So I was going to post two chapters, but they were both short, together the length of one of my usual chapter lengths. So, instead, I combined them into one. Enjoy!

Chapter 21

"You cannot stop the birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can stop them nesting in your hair."

― Eva Ibbotson, The Dragonfly Pool

They didn't wander long, finding themselves in a large room, a dias at the front of it. Diamonde sat upon the throne, glass of deep red wine in his hand, slumping deeply into the hard surface of the chair made of the same crystal that surrounded them.

"I must say, I am surprised to see you Sailor Moon, given your inability to...perform so close to the dark crystal before."

She smirked, "Guess all those doses of dark energy you gave me helped me build up an immunity."

He looked down at their hands, tightly knit together, as if noticing Tuxedo Kamen for the first time, "And you Endymon, I expected more from you. Take off that stupid costume of yours, it does nothing for you."

Light flashed next to her, leaving Mamoru in a set of black armor, dark blue tunic peeking out from underneath and a black cape on his back, "It this better?"

A large sword sat on his hip and Mamoru released her hand to pull it from its sheath, pointing it towards Diamonde without another word.

Diamonde just laughed, not moving from his spot, "I see you have come to...what? Defend her honor? That is so like you Endymon!"

"The name is Mamoru you delusional fuck," a smile creeped onto Mamoru's face, "And I don't need to defend anything, my sheets told me that a few nights ago."

She was confused, not sure what the hell Mamoru was talking about, but Diamonde flew into a rage, his glass flying against the wall, "How dare you, you Earthen scum! How dare you deflower her AGAIN!"

Mamoru began to circle as Diamonde rose, pulling his own sword out, "Do you hear yourself? You can't deflower someone twice! She is not Serenity and you are no longer a lord! Get that through your thick skull!" the two of them slowly circled one another, reminding her much of a cock fight, the kind between actual chickens, "Usagi, tell which hand he used to touch you, I'm going to cut it off right now!"

Mamoru was seething, anger rolling off of him like she had never seen before. He was finally facing the man that had dared to take and touch her, all the fear and anger it had caused them releasing itself and aiming right at Diamonde. Mamoru reminded her more than ever of Endymon in that moment.

Diamonde looked as if he might spit fire himself, "You once again threaten our pure blood line, I will not stand for it!"

"Look at her you prick! She is human! She is no longer a lunar, there is no lunar blood to taint!"

"I know that! But she is still the aire to the lunar throne and therefore too good for the likes of you!"

They both froze, the fight seconds from beginning, "Sailor Moon, go and find your guardians!"

"I thought we were to stick together?"

"I will handle this quickly and find you soon," he took his eyes off of his opponent, a foolish move but he did it more to reassure her, "I love you. Now go!"

She sprinted from the room, the sound of swords clashing together behind her. The fight that started centuries ago was going to end finally, tonight.

It was true, Diamonde deserved her boot up his ass, but it all fairness, Mamoru or Endymon had been waiting to slice through him for longer than she had. In a way, he had already claimed Diamonde as his target and she was a big enough person to give him to Mamoru. His need to "defend her honor" was great and it would calm a thousand year old itch that Mamoru had needed to scratch. She had bigger fish to fry anyways.

The crystal was even more of a labyrinth than the palace had been, turn after turn, it all seemed endless. She finally reached the center, large amounts of dark energy pulsing into the ground from the sky above. Sapphire stood before it on a raised platform near it, watching his work unaware. The man had far too much confidence in his Prince and himself.

Silently making her way up the stairs she kicked him from behind, pushing him to the floor and pressing her forearm against his neck with her knees firmly planted on his arms.

His laugh was garbled, the pressure she applied to his neck causing it, "Not nice to attack people from behind. What would your Senshi say to that?"

"They would fuss at me for not killing you on sight, Now where are they!"

"Why, they are right below us. Go on now and save them. If you can."

Fire licked at her shoulders, throwing her backwards. Opening her eyes she found four pair of angry eyes staring back at her.

"Guys?"

They each raised a hand, setting their sights on her. She jumped out of the way just as the full power of her own Guardians was released on her, destroying the spot she occupied a second ago. She Senshi had been turned and if she didn't think of something fast, she would be forced to kill them or let them kill her.

Icy bubbles flew at her, forcing her to tuck and roll, hitting her back up against the platform before the dark energy intake. Sapphire's dark laugh filled the room, watching from the platform above her.

"Like my little puppets? They were more than willing to accept the dark energy I gave them. See, you should have just given in to my brother. You could be Queen right now, with your Senshi at your side!"

"Crazy assholes, the lot of you!"

Electricity ran across the floor and she tried to run but it followed her, shooting up her spine and forcing her body to twitch and convulse on its own. She laid on the ground, her hands before her and her knees under her. She could smell the smoke that came off of her, Makoto's attack singing within her still. But it could be worse, much worse. They were still pulling their punches, that much she was sure.

Looking up, she slowly found each of their eyes, assessing just how deep the energy was in each of them now. It held tight to their brains, controlling them, but it did not touch their hearts, the only thing keeping her alive right now.

"What are you waiting for? Kill her!"

Sapphire was almost manic, shouting at them his fear evident. Clearly, he had noticed his loose hold on them as well.

In one bound, she stood behind Sapphire, her arm around his neck from behind, the other pulling it to her it a T shape, choking him while restraining him at the same time.

"Release them." He just laughed, "I said release them!"

"Or what? You'll kill me? You don't have it in you. I knew from the moment I met you, you are no killer!"

She shifted the both of them so his body stood dangerously close to the edge of platform, making it so one tiny slip and he would fall into the large hole dark energy pushed through, "Oh yeah? When you met me, was that in the Silver Millennium or at Crystal Tokyo? Before you killer my mother and father, kidnapped me, pumped me full of negative energy, served me up on a platter to your sadistic brother, and had me so disgusted with myself that I slit my own wrist. And now you have taking away my sisters, so tell me again, how I'm not a KILLER?!"
Now he was nervous, quaking in her arms, "fine, then kill me. It won't change anything. You and all those you love are going to die."

She inched him closer to the hole, his feet now dangling over the edge, "Don't do it!"

Looking over her shoulder, she saw all her Senshi now of their knees behind her, "Don't do it Sailor Moon, it's not who you are."

Still holding him so he could see, she turned both of them around to face the four of them, "But...how?!"

She spoke right into his ear, making sure he could hear her, "Because they are my closest and dearest friends. They know that if I killed someone I would regret it for the rest of my life. Even if that person was as slimy as you!"

She released him and he fell to his knees in front of her. She sidestepped him, running to her Guardians and forgetting the now broken man behind her. Falling to her knees before them, they all wrapped their arms around her as soon as she touched the ground.

"All of you should get out of here. Before he finds you."

She looked at him over her shoulder, not letting go of her friends, "Mamoru has Diamonde handled."

Sapphire shook his head, sad, "No not him, Wiseman."

"Who the hell is Wiseman?"

She looked at Makoto and then back at Sapphire, pretty sure she already knew the answer, "He is my brother's own Metalania. A powerful creature that used my brother's desires against him and us. He gave us power, more than we could ever dream of, and a promise that all we desired would be ours. But he is a parasite, taking just as much as he gives and it won't be long now before he comes to my brother to collect."

The five of them stood, some a little shaky, but they were up, "You should leave. Get as far away from here as possible and find your friends...the sisters."

"They live?"

She tilted her head, looking at him sadly, "I thought you said I wasn't a killer?"

"But we deserve to die...all of us."

She shook her head, saying nothing else, letting the man have his little pity party. She didn't have the time or energy to buck his spirits up, she knew he would get out soon. It would be someone else's job then.

With the help of Mercury's computer, they found the room she had left Mamoru and Diamonde in, Diamonde on the floor now, breathing heavily. Mamoru looked hardly phased, standing over him with his sword thrusted at his heart. She noticed that Diamonde's sword was a few steps away from him, while he held his arm tightly to his body. She looked again, closer, and noticed that, Diamonde's hand still clutched his sword. Mamoru had followed through with his word, he had removed the hand Diamonde had touched her with. Diamonde's eyes danced over to hers, rage clear behind them.

"What did you do? Did you...give him your power?!"
She shrugged and held up two fingers, "Just a little bit."

Rage rolled off of him, even as he sat on the cold floor, "You shouldn't have done that! It was not yours to give!"

Rei scoffed, "If it's not hers, then whose is it?"

Diamonde spat at her, "Our people's. The lunars! It is the ancient power of the Goddess Selene and never meant to be in the hands of a mere human! You had insulted our people and our God!"

Mina put her hands on her hips, not afraid of him in the slightest, "Pretty sure you did that when you had the ENTIRE race alighalated!"

"Our race isn't dead you twit, they live inside of her! Every single life that ever existed on our planet now lives inside of her!"

He was pointing at her but it only seemed weird, an entire race living inside of her? "Is that what you think?"

"It is what I know!"

"And that is why you are so determined to rule her," Mamoru's sword dipped closer to Diamonde's chest, millimeters from cutting flesh, if he wasn't already, "control her and you control all the lunars, just like you always wanted."

A shiver of disgust ran up her spine, "Will you ever stop trying to use me Diamonde?"

He sneered over at her, pleased with her reaction, "Not as long as you have what I want!"

Mamoru steadied himself, ready to plunge the sword into Diamonde's chest, "No! Stop!"

Every eye in the room turned to her, questioning, but Diamonde laughed, "You think you can still save me and yourself? You are all doomed, as long as blood pumps through my veins you will never be rid of me."

"That's all I needed to hear." Mamoru raised his sword again, but this time she stopped him, touching his arm gently.

He stood back but only slightly, letting her stand over Diamonde but not removing his sword from him, "I don't want this on your conscious," she looked down at the monster below her, feeling satisfied as he cowarded beneath her, "Besides, he will get what is coming to him soon enough," she leaned down, speaking in a hushed whisper, "That's what happens when you make a deal with the devil."

His eyes went wide and as if waiting for her cue, a black hole appeared behind the cowering man. Mamoru moved to stand in front of her, blocking her from the swirling vortex before them. The man she had seen all those nights ago, the one who stopped her escape twice and the one who tried to trap her in a dream, floated before them.

Diamonde's face changed, going from scared to smug, "Now we shall see who will get what is coming," he stood next to the hooded man, pointing over at the two of them, "Wiseman, kill them!"

Wiseman didn't move or say a single word, his black cloak hiding his eyes and causing a chill to creep up her spine. Diamonde ordered him again to kill them all, but he made no move to do so, only turned to face Diamonde who went pale.

"No I don't think I will."

Diamonde dropped to the ground, pushing himself across the floor away from Wiseman, "What?"

Gone was the bravada his voice held a second ago and now he was back to the snivelling creature on the floor, "I have something much better than a weakling who dares to call himself a Prince," Diamonde shook on the floor, fear coursing through him and she couldn't help to feel sorry for him, "Your purpose has been served Diamonde, goodbye."

Wiseman raised a hand, a dark light coming to his hand. She thought he was powering up to strike Diamonde down. But when seconds passed and he had more than enough to finish the job, she realized the energy wasn't coming from Wiseman, it was coming from Diamonde. His life force was being drained from him.

"Stop!"

Even she was surprised by the word coming from her mouth, but Wiseman didn't so much as flinch, Diamonde falling to the floor, a husk of the man he once was. A tear slipped down her cheek, the only one she would allow herself to give to the dead man on the floor.

"You are crying? For him?" Wiseman laughed, "You truly are as naive as they say you are. The things that man did to you and the things he planned to do still. It made even me pity you."

The guardians surrounded them, ready for the true battle that was about to begin, "But, I still don't pity you enough. I will have what I want."

Ami stood directly behind her, "And what is that Wiseman?"

He chuckled, "Even the smart one hasn't figured it out? I want power of course. Enough power to take this world for my own and never be cast out again!"

His arm stretched out, a subspace pocket appearing and disappearing in an instant. And there in his grasp was none other than a terrified Chibi-usa.

Her tiny body scrunched up as much as possible, her fear balling in on itself in a physical representation.

"Chibi-usa!"

Their own fear was palpable in their voices, something Wiseman was counting on, "Once I take this child's life energy, I will have more than enough to kill you Queen Serenity."

"No!"

Tears fell freely down her face and the face of her daughter, feeling hopeless, "Oh yes! With both the Lunar and the Earthen blood coursing through her veins, she is more powerful than the two of you combined."

"Please! Don't, she is just a child!" Mamoru held fallen to his knees begging the creature before them.

"A child? What does that matter? Do you even know what this child did? She is responsible for the fall of Crystal Tokyo!"

She stared back at the faceless blackness, "That's not possible. Chibi-usa would never do anything to hurt anyone!"

He gave Chibi-usa a shake and she nearly jumped him, the guardians holding her back, "Tell them. Tell them what you did!"

Chibi-usa let out a sob, her guilt bleeding outward, "It's true...it's all my fault!"

"No, Chibi-usa. That can't be true!"

She silenced Rei with her hand on hers, waiting for the girl to continue, "I took it...I took the silver crystal. Mommy was defenseless when they attacked because of me! If I hadn't...I just wanted to be strong like mommy, to prove I was a Lunar Princess, that I was theirs!"

Silence fell over them, causing her laugh to sound so much louder over it, "That's what you did? Chibi-usa, the crystal is your birthright. It was yours to take from the day you were born."

"But...but mommy."

"I wouldn't have been able to use it to stop this even if I did have it. Didn't anyone ever tell you? The silver crystal passes from mother to daughter as soon as they are born. It stopped being mine the minute you took your first breath outside the womb. It and its power, now lie inside you, Chibi-usa," she lowered her voice to a whisper, her eyes locked on Chibi-usa, "So use it…"

Her big blue eyes cleared, her tears drying in an instant. She gave her one last small nod and mouthed to her, 'breath'. It was like a flash in a pan, her power coming out of her so strong and wild. Wiseman bucked backwards, dropping her child but she dived forward, catching her before she hit the ground.

The hood of his cloak was knocked back, finally revealing the corpse that hid beneath it all that time. He flickered, disappearing but she knew he was still there, somewhere. A circle of arms wrapped around both of them, pulling them both up from the ground. A bright light appeared near them and she readied herself. But Chibi-usa stopped her, telling her to wait.

Pluto popped out of the hole of light, looking and searching the room, not looking surprised to see them as they were her, "The time criminal is here."

"He calls himself Wiseman." Makoto told her.

But Pluto shook her head, "That is not his name."

A loud boom came from over head, shaking the whole structure, "We need to get out of here!"

Mina pulled on the two of them, Chibi-usa still in her arms. Another loud boom came from outside and Mamoru put an arm around her shoulders as they all ran.

Mamoru guided them all to the entrance they had taken, jumping out as quickly as possible. Pluto stood next to her, Chibi-usa reaching out a hand to touch the Guardian's shoulder. They all searched the skies, looking for the source of the destruction around them. Her heart lept into her throat at the sight. It was a planet, breaking through Earth's orbit. And the most unsettling part of all, the planet had a face.

"That is Nemis, Wiseman's true form."

She glanced over at the Senshi of time, her serious stance causing her to blanch, "That...planet...is 'alive'?"

"The creature that was Wiseman was banished to Nemis centuries before Diamonde and his followers. Instead of dying, he slowly ate the planet's power, becoming one with it. Wiseman was just a physical manifestation of Nemis. The closest to being human as it could get."

Tears sprung in the corners of her eyes, "Oh God. How am I supposed to stop a whole planet?"

A warm and heavy hand fell on her shoulder, breaking her eyes from the looming doom before them, "With us, by your side."

The rest of her Guardians stepped up and even Chibi-usa pulled out the crystal that hung around her neck, just how she use to wear it. She set the small girl down and beamed with pride as she stood strong beside her.

"Let's end this and go home everyone."

"And go to the beach!"

A small but warm laugh came from the group, Chibi-usa's declaration giving them all a much needed reprieve.

They locked hands, forming a perfect circle, even Pluto joined them. Their powers brimmed within them, begging to be released. Without a word, they all released their gift towards the planet hurling towards them above. The energy popped and cracked against the surface, pushing against it. She looked up, watching as the planet began to slowly move backwards. To her horror, the planet sneered, and then began sucking in the power they sent at it. This was not going to work.

She dropped the hands she held, much to the protest of all of them, "This isn't working, we are only feeding the beast."

Chibi-usa looked between all of them, "What can we do then?"

Her eyes were still trained on the monster above, taking a small step forwards, but being stopped, "No. No you can't do it. Not again."

She turned, smiling softly to him, "What choice do we have?'

He didn't have an answer, he knew the truth, releasing her. She looked at all the faces of her friends, even Pluto shed a tear.

"I need all of you to lend me your strength," they sobbed, feeling hopeless, and she could feel it from them, "Hey, it will be alright. I'm stronger than when I faced Metalania and we all survived then didn't we?"

"No we didn't."

She turned, Rei glaring at her, "It will be alright. I promise, I will come back, alive."

None of them looked like they believed her, but what choice did they have? She was the only one who could take all of their powers into herself and use them. As Princess Serenity, she had loved the Earth and the Moon, and it became her destiny to protect them when she was reborn.

She knelt before Chibi-usa, confusion covering her face as she had no idea what to expect, "Remember all those stories your Daddy told you? The ones about Sailor Moon? She always wins right? And comes home?"

"Yes."

"Well this time is no different. But now I need your help. I need you to be strong and help me and the others. Can you do that?" she gave a small nod, "Good girl."

She let her powers flare within her, pushing herself to her limit and then pushing just a bit more. The shield that had formed around her and Chibi-usa all those long days ago returned, lifting her off the ground, slow at first, but then taking off like a rocket. Soon she was face to face with Nemis, its dark and sinister glare inches from her face.

When it talked, the 'mouth' didn't move, as if it was talking in her head, "They send their ruler to face me? Not very smart. What will they do after I kill you?"

"They will do just fine, killing you in my place. If that were to happen, which it won't."

Wind passed by her, sucking inwards towards it, "Mmmmm you smell delicious. All that power you hold is absolutely deletable."

"Oh where are my manners. Would you like some?"

She pushed her power with all her might into him and he purred as he ate it up. But she had more, so much more to give. Then she felt it, the powers of her Senshi. It was like a warm hug, tugging on her heart in a pleasant way. Then came Mamoru's power, an even larger boost that doubled hers in an instant. Nemis started to gurgle, his purr turning to something a bit darker and touched on pain.

Then one last power added to hers, one so powerful it almost knocked her over. It was Chibi-usa. The combination of hers and Mamoru's power in one tiny package, coming to her all the way from the future.

Then Nemis's sounds turned to one of anger, the kind of anger that comes when you know you are going to fail. The pain was clear on his...face. She pressed on, pushing herself to the limit and receiving a high reward.

The planet cracked, then split apart, it's pieces floating apart in space. Agony filled his voice as he let out one finally scream, before falling silent again. The battle was over, but the large pieces that were once Nemis were still in danger of crashing to the Earth. She pushed hard still, her energy already close to depletion, knocking the pieces together until they were nothing more than star dust floating across the sky.

But she was still not done. The Earth had taken a lot of damage, the dark crystal still embedded in its surface. She pulled deep, the last reserves of her energy working to pull the crystal out and heal the wounded Earth.

She had finished, breathing heavy, having just barely enough energy to return herself safely to the Earth's now blemish free surface. She felt something behind her, a sucking sensation and sound forming behind her. Before she had a chance to turn and face it, she was sucked in, blackness swallowing her whole.

She could feel her body being tossed around, aimless, but she couldn't see or hear anything else. Just a voice that rang out in the dark.

"If I have to suffer an eternity in the dark, then I am taking you with me!"

It was Nemis, his voice ringing painfully in her ears. In his last attempt to win, he had sucked her into oblivion with him. A dark and empty cage for them to forever toss and turn in.

"At least Earth is saved."

He didn't respond, his consciousness having already been spent and dissipating into the nothing less void. There was nothing more she could do now but to wait and join him. And so she waited...and waited….and waited.

It was beginning to seem that she was not going to pass on, that she would forever be in the dark with nothing and no one to hold onto. This was what he wanted, her to spend eternity fumbling alone. He had won. Even though his prize was not as great as he originally intended, it was still a harsh blow. Crystal Tokyo would cease to exist and Chibi-usa would never be born. The thought of her beautiful child never getting the life she deserved was more than enough to break her. Her sobs echoed off into nothing, curling in on herself, letting herself completely break.

A tiny pinhole of light formed off in the distance, so small yet in the darkness, it might as well have been the sun. It grew, slowly but surely until it was the size of a person. And she knew this because two people stood within it.

"Hello honey."

"Sorry we kept you waiting for so long sweetheart. It took longer than expected to get here."

Standing before her, taking away the dark, was her mom and dad.