Chapter 13

Facing Chibiusa's Demons

By the time everyone had returned to Radina's house, Luna could now breathe a sigh of relief.

"Thanks to our efforts, changes to the history of the past have now been averted," said Luna.

"But since Sailor Moon was kidnapped by Demande, Sora's gone after him, and is most likely locked in a heated duel with him," piped in Riku.

"Yes, even though we protected the past, the outcome is the same," added Hotaru.

"A destiny without Sailor Moon and Sora is something that cannot happen, Rei said furiously.

"If they never existed, the present me would never be here. I'm helping too!" added Haruka.

"There would be no meaning to a future without our true queen," agreed Michiru.

"If Sailor Moon's life were to end here, it would make time contradict itself, and force the hand of the Keepers of Fate. Whatever we do, we have to help our friends," said Sailor Pluto.

"Because of Sailor Moon and Sora, all of us here are friends today. We have to help them!" interjected Makoto.

"It's true, they're important friends to us. We can't just stand by and watch this, we need to act now," agreed Ami.

"Even if she's not too great. Even if she is still a bit reckless and a dunce, She's not the brightest of all people, but we are her family. And we must always be there for her, both in body and in spirit!" said Minako.

"Without Sailor Moon at our side, then I can't go back to my own time!" squeaked Chibiusa.

"You got that right, kid. Nobody should even think of a future if Usagi and Sora aren't with us. So let's go and find them in the castle basement, your old pal Saphir spoke of," said Axel.

"Right, Saphir did mention that there was a basement in the castle, if we stand on the Symbol Mark upon its ruins, we might be able to enter the basement, and Usagi back home," added Riku.

Everyone nodded in agreement, as Chibiusa decided to take those that had a strong connection to both Sora and Usagi. They decided to take Xion Hotaru, Axel, Rei, Setsuna, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Michiru along for the task.

"Take care of the others, Haruka," the aquamarine Sailor Goddess said to the sky goddess.

"I will Michiru, and may your heart be your guiding key," replied Haruka, as they hugged each other.

After some intense training, they were now ready to march forth to enter the castle basement in the ruins of the Moon Castle. They soon boarded the ark, and blasted off to find the ravaged landscape of Beryl's attack.

"Everyone stay alert," said Riku.

They all nodded and walked slowly but cautiously into the ruined castle, until they found the symbol on the floor where Serenity fell. As the stepped into it, they were soon transported into the castle basement and started walking forward to find Sailor Moon and Sora's life force thanks to the strong connection they had with their hearts. They had barely gotten into the darkened corridors when they heard the sound of a woman's laughter. Turning swiftly around, they noticed a dark corridor open before them.

"Just send out the big bad," said Axel.

But then they saw a woman who resembled Chibiusa as an adult, but she bore the mark of the Black Moon Clan upon her forehead, causing Riku to look in both shock and rage, as she laughed at them.

"You!" snapped Riku.

"Black Lady!" gasped Luna.

"It's me! This is what Wiseman turned me into, by purging my heart of love and light, and replacing it with darkness," added Chibiusa.

"Yeah. How could I forget?" Riku said in a dark tone.

"I'd say that was our finest hour," cackled Chibiusa's dark side.

"Wrong. Her hour of weakness," replied Riku.

"But how!? Chibiusa is right here with us!" said Luna.

"You sure? I disagree. As of this moment, Mistress Apsu is changing this period's Destiny. And Boundaries cannot be set, but this is the truth. At any rate, Sin and her friends have taken a shard of the Rainbow Crystals which makes up the Silver Crystal," explained Black Lady.

"No!" gasped Riku.

"Now, the power of the Silver Crystal is steadily becoming weaker. Chibiusa will disappear in that time. Because what Lady Apsu has decided shall become history. Now, you shall sink into the abyss!" said Black Lady.

But then Riku slowly stepped forward, and stood before Black Lady.

"Black Lady. Or… Chibiusa. You said you wanted to be an elegant but beautiful young lady. But darkness stole your heart, and your dream with it. Don't you see? That's half the reason I'm helping your mother and her friend. After allowing darkness into my heart, I had my doubts about wielding the keyblade. Even after you were saved by your parents, here you are, haunting my sister. So we both get it. There's no point in trying to hold the darkness back," he said.

"At long last, you see the truth Ansem told you," replied Dark Chibiusa.

"You know… when we look at you… there's this memory that flashes back. A secret I told Riku when he visited me in the future. The main reason I kept dreaming about growing into a beautiful lady was because of you and mommy," said Chibiusa, who stood with Riku and took his hand in her own.

This made Black Lady blink in confusion.

"Our journey begins here, and now. We're going to save Usagi and Sora, and recover the Rose Crystal," said Riku, as he summoned his first keyblade, Way to the Dawn.

"This… is your answer?" asked the adult Pinkette.

"Yes. We know the way. Consume the darkness, return it to light," the brother and sister said together.

"Just try it!" replied Black Lady.

(For this battle, play L'Eminenza Oscura I from Kingdom Hearts 3 Re:Mind)

Then she channeled the darkness from within her and summoned forth the dark figure that Xehanort and Ansem used to unleash their power. Riku and Chibiusa surged forward with an unrelenting drive in their hearts as they prepared for battle.

"We'll help too!" called Rei.

They nodded at once, as Riku and Black Lady engaged in a deadly clash of power.

"Luna-P! Transform into the Soul Eater!" she commanded.

Instantly a burst of dark smoke erupted and Black Lady caught the demonic blade in her hand. She and Riku fought furiously with all of their strength. The Dark figure then began sending several energy blades at his friends, but they were able to dodge out of the way in time.

"TAKE THIS!" shouted Black Lady.

Then she and the dark figure surged towards them, but Riku stopped it with a dark shield. Hotaru and Xion then unleashed Death Ribbon Ragnarok upon her, causing her to jump back in shock. Sailor Pluto and Mickey quickly combined the powers together to unleash Stopza upon her, so that they'd use this opportunity to hit her with everything they had.

"Submit!" Black Lady said furiously.

But the dark figure missed Chibiusa completely, as she unleashed her Pink Sugar Heart Attack upon her. Donald and Goofy quickly acted fast as they clonked her head with their staff and shield in hand, causing her to send them back with a double Dark Firaga, but Riku retaliated with Dark Break which managed to wound her very seriously. Sailor Neptune sent her Deep Submerge at Black Lady which caused her to roar furiously.

"Come Guardian!" she called to the dark figure.

But Sailor Mars used the Mars Flame Snake upon her causing her immense burning pain, followed by Axel who swung his keyblade at her.

"You're really gettin' ahead of yourself kid," he said.

"Don't call me that! I hate it when people call me that!" snapped Black Lady.

"Dead Scream!" called Sailor Pluto.

An orb of violet light surged towards her and caused her to howl in pain and agony.

"You're finished!" shouted Riku.

"You insolent brat!" Black Lady shouted back, sending a dark orb at him.

Riku was able to block it, then he swatted it away.

"LITTLE SISTER!" he screamed, as he ran towards her.

With a powerful upward swing he was able to strike at her and emerge on the other side of her.

"This is the end!" Riku said with a look of triumph.

(Music ends here)

Black Lady suddenly placed her hand upon her chest as she stumbled back and looked at both Riku and Chibiusa.

"What… a journey you and I have had…" she said.

"You know, it's strange. I think I'm gonna miss you," replied Chibiusa.

"Your strength is vaster than darkness. I knew I never stood a chance. Part of me wanted to defy my fate… but when Saphir betrayed Black Moon, I found I did not care. And then, nothing else seemed to matter anymore," said Black Lady.

"Chibiusa…" Rei said to the dark version of Usagi's daughter.

"What? It is time to move on, Rei… Mommy needs your help… so go forth now, and help her…" replied Black Lady.

Then she faded away into the darkness, returning to her own time. Chibiusa then glanced upwards at Riku, who glanced back at her, and nodded at her. They slowly but carefully walked through the corridors of the basement that were miraculously left untouched by Beryl's attack, and the disappearance of the ruins.

"So Riku, what happens next?" asked Mickey.

"Usagi's in trouble, which means that Sora's nearby. I know he's here in the castle basement, fighting Demande. So I think that their battle is one of attrition," said Riku.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of clashing metal. And race to see Sora and Demande, locked in a clash of blades, that seemed endless and could be won by neither.

"That's it! You're finished!" roared the prince of the Black Moon Clan.

He attacked Sora who dodged his attacks and even blocked some of them with his keyblade.

"You're like an open book! I can read your every move!" Sora said with a smirk on his face.

He quickly kicked Demande back, and landed in a crouch.

"Too easy!" he said and thrust his keyblade at Demande's sword, forcing the other silverette back.

Demande slowly got back up, as he glared defiantly at Sora.

"I heard that the Princess was after the Rose Crystal. But it's a good thing I was able to take it from them. Thought it would have been alright with the Princess from this age," he said.

Before they could attack again they suddenly saw both Chibiusa, Riku, and all of their friends rushing towards them.

"Demande! This stops here!" she called out to the Black Moon Prince.

Demande stopped and had his sword at his side.

"What? How do you know of this place?" he asked.

"It's because your brother Saphir told us," replied Riku.

Yeah! He asked us to stop you from trying to claim Usagi's heart as your own!" added Sora.

Then Saphir emerged from the dark corridor and walked up to Demande.

"Please listen brother, even if we do the same things again, it won't help. I know you want Sailor Moon to say that her heart belongs to you, but…" said Saphir.

"But I can't get her no matter what I do. I know that. I know that her heart belongs with Tuxedo Mask, " finished Demande.

But Saphir noticed Sin appearing from the dark corridor holding a dagger in her hand.

"Brother, behind you!" cried Saphir.

Quickly jumping over his brother, Saphir landed between him and Sin, as the dagger pierced his heart.

"NO!" shouted Demande, his grip tightening upon his sword.

"Please, brother… you have to let Sailor Moon go. Then we can be free as well..." coughed Saphir, as he was kicked aside.

Sora glared at Sin.

"You're gonna pay for this!" he shouted as he raced up beside Demande.

But Sin was unperturbed by what she had done.

"Good gracious! It looks as though the siblings have similar feelings," she said with a smirk.

Sora swung his keyblade furiously at Sin, who dodged out of the way.

"Wait Sora! We'll take her together!" called Chibiusa.

"Ah, so it seems your friends are here too, Sora. Just like with Demande, we have brought back others. Soon we shall have the Rose Crystal in our possession. And those who dare challenge us shall accept their doom," sneered Sin.

"Yeah right!" barked Sora.

"Wait Sora! Let me help you, protect Sailor Moon!" said Demande.

Sin huffed furiously.

"So be it! If you want to prove you're a match for me, you're welcome to try!" she said, as she changed her dagger into a replica of the now destroyed Gazing Eye Keyblade.

(Play L'impeto Oscuro: Data Young Xehanort's theme from KH3 Remind for this battle)

"Here goes!" said Sora.

He charged at Sin, but she jumped out of the way, and landed behind him. They ran towards each other, and entered a blade lock. Then they charged again, but this time they were now locked in a more intense clash of blades that seemed fierce, but Sora quickly pushed her back. Then Demande charged right at her with his blade, and began attacking with a ferocious determination. Sin's eyes filled with hatred for the man that took her parents, but smirked at him. They soon fought more furiously than ever, which made Sin grow desperate for more battle. Pushing Demande back, Sin countered with even more unrelenting fury, then attacked him with her replicated keyblade which the other silverette was barely able to block. Despite being forced back, Demande sent several bursts of flame from his hand that surged towards her. Though she blocked one, another struck her. Waving his hand he formed a fist causing the flames to circle back towards her, but Sin was prepared as she blocked most of them, then shielded herself from the rest of the flames. Looking up in shock, Sin sent several blade beams at demand, that he was able to block with his sword. He managed to jump back, in time, as their eyes locked with each other. At last Sin charged at Demande once again, but Sora quickly stopped her attack and immediately forced her back, while the rest of his friends joined the battle. Rei glared furiously at Demande.

"Listen! I may not like you, just as you may not like me! But for now, we'll take her out together!" she said to him.

"That's fine with me. I'm willing to cooperate with you in avenging my brother," replied Demande.

Together they all surged towards Demande and hit her with everything they had.

"This is where you will die, and where my vengeance shall be fulfilled, for Mamoru's sake! For Usagi's sake! And for me!" Rei said with unrelenting fury.

But Hotaru stopped her with her arm extended outwards.

"No! You mustn't compromise who you are with vengeance!" she said to her.

"Saturn's right. If you killed someone for vengeance, you'd never recover from it," added Xion.

"A certain friend of ours once said, 'let them judge us by our actions, and see which of us is truly the villain.' Both Usagi and I know that you're better than this," said Sora, as he took her hand in his own, and pulled her into a gentle hug.

As the battle was drawing to a close, Riku slowly walked up to Sin with his Way to the Dawn keyblade in hand, and pointed it at her chest.

"No, what was that?" she gasped in shock, as she dropped her replicated keyblade to the ground.

"Give it up," Riku said to her.

"Fine, we'll withdraw, for now. But we've got what we wanted from this time," hissed Sin, as she picked up her weapon, and turned it back into a dagger.

She slowly walked away from them, but stopped suddenly.

"It's time to repay those who have betrayed us," she said.

Then she lunged at Demande, and struck him down.

"And this is for mine and Anshar's parents!" she shouted furiously.

Then she plunged the dagger into his heart and left it there as she chuckled to herself. At last she opened up the corridor of darkness, and walked away just as Chibiusa and Riku came to the wounded Demande.

"Are you alright!?" she asked in desperation.

"Please, forgive me, Heroes of Light. This isn't that Destiny I wanted to have," Demande said in a raspy voice.

"I know Demande. Even if you could change it, it'd probably be so that we'd no longer have to be locked in this eternal war with darkness," said Riku.

Demande smiled at Riku.

"You're eyes. And Sora's eyes. They're just like Saphir's eyes. And yet, you both seem to remind me of him, even though you don't bear the symbol of our clan. I ask you, return to the future… If the Future doesn't change, the present will…" he said.

As he faded away, they heard a faint clink of something falling to the ground, and a shimmering light that illuminated their faces.

"We've got the Rose Crystal," said Riku, as he gently picked it up and placed it into the pocket of his jacket.

Then Luna nudged Usagi's unconscious form, which managed to wake her up.

"Oh, hey guys," she said to them.

"While you were out, Demande and I were locked in a clash of blades. Thankfully Saphir stopped us from trying to kill each other, but Sin managed to strike him down. We fought her off, but then she struck down Demande as a way of avenging both her and Anshar's parents. But because of that, we managed to recover the Rose Crystal," said Sora, as he gently helped her to her feet.

"Now we must find and defeat Apsu and her minions, for both everyone, even the Black Moon Clan," added Luna.

Usagi nodded then she slowly walked to everyone.

"Okay, let's go back to our time," she said.

Inside Apsu's fortress, Sin and Anshar were now locked in a discussion about what to do next.

"So the Rose Crystal was taken away from us… As was expected, we've managed to get our hands on one of the rainbow crystals. And I wonder now if our fate will be rewritten," said the younger sibling.

"Don't worry, Anshar. Besides, we can rewrite more destinies. But first, I'll need to borrow Kishar," remarked Sin.

Anshar nodded and allowed Kishar to follow her to Apsu's throne room, where Maleficent and Pete stood with her.

"MIstress Apsu, Mistress Maleficent, Pete. Please allow me to rewrite the fate of the young man called Shingo Tsukino, Usagi Tsukino's obnoxious young sibling. I know now that she is Sailor Moon, the one who has been clashing with us," Sin said as she bowed to her one knee.

"This boy is far too close to the Legendary Silver Crystal. It's powers seem to be weakening at an alarming rate. But even though the power of this crystal is still too great for us to handle, I need you to redouble your efforts in helping me throw more fates into disarray with my own power. See to it that Shingo's destiny leads him to becoming a Heartless!" commanded Apsu.

Despite coughing violently, Sin bowed to her, but Maleficent approached her.

"Remember, Sin. Relying on dark powers could cost you your heart, make no mistake of that. Now dear child, It's time for you to awaken a new power within you, and realize your full potential!" called Maleficent.

Feeling the power of darkness welling up inside of her, Sin smirked with pride as she walked off.

"Mistress Apsu, even though you don't have much time, I will fulfill our destiny, and we will finish what Xehanort started long ago. I must get that cursed rock back to you as soon as possible," she said.

Then she opened up a corridor of darkness and disappeared from everyone's eyes.

At Usagi's house in Juban District, Shingo was just returning from school when he noticed Kishar approaching him.

"Huh? What the heck is that?" he asked.

He slowly picked up the cat and gently held it in his arms.

"Aw, you're cute… Don't worry, little guy. I'm gonna make sure your well fed," said Shingo.

He slowly walked back to the house as Kishar meowed at him.