymion away from him.
"It is too late commander" Endymion cried in agony. "It is too late, he is gone. My father is gone."
"Let me go Endymion, I will kill you, let me go."
"Kill me then Commander, but I will not lose you. There is nothing left of him, I tell you" Endymion began to sob. "There is nothing left. They are gone, they tore him to pieces, and they howled with laughter, their mouths dripped red with his blood, and then he was gone, Kunzite. Gone as if he had never existed at all. All that marks his passing is a pool of blood, his blood, my blood. Oh god, I could not save him. I am his son, bound to him in blood if not in love. It is my duty to protect him, to die in his place if need be and I could not save him."
'Nor could I Endymion, nor could I. He was my only love, my reason to exist, and I could not save him."
Kunzite ceased his struggling. He was suddenly deadly calm. He lay silent and motionless holding the sobbing Prince in his arms. After a time he spoke the last words that he would speak for a long time.
"Rise Prince of Earth, finally we are free."
Endymion stared down into Kunzite's cold gray eyes. He nodded slowly. Wiping the tears from his eyes he rose helping Kunzite to his feet. The wind blew, the sea murmured beneath them, somewhere in the distance they heard the screaming of seagull. Both men shivered. They turned to face the silent crowd of Senshi, Angels and Guardians. Endymion stepped forward. He looked into the eyes of all of those who stood before him. He shook his head unable or a moment to form the words that he so desperately need to speak. He mother and wife separated themselves from their protectors and made their way toward him but he gently waved them back. The two women froze. They stood with their arms around each other tensely waiting for Endymion to speak. Behind him Kunzite stood as still and as a stone staring vacantly ahead. Finally, barely able to control or conceal his grief, Endymion haltingly addressed them.
"This--this is all...my doing" Endymion whispered into the silence. "This is all?my fault. I brought you all here...in my madness, like a spoiled child I led you here, here into my nightmare...you risked your lives for me. Risked you lives to prove to me what I should have always known. That you loved me. That all of you, all of you loved me. Even my father...my father died...for me...he gave me life and I took his. I hated him, I wanted him to die for what he did to you, mother, for what he did to me...but, oh God, not like this... He did not have to die like this... There is no one who should die...like this..."
He broke down then. Naru and Selenity rushed forward but as they reached him he cried out his father's name and vanished.
Kunzite turned on his heel and walked away toward the far side of the tower.
"Naru, he is gone."
"Both gone, Selenity. My husband, my son."
'Do not, mother, do not look there."
"Where shall I look, then, Selenity. If I close my eyes, I see him. I hear him shrieking, and the laughter, Selenity, I shall never escape this horror. I see my child's face, grief stricken yet I know that in his heart, in the deepest secret place, he rejoiced, as I rejoiced to see him die in torment. Selenity the shame that I feel for praising the creator for allowing me to live long enough to see this end to him. I have but one regret, Selentiy, and that is that I did not kill him myself as I should have so long ago. Am I as despicable then, Selenity as he was?"
"Naru, you speak what is in your heart, I cannot judge you. You tried to heal him though you despised him and wished him dead. Surly the creator sees this. I must go, Naru."
"You will go for Endymion, Selenity? You know where he has gone?"
"Yes, I know. He is in the only place that would give him solace. He had returned home, Naru."
"The house, Selenity?" Naru whispered in disbelief. "He would return to our house. How? Why? I could not bear to ever enter that house again. How may he, Selenity?"
"Naru, his memories are there. He must come to terms with them."
Both women turned to see Astrael. He wore an expression of deep sadness.
"Selenity, I would speak with you a moment, Naru you are ---"
"I am shaken Astrael but I am relieved. You understand this, Astrael?"
"I understand, my darling." They held each other's gaze. He reached for her but she lowered her eyes. "Astrael, do not make this more difficult then it is already. I want to be in your arms and I cannot be. The few moments spent there must last me a life time. I am free of my husband and yet I am not free to be with my love. I cannot bear it, Astrael."
She flung herself into his arms weeping more despondently then she had before.
Selenity withdrew discreetly. She felt filthy. Her gown was drenched in Zoisite's blood that also stained her hands, dripped down her arms and spotted her hair. She made her way along the rocky shore line searching for a private place where she might remove her blood stained clothing and wash the filth from her body. In the end she could bear it no longer. Unbinding her hair, she waded into the calm water fully clothed. She made her way into center of the natural pool formed by the rocky inlet. She plunged down into the depths of the water desperate to rid herself of the feeling of contamination. A sudden soothing warmth filled her body, her aching limbs relaxed, the soreness of the remaining cuts and scrapes that Endymion had not been able to heal began to fade away, she felt a peace and serenity that she had not know since she had long ago embarked on this journey to bring Endymion back from his self imposed exile. She surfaced unwilling to let go of the calm that she felt in Endymion's sea. She broke the surface completely cleansed and clear headed. She floated about for a while, aware only of the warmth of the sun on her face and the quiet lapping of the water against the rocks. After a time she realized that she must return to the shore. She paddled back languidly then stood up to walk the rest of the way to where Astrael stood waiting for her.
"Selenity, you will do yourself and our child harm. You are drenched."
"Yes, Astrael, but the sun is warm, I will soon be dry. Our child is nestled deep inside me he is safe and warm. Naru, were you able to offer her some comfort?"
"Some, but it is never enough, Selenity."
"I know, I am sorry, Astrael. It is time for me to go, Astrael. I wanted to give him time."
"Selenity..... Selenity I .."
"Astrael what is it? What is it that you would say to me?"
"Selenity, let me go in your place."
For a moment she could only stare at Astrael in disbelief.
"I am his wife, I should be with him. Again Astrael, you would take my place. Remember that when you so callously left him it was me who comforted him, me who endured his black moods, his raging silences his cruelty and his abuse. It was me who showered him with love and I am the one who healed him. Why will you forever keep me from taking my place? You hold him prisoner, he is an emotional and physical slave to you and you do nothing to release him."
Selenity was beside herself with anger. Astrael tried his best to placate her but she would have none of it. She turned to storm off past him. He reached for her but she slapped his hand away.
"Selenity hear me. You are angry. I knew that you would be. What you say is true. I have enslaved Endymion and I have done so willfully. Selenity you know why I have done this. You alone understand why I do what I do, Do you not?"
She stood with her back to him attempting not to be swayed by his pleading but, as always, he undid her. She turned to him ashamed of her angry outburst.
"Astrael, I understand. In my heart I know that your love for Endymion and his for you is the most sacred of bonds. I know, too, that I will forever stand in your shadow. I will always be second with him."
"No, Selenity, you must be first. Let me go again one last time, and I swear to you that I shall release him, Selenity. He must be husband to you not only in name and in desire. Selenity he loves you, do you know that? He loves you, he could never express the depth of his love for you but I know it, I share it, Selenity."
"Astrael I know what he feels. I know too what you feel. You will go to him then. But Astrael, tell Endymion this. Tell him that Zoisite was not father to him."
"Selenity, what is that you say?"
"I tell you, Astrael, that Zoisite was not Endymion's father. His mother told me this herself. Naru, as she was before you knew her, lives inside me along with the child Endymion. It was they who allowed me to escape when Endymion would have imprisoned me inside himself. She revealed to me that Endymion has no father. He is as I am. Naru created Endymion through the power that my mother stole from Beryl. He was created like me, for me Will you tell him that for me, sweet Angel."
Tears spilled from Selenity's eyes as she gazed up at him pleading.
"I need him, Astrael. I can no longer wait for him. I need to complete him, I need him to complete me. Do what you must but bring my husband to me."
Astrael caught her up in his arms. He held her against him until her weeping was spent.
"Selenity, I swear. I swear." He bent to kiss her but she stopped him.
"No, Astrael. No more. No more. Go, please go."
"Selenity."
"Go."
He released her. He gazed at her with a longing that unnerved her. She trembled forcing herself not to go to him. She turned away from him to gaze out at the sea.
He came to her again, he put his arms about her caressing his child. She sighed lulled by his caresses. She leaned against him, together they stood silently regarding the endless expanse of calm blue water that made up Endymion's sea.
"Astrael do you remember when I feel from your arms into this sea."
"Yes, Selenity, I thought that I had lost you forever. I came after you but I could not enter, I was prevented. I was swept up and away, lost until you came to save me from the torment of the fire."
"I did not know then, Astrael but I know now why this sea seems so endless. Do you know why, my Astrael?" She inclined her head that she might look up at him.
"No, tell me why, Usa."
"It is a sea of tears, Astrael. His tears. It is his tears that cleansed me of his father's blood, that healed all my wounds, that brought me back to myself. Leave me Astrael. Go to Endymion, you are the cause of these tears and only you can heal him. I know that now. He will never be whole without you, Astrael."
"I will heal him, Selenity, I will return him to you, I swear it."
Selenity felt him withdraw from her. She continued to stare out the sea long after Astrael had disappeared.
