Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, or any of its original characters. However, the characters of my creation belong to me, and cannot be used without my permission.
Sailor Moon:
Siblings of the Moon Saga
Part III
This story begins just after the Sailor Scouts teleport to the Arctic for their final assault against the Negaverse.
The Sailor Scouts and Lunar Knight surveyed the entire area. They couldn't find any sign of the Negaverse. Sailor Mercury activated her VR Goggles and Mini-Computer to scan the area. She reported to her friends that the volcano was producing the highest concentration of Nega-Energy.
"Listen guys, maybe we should come back some time in July, when it's not so cold," suggested Sailor Moon. She continued to shiver and her teeth continued to rattle as she held herself tightly to preserve heat.
"You Nitwit! We're at the North Pole! It's cold here all year around!" scorned Sailor Mars.
"Come on you guys. Knock it off," said Sailor Venus. "Any ideas on what we should do, gang?"
"You girls hang back for a while. I'm going to scout ahead. If I find anything, I'll double back and warn you, okay," said Lunar Knight.
The girls nodded and watched Lunar Knight dash over the dunes of snow. Once he was out of sight, Sailor Mercury gazed at her Mini-Computer again. When she gasped, the other Scouts immediately turned their attention to her. Sailor Mercury frantically typed the keys of her computer and tapped her VR Goggles as if she couldn't believe her readings.
"What is it, Mercury?" asked Sailor Jupiter.
"I lost Lunar Knight's signal. He just disappeared. There's no trace of him anywhere according to my scans," reported Sailor Mercury.
"What?!" exclaimed Sailor Moon. "We have to find him! The Negaverse already took Darien away from us. I won't allow them to take my brother too!"
"Sailor Moon's right," said Sailor Mars. "I say we show Queen Beryl exactly who she's dealing with."
"Which way do we go, Sailor Mercury?" asked Sailor Jupiter.
Sailor Mercury looked down at her Mini-Computer again to confirm her readings. Once she was certain, she disengaged her VR Goggles and put her computer away. Again Sailor Mercury confirmed the location of the volcano as the source of the largest amount of Nega-energy, as well as the most likely place to find Lunar Knight. The Sailor Scouts didn't manage to get too far before they ran into the Doom and Gloom Girls.
Lunar Knight raced across the snow dunes as fast as he could. He looked up at the volcano and looked at the dark violet mist rise into the air. Suddenly, Lunar Knight heard someone laughing. He stopped and searched the area around him. He didn't see anyone, not even the Sailor Scouts. He continued to breathe rapidly and his breath continued to expel in front of him.
Then, Lunar Knight noticed something very strange. The image of his breath in the cold air had stopped moving. It just seemed to be frozen in place. When he attempted to turn his head to look at the area surrounding him once more, a giant glowing red energy ball collided and absorbed him inside of it. The ball was moving faster than anything Lunar Knight had ever seen. Inside he could hear the sonic boom. He brought his hands up to ears to keep the sound out, but did so without success.
The ball came to stop, and so did the sound. The walls of the red sphere disappeared and he found himself staring at a black floor. He looked up around him, and found a structure similar to what he had seen back in the Starlight Tower. He had to be inside the Negaverse lair. Giant dark green vines climbed the walls, and only dull hues of red and blue light illuminated the room. Lunar Knight came to his feet, and continued to survey his surroundings.
"Hmm. No windows or doors," said Lunar Knight to himself. "Perhaps this is some sort of dungeon."
"Not quite, my dear prince," came a voice. Lunar Knight quickly searched the entire room. Then he realized the voice came from above. He glanced up and saw a balcony of some sort, and found a woman with red hair standing in it staring down at him. "It is in arena."
Suddenly brighter lights illuminated the room. Thousands of spectators were in the stands. They were all cheering and taunting Lunar Knight. He let his gaze return to the woman high above in the balcony. It was obvious she was the one in charge, and that led Lunar Knight to draw his conclusion.
"So, you must be, Queen Beryl," he said. "You'll forgive me if I don't bow. It's kind of hard to look up to a viper like you."
Queen Beryl who before had been smiling, was now upset by Lunar Knight's snide comments. The crowd was now booing Lunar Knight quite loudly. Queen Beryl raised her hand, and silence fell upon the room. She returned her attention to Lunar Knight and allowed the smile to reappear on her face. She snapped her fingers and an opening appeared on the wall in front of Lunar Knight.
"Lunar Knight," began Queen Beryl, "it seems that your former instructor, Nigel, did a poor job in teaching you proper etiquette when addressing royalty. Nevertheless, you will learn manners this day, boy. It will be the last lesson you ever learn!
"I hear you called yourself the Champion of the Moon. Well, it is time that we see how you truly fare against a true Champion. My champion, Prince Darien." The crowed erupted into cheers as Prince Darien emerged from the opening that had appeared in the wall on the arena floor. As he came to the center of the arena he bowed towards Queen Beryl, and remained on his knee until she instructed him to rise.
"I will not fight my friend, Beryl. You're going to have to find some other way to amuse yourself. No matter what, this fight is not going to happen," said Lunar Knight as he stared defiantly at Queen Beryl.
"Oh, is that so? Darien, attack!" commanded Queen Beryl.
Darien leaped into the air and drew his sword. Lunar Knight quickly jumped out of the way of the attack. By the time he was on his feet, Darien was coming towards him with a second attack. Lunar Knight ducked the swipe of the sword and rolled to his left. Again, Darien seemed to be right there coming at him with another attack. Lunar Knight leaped, quickly over Darien's head and started to run towards the wall. Darien was right behind him swiping his sword at Lunar Knight. Lunar Knight continued to run towards the wall. Immediately, Lunar Knight stepped on the wall, did a backwards flip in mid-air and extended his foot and kicked Darien in the back of the head. The force of the attack sent Darien's head into the wall. He fell to his knees, and grabbed his head.
"Beryl, stop this fight at once. No matter what, I will not draw my sword on Darien," said Lunar Knight.
"I think I have something that will change your mind, Prince Erick. Look there!" said Queen Beryl. Lunar Knight followed her finger and saw that she was pointing to… Sailor Jupiter! Sailor Jupiter was suspended from some sort of vine over one section of the crowd. She was wiggling trying to get herself free, but still was unable to.
"Sailor Jupiter!" shouted Lunar Knight surprised. "Let her go, Beryl! She has nothing to do with this!"
"That may be true, but neither does she!" said Beryl. This time she was pointing to the opposite side of the arena. There suspended in mid-air by a similar vine like Sailor Jupiter was Sailor Mercury. She too was trying to free herself. "You will fight Darien, Prince Erick. If you don't your Sailor friends will be torn to shreds by my minions of the Negaverse."
Lunar Knight saw that the creatures in the stands were reaching for the girls. They were clawing and swiping at the Scouts. Luckily, the girls were just out of their reach. Lunar Knight struggled with the decision. Would he fight Darien, his friend and his sister's greatest love, to the death? Or would he fight to save the lives of his friends, the Sailor Scouts.
"Lunar Knight!" shouted Sailor Jupiter. "Don't worry about us! We'll make it! Don't let her force you into the fight with Darien!"
"Jupiter's right," said Sailor Mercury. "She's just trying to distract you. She knows that you won't kill Darien. You'll only end up destroying yourself."
Lunar Knight drew his sword from his scabbard. He lifted his head into Queen Beryl's direction. "All right, Beryl. If it's a fight you want, then it's a fight you'll get." Lunar Knight turned to face Prince Darien who was ready for the battle to begin. Both warriors stared into the eyes of the other. Champion versus Champion. Good versus Evil. The only thing on each of their minds was survival and victory. The only question was who would survive?
Laughter erupted from Queen Beryl's mouth. "Let the games begin!" she commanded.
Lunar Knight and Prince Darien leaped into the air simultaneously. Their swords clashed in mid-air creating a bright flash of light. The two warriors landed on the ground opposite each other. They turned and ran at each other continuing the fight. Darien swung his sword low, forcing Lunar Knight to jump over the attack. Once Lunar Knight landed, he swung his sword at his opponent. Darien blocked the blow, and countered with his own. The two warriors continued to trade and block blows. The sounds of their swords clashing filled the arena, and the crowd cheered and bellowed at the warriors.
The two Sailor Scouts hanging in the air looked on in disbelief. How had it come to this? Two of their closest friends were fighting each other for their lives. There had to be some sort of way to stop this. Then, the two scouts noticed that they had company. A third vine slowly descended from the ceiling. On the end of it was Sailor Venus. She was between appeared to be dangling next to Sailor Jupiter, but not close enough to touch.
"Oh no! Sailor Venus, they caught you too!" said Sailor Jupiter disappointed.
"That means that only Sailor Mars and Sailor Moon are left," concluded Sailor Mercury.
"Hey, what's going on down there?!" exclaimed Sailor Venus. "Is that Lunar Knight and Prince Darien?" Sailor Venus turned to her friends searching for an answer. Their silence answered her question. Sailor Venus tried to wiggle herself free, but her attempts were also fruitless. Realizing that it was useless to escape, Sailor Venus turned her attention to the event below.
Prince Darien's sword came crashing down just to the right of Lunar Knight. The blade managed to rip through a portion of Lunar Knight's cape. Lunar Knight then leaped away from his opponent. When he landed, he focused his attention in the direction of his attacker. He found that Prince Darien was still on the other side of the arena floor holding up the portion of Lunar Knight's shredded cape. Lunar Knight also took this brief interlude to check the status of the Sailor Scouts hanging above the arena. He was shocked to find that Sailor Venus had joined her comrades suspended in the air.
"I almost got you that time," said Prince Darien. "I don't think you understand the danger of the situation. I'm trying to kill you. There's no turning back for me. I'm beyond the point of no return. So, I suggest you stop holding back, and give me everything you've got." Darien dropped the piece of cloth in his hand and a smiled started to spread across his face. "Or was that all you had to offer?"
Lunar Knight raised his sword and dashed towards Prince Darien. The Negaverse Champion also moved towards his opponent. As they approached each other, Lunar Knight leaped into the air and tilted his sword so that the light reflected of the blade and into Prince Darien's eyes. Darien quickly reacted to shield his eyes from the blinding light. Soon after, Lunar Knight's foot smashed into Darien's mouth. Prince Darien turned away, holding his jaw in his hand. In a fit of rage, Darien swung his sword wildly several times. One of his attacks managed to lightly graze Lunar Knight across his cheek. Lunar Knight grabbed for his face to check the wound. The wound wasn't bad at all. The only thing that was truly hurt was his pride. Especially when he turned to find Darien's blade near his throat.
"This is too bad. The Champion of the Moon is about to meet his maker, and he didn't even get a chance to say good-bye to his sister," taunted Darien. "You know what, I'll do you a favor. Just so you can be close to your sister one more time, I want clean your blood off of my sword. That way, both of your bloods can mingle together one last time and say good-bye when I slay her." Darien began to chuckle sinisterly, as the crowd cheered for their champion.
Lunar Knight swallowed very hard as he looked up at Prince Darien. Then, he noticed something just behind him. High above, Sailor Mars had appeared. She too was tied to a vine that hung high above arena. That meant the Sailor Moon was alone. There was no one left to protect her. She was on her own.
"Hurry, Darien. Finish him, so that we can move on to his little sister," commanded Beryl. Darien nodded and drew his sword back prepared to make his final thrust. "Farewell, sweet Prince," chimed Beryl.
At that point, Lunar Knight realized that it had to be now or never. He couldn't hold back any longer. He was unable to save Darien, but he still had a chance to save the Scouts and his sister. With one swift motion, Lunar Knight smashed his fist into Darien's jaw. The force of the punch made Darien fall back a few steps. Once he regained his balance he saw Lunar Knight charging him with incredible speed. Lunar Knight rammed his knee into Darien's stomach. Darien keeled over and then Lunar Knight grabbed the Moon Sword with both hands, and smashed the butt of the hilt into Darien's back. Darien then lay on the black floor motionless. Lunar Knight used his foot to turn Darien over on to his back. Lunar Knight drew his arm back, and began forced the point of the blade through Darien's chest.
Suddenly, Darien disappeared from the arena floor, and Lunar Knight only managed to drive his sword into the floor. Lunar Knight turned to face Queen Beryl and found Prince Darien beside her. "I knew it! I knew you were bluffing! You didn't think that I would try to kill Darien. Did you?" said Lunar Knight. "It's over, Beryl. Release the Sailor Scouts, now!"
Queen Beryl stood with a scowl on her face. Lunar Knight had called her bluff, and things were not working out as she had planned. "I have grown tired of this game! As a matter of fact, I have grown tired of you. I have another guest to entertain, Prince Erick. I'm sure you know whom. However, do not worry because my minions will keep you and the Sailor Scouts busy. Come Darien, let us greet the Moon Princess." In an instant, Queen Beryl and Prince Darien disappeared. The vines that held the Sailor Scouts loosened their grips and the Scouts all began to fall.
Realizing they were falling into the midst of the crowds, they all took advantage of powers to clear a landing area. After doing so, they all managed to make it to the center of the arena with Lunar Knight. They all stood back to back as the thousands of Nega-monsters surrounded them.
"What are we going to do?" asked Sailor Jupiter. "There has to thousands of them."
"We aren't doing anything. I want all of you to get out of here. I'll hold these guys off while you go find Serena. She's going to need your help to stop Queen Beryl," said Lunar Knight.
"Are you crazy?!" exclaimed Sailor Mars. "There's no way that you'd survive against this many opponents. We're not going to leave you helpless."
"Listen, Mars. I need you to trust me. The door, over there, on the wall," said Lunar Knight as he pointed to the opening. "I want you to take it, and find Serena. Understand?"
"But what about all these Nega-monsters?" asked Sailor Venus.
"I suggest you all start clearing a path towards the exit," said Lunar Knight. Then, he noticed the monsters were continuing to inch their way closer. "Hey, Jupiter, these guys are started to get excited. How about we give them something to really get excited about."
Sailor Jupiter nodded and knew exactly what to do. "Jupiter… Thunder… Crash!" called Jupiter. The wide attack of lightning caused a lot of the monsters to back off a few steps.
"Maybe I should clear the path a little then," suggested Sailor Mars. "Mars… Fire… Ignite!" The flames cleared the path of monsters from the Scout's position to the door. "Come on, guys. You heard Lunar Knight. We have to help Sailor Moon!"
Lunar Knight nodded at Sailor Mars for understanding his decision. Even if it was hard for her to follow those orders. Sailor Venus looked towards the balcony and shouted, "Venus… Crescent Beam… Smash!" Her crescent beam hit the balcony and it came crashing through the floor. A giant hole in the floor appeared, and red light appeared to be shining from it. Many of the monsters moved away from the hole, trying to avoid falling into it.
"They appear to afraid of that hole for some reason," observed Lunar Knight. "All right, girls, thanks for the help, but get moving."
"First, I'll give you a little cover to work with," said Sailor Mercury. "Mercury… Bubbles… Blast!" As Sailor Mercury launched her bubbles, it became hard for everyone to see. As the mist clouded the arena, the Sailor Scouts managed to slip through he exit and leave Lunar Knight alone with hundreds of Nega-monsters.
"Moon… Sword… Slash! Slash! Slash!" shouted Lunar Knight while hidden deep in the mist. After his attack cries, hundreds of screams were heard as three golden flashes of light moved around the arena. Eventually, the mist cleared and Lunar Knight found himself standing on a narrow bridge. All around him was an opening similar to hole Sailor Venus had created. Red light from below now illuminated the arena. Before Lunar Knight stood only one bat-like Nega-monster with very long fangs. The monster searched the room and was astonished to see that one man had forced all of his companions to fall into the pit.
The monster charged Lunar Knight along the narrow bridge. With his mouth open, saliva began to trail behind him. Lunar Knight smashed his fist into the monster's mouth. Several of the monster's teeth fell to the bridge and the monster lost his balance. He began to waive his arms to regain his balance. As he did so he looked at Lunar Knight, whom appeared to be amused. Lunar Knight blew in the direction of the monster and he fell into what seemed to be a bottomless pit.
Lunar Knight wasted no more time leaving the arena. He raced through the opening, and down the corridors. He managed to emerge in what seemed to be a central chamber. On the ground he saw one body, lying completely motionless. It was Darien. Lunar Knight walked towards the body. Something was different. For some reason, Darien didn't seem to be evil anymore.
Suddenly, the ceiling and the rest of the structure began to crumble. Lunar Knight looked at Darien once again, and made his decision. He leaned over and tossed Darien's body over his shoulder. "Come on, pal. Party's over. Let's go," said Lunar Knight. Then, as quickly as he could he ran in the direction which seemed to lead upwards. Soon, Lunar Knight saw an opening just ahead of him. After dodging falling debris and large boulders he was happy to make it out.
Lunar Knight inhaled the cold air of the Arctic. Then, he caught sight of what had to be completely horrifying. It was Queen Beryl, except she appeared to be about eighty feet taller. Her hair had an aqua blue appearance and she was wearing a red gown. Lunar Knight saw Princess Serena using her Crescent wand to fight the oversized Beryl. Then he heard her voice in his head. Calling to him for help. Lunar Knight placed Darien on the ground and drew the Moon Sword from its scabbard.
As the battle for control continued the other four Sailor Scouts emerged around Princess Serena. They were helping her. They were giving Serena their power to fight Beryl. On the cliff, just behind the Princess and the Scouts, Lunar Knight began waiving the Moon Sword in the air. As he did so, his clothes began to change as well. His armor was replaced with a white tuxedo, trimmed in gold. His crimson cape became silver. He had transformed into Prince Erick, of the Moon Kingdom.
Prince Erick heard his sister cry, "Cosmic… Moon… Power!" At that moment, he drove the blade of the Moon Sword into the ice before him and shouted "Lunar… Celestial… Wake!" A bright beam of energy erupted from the sword and into the crescent wand. That power, along with the power of the Sailor Scouts, exploded into a huge beam, which overtook Queen Beryl and them all. In the brightness of the light, everyone disappeared from the Arctic, and all was at peace.
Erick jogged down the sidewalk with his head staring at the ground. Suddenly, he saw a girl with blonde hair, which were shaped like meatballs on top of her head, rush past him. "Excuse me! I'm late!" shouted the girl. Erick stood to the side and watched the girl continue on her sprint. He smiled at the sight. "Good morning, Serena," he said to himself.
"Good morning, Erick. How are you?" came a voice from above. Erick turned to find two cats sitting on a fence. It was Luna and Artemis.
"Good morning, Luna. I'm fine under the circumstances," he responded.
"I hate the fact that the girls don't remember a thing. How is it that you retained your memory?" asked Artemis.
"Well, the Lunar Celestial Wake attack protected me from any recoil from either attack. That's why I was able to retain my memory."
"I know you must feel awful losing your sister again," said Luna.
"Actually, I know we'll find our way back to each other. We all will. The only thing that's important now, is that they're happy," said Erick with a smile. "Besides, I'll be becoming Serena's brother very soon."
"Oh really! How do you know!" asked Luna.
Erick reached into the pocket of his jogging suit, and pulled out some sort of paper. He held it out so that the cats could see. "You see, I've just been adopted by Serena's parents. I move in this weekend."
Smiles appeared on the faces of both cats. Then, Erick waved good-bye as he continued his jog. Only one thought seemed continued to run through his mind. He remembered the promise he made his mother. He would always protect his sister, and they would always stay together. Then, he began to feel as if he had forgot something. What could it be? He felt as if something were still missing. As if things still were not as they should be. He shrugged the notion off and continued his jog after deciding to take things one day at a time.