4. Breaking
Kanzeon chuckled as kneeling beside her pond, carefully caressed the tip of the only solid white Scared Lotus blossom bud in the entire pool. The fish flashed silver as they surfaced briefly where her hand was, wanting attention as well, but her eyes were on the second change in her surroundings. "What will you do now, niece?" she whispered thoughtfully, her fingers sliding down the side of the bud.
"What is going on?" Jiroshin asked, staying beside her usual throne and far from anything that may give him a headache.
"Now we are witnessing the consequences of a foolish Queen's attempt to use power that was not her own." Kanzeon purred pulling away from the slowly blossoming bud, watching it much like a stalking cat would an unsuspecting field mouse. "At least now I have something else to occupy my time."
Jiroshin looked like he wanted to cry with that admission.
The first to break the unusual silence was Serenity, of course. "You can try, but I can bind you just as my mother did since I am her daughter and I have her crystal." Serenity challenged with her nose in the air, slipping away from the mask of perfection.
"Believe what you will." Kanzen dryly retorted, barely repressing the urge to roll her eyes at Serenity's own delusions.
"Fine, I will." Serenity sneered turning to address each of her 'subordinates.' "Princess Mars and Princess Mercury, I demand to know that you are going to stand by your Princess?" she demanded in a haughty tone. The two turned away from her and silently made their way towards the door where they both paused by a now nervous Sapphire and leaned against the wall. "I will deal with you two traitors after I bind this foolish woman." With that she spun to face Jupiter and Venus, who were flanking a standing Tuxedo Kamen who still held a sobbing Chibi-Usa.
"We support you, Princess." He stated with a loving smile, the other two nodding. Serenity preened and turned around, pulling the man into a heated kiss.
"Ew, why would anyone want to kiss him? I need mouthwash just watching it." Usagi gagged covering her eyes, turning away from the nauseating scene before her. A moment later she let out an indignant squawk of surprise, arms flailing, when Diamond picked her up and thrown her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
"It is safer for all of us to be out of the line of fire, Usagi." Diamond dryly told her, a firm hand gripping the back of her thigh, carrying her towards the doors where her true friends were waiting.
"Now that the lines are drawn…" Kanzen chuckled reminding Serenity that she was still there. The Princess spun to glare at her for a moment before striding forward with head held high. "…it would be best to get this over with." She finished with a devious smirk that would have made her Aunt proud.
"Venus Crescent Beam…!"
Usagi, having been sat down by the doors, covered her mouth and watched with wide eyes at the fight taking place. Kanzen had taken to waging a silent war of attrition on the scouts, gracefully dodging the attacks like they were nothing. It had been a treat to see Venus's triumphant grin, the one she had while firing off all of her attacks, fall when her Crescent beam went wide of its mark. Kanzen had the gall, and sense of humor, to cheerfully wave at her afterwards. Then Jupiter decided to make the fight physical, assuming the Goddess was much like Usagi and lacked those skills.
"She didn't forget!" Usagi nearly squealed clapping her hands together and bounced up and down like a little kid.
"Forget what?" Mars asked, not daring to tear her eyes away from the odd scene before them. Kanzen was literally dancing around a frustrated and growling Jupiter, who was getting sloppier the more the fight wore on.
"Before the Serenity Ordeal I was taking kendo lessons and secretly dancing lessons to help improve my footwork, she used to help me practice in my sleep." Usagi admitted biting her lip, glancing at her friends. Mercury had taken out her hand-held computer again and looked to be recording the fight, which drew the blonde's curiosity. "Declaring this YouTube material for live-action cosplaying?"
"Later study?" Mercury squeaked out, blushing. Sapphire just chuckled from over her shoulder, admiring the screen resolution. Usagi swore he was checking her friend out, since normal people interested in computers didn't stand that close with a hand that low on another's hip. She filed that away for later, turning her attention back to the fight.
"Venus Love Chain Encircle!" Venus practically shrieked out, face twisted into a mask of frustration and anger, flicking her wrist. The orange chain of hearts cut through the air and an impossible rate towards the two fighters. Kanzen took in a deep breath and fell back, the chain skimming over her head only to ensnare a now angry Jupiter.
"I'm on your side, Venus!" Jupiter snarled struggling valiantly to get free. Venus panicked and tried to loosen the chain, leaving Kanzen to crab walked from between them and safely get back to her feet. Brushing dust from her clothes she turned and smirked at Serenity, who was frowning.
At some point Tuxedo Kamen and let Chibi-Usa down and decided to do something to help the scouts.
"Tuxedo the Smoking Bomber!" Tuxedo Kamen bellowed thrusting his hand out, looking pleased when his attack hit her straight on. The smoke cleared minutes later and Kanzen was staring at him oddly, unhurt, and rather bored. The struggle behind her ceased and both were coughing, cursing Tuxedo Kamen's timing.
"Jupiter Oak Revolution!" Jupiter snarled whirling on Kanzen, who took a deep breath and let the lightning attack pass straight through her and into a surprised Tuxedo Kamen. He went flying a good ten feet back, electrocuted and knocked out with his clothes slightly smoking. "How…?" she sputtered out, ghostly pale.
Serenity glared at Kanzen..
"Holy shit." A shocked Sapphire summed up in the moment of silence. None of them had expected Kanzen to be able to do that, which meant she had been playing around with the Princess's loyalists letting them believe that they actually had a chance to defeat her.
"It looks like I will have to finish this." Serenity sneered summoning her Mother's crystal, letting it pulse between her hands with a smug look. "Moon Cosmic Power!" she intoned raising the crystal above her head.
It began to glow with power and then blossomed; to those present it seemed that time itself came to a standstill…
Kanzen stood straight glaring coldly at Serenity and the cursed crystal, that had blossomed into a perfect crystal rose, gathering power till it pulsed with a pink aura that covered everything in the room. When the aura touched her it immediately tried to bind her own aura, but she fought against it every bit as hard as she did against Queen Serenity all those centuries ago. It was trying to tempt her to relax, to give in… Kanzen took in a deep breath and closed her eyes, focusing inward on all those lessons that he had taught her.
She had lost then because she had been attacked on all sides, preventing her from focusing on her fight for her freedom… it wouldn't work this time.
"Venus Love Me Chain Encircle!" Venus shouted, seeing Kanzen was distracted, letting out a cry of triumph when her chain wrapped around the woman. Luckily Kanzen didn't lose her focus.
She would not fall again! She would not be bound to this figment's weak whims. Above all else she could not let anything happen to Usagi.
"Give in! You are weak in the face of the most powerful era of this universe." Serenity cackled pushing more power into the crystal. Kanzen grit her teeth, digging deeper into her powers frantically looking for a way to even the odds before Tuxedo Kamen or Jupiter recovered enough to take further advantage of her in her distracted state.
"Jupiter…" was all she heard before the room seemed to fall silent without reason. She looked around, people were moving rather slowly but she heard nothing.
Embrace us, Daughter. A chorus of voices whispered in her mind. She gasped closing her eyes when soothing tendrils of wild power writhed around her, brushing back her hair and caressing her face like a mother would a troubled child. Her eyes slid shut, the touch a surprise after so long bound in solitude. Embrace us for the safety of your own child, for the safety of all that were lost to this madness… it whispered urgently. She bit her lip and tried to force herself to think the situation through, but the only thing that came to mind was what she wanted and the lesser of the two evils.
On one hand she was nearly being bound again and on the other a faceless entity wanting something.
If you screw me over, I reserve the right to commit suicide. She mentally promised. The chorus of voices all laughed and she embraced the wild power without another moment of hesitation, letting her control drop and the wild power into her body.
"…Revolution!" Jupiter finished before something large and heavy crashed to the ground. A few breaths later Kanzen heard the crackle of lightning that barely missed her. Opening her eyes she stared into Serenity's eyes, glittering with the same insanity that she remembered seeing in Queen Serenity's before blacking out. "Mars, what the hell?"
"Good shot." Usagi cooed clapping her hands. "Can you each me archery?" she eagerly asked. Kanzen could almost see the blonde bouncing up and down, eyes wide and hopeful with hands clasped in front of her.
"Do you give up yet?" Serenity shouted after the crystal between her hands released a secondary pulse. Kanzen took in a deep breath and felt the wild power twining around her aura, seeping into her body. With what was left of her control she smiled at the Princess, who frowned. Then the wild power, now forever a part of her, pushed against the chain of hearts that kept her in place and shattered it. Venus stumbled, eyes wide.
"Good bye, figment." Kanzen solemnly announced snapping her fingers, her power pulsing out. The crystal between Serenity's hands exploded, the shards became embedded into her delicate hands. She fell back into the waiting arms of a worried Tuxedo Kamen, sobbing in pain. Kanzen glanced at the two scouts that had been fighting her, only to see that both had been knocked out with a glaring Mercury and Mars standing over their prone forms.
"We will keep them in line." Mars snorted dusting her hands off. Kanzen's gaze strayed from them to a worried Usagi flanked by a nervous Diamond and Sapphire. The blonde then grinned evilly, flashing a double thumbs up towards her. She turned her attention back to the injured Serenity and glaring Tuxedo Kamen, ignoring the nervous Chibi-Usa who was wringing her hands far behind the couple.
"The Queen didn't tell you that the Ginzuishou was created to gather my power, that with the proper training anyone could use it to keep me weak and compliant, and then to focus it into an attack. You used the final bits of my power that Queen Serenity had stored into it, then I changed and that makes it a worthless bunch of glass shards." Kanzen pointed out rather with a condescending smirk. The wild power gather again, shaped by her unconscious wishes, ready to explode outwards. "With that said it is now time to lay the Silver Millennium to rest." She uttered and brought her hands up, as if to clap.
"No!" Chibi-Usa howled lunging forward. Kanzen clapped her hands together, the power that had gathered exploding in kaleidoscope that only had shades of gray and white.
The chill of the future was gone, replaced by the heat of a rather humid summer night. With that in mind Kanzen finally let her body fully relax and the heaviness of her new power settled back into its dormant state, much like a cat would for a nap now that its host no longer on the edge of being bound again. "It seems Queen Serenity did more to me then I could imagine." She muttered palming her face, ignoring the five confused school girls and young man waking up from what had just happened.
"Thank you!" Usagi squealed hugged the unsuspecting Goddess, burying her face into a silk clad shoulder. Kanzen blinked and awkwardly returned the embrace. "You didn't have to…"
"It would have been wrong of me to rob you of a life you lived for over a decade." The platinum haired woman admitted, feeling a bit uneasy since the teen had yet to let her go. After a tense minute or two, which Kanzen spent watching Mamoru and the other four teenage girls get to their feet, Usagi finally let her go and stepped back a few steps. "That and my Aunt wants to meet you, so more people to share the pain of that insanity the better." Usagi still had tears of happiness running down her face, with her hands clasped in front of her. "Your parents do love you, no matter the changes you went through."
Usagi's next statement was lost because the weight of what just happened hit the other girls and former Prince of Earth, who just slinked off and away from the soon-to-be arguing females. "How could you do this to us?" Minako shrieked getting to her feet and stormed up to Usagi.
"Your life, and its decisions, are now your own and not ruled by a failed past." Kanzen sternly told Mina, who turned to glare venomously at her. "You are free to live normal lives without the need to be superheroes, to give up the fun of your younger years and your future dreams."
"Excuse me, Kanzen-sama." Rei cautiously butted in. Kanzen glanced at her, noting the shrine maiden was standing tall with her hands folded in front of her and a confident look replacing her nervous expression. "Do you require a place to rest for the time being?" she asked in a clear, calm, and respectful tone.
'I can see why Usagi respects her. She knows when the manners should be used, shrine maiden or not.' Kanzen mused nodding to the black haired girl. "After I escort Usagi home and introduce myself to her parents."
"Why not stay with us?" Usagi asked looking between the two, ignoring Mina was now fuming. "Oh, right. Damn it. It would be hard to explain to them about how we know one another, age difference or not." She pouted crossing her arms like a petulant child. Ami giggled and Rei cracked a smile at the act.
"I'm going home and thinking about this." Makoto announced, feeling like an outsider in the talk and quickly left.
"See you tomorrow at school, Makoto!" Usagi called out waving at the brunette, who had paused long enough to turn and wave before taking off running. "Now Mina, before I start interrogating Kanzen here, you can formally lodge all of your complaints with a party that gives a damn. Good night and I hope a flight of wraiths send you screaming to your insanity." She cheerfully informed her soon-to-be former friend.
"Bitch!" Mina shouted, like it was a proper insult to throw in Usagi's face, and stormed away.
"Me thinks she is living in denial." Usagi sang turning back to everyone. "So, what's next on the list of topics?"
"I would be honored to offer you a room at our temple, Kanzen-sama." Rei formally told the woman with a bow, acting like Mina hadn't just shouted a profanity at Usagi.
"I accept your offer only if you do not mind the fact that my Aunt will be visiting within the next few days, Shrine Maiden Hino." Kanzen replied with a cringe. Rei stood straight, eyes wide covering her mouth with one hand, at the prospect of a true Goddess gracing the temple.
"That is fine, it is just…" she trailed off, mind still reeling at the fact that she would get to meet two real live deities.
"I will bring over some old tests on Friday, Usagi, so we can get a handle on how much you were forced to repress." Ami told Usagi with a laugh, brushing some hair from her eyes. "Other than that I should probably head home as well incase Mother is worried. I will see you early tomorrow morning for a review time?" she asked tilting her head to the side in question. Usagi just smiled, flashing a thumbs up.
Ami left and Usagi led Rei and Kanzen in another direction.
The blossom had fully bloomed, as perfect as her pink Sacred Lotus flowers, and Kanzeon had descended into laughter as she realized just what fun her niece would bring to the table for years to come. "With the unrest here, especially with the new War Prince, it looks like I won't be bored for awhile." She impishly declared as Jiroshin palmed his face while muttering about warning Konzen and Kanzen about the new developments.
Rose: In the manga and the anima it would be described as blossoming into a 'water lily' or 'lotus' but for the sake of this I was trying to separate the two cultures. From my opinion, and considering this crossover, rose fit the Western style Moon Kingdom with its chivalry and style while the Lotus is more prevalent in Buddhism and Saiyuki.
A/N: Guess what? I believe we are entering Saiyuki territory in the next part! I figured I would put this up as is, since I just got it done, and look it over tomorrow for any issues. If you spot a major one leave it in a review and I will fix it... complete with a thank you! There shouldn't be any glaring ones, but I wrote it and am biased.
