Remember to Live

The Forbidden Room

The Senshi teleported to Earth for their long-awaited visit. It had been over a week since any of them had seen their significant others due to more busy schedules given by the Queen.

It seemed oddly quiet and empty. Serenity went to meet Endymion in his usual spot in the gardens, and the others went and played scavenger hunt in search of their loved ones.

Venus went up into the castle and browsed around the colossal building. She found sections and chambers of it that she had never even seen. There was a long, thin bridge that extended to a lone enclosed room on top of a hill, but it turned out to be empty. Finally reaching the end of the palace, she noticed a giant hole had been smashed into the wall. Inside, there was a walkway and a thin staircase leading up to God knows what. Hesitantly, she went in.

Climbing up the stairs and stepping onto the next floor leading to the open outdoors, she came out and found a huge lawn on top of the flat roof that she now stood on. It was much windier up there; so much that it was piercingly loud whenever it picked up. And finally, standing there at the edge of the roof, was her silver-haired lover.

She slowly began walking his way. "...Kunzite? Is... is everything all right?"

He turned his head to look at her for no more than a couple of seconds, and then looked back at the sky. Something was different. The way he looked at her was cold and stern. The usual softness and love in his eyes were gone.

Continuing to get closer, she finally reached an arm out and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Kunzite."

Immediately he smacked her hand away and started walking back to the stairwell. She followed, but he turned back and, with a stern voice and a glare, said, "Stay away from me."

He walked away and back down into the castle, leaving Venus there stunned.

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Back on the moon, Venus sat on the steps by the palace's entrance alone when the other Senshi came to meet her.

"Can we talk?" Jupiter asked, while all of them sat down in front of her. "All of the Shitennou were acting so strangely today. They wouldn't even look us in the eyes, and Jadeite even took a swing at Mars."

Mars just looked away, angrily. It was obvious that she was hurting badly inside, though she'd never show it.

Venus tightened her grip around her knees, bringing them closer to her chest and leaning her head down. "Kunzite was the same way. I don't know what's gotten into him..."

"I think it's the whole Earth, Venus," Mercury said, with her little computer in hand. "They say that some kind of evil force has been sensed there, but I'm not sure what that means. All it says it that many people have been acting strangely and even aggressively."

"I'm not sure what we can do as of right now," Mars said, standing up. "But we need to always be on guard and keep our eyes open." She left them and went inside.

Venus remained out there for hours, silent and lost in her thoughts.

"Above all, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."

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Endymion traveled to the moon to meet with Queen Serenity, telling her about the negative energy on Earth and the things that have happened because of that.

What he didn't know was that Kunzite followed closely behind, secretly traveling to the moon while the Queen was distracted by the Prince and the others were nowhere to be seen. He was following orders... but not ones from Endymion.

You are the strongest of the Heavenly Kings. Therefore I am choosing you for this mission. Go to the moon, and in the forest behind the palace, jump into the pond and swim through the tunnel that leads to the secret chamber. Then go and find the forbidden room. That is where the Legendary Silver Crystal is located. Snatch it and bring it back to me.

He did as he was told. Swimming as quickly as possible through the underwater tunnel, he surfaced to a sort of dungeon-like part of the castle. Going up the steps, he pressed the button that opened the wooden door and came into another small forest. Climbing more steps on the left side and going through another door, he came into a section of the castle that almost looked abandoned. Only Queen Serenity was permitted to enter this area, unless she gave permission to the guardians.

He ascended another staircase off to the side and was once again inside the castle. There was a large, open window that overlooked a small garden. A couple large trees stretched towards the sky, and sheep and garden snakes roamed the little grassy plain. To the left of the window was another large wooden door, but when Kunzite hit the button, another one behind it closed, and there was no switch to open that one. On the wall there were three tablets. The one on the left said "Memento Mori." The one on the right said "Memento Vivere." Underneath those words on both of them was some kind of ancient writing in an unfamiliar language. The one in the middle boldly said, "Forbidden Room: Only Queen Serenity may pass through this point. If what lies behind this door falls into the wrong hands, that person may die."

This was it. Kunzite was contemplating, being unsure of just how powerful the Legendary Silver Crystal was supposed to be. Just then, the evil spirit he was taking orders from entered one of the garden snakes, and it crawled up through the window and faced him.

"Do it, Kunzite. Go in and take that crystal!"

Facing the slithering serpent, he replied, "Your majesty, the tablet says one could die from possessing the crystal. Am I no more than a potential sacrifice?"

"You surely won't die! Queen Serenity only wrote that because she knows that people will want to take it and obtain power. She's just trying to scare you. If you get it for me, as I promised you, I will make you more powerful than you could ever have imagined."

He sighed and looked at the door. The brightness from the crystal was seeping through and he knew it had to be the most powerful gem in the universe. He desired that power.

"How am I to get past the door?"

"Break it down! Surely your sword is strong enough to cut through if you hit it hard enough."

He drew his sword and held it up. Ready to burst through, he was caught by something – something restraining him from moving further.

"Step away from the door."

He put his sword back and Venus released her chain. She slowly moved closer to him.

"I know why you're doing this. She's deceiving you, isn't she? Please Kunzite, this isn't you. You're better than this."

Kunzite angrily stormed towards her, grabbed her by the neck, and held her over the open window.

"I swear, if you EVER get in my way again, I will END YOU."

He released her by throwing her to the ground and exited the hall. Venus managed to push through the paralyzing shock and went after him, though he was already far ahead.

"PLEASE. It's not too late to turn back. You don't have to go like this."

It was dead silent out there and he was out of sight.

"Kunzite! Can you hear me? Hello? HELLO?!"

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A/N: I really tried using symbolism in this chapter. The serpent enticing Kunzite and the free decision he makes is supposed to represent the story of Adam and Eve; how Satan enticed Eve to sin in the form of a snake. Please let me know how I did with that; I am really not used to writing symbolically like this so it's all pretty new to me.