Saturn
The fairytale gone wrong
Bakugou Katsuki - Cratos (personification of strength)
Tomoe Hotaru - Macaria (goddess of blessed death)
Aizawa Shouta - Coeus (god of farsight)
It had started with punishment, in his early years in the Phobos' Dragons. Insubordination, his commander said, as if he wasn't aware Cratos was the best in the regiment and his fighting choices were the best for the situation.
He could have gotten out of it, if he hadn't answered so brutally to his superiors. But Cratos never was one to apologize, not when he was right.
Since everyone knew there was no making him bow to anyone but the Royals and, maybe, his first trainer-supervisor, this latter was called to pick his punishment.
Coeus looked unassuming, quite plain in clothing and features, with unkempt dark hair and eternally tired eyes. Some said it was because he had seen too much in his past, and maybe there was a part of truth in that, but Cratos, having been his student, knew it was more a consequence of his power to block other's abilities by watching them. This kind of power could come from none other than Saturn, although no one knew much about him or his past.
Cratos didn't expect for his first mentor to be asked to handle his punishment, nor to see him again after he had managed to become one of the Dragons.
«What kind of mess did you end up in this time?» was the teacher's tired greeting.
Cratos looked aside with a scoff «My superior is a presumptuous idiot who can't admit my strategy is better than his»
Coeus crossed his arms «Explain»
And the young man did, much to the other's amusement. After a while, no praises but no corrections, Coeus scratched his neck.
«You'll have to be punished for your lack of respect all the same. You may have the best points in the universe, but with that temper of yours no one will be willing to listen»
«Whatever. I won't change my mind»
Coeus sighed «I know. That's why I proposed to send you for the next check on Titan Castle as punishment. A few days away from active duty...»
«And a task no one wants to do» Cratos grumbled.
Titan Castle was the royal palace of Saturn, the place where the Soldier of Destruction resided in eternal sleep. They said that the awakening of Sailor Saturn would mean the end of Silver Millennium and everybody was afraid to do that trip and be the one to announce the end of their Solar System.
Some even said the Castle was inhabited by the spirits of the late King and Queen of Saturn, and that was why Saturnians moved to the Inner Planets, but then it wouldn't explain why every populace of the Outer System did so too.
Cratos thought all of it was stupid. Spirits can't touch the living and, if his world was ending, he sure as hell would like to know. Living in ignorance and not being able to fight, that would be the most frightening thing to him.
But the rest of Silver Millennium, even consummated warriors, refused often to do that trip, so in the years it has become both a legend and a punishment for the unruly youth. Truth to be told, it wasn't a scheduled occurrence, so superiors only did it when something was wrong or there was someone to put back in line, like in this case.
So he accepted without much fuss. It was better than being put on laundry duty, anyway.
Cratos wasn't one for architecture, but even he had to recognize there was something incredible about Titan Castle, may it be the atmosphere of it or the complex of turrets and staircases that revolved around the main building, not unlike the Planet's own rings.
The entrance was surveilled by a single guard with a bird head and black feathers over a human body, cloaked in black and purple garb.
«The rule inside is: silence» a voice said when Cratos approached, not from the bird-man, but his shadow, which emerged from the middle of the cape.
Pretending to be unfazed by the event, Cratos nodded and asked if there was more.
«The eternal darkness protects the slumber of our Lady of Death, she shall not be disturbed» the guardian in flesh and feathers added, his voice similar to the shadow but more baritone «The way has now enough light for you not to get lost. Follow the path or you'll be lost in eternal darkness» he added.
Cratos followed the man-bird's indication towards the entrance, where the faint light of purple gems lit the floor and walls of a single dark corridor and its twists to let him go forward without the worry of walking into something. Stairs and turns, coated with the same dim purple light and immersed in unnerving silence.
The dark path led, at the very end, to a huge door of the same gemstone-like material that lit the way there.
Without hesitation, Cratos pushed the door and entered.
The room was even less lit than the corridor, the only distinguishable thing was an elevated bed whereupon lied the famed Soldier of Silence, Sailor Saturn.
His job was done, she was still there, still sleeping, no need to do more, but Cratos, after an exhausting trip and what felt like an eternal walk in the dark, was unsatisfied.
Was that it? Did they ship him all the way to Saturn for just that?
No way. Now that he was there, he wanted to take a good look at this princess, so he entered the room and approached the bed-altar.
The light was not enough to distinguish her features, but Cratos had a trick on his own: the explosions he could set from his hands would serve as a source of light if he kept them low and continuous enough.
A low string of "pop"s later and he could see her.
She looked... young. Younger than Princess Serenity, with skin paler than any he ever saw, almost translucent, made even starker by the contrast with her raven black hair, cut short and regular.
Beautiful, nothing to say, he could admit that. But in her sleeping face there was some sadness, a kind of subdued hurt.
«Tsk» he couldn't but say «What a shitty life. Sleeping all time and if you'll ever wake, you'll have to die with all of us»
He didn't know what prompted him to speak. Perhaps the silence was too unnerving, or the ridiculousness of the situation was too much, maybe he was just upset the famed Soldier of Destruction everyone feared looked so tiny and pretty. A lithe thing of beauty, trapped in eternal sleep, until the day she was going to destroy Silver Millennium and end all their lives, her own included.
Sounded like a fairytale gone wrong.
«It is unfortunate, I agree» a female voice answered and he jumped back from where he stood, one hand ready to blast the intruder, the other to his dagger, ruby eyes scanning the room for any enemy.
«I don't like it either. Sleep and silence trap me, like duty and loneliness trap the rest of my companions» the voice went on as if nothing happened.
It took Cratos a split second to realize the voice was in his own head. A second more to realize...
«Princess Saturn?» he asked.
He could feel the nod of approval in his head. He turned again towards the sleeping girl.
«I'm sorry I scared you,» she said «Erebos doesn't allow much talking, his Shadow is more talkative than he is and any soldier or dignitary that was sent here before just gave a look inside and ran away. No one stays, let alone speaks» she added, the tinge of sad resignation in her voice altered by a bit of mirth at the end.
«Why the f... the bird-head doesn't keep you company? High Fires, why don't your people live here?» he barely caught his tongue from cursing, aware he was still talking with one of the Royals.
«Saturn is not as hospitable as it used to be long ago. Then it came hurt, fear, prejudice. Perhaps the hope I'll never wake, so their lives can continue eternally»
«And are you okay with that?»
«Such is my duty» was the stern reply «But, please, now that you're here, tell me... how is Silver Millennium?»
«You don't know?»
«My mind can barely reach out from my body to the confines of this floor, the borders of Titan Castle are my greatest extent» she explained «I never got to see anything outside ever since I was proclaimed the next Sailor Saturn. My very existence is tied to my sleep»
«It's fucking unfair» he exclaimed, then, aware of his bad mouth he started a half-apology, but he met a soft, gentle laugh in reply.
«I don't mind. It means you're spontaneous. Now, please, tell me»
Hesitantly, he started to describe what he recalled of the Moon Court, from the few times he went there since he left it to get his more serious training, then added things about anything he thought she could find interesting from around the System, often prompted by her questions.
He was fast surprised by how witty and sharp she was, how her curiosities challenged his knowledge - and he was pretty smart himself, if he said so - and how her observations were often on point.
Cratos didn't realize how long he stood there, talking to the witty sleeping warrior but, at some point, he had to remind himself he was supposed to go back.
She didn't complain when he said so. Like in any other moment of their conversation, he could perceive her feelings, even the hint of a sad smile when she bid him farewell.
«I'll be back» he said, without even thinking.
She had asked nothing of the sort, content enough with what was given her. Had she begged him to stay or come back his spirit of contradiction would have made him refuse, for he couldn't stand to be forced or obliged. But this, it was so damn unfair and he couldn't stand the thought everyone accepted it. Even more so: if everyone was fine with this, he couldn't be.
«You're not obliged to,» she said, uncertain «You already did so much, I can't thank you enough. And I know Saturn is not pleasant...»
«I said I'll be back. Someone has to check on you, it may as well be me»
She stayed quiet for a long moment, but he could feel her happy hesitance.
«I want to do it» he added.
«Then, until next time»
What had started with punishment, a chore, became soon a habit.
As soon as he came back, he was asked merely if the Soldier of Silence was still asleep, no one showed any clue she could interact with her visitors and Cratos never said a word.
The next time he heard it was time to send someone to Titan Castle, he volunteered.
«Really, man?» Alexiares asked, scratching the base of his red spiky hair.
Alexiares had been his sparring partner in the Phobos' Dragons for a while at that point, one of the few people whose power allowed him to take the force of his explosions without getting any damage, never refusing any task as he was driven by the will to prove himself.
Cratos low-key considered him a friend. The other argued he was his best friend.
Despite that, Cratos never told his real reasons, not even to him.
«I was sent there for punishment. It's a boring trip, but if no one has enough balls to do it, I can» he said instead.
«So manly» Alexiares praised, not afraid to admit he'd have troubles to do the same.
The visits went on, sometimes closer, other times longer stretches of time had to pass before he could go to Titan Castle.
Princess Saturn was always happy when he arrived and he was eager to get there and upset to leave. Every time he retold what went on in Silver Millennium, but little by little she started to ask about more trivial things. How was the life of people, what training he did, if he had a family and how were his friends like. Increasingly personal questions Cratos found himself not against answering to.
«Cratos?» she asked one time «You call your friends by name, can you do the same for me? Not "Princess" or "Sailor Saturn", just Macaria»
It was a genuine, innocent question, so he had no idea why it sent him in a frenzy. His heart leapt more than a few times and he was unable to calm it down and he couldn't speak for a solid moment.
The given names of the Royals were important. They had meanings and history and power. Using them meant a familiarity no one was normally allowed to have.
All of sudden, for the very first time, he felt the full extent of her sadness hitting him.
«I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked such a thing. I can't call myself your friend, I put you in an embarrassing position. My apology, forget what I...»
«It's fine, Macaria» he interrupted, the name rolling out his tongue with a gentleness he didn't know he had in himself «It's wrong you have no one else but me who can call you by your name»
«I feel lucky I have you, now»
Fucking unfair. She couldn't say this kind of things and really believe them!
He wasn't the best, not yet at least, and she deserved more. She deserved life and freedom and real friends, to be cherished and courted. If she was awake he could...
He shook himself out that thought.
What was he thinking? Lucky him he knew how to keep his mouth shut.
Who knew what she could have thought otherwise?
«Man, I still don't understand why you keep going there» Alexiares said one day.
«There?» Elpis asked, «Where are you going, Tos?»
«None of your business, Princeling»
Alexiares replied in his place: «Cratos has been going to Saturn for the checks for years now»
«Oh» the green boy replied «I visited Charon Castle a while ago. I guess Titan Castle must be just as gloomy»
It was easy to forget Elpis was one of the Royals, he who was a wisp of a kid and never showed any of the powers his equals had, even if he was a cadet he had the right to visit any Castle, if he so wanted.
«It's quiet,» Cratos said, shoulders hunched «Dark and quiet»
Elpis hummed to himself, then asked: «You've seen Princess Saturn?»
«She's still sleeping» Cratos replied with a grimace, a reflex at that point. After all the times he said that to anyone who asked in fear of a different answer, the words had started to leave a sour taste in his mouth.
Elpis, bless his smart but stupid green head, gave his friend a weird look, but said nothing.
Good, because Cratos wasn't ready to deal with whatever feelings he had caught. He was a warrior, this thing wasn't supposed to have a place in his life.
But as much as he tried to remind himself those trips were some kind of self-imposed duty, it took nothing from the stirring in his heart.
The more time passed, the more he wished he could just wake her up.
Not that he'd be able to, the spell upon the Guardian of Death was too strong to be lifted and even if not, that would mean the destruction of everything.
Still, his anger grew every passing year. Even after he became the leader of the Phobos' Dragons, even after he was admitted in the High Council.
Good thing, then, that the Dragons were sent to Earth to help Prince Endymion contain a threat of monsters.
The only thing Cratos didn't keep into account was that he would be unable to travel to Saturn while he was at war. It made his already terrible temper even worse, to the point he worried Alexiares and put Achlys in the kind of nosy mood only Venusians could come up with.
Achlys was one of the best fighters in the army, one with the ability to secern acid from her pink body itself, but she was also physically strong and capable, a deadly combination that left uncautious adversaries molten specks on the ground. Not to mention, she had a penchant for sticking her nose in other people's business.
It was natural that Achlys was the first to notice his bad mood and the only one to have to courage to poke. Repeatedly, all despite knowing of his temper.
«So, Cratos, who is the lover you left at home?»
«The fuck are you talking about?» the commander replied harshly.
«I know this kind of behaviour» the girl reprised, unfazed «You're terrible because you are too far from your lover. Come on, tell me who...»
«Shut the fuck up. I have no lover»
«Uhm. That's worse than I thought. You're in love but you're not that sure of the other's feelings and, of course, you can't check from here...»
«I don't give a damn what you think» he moved to go away from the obnoxious woman, but she wasn't going to give up.
«Suit yourself, but you're not damaging yourself only» she reprimanded, bubbly demeanour left aside «The more reckless you are, the more danger you end up in, the worse chances we all have to go back home in one piece. I'm sure your beloved would rather have you back victorious and undamaged and so do we, but do as you please»
Once alone, Cratos scoffed. He was sure Macaria wouldn't care or mind what state he came back to, she likely didn't even know there was a conflict ongoing, so for sure she wasn't worried for him. It stung a little, but it wasn't important, he said to himself.
Then, why in the Universe did he think of Macaria when Achlys insinuated he had a lover?
Fighting was his life and his underlings depended on him. Everything else came second.
Actually, there was nothing else. He repeated that to himself times and times again until he was convinced.
But he still wished she was awake.
After the betrayal of the Shitennou, Silver Millennium troops retired from Earth, bringing Prince Endymion and the few ones not under the enemy's control to safety.
There was no way of knowing when the war was going to reach the Moon, so Cratos couldn't leave, one because he could be needed anytime, two because Queen Serenity ordered for the best fighters to reunite so an elite of them would become the guards of Prince Endymion in place of his Shitennou.
Queen Serenity seemed to have accepted the reality that her daughter and the Earth Prince wanted to be together, so there was a high chance - and equally high hopes - that at the end of the war they were going to get married, making the first real bond between Earth and Moon with the joining of the crowns.
That meant Prince Endymion was going to co-rule Silver Millennium, hence becoming his guard now meant becoming equal to the Inner Senshi in a near future without having to marry into Royalty.
A chance no one would miss.
But taking the name Aragonite, becoming one of the re-instituted Housekitennou, vowing to be the defence of the Prince, meant his self-appointed duty to check on Sailor Saturn was over.
He never spoke of it. He had another trouble since Elpis had taken the title of Malachite with the leadership of the Housekitennou for having saved the Prince's life while on Earth.
Being bested by one who never looked he could be a decent fighter and never had had power on his own was, in Cratos' not-so-humble opinion, the worst, especially when he had to admit he was a good leader.
Between that sudden shift in his life and with the new phase of the war coming closer, Macaria had to be pushed aside in his mind.
Not that she was there in the first place, duh.
Eventually, his unexpressed wish came true in the worst of ways.
The war they had recklessly thought they were winning had taken another turn. The Housekitennou and the rest of Silver Millennium's army managed to destroy the hoarde of monsters and even some of their horrifying leaders, but when they realized the whole frontal attack was just a trap to get behind them and attack the Royals directly, they had run back to the Moon Castle, to face the worst sight.
Cratos watched the utter devastation around the once perfect building, blood smeared on the few survived flowers of the garden, now reduced to fuming wreckage. The air was still thick from static where, forward, they found the beaten-up body of Nephrite, to which Alexiares didn't even spare a glance for, not even of pity.
A large path of ice had to be destroyed to get to the steps of the Castle. They found Zoicite drown in it and anyone with eyes could see the satisfaction in Koios' eyes, before the urgency of the search came back in full force.
The floor got full of ashes moving forward, a smear of red all over the white staircase going up, past the charred remains of what could only have been Jadeite, the molten iron of daggers mixed up with the burnt skin and blood. If Meleager stepped on what remained of his limbs in running up, following the blood trail, no one would mention it.
But then...
The small exaltation at seeing the worst of their enemies dead crumbled in horror.
The crowd had reached the porch that led inside and got stuck there, tied by golden chains all over around, most with necks snapped or hanged from the balcony and columns.
Venus was at the center of it, the Sacred Sword embed in Kunzite's chest, who lied with eyes open but unseeing.
She didn't look in much better shape, her body bent forward, littered with wounds. Her eyes had dulled and she was turned towards the inside, at the next staircase where her sisters-in-arms lied, barely alive anymore.
Antheros and Hypnos ran by her side, supporting her and she seemed to regain a bit of awareness, in the worst way, for her gaze ran to the entrance door and she let out a painful sigh.
Beyond... the worst vision of all.
Princess Serenity was there. Lying on the ground, hand in hand with Prince Endymion.
Unmoving, both of them.
A sword lied abandoned on the side, her once pristine dress tainted in red.
The loud clang of Elpis' sword falling to the floor accompanied his shout of pain and grief as the cadet Prince reached his sister. He screamed why and how and what along with his sister's name.
It awoke the Housekitennou from the shock, each reaching out for their respective leader. Cratos turned the other way, deafened himself at what were, he was certain, the goodbyes of the Inner Princesses to their Lieutenants.
No one could have taken them out their anger and sorrow now, if not the clamour from the other room, and he focused on that.
The Earthlings were pouring inside from another entrance, held back by some of the remaining Silver Millennium troops, led by Asteria and a few others of the Court. The Housekitennou ran to their help because they had lost much, but they couldn't lose everything, not without a fight.
The unhinged door of the Throne Room, down the corridor, left the sight clear to see a red-haired woman approaching the throne uncaring of, if not pleased by, the ruckus around her.
Cratos launched himself in and blasted her away from the place that wasn't hers.
«Get the fuck away from there, bitch»
The woman, Beryl the usurper, replied with bitter, evil laughter, moving as if his attack had been a bare nuisance «You're nothing» she taunted «None of you is. This tyranny is over. The Princess lead you to death and she killed herself not to face her guilt»
«Liar!» Elpis screamed from the back, sword back in his hands and a feral gaze «It was you! Beryl! You shall die!»
Elpis attacked and they all followed, even when Beryl turned into a much larger being, fueled by dark power, when more monsters came out to attack, when they knew they were at disadvantage.
They fought and were rebutted once, twice, as many times as they could get back up they did, but where the Sailor Senshi could have done nothing, what chances had they? But that was thinking like losers, and Cratos was nothing of the sort.
He went on, cursed and screamed with all he had, shaky legs and arms hurting like never before.
The Queen and the Silver Crystal could be their only hope, but her Majesty wasn't in sight yet.
None of the young ones there remembered to have ever seen the Silver Crystal in action, although the legend was known: the Silver Crystal's power was immeasurable, but needed time.
At last, the Queen came.
In her hands, the famed Moon-shaped sceptre turned into a long staff on which glowed the Silver Crystal, in front of which monsters and evil men cowered and dissolved.
Her beautiful visage was tearstained, but her gaze was firm.
Behind her, Venus was the last standing, the Sacred Sword slowly turning into grey stone. On shaky legs, she stood with her Queen, and so did Elpis and whoever was still alive.
Light so bright it blinded everyone overpoured from the Crystal, the whole Palace was invested in it. Beryl, or whatever the being that had controlled her was, screamed in the most inhuman of screeches.
«In the name of the Moon, begone, Metalia!» the Queen ordered and the being of darkness screeched and cursed them all but ultimately vanished.
Then all was silent and still.
Until they all turned at the Queen, she smiled... and out her hands the sceptre, now small and opaque, fell with a cling and the Silver Crystal was nowhere in sight anymore.
«Mother!» Elpis ran towards her, catching her lithe frame before she could fall to the ground, helping her lie down, muttering about getting help and all would be fine, even if it was clear nothing would be fine.
A little further, Venus fell to her knees, deaf to the calls of her name. The Sacred Sword disappeared from her side as Hypnos cradled her stilling frame.
Had they won?
Metalia was sealed away, at cost of the Queen's life. The Moon Princess and the Earth Prince were dead, and so were the Inner Senshi.
Without their power to nurture and protect the respective kingdoms, the Planets were doomed to perish in a handful of years or less.
It didn't feel like winning.
Everyone's eyes were suddenly caught by a new flash of light coming from the Prayers' Room.
No one knew what it meant and they could only watch, mesmerized.
Three lights fell from the sky and shone from inside: yellow, aqua and ruby. Then a fourth, purple, descended straight from where Cratos knew by heart was Saturn.
He understood.
The end was there.
There was nothing to do but watch: Sailor Saturn stepped out shortly after, her lilac fuku richer than those of the Inners and her famed weapon in hands, the Silence Glaive, was taller than herself.
Still tiny, still beautiful, awake for the first time in too long for a single, last moment.
Her eyes were purple.
Cratos knew because he searched for them. He barely heard the despair of his companions, or the passionate plea from Elpis, who begged her not to intervene, to let them try and rebuild over.
Cratos was looking at Saturn's eyes, finally open and so, so cold.
She kept looking at the green-haired man as if she couldn't understand his words, or didn't care about them. Not even the cadet Prince of Silver Millennium could stop the Soldier of Silence.
«Elpis» Cratos called his friend's given name for the first time in a long time and put a hand on his shoulder «That's it. It's over»
His old friend turned commander shook his head and cried, that old annoying habit that that day had a real reason to be.
Cratos looked back at Saturn - Macaria, she was Macaria to him for so long, but not quite right now - and saw her staring back. It was a fleeting moment, but her severe stance softened a little, and he could feel the utterly devastating sadness coming from her, the momentous happiness for that single moment, the smallest hint of a smile at the corner of her lips.
«Death always comes. It has to, for Rebirth to start» she said, none of the curious warmth in her voice, no softness. Only the stance of a warrior, the decisiveness of a goddess.
She closed her eyes while swinging the Glaive. Cratos didn't. He kept looking at her, even when everyone screamed or cried, even when everything was covered in purple light and started to turn to dust, even when the ground broke and shattered. Even when any sound was lost in deafening silence and there was no air to breathe.
When she opened her eyes again, it was Macaria, soft, gentle, full of sorrow, looking back, and in the deafening silence of those last moments, she smiled.
«Until next time, my dearest»
He didn't reply. He couldn't: nothing of his physical body responded to him any longer. His consciousness faded too.
Silver Millennium was over.
Notes: The end.
But not quite! I have a small bonus chapter with a little surprise coming next which will be the tie to the Dream Arc in DoMaH, which this story is a prequel of.
Have nice holidays (or a nice December, if you don't celebrate) and stay safe!