Chapter Text
“Come, you must hurry!”
“Slow down, I can only run so fast!”
“If you do not hurry, you will miss it!”
He pushed his body to move faster through the trees, praying to the gods that he wouldn’t fall and humiliate himself. Helen would never let him live it down if he did. The smell of roses curled through the air, as if to guide him forward and the earth under his feet never let him place a wrong step.
It felt like they had been running forever, but he knew it couldn’t be. Helen had promised their destination wasn’t far, that he’d find what he was looking for soon. He trusted her, more than he trusted anyone else, and so he followed her further and further into the dark forest. There was no moonlight to guide them, for this venture could only be complete on a night when the moon was dark. And though he often admired the moon, he knew that it was not the only guide he had nor was it his true companion. The earth never left him, always waiting for him to explore it even further, as was expected of a king.
“It is just ahead!” Helen whisper shouted as she pulled him to a stop. She turned to him, her smile bright, though it held a bit of sadness. “I cannot go any farther, but I know you will find what you wish.”
“But…” he protested, only for Helen to grasp his hands in hers, stopping him.
“You will be well,” she whispered. Her dark hair fell across her shoulders, tickling his face. “Now hurry, before the time is gone.”
He nodded before he took off running, this time alone.
Helen had been correct; it wasn’t much further until he stopped and stared in awe.
Before him stood a temple unlike any he had seen back home. It was tall and completely white, with a beauty that stole the very breath from his lungs.
And in the very heart of the temple, even from the distance he currently stood, he could see a golden glow.
“Your Highness?”
He turned towards the voice and saw a boy with white hair before he was enveloped by golden light.
Mamoru gasped as he jerked awake. For a moment, he could have sworn he had seen trees soaring above his head. But as soon as he blinked, his vision cleared, and he was left staring up at the ceiling of his room in the orphanage.
Of course…where else would he be, after all?
He let out a sigh and turned onto his side roughly. The dream…it had felt so real, almost as if Mamoru had been running under the trees on a moonless night, heading for a temple whose name he did not know. He almost wished it was true. Surely, such a dream was preferable to his life currently.
If he wasn’t dreaming of forest temples, then he was dreaming of princesses screaming about crystals. He really was going insane, wasn’t he? The boy who didn’t even think his name was his and with no memories of the parents who he lost. No wonder nobody wanted him.
A hand gently brushed through Mamoru’s hair, and he jerked, turning over.
There, sitting on the side of his bed, was a young boy with white hair that seemed to glow in the moonlight. He was dressed like a priest and smiling gently down at Mamoru.
It was the same boy from his dream.
“Who-” Mamoru whispered. A gentle finger rested against his lips, stopping his words before he could say any more.
“Hush for now, Your Highness,” the boy whispered, still smiling oh so gently. “There will be time for answers soon enough. For now, you must rest. You have many trials ahead of you.”
Mamoru wanted to protest, but no words could escape his tight throat. The boy smiled wider and gently removed his finger from Mamoru’s lips, placing it on his cheek instead. It was a familiar gesture, but Mamoru couldn’t begin to explain how.
There was the briefest flash of gold from the boy’s finger. In one moment, Mamoru felt a rush of power flow through him.
In the next, he fell into a deep, dreamless sleep, the scent of roses clinging to him.
He knelt beside the water that his father had told him determined whether their village would live or die. The thought that others would attack them for such a precious resource weighed heavily on his mind, despite his father’s reassurances that he was too young to worry over such things.
He didn’t think so. He may only be a branch family member, but he still had a responsibility to his home.
If he could protect it, he would. The question of how he would do so was where he continuously stumbled in the process. But he loved his home, his planet, and he would protect it in the way it deserved.
He looked up at the dark sky, seeing only the stars and no moon in sight, his eyes falling to Venus where it was said the princess herself fought with light in her hands. How very different from him. He thrived in the darkness, truthfully, and it was something always deemed odd about him, typically followed by comments that the light made his features all the more handsome. But he hadn’t ever believed so. He could hide in the darkness, be whoever he wanted to until the sun rose and whoever he was meant to be that day would step out into it.
It was an exhaustive existence, if he was honest. There was a hole in him each time he slipped on a new mask, as if he was simply waiting for…something to occur, something that required him to keep his true self preserved.
He would be honorable then and wait until the allotted time.
A roar rang through the air then, stirring something deep in his soul. He looked up from the river, only seeing a gold glow and feeling as if someone were calling him.
‘Wait for me…I am coming.’
That voice…
Inexplicably, his shoulders relaxed at the voice and the smallest smile formed on his normally stern features.
The person he was waiting for…the one who’s side he would never leave…
They were coming.
He glanced down at the river, only to notice the golden light being reflected in the water.
And as he stared, the light shifted, forming the silhouette of an animal.
The cool touch of the shadows wrapped around him with the reassuring presence of belonging.
Kalen opened his eyes, giving no outward sign of his distress. He simply stared at the ceiling of his bedroom with calm gray eyes.
On the inside, however, his heart was racing erratically.
He had experienced this dream so many times, it should have been routine. But this time…this time was different. The roar that had so often awakened him didn’t do so this time. Instead, Kalen had glanced down at the water and seen an animal, though now he couldn’t recall what animal it was.
But it had been a change and something deep in Kalen’s mind told him that was important, that was the key.
The key to what, he had no idea.
He definitely wasn’t going to be getting any sleep now though. With a sigh, Kalen sat up, running a hand through his silver hair. Honestly, this whole thing was ridiculous. He had high school in a matter of hours, meaning he had no choice but to run on the very little sleep he had managed to get. Perhaps he should consider drinking coffee too, as much as he abhorred the idea. He may come off as a snob, but Kalen took pride in his physique, keeping himself in good physical condition at all times.
Though something always whispered that he needed to be ready in the back of his mind. Ready for what, he didn’t know.
Kalen moved to stand next to his bedroom window, glancing out at the streets of Cairo below. During the day, it felt like home, thriving under the sun and bringing a lightness to Kalen’s heart. The light felt like something precious when it rested upon his skin, something he was meant to treasure forever.
But at night, it felt like he simply didn’t belong, his skin itching almost as it demanded he move, run, leave this place behind and go somewhere else. The darkness would enshroud him like a coat, as if promising a safe journey ahead of him.
Kalen had no idea where he was supposed to go, but he knew he would find it someday. No matter the disappointment his parents would give him, he would discover the root of this feeling that had plagued him for his entire life.
And his heart sang with the strength of such a conviction, shared only between him and the Earth.
He stared up at the stars, refusing to look away for even an instance. If he could spend all of eternity doing one thing, it would be this, always.
The stars welcomed him when others would not, for the scars he bore were not earned as a warrior’s should be. They whispered he was a failure of a child, a failure of a member of their home. He was weak, pathetic and would not fight as the rest of their home would. Should war ever reach the doorstep of their planet, the great warriors of Jupiter would crush him under foot even before they called down lightning.
But he did not care.
His dreams were filled with hope, joy and friendship, the stars whispering to him that there was more for him out there than his home in the south. It stoked the fire inside his soul, just as the stars themselves burned. The crip smell of lightning and the spark of electricity was the only other thing that could compare to the gift the stars gave him.
His brothers jeered at him for his love of the stars, claiming it made him less of a man. But he was still not yet a man, and even if he was, how could loving the stars make him less of one? He could see them so clearly and some days he could almost hear them it seemed, whispering stories for his ears only.
His sister adored his tales, as did the rest of the children. To them, he was a leader and wise, the one they came to for comfort when they skinned their knees.
He hoped that he could always protect the smiles they wore.
That was the moment the fierce cry of a phoenix rang out through the star filled sky. His eyes widened and he watched in awe as a golden glow appeared. It warmed him to the very core of his being, and he couldn’t look away.
‘The time is coming…hold on.’
The voice was one he had been waiting for, even if he yet could not name the owner of it.
But he would.
He would name the owner of that voice and follow them into hell if need be.
His smile widened as, amidst the glow, a silhouette of a mythical creature began to take shape.
It felt as if he had become one with the stars, cradled in their embrace as their very essence filled his soul.
Nestor groaned as he awoke, the sun shining brightly in his eyes.
Did the sun have to wake him up from his dreams every time? Why couldn’t he be normal and wake up late at night? He’d love the chance to stare at the stars for hours, mapping out the constellations and looking at the planets.
“Mijo, come down for breakfast! You have school!”
“I’m coming, Mama!” Nestor called back to his mother. He ran a hand through his thick brown locks and grimaced as he felt the tangles within them. He quickly got up and brushed his hair out, feeling much more alive when he could easily run his fingers through it.
His classmates at school teased him for his long hair, but Nestor didn’t care. It was his hair and he got to decide how he wore it. Besides, who cared? He’s only ten, not like he has anyone to impress.
But even as he thought that, Nestor felt goosebumps rise on his skin.
There was someone he wanted to impress, but…he didn’t know who they were. All he knew was that he’d know them when he saw them, like a bolt of lightning, and until then, he would just continue on as normal.
Besides, it’s not like his mom would let him just follow his heart wherever it led him. She already lost his father; she wasn’t going to let him out of her sight until he was an adult. Not that Nestor minded, he loved his mom. She was the one who told him about the stars when he was little, after all. But now, it was Nestor telling her stories.
That strange feeling in his chest was always there though, telling him that something was wrong, something was missing. His mom always thought it was his way of saying he missed his dad, but Nestor knew that wasn’t it.
He missed his dad, but it didn’t feel this…this soul crushing when he thought of his dad. It almost felt as if pieces of Nestor’s heart had been ripped away from him and he had no idea where they were.
The stars would guide him though. That was something Nestor knew without question. The stars would show him the way home.
The wind whistled through the bamboo surrounding him, calming his nerves. All day, he had heard whispers from the priests that something was coming, but they never said if it was good or bad.
They had seemed excited, at least, but that had only put him on edge. He was one of the priests’ favorite pupils, partly because he never gave in when they tried to push him, never losing his temper. That only led them to give him harsher lessons and crueler punishments.
But he would not break. If there was one gift his parents had left him before they passed, it was the value of patience. He would cling to it with every fiber of his being.
However, he was still human and required respite from time to time. Tonight was one of those nights and the bamboo forest was his safe place. He could be here, where nobody would find him, and find that sense of peace he craved if only briefly with nothing but a small candle to keep him company, the fire soothing his soul.
It was while he was in this sense of peace and tranquility that he heard the dragon’s roar.
Looking up with startled eyes, he couldn’t help the gasp that left his lips. There was a bright golden glow in the sky, almost as if the sun were shining in the night sky.
For a moment, everything felt right in his world. He was complete in a way he never felt with the other orphans taken in by the priests. Mars winked at him, as if promising strength and the comradery only found within soldiers of war. He had heard rumors of how close the warriors of Mars were, a brotherhood which not even the strongest celestial armies could compete.
‘I see you…I will find you…’
The voice he heard felt like a warm hug, even if he had no words to describe how. But all the same, he knew someone was there, someone was coming.
He couldn’t stop the smile from forming on his lips as he reached out to gently touch the bamboo, feeling the slightest bit of frost clinging to it. When he glanced at it, he could just barely make out the bamboo shifting to form a mystical creature.
Frost and ice slowly began to cling to his form, but all he did was smile as harmony unlike any he’d ever felt before washed over him.
Jiao-Long awoke to the wind blowing through the wind chime resting on his window. He let out a sigh as he stared at the night sky greeting him.
It was far too late for him to be awake. All he wanted to do was sleep before he went to school in the morning.
But that was too much to ask.
He let out a long groan, smashing his face into his pillow. His patience with his sleep schedule was currently running very low, considering he continuously woke up every night for the past several months now. He had practice tomorrow and his shifu would kill him if he fell asleep during it. Never mind the relentless teasing he already received from his classmates on a daily basis for being ‘too American’. It’s not like Jiao-Long chose to have blonde hair, it just happened!
His head was spinning, and it was starting to hurt. Jiao-Long let out a quiet groan, rubbing his forehead even if it was useless.
Somedays, he wished this was the dream instead of reality. Life may suck sometimes in his dreams, but there was at least hope for him there. Jiao-Long doubted he’d ever have the same feeling of hope here than he did in his dreams.
But at the same time, there was a tickle in the back of his mind, one that grew stronger with winter growing nearer. It whispered promises to him, that if he waited long enough, was patient enough, then things would balance out at last. A warm fire would swell around him, driving away the cold that seemed to permanently accompany him.
And so, Jiao-Long bowed his head and prayed for at least a good night’s rest. Whatever he was supposed to be hoping for, whatever subconscious desire left his heart aching more often than not, it could wait until after he was done with school and his training.
Once he finished with his prayers, Jiao-Long laid back down and covered his shoulders with his blanket. He snuggled into his pillow and listened to his bamboo wind chime as it twinkled in the air.
It was peaceful and helped settle that restless part of him, the one that yelled at him to move, fight, run at all times.
There was time for that later. For now, he slept as the red light of Mars watched over him.
He knelt beside the sea, staring at it and willing the images to fade away from his mind.
So much blood…so much pain and suffering…
If he could rid all of those patients of their suffering, he would. But instead, all he could do was kneel here besides the sea, desperately trying to forget the blood that wouldn’t leave his mind.
His father called him soft, but so what? There was more to life than being a warrior and he was smart too. If he was given the chance, he’d learn everything there is to know on Terra and then in the worlds beyond too. Mercury was known as the genius planet, but if he put in the work, he knew that he could stand equal to their knowledge.
He rubbed his fist against his eyes, stubbornly telling himself that he wouldn’t cry anymore. Crying wouldn’t help, not like learning would. He would study and learn how to prevent more days like this, more deaths like this. Some might say he was too young to think of things like that, but he didn’t care.
He didn’t want anyone to ever look like that again if he could help. And not just in his home, he meant in the whole of Terra itself.
His hand trailed across the surface of the sea when he heard the rumbling reached his ears and the flash of gold reflected in the water caught his eye.
He looked up and gasped, seeing a gold light shimmering amongst the stars. It seemed to pulse in time with his heartbeat, calling to him from the darkness of space.
He almost swore that the water was crystalizing at his fingertips but when he glanced down, it was completely normal. He looked back up again and stared at the light, feeling his walls come crumbling down in the face of it.
‘Don’t close off…we’re here…’
He breathed in the sea, feeling the crystals surrounding his heart lower just a bit.
He continued to watch the sky, watching as a dark animal began to take shape in the stars.
Crystals began to form in the sand he knelt on, growing at an impossible speed as they surrounded him entirely, protecting him as he now knew he would in the future.
Zale opened his eyes, feeling tears falling down his cheeks. He scowled slightly as he wiped them away. He didn’t have the time to be crying over dreams right now.
His big sister would probably say a seven year old shouldn’t talk like that, but that’s how Zale felt. Money was so tight, his sister could barely afford to go to school. The only way he’d be able to do anything is if he got a scholarship.
Even if it was overseas.
He couldn’t afford to be crying about dreams where he felt like someone actually cared about him. He needed to study and be prepared for anything.
His family had already suffered enough from being unprepared, he won’t let it happen again.
The sound of the Aegean Sea brought Zale out of his thoughts and he was helpless to ignore the pull to his window. He leaned against the window sill, staring out at the sea while also eyeing the crystals he set there, which reflected the moonlight, casting a blue glow against his skin. He could just spot Mercury in the sky, twinkling like the trickster god it was named after. It was peaceful and never failed to help him calm down whenever he woke up like this.
It made it easier to stand against the way his heart felt like it was being torn apart every night.
Zale shook his head, his long dark blonde hair falling into his face. He was being stupid and dramatic.
He needed a distraction.
Biting his lip, Zale glanced at his bedroom door. It was closed and there was no light shining through the crack. As quietly as possible, he tiptoed towards his desk and opened up his laptop. It didn’t take long for him to pull up the international chess playing site he had found recently. He’d found it only a year ago and had been learning how to play through the site. He wasn’t a master yet, but he had a bit of a gift for it, not to brag.
The computer randomly assigned him an opponent, MistyMizuno. Zale grinned as the game began, feeling his brain start to slow down at last.
For just a while, he could silence that urge to fly. It wasn’t permanent, but it was enough for now.
Helios observed all of these five boys quite carefully. Some of them he approached while others he simply watched.
They were all so young, and yet already the crystal was calling to them. The darkness was growing stronger and all Helios could do was pray that their beloved world was not overrun before they were ready.
He knew Queen Serenity had sent her daughter and the Inner Guardians to Japan, where the source of Metalia’s darkness had retreated, but for all the respect Helios held for the late queen, he simply couldn’t leave this in the hands of the various princesses of the inner planets.
This wasn’t their home world, even if they were reincarnated here. This was Endymion’s home, his kingdom. The one that he, Kunzite, Nephrite, Jadeite and Zoisite had all died desperately trying to protect.
The sailor guardians’ help will be welcome, but Helios had put in his own measures to ensure that his king and the Shitennou would be there as well, fighting for their home world once more.
The time would soon come for the war to continue and finally be finished. But until then, Helios would watch over the Earth’s chosen protectors.