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Three months after the fall of Kinmoku
"Tell me again why you brought that boy into my house?"
Enishi sighed and looked at his new wife. "Because my dear, he is my son."
"But he is also the son of that ... Kinmoku." Murikaz spat the word out as if it left an unpleasant taste in her mouth.
"Which is why I could not leave him behind to be corrupted against us. Have you noticed, wife? He has my gifts, but they are much stronger in him than they ever were in me. He will become a great man." Enishi hugged his wife from behind and placed his hands on her stomach. "And his little brother will become even greater. We will be the parents of gods."
Murikaz placed her hands over her husbands and smiled at their reflection in the mirror above her dressing table. In a few days she would have her own child and could stop playing 'mother' to her step-son. If she was lucky, maybe she could convince her husband to send the effeminate young man to an off-world school for the next decade or so. "You never have told me why you finally left. It can't be because you thought she was being unfaithful to you. You know she wasn't."
"Not with her body, but her mind was always on someone else." Enishi kissed his wife then turned to look out the window. "If I had stayed, there would have been another child ... and that child would have killed me.
"I saw my own death shortly after Urani was born. There were many, many warriors around her. One looked just like her and the two were standing over me as I lay dying. There was no sign of Urani, he must have already been dead." Enishi shuddered as he remembered the images that flashed through his mind. "I can't believe that monster would have allowed her own son to be killed."
Murikaz hugged her husband from behind. She knew that he was fiercely protective of his family, having grown up without one, like many of their generation. For the first time since she had become his wife nearly four years before, she actually began to feel compassion for the blue-eyed boy in the next room. "They do not value sons the way we do. Nor their daughters, I imagine. Even that bitch-queen's first-born has been passed over for her little sister."
"His little sister, Muri. In their twisted culture, what you are born as is what you truly are ... even if they can change." Enishi glanced up at the stars and could see several ships circling their new home on Kinmoku, renamed Kikvech (time-world).
Urani pulled his hand away from the wall and frowned. He had learned many things using his 'gifts', but this was by far the most disturbing. 'My mother ... kill me? No, she wouldn't do that ... would she?'
After the last of the ships left orbit around Kinmoku, Enishi had uprooted his family and returned to the planet of accelerated time. The common people had been surprised to see him alive and even more surprised when they saw Urani, but there was no one left on the planet that the Hrrrrunai trusted to get anywhere near the small boy. Having left the planet of his birth at age 7, Urani's growth had slowed to an almost imperceptible rate. Officially 9 years old on his father's homeworld, he found he was actually 10 on his mother's, but on both was barely taller than an 8-year old.
"Lord Urani, it is time for your lessons."
Urani jumped and turned to face the tall man that had been hired as his tutor. The man was Hset, a race of mini-giants ranging from 8 to 15 feet tall. This particular Hseti, whose name the young man couldn't pronounce and whom he had nicknamed 'Chibi', was barely shy of 9 feet, making the diminutive warrior feel even smaller. "Chibi, why can't I go to the school with the other kids?"
Chibi, whose real name was Chiuxbinta vek Amo, raised one elegant eyebrow at the younger man. "Because your Kara is the new governor of this world. There are undesirables among it's inhabitants that would kill you for that alone. Even more that would kill you because of the blood flowing through your veins."
"But my blood is as black as everyone else's. Why does that matter?" Urani moved away from the wall that connected his room to that of his father and step-mother's. He climbed up on the edge of his bed and waited for the other man to sit before speaking again. "Or is it that they would kill me because my Kera was Kinmokunai?"
Chibi smiled sadly. "You are more observant than you let on, little Lord. Come, enough talk of those things, we have work to do."
Urani barely paid attention to his 'lessons', pulling the answers from Chibi's mind as he let his own ponder what his father had said.
Second year of the rule of Governor Enishi Tamura
Journal of Daren Seiya
(Earth Date, 2010)
'Scream ... without raising your voice.'
That voice. It echoes through my head night and day. My Kara is always trying to train me to use these powers that I never wanted. I remember the first time I knew that they were a curse. I had just turned 7.
My name is Urani Daren Seiya Tamura, first son of the Governor of Kikvech and today I turn 12. Five years ago, I was taken by Kara to the homeworld of his people. Little did I know when I left the planet of my birth, that I was a pawn in my Kara's game. It was a harsh realization that came too late.
Five years ago
"Enough, Kou. The boy will be fine, stop your worrying." Enishi turned away from seeing his wife hugging their son and boarded the shuttle.
Kou Seiya frowned at her husband's back then smiled down at her son. "You will be careful, won't you, Urani?" She hugged the boy one last time, pushing her fears to the back of her mind. She knew, as did everyone that the boy had inherited his father's gifts. Even at 7 years old, he was already a strong telepath.
"I'll be fine, Dema. Don't worry about me," Urani hugged his mother again and was then hugged by his older sisters. He could see the fear in Miyo's eyes, but smiled and tried to use his own powers to brush it from her mind. "Miyo, Shi, you're squishing me!"
The twin girls grinned at each other as they picked him up and carried him to the shuttle. "That's just because we won't get to hug you for a while, squirt. And you have to come back and tell us everything you see." Miyo kissed her brother's cheek, much to his embarassment and motioned for Shi to set him down.
The blonde girl grinned and pulled Urani into another hug. "Take care of 'Kara for us, 'Rani. It's just boys only on this trip." Shi had wanted to accompany their father as well, but Enishi had refused to take either of the girls with him. He had been distant from all three of the children their entire lives, but since war seemed to be looming, he had made an effort to try and spend time with them. He had taken the twins, who had been inseparable since birth, on a tour of the colonies. And that was where he was taking Urani now, just the two of them and a couple of guards.
Shi smiled at her brother and handed him a small box. "Be careful, little brother. And have fun."
"Don't worry, Shi, Miyo. Everything will be ok." Enishi walked over to the children and hugged each of them. He felt the girls hesitate before returning the hugs and felt a small voice in his head, that he recognized as Miyo, telling him not to go. "Ok, time for us to go, Urani."
Seiya watched her husband hug the girls and frowned slightly. 'He's never hugged them before. What's he up to?' The pilot told them it was time to leave, so she motioned the girls off the ship. "Enishi, I--"
"We'll talk about it later, Kou." Enishi kissed her cheek then watched her leave. Once they were gone, he turned to the pilot. "Ok, let's go."
Seiya watched the shuttle take off, the frown never leaving her face.
"What's wrong, Seiya-chan?" Yaten walked up to the black-haired woman, watching the shuttle as it flew away. "Did you tell him?"
"I tried. But he wouldn't listen. Come on, we can watch it better from the Control Tower." Seiya turned back to the tower where she knew her daughters were waiting. They were watching the shuttle leave the boundaries of Kinmoku, thanks to the transmitters on the various orbital satellites. "Even now, all this seems so strange."
"Hrrrrunai technology has changed the way we do everything," Taiki replied. He spoke to the pilot of the shuttle as they passed the second moon. After several moments, he glanced over at Seiya. "They should reach the first of the Colonies in about fifty microns. Are you three going to stay and watch?"
The twins glanced at their mother. "Please Dema? We won't touch anything, we promise." Miyo put on her best 'pitiful' face, knowing that her mother couldn't resist.
"When faced with that, how could I say no?" Seiya smiled at her daughters when they grinned and moved to stand behind them.
Yaten smiled a little at the scene and moved to stand with Taiki. "Any news?"
Taiki glanced over at Seiya then shook his head. "Nothing. It seems the Hrrrrunai have quieted down for now. This alliance may actually survive."
Several hours later, Urani glanced out the Colony window and gasped. This was the first time he had ever been off the planet of his mother's people. "Is that Kinmoku?"
Enishi smiled slightly at his son. "Yes, it is." He pointed to the largest gathering of lights. "And that is the capital. That's where your mother and sisters are."
"Home." Urani glanced up when Enishi abruptly stood. "'Kara?"
"Urani ... that's not your home anymore. We're not going back to Kinmoku." Enishi walked over to a group of Hrrrrunai diplomats, sitting a few feet away, leaving the young telepath alone on the observation deck.
"Not going back?" Urani turned back to the window and for a moment, remembered the looks on his sisters' faces when he left. "I ... I want to go home."
He could see the shuttle they had used to get to the Colony from the observation deck. It had just left the docking bay and was flying toward the next Colony. They were supposed to be leaving in a few minutes on that shuttle, but his father had told him they would be taking a different ship. As he glanced around the Hrrrrunai-run Colony, Urani thought he realized what his father was planning. Tensions had been strained between the Kinmoku and the Hrrrrunai for a long time, but the fighting had recently begun to get worse with each side pushing the other more and more. He had over heard both of his parents say that it only needed one big push to become a full-scale war.
"Come on, Urani. It's time for us to go." Enishi grabbed the young boy by the arm and began pulling him toward a different docking area.
"You're trying to start a war, aren't you?" Urani pulled free of his father's grasp and glared at him. "You know Dema will come for me."
Enishi frowned at his son. "She won't come looking for you. Not if she thinks you're dead."
An explosion rocked the Colony and as Urani turned back to the window, he already knew what happened. One of the guards grabbed him and started running toward the Hrrrrunai Battle Cruiser.
It was night on Kinmoku when they first learned of the terrible tragedy that had occurred near one of the Colonies.
Seiya felt the entire world collapse out from under her feet as she watched the images of the shuttle exploding. Someone led her to a chair and she heard a voice she vaguely recognized as Yaten's sister confirming what they all already knew.
"The Hrrrrunai Colony states that Lord Enishi and Lord U.... Urani were both onboard the shuttle. Initial search teams have reported that there were no survivors." Kaish glanced over at Seiya and saw Taiki trying to get the dark-haired woman's attention. "Xavier and I are both ready to leave at once and conduct our own search, Empress."
The red-haired woman nodded stiffly. "Be careful, Hunter." Kakyuu met the eyes of Kou Yaten's nearly identical sister and smiled sadly. She was Sailor StarHunter, Kaish Yaten, mother of two and the only StarLight who refused to take a Hrrrrunai spouse. The redhead hadn't had the heart to force her. After all, she owed her more than she could ever repay. StarHunter had been the one to sacrifice her life so that Kakyuu could escape Galaxia. "We can not afford to lose any more family."
Kou Yaten came into the room moments later, leading Miyo and Shi. The twins had been roused from sleep, and had been pestering their uncle with questions during the entire walk. The gray-haired man remained mostly silent, telling them only that they were needed.
As soon as they reached the Control Tower, Shi felt her blood turn to ice. One look at her mother's tear-stained face and Kakyuu-sama in her dressing gown told her all that she needed to know. "They're dead, aren't they?"
Miyo glanced at her sister in shock then looked to her mother. "Are they?" When Seiya nodded, the brunette ran over to her, hugging her.
Seiya hugged her older daughter then glanced up at Shi. For a brief moment, she thought she saw ... no, it couldn't have been. The blonde walked numbly over to her and allowed herself to be pulled into a hug.
The other Lights and Kakyuu left the three women alone. This was by far, not the first death they had faced ... and none of them could hold out hope that it would be the last.
Second year of the rule of Governor Enishi Tamura
Journal of Daren Seiya
Being only seven, I was unable to stop Kara's plan. It was only after we reached the Hrrrrunai homeworld that I learned the truth. It WAS our shuttle that exploded. And the Hrrrrunai government was saying we were on board. They used our supposed deaths as an excuse to begin attacking my mother's people, claiming that the Kinmoku were responsible for our deaths. My mother's people, I assume, never found out the truth. Otherwise, they never would have left me behind ...
I write this journal in the tradition of my uncle, under my other name and in my mother's second tongue. The language of the planet called 'Earth', knowing that I am the only person on this planet that knows how to read it. For now, anyway. I will teach you, little brother. I will teach you all that I know of Earth, in the hopes that one day, we will find it.
Urani closed the leather-bound volume and slipped it into his bag. He glanced around his room one last time and spotted the small box Shi had given him when he left Kinmoku the first time. Inside of the box was a round stone painted in blues, greens and browns. The blonde had included a card with it, saying:
'This is the Earth of Miyo's and my past. I hope one day we can all see it together.'
He placed the sphere back into the box and tucked it securely into his bag. In the year and a half since his return to Kinmoku, Urani had changed drastically. He had not only caught up to other children his age, he was now taller than most of them. He let his hair grow, mainly to annoy his teachers and step-mother, but also because his Kara still seemed fascinated by reminders of his Dema.
He had also learned several things about his Kara's people. Using his powers, he found out the truth behind the return to this planet. He learned of the armies they were training to send after the Kinmokunai, and of the ships that would take them to Earth in half the time. All they needed ... was for their spies in the Kinmoku Fleet to send them the coordinates.
"I'm sorry, 'Kara, I can't let you do this."
The only son of Sailor StarFighter grabbed his bag from the bed and left the room. His step-mother had insisted that he be sent to military school. That, in his mind, proved to be her worst mistake. He was able to pull everything he needed from his teachers' minds. He had even managed to get them to give him of most of it on crystal. He also convinced them that there was something wrong with their designs and even though they had made a prototype that WOULD work, there was not a single person on the planet that would try it.
"Urani .... is it time to go now?"
Urani smiled at his younger brother's voice in his head. Even though Hiko was only able to say a few words in Hrrrrunai, he could communicate with the other telepath in three different languages. Their Kara hadn't even bothered to try communicating with him yet. "Yes, Hi-chan. It's time to go now. You remember what to do, right?"
"Hai, Onii-chan."
When they looked back on that night, no one in the house of Tamura would be able to describe how a 12-yr. old boy and his 1-yr. old brother went missing. Nor why the lord of the house suddenly stopped all plans for the pursuit of the Kinmokunai. The fact that he was found sitting in his study babbling about Senshi, would never be made public.
