Dead Moon Dream
'Where is everyone?' Bunny looked around the blackness and scrambled to her feet, though the floor seemed slick. The scent of blood poured into her nose and she retched, trying to stand up. She opened her mouth to call for someone, but no sound came out.
'Nightmare… this is that nightmare! But I know what it is now! I-I can beat it! Terra-chan would never… she would never…!' She flared her aura, but nothing came and she began to get frightened.
'Why can I smell blood? What's going on!' She couldn't get footing or a handling, she couldn't get to her feet and she couldn't blink. Bunny fell flat and tried to cry. Something slid down her cheek and plopped to the floor as harsh stage lights came on, glaring down on her friends.
They were dead.
'No…no! Everyone! What's happened?!'
The stage lights moved around before they all focused on Bunny. Something hit the ground with a sickening plop and for the first time, she could see herself.
Her flesh was rotting off her body.
'NOOO!'
In her horror at what was happening, she never saw the person standing behind her.
"Then get pissed off," the voice said. "If you're scared, show us what you can still do." The figure in blue laughed as he stood over her, his shadow engulfing her. Where it covered, her body was fine.
Moon's face snapped to the side as Rubedo slapped her as hard as he could. It gave him some happiness to do so.
"Wake up! This is a nightmare!" he reminded. He'd woken the others and grabbed Moon by the collar to lift her to her feet. He never saw the blue figure and slapped her again, bringing her out of her stupor.
"That guy broke the nightmare on his own?" Mamoru wondered. Zirconia's attack swirled around them, but once Goten had gotten back on his feet, he powered up, letting his aura redirect the energy away from them. He was straining to keep it up.
"This world is our home! Yours and mine! EVERYONE'S! This is the cradle of mankind, Lost Jerusalem, and you're letting them destroy it again!" He grit his teeth and dug his fingers into her shoulders. "Your ancestor was POWERFUL and you're NOTHING LIKE HER! Show me that you have that unnatural power! Fly! Throw energy! DO SOMETHING or everything was for NOTHING!"
A powerful burst from Zirconia caused them to waver and nearly fall. Goten responded with more power of his own.
"Even that guy has that power! Where the fuck is YOURS!"
"I'm not strong! You and that man are wrong! I can't do this!" Moon lamented, falling to her knees, starting to hyperventilate.
Unable to take it anymore, Rubedo pulled his gun out and put the barrel firmly against her forehead and pulled back the hammer, ready to fire. Uranus tried to run to Moon, but Earth pulled her back.
"You shut the fuck up! I've replayed the moment that monster took Fayth from me for centuries. CENTURIES! She dodged every shot I got off at her, and she THREW one of those bullets back at me! My brother knew her power and used it all the time! Hell, if she could have sensed my friend, I'd have lost HER, too! You have that power in you, and you're going to use it!"
His eyes narrowed at her and he tightened his finger on the trigger. "His 'dog' was rabid and bit. Have you lost your teeth?"
The tone of his voice had changed as he tried to imitate his brother. Before he could get impatient enough to pull the trigger, Moon stood up and away from its range.
"No. Maybe I am powerful, but… without everyone with me, I'm not. If I have all of you with me, I'm powerful. That is my power." Moon put her hand over her brooch. "I need all of you."
Rubedo lowered his gun, though he didn't put it away. Moon smiled to herself and tightened her hands.
"I promised Mamo-chan that I'd protect his star. You're right. This is everyone's home, and I have to help keep it safe."
Earth smiled and held her hands to her heart, then to Moon. "Then take our power, if it makes you strong."
A light formed at her chest and came forth. It rushed to Sailor Moon and began to swirl around her. For a moment, Rubedo thought that he could see Fayth's gold eyes shining behind the green.
"Princess… that's right." Uranus held her hand out. "Friendships, trauma, justice, illusions… hope, destruction, dreams and death… are bound to you." He hands went up and her gloves began to lengthen. "We will protect your shining light! Sailor Planet Power! Uranus!"
"Pluto!"
"Mars!"
"Neptune!"
"Mercury!"
"Jupiter!"
"Venus!"
"MEDITATION!"
Their power began to grow as the lights swirled around Sailor Moon, joining her. As they took hands and formed a circle, their power added to Goten's, shooting up at Zirconia and knocking her aside like an insect. She crashed into the ground and struggled to stand up, waving her staff before her to shield herself from bullets. With a rattling breath, she vanished.
"Where the fuck did she go?!" Earth demanded, drawing her sword. There was no sign of the witch anywhere. Moon ran to Goten to help him stand up, while Earth pulled Mamoru to his feet.
"I assume you got dragged into this," she said. He nodded.
"I was lying on the couch and I heard Helios speak to me. Then, I woke up here. What's that guy doing here?"
"This is my aniki," Earth explained, letting Mamoru go. "I've been waiting for him for… well, centuries. He's kind of a dick right now, though."
"Can you blame me? I'm working with the descendent of the Inquisitor."
Goten was back on his feet, but it was obvious he was dizzy. "Too much power…"
"Goten-oji, you should rest." Moon looked concerned for him.
He brushed it off and straightened as soon as he was able to. "No. If I go back now, that just leads to questions we don't want to answer. I'm good, I'm good."
Mercury had put her visor on as the others began to look around for signs of the enemy. The moment of downtime was short-lived as Moon jerked her head up.
'Hey, Odango.'
"Who called me?" she demanded, shoving past Venus and Pluto. "Who's there?"
'This way. Come on, stop being slow!'
She ran off, causing the others to chase her as best they could. She led them out of the tent and towards another, chasing a voice only she seemed able to hear. Zirconia stood there, by a black mirror. She looked to the group.
"Mars Flame Sniper!"
"Venus Love and Beauty Shock!"
The attacks had no effect and could not pass a barrier. With a laugh, Zirconia stuck her hand to the glass and was pulled in with a sickening 'zlunk' sound. Moon ran to the mirror and passed through it, but when Goten and Earth tried to follow her, Earth hit the glass and Goten hit Earth.
Moon tripped as she crossed the threshold and scrambled to her feet. Shadows danced like fog in this place and is terrified her. She was never one for the dark.
"Where am I?" she asked as she steadied herself using a pillar. She nearly screamed as two eyes opened in the midst of the darkness, gleaming like a cat's eye.
"To follow my reflection in here proves your power," it cackled. The shadows took form, rushing to the back and forming a woman with long, black hair. "And now it belongs to me. I am Queen Neherenia."
'I know that name…'
Moon hugged herself and backed away for a moment, before feeling power wash over her. 'Sailor Senshi power! Where's it coming from?'
She looked around the area and saw four stones and two large shards of glass lying near Neherenia's feet. She could feel the Ki from Saturn and Chibi Moon radiating from it.
"Saturn! Chibi Moon!"
The darkness spewed forth around her and formed shards of mirrors all around. She tried to rush away from them, but kept bumping into her own reflection, getting cut by the corners. Gripping her hand around her weapon, she raised it up and pointed it forward. "Moon Gorgeous Meditation!"
The energy slammed into the mirrors and caused them to shatter into glass dust. The mirrors holding Saturn and Chibi Moon were destroyed as well, freeing the two of them. Saturn grabbed the four stones and stood up, moving from the shrieking queen to her princesses.
"The opening I came through is gone!" Moon realized. They were trapped.
Goten kicked the mirror as hard as he could. He had powered up to a Super Saiya-jin, but none of his strength would work.
"Crap! Does this mean these enemies are officially stronger than us?!" He kicked again and again, but nothing happened.
Rubedo shot several times at the mirror as red energy poured from his eyes. His shots were absorbed into the glass and sunk in. "No good!"
"Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!" The attack slammed into the glass at full force and caused it to crack. Goten and Rubedo stared at the girls and then moved back without another word.
Energy gathered into Jupiter's fist as she punched the mirror in full force. As it shuddered, she hit it again, causing it to crack like ice. The glass shards fell to the floor, and the trapped girls appeared in the air and fell into a pile on one another.
As they were helped up, Zirconia fell to her knees. "No…no! It won't end like this! She will not die!"
Mars readied her attack as Zirconia got back up. "We will capture the Seven and rule this universe! So close!"
With a scream, the circus faded into nothing, leaving the girls in the middle of the abandoned fair grounds, surrounded by crystal growths.
"Why does this feel like the setup to every bad horror flick I've seen?" Earth wondered, breathing heavily. She held Rubedo by the shoulder. "You okay?"
"Yeah."
"There's no power change," Pluto warned, holding the Time Key close to her.
Rubedo looked to her for the first time and tilted his head. "Hey, aren't you that girl…? When that thing blew up, I saw you, didn't I? Fuck, my head…"
Earth tended to her wounded 'brother' while the others tried to figure out what had happened.
"We don't have time to sit around and get to know one another!" Uranus warned. "They're still here somewhere! They couldn't have been destroyed that easily!"
"Someone should take Mamo-chan home," Moon warned. "What if he's still sick?"
"Probably as sick as you. You seem just fine," Earth commented without looking up. "We need all the help we can get on this."
With a jolt of realization, Moon and Tuxedo Kamen looked up at the same time, eyes going wide in horror.
"Elysion!" they shouted as one. "They went to Elysion!"
Moon grabbed his hand and looked back to the others. "I'm taking him to Elysion!"
"The hell you are! How do you even know about it? You were unconscious when you were there!" Earth reminded.
"I want to go, too!" Chibi Moon cried out over the others. Everyone stared at her.
"No, stay here and wait for us!" Moon ordered, preparing to teleport off. Chibi Moon grabbed her hand and squeezed it.
"Is Helios okay?!" the child cried out. "Take me to see him, you know where he is! I want to see Helios and make sure he's okay!"
Moon hesitated and gasped when Goten grabbed her hand and held his other one out to the others. "Grab on," he ordered.
With the combined efforts of Moon, Earth and Jupiter adding to him, he took them all with him.
The Shrine Maidens stood at the entrance of the temple, waiting on them. "Welcome. Priest Ukito has informed us that you would be arriving shortly. Please, this way."
They led the battle-weary group in, directing them to the room where Helios was caged. He had collapsed to the ground.
"HELIOS!" Chibi Moon ran towards him, only to be held back by Ukito, who was faster than he looked.
"Do not touch the cage!" he shouted in warning, using a tone harsher than Earth thought he was capable of. "Little one, it is dangerous!"
"Helios! Why aren't you answering me? W-wake up!"
Earth felt her gut tighten, remembering calling out to Kara's soul when Chibi Usa had nearly died at the hands of the Death Busters, and their Gnosis.
"Little one… the High Priest protected your home and the people of it with all of his strength, until… until the very last drop of power he had left," Ukito warned, knowing his words would not comfort her.
"He died…? That's a lie!" She struggled against Ukito, reaching to the bars of the cage, her hands a frustrating few inches away from the bars. "Helios! ANSWER ME!"
Her struggles loosened the bell that clattered to the floor. Ukito stared at it, still holding her in a death grip.
"The Dream Bell?"
"He's not dead! He's still alive, I can feel it!"
As she continued to reach, Ukito afraid to shift around for fear of letting her go on accident, Mars' head snapped up.
"I sense evil in this place!"
"Then they haven't died, either," Earth warned, drawing her blade. "This fight isn't over yet!"
An explosion rocked the room, causing Ukito to topple over in pain. He let the young princess go as he inhaled sharply, feeling as though he'd broken a rib. The mirror that had held Neherenia formed, and she stepped out, smiling and laughing. An aura of darkness roared around her, causing her Lemures to form and head for the group.
"I am the beautiful queen of the Dead Moon, Queen Neherenia," she said in introduction. "Sailor Moon…no. The little princess of the Silver Millennium. Ha ha ha, in this form, though reincarnated, you are identical to your late mother!"
Moon shivered. "You know the Queen?"
"Of course. I, too, am a queen of a Moon Kingdom. And this star belongs to a Moon Kingdom!" Her eyes were slit like a cat's. "Let us battle, and determine the true ruler."
"Fuck you! This star belongs to the people of this star!" Earth screamed. "It doesn't belong to a Moon Kingdom, and it sure as FUCK doesn't belong to a witch like YOU!"
"I will punish you in place of the Moon, and your nightmares will vanish!" Moon cried out.
Neherenia kept laughing. "But you can't break my curse!"
Moon felt her chest begin to bleed again. Her midsection was dyed red. "Why are you doing this!?"
"Why, you ask? Hm… what a precious little princess."
"MOON GORGEOUS MEDITATION!"
Neherenia smiled and slid to the side, letting it hit the mirror behind her and reflect back at them. Earth moved as fast as she could to get between it and the group, throwing up every ounce of power she had. The aura was hit dead on and there was an explosion. Everyone was engulfed.
Goten sat up first, holding his head. "Fuuuck. What the hell happened?" He looked around at the group. Everyone was done, but unharmed. They began to stir and he went over to check on Moon, while Tuxedo Kamen went to check on Earth, who seemed to be barely breathing. Rubedo was back on his feet quickly.
"You're not a Saiya-jin, how'd you shrug that off?" Goten asked, looking over to the man briefly.
"Let's call it 'training' and leave it at that, okay?" Rubedo picked Chibi Moon off the ground and put her back on her feet. "You remind me of an old friend of mine," he said with a smile.
Once the others were back on their feet, they began to look around.
"This place looks really familiar," Goten said.
"It's the castle. The castle on the Moon," Earth explained, looking around. "But why are there people here?" She moved through the crowd and to the ballroom, going to open the door and check on her grand piano. Her hand passed through the door handle.
"What the fuck!?"
"I think a better question is why isn't anyone helping us?" Goten rationalized. "Little help here?"
"…isn't gonna do any good," Rubedo warned suddenly as Uranus went to grab someone. She tried anyway and her hand ran through them the difficulty, as if going through heavy mud. The person shivered and continued on their way.
"What's going on?" Neptune asked.
"We're… I don't know how to explain it to you all. It's like we're in an Encephalon Dive. But we're not hooked up. I think Fayth caused it by accident."
"Don't blame this on me, aniki!"
"I'm not blaming anyone. We're viewing someone's memories. You can still Resonate, right? When that attack struck that cursed mirror and you shielded us, it forced you to Resonate. I don't think it's a good idea to force ourselves out of this. We could do a lot of neural damage."
Saturn walked around trying to open doors, but her hand kept going through everything. "There's no resistance here. Not like when Uranus tried to touch that person."
"The people here are all real. Well, in a sense. Their memories are here, and you can't interact with them. But inanimate objects aren't real. We can't bother them."
"So we're trapped in this room?" Chibi Moon asked, looking up at him. Rubedo smiled at her and took her hand.
"Watch." He led her to a large doorway… and walked through it with her, like a ghost. The others followed him and they found themselves in a large, ornate room.
"This looks like Auntie Sere's room," Chibi Moon pointed out, looking up at Rubedo, who had taken a liking to the child.
"This is Queen Serenity's room," Earth explained as she crossed her arms. They looked around until they heard light laughter. Turning, they saw the former queen holding a pillow carefully.
"Why's she holding a pillow?" Goten asked in a whisper as he leaned over to Tuxedo Kamen, who elbowed him.
"Serenity… my precious little girl," Queen Serenity said, holding the infant. "I'm so happy that you're mine."
Moon looked stunned and moved over to see. Lying in the pillow was herself, trying to sleep from the looks of it. She couldn't have been more than a week old at most. She then looked up and gasped. "That's Neherenia's mirror! How is it here?"
Everyone looked, but the sound of the heavy door opening broke their attention as an attendant walked in.
"Majesty, the High Priest sends word that she has awakened," he said. "And they have arrived, as you have requested." He bowed and walked out. The queen turned to the door once she heard four sets of footsteps coming to the door. Mercury and Pluto turned to the sound of the footsteps and watched as the four Inner Senshi, none older than nine, ran in. Little Venus skid to a halt and barely made it to one knee before the others.
"Majesty! Congratulations!" she said as the others knelt down as well. Everyone stared at the four of them.
"Ah, I've been waiting for you four," the Queen said with a smile. "Today is the day you become the guardians of a princess!"
As the Queen bent over to show the infant off, Goten leaned in to get a look. "Heh, you didn't change," he said, looking back to Moon. Even though they still felt the high tensions of battle, he had to smile. "Maybe it's a good thing they can't see us. I swear you puked on me on purpose. I seriously think you planned it, you never did it to your dad or your aunt. Just me."
Rubedo's grip on Chibi Moon's hand tightened and he frowned. "That queen looks like that bitch, too… ow!" He hissed in pain as Earth slapped his arm.
"She will grow quickly and will soon catch up with you," the queen continued. "I look forward to seeing you all together." She finally stood as an attendant walked into the room.
"Majesty, the guests are beginning to arrive."
"Something isn't right about this," Venus realized. Without another word, she moved through the door, leaving the others. Saturn and Neptune followed close behind.
"Are you remembering something?" Goten brushed past Mars to get to the front.
"Something about this day is… just…" Venus shook her head, putting her hands on her forehead. "Gah! I don't know! Something is bothering me, though! There was a ball, I remember that, and then…"
"Let's just wait it out. This isn't taking very long in real time," Rubedo warned, leading Chibi Moon through the door and then to the ballroom. "I'd say a second or two. Memory dives generally only take as long as their operator can work. If Fayth is the 'operator' for this, we're moving pretty damn fast."
He walked through a door that was being opened and stopped when he saw all of the people. "Holy shit…"
Everyone moved into the room with him and looked around. There were representatives of every world that had been part of the Silver Alliance.
"Everyone came to see me," Moon realized.
"The birth of the crown princess was always an extravagant affair," Pluto informed her. "However, the birth of a second child was even more so. The birth of your sister was much larger."
Moon watched many people mull around and watched a young prince and princess, twins, work in tandem to gain more snacks. Earth watched as well, crossing her arms.
"She had a brother…?"
The doors swung open and everyone stopped what they were doing to see the Queen Serenity enter with the infant princess. As the people began to offer their congratulations, there was a foreign sound. The mirror-like finish of the walls allowed a dark woman to slip in, causing chaos and confusion.
"Let me in on this celebration!" a woman's voice cackled. The Queen moved the infant away, handing her over to an attendant while the four young Senshi stood between them. "The biggest even on the moon, and you forgot me…"
"That's right!" The elder Venus shouted. "That one uninvited guest who came dragging her black shadow!"
"Neherenia came to this celebration," Jupiter spat.
"Who are you to taint this holy place!" The young Venus demanded.
"Why, I live here, too," she laughed. "I have come from deep within the moon."
"You're lying, you don't live here!" Young Jupiter threw a bolt of lightning, which reflected back and struck her in the chest.
"How dare you invade the moon!" Young Mars shouted. "You're a monstrosity of evil, spreading darkness!"
"I remember," elder Mars said. "These are our repressed memories of that awful day. When the Moon still shone like a star, and held no shadows. Happiness and peace were all we ever knew."
As she spoke, panic set in and the people began to flee the ballroom.
"Wherever she came from originally, she arrived deep in the Moon and exited from there."
"If you seek peace, I shall welcome you," Queen Serenity offered. "But I cannot allow you to bring evil and darkness."
"How foolish," Neherenia countered. "I was born because of 'you'. That fragment you carry is the reason I exist. You cannot have Light without Darkness. You need that Darkness back within 'you'. Let me have your hand."
She held her hand out, but the Queen never faltered.
"Begone, freakish one!" Young Mars shouted, throwing a charm. It struck the invader and then burned away.
"With Light there will be Darkness. The Darkness calls for the Light just as the Light calls for the Darkness!" Neherenia roared, her shadow exploding outward, ready to engulf everything.
The Queen drew the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou, blowing the shadow and the invader back towards her bedchamber, toward the mirror.
"The fragment will be mine again!" Neherenia roared, reaching for it.
"I will seal you away in the Darkness forever!" Queen Serenity promised. As she was in the process of being sealed, Neherenia laughed.
"Then accept my Gift! This beautiful curse will be yours to bear! 'You' will never return to 'your' original form! Cursed to roam the Beach for eternity! The Guardian will be restored as ours once more, and the protection of the Fugitive will be lifted! In seventeen years, your kingdom will fall!"
They could only watch as the world around them shattered like glass.
"My curse was realized and your Silver Millennium fell! It ceased to be!" Neherenia called out through the attack that was washing over them.
"Your curse ended the Moon Kingdom?" Goten demanded, looking furious.
"No! What happened to the moon was nothing more than fate! You were a mad woman, babbling things that made no sense!" Neptune insisted.
"You only wish you'd had that power. Tragedies happened, one after the other, dragging the kingdom down… I thought I had extinguished it all, only to find I'd missed a spot." Saturn held the glaive tightly. "It was I who destroyed all that remained of the moon. I extinguished its life, and its survivors. I should have realized it was too easy."
"This is the star I've longed for!" Neherenia roared. It sounded as though her insanity was reaching its peak. "To rule this star, I'll find them all! They will be drawn to this holy place, where the Original sat, undisturbed for eons! This star's power rivals even that of the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou!"
Moon's brooch shattered and her transformation came undone as the crystal flew to Neherenia. Bunny doubled over as black blood poured from her chest and mouth. She began to vomit up mouthfuls of the cursed blood. Tuxedo Kamen rushed to her side, puking the same blood up once more as Neherenia laughed.
"This is not a dream! You don't have a chance of survival! The Silver Millennium and Elysion will reach their absolute end! This star will be a world of nightmares!"
The crystal itself began to obey her commands and its energy rushed out to engulf the warriors.
"The Maboroshi no Ginzuishou is reacting to her!" Mercury pointed out.
"That's not helping!" Goten reminded.
Bunny began to shriek as she was electrocuted by its power. Tuxedo Kamen grabbed her.
"Bunny, the Earth and Elysion will be gone if we don't survive!"
Everyone was convulsing and shrieking as they were hit. "The day I have longed for is here! DIE AND ALL WILL BE MINE! I am the master of ultimate power! I will soon be the true and only ruler of this universe! 'You' have no hold here anymore!"
"You call that madness? You should have met my brother!" Rubedo shouted, firing several shots that grazed the mad queen. "Sailor Moon! Come on! Show me that power you had earlier! You said you're strongest when you have your friends, right? More friends, more power… then I'll be your friend, too! Show me that power that the Inquisitor passed down to you!"
The Maboroshi no Ginzuishou began to pulse violently and finally vanished from Neherenia and appeared once more with Bunny. As she grabbed and held it, the power given to her by her friends began to swirl around her. Tuxedo Kamen's attire transformed into that of Prince Endymion and he let her go to watch as light began to bathe her.
"THIS CAN'T BE!"
"You can't take power!" Bunny chastised. "Power is CREATED! And power can't be created alone, and it can't be USED alone!"
As she spoke, a light surged at her chest, over the sword wound. "I will show you what our power is made of!"
Her crescent moon burned on her forehead as her aura flared and her eyes began to glow white. Neherenia began to shriek as the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou bathed everyone in light. The Senshi found themselves in their princess dresses, and even Earth was in her court dress, though she'd only worn it once. Another burst of light dropped off three familiar figures. The cats were in human form.
They all turned to watch as the power from the girls engulfed Sailor Moon and her Holy Grail, altering it. The light ran off her body like water, revealing a new transformation. Rubedo stared for the longest time before he spoke.
"Is that… Eternal Sailor Moon?"
Lady Earth looked at him, curious. "How do you…?"
"The Inquisitor was in that form once… to fight against Zarathustra, she became a being she called 'Eternal Sailor Moon'. I guess this 'Bunny' character inherited more than just that Crystal and her hair."
"Yes," Diana said, holding her hands tight. "The one who possess power second only to Neo Queen Serenity… Eternal Sailor Moon!"
Moon held her hands out, her ki glowing in a ball that formed a staff. "Sailor Crystal power of this solar system, gather in this Eternal Rod! Silver Moon Crystal Power!"
As she called out, the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou of the present bloomed into a lotus shape, the crystal of the future changing as well. The girls saw their uniforms alter to resemble Eternal Sailor Moon's, and they began to offer up their own energy. Endymion watched, alongside the Lady Earth.
"I… can help," he realized, stepping forward. Lady Earth held his arm, as though to hold him back.
"How?"
"I… I have something in me that says I can." Without another word, he broke free of her grasp and lurched forward, grabbing the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou of the future in his hands. A ball of golden light shot from him and joined everyone else's power. The ball of energy grew and grew, so much that Goten had to step back several paces.
"Bunny… not so long ago, you used to cry and threaten to beat me up if I pretended to take your favorite doll away from you… and now, your power is greater than every person I've fought, combined…"
"Starlight Honey Moon Therapy Kiss!"
The energy lurched forward and smashed into the mirror with more strength than Goten could imagine. The mirror was reduced to little more than glass dust as Neherenia shrieked and coughed.
"I.. am… I am the forever beautiful Queen Neherenia!" she gasped as she began to fade. "Prince of Earth, guarded by the sun…! I shall take your hand and become the true queen!"
"Fuck off, that position is mine," Lady Earth said as the witch was finally destroyed.
The cage holding Helios faded away and light began to filter in. The warmth began to spread over the ground and Rubedo looked around to see the black roses turn red, as Goten went to tend to Ukito, who had long since passed out.
"This place still feels dead," Rubedo warned. Pluto held the Time Key and smiled.
"Give it time. When its caretakers awake from their long sleep, it will be filled once more with life."
Lady Earth went to him at once and pulled him into the hug she'd wanted to give him for centuries, and Endymion left them be as he walked to check on everyone.
"Shut up, you've broken something," Goten said, prodding the priest.
"I will not t-take that tone of voice from one who is as a child compared to me. Have you not learned respect for your elders?"
"I'll respect you more if you shut up and let me get this rib set."
Neptune knelt down to look in her mirror, watching the solar eclipse fade away. She smiled. "Soon this will be nothing more than a bad dream."
"STOP THAT THIS INSTANT, THAT IS PAINFUL!"
"Then stop moving around like an idiot!"
Endymion walked over to where Eternal Sailor Moon was standing, staring up at the light that was now filtering back in to Elysion.
"Sailor Moon?" he asked carefully as he put his hand on her shoulder. She just kept staring off in the distance.
"The long… long nightmare is finally over."
The crying child ran to her mother's room as fast as she could, tripping once on the long hem of her dress. The queen looked up, closing her book.
"Serenity? What is wrong?" she asked with concern in her voice.
"I can't sleep!" Princess Serenity said. "As soon as I close my eyes, I get scared that a black monster will attack Selene and me!" The child's greatest fear was of something happening to her new baby sister. The queen smiled at the silly notion.
"Venus and them told me this scary story," the princess continued. "Is it really true that a black monster lives inside mirrors and eats up crybabies? Did that happen on Epsilon?"
With a sigh, Queen Serenity reached out and pulled the princess into her lap. She managed to get the child to stop crying and smiled at her.
"Serenity, we all have a star in our heart," she began, trying to figure out how to word it so a child would understand.
"A star, mama?"
"Darkness and Light are always right next to each other. If you show a little fear or a drop of a tear, thern the Darkness will grow and it will attack and consume the Light."
She looked down to see the young princess staring intently at her.
"Serenity… you must always keep the star in your heart shining strong to defeat the Darkness and the evil that can grow there." The queen looked up, thinking she'd heard that voice again. Shaking her head, she sat the princess down. "Remember, that is your most important mission."
Chibi Moon suddenly looked over to where the cage had been, remembering Helios. As the sound of Ukito and Goten yelling at each other faded into the background of her consciousness, she ran over to where the priest lay.
"Helios…"
She knelt down next to his body, putting her hand to his cheek. It was ice-cold through her gloves and she felt herself ready to cry.
"Helios, no…"
"He's dead, sweetheart," the unseen, and unheard, Blue figure said from his perch, staring down. Chibi Moon just put her hands on his chest and leaned down to him.
"Please open your eyes." As she kissed him, the her star brooch opened to reveal the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou of the future, still bloomed as a flower, and it began to shine brilliantly over his corpse. After a moment, he stirred and began to open his eyes once more.
"Princess… Lady Serenity…?" he wondered, groaning and moving to sit up. "Why do you cry, little maiden?"
Chibi Moon rubbed her eyes to hide evidence of her tears and held his hand. "I'm just happy… that you woke up, Helios."
Goten made Ukito stay down rather than move on what was determined to be a broken leg, and it was the human Diana who went over to see. She beamed with pride.
"Small Lady, this is wonderful!" she called out excitedly. "All Senshi have their own Sailor Crystal that carries their souls! That's your very own Pink Moon Crystal! The Neo Queen's power has fully passed on to you, and the Earth of our time can be ruled by its own people once more!"
"That power must have allowed Helios' return," Lady Earth said, having let Rubedo free of his hug.
'The Little Maiden rescued me… my maiden had always been right in front of me,' he realized. He walked out of the shrine and felt his breath be taken away as he saw the restored lands of Elysion. They were no longer corrupt. He felt himself ready to cry.
"Helios is okay!" Eternal Sailor Moon realized with a smile when she saw him walking. Helios looked over and straightened himself up.
"Prince Endymion, your Golden Crystal is freed." He smiled at the realization and walked over to them with a slight limp. He motioned that he could move on his own and held his hand out. From the stone floor below him, a staff came forth until he could grip it. As his hand took it, the Golden Crystal merged to it and the entire temple was coated in light. As it faded away, the King and Neo Queen stood before everyone.
"King-san? Neo Queen Serenity?" Goten stood up to see what was going on. The Neo Queen walked forward and pointed her new staff to the remains of the mirror which crumbled to dust in that moment. Energy caused it to swirl up and around until it became encased in crystal. The black crystal floated there for the longest time, before the King pointed his own staff to it, causing it to fade out of existence.
As it faded, Lady Earth stood next to the King, and both stood behind the Neo Queen. Helios and the shrine maidens bent their knee to them.
"I present to this world the Divine Trinity, they who protect it from all harm," Helios said. "There will be none to challenge their power."
Goten looked to Chibi Moon and smiled. Oh, there would be in roughly a thousand years, but it would be taken care of.
Saturn walked forward and knelt before the Neo Queen, holding out the four stones she'd gathered earlier.
"Saturn, what is this?" the Neo Queen asked.
"Please lend me your power," Saturn replied.
With a nod of her head, the Neo Queen lowered her staff, letting the energy of her Maboroshi no Ginzuishou wash over the stones. Saturn let them fall from her hands, but before they could hit the ground, they floated back up, and four familiar figures emerged from them.
"The Quartet?!"
And the impossible happened. The four became Sailor Senshi.
"Someone mind explaining what's going on?" Rubedo asked, scratching the back of his head. "I'm confused."
VesVes smiled. "We are Sailor Senshi. We are protected by the first four of the Asteroids. Sailors Ceres, Pallas, Juno, and Vesta."
"You guys tried to kill us, and I'm supposed to believe that you're on our side now?" Goten demanded.
"I'm sorry," Ceres said. "We are still supposed to be asleep, deep in the temples of the Amazon. However, Neherenia sensed the power of the stars and desecrated our sleeping places. In turn, we were corrupted."
"That cursed forced us to wake up too early. And in our infant state, we were enslaved by the Dead Moon nightmare, those golden lights. Now we are free. Thank you so very much," Pallas said with a large smile on her face."
"We're going back to our temples and we will go back to sleep. It's still too early for us," Vesta explained. "The day we will wake, will be when Sailor Chibi Moon stands again as a powerful Senshi. That is, if you'd let us replace them."
Chibi Moon was confused at their words, but Lady Earth stepped in.
"As her mother, I'll allow it. Chibi Moon, I think it's time I told you the truth of everything." As she spoke, the four vanished.
"Very well. It is time you returned to the Earth above," Helios reminded. "I will pray for your protection, and your safety."
Everything was over and would finally go back to normal. They stood in the empty fair grounds, where no trace of the circus remained. Everyone stood there in their civilian clothes, grouped separately. Terra was introducing Rubedo to Mamoru and Chibi-Usa, while Bunny was wondering how they'd explain her vanishing to her father with Goten. Terra pulled Rubedo by the arm over to the girls. She seemed far happier than they had ever seen her.
"Everyone, this is my aniki, Junior!" she beamed. "He saved me when I was young, and he and Gaignun took me in and protected me! Aniki, this is everyone. I think you know the Inners, these are the Outers. They're the guardians of the solar system!"
He nodded and waved. That got him an elbow to the gut.
"Stop acting shy and say 'hello'!"
"Stop trying to be my mother."
Bunny laughed at how they acted. "Rubedo-kun, will you be part of our group? You said that we're friends now, right? I know you don't like me, because of my ancestor, but I promise I'm not a bad person."
He sighed and looked at her. "I'll never get over the fact of how much you look like that bitch... but I guess I can't very well blame you for what the Inquisitor did. You aren't her, and I'm not my father. …so, yeah, we can be friends."
Bunny smiled again. "I feel tremendous heat in my chest, like a star is being born. And as long as I have so many friends, that heat grows. So, for as long as I have all of you, that star will just keep growing and growing."
She looked up at the sky, where the moon was rising early. "So, the star in my heart… please keep growing, and give me power."
