Crystal of the Heart

Act 22. Chipped

Days had passed and slowly Ritsuko began to recover her strength. With her brother Mamoru by her side at almost every waking moment. Ritsuko smiled warmly towards her older brother who handed her a bowl of warm soup. She thanked with kindly before beginning to slurp down the soup. Lately she had been eating like a starved animal,which Luna explained was most likely due to using so much energy to save Usagi from death.

Ritsuko recalled that day on the roof as her so called friend Mika attacked the two girls. Neither Ritsuko nor Usagi had enough time to transform before things got hairy. She remembered watching as Usagi threw herself at Mika to save Ritsuko earning a terrible attack on her body. Leaving her very flesh sizzling afterwords and most of all a pulse was barely there. Ritsuko could feel the desperate need to save her friend and calling fourth the power of all the stars in the galaxy to aid her.

Ritsuko had willed herself to transform and even saved Usagi from the brink of death. Using the Golden Crystal she was told many times never to use. But she had to. And it was a good thing she did,otherwise Usagi wouldn't be alive. Ritsuko sighed as she leaned back in her bed,her bright cerulean eyes gazing upwards to ceiling her mind elsewhere. Constantly her mind would wander to her missing court. Demeter,Anemone, Helene,and Eos. All missing and she missed her dear friends terribly. A single tear rolled down her right cheek at the final memory she had of her brave friends.

One after one her friends had sacrificed themselves for her safety. The safety of s cowardly princess who couldn't do a single thing to save them. Till this day Ritsuko was ashamed at her past actions. If only she was stronger,if only she had more control over the crystal back then maybe..maybe she could have brought her friends back to life. Even if it cost her own life in exchange it mattered not. She just wanted them happy.

Her friends meant the world to Ritsuko, with them by her side it felt as if anything and everything was possible. She could defeat anyone for that came her way yet without them her world was dark. She couldn't claw her way to the surface without them and most of all she couldn't control the crystal with the strengh of friends. That much she knew was true. Carefully Ritsuko pressed her hands against her star shaped brooch,quietly invoking the power of the stars above to her.

Slowly a gold light began to spew from her brooch taking the form of a gold hued flower bud made of a beautiful translucent amber crystal. The flower bud continued to give off its lovely amber glow before Ritsuko's very fingertips before a single petal slowly began to open. Allowing Ritsuko to peek inside to see abit of the flower's true beauty. Until she was in full control of this lovely power it would never bloom. But when it did,she would have the power. Enough power to protect the very stars themselves, and to find him.

Mamoru sat in the other room his chest slowly becoming warm at a sudden sensation. He gripped onto his chest the warmth increasing and almost calling him to something. To someone. Before Mamoru could even realize what was happening,he found himself walking to Ritsuko's room where a dim yet brilliant amber light spewed from. He then opened the door spotting his little sister holding a beautiful crystalized flower in her hands.

Ritsuko smiled warmly towards the crystalized flower,while Mamoru stepped into the room completely entranced by the divine light. Noticing her brother Ritsuko beckoned her brother to her. Mamoru took a seat on the bed beside his dear sister feeling the warm sensation in his chest increase,almost seeming to spring fourth from his chest. Where hovering over his head was a single amber hued shard giving off a familiar glow. Which was no surprise since it was a shard from the Golden Crystal.

"It belongs to you." Mamoru told her as Ritsuko smiled,shaking her head. "It was
..long ago but that shard belongs to you. It took shelter in you for a reason Endymion. You are just as worthy as I am." Ritsuko told him with a warm smile, allowing the translucent flower to fade into her very being. But not before a sudden jolt rushed through her body. Ritsuko gasped as images of her dear friends Anemone,Eos,Helene and Demeter sprawled across the floor of the Golden Palace main hall.