Hello guys, a new chapter on the run! Not weekly as I wished, but I'll try to do my best to update within the max of two weeks. Now I'm working alone and action scenes are not my forte.
A/N: I'm not english native, but I have the tendency to write in english, I apologize for any misspelling or confusing line.
Disclaimer: The main characters belong to Naoko Takeuchi.
Apollo and the Princess were cornered, Arietis invoked several solar creatures using the power of Helios. They were stronger and faster which proved to be another challenge for the Solar Guardians. The fight was getting longer and they couldn't reach Arietis, yet, they knew the barrier that was around the Sun could break any moment. The good news was that Apollo was getting even more stronger and aware of his solar powers, remembering past moments and private lessons Helios gave to him.
However, Arietis had another card in her hand. After noticing Apollo and the Princess were getting stronger and surpassing the soldier's powers, Arietis smiled largely in delight.
Apollo and the Princess had a puzzled expression that soon vanished from their faces when a sudden flashlight was thrown at their direction, a flashlight that shown and could blind any other ordinary guardian, a flashlight that travelled at the light speed. There was only one being that could invoke and use such technique.
At that moment Arietis started to crackle. She had fun watching the couple perplexed and having to defend themselves from no one less than Helios himself.
The greatest Solar Ruler stared at them, his presence made the barrier that covered the Sun break spreading all types of solar materials around the universe.
Apollo had to fight a strong migraine that was originated from his third eye. The Princess came to his side to give him support.
"Do you really think you can beat Us now?" Arietis spoke with irony, "I highly doubt… There's nothing stronger than the power of love!" she continued with a mocking expression
Without hesitation, Arietis and Helios invoked a double attack that hit on sharp Apollo and the Princess throwing them very far.
Arietis looked at Helios, stared him for some time with an unreadable gaze, and then blew him a kiss.
The sailor scouts were in full view of the sun. Each of them fluctuated on the surface of their own planet. They created special barriers that would stop solar materials to spread in the direction of the planets around.
"What now? I mean, it's not like we can be welcomed to the sun like Apollo." Venus talked to the other senshi by telepathy
"We have to do what we can. Who knows what Arietis could be doing in the Sun." Mercury replied
"I agree, we still have to be there for the universe." Jupiter replied
With the approach, the light of the sun changed several times. Each Sailor pressed onward and ready to fulfill their mission. When the Sun was several hundred kilometers away, it was when a defensive measure occurred. A whip of fire erupted from the surface as came downward into the group.
"Watch out!" Mercury shouted.
The bodies were humanoid, red and flames curled with the body. A few of them flowed out of the fire and stared at the Sailor Scouts above. Their boney fingers clawed toward it. Golden eyes stared forward and nodded at their master. The legs didn't look right and despite all the efforts of Sailor Mercury to stop them to cross the barrier in the direction of Venus's orbit, she failed. There were too many and the solar materials coming out of the Sun just made it even harder for her to handle it alone. The solar humanoids created by Arietis managed to trespass all the barriers of the inner planets.
Selene took the lead and was the only on the Moon. Memories of the wars during the Golden Millennium filled her mind, this time she wouldn't allow things to lose control and in name of the promise she made to herself, to Rina and for her love for the Earth, she used special techniques that only could be invoked by a goddess of the Moon. Her Ancient powers proved to be phenomenal, which got the others mesmerized with such abilities.
"Mercury Waves!" Sailor Mercury shouted as she lifted her arm up and summoned what water she could.
A creature waved above as it approached it. However, a gust of what blue water there was started to evaporate as it slashed the abdomen of it as it grunted loudly at her. It growled more and soon faded into nothingness.
"On the behalf of Jupiter, I call upon the forces of thunder and lightning to vanquish this corrupted form of evil!" Sailor Jupiter waved her forearms in front of her as she stared ahead at several targets. "Supreme Thunder Crash!"
"Crow Spirits Massive Attack!" Phobos and Deimos used their combined technique battling for Mars and doing all they could to protect Sailor Chibi Mars
None of the creatures didn't make it close enough as the Sailors picked them off before any of them could get close enough of the surface.
However, things changed with the sudden break of the Sun thick barrier which released a big amount of solar materials and radiation, making the creatures stronger.
Unfortunately, Sailor Mercury was the first to feel the terrible side effects of the Sun's power and almost lost her vision and was nearly severely burned.
Luper seeing the situation of Sailor Mercury, immediately ran to her aid and remembered he had a special power to give to her in name of Hermes.
Sailor Chibi Moon and the Shittennou remained on the Earth surface and fought the humanoids while Selene covered them up.
Ophiuchus was flying as fast as he could in the direction of Scorpius Constellation and on his way to there he could see the Sun barrier breaking and all the material of it spreading around. He himself had to enhance his own barrier to protect himself from it.
"Damn it!" he cursed noticing things were getting really bad in the Inner System, "I know they need me there, but I can't go there… I need to do this!" he spoke to himself, "Selene… you are my hope. Hang in there for the good sake of all of us." He thought
The Scorpius Constellation continued to twinkle when Ophiuchus finally reached its boarder. Out of sudden, a woman of pale skin with long straight black hair held in a ponytail up of her head, wearing a black and reddish sailor armor with long black boots over her thigh, holding a long black spear with a Scorpio crest on the edge, appeared in front of him.
The two exchanged gazes for a while when she knelt down revering him, "Lord Ophiuchus… Sailor Scorpius is my name." she spoke not being capable to hold her excitement
Ophiuchus felt embarrassed by her act, "Oh no, don't do it… please stand up." He spoke passing his hand on his head
"Great are the ancient legends of your name Master! I can't believe you are the one who answered my call." The woman spoke still revering him and then standing up
"Ancient legends…" Ophiuchus repeated her line making a funny face
"Yes, you are the legendary son of Sun Apollo and the Phoenix… The Healer for some… The Savior for others." The woman exclaimed
"Okay… So why did you call?"
"Something bad is going to happen, I can feel it! I've noticed that lately Miss Antares was acting strange and sometimes I tried to follow her or even entered in her bedroom looking for clues, but as you know, I have a duty as a Sailor and I can't leave my position for too long, actually I should never leave my position, however I felt it was my duty to spy on the Miss as Milady is not in condition to do it."
"Miss Antares, you mean Arietis?" Ophiuchus said
"Yes, that was her birth name."
"She is the daughter of Ares."
"That's correct… actually the exiled daughter of Ares."
"True."
"So continuing the explanation why I made the call was because of this." The woman delivered him some golden parchments, "She doesn't know I found this, but I know this belong to Sun Helios, I'm sure she stole it during the time she had a relationship with him… since then she has been practicing it. Miss Antares never forgave the beings of the Solar System and she's thirsty for revenge." The woman affirmed, "I thought Milady would've had noticed the Miss' plans, but the illness got her and since then she spends most of her time sleeping. Milady is too wise to not have noticed the Miss' plans, but unfortunately she's not in condition to stop her… I wonder if there's someone capable of doing it… Since the Golden Millennium fall, no one seems to have the power for it… All gods died…" she spoke with a sad tone, "But, seeing you here gives me hope!" she stared him deeply in the eyes holding his hands as a plead
"Don't worry about it! Some gods have reincarnated…" Ophiuchus spoke leaving his sentence in hang as Sailor Scorpius got suddenly distracted looking back
"Milady has woken up, she needs her meds! Come with me, I'll continue the story at the castle." Sailor Scorpius spoke with preoccupation.
Ophiuchus followed her, he was overwhelmed with the view of the large reddish giant star, the heart of Scorpius Constellation.
Surprisingly the castle wasn't that huge as he expected, you could say it was a modest one for a ruler of such giant star.
"By the way, who is your Milady?" Ophiuchus finally made the question as the curiosity got the best of him while they walked to a bedroom
"Lady Antares." The woman replied with a single tone
"Lady Antares? But isn't Arietis out of here…" he spoke a bit puzzled
"There are two Antares… The Antares system has a binary star. Milady rules both stars, however she was training Miss Antares to succeed her, so for a start, she allowed her to rule Antares B, the minor star."
"Oh I see…" Ophiuchus spoke finally understanding the puzzle.
He realized how Arietis was capable to have solar techiniques and how calculating the woman was, however something didn't seem right, as far as he knew solar lineage was passed to blood successors and how Arietis could have been capable to obtain such primary element.
"So Lady Antares is her mother?" he asked
"No. Her aunt. Miss Antares was exiled from Ares main domain, the constellation of Aries, he realized Arietis would never be capable to be a good ruler for any of its stars, so he sent her to Mars which was one of his minor domains, however there he had a lot of successors and they needed to prove who would be capable to rule the planet, however, Arietis was resented by her constellation exile, so it was the time she and Helios started a relationship… Poor Helios… his mistake was to fall in love with her… But at least he realized at time what kind of person she really was and expelled her from the Solar System as well… But for a very high price!"
"His extinction…" Ophiuchus completed her sentence
"Exactly." The woman nodded
There was a moment of silence.
"With all the respect, but everyone knew it was too soon for your father to start ruling the Sun. He had to mature too fast and to bear with the rivalry of Helios and Ares's background. He was innocent and too young to carry such burdens… At least he was blessed to have you as his son, but it was also something else far beyond he could bear either… The three of you were chased by the enviness and evil entities… I don't know which of you suffered the more, your mother, Apollo or you… It's a painful cycle." The woman spoke with sorrow
Ophiuchus looked down, he was aware of his back story that wasn't anything close to roses.
"Well, here we are. This is Milady's bedroom. Don't mind about her looks, but aging is a bitch!"
"Don't worry, I don't pay attention at such things."
Sailor Scorpius opened the door revealing a simple bedroom that was very clean and organized, but with few objects. The walls were red, the floor was bluish. The objects had a mix of primary colors, but that wasn't the important detail that got Ophiuchus' full attention, but the view of the old lady with long grayish hair and pale skin lying on the bed with her back to him. Despite her looks, her energy was huge. Without taking notice, his mouth opened partially due to his mesmerized expression, widened eyes.
The Sailor moved around the bedroom looking for the meds to be given to the old lady.
The old woman moved on the bed turning herself to look at Ophiuchus. Their eyes met. The old woman looked at him with a very tired look and unreadable expression. Ophiuchus tried, but he was paralyzed to be standing in front of the mythical and no one the less of the real Antares, the sister of Ares and the only ancient god alive. Instinctively he knelt down to revere her. He was thrilled. His body shivered, there was no words that could describe his emotions right now.
"Why are you doing this? You are getting me embarrassed." the Old Antares spoke to Ophiuchus
"I'm thrilled Milady. I never thought I'd be facing you, Lady Antares." The man replied excited
"Nah, no need for that. I'm no one to be revered! If it wasn't my rusty joints I'd be the one to revere you, you are the legend here." The old woman spoke with a graceful tone
Ophiuchus let a laugh and then stood up
"I'm very sorry for my bad looks and to be on pajamas, but this illness doesn't go out of me." the old woman spoke after couching
"It's alright. I understand." He replied
Sailor Scorpius finally found the pills and prepared a glass of water to give to the old lady. Ophiuchus immediately felt something strange and moved in the direction of Sailor Scorpius, stopping her to give the woman the meds.
"Don't do this." He spoke
"Why not? She needs those meds." The sailor replied puzzled
"No!" he shook his head and took the pills on his hand examining it, "where did you get this?" he asked with a concerned expression
"Lady Antares got it." the sailor replied not understanding the man's objection
"This is what is getting her sick. I studied it with Khiron and I can't believe it still exists…"
"What do you mean?" the sailor asked
"This is made by using a very rare herb that doesn't exist in the Solar System anymore. I'm sure not many places in the universe contains it. It's a poisonous herb that can kill anyone who takes it… I don't know how Arietis was capable to synthetize it, but now it explains why Milady never heals from this illness. How long are you taking these?" Ophiuchus spoke turning to Old Antares
"For a long time…" the woman replied not hiding her deception and sad gaze
"Now I'm sure you are definitely a very strong and mythical woman! No one would survive little portions of it. This even in natural form can cause a lot of damages and even kill due to exposition."
"What!" Sailor Scorpius spoke shocked
Antares looked down in sorrow, tears came out of her eyes, "She has been poisoning me… after all I did for her!" the old woman spoke very disappointed
"Milady, I know how much it hurts in you, but at least now you are going to get better!" the sailor spoke taking the old woman in a warm embrace of consolation
Ophiuchus didn't know how to react to such sorrowful scene, he was never good with such feelings and situations. He could empathize with people's pain and that's why he always tried to transmit happiness, hope and consolation for people.
"You bring the happiness and consolation, that's why the darkness abominate you… I can't believe I lived long enough to meet you and be attended by you! I don't know what I did to deserve such blessing!" The old woman spoke thankful
"Don't say that… you're going to make me blush… actually if I knew it earlier, I'd have come way longer ago! You gotta thank her for the calling."
"I see… You don't seem to be here just for that. What happened?" the old woman spoke directly to the point
"Arietis is causing trouble in the Sun. My parents are battling her. Actually all the sailors are united protecting the Solar System, but it's pretty much clear that Arietis is full of dirty tricks."
"She invaded the Sun…" the old woman spoke not surprised
"Yes. Scorpius was observing her for a long time and found out Arietis stole secrets of the Sun."
"She wants revenge… She can't accept she lost the right to "rule" the Sun since she carried Helios' child." The old woman spoke with calmness considering the moment
"What kind of revenge is that? What's her story?" Ophiuchus asked
"It all began in ancient times. The gods had control over the planets and celestial bodies. My brother Ares was a very temperamental and a conquer. He managed to get domains in several parts of the Universe, but he needed help to rule all of them at the same time. However, he was an intense guy and emotional and ended up having several lovers, from gods to mortals. He had lots of successors, but many died in battles, young or had no traits to rule his territories. He based himself in Aries Constellation which had 3 stars and one of them was meant to be ruled by Arietis, but even him realized she wasn't proper for the job. So due to some troubles she caused there, he exiled her from it, so it was when she arrived in Mars. But Mars had many successors on the line and due to the exile she didn't have priority to take the throne, but as soon as she got there, she met Helios and they fell in love. That had put a pause between the rivalry of Helios and Ares that started because Helios revealed the love affair of Ares and Aphrodite. Initially Helios seemed to have had made good for her and eased her temperament, so she felt she could be great by his side. She always had high ambitions and somewhat she had the gut for it. However, she was a very jealous and possessive woman and she hated Helios' pet. She was oblivious to the real reason why Helios was so affectious about the bird Bennu and out of jealousy, she killed it, but in fact she just released the essence and real form of the Phoenix who found another body to hide herself, which was in Coronis star-seed and as you know your father fell in love with Coronis and then you were born." The old woman spoke
"Yes and they also had to go through a lot of trouble not just because of the rivalry of the Sun and Mars, but also due to their own personal matters."
"That's correct."
"So continue."
"But before your parents part, Arietis was expelled by Helios from the Solar System since Selene told him Arietis had killed Bennu, but some time later she found out she was pregnant. This was her last hope to be big again. She wanted to take for granted Helios' familiar essence and contacted him to inform him about her pregnancy. Helios knew the child was his', but he wasn't happy about it. He still didn't allow her to return to the Solar System and this angered her. She decided to fight for "justice", her justice. I myself went to talk to him and I realized Helios wouldn't allow his seed with Arietis to succeed him and he was preparing Apollo to take his throne. Apollo was still just an young man who didn't even live with Helios, but with Khiron. Yet, I didn't know what Helios was planning, but I sensed he was preparing his departure. I didn't tell that to Arietis, but with the advance of her pregnancy I noticed she was going to use the child for her own selfish and egoistic plans and I knew the great importance of a balanced and harmonious Sun Ruler, so before I could even finish comprehending things, we all learned about Helios' sudden death. That was a huge impact and a moment of great concern. He had let a will and in there we all learned that he had chosen Apollo to succeed him. Interestingly, not long after his death, I heard Arietis screaming loud and I ran to see her, it was the moment when I saw his spirit leaving her bedroom. I never saw him with such cold gaze, he seemed to be holding something in his hand and then he disappeared. When I entered in her bedroom she was in premature labor… the child was born lifeless, didn't even have a star-seed. It was the moment I had understood what Helios had done…"
"He removed the baby's star-seed to stop her evil plans by using a solar descendant… He did it by thinking he was doing a greater good, but in the other hand he himself was extinct. He was forbidden to rule ever again and even forbidden to return to the Solar System." Ophiuchus said
"He was the first and only known Solar Ruler to be exiled, I'm sure he let his legacy and the other gods didn't allow him to be forgotten and be erased from the history."
"This could never happen… there's no such thing to erase an existence, not even if you go back in time." Ophiuchus spoke
"Exactly. What once existed, will forever exist, not necessarily to continue the same way."
"It's the time-space complexion!" He added
"Surely."
"So Arietis wants to revenge and rule for her lost child or she wants to destroy Helios' legacy after what he did to her and their child?"
"She doesn't know he did it…" Old Antares spoke with a single tone
"Oh…" Ophiuchus spoke not knowing how to react
"I preferred to not judge him and now after knowing what she is doing in the Sun, I'm sure he wasn't that wrong and had real reasons to really try to stop her and I made a big mistake by homing her… Even Ares was right in taking her rights, but I always pitied her… but I should've had continued Helios' decision when he expelled her and let her be a lost body travelling the universe and succumb to her fate. Reika was the only one who had the core to put an end in Arietis, but she failed due to Arietis having solar "dirty" techniques. I should've had helped Reika to exile Arietis once and for all!" Old Antares spoke with a bitter remorse
Empathized by the woman's feelings, "You have a chance now!" he spoke with a firm but soft tone and light smile
The old woman looked at him affected by his words, she was ready to redeem from her compassionate mistake. She nodded at him.
Ophiuchus didn't waste time and started to work on her to remove her illness and erase all traces of poison by using a special technique. Immediately after his procedure, it was visible how changed her looks was. The wrinkled and bad skin rejuvenated significantly. Even at such age, she still looked beautiful. She had an imposing posture, yet, a friendly energy. She was definitely a diplomatic soul. The opposite of Ares, but that was what made her so magnificent and respected by all gods, including Ares himself. Old Antares quickly put her battle suit and invoked her special scepter which had a distinct crest on top of it with a shape of a hourglass.
Sailor Scorpius stayed in charge of the whole Constellation during Lady Antares' absence. She watched the two legendary warriors flying in the direction of the Sun in the Solar System and while she did it, she remembered a talk she had with Old Antares a long time ago about the other form of Ophiuchus.
Flashback
"According to the legend, Asclepius handled the blood of snakes of Medusa's head: with the blood from the right side of the head, creating medicines able to raise the dead, and the blood of the left side of the head "established the ruin of the world." By raising the dead, Asclepius invoked the wrath of Gods and Evil. He is, therefore, a star meant for persecution and hatred as a result of such acts for being the only one who surpassed all the gods and capable of manipulating the Creation, the Life and Death."
"Capable of manipulating the Creation…" Sailor Scorpius spoke astonished, "So this cycle will never end…" she concluded with a sad expression
"Every cycle has an end!" Old Antares exclaimed with certainty
"Only death can stop it from what I can see."
"Death? What is death to you Scorpius?" Antares replied with a questioning face
"…" the woman couldn't make a reply
"He has died so many times, but the cycle still didn't end… All of them thought the same, they thought his death would end it, but they were so wrong…" the old woman spoke with a distant look and vague tone
"No one can stop the inevitable…"
"In the end, they just made him stronger…" the old woman spoke with a distant look
"So he can stop whatever has to come?"
"He is the key for everything that will happen… He is the key for The End!" Old Antares spoke
"The end of the cycle… Then a new one will start…"
The women looked at each other with an unreadable gaze.
End of Flashback
Well guys that was it for now, I hope you liked it. I do apologize if actions aren't that good, but I did the best I could. I'd appreciate your feedback, it's really important to give some boost for me try to improve for the next one. Stay Tuned!