Yesteryear
18 April 2011
Summary: A short... takes place during the Silver Millennium, and its the end of days.
AN: I could have made this into a full blown fic surrounding the scene I've just created in my head, but I have enough Silver Millennium fics that this is just yet another one that doesn't need another lead in, when I still haven't finished other stories. But this is one that I could use again or not. There are so many possibilities to that era. You can blame "When Dawn Comes" for this idea, btw.
–
They'd saved each other so many times before. He had the ability to heal himself, or at least small wounds, she wasn't so lucky, but she could heal others. She could his woulds, had, some so deep and life-threatening that he had almost died on several occasions. Probably did in one. He couldn't heal her, but he could give her his life. In three or four very distinct ways at least. The first was the one he gladly laid in her hands the moment he met her, the one that meant that he wouldn't actually be giving her his life, but rather his heart, and everything he cared about, was now hers. The second, was he could give her his life, if she were dying, he couldn't heal her, but he could let her have his essence which wouldn't replace hers, but back hers up, and then his body would no longer be living, but she would be. He could also give her his life, trade his for hers, put himself in front of any attacks that were meant for her, and take the brunt of it. If he were to die, she could always bring him back. That was probably the fourth, she was in control of his very existence, if she wanted to end it, she could, and if she didn't want to bring him back, she didn't have to. His life was hers in almost every way possible, he just couldn't give her his life, nor did he want her to have it, it was boring and dangerous and he hated his father, where she and her mother got along fine. If anything, he would have preferred her life.
That was beyond the point, the point is, she had the ability to save him, even on the vestige of death. However he still gladly laid his life on the line, not for the reassurance that she would bring him back, that wasn't the point. The point was, that her life was so much more important than his, that he loved her too much to let her suffer one iota of injury, and he would let her have all of him. Gave her all of him. He did it all to ensure that she was safe, happy and secure. He didn't even want her worrying about anything. He probably protected her too much, they'd known each other since they were kids and she might have been too sheltered because of the combine efforts of the senshi, her mother and most of all, himself. She was also not sheltered enough in some ways, as she demonstrated just before all of this went down.
Serenity was very much a vixen. Her hands had healed a large gash in his side, that despite all of his intentions, she had experienced many battles, not in the field, but from the sidelines, and had witnessed many of his bloody exploits. He had taken care of most of the finer details that would allow him to at least live before he could tend to it medically, he was conscious this time at least, so he could do so. His body usually kicked in when he was unconscious, but it wasn't as focused, and it needed rest as well. Serenity took care of the rest, not wanting infection to set in, and then energies would have been wasted, on his part at least.
He didn't like her doing these things though, for she used a different kind of energy than he did. She used her life-source to heal him. She always looked a woman who had gone through the ringer if she healed a large wound. As of now though, she had only had to stifle a yawn.
Then her eyes perked up at him and she smiled wickedly. Those very hands that had been on his bare side, tightened fractionally on the healed skin before they spread across the other bare skin they had access to. Then towards some that wasn't exposed and he gasped. He knew what she wanted, they had done it often enough. He satisfied her desires, for his had picked up instantly when he was no longer worried about bleeding out.
That had been in the afternoon. By the time dusk fell, all hell had broken loose and no matter how much they had contained it in the past, this was something they could not handle. They had held off attacking the enemy too long and the enemy became stronger, attacking them first with more forces than they thought they had.
Serenity was using her energy to save those injured in battle, the ones that were her people and could fight again, but that's not why she did it, she was trying to save as many as possible. She healed only those wounds which were life-threatening, leaving the others to be dealt with later.
Endymion kept moving her, kept her going, kept her away from the heat of battle. They were on her territory, her energy source larger than if she were on Earth, but it wasn't bottomless. She would run out, and he needed to keep her safe, and he didn't want her using her energy for this, not if it would harm her in any way. She saved him too, there was an attack directed at them, and she deflected it, but it took more energy than healing people.
He sheltered her in a throw of his cape, and picked her up, carrying her towards the area he knew to be safe. The area her mother had designed for her daughter and her daughter alone to be protected in. The other layers designed for her court and the next for the people of the Moon. Endymion wasn't sure how far he could breech, but he needed to get Serenity there, get her to where she would be protected against all of this. Where in the very center, her energy could restore faster, not instantly, but faster.
He reached one, and he could go no further. He shoved her through the barriers and she landed with a thunk, as it wasn't the most graceful action he'd seen her do, but then again, that was his fault. She panted there for a moment, and worked her way back towards him, her hand reaching through, grabbing his and pulling him along with her. As long as it was her will allowing the others in, she could bring him. However her mother had seen her soft heart and knew there needed to be a place where even Serenity couldn't be duped and let another kill her. There was that final one. "Just for a moment." She warned. "I need to go back out there and help-" The barriers were starting to flicker.
"You have to get to the center. You're weak on your feet." He yelled, pointing at the last ring, he could go no farther. He was in the circle of friends, he could push her in, but she might fall through to the other side, and his hands could only get her in so far, before he had to let her go. He had to trust her to stay, so he had to convince her that's what she wanted to. "If you are going to save anyone else, you first have to save yourself."
The first barrier crumbled. He did not worry, the one she was going to be in would hold. The one they were currently in... it would hold the longest, but it too would crumble eventually. But it was designed that way, for the enemy to weaken themselves getting at the strongest of the senshi, who would be recuperating and then they would win, with Serenity in tact, and if they fell, then Serenity would still be safe, if she knew what was good for her and remain.
"Endy..." She clung onto him, not letting him push her even that little bit into it. "I'm scared."
"You'll be safe."
"Not for me."
That much he knew, and knew that was one of the reasons he loved her so much. It wasn't he that she was necessarily worried for, though he knew that was the biggest one, however she was scared for everyone she loved and some she barely knew. "They'll be fine. They always are." He lied, they both knew it. Only she could pull them back to the land of the living before they got too far. Even her mother couldn't do it quite like she could. "But you can't help them unless you recharge."
The barriers were falling faster than he thought they would. The second one crashed behind him. There were only two left, then the one they were standing in. One saving grace was that each got stronger the further they got in. Serenity reluctantly nodded and slipped from his fingers. She stood only inches from him, but it could have been miles, had it not been for the fact that he could see her.
He rested his hand on the glass as another barrier fell behind him. They were going through them faster than he ever thought possible. Faster than the Queen thought probable. She would have been ashamed to learn she had underestimated her guards for her people. Then again, how could she have known anyone had that much power, that the silver crystal's light protection had been no match or stepping stone for the enemy. That they were barely noticeable in the wake of so much destruction, and was not tiring the enemy out, that if the senshi had been where he stood, they would be feasted upon sooner than they could hope to be able to recover enough to defend their princess's planet again.
In fact, had they not been out fighting, unable to get to these barriers, they would have been sitting ducks waiting the slaughter as it surrounded them. Surrounded him. He would not let Serenity know the true nature of his thoughts though, he threw a barrier up in his mind and in his features. She could not learn the worry he had suddenly felt and he looked at his love, praying she would stay, would be stuck in there, until the danger passed, that there was something the Queen had built in that would not allow her daughter to leave until it was time to take care of the enemy, when she was strong and ready to face them, and provide for her in the meantime. For nothing could get in, not even air. Serenity rested her hand against he barrier as well, he could feel her heat, even is she couldn't feel his.
He smiled reassuringly as the last barrier fell behind him, and only his remained. Her eyes grew huge as she realized what he had been attempting to hide. "You'll be killed." She whispered, trying to break free of her prison. Endymion sent a thanks to her mother, for she had been smart enough to do so.
"Only for a little while."
"Endy, if I cannot bring you back within ten minutes of your death, I will have lost you forever."
Endymion looked away from her pained eyes. "In that way perhaps. I will find you again. You will bring me back, somehow. If not, it isn't a terrible loss, you know what you'll have to do. You can save the world."
"There is no world without you."
"Don't talk like that." He said gently, not wanting to cause her any more grief. "I love you."
The last barrier broke, with a sweeping gush of wind, and even though their hands were mere millimeters apart, she could not grab hold of his hand, and he was swept up with the land, she fought, and struggled to get to him, and his hand was held out to her as long as he could.
Then he turned away from her, pulling out his sword, intending to finish this battle where they stood, and not have to involve her any more than she needed to be. He would protect her to his dying breath, even if it was unnecessary with her in the most secure place in the entire universe, not even the 5th dimension could beat out the protection her mother provided her. What the silver crystal provided. But he hoped that she would not have to leave it to fight, that she could leave it with no danger held over her head and live peacefully.
He was collateral damage. He knew that, as he laid there, a huge gash running down his side from shoulder to upper thigh. Beryl had screeched when she finally came upon him. Her eyes flashing to the white robed princess struggling against her confines.
"Let me help you out with that!" Beryl beat the raw of her power against Serenity's barrier, but it deflected easily, not even bouncing back, but dissolving unable to even find the barrier, much less break it. That was the strongest attack Beryl could send, and she sent wave after wave directly for Serenity. Endymion grinned in victory even as the lights and noises began to fade and blur and get fuzzy, he still watched as his love was protected. "You killed him!" Beryl screamed, and he hoped Serenity would never believe that, not even for a moment.
He coughed up blood trying to deny the accusation. Beryl had been the one behind the attack, had been the one to catch him up in that storm, and throw him into a battle with her strongest youma, fed by the very power that threatened all of their livelihoods.
Serenity screamed back, not the vile, ear-piercing scream that Beryl had, the one that made him watch to vomit, but a rage filled one none-the-less. "You killed him! You and your jealousy and inability to admit defeat!"
"I have won."
"You killed the prize. How is that winning? You've forfeited the battle." Serenity's eyes glowed silver as she pounded against her confines, trying to get out, trying to get to him.
"If you had just let him be, let me have him, none of this would have happened, but no! You had to dupe him with your witchcraft and status and immature body. He would have been happy with me, but you threatened his status if he didn't conform like the rest of your puny senshi. They've all fallen by now, each and every one of them. Only Venus holds out, but Malachite will see to her end, just as the others had seen to the rest."
"He would have been miserable with you. What's more, he didn't choose you. He'd rather die several times than allow you put your hands on him."
"That's where you're wrong princess. I've had all of him, what have you gotten? A few chaste kisses?"
A grin quirked up the side of Serenity's lips, everything else faded but her, everything else always did anyway, but now more than ever, she was his sole point to this world, and it too was fading. He feared for her, for what she would say and what the wrath of Beryl would do once she threw that gloat back into Beryl's face.
"I've had more of him that you'd even come close to. Not only his body, which I know you didn't have, but his heart and very soul flowed over my hands. What have you had? A few brush ups against him? Really Beryl, that's pathetic, why would you envision more than what really happened?"
"It doesn't matter." Beryl spat, her red hair streaking black as she lost control of the vital part of her that needed Endymion alone. The part of her that took over, wasn't her at all, but someone controlling her, lending her this power that she kept pelting at Serenity. There wasn't even a quiver in the forces that kept the two entities away from each other. Not even because of their combined forces. With no Endymion to hold as a prize, Beryl lost part of her battle, the only reason she hung on still was to antagonize the poor girl. "You don't have him either."
"Oh please, get a new monologue. That one's been done to death. The whole: If I can't have him, no one will!"
"He's not the only thing you've lost tonight though... dear white princess of the Moon. Your kingdom's fallen, your senshi, dead. Your mother hiding just like you, but I will have her too, soon. You have nothing left, not after what I've done. Even if you could manage to defeat me, the planet's dead, it would take years to even rebuild the crumbling palace, and there would be no way to reclaim all that you lost, not even a fraction. The other planets will fall like this one, and then the ties to the other galaxies, severed, because a poison has taken over this one, and they fear expansion. Not even your call out to them, begging to be taken in would reach their cold hearts. You would be the cause of this cancer. They wouldn't want you infecting them. Especially without a silver crystal of your own."
Serenity yawned. "Oh I'm sorry, did you say something Beryl?"
"That's Empress Beryl to you."
"Just one question, peasant Beryl... where in your plan do you think these other galaxies take place? They'll just as likely come here and demolish everything, more than you've done. Or they'll cut off all communication."
"I will overtake them too. They cannot be allowed to rule anymore."
"Replace one for another?"
Beryl gathered more energy together, blasting it directly at Serenity's heart, but unable to pinpoint it enough to have even a remote effect on her shelter. Endymion's lips quirked up, he still fought, but it was a refreshing thought to know that not even the underestimated power of the Sensou* could harm her.
Serenity was buying time, she could see the light fading in Endymion's eyes, but she prayed he could hold on for a few more minutes, for when Beryl was distracted by her senshi or someone. Beryl did get distracted, not the way that Serenity had anticipated, but it was something. Her sneshi did come crashing into the scene, but she was quickly followed by the platinum haired lover of the senshi of love. They rammed into Beryl unexpectedly and Serenity crashed her fist against her barrier, wasting precious energy build up to let her through when it wasn't time yet. She caused unknowable damage to the barrier, and he feared it wouldn't work again if he managed to get her back in.
She came tumbling out towards him, dazed by the lack of energy she suddenly found herself with. He didn't know when he stopped watching her through his eyes. He thought he still was, but realization only came as she sobbed against his chest, her hands on his body and trying to feed energy into him, pull him out. Pull him back to her. Nothing came out of her hands. She pushed and she pushed, and he could see the fatigue on her face. Finally a small stream of energy came to her fingers but it faded quickly. She was pushing and pushing and he rested his ghostly hand over hers.
She jerked and looked around, tears in her eyes. "It's been eight minutes Endy."
If it were true, he'd been dead from almost the moment the two had started talking. He didn't remember blacking out at all. She must have been counting it silently in her head, and yet coming up with all of those witty responses to Beryl. Who was sending an attack towards Serenity as he watched.
He tried to warn her, both verbally and with his touch, but he went through her. She couldn't feel him any more. She went flying and was unable to move for many long second before she struggled to her feet. She was weak, she'd used up all of her energy, she had quite nothing left and if she had the silver crystal in her hands, she'd have used whatever remained of her to save him, but kill herself in the process.
He was somewhat pleased that she didn't have the crystal, so she couldn't sacrifice herself, however unwilling to save him. If she'd had anything left, she would have smacked him for such a thought, but she couldn't hear him. He only prayed she would go back in now that she knew she could be injured, and Beryl would be taken care of by Venus, who was having trouble dealing with Malachite.
She found his sword, and held it out towards Beryl who only laughed at her in response. "You're so weak you can barely hold it, what do you think you can do with that? Fight me?"
"Ten." Serenity said out loud and clear as a bell and Endymion knew exactly what that meant.
"Ten what? Ten years it'll take you to get from there to here?" Beryl got in some pretty good bites at Serenity, but Serenity wasn't paying attention, she knew better than that, knew something more than what Beryl thought was going on. Beryl didn't even know that Serenity could bring Endymion back to life, if she had, then she might have helped the girl, rather than try to harm her. Though if Beryl had her way, Endymion would never have died in the first place, but have been on her side since the beginning.
"I don't need to fight you." Serenity finally came to grips with what she wanted to say and do. Beryl raised a red eyebrow at the woman-child. "That's not going to solve what truly matters. You were right, there is no coming back from this. Not even in a hundred years. It might take a millennium before things can be set right again, or at least on the path to it. But I can do one thing, it might not stop you, but it will please me. I can take away the one thing you wanted more than Endymion."
"What could that possibly be?" Beryl asked with a silky tone.
"My life." Serenity turned the sword in her hands so the blade was facing her. "The satisfaction of ending it will not be by your hand." Then she rammed the sword into her gut and Beryl screeched in pure annoyance and rage, as yet another thing was taken away from her.
Endymion gripped Serenity's shoulders tightly and shook her when she joined him in the plain between life and death, or rather death and afterlife. "What have you done!" He yelled at her, never ending his shaking of her. "You have thrown your life away."
"I have faced reality." She said, unaware of all that was going on behind her, what her Mother was doing. "I would not have amounted to anything and the line would have ended with me sooner or later. I saved myself years of pain and grief and suffering. I saved everyone the possible manipulation of their queen due to my life hanging in the balance. I am no longer a token to be played with."
"Serenity, you stupid, stupid girl." He turned her so they could watch as her mother made her own wish upon a sentient being far stronger than anything else to have ever existed. Her mother sacrificing her life, not just for her daughter, for that would have been pointless, but for all of them, her court and her enemy, hoping the future would bring something new and different, that all could start fresh and make better choices the next time around.
Her mother was yet another sacrifice in the long line of sacrifices, and Serenity promised herself and her mother that there would be no more.
Beryl fell next to Endymion, one flaming red strand of hair, falling into his open wound, mixed with his current anger at the goddess he still held under his hands, set forth a very different stage as they all ceased to have conscious thought, only to reawaken years later.
A millennium in fact.
–
"God you really are stupid aren't you!"
"Like you're any better!"
Endymion and Serenity's reincarnations argued yet again, something they had never done in the past, at least not really, not unless it really mattered. Endymion was always smart, but he did not have the desire to frame his words with such nasty barbs that hit home in such vicious ways. Not when his mouth could be doing other things. This habit would only disappear once the owner of the strand of redhair that mixed in his blood ceased to exist. Then it would only be a matter of returning memories, and not physical memory, something Serenity and her reincarnation would sigh and breath a fresh bit of air at the knowledge that it wasn't him, and it was what had made him easier to sub-come to Beryl's brainwashing tools, as she had already been in him and only needed to be washed away.
Serenity would never allow another person to sacrifice themselves for her, not if she could stop it, and she did. Her command of the crystal allowed her to save everyone, and while there had been close calls, moments she held on by a thread, she managed to save herself and everyone else, and not start over.
That is at least until the end of days... but that would no longer be the yesteryears.
–
*I needed to change the name of the damn kingdom, because really, Nega-Kingdom, Negaverse is so lame and I wanted something that sounded cool and not from a poorly dubbed children's episode in America.