Author's notes- If you see a ~*~ that indicates something like a dream a person is seeing. Enjoy! Chapter Ten Where There's A Will... ~*~ "Are you serious, Sere-chan?" the tall brunette asked the Princess. The blonde nodded, her eyes hinting at anger. "They were talking like she was some kind of animal! You have no idea how angry these servants make me sometimes, Mako-chan!!" "Calm down!" Ami-chan hissed, looking to the side at the little girl who was roaming through a patch of flowers. "You don't want her to know." "She already does." Serenity looked away from the girl, her eyes full of sadness and grief. "She heard them say that her mother was a barbarian." "Oh, just wait 'till I find out which one of them said those things!" Rei fumed, punching her palm. "I don't think that's a wise idea, Rei-chan," Minako pointed out, her gaze on the little girl. She watched as Zukamori saw a butterfly on a nearby flower. She crouched down and slowly approached the flower. She slowly reached out towards the butterfly. The insect floated from the flower onto her finger. Minako smiled as a grin appeared on Zukamori's face. "She doesn't seem bothered by the fact that we're the only ones here besides the Queen who get around her," Minako said, her voice was as soft as the breeze that blew. "She has a big responsibility ahead of her, when she gets older..." ~*~ The first thing Zukamori noticed as she slowly became conscious was that her side hurt badly. The second thing was she was in a bed. And finally she saw Adonis, sitting in a chair beside the bed she was in. "You're up," he said with a relieved smile. she thought. She tried to sit up and ended up causing more pain from her side. "You need to lie down!" Adonis ordered. He gently pushed her back down on the bed. "Ami just sewed up your side, you don't want the wound to reopen." She just nodded, looking around the room they were in. It seemed to be the infirmary. One the bed on her left was a girl with long pink hair; unconscious. "Ruri woke up about an hour ago," Adonis said drawing her attention. "She somehow split her side as well. Weird thing is that it was in the same place as you." Zukamori just nodded. Her thoughts were somewhere else. The images she had seen in her sleep. The Princess, Sere-chan as she had called her. ---------- "Hurry, Artemis!" The sound of the voice awakened Kyoko. Sounds of fighting reach her ears from outside the dungeon. Artemis blasted the dungeon door open. "Kyoko!!" "A-artemis!" she gasped, ignoring the pain in her side caused by her yelling. "In here! The first cell!" Artemis quickly shot down the door. "Hang on!" he said as he reached her. As he began to get the chains off her, she could see Luna fighting the attacking youmas. "How's Zukamori and Ruri?!" Kyoko asked Artemis when he got one of her hands free. "They're all right," he responded, looking at her bleeding side. "I'd be more concerned about you." "I'll be fine." She grabbed the chain that held her other hand with her free one. The chain glowed a golden color before the shackle opened, letting her go. "Gotta admit," she said, "been waiting a long time to do that. Captive hands are no good." She quickly did the same with the ones holding her feet. Kyoko had to lean on Artemis to walk. "Let's go!" Artemis said to Luna. "Just a second!" she said, shooting an arrow and striking a youma in his chest. "Okay! GO!!" Light surrounded the three. With it ended, they had vanished. ---------- "Adonis?" Adonis looked up to see Ami standing in the doorway. "You're still here?" Ami walked over to him. "Yeah," he replied looking down at Zukamori, who had fallen asleep again. Ami smiled. She knew why he was there. "Still worried about her?" He nodded. Ami placed her hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her. "She'll be fine," Ami said with a smile. "Just wait." "I know that, Ami," he said. "But for some reason, I just want to- -I don't know--watch over her, make sure she's okay...even though I met her only a few hours ago." "That's the way it was for Usagi-chan and Mamoru." Ami smiled as she spoke, remembering the days back when they were younger. "I'll be back to check on her later," Ami said as she left the room, the smile still on her face. As she closed the door and started walking, she thought, ---------- "You shouldn't be running around Ruri," Minako told the woman. "I'm fine, Venus," Ruri replied, sitting in a chair. Her hand carefully touched her bandaged side. "As soon as they get back, Mercury will have to tend to her as well." She sighed as she leaned back in the chair. "I hope she'll be able to handle another one. Good thing they're the same injuries, though." The half-smiled once again appeared on her face. "Never thought I'd see the day when I wished we weren't connected." "Speaking of which," Minako said, turning to another subject. "Do you know why Zukamori can't speak or why she can't remember anything?" Ruri thought about that. "I don't really know. Nemisess probably knew our situation and put a spell or something on her causing her to forget and to lose her voice." She looked up at Minako. "We have to find a way to break it. Her memories are slowly surfacing, but if what happened to her comes back to her in a short while.....she might not be able to cope with it just yet." Minako nodded. "I still don't remember much of it myself, Ruri. Just bits and pieces of it, but I know she won't like it when she does remember." "Hmm," Ruri mummered thoughtfully. A sudden wave of pain shot through her from her wound. She winced. Gritting her teeth, Ruri stood with her hand on her injury. "We'll find out soon enough. They're here." ---------- As the white light disappeared around the trio, Kyoko found her last remaining strength slipping away from the teleport. As unconsciousness befell her, she saw three people headed their way. Artemis caught her before she hit the ground. "How is she?" Ruri demanded when she reached them. Minako and Ami came up beside her. "Hurt," Luna replied. "She used her power to free herself after Artemis got one of her hands free." "She shouldn't have done that," Minako muttered. "Bring her to the infirmary. Ami-chan? Can you fix her?" "Yes, I believe I can." ---------- ~*~ Black mist filled the battlefield as people fought one another in a mad rage. Huddled under a fallen pillar, a blonde haired girl was sobbing uncontrollably. Her eyes were closed tight as though to seal the carnage around her. A scream reached her ears. She jerked her head up, gasping, "Sere-chan!!" She scrambled out from under the pillar and ran towards the balcony the Princess had always stood on, watching the Earth late at night. With each breath she took, Zukamori spoke the Princess' name, hoping against hope she was all right. Lightening clapped behind her; she ignored it. The fighting increased around her as she came closer and closer to her destination; yet she hardly noticed the blood and corpses. On top of the half-destroyed Palace, a shadowed woman clothed in a Senshi fuka stood, watching the girl. At last, Zukamori reached the place where she heard the scream. When her eyes fell on the balcony, she saw Serenity floating in the air. Not too far away was the prince of Earth, Edymion. Both were dead. "Sere-chan!!!" Zukamori screamed in horror. ~*~ ---------- "How long will she stay asleep?" Minako asked, heading towards Kyoko's bed as she walked into the room. Ami had just finished sewing Kyoko's side. "Depends," Ami responded. "Minako-chan? Why does she have the same injury as Ruri and Zukamori?" Minako thought before answering. "She'll be able to explain better than I can. You'll just have to wait until she wakes up." Ami sighed, slightly annoyed. Just then, Kyoko stirred. Her gold eyes opened slowly. "Where--" she started to say before she saw Minako. "Ve--Minako? Where am I?" "The Crystal Palace. Don't worry, you're fine. Your wound's mended." "I see." She closed her eyes briefly. They reopened quickly. Ami saw that they were glowing slightly. "Zukamori!" Kyoko gasped. "I forgot about her!" Her eyes cleared as she sat up. "Minako! There's no time left! It has to be broken now if she has any hope at all!" "What are you--" Minako started to ask. Kyoko swung her legs off the bed and stood up, grasping her side gently. "I'm talking about the Seal! If she breaks it herself, you know what'll happen!" Minako's eyes widened. "No way." "Just come on! And get Ruri, we can't do this without her." Despite the wound, she quickly walked out of the room with Minako behind her. Ami watched them before following at a slower pace. she thought. ---------- Zukamori thought. They had gathered in the same semi-dark room they had entered hours ago. In front of the group, Ruri stood beside a woman with long white hair and golden eyes. Kyoko smiled at her. "Good to see you up on your feet again, Zukamori. Before you wonder how I know your name, I need to explain a few things first." ---------- NEXT: Kyoko has something to tell the others. What is it? Zukamori seems to be connected to it along with Ruri as well as Kyoko. But what she has to tell her, she knows Zukamori won't like one bit. Answers will be said to old questions and new ones will surface in: The Lost Senshi ----------