ZT: Hi everyone! Well, my sugar high finally wore off.

Kuja: That's good.

ZT: And now I'm drunk on non-alcoholic eggnog.

Kuja:…Non-alcoholic?

ZT: Well yeah, I don't drink after all…

Kuja: Yet you still get intoxicated… Can you not be normal for once?

ZT: I don't have good inspiration when I'm normal. Anyway, on with the show! I don't own Sailor Moon or FF9. Enjoy!

Of Silver Crystals and Feathers

Chapter (I've lost track)

To say Kuja was seeing red was clearly the understatement of any person's life. He was seeing, feeling, inhaling, exhaling…he was living red let's just put it that way. As he flew after a now retreating Kisenian blossom, the logical side of the genome's mind wondered exactly how he had gone into trance. As far as he knew, it was only by taking damage that a person could be brought into such a state. He made a mental note to ask his brother about it…after he ripped the petals off that flower he was chasing. A Mistodon suddenly formed out of some mist right in front of his, an attempt to slow the genome down so that Kisenian could escape. "Don't think you can save yourself with Garland's old parlor tricks. I know of all the mist monsters, and I can assure you none are a match for me," Kuja stated with a swipe of his red hair, evading the creature, just letting it fall to its death, and continuing his pursuit of the alien flower as she desperately made her way back to the Iifa tree. Like that would save her…

Kisenian had been warned about Kuja's Trance, but she never thought he could be this powerful. To make it worse, it seemed that his new form wasn't red just for fashion's sake. No, the man's flames were overwhelming even when they didn't hit the mark! Not a good thing when you're a plant…She dove back and down as a stream of flames sailed right over her head. The flower woman scowled, "I've had just about enough of you!" Branches of the Iifa tree lashed out at Kuja like pikes hungry for his flaming red head.

Kuja opened up his hand, purple energy building up before releasing it at the branches, destroying them before they hit their mark, "My thoughts exactly."

Kisenian let out an enraged roar, using the Iifa tree's mist to create her snake-like minions as well as some mist monsters in an attempt to destroy who she was beginning to think was the most powerful person on Gaia.

The genome smirked, throwing more energy balls at the small army coming his way. "No one has told you of my abilities in Trance, have they?"

"Master Garland told me to be wary…" the blossom admitted, "But he also said that it was only after you took a great deal of damage that you would take this form!"

"Well it seems 'Master Garland' played you for the fool." Kuja flew forward, white hot energy flaring up as he did, "He knows less about the Trance state than I do!" With a flick of his wrist, the flower cried out as Kuja's magic knocked it free from the Iifa tree. "This is for Serenity…" he growled, preparing for a final attack. Before he could attack, however, a beam of golden light shot out from one of the branches above, destroying the Kisenian blossom.

Kuja stared in shock when he heard the attacker's voice, "Sorry, I just had to do that myself."

Metal clashed against metal as two angels of death attempted to subdue each other. At first the rest of Zidane's team had wanted to help despite his telling him to stay out of it. After a few minutes of battling, they suddenly understood why. For whatever reason, Zidane seemed to be able to keep up with Mikoto in a duel. Not only that, he was actually giving her a run for her money.

"When did Zidane learn to fight like that? Surely he wasn't that skilled during our fight with Kuja…" Steiner wondered, slightly in awe at the new level the monkey tailed thief had reached.

"If Cosmos has been his partner in Tantalus, I cannot say I'm all that surprised," Freya commented, remember when the woman had destroyed the grand dragon with ease. Serenity mentioned that she and Zidane had traveled before; it was highly unlikely that Zidane didn't train with her to get an idea of how to work with her if they were in a battle…He would definitely have progressed.

"True, but he fought a few mist monsters when we were picking up Vivi and Steiner; he hadn't gotten this much better!" Eiko exclaimed, eyes shining with admiration as he managed to push the golden warrior back a few paces.

Dagger nodded in agreement, Zidane… Inside, the Alexandrian queen had no idea what was going on, but didn't think it was just hard training made her favorite bandit suddenly a match for his sister. If anything, she considered it might have always been dormant in him; he was Garland's Angel of Death after all…and if this was how powerful Mikoto was and with what she had witnessed from Kuja, it would not be surprising that Zidane had some outstanding abilities himself. But still…in that same thought, she couldn't help but think that was not the whole reason…Serenity was definitely a factor as Freya mentioned, but to what extent? What role did she play in this? The Alexandrian queen frowned slightly; as the thoughts came to her, that feeling in her chest, the one that had felt like an oncoming trance, came back to her slightly. What was going on??

Zidane flipped over Mikoto's golden sword before bringing his Ultima Weapon crashing down on it. "Damn it Mikoto! Why are you doing this?!"

The female genome pressed her weight against the blade, making him have to take a step back before jumping back to get a few paces between them. "I already told you, Master Garland wishes-"

"Garland has his own reasons!" Zidane snarled, not ready to play her game again. He rushed forward, dropping his Ultima weapon and unsheathing his Orichalcons in the process.

Mikoto scowled and put her blade in a defensive position to defend against the powerful strikes of her older brother. Her boots left a skid mark in the dirt as his weapons clashed against her own. "Why are you listening to Garland?! You aren't his servant anymore! Even if you were, your mission was to protect the genomes!"

"I will still protect them...just so long as I do Master Garland's bidding as well!"

You're doing a pretty crappy job at it if you're gonna destroy their new home!"

"That's where you're wrong, Zidane!" she growled forcefully back, black energy building up around her. "I will always be Garland's servant! I was bound to him in the past and am still so in the present! He knows me and my weaknesses. He knows from my past that I have insatiable desires and uses them for his bidding," her energy lashed out, knocking the male genome back.

Zidane's mind whirled for a moment as he was thrown back, but a second later he caught onto his senses again and flipped, landing on his feet. He threw up his weapons in defense as Mikoto rushed at him, interlocking weapons yet again. "So you think that so long as you attack us, destroy worlds and become your past self again, that he'll actually respect you enough to bring no harm to the genomes??! They hold your humanity! Once you destroy Gaia, they'll be the first to go!" Zidane felt his adrenaline pumping and a great deal of heat rise in his chest, "You don't have to do this! Mikoto, I saw it in your eyes, you don't want to fight us! You kept telling Dagger to back down. You told me to back down and even now your blasts are only warning shots! If you wanted to seriously hurt me, you would have done so already!" He saw the girl hesitate slightly at his words and narrowed his eyes, "I turned away from him; Garland is nothing but a sick man in my mind. You can leave his side too."

The female genome shook her head furiously. "No, it's not the same!" she shouted, tears stinging her eyes. A flash of golden energy burst forth, this time knocking the air out of Zidane as he skid across the ground.

"Zidane!" he heard his friends cry out his name in shock and fear. They were about to run towards him when Mikoto continued, "I am not like you Zidane! In your past, you were a great warrior, a hero just as you are today! As you have in this life, you dedicated yourself to protecting a princess. Your unorthodox manner would receive criticism aloud, yet admiration rung under it as you pulled off feats that others would consider impossible! I am like you in that manner; I reflect my past life. I was blood thirsty, a terrible curse upon any planet I set foot on. I was a destroyer of Sailor Scouts, and was even the cause of your own demise Zidane! Don't you see?! Garland wishes me to fight you because he knows I will win!" The tears now freely fell down Mikoto's cheeks, "Please! Please if you only knew about what happened back then you'd-"

"Mikoto," she stopped when he spoke, getting to his feet. She saw Zidane take a deep breath before looking her dead in the eyes, "First of all, despite what Garland said, we don't know for sure you would defeat me…" He gave her a knowing look, a small grin forming as he continued, "After all, Galaxia stabbed Erymanthus from behind when he was recovering from wiping out a chunk of the Negaverse's forces."

Zidane watched with a feeling of satisfaction as she recoiled in shock. He had her full attention now. Good. "Second of all, if you hadn't already figured it out from my last statement, I do know what happened back then." The genome could practically taste the shock radiating around him from Mikoto and his allies standing behind him. He knew he would have a lot of explaining to do, but he'd answer their questions once everyone was in the clear. "I know Serenity didn't want me to remember; she didn't want me to take up the responsibilities I had back then, but I chose to anyway. Because of that, I know why you feel you have to do this; I won't butter coat it, Galaxia did some pretty nasty things," he said, letting his words sink in before continuing, "But I do know something else, Mikoto…Galaxia, like you are now, was being manipulated." He closed his eyes, letting his mind travel back to his earliest memories, "Originally, Galaxia was not just the protector of the Galaxy, but an inspiration to all scouts and knights. It wasn't just because of her powers. No she had a pure heart and a soul to match. She was the definition of a perfect sailor scout, a terrible foe to her enemies, yet the most loving person to her allies." He opened his eyes and sighed heavily, "You're right that she had an insatiable desire; it was to protect the galaxy from harm. I don't know when Garland came into the picture, but originally, it was Chaos that had gotten his hands on Galaxia, and he twisted that desire to find the brightest star, which is the star of Cosmos. But even then Galaxia still fought him. I was long gone by then, but Serenity wasn't! If you listen to her details of what happened that day, the day when she was awakened as Cosmos, you would know that right before she was destroyed Galaxia broke free from everyone's grasp!"

"What? Th-that can't be true!" Mikoto gasped, eyes widening.

Zidane's eyes softened, "It's true, she overpowered the darkness in her, by opening her eyes and letting herself see the light." He took a step forward, sheathing his Orichalcons as he did, "Why can't you do the same?"

Mikoto's gaze dropped, "I…I can't. I can't do it alone-"

"Who said you'd have to?" she looked at him again, to see that her brother had a hand outreached to her, "I won't make you do this on your own. We'll get through this together." She stared at his hand for a long while, letting her mind process what she had heard. Could she really be free of Master Garland? She looked in her brother's eyes one more time. They were reassuring and full of patience, waiting for her to make her decision yet already knowing that she had made it.

Sheathing her sword, she stepped forward and took hold of his hand.

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