Sorry I've been gone! Back with a bang!

[moonybunnyboy]

There is something strange, and possibly dangerous in the Nexus. With all the other strange and crazy things going on, it might be hard to notice it. If one noticed it, it would start with a feeling, soothing and safe. Then move on as they got closer to recent injuries healing rapidly till they were all but gone. Then when they reached the center

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it's all in the emotions.

[waterfell]

Ami knows it: She knows that she has comrades now, people involved in her life; and she knows that the truly horrible times are behind her. But even if she may know it, she just can't feel it. She forgets to think about them, because she still doesn't feel like they're thinking about her, and that's not fair. She still can't shrug off the years of bitterness and hurt, because those old days never feel over.

She wants to feel it. And maybe that's why, for once, the ginzuishou's light accepts her and she accepts it. The sigil of Mercury blazes blue on her forehead as her clothes are replaced by an elegant gown. She steps towards the unconscious Usagi as if she knows what she'll do once she reaches there.

When she does, she says only two words at first: "Wake up." Somehow it seems important.

[moonybunnyboy]

He opens his eyes, tilting his head slightly. There is a slight smile from him, almost sad. "I am. You were right, Mercury." He blinks a little. "I am the Prince."

[waterfell]

It'd be too much to call her expression a smile in return, but it's vaguely amused, sly and secretive as always but without that typical bite to it.

"Did you doubt my information?" There's the slightest, almost playful, emphasis on 'my', a flash of deserved pride as the soldier of Knowledge.

[moonybunnyboy]

"More like myself." He chuckles. "Even now, with memories I can't fully recall, I don't think I should be a prince."

[waterfell]

Princess Mercury looks steadily back at Prince Serenity now.

"That prince is who you are. What kind of prince will decide your world."

[moonybunnyboy]

"I want to be the one to save it. To stop Beryl and the Dark Kingdom." He hides his face, a sign he's trying to hide that he's crying. "I will save everyone, my friends, the woman I love, everyone. I won't back down."

[waterfell]

A frown, that receptiveness and almost openness gone.

"So this is all only for her sake," Princess Mercury says flatly. Just like the princess and the prince; of course it is.

"Well, good luck to you, then!" The tone implies you'll need it; ridding her own world of Beryl and Metalia hadn't been easy. And it hadn't been the end.

[moonybunnyboy]

"No, it isn't. You know that, but you want to believe that you were never cared for. It justifies any thing you may have done." That was mostly a cut at her because he's angry, and he seems to already regret it when he says it, but he continues on. "I love them, all of the guys. Without them, I would never have come this far. I am a better person because of them. I love them. I will do anything for them. I even tried to release them."

"It's true, the boy inside me, the prince I was. He was selfish. He saw the woman he loved taken from him, and chose to kill himself. I don't remember all of it, but I know that much." He shakes his head. "I won't be him. I am already a different man, and I can feel it. None of us are alone."

"Not even you."

[waterfell]

Princess Mercury says nothing to defend herself; why bother correcting mistaken assumptions after this long and this many? They'll continue believing whatever they want, like they always have, and she hardly sees the point anymore of talking herself hoarse just to be heard; she hasn't answered them back in months.

After all, she knows the truth of her situation and her thinking. She only needs to rely on herself for her assurances.

"Just destroy Beryl quickly," is her only advice.

[moonybunnyboy]

"I intend to. I will, and I will make sure nobody has to die."

[waterfell]

That gets, perhaps, an unexpected reaction. For all her hatred of the woman who hurt her - and everyone! - so badly for so long, in Mercury's world one thing couldn't wholly be denied:

"Even Beryl is a life."

She shrugs that off. "But I've had different prey since then. And a new one now."

[moonybunnyboy]

"And maybe she can be saved. I want to try." He blinks at her change of topic. "What happened?"

[waterfell]

Hardly. But let Usagi find that out for himself.

"Metalia wasn't all that had eyes on this planet," is all Mercury says to that question, perhaps enjoying knowing something Usagi doesn't; it'd certainly be like her.

"But we'll destroy any that come. This planet is ours."

[moonybunnyboy]

"It's people aren't like us, they need to be protected." Serenity nods. "And I will protect the Earth as well, with all my power."

[waterfell]

Who said anything about the people? But no, she's changed since those days; why did they protect the planet at all if it wasn't for the sake of the people who live on it? Just like even Beryl hadn't wanted to see it destroyed; she'd wanted to rule.

Mercury shoots Usagi a slightly skeptical look (she hasn't seen much proof of Sailor Moon's power ever protecting the planet, after all), but says nothing. It's Usagi's own world to ruin, or save if he can.

"But I'll tell you something interesting," she says after another moment. "If you really want that world to survive, never use the ginzuishou. It only strengthens Metalia and leads to destruction."

[moonybunnyboy]

Something flashes in his eyes, a memory. "Energy...something I should remember about it." He looks at Mercury a moment. "I think King Serenity said something...but it's hazy. I'll take your advice to heart, until I can remember what was said, or if Lunar or Artemis know."

"Mercury? This light around me, I think it's protecting me. I'm so tired right now...will you kill me if I drop it?"