He ran his eyes over her, coming to rest on her wrists. 'Oh. Oh no. No, no, no, no. Please not this. Anything but this. Please no.'
But suddenly the energy from the bracelets started to flow through her, giving her back her life. As the energy coursed through her she pleaded once more, "Please."
"I... I.. I can't. Gomen Odango. I just can't kill you. You are my love now, then and forever I will never do anything to harm you, even like this."
As the energy finally completed its course she looked up at him, disgust reflected in her eyes and voice.
"You always were a sympathetic fool Seiya. You couldn't kill anyone you loved, even if they were lost to you forever." Slowly rising from her position on his lap, she walked over to join Mamoru.
"How could you do this to her?!" Seiya asked, exasperated. "You loved her, treasured her. But..But now you've killed her."
"You are wrong Seiya, I love her. I treasure her. I never stopped loving her. As for the killing her, no I haven't. She has been reborn to us, to me. Now I know that she is mine completly. I don't have to worry about looking over my shoulder for you or turning her around, just in case you lurked behind the next corner to take her away from me. You may be the one in her memory, but I will be the one in her heart from now on." Mamoru looked down at Sailormoon a satisfied smirk on his face.
"How can you say such things when you knew all along that you were in the wrong? How can you go on now knowing that her love will be artificial? That you killed her. Took her soul." Seiya questioned slowly inching forward.
"Enough," a blast of energy released from Sailormoon's hand knocks Seiya back into the wall of energy. "I'm bored with this. When can we go have some fun, love?"
"Soon, Usako, soon." Mamoru said as he looked at Seiya. "I have some things I have to take care of first."
"So what are you going to do to me now? You've already taken my heart what else can you take from me?" Seiya looked defiantly at Mamoru.
"Your life."
"My life means nothing without her. So if you kill me it will be a favour to me."
"Oh, but I wasn't going to just kill you. I was going to make you suffer. You should know by now that I don't do favours." Mamoru smirked at him.
"So what are you going to do to him? Oh, please let it be fun!" Sailormoon giggled at the thought of her Mamo-chan having so much fun in what he was about to do.
"Wait and see. Wait and see." He answered as he advanced on Seiya.
"Fighter Star Power... Make-up!"
"Now the fun begins." Mamoru announced as Seiya's transformation finished.
Fighter corrected him as she leaped over a blast of energy, "No, now the odds are even Mamoru-kun."
As the Senshi rushed to where Mercury had pinpointed the large amounts of energy, Sailormoon's scream reached their ears. As the knowledge of what their Mamoru had just done registered in their minds, a feeling of dread washed over them. They knew that Mamoru would not kill Usagi, but knew what he had done to her to keep her away from Seiya.
"No..... Usagi! Don't leave us!" Tears flowed freely from Mars' eyes.
"She can't leave us! We need her." Minako whimpered.
"Neko-chan." Uranus looked up to the star's as she slowly favored the fist she was retrieving from the concrete wall of the closest building.
"C'mon guys we have to go now or we'll never get her back." Mercury looked back at the other's as she continued down the alley.
"Mamo-chan leave some for me. You can't hog all of the fun." Sailormoon whined as she looked at the severly beaten Star Fighter.
"And why not?" Mamoru looked over at Sailormoon, a slight sweat breaking out on his brow.
Sailormoon put on a sad little puppy face as she answered him, "Because it's not fair, you always get all the fun."
"Now you know that that isn't true Usako. But you can't risk your powers yet, you must get used to them first."
Sailormoon just looked over at him with a pout as she contemplated what he was saying. "Your right. If I tried anything I might break a nail or something. I think I'll just sit by and watch."
Seiya looked over to where Sailormoon had materialized a lounge chair to sit on. "Usagi, please listen to me. This isn't right, you should not be doing this, you know somewhere inside of you that he does not truly love you. He's only-" She screamed as a mass of unbridled energy lanced through her, leaving her battered body virtually unresponsive on the ground.
The sound of healed boots furiously clicking over the hard concrete made its way to Fighters semi-consious state. She opened her eyes to see a pair of white boots in front of her face. One lifted to sit on her bleeding shoulder, sending a stinging sensation throughout her body as dirt entered the wound. Pressure was roughly applied forcing Fighter to roll onto her tortured back. Somewhere in the background a large explosion could be heard, ignored by Fighter as her vision blurred and swam before her eyes before she was able to collect herself and numb her mind from the pain as best she could.
"Heed my warning Star Senshi. Never talk down to me about someone I love like that. Ever. Or you will face the full force of my wrath." Sailormoon bent down to squat by Fighter's head, carefully placing her index finger onto her forehead. A sadistic smile replaced her set frown as she sent a series of dark energy bolts coursing through the battered body like lightning. Fighter screamed in pain as this new assult tore her last bit of strength from her.
Slowly, with her fading strength she lifted a hand towards Sailormoon's face. "Usa-chan." A sad smile crossed her face. "Thank you." Her hand dropped onto her chest and as her eyes closed she saw the pain flash through the void cerulean eyes above her before she finally faded into the forgiving black of unconciousness.
The remaining senshi had finally located the abandoned warehouse that held their friends. As they looked upon it they saw no windows or doors, just solid walls of concrete and metal.
"So what do we do now?" Venus asked as she turned back to the rest of the group. "How are we to get in?"
"Mercury, could you possibly do a scan of what's behind the walls? Make sure there's nothing behind them?" Maker asked, turning to the blue haired senshi beside her. Her words soon followed by frantic typing as the other senshi visably wincing at every scream they heard from inside.
"Just give me a minute and I'll see what I can do." Quickly she brought her hand up to her ear to gently press on her earring, actvating her visor to aid her mini-computer. A few agonizing minutes passed before she closed her computer and deactivated her visor. "They're all on the other side of the building. They'll be fairly safe from the debris."
Maker gave a small smile to Mercury showing her that they had both had the same thoughts. Turning back to the wall, she braced herself for her attack. "Star Gentle Uterus!"
The wall burst inward immediatly under the force of the attack sending varying shapes of concrete hurtling to the ground. Quickly the group rushed into the new opening, fear of it closing somehow before they could save their friends. Once gathered inside they paused to allow the dust to settle somewhat before venturing forth into the new unknown. Now as they waited the steady beat of wide heeled shoes echoed around them as the dust slowly parted forming a path to the oncoming terror.
Endymion's head shot up as the blast came through the wall, a thick wall of dust shrouding everyone and everything from sight. Growling in anger of this disturbance he started forward towards the intruders, drawing out the inevitable meeting. As he came to a safe enough distance he flicked his wrist in an off-hand manner, the settling cloud before him parting to show his allies-now-adversaries. He looked the group over with a raised eyebrow and a slightly cocked mouth, a small snort of amusement leaving his lips.
"So now I am to be graced with the presence of the rest of you loyal pests. The bumbling fools who make up Serenity's court. Great. You do realize it's immpossible to get her back don't you? She can and will resist every attempt any of you try to reason with her. And if you don't believe me, look at the proof." He swept his arm out in an exaggerated fashion, removing the dust covering Usagi and Fighter. An audible gasp rang through the gathered force, and Endymion dodged the oncoming attack from a rather.... miffed Uranus. He chuckled to himself 'Miffed is putting it lightly.'. "Like I said earlier. She is mine and mine alone. She trusts no one but me."
"You can't do this Mamoru! You can take her freedom from her like that. She deserves the right to choose her own path. You cannot choose for her!" Mars pleaded with him.
"You will never address me so informally again Mars. I am Endymion, Prince of this planet. Mamoru no longer exists!"
"Does it really look like we care for details at this point? We came here for our friends and since you are not willing to give them back to us, it looks like we may just have to resort to violence to have them returned." Healer voiced, her tone edged with annoyance. "Star sensitive inferno!!!!" The large round of blasts raced towards their target, before coming in contact with an equal amount of black energy, thus creating a huge explosion, throwing Healer into the wall behind her.
"Damn you! Star gentle uterus!" The next blast was off in the same direction as the other, this one hitting some sort of shield and rebounding back towards Maker, who managed to leap over her own attack before it hit.
"Enough of these simple tricks. I'm tired of waiting for you to actually try and hit me." He let out a short chuckle before sending out a series of black energy spheres towards the senshi.
The spheres passed through Saturn's silence wall, making her the second to be thrown back into the wall, landing beside healer with a groan. As the rest hit, the other senshi were all thrown back as well, some with less force than the others, while all managed to maintain consiousness by a small thread.
Endymion began to move forward, edging in for the final blow. "You people really are pathetic. How you could have survived this long already is beyond me. But I'm here to put an end to this farce, once and for all." He stopped in his path, gathering his energy for his last attack on the Senshi.
"Endymion!" A voice seethed with barley repressed anger. Endymion had frozen in his movements his focus lost, all of his attention now on the new voice.
The air shimmered a few feet back from him, taking on a black tinge as the entity solidified into a human-like figure. He turned his head to face the new comer, the rest of his body following suit as he knelt on the ground, head bowed.
"Galaxia-sama," he looked up towards her face. "What brings me the pleasure to have you join me here?"
"You. You have betrayed me. You took my bracelets without my permission, bracelets infused with my power, and you use them on a being that is slowly draining me of said power. And now you waste your energy, the energy I gave you, from my body, to kill these.... senshi without removing their shines?"
"Bu-"
"Do not interupt me!" She fairly hissed the words to him. Her eyes scanned the downed senshi before she turned her head towards Sailormoon and Fighter. "So that is who my power can not corrupt so easily." She made a small gesture with her left hand, Sailormoon's star seed appearing in it seconds later. Slowly she contemplated the object in her grasp. "So, the Moon Princess has been taken. Baka!" She aimed the last word at Endymion, her eyes still rivited on Sailormoon as she seemingly reached out with her free hand, a set of the golden bracelets soon occupying it as the senshi gawked at the slowly fading Endymion. "The Moon Princess is to pure to corrupt! She is not one to be conquered. Her body and soul would take extreme amounts of time to twist to our ways. As it is now, the power of Choas can't even scratch her surface! She is feeding off of that power for life, nothing more. And the more she fights the weaker I will become! I may be holding the brightest shine in all of the galaxies, but I cannot let it exist any longer. This must be put to an end. Now."
Sailormoon turned to face Galaxia. "I will not allow that to happen. Silver moon! Crystal power!" As her energy focused above her head, Galaxia let our an almost feral snarl, her hand closing over the delicate star seed in her hand.
"Usagi-chan! No!" Fighter's voice from behind her echoed through the room, barely grazing her level of focus on the task at hand.
"Kiss!" The light lanced towards the gold clad figure as the sound of glass shattering over powered everything else.
As the light died, the full extent of the damage was reveled. The senshi looked on, first noticing the prone body of a long golden haired female sprawled out on the hard ground, miniscule shards of something glass like, glittering around her. Almost hesitantly they looked towards their leader, only to find the spot where she was standing vacant. As they looked closer to the ground they could see Fighter, openly crying into a mess of silvery gold hair. Hair that was slowly fading out along with the rest of the body.
Her eyes opened into little slits, letting a bare minimum of light in. She had awoken, fully healed from Sailormoon's 'attack', to harsh words being thrown about the room, mainly in her direction. As she opened her eyes fully she could see Sailormoon standing in front of her, Eternal Tier being pulled into use once again. She knew what was happening as she glanced over to the target of the coming attack, keeping her growl inside. She saw the star seed in Galaxia's hand. Saw her hand closing over it as Sailormoon began her attack.
Something snapped and she reached out towards her tenshi, "Usagi-chan! No!" But her words went unheeded as the last fragment of her attack phrase was uttered. The light sped towards it target, but through the specticle she could hear the shattering of glass. Moments later she was falling backwards, moving quickly under her, catching her near the ground. As she cradled the tenshi's head in her arms, tears flowed freely down her face.
"Why? How? By the gods don't leave me now. Onegai, don't leave me."
A gentle smile began forming on Sailormoon's lips. "Now you can find your princess and rebuild your planet without any more problems." She flickered for a moment, the bracelets disappearing from her wrists. "Chaos couldn't control me."
"Then why the mask? Why pretend?"
"Forgive me Seiya for hurting you. It broke my heart to see you in pain. I felt every blow as if it were me. But I couldn't risk Mamo-... Endymion killing us all." Her body flickered again, this time staying translucent, her transformation faded as what looked like little silver balls of fluff began to rise from her. She looked over to the fallen body of Galaxia, then back to Fighter. "Promise me you'll protect her. Show her the way home, to where she belongs. Show her friendship. She'll need it now more than ever." She lifted her hand and placed it on Fighter's cheek, Fighter's own coming to cover it.
"I promise to do whatever I can."
Her smile fluttered. "Protect your Princess. Your friends. And remember that I love you. I always will." Her hand fell from it's resting place as she faded out completely.
"Usagi!!!!!" She screamed her name to the heavens, the last syllable ending in a sob. She could hear the others crying as well and it hurt her even more. They had just lost everything to them. Their Princess. Their leader. But most important, their best friend. She was the one who had befriended them when no one else would. And now she was gone. Sacrificed to save her friends.
A pained groan was uttered from a small distance away. Fighter looked up to see Galaxia begin to move. Apparently she wasn't the only one because suddenly Uranus was back on her feet, heading towards the woman with a vengeful glint in her eyes. Remembering her promise she lifted herself to her feet and moved to intercept the oncoming senshi.
"Out of my way."
"No."
"She just killed your love, our princess and now you're protecting her?!"
"I made a promise to protect her. A promise to your princess. And the only way that promise will not be fufilled is over my dead body."
"Sailormoon told you to protect her?"
"She made me promise. So I suggest you back off before you go against your own princesses wish." Fighter turned and knelt down beside Galaxia, ignoring whatever Uranus had to say next. Helping her into a sitting postion she sat down fully beside her. "Are you alright?"
"H-Hai. I think so." She looked down at the ground. "Thank you for doing that. I know you didn't have to." She looked around at the grieved faces around her, a tear trailing down her face followed by a thousand more. "I can't believe I did this. How could I do this? I'm supposed to protect life not destroy it. But ever since I sealed Chaos I've done nothing but destroy." She noticed the tiny pieces around her, and looked up into Fighter's face. "She's gone, isn't she?"
"Hai."
"I'm so sorry. I haven't been able to control myself. I sealed Choas within me. It was the only way. But then my body slowly began to rot as Chaos took control. I-I couldn't stop it!" Her hands flew up to her face as sobs racked her body. A pair of arms wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her into a warm body. "I'm so, so sorry."
"It wasn't your fault really. Like you said, it was Chaos' doing. Your body yes, but Chaos' soul."
Beside them a small pink light grew in intensity, gaining Galaxia's attention. "Ahh, so you have returned little one." Sailor ChibiChibi stepped forward, the light dispelling. Galaxia opened her arms to the small child, wrapping her in a gentle, loving hug when ChibiChibi went to her. "I am so sorry I had to send you away. I promise I won't ever do it again. Though I am glad you found these wonderful people to take care of you." She murmmered into the puff of pink hair before pulling back slightly. "But tell me my little shine, why have you returned?"
ChibiChibi stepped away from Galaxia and looked at the seemingly sparkling floor. She brought her hands together and bowed her head before the pink glow from before encircled her once again. Slowly the shards began to rise, concentrating in front of her. A silver light grew around the gathered pieces and blended with the pink. A moment later a dark red glow appeared and entertwined with the other two. The red began to solidify, forming the shape of a tall woman.
From their different positions across the room, three senshi uttered one disbelieving word, "Princess!?"
The woman smiled and nodded her head slightly, acknowledging her senshi. The silver light pulsed in front of her forming an unconcious Usagi in her arms. Fighter was up and in front of her Princess in a second, her eyes skimming the limp body in her arms.
"Fighter." Her face showed a great amount of saddness towards the torn senshi before her.
"Hai?"
"You'll take good care of her won't you?" With that she placed Usagi in Fighters arms and knelt down beside the smallest senshi. "Thank you ChibiChibi-chan. You protected me until you knew the time was right." She brushed the small girls bangs back, placing a light kiss on her forehead. "And now I think it's time to return this to where it belongs, ne?" The Fireball Princess took great care in receiving the gift from the child. Carefully she stood up to face Fighter again, focusing on Usagi. She lifted her hands up towards the girl and the brilliant star seed returned to it's eternal resting place.
"Arigatou." Cautiously Fighter sat down with her precious bundle, setting her in her lap.
She was brushing a few stray hairs off of her face when Usagi began to stir. She opened her eyes, to find Fighter's anxious face hovering above her. "Fighter." she whispered before looking around her.
It was when their Princess said that one word that the other eight senshi gathered around them, the inners hugging her while the outers just sat back and smiled, knowing everything was going to be alright.
After a few minutes, Usagi, pushed herself off of Fighter's lap and up onto her feet, moving towards the Starlights' Princess. "Arigatou."
"No, thank you Princess. You accepted and protected my senshi without hesitation, when you didn't know of their origins or mission."
Usagi blushed, a bit embarressed by this assesment. She then turned and made her way down to ChibiChibi, wrapping her in a large embrace. "Arigatou ChibiChibi, without you I'd be lost forever." She then moved towards Galaxia. "Galaxia-san? Are you alright now?"
"I'll never be 'alright' again Usagi-san. But I have been healed and I have you to thank for that. I am truly sorry for everything I have done to you, and everything else. But I'm afraid I don't know what to do now."
"Guide everyone home safely. They will all be forgiving, you'll see."
"Arigatou, Sailormoon." She stood up and beckoned to ChibiChibi. "Come my little shine, we have much work to do." With that the thousands of collected star seeds surrounded the two and dissappeared again as they did themselves.
All except one.
One golden coloured star seed floated in the air above them before it shimmered and Mamoru appeared before a number of angry senshi.
"Minna! There will be no fighting!" Usagi turned to Mamoru. "Mamoru," she shut her eyes in painful rememberance. When they opened again they glistened with unshed tears. "How could you? I trusted you. And you used that trust. I don't think I'll ever be able to trust you again."
He stood there before his jury, waiting for the judge to hand down her sentance. "Mamoru, because I can no longer trust you with the protection of me or my court I cannot have you using your powers any longer. From this day forth you are no longer Prince of Earth. This planet will be gaurded by the senshi of this solar system. You will return to your normal life, but will retain no memories of any of the past few years." A tear escaped her hold. "Goob-bye Mamoru-san." She waved a hand over his face, his expression going blank before he fell limply to the ground.
"Usagi-chan are you sure about that?" Rei questioned, coming up from behind her friend.
"Hai. I couldn't do anything else. He betrayed all of us and his planet, therefore he no longer deserves the title of the protector of the Earth."
"Neko-chan is right. Too many times he has failed, and this one was the last time."
Slience reigned over the room before Kakyuu spoke. "Healer, Maker, I believe it's time to leave." Fighter looked at his princess, puzzled by her exclusion of her. "Fighter, you must remain here with your Princess. She needs you now more than ever. We'll be back to visit, I promise. Now Healer, Maker, we'd best be going."
"Iie. Gomen Kakyuu-hime, demo, we belong here with Fighter and the other senshi." Maker said as she stood rooted to her spot.
Kakyuu seemed to think it over in her head a minute before a smile reappeared on her delicate face. "I know you belong here and I respect your decision. Good luck to all of you. And if you care to return, even for a shot visit, we will welcome any and all of you with open arms."
Usagi looked to the other Princess, nodding at the invitation. "As you and your people are welcome here as well. We all wish you a safe trip home and good luck in the coming times with the rebuilding of your planet."
"Arigatou Princess. I hope to be seeing you in the near future. Sayonara." She turned from them and her body shimmered before she was no longer before them.
"And I believe many thank you's are needed here too. Thank you all for everything. You really are to kind to me."
"You know it's our duty and our pleasure to help you whenever it's needed Usagi. Don't ever forget that. We're just glad to have you back."
"Gomen Neko, but I believe it's time for us to be going." The four outer senshi turned. "We'll be around when you need us next." With a wink Uranus and the others left the building, walking down the allyways into the night.
"I guess it's time for us to leave too. but what about Mamoru-san?" Jupiter questioned.
"He will awaken in time. He will remember everything except for any details relating to us as senshi or as civilians. To him, we're just another face in the crowd." She reached over and grasped Fighter's hand, squeezing it lovingly. "But you are right Jupiter, it's time to leave." The other's nodded, detransforming and leaving the building far behind them.
"So what now Odango?" Seiya looked over to her raising a question that had lingered on his mind since the day they defeted Galaxia a few weeks ago.
They were standing on a bridge over looking the water as it reflected the midnight moon. Usagi was leaning on the rail, her arms crossed on it, while Seiya stood beside her, an arm draped casually yet protectively over her shoulders.
"Now we live in the peace we have for so long sought and fought for. And we live as we should. As normal teenagers." She paused and her face scrunched in scrutiny as she looked at him. "Though, I wouldn't exactly call you normal."
He looked down at her, mock hurt etching his face. "And what, pray tell do you mean by that?"
"Exactly how it sounds."
"Why you-" He reached down to grab her, only to find she had already slipped from his grasp. He looked around only to find her giggling a few feet away, the moonlight playing off her hair giving her a surreal aura. "Get back here!"
"Have to catch me first!" She bounded off across the park, staying just out of his reach as he chased after her.
As she cast a look behind her, she stopped suddenly confused at where her pursuer had disappeared too. She screamed in suprise as pair of stong, yet familar arms wrapped around her and hoisted her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Hey put me down!" She yelled into his shirt before being dropped uncerimoniously on the ground. "Ouch! What was that for?"
He kneeled on one knee bowing before her. "Her highness commanded to be put down and I must obey all her commands." She giggled again at his humour, before she found her lips captured within his own.
Pulling back, he looked at her, love for her filling his eyes, radiating through his entire being. "I love you. Now and for eternity."
"As I will always love you." They kissed once more before laying on their backs and gazing at the stars.
Swiftly Usagi moved from her postion, claiming his lips while she began to mercilessly tickle his sides.
"S-Stop th-that!" When his words went unheard, he pushed hiself up and over, thus taking the same position she had just had and began to subject her to her own medicine. "Do not start that which you cannot win." Her laughter rang through the night air like a light melody on the wind.
One other person was within the distance to here the melody and as he looked over to the couple he smiled, feeling a pull of recognition, but dismissing it as nothing more than coincidence. So off the raven-haired man left, his midnight eyes showing some of the warmth and love he had just witnessed, a smile tugging at his usually tight features.
There, finally got the next chapter out. I am soooooooo sorry for the extremly long wait. But now it's finished so no more waiting!!!! Yay! My first completed multi-chapter fic!!! No, I'm not crazy, insane maybe, crazy, no. Never. Really! I'm not crazy! (Please excuse me, I'm on a sugar high, and I'm tired. I wrote the majority of this chapter today and it's taken me until now (12:47am) to finish it, so i'm allowed to be odd! ;p )
~~Angel~~