CHAPTER 22
Sailor Cosmo Eos calmly surveyed the bodies before her. A group of
shadows had tried to ambush her but to no avail. She had easily created
holographic image, thus confusing them and enabling her to blast them.
The twittering of the birds made a sharp pain go through her heart.
Once, along time ago, the same sound had echoed with the laughter of
her Elites and friends. Now, it only served to bring back painful
memories. [How ironic..] thought Sailor Cosmo Eos.
She leisurely walked through the flowery plains, smiling sadly at
the friendly birds flying in the sky. She came to a rapidly flowing
river, the icy sprays landing on her body. But the roaring sound of the
rapids did not block out the approaching footsteps.
"Who are you now?" inquired Sailor Cosmo Eos calmly as she turn to
face the figure in black.
"As the Cosmo Queen of Dawn, you should know." sneered the person.
"You banished me from the Star Tribe the very day of your coronation."
"You were never of our tribe. Out of kindness, my Elites let you
remain, but you repaid that kindness by trying to kill me."
"Hmmph! You had no right to marry Zakros. Murderer!" spat the girl
as she flung down her dark cloak. She wore a belted khaki outfit with
her right arm fully covered with a black cloth. "At first I wanted to
kill you, but instead I was found out by the Seeress Myrona. But thanks
to your 'compassion', I was only banished."
"And you went to the Cauldron of Starseeds and obtained the dust of
Chaos, thus opening the portal to the Vortex." murmured Sailor Cosmo Eos,
her beautiful eyes growing dark with the memory.
"Hahaha.." the girl laughed. "So you know what happened. I was only
doing what was expected of my people. The first Cosmo Queen should have
known that before she wiped them out!"
"Sammi, the civil war on our planet had lasted for three generation.
But each tribe had followed a code of honor, that was to never to dabble
in the dark arts. To do so would bring down destruction from all sides.
My grandmother was only following her duty as the Queen of her tribe."
"Only two did that and vanished from our planet. But instead of going
after them, my tribe was wiped out by the combined force of the other
warring tribes. Your grandmother lead the forefront of the battle, killing
my whole family. Only a few escaped the slaughter and sought out the
two who were wise in the dark arts."
"the Shadow King and Queen..." Sailor Cosmo Eos sighed.
"Yes...I had long ago heard about the secret of the Shadows and knew
how to release them from their slumber. On that fateful day, I confronted
Zakros and told him everything....."
Sailor Cosmo Eos said nothing but remain staring at Sammi mutely.
"Did you know he tried to deny the truth?! The betrayal he felt was too
much, all I did was to open the portal at the right moment and he obtain his
greatest power!"
"So it was you...." spoke Cosmo Eos, her eyes flashing in anger. The
building anger she had suddenly burst forth in a ribbon of red energy,
catching Sammi unawares, burning her.
"Aah!" Sammi yelped in pain.
"Zakros was never evil...that was why he was spared." seethed Sailor
Cosmo Eos, a silver fire beginning to form in her right hand. "The taint of
the Shadows had already contaminated the other members of your tribe
but only sparing Zakros. He could have the chance to live a long life
but instead you killed him!"
Sammi tore off her black cloth and revealed an arm encircled by a
black dragon. "Zakros did not die! He IS the Shadow King! Shadow Scale
Fire!!!" At her command, the dragon rose from her arm and hurtled towards
Sailor Cosmo Eos, it's mouth wide opened and its' size increasing.
Sailor Cosmo Eos quickly created a silver phoenix equal in size. Both
creatures screeched their defiance and attack each other.
"Phoenixa!" commanded Sailor Cosmo Eos.
"Ban Shield!" Sammi tried to block the blue phoenix as it flew past
its silver counterpart, straight towards her....
"AAaaarrrrggghhhh............" groaned Sammi as the bird slashed through
her chest. The black dragon screeched in agony as itself began to dissolve.
The silver phoenix reduced its size and came to rest on Sailor Cosmo Eos's
shoulder.
"Zakros died when the Shadow King took over, Sammi...the one you now
serve is no longer the Zakros I loved." Sailor Cosmo Eos swayed slightly
as she stared at the dead body in front of her. [I need some rest] thought
Cosmo Eos and she groggily walked towards a nearby mossy ground. [Guard
me!] she inwardly commanded the silver phoenix as she sank down, her eyelids
drooping with each breath. The thunderous roar of the rapids slowly lessened
into a soft hum as she slipped into unconciousness....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
nearly an hour later......
The sudden grip of fear made her bolt upright. Sailor Cosmo Eos gasped
as the silver phoenix once again landed on her shoulder. With a wave of her
hand, it vanished. Despite her lethargy, Cosmo Eos began to feel uneasy.
Whose fear had she dreamt? She continued her journey, following the river.
[I need to replenish my energy] Sensing that there was no enemies nearby,
Sailor Cosmo Eos shimmered back into Adelaide. She waded into the river,
nearly losing her balance due to the strong surge of water...
Gritting her teeth, she picked up a sharp rock and quickly slashed both
her arms. The pain knifed through her sleepiness and jarred her. With both
arms now bleeding profusely, she submerged them into the rapids.
"Absorb!!" she commanded as her blood snaked out into the water. Suddenly
glowing with a silver light as the command was spoken, Adelaide closed her
eyes as the energy slowly flowed back into her body.
A few minutes later, she got out from the river and massaged her arms,
her slash wounds vanished. Feeling slightly dizzy but nonetheless refreshed,
Adelaide headed for a place to rest.
Adelaide stretched out on a flat boulder besides a small pool that had
collected in a calmer circle off the main river--a mellow offspring of the
frantic rapids. She started shivering but the heat of the sun's rays soon
penetrate deep into her skin. She rolled over on her side and cupped her palm
and dipped it into the gentle pool. She was thirsty and the cool water looked
inviting.
She only tasted a sip before she spat it out. Clear water. Clear as glass.
The pool was 4 feet deep, she could see the bottom. Everything at the bottom.
{Princess Adelaide, this is your new playmate, Mika.}
{Hi, I'm Mika, could I just call you Delly?}
{Y'know, I'll always be your friend, Princess.}
Memories flooded through Adelaide's mind. Her people...her kingdom...her
friend....
Hello adn goodbye....Goodbye Mika.
The pants were tattered, the shirt and jacket torn.A coil of vines, perhaps
as long as 500 feet and entwined with heavy moss covered stones circled the
lower body. At that horrible moment of discovery, Adelaide felt sad that she would
never again be able to remember Mika as she once was.
Adelaide looked only a fraction of a second before clenching her eyes shut,
but the horrible image burned into her mind. The swollen black cheeks, the bluish
purple mouth and the pink slit throat. It was a pity, Adelaide thought, that Mika
could no longer close her own eyes and look away from what was left of her body.
But the fish in the river must be hungry...for her eyes were missing.
Adelaide turned away and released a piercing scream of heart rending loss.
On to Chapter 23
We all know what this is by now