The dazzling starlight held the Moon Kingdom in bright hues that night. It was midnight and all was quiet. The ponds were lightly stirring and the flowers of the gardens lit up in the moonlight. This would be the last time the Silver Millennium would see such a beautiful, peaceful night.
Venus couldn't sleep for anything. Sitting out on the railing of the balcony like she always did, reading a book Mercury had recently given her. She paused and held her necklace in her hands, tracing the engraved words with her finger as she so often did.
Goddess of Love
She was filled with sorrow every time she even looked at it. But she knew that she needed to face reality: Kunzite was no longer the man she fell in love with. And serving her Queen and kingdom came first, always.
"Above all, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."
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He was back at his home palace in Winter Tundra, retrieving his most powerful sword to use in the upcoming battle.
Standing at the top of the stairs in front of the main chamber and looking out to the distance only filled him with pain. That was once his favorite memory with her. Now he tried his hardest to erase it from his mind.
He turned off all the lights that were always shining up at the top and took down the flags from the palace walls. Then he teleported back to Autumn Plains.
"Kunzite." Jadeite stood at his doorway. "I found this outside. Does it belong to you?"
He held out the precious gem Venus had given him. Anger instantly welled up.
"Get that out of my sight. NOW. It's trash."
"As you wish, sir."
He turned back before leaving. "Don't worry, sir. For tomorrow we will have our revenge."
Kunzite moved over to the window and gazed out at the moon. That's where she was. The one who deceived him. With those gorgeous, shimmering blue eyes, that smile that was a mile wide and always readily available, that cheerful, adorable laugh that he could never resist smiling at… oh, and that long, golden hair… the most beautiful girl in the entire world.
He caught himself and shook off those thoughts, angrily pounding the wall.
Why didn't she love me?
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"Master," Beryl said as she bowed before Metalia's face in the water. "Tomorrow night we shall attack the moon and retrieve the Legendary Silver Crystal."
"Excellent. You had better not fail me."
"The Moon Kingdom is powerful. Will you help us fight?"
"Don't be a fool, Beryl. You know very well that in my current state I cannot directly carry out this mission. All I can do is empower you to do it, which I already have done. I NEED MORE ENERGY."
"Yes, master. Tomorrow night, you shall have it."
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Night fell. Queen Serenity knew what was coming.
"Gather all of the troops and order them to guard the castle on every side and be ready to defend against the attackers," she told the Senshi.
Princess Serenity and Endymion were still inside.
"Serenity, stay inside. I can't risk you getting hurt out there."
"What about you? I can't stay here alone knowing you could be hurt or even killed!"
"Princess, please, do this for me. I have done this kind of thing before. I'll be fine."
"But Endy-"
He moved in and kissed her. "I'll be fine. Promise."
"All… all right." She began tearing up.
The prince left his maiden and joined the army on the battlefield.
Earth began to give the faintest glow. Suddenly the moon began to shake, and the soldiers all got their weapons ready. It was time for battle.
Within a blink of an eye, a countless multitude of people emerged. They shook off the dizziness and charged at the moon army. They fought and fought and fought, blood being shed every second. The Moon Kingdom had a highly trained army, but Earth's army was so… monstrous. The moon was greatly outnumbered. Still, they fought with all of the strength they could muster and let no one pass into the palace.
Out from within the large crowd came the Shitennou. Mars was the first to see them and charged full-force at Jadeite. He thrust her back and gave a sinister smile.
"What are you, some kind of psycho?!" she screamed. She threw some fireballs at him and they commenced their duel.
Jupiter, angrier than she'd ever been before, was having a hand-to-hand combat war with Nephrite.
"Is that all you've got, traitor?!" she yelled. He smiled the same, evil way Jadeite did with a piercing glare, and kicked her in the stomach, sending her flying back. She tried attacking him with lightning, but he evaded it all and continued thrashing her like a punching bag.
Mercury hardly had the heart to even begin fighting Zoisite, but was given no choice since he was relentlessly taking jabs at her with his dagger, laughing like it was some game. She fogged up the air, but that only made it harder for her to see him coming straight at her from out of the mist and tackling her to the ground.
"Venus crescent beam!"
She knocked out multiple soldiers with a single attack, and quickly tried to get away from the madness. There was one opponent she needed to face.
"Kunzite!"
The silver-haired man turned around, stone-faced. It only took seconds for that to turn into a look of pure rage. There she stood, in all of her lying beauty.
"I don't want to have to fight you. But, there's no way I am letting you past the palace doors."
His grip tightened on his sword and fire burned in his eyes. Before she could even think twice, he came at her with the blade, just barely missing her by no more than an inch.
And so it was on. They fought to the death just as the others were. "Kunzite, talk to me," Venus said as she was skillfully dodging his weapon. "Please, just tell me why. Why are you doing this? What happened?"
He said nothing and kept attacking. He tripped her with his foot, but she kept being evasive while on the ground, moving backwards. "Don't you remember your mission? To protect Prince Endymion? What happened to that? What happened to… us? You just changed out of nowhere-"
He thrust his sword into the ground, inches away from her face. "Don't pretend to be foolish with me! You know very well the answers to your questions!"
She got back up to her feet as he pulled his weapon out of the ground. "No, I'm afraid I don't." She used a crescent beam and knocked the sword out of his hand. By this point their hands were locked as they tried to push each other the opposite direction with all of their strength. "I'll never believe any of your dirty lies again," he said through the heavy breathing. "You never cared about me. I heard you say it!"
"What are you talking about? Is this what the enemy told you? Kunzite, you were everything to me. I loved you."
"LIAR!" he screamed as he slapped her face, knocking her to the ground once again.
"If I'm lying," she said as she gathered herself and stood back up, "then why would I still be keeping this with me everywhere I go?" She pulled out the necklace he had given her. "And what's more, why would I have given you my Venusian gem – the most sentimental possession I had?"
He stared at the necklace for a moment. Glaring at her, he replied, "Just another one of your deceiving tricks." He threw a punch, but she dodged and ran towards the palace, with him closely following.
She stopped when she saw the princess running out of the front doors.
"Princess!" Endymion yelled. "What are you doing? It's too dangerous out here!"
"I couldn't wait any longer. I want to help you."
"Serenity, please… don't do this. I wouldn't forgive myself if you got hurt out here."
"Nor would I myself if you got hurt."
Beryl watched them, glaring at the princess; the very one who stole Endymion away. The bitterness welled up even more and without hesitation, she thrust her sword at her.
"Look out!" the prince cried. He jumped in front of her and took the kill.
"Endymion! NO!" Serenity screamed as she fell to the ground and held his body.
Venus and Kunzite both watched and saw the prince's life taken. It was as if the whole world around them stopped and went silent, as Endymion slowly fell to the ground. Weeping and holding his lifeless body, Serenity picked up his large saber and drove it into herself.
"Princess!" Venus shrieked, as her best friend took her final breath and her body fell on top of Endymion's.
"Prince…" Kunzite whispered under his breath. "She really did love you after all. And I failed in my mission to protect you. I became your enemy…"
Beryl realized what she had done, never intending to kill the one she loved. But there was no time to delay. She needed that crystal. Looking over at her head general, she snapped him back.
"Kunzite! What are you doing? Get rid of Venus and get me that crystal! Remember how she lied to you!"
He quickly grabbed his sword and turned to face his opponent again. However she now also had a sword in her hand: The Holy Sword. And she was already in the air, driving the sword into Beryl while she was distracted yelling at her general.
Beryl shrieked in pain and collapsed to the ground, screaming "I shall be avenged!"
Venus landed and faced Kunzite again, as he stared her down. Despite the evil witch now being gone, he was still set on going through with the plan. The evil energy still resided within him. She used me. He started to rush towards her, but she simply stood there still.
"Kunzite."
Still charging, he began to raise his weapon, ready to end it.
"'Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.' [1] 'You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'" [2]
The instant she spoke those words, his eyes widened and he gasped for air. A heap of events flashed before his eyes.
"I love you, Kunzite. You're the only man I've ever known who was worth becoming vulnerable for."
"'Love is patient...'"
"Well, regular human being, you're a phenomenon to me."
There she was on the screen again. And there he was, watching that clip as Beryl reflected in onto the wall. And as Venus spoke those lines that made him despise her, he saw Beryl's lips moving in the same fashion, as she used her powers to transfer it to the screen…
Venus was not the deceiver in this. Never was. And she really did love him.
When this flash of truth had faded from before his eyes and he returned to the situation, it was too late. His sword had already driven into his beloved, as had hers into him.
They both collapsed to the ground, side by side, trembling in pain. When Venus looked into his eyes and saw that the evil and malice were gone, she put her arm over him and rested her head on his chest, and began to silently weep.
"I'm sorry, Kunzite."
With whatever strength he had left, he managed, "It is I who should be sorry, my love. The only one who was a fool was me. I am not worthy of your forgiveness."
She smiled and looked into his once again loving eyes. "It's all right, General. You are forgiven. I knew it wasn't you, for evil had a stronghold on you. I'm OK. I have guarded my heart all this time, and I don't feel sad for myself. I only feel sad for you… it's not fair that you have to go this way."
He gently held her face with his warm hand. "Don't be sad, love. Spending my final moments with you is the only way I'd ever desire to go." He smiled at her so kindly. "Goddess of love… you are so beautiful. I love you."
Tears continued falling down her face. She kissed him one last time. "Goodnight, my love."
And with that being said, they both closed their eyes and took their final breaths.
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The Senshi and Shitennou all lay lifeless on the battlefield, each of their lives taken by their loved ones. Only a handful of soldiers remained on each side, as they continued to fight. Metalia's spirit emerged in the form of a cloud and let out an evil laugh.
"Ahahahaha! Now that the Princess and the Senshi are out of my way, it's time to swipe that crystal!"
Her spirit possessed one of the men fighting for her army and he ran into the castle, but didn't realize that Queen Serenity was standing at the very top, overlooking the battlefield, with the Legendary Silver Crystal attached to the crescent wand in her hand.
She wept for her daughter and all of her beloved Senshi who were also like children to her. Her cats Luna and Artemis stood up there with her, also crying.
"There's nothing left to do. They need to live…" she said as she began to raise the wand.
"Your Majesty!" Luna cried out. "You don't have to do this. If you do it, surely you'll die!"
"I know. But I love them all too much to let them perish like this. I will lay down my life, so that they may live."
"Your Majesty…" the cats continued weeping.
"Luna and Artemis, I am sending you both out with them, into the future where they will be reborn on Earth. You two will be the only ones who will have any memory of this place… now promise me you'll watch over them and guide them – guide them to always choose love over evil. Don't let them fall into the hands of the enemy. Promise me."
"We promise," they said in unison.
The Queen looked at the crystal for a moment and closed her eyes. "Precious ones, take care of yourselves. Hold fast to the Truth. And always remember… Memento Vivere. Remember to Live."
She unleashed the crystal's power and it was finished.
A/N: 1. Romans 12:9-10. 2. John 8:32.
So, there you have it. CONSTRUCTIVE feedback please. This was my first Sailor Moon fanfic ever and I struggled for a while. I usually write Pokemon/Contestshipping stories (and am now realizing that's my comfort zone, as I struggled greatly with this one), and originally this story was just going to be a break from that to try something different. However, in the process I completely fell in love with the Venus x Kunzite pairing. It also helped that the Crystal series has very recently made it completely canon :P lol. So I may or may not write more stories about them in the future. But in the meantime, I really would love feedback so that I can improve. I feel that I struggled the most with the Biblical symbolism, since this was my first time writing symbolically like that and because Sailor Moon is very Greek mythology based.
And I probably screwed up a lot of other things too. So again, help is welcome. (:
If you want to read a REALLY good story on the Silver Millennium, check out "Ode to Memory" by yeah-well-hey. It is the most phenomenal Sailor Moon fic I've ever read. (It also highly inspired me to write this story, so I must give credit there.)
That is all.