And the Sky Rained Fire

Part Two

Andrew stifled a long-suffering sigh. The meeting seemed to be going on forever and while troop placements and energy reserves were doubtlessly important, they had little to do with him. It was hard to concentrate on Mike’s report when his mind kept wandering toward his wife. He hated being away from Cassandra and this crisis seemingly blowing up in their collective faces only made things worse.

“Andrew?”

He jumped at the sound of Serenity’s voice in his ear. He looked up at his queen and said, “Majesty?”

The queen smiled faintly at him. “Boring, isn’t it? I’ve always…”

Her voice, all sound really, suddenly ceased. Silence as absolute as the emptiness of deep space formed around him. Sight faded into utter darkness.

Andrew was terrified; he recognized this ‘non-place.’ He had glimpsed it when Galaxia had taken Cassandra’s star seed, when his soul mate had vanished after having the part of her soul that was linked to the ruins of Athena ripped from her. Instinctively, he reached for Cassandra, for his link with her and found only the faintest thread of power leading off into the darkness. Desperate, he lunged along that line.

After an interminable journey, he spotted two flickering lights in the distance. As he flew across that last expanse, the smaller light winked out. A part of him reeled in the face of the harsh truth that his unborn son was dead. When he finally reached Cassandra, Andrew found that she was fading fast. Her glowing body was translucent, little more than shimmering lines and faint silver gray light. She weighed nothing when he gathered her into his arms.

“Cassie,” he whispered urgently, “Cassie, please.” Tears burned paths down his cheeks to drop soundlessly onto her still face. “Please.” With painful slowness, her eyes fluttered open. Her lips formed his name.

“stay with me, Cassandra,” he pleaded. Hopelessness flooded his soul. For all his power, for all his knowledge and healing ability, he could do nothing. Healing worked through touch and her physical body was on the other side of the planet. He was going to lose her.

To his utter surprise, Cassandra’s metaphysical body became more solid, more real. He raised his eyes to his wife’s face. A woman, shadowy and indistinct in this mystic realm of the mind, was kneeling by them, holding Cassandra’s hand in both of hers.

Strain echoed and shivered in the stranger’s voice. “I can’t pull her back. I haven’t the strength.” Andrew knew she wasn’t talking to him, but to the people wherever Cassandra lay dying.

Seeing his one chance, he grabbed the woman’s shoulder and poured his strength, his magic into her. For an instant, her face, wide-eyed and startled, showed clearly. “Use what I have given you. Hold her,” he ordered, “Hold her until I get there.”

“I will,” she said before returning to indistinct shadow.

He forced himself to let Cassandra go; leaving her life in the hands of a woman he did not know. He willed himself back to reality, silently begging the spirits of the dead to let his beloved wife live.

He came to with his head in Serenity’s lap. When he tried to sit up, she shoved him back down. “Andrew, what happened,” she demanded fiercely.

He batted her hands away with uncharacteristic force. “It doesn’t matter.” Andrew struggled to his feet, ignoring all offers of assistance. “I’ve got to get to Cassie. Now.”

Christopher grabbed his arm. “Why,” he grated, his eyes filled with a myriad of emotions.

“If I don’t get to her, she’s dead,” he replied with the brutal honesty of an experienced doctor. “She might die anyway, but I must reach her. I can’t let her die alone again.”

For a brief moment, horrified silence filled the room. Serenity, whose color had started to return after the earlier events, had gone white once again. She remained on the floor, her blue eyes dim as she sought to connect herself with Cassandra through the Scout bond they shared. A slight moan slipped past her lips when she made contact.

Amy, Mina, Lita, and Raye were all in varying stages of fearful anger. All of them had felt a sense of protectiveness towards Cassandra ever since the events of the Third Negaversian War. They did not know what was happening to her, but from the tone of Andrew’s voice and Serenity’s obvious pain, they knew it could not be good.

Chris looked almost frantic with worry for his only sibling while Chad attempted to keep him from doing anything rash. The Guardians stood near the Royal Couple, itching for some sort of order, anything to give them something to do that could help.

Endymion, noticing his wife’s state, took charge. “Go Andrew,” he barked. “Chris, Chad, go with him.”

The three snapped into movement and practically tore out of the room, not even bothering to bow to their monarchs or say farewell to their wives, in the case of Chris and Chad. Endymion did not watch them leave, instead turning to give more orders.

“Zoë,” he said, “You, Lita, and Jadeite ensure that the three of them get teleported safely and without delay. Mike, Nate, and Mina, put in a call to Washington. Tell them that the King and Queen of Crystal Japan want an immediate update on the status on their Minister of Foreign Affairs. Amy, Raye, if you two would wait outside…”

Everyone did not hesitate to carry out their orders and they left the room. Endymion watched them go for a brief moment, before he turned to his wife. Serenity was still on the floor, her eyes tightly shut as she struggled to contain her groans of pain.

The King of Crystal Tokyo knelt down beside his wife and carefully took her into his arms, letting her rest against him. He was cautious not to break her concentration as she continued to attempt to lend some of her strength to Cassie while also trying to distance herself from the agony as well.

He shut his eyes. They knew this had been coming. The Inner Guard, Pluto, Charles, Luna, Artemis, Serenity, and himself. Chris, he was told, suspected something, but didn’t know the full story of what had occurred during the days of the Dark Moon War in Tokyo. Cassandra had once told him that they had almost had Perseus hypnotize their parents into moving back to Tokyo then, but had been forbidden to do so by Pluto and Charon, who had told them that things had to run their proper course.

‘Their proper course.’ That was something they had to worry about as well. He knew Serenity’s fate, as well as the Inner Guard’s, sans Athena. He remembered when he was Tuxedo Mask, listening to his then-future self tell him the story of what had happened to form Crystal Tokyo. He remembered being told the reason for the nightmares that had left him almost without sleep for months, and his heart in smoldering shambles.

Gaia preserve me and give me strength to do what I know I must, Endymion silently prayed. Unconsciously, he tightened his grip on his wife. Even after hundreds of years, she was still the most precious thing in his life. If events during the Dark Moon War hadn’t made him aware, than all the battles they had fought combined surely had done so. Especially the Third Negaversian War… What that war had done to her…

“Endy?”

He looked down, his thoughts shaken from him. Serenity was looking up at him, her eyes bleary with exhaustion. He didn’t blame her. The bonds she had with each of the Scouts were strong, and according to what he’d been told of the war with Galaxia, their loss had nearly destroyed her. To lose one now…

“I’m all right, love,” he whispered softly. Gently, he pushed himself off the ground and pulled her with him, cradling her against him. As he walked towards the door, he murmured to her, “I’ll take you back to our apartments. You need to rest.”

Serenity didn’t argue, just rested her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes. As he strode down the hall, Amy and Raye flanking him, Endymion struggled to keep his mind on the matters at hand, and not what would happen in the future.