Mask of Rogues

Mina’s Tale II – Part 11

Strife and despair ran in the streets of Tokyo like water through your fingers. Riots occurred every day between different factors and their combined effect was the slow disintegration of the government and any law that was left in society. Japan was not alone in this effect, no; it was the same situation all over the world, in every country. Racism and bigotry reigned in the streets and the Sailor Warriors could do little to avert or lessen the trouble. We all moved to the corporate offices of Silver Kingdom Inc. Nova thought it would be easier to defend since it was reinforced to defeat the onslaught of monsters from the Negaverse. Nova’s appearance as the Avenging Angel did little to quell the riots but it did have some affect on the people of Japan. Sailor War was gaining in popularity in the cities and people tend to listen to her advice. She made personal appearances in every city and her presence calmed the mobs and brought back some normalcy. It never truly got back to normal but no major riot took place after the first ones in Kyoto. Japan would take a long time to recover from its internal strife and it would be years until racial and cultural tension would lessen but it faired better than most countries.

This new avatar struck where the human soul was the most vulnerable. Deep inside everyone, in the most hidden corner of their soul, were the seeds of hatred and loathing for someone else or some group that was different than them. We became down heartened, as we were powerless against this new threat because we were able to affect the thoughts of a few leaders but we couldn’t change the entire world. No one was powerful enough to change everyone’s minds. Nova told me that the human soul was something that even the universe has trouble controlling. Deep emotions caused it pain and hatred was the deepest of human emotions. Nova did what he could and we did see some stories on the news that the humanity still cared about others. It just hurts my heart to see him suffering. I would take him in my arms every night as he cried himself to sleep. I maybe the Sailor of Love but sometimes I wish that I could spread it all over the world but since I couldn’t, I’ll spread my love to the person that means most to me.

I took it upon myself to keep my family together. We ate together and sleep on the same floor of the building. Nova didn’t want to let us out of his sight. He is so protective of all of us but especially me. He would accompanied me when I went shopping for supplies to feed our large group and he was always noticed everything around us to defend me from attack from the unruly mobs. This period of time was extremely hard on Chibi because all schools and after school activities had closed because of the dangers in the streets. She wasn’t allowed to continue her tournaments or any other activities and Nova refused to allow Terri and her to go out without him, Erica, or Susan accompanying her. He was so protective of the younger members of our family and truthfully didn’t like any of us going out of the building by ourselves.

It’s nice to have my extended family in one place but I wish the circumstances were different. We stayed on the top floors in the office bedrooms that Susan had prepared for visiting guests that stayed the night. We only had three bedrooms on the top floor so Nova, Darien, Serena, Chibi, and myself shared one, the rest of the inner Sailors shared another, and the outers shared the last one. Our earth families stayed together on the floor below us. Nova refused for any of our love ones to be in danger. Needless to say, we couldn’t keep our Sailor secrets from our families. I think that Serena’s father was the most surprised that his daughter, his little daughter, was Sailor Moon. I think all our families took the news very well but it’s still hard for them to think of us as anything except their little girls. We were cramped and you couldn’t maintain a normal married life, God, I wish that I can get Nova alone for one night, but we all had to make adjustments to survive this troubled time. Nova offered to move us to the moon but Serena said, “Nova, we can’t abandon the Earth. No, we will stay and try to solve the problem.” She always thought of others, maybe that’s why we all love her.

Things quiet downed a little after a couple of weeks but we always kept our vigilance. Nova would stand watch on the roof of our building until the sun rose on the horizon. I am worried about him and one night I convinced him to come to bed instead of standing his vigil over us. It was fairly quiet except that at midnight Nova had a vision of the future. It was more of a nightmare and I grabbed him as soon as he started screaming. I have never known Nova to be this frightened by his visions. Serena rushed to our side and held both of us in her arms. Darien stood guard at the window and within seconds all the Sailors was in the room. Nova had screamed on an audio level but he also screamed in our minds. A scream so terrible that it even affected Susan that I thought never could be frightened of anything.

Almost always his visions were foggy, at the best, but I sensed the fear in his mind as he shook in my arms. I pressed his head to my chest and he sobbed against my breast. Nova crying tore at my soul, he was my strength and to see him humbled like this shake my confidence. Chibi moved close to him and hugged him, “Daddy, everything will be fine.” She started to cry in unison with her father and me. She has a special understanding of Nova’s visions of the future than I, maybe, because of the connection that they shared while she was still inside my body and communicating with him. I couldn’t ‘talk’ to her until she had spent six months developing in my body but Nova started talking to her within three months. I could never imagine what they talked about during those three months but it changed their life; made them closer than a father and child could ever imagine. I cradled them both against my chest and kissed them to calm their fears. It hurts me inside when they were troubled but this vision went beyond any fear that I have every encountered. He stopped crying after a minute and kissed Chibi and walked out the room. I looked at the surprised faces of my family and slowly walked to the door, “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of him.”

I found him in his office on the top floor looking out to look at the sea. I placed both my arms around him, ‘Nova, what’s wrong?” Nova turned and grasped me in his strong arms, “Mina, my past is catching up to me. What I thought I made right in the past is now being used to attack my love one.” I lead him to the couch in the meeting area. I placed his head in my lap and slowly he told me his vision.

“I saw you or rather your face on the rouge’s body. You … it … was impaled on the Cosmic Bane with the life draining out the body and then.” Nova paused for a second and I wiped the tears from his eyes and he continued, “then … I recognized his sword. I made that sword years ago as a weapon against the Negaverse but its power to influence other minds led me to cast it into the hidden corners of the universe. I cast it into the deepest reaches of the universe where darkness creeps carefully. I don’t know how he got possession of it but it’s the same sword.” He started crying again and I kissed his eyes to rid them of the salty drops flowing from his eyes. I noticed that we were alone in the room and decided to take advantage of the situation. I never forced myself on him or he on me but I needed to be close to him at this moment. I never felt closer to Nova than that night and it took a vision of me to bring Nova around to take action against the avatar. He formulated a plan later that night after we had spent some quality time by ourselves.

The idea that Nova formulated was simple in thought but very complex in execution. If we couldn’t find Rogue in the mass of humanity where he can meld into the populace then we make it where there was no mass to transform his features. Nova was going to put the entire world ‘asleep’ so that only Rogue and us were awake upon the face of the Earth. There are so many little things that you must do when you try to accomplish such a task but we all worked together and with the help of the Fortress supplying the power we can accomplish the near impossible. I never understood the power of the Fortress but Nova indicated that it could stop all motion on the Earth except for motion generated by non-earthly forces. Such forces are any Negaverse creatures, and ourselves we will move while the inhabitants of the Earth stood frozen in time.

I laid in Nova’s arms the next night as sleep was slow in coming, “Nova, tell me about Rogue’s sword.” Nova held me tighter and I noticed that Darien and Serena were awake and looking in anticipation for Nova’s words. “It happened in the time before I met you. I thought that ultimate might was the solution to the Negaverse. If we had more power than they, we could defeat them without endangering others but we were wrong.” I turned in his arms, “Nova, you said we. Who was aiding you?” Nova kissed my lips and sat up in bed, “You are always someone that I couldn’t fool. Serenity was helping me but we wanted to keep her involvement quiet so I tried to convince everyone including myself that she had only a little part in my endeavor but she helped more than anyone can imagine. She was always my confidant and sounding board for my plans.” Nova paused for a few seconds, “I wish she was here today. She could coordinate this operation with little effort but she gone, for now, but if we make it to the end, all will be as it was before. But … I’m getting off the subject … Rogue’s sword … but we must also mention his mask.”

Nova cuddled me in his arms and I noticed that there seem to be more bodies in the room than before he started his tale. They were all here, his family, I guess they could feel the pain of his heart and needed to be near him. He kissed me on the back of my head, “It started when I was three. Most three year olds would be thinking about the next thing they could do but I was already well beyond my years. I started designing weapons of power that the universe had never seen. I started off small with the wand that each of you carry and Serena’s arsenal of artifacts. After I had finished with them, I started to develop weapons that drove fear in Serenity’s heart. She was afraid for me and of me, afraid that the dark side would surface once again and without the full power of the Silver Crystal; she would have little defense against me. I sensed the fear in her heart that the Dark Queen would come and the Silver Kingdom had no protection from her raw unholy power.”

“She kept a close eye on my work as she instructed Serena in her role of being the Moon Princess and taught me the art of Kanly and the principle of might is right. Strange, it was because of Serena and Kanly that I started developing those weapons. I wanted to make sure that someone had the utmost power to defend her if I wasn’t near. I knew that my generals would come in time and I also knew each Sailor Warrior that I would lead in battle. I knew your heart and minds before I even saw you for the first time.” Nova paused as Terri handed him some water. He took a long sip and passed the glass back to her. She lay down on the bed behind Nova and I felt her arms on my shoulders. Nova gathered himself and cleared his throat, Serena crawled into our bed in front of me as Nova started his tale again, “The first item I created was the Mask of the Rogues since it required very little of my energy or time. The mask is just a disguise device that would allow the wearer to blend in any crowd. Something that allowed the wearer to slip in or out undetected as required by the mission. I never gave it much thought because I never imagined that someone could use it to hide them so completely from even me but it seems that the Unstoppable is more intelligent than I gave him credit. The sword is an entirely different matter.”

I noticed that my bed was getting crowded. Chibi had crawled into my arms between Serena and me and the rest of the Inner Sailors was sitting on the bed, the Outers had taken over Darien and Serena’s. As I sat up to allow more rooms for the others, Amy handed me a cup of hot chocolate. I blew on the chocolate to cool it slightly as Chibi settled in my lap. “The sword was one of my worst mistakes that I ever had created. I created it from the remains of a Negaverse monster that my father had destroyed years before I was born. Its crystalline remain was mixed with ore from Saturn to create the blade and the hilt was just oak from Earth but the evil of the Negaverse come out in the end. The creature was named Discord and that was what it brought to all who saw it. Fights and riots broke out when ever others saw it so I knew that I need to get rid of it but I could not destroy the evil blade. I sealed the blade in a coffin of the purest ebony and I cast it to a hidden part of the universe where I hope it would be pulled into a black hole. It seemed that it didn’t happen as I expected.” Nova kissed Chibi and sent the rest to their bedrooms. He snuggled close to me and went to sleep. I worry about him as he blames himself for all the trouble. I can feel it in my heart. I need to stay close to him for he needs me in this time of despair.

Today is the deciding day in our war. Nova is ascending to the Fortress to have that unholy power that it holds flow through him to stop all motion on the Earth. I am worried. My one love is exposing him to powers beyond comprehension and I don’t know what will happen. We arrived on the moon just before the sun rose on Japan. We stayed outside of the Fortress and Nova turned into Sailor War and flew to the roof of that grand structure. She extended her wings and raised the Cosmic Bane above her head. Energy filled the sky as the Fortress discharged a massive amount of power into my beloved. Her yellow skirt shone gold in the sunlight and the collective reflections of the spires adorning the Fortress. I heard her above the rush of energy from the Cosmic Bane directed at the Earth, “I am Sailor War, the revenging angel with the ebony blade. I am power incarnate. The universe trembled at my coming and will tremble again in the final battle. I call upon the power of time to freeze the motion of all.”

I don’t know what happened but for a second everything stood in place. I could see the sunlight, strings of packet frozen in place as it streamed from the Sun. Nova had stopped all motion in the universe to find one being. Erica scanned the earth and found the being called Rogue. He was in Kyoto and amazed by the situation. He alone upon the face of the Earth moved and we could feel his fear. Nova descended from the Fortress, joined hands with us and transported us to the Earth. Nothing moved; everything was frozen in time. Birds hung in the skies. Even the winds had no sound since it had no motion. Then we saw the movement. It came towards us with it face changing every second and its sword raise above its head. Sailor War stood in front and met Rogue’s sword with the Cosmic Bane. Blows clashed upon the swords as the two opponents battled alone in the street. Neither could gain an advantage in this battle. Rogue’s sword was made of stern material, the crystal of the soul of evil and the Cosmic Bane … well it was made of some stern material. Nova refused to allow the Cosmic Bane to use its full power but met Rogue with equal power. He depended upon the help of others in this battle. He possessed power to stop time but he would never employ that power on the surface of our world because it would destroy the Earth.

We all stood in awe of the battle that was occurring before our eyes. “He’s always been like this as long as I knew him.” I recognized the voice that spoke to me. I turned to my right and there was Zoicite. I tried to embrace him but my arms passed through him. “I’m not really here in person but I have always been with you in spirit.” I looked at the general in his uniform and realized that he hadn’t changed a bit. ‘Zoicite, dear friend, why are you here?” Zoicite looked at me, “Mina, you are the solution to the problem, just remember the golden rule.” He slowly disappeared from my view but I knew that he would be back one day.

The golden rule, what did he mean? I thought and thought, what did he mean, and suddenly I realized what he meant. Love your neighbor as yourself, love … love, now I knew what I had to do but I had to strike at the right item. I looked at Rogue, the sword or the mask, which held his power? I was torn in my decision then I realized that the mask gave Rogue his identity not the sword, the sword just spread discord and hatred and these emotions couldn’t affect Nova but the mask held the faces of those he love and that could be his downfall. I held my hand to my lips, “Love and Beauty Shock”, issued from my lips and the power and magic of love stream directly at the mask. The moment before it hit, I saw the face that he wore. It was mine. The attack hit the mask directly in the eyes and I saw a look of horror spread over my … or whether, Rogue’s face as he looked down at his chest where an ebony blade spilt his heart. He slowly slipped from the blade and fell upon the grass. The battle had been won but what price to Nova? Rogue’s body shimmered in the returning light as the course of time once again traveled forward. Nova fell to her knees and buried her face in her hands. I ran to her and clasped her to my chest. I moved her hands from her face and smiled as Nova’s eyes opened. A smile graced that beautiful face as I moved down to kiss Nova’s lips. “Darling, it’s over” was all I could say before he changed back to Nova and wrapped his powerful arms around me.

Everything settled down to normal, well as normal as it ever was before the riots. Nova opened up more floors of the building and we each settled to our own room. Chibi is in an adjourning room to ours. We want to keep our little one close to us because we knew that there are two more avatars. Two nights after the battle, the curfew was lifted and most of the Sailors decided to go out and enjoy themselves. I just wanted to spend some time with Nova and Amy helped by asking if she could take Chibi to the amusement park. I readily accepted and hugged the blue haired young woman, our Amy was growing up and one day would be a great catch for any man.

It was around eleven when I heard a small knock on our door. Chibi peeked in and came running when I motioned to her that I was awake. She leaped in my arms and I held her close. “How was the park, muffin?” She kissed my cheek, “It was fun, and Amy and I had a great time. It was nice to be out again.” I kissed her and patted her bottom to send her on her way. I started to lie down when I felt Nova’s arms wrapped themselves around me, “She will be fine. She is probably the most powerful child in the universe and it will protect her.” I rested my head against his bare chest. We … didn’t get dress for bed after our little get together earlier in the night. “I know that she’ll be fine but you still sound like you’re depressed.”

Nova let out a sigh and held me tighter, “Rogue’s last transformation into you brought everything home to me. We are fighting against foes that would not think twice about trying to hurt anyone near us but there is no way, besides complete destruction of this world, to fight without all of you by my side.” Nova kissed my neck and placed his hands over my breasts, “I don’t know what I would do if I lost you. You are the only thing that keeps me under control.” I kissed him, “You’re exaggerating about my importance.” He ran a hand over the skin of my stomach, “No, it’s true. You’re my hold on this time. When I came to the future, I needed someone or something in this era to cling to in an effort to stabilize my structure and prevent it from traveling to the end of time. Susan uses her orb to keep her in place but we needed something or someone to anchor us in this time. You are my anchor and without you by my side Chibi and I could not remain here.” I didn’t fully understand what he was saying but I knew that we were one in spirit and in body. Wherever I go, he will follow and I knew that he would follow out of love. We fell asleep about an hour later.

The world went on its merry way but Nova realized that troubled times was coming. The riots and race wars disturbed all of the society from farmer to prince. Food was growing in short supply every day but we still had food because of Nova’s planning but the rest of the world was slowly starving to death. We watched the evening news as a group after our dinner until that fateful night when Nova flew up from the sofa and pointed to the east. “I see a rider upon a black horse and in her hand is a scale with gold on one side and a stalk of wheat on the other. Her voice sounds loudly as a crier, ‘A ounce for a grain, two for a stalk’, and many swollen bellies can be seen in all lands.” Nova collapsed and would have hit the floor if I hadn’t grabbed him. “Mina, the third avatar has appeared and her name is Famine.”

Famine stalks the land and when their belly swells with hunger, what we the people do? Tune in for the next installment of Mina’s Tale II, “Hunger stalks the land”.