Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Of Demons and Love ❯ Mysterious Box ( Chapter 14 )

Of Demons and Love
Author: Quintyss

Chapter 14 (T)
The Mysterious Box

On Monday, Ikuko went with Usagi to her appointment with Dr. Wakai. Upon examination, her daughter was given a clean bill of health. The doctor had also been satisfied that her boyfriend had gotten help. She had received the paperwork and a phone call from Dr. Meioh late Saturday afternoon to say she had met with Usagi's intended and agreed to take his case. Ikuko felt Usagi's rapid recovery was nothing short of miraculous, but she wasn't complaining. It was nice to hear the girls 'noodling around' on the piano and electric guitar together. Even Shingo sang with them at times.

It was after supper and all the house chores were done that Rei approached Usagi about the strange 'Silver Millennium' box under the bed which had been tickling her over-ambitious imagination since its discovery. "Usagi, what's in that old metal box?" Rei probed the blonde.

Usagi looked up from the stack of homework on her desk she had to make up and turned her head towards Rei who was sitting cross-legged on her bed working on a composition, "I don't know, I can't open it. My Mother only mentioned to me, that there's some sort of magical voice-activated lock on it. I haven't figured out what it is, yet." Usagi watched as Rei leaned over the bedside and picked up the box curiously. It looked heavy, but it was surprisingly lightweight. Rei's expression confirmed her amazement.

"I have an idea, it probably activates by naming one of your powers," Rei suggested enthusiastically.

Usagi returned her attention back to her textbook and scrawled something in her notebook, then mumbled, "Nope. Tried that." A slight frown creased her forehead as she continued to write.

"How about someone else's? Someone you trusted and wouldn't have minded if they looked in it?" Rei persisted, ambivalent to Usagi's tongue click from frustration.

"Nope, didn't try that," Usagi grumbled, her pen paused briefly, but she didn't bother to face her tormentor. Stubborn Baka!

Quietly Rei uttered the words, 'Fire Soul'. The box's lid suddenly sprang to life and opened. Rei grinned gleefully and Usagi gasped. She got up from her computer chair and sat on the bed next to Rei. They both looked in amazement at the box's contents.

There was a thick diary, a thin journal, a beautiful Martian dagger, a small vial of Venusian perfume, a Jupitan music box, and a Mercurian chronometer. Evidently, the box was filled with prenuptial gifts for the Princess Serenity from her inner Senshi. Usagi's eyes watered. "Oh, Rei!"

Usagi picked up the perfume and uncapped it. The fresh, clean, scent was intoxicating. She passed it under Rei's nose whose only response was 'whoa'!

Usagi put the ornate cap back on. "If I'm lucky, its use will only enhance my art of persuasion. Knowing Venus, though, it's far likelier putting a tiny dab on will bring every male within a 10-mile radius to my doorstep!" Usagi exclaimed. Rei giggled at her friend's logic.

Usagi next took out the timepiece and glanced at her alarm clock, which was set to the time displayed on her computer monitor. The Mercurian chronometer reflected the exact same time.

"That's scary, Rei. This box has been buried for thousands of years," she commented. "I'll bet that no matter wherever, or whenever, I am in the universe it will keep real-time."

Usagi gently lifted out the small music box that looked as though it had been laser-designed. When she touched the box, it immediately began to play what was in Usagi's mind. It was her newest music piece. Both girls were in shock. Usagi thought of different pieces, which included some of Michiru's more complicated ones. The box played them all flawlessly. She handed the box to Rei, and it became silent. Interesting.

Last of all, was the gorgeous dagger. When Usagi's hand closed around the hilt, her eyes widened. "Rei-chan, it sang to me!" She exclaimed in surprise. The Miko became enthused.

"Listen carefully to its song to you, Hime... listen for its name." Rei urged.

Usagi's eyes were closed as she concentrated. She raised it high in the air above her head and whispered 'Exavyre' (ex-Zavier). The dagger lengthened to become a perfectly balanced, double-edged broadsword that was the perfect weight for her. Usagi slashed through the air with it, to feel its response. It sang joyfully to her in ancient Lunarian.

"Oh, Rei! Thank you, it's breathtaking! What does its name mean in Martian?" Usagi asked her raven-haired Senshi. Rei let the breath out she had been holding during the spectacle.

"Um, it means 'The Gods' Help'. It-it was forged by Hephaestus. My father. Diana, umm, *I* had him make it, especially for my Moon Princess. I think you'll find that each of us had these gifts created magically by a god of our own choosing and are designed to help you specifically," Rei smiled, "that includes the 'Eau de cat-heat', Dango." Rei wiggled her eyebrows at her meaningfully.

Usagi put the chronometer and Exavyre into her subspace pocket, then she got up to put the perfume, and music box, on top of her dresser. "These are all such beautiful, thoughtful gifts. The perfume scares me a little, I won't lie," she laughed cheerfully.

She settled back down on the bed next to Rei and picked up the old diary carefully. Homework was forgotten, what a shock. Rei leaned her head on Usagi's shoulder and watched as she flipped through the thick diary. It was written in a formal Lunarian tongue, but they both could read it.

"Wait, Usagi here's when you first met me!" Rei interrupted enthusiastically. They read for a while in silence, until Rei's breath sucked in suddenly and Usagi blushed.

"That's some pretty explicit stuff you wrote about us during our trip home to the Moon Kingdom, Usagi. I can't believe we were only sixteen!" Rei remarked in shock.

"I told you that I have loved you forever, Rei. Do you believe me, yet?" Usagi cooed, unabashedly. Rei squeezed Usagi tight, then cupped Usagi's face between her hands and kissed her lips most tenderly.

"Yes, my love, I do!" She replied with candor.

Usagi smiled. "Remember those words. They are going to come in handy soon." Usagi flipped through a couple more pages until Rei stopped her again and giggled. She pointed at something about mid-page.

"It says here, you woke all of us up at 2 am in the morning for an 'impromptu Senshi meeting' in the palace kitchens. Your mother had denied you, sweets, for days. She kept handing you a carrot every time you asked." Rei chortled as Usagi let out a long-suffering groan, "so you convinced Makoto you were desperate and the middle of the night was the only time you could get away with wayward shenanigans.

Makoto offered to bake you some cookies. Then you decided you couldn't even wait for the cookies to bake, so you had me 'cook' some dough on the sly. Unfortunately, we got caught by chef 'Sparkoto' and she zapped us!" Rei grinned mischievously with a slow wink.

"I guess we don't need an oven to cook, huh Rei?" Usagi stated and returned her wink.

"Apparently not." Rei agreed. They turned their attention back to the diary and read a few more pages.

"It would appear we all had a lot of fun together back then, too, just like we do now!" Usagi remarked. "Let's see what's in this other book. It looks like it's yours, Rei," Usagi noted, perplexed as to why it would be in her box, "see, it's written in the Queen's Martian tongue for 'Her Majesty's Honored Royal Hunter'. I believe it is Diana's hunt journal! As Lunarian Princess, I had to learn all the languages of our allies to be an envoy, but I'd feel privileged if you would read it to me, Rei, please." Usagi's eyes begged.

Rei groaned helplessly. "Oh okay, royal pain-in-the-neck, Princess." Rei took the log gingerly from Usagi and scanned through it. Her countenance changed the further she got and the pages moved more slowly. Rei's brows knit and she glanced up to see a brilliant pair of eager blue eyes.

Rei cleared her throat. "Most of these entries are locations and technical notes, Usagi, but there are a few personal events described," Rei began slowly. "It seems the Hunt Leader was jealous of my superior tracking and accurate shooting abilities at such a young age. He was particularly hard on me." Rei frowned slightly.

"It appears I knew Jadeite before I came to the Moon Kingdom. Evidently, he was by far the best male hunter we had. Jadeite was also good with the organization of task forces for the various duties we had. Those included the round-up of wild dromedyre herds, (woolly Martian Dromedaries), taming captured mounts, curing wyrm hides for armor, and getting fresh wyrm meat to the markets. We stayed alive largely because of his great instincts. At 16, he became second in command.

Jadeite always defended me from our first leader's abuse, for some reason. He even slept near me to keep watch over me wherever we stopped... usually in old wyrm trenches, caves, or tunnels.

One day, while we were in fast pursuit of a particularly large wyrm, the hunt leader lashed out at my dromedyre and purposely caused it to stumble. My spear's aim faltered and I missed the wyrm's eye for the kill. Somebody was killed by the wyrm's terrible spew of acids and I was badly injured when I was flung off my mount into the hooves of the other frenzied dromedyre. Only the keen riding skills of my fellow hunters and the thick wyrmhide armor I wore, saved my life.

Jadeite had witnessed his foul deed and, in a rare display of rage, beat our leader senseless with his bare fists. I guessed he must have loved me as he would a dirt-faced little sister, I was only eleven at the time. One of my many sisters pulled Jadeite off of our leader before he killed him. Soon after, Jadeite was sent to Earth to be trained as one of Prince Endymion's bodyguards. The Hunt Leader was torched by my illustrious 'Queen Mother', and replaced." Rei peered at her Hime. Usagi's face reflected a respectable range of revulsion and awe.

"I rose through the hunter ranks with age and was never called into Her Majesty's presence again until the day we met five years later. I fell in love with you on sight, but grew closer as you carefully bathed me, gently tended to my wounds, and helped me through airsickness," Rei chuckled, "it would seem I preferred a Martian dromedyre to flight on Queen Serenity's large airship!

No one had *ever* cared for me in such a manner before, as hunters were nothing more than necessary wyrm fodder. Life on Mars as a wyrm hunter was hard, where amenities were scarce and healers even more so. Death was commonplace and living by your wits to avoid it bred a very narrow perspective on what was important. So, you also took it upon yourself to teach me 'proper Lunarian etiquette' before we arrived at the Moon Kingdom." Rei snapped the journal shut.

Usagi asked guilelessly, "Rei-chan, why were the wyrms hunted so diligently on Mars?" Rei turned to her, devoid of expression.

"Usagi, you asked me a similar question on Mars as an envoy. Wyrms reproduced like vermin, achieved lengths of thirty feet, and threatened our very existence. The hunters put their lives on the line every minute of every day to cut down their numbers. It was not done as gratuitous slaying for sport and wyrm carcass was never wasted. They were both bane and sustenance." Rei heaved a great sigh.

"Let's read more of yours, it's a little less depressing." Rei voiced with a strange tremor in it, which Usagi did not miss. Usagi laid her palm along Rei's jawline and initiated a long, slow, deep kiss to let her dark warrior know, without a shadow of a doubt, that she loved and respected her.

The girls lay on their stomachs side by side and enjoyed their nostalgia until Usagi grew tired. Usagi put the books back into the not-so-mysterious box, then slid it under her bed.

That night, they shared sweet kisses and slept in each other's arms. They both dreamt about the days of yesteryear and what was to come.

To be continued...

Japanese Terms