"Definitely next Sunday!" I said... and then COVID quarantining hit and life was twist-turned upside down~
This chapter is *late*, obviously, hahaha, and while I only have the first 500 words or so of chapter 9 in the works, I went back through to update chapters (typos, etc) and saw that author's note at the end of chapter 7 and *guilt slapped me in the face* and I figured I could drop this chapter I just finished even without another ready in reserve! Just know I'm working on it as my only creative project at the moment and intend to live in the CK universe until Metallia is dead and Arc 3 is complete!
Chapter 8: Queen Beryl of Rose Tokyo
He felt the intensity of Metallia's pull come crashing down on him in the split second of their departure as the ancient and evil force fought back against the magic that teleported them away, and in that moment he felt himself slipping… until a force as cold as ice gripped him, jerking him forward, and rather than falling back to the ground of Metallia's base, he stumbled into the quiet pocket dimension governed by the guardian of the space-time door. His fall was averted by the grip on his hand and then arm, Beryl moving with quick concern to compensate for what he hoped would be momentary weakness, but they weren't back on Earth yet, and his arrival was not met with a sudden burst of strength.
Exhausted, he nevertheless braced and straightened, covering her hand with his in thanks before letting go, unlacing his fingers from around her hand while keeping careful hold on the key that had been held between them. Though she had released him in turn, her hands hovered near him as though waiting to help in case he should stumble again, her expression a mix of concern and guilt. He assured her he'd be fine once they walked through the door - stubbornly willing that to be true - and she nodded silently, one hand falling to her side, though the one closer to him still seemed to hover anyway. He held the key out in front of him and moved it to and fro, as Rin had done hours...days? earlier, watching the intensity of the glow of the little pink gem on its top waver and glow. When he had found its brightest orientation, they started walking, albeit slower than his usual pace.
At first it was quiet - just the two of them and their muted footsteps amidst the mist and half-light of their surroundings - and maybe Mamoru might have kept it that way if it were anyone else he was walking with: it was too easy to fall into himself, to think about what was going on back in Crystal Tokyo, to consider what Helios had said, to wonder and worry about the others and what might happen now that Metallia was without a new vessel. And Usako… they were all safe, right? Helios would have told him if something… but Beryl sniffed, inadvertently drawing his attention, and as he looked back at her she averted her gaze and cleared her throat, and then, quietly, asked if they had figured out what they had asked her to help with - the shapeshifters and the lost civilization. His breath caught and he nearly lost a step at his thoughtlessness; he had a lot on his mind and even more to worry over, but he at least had met with Helios and could tentatively trust that his guardian from the future would have filled him in if anything else had developed, whereas she had only him and memories of what had just transpired to think back on. He paused to gather his thoughts to tell her about the Archons and what had happened, but she jumped in with a question before he could get a word out, further guilt propelling her interruption as she asked after Yuu, and whether they had had to stop searching for him in order to chase after her.
That concern, at least, he could assuage easily, reminding her that she had seen him - that he had been with him in Crystal Tokyo when they met, that he had been fighting one of Metallia's people. ...but then, he had been wearing his new full-body armor, so he had to point out that he had been the one with the red accents and the glowing red disk behind his helm. ...which elicited a skeptical look from Beryl, and without an easier explanation that she may accept, he went back to the day she disappeared to explain. He glossed over some details, trying to keep Archon issues separate from Doom and Bloom girl concerns just to keep the story straight for her, but not long after recalling how Khalid was taken, half his mind on the events and the other half concentrating on keeping one foot in front of the other, she reached out and took his arm, putting a finger to her lips, and he quieted, listening intently for what had given her pause, and then heard it too - footfalls racing towards them that suddenly slowed as they grew quiet.
He couldn't fight, not like this, not in this place, not yet, not if he had to concentrate just to stay upright. Metallia's people had found their way into the time stream before, and if they had again then this was the worst time to run into them. He considered using the communicator - after talking to Helios there was at least some chance that one of his friends was waiting with Pluto, but even if he contacted them, there would be no means to tell them where he was and the noise would alert whatever threat waited for them to their exact whereabouts. It was better to hold tight and let it pass. … until, from a different direction, he caught the unmistakable sound of someone small trying very hard not to cry. "Rin?" He called out without hesitation; if he had heard him, then whatever else was out there might have, too, and while he couldn't protect him, he trusted that Beryl could.
The footfalls started up again, the sound coming from all around them at once, and Beryl raised both hands into particular positions and started mumbling something quietly to herself, drawing symbols in the air that glowed green in the wake of her fingertips. Her attention snapped to their left, the sound suddenly coalescing as a small figure appeared out of the mist. Rin, red-faced and panting, stood still for a moment, taking in the sight of her; Beryl froze, the magic still in the air, and thankfully made no move to defend them.
The same couldn't be said for Rin.
"LET HIM GO!" the kid yelled at the top of his lungs and ran at her with his arms outstretched like he was going to try to push her over.
"Rin!" Mamoru tried to call him off as Beryl canceled her spell and distractedly dodged him; Rin didn't follow after her, instead skidding to a stop between them a little clumsily and defensively held out his arms like a barrier.
"Leave him alone!" he challenged, his pose holding strong despite the trembling of his arms.
How long had he been out here? How had he found them? "Rin, it's okay -" he called softly, carefully stepping forward to put his hand on the kid's head familiarly, meaning to calm him down without having to chance kneeling when he wouldn't want Rin to see he'd probably need help getting back up again. Rin quickly glanced up at him and back to Beryl, ruby-irised eyes unsure. "She's on our side," he assured supportively, and added an introduction - Helios had said she was alive in Rin's time; though she traveled, Rin had to have met her, hadn't he? "It's Beryl, she's here to help."
"Beryl?" Rin repeated hesitantly, looking back her way, where he added in all cautious suspicion, "Why isn't she a fairy?"
He knew of her, at least; starting to relax a little, he felt an explanation was all that was needed and figured that he could potentially get away without a full explanation for him in this place and at this time, he replied, "She is, and she's just not a fairy right now -"
"You don't recognize me?" Beryl asked, her question quieting the longer it went on, as though she surprised herself in the asking and regretted it. Her eyes were tight on Rin anyway, her body language all over the place: as though she were crumbling into herself even as she wanted to reach out, to demand answers - maybe she hadn't caught on to that hint of familiarity with her name, maybe she didn't understand how different she looked right now, maybe this made her doubt what he had said earlier about her self in this time being alive and well, but the way she looked at him, at Rin, was like the way someone looked when they were hanging off a precipice: desperate, afraid, unbelieving.
Rin shook his head, still standing with his arms out despite Mamoru's assurances, and it was Beryl who staggered forward, still caught in some inner fight between staying put and running for him. "You don't… at all?"
Rin stayed put, shook his head again, and Beryl's shoulders sagged as she stared at the ground between them, her eyes moving back and forth rapidly, facing a problem, all alone. It hurt his heart to see; no matter what terms they were on, they were friends. "Beryl," he called softly, taking steps towards her to try to talk to her, to remind her that she was alive here, even if Rin didn't recognize her, but as he moved around Rin her head jerked up suddenly.
"But you - your hair, your eyes?!" she exclaimed, pulling locks of her own newly-reddened hair over her shoulder, as though offering some sort of proof of… … of what?
Who… did she think Rin was?
"How do you not know me?!" Beryl cried out in hurt and anger, halting him as she lurched forward with the accusation. As she continued he slowly put his arms out in an attempt to block Rin from her sight, taking a step to the side to try to place himself directly between them, "It's not - she said -?!" Beryl's eyes were wild as her head snapped up to look past him, screaming - "What is the meaning of this?!" - as the air around her crackled with static electricity.
"Beryl," he called, calm but firm in his attempt to de-escalate whatever was happening before it went too far, but as he felt the kid reach up to grab at the back of the silk shirt he wore, he realized how close that point was - for Rin, anyway. "This is Rin," he said, though he made no motion to show him to her, not while she breathed so quickly and deeply and looked at them so intently, "He's from this time, and he's only known you in your fairy form. Your appearance has changed under Metallia's influence, but he knows you. You're still alive in this time, remember? You rejected it here, that's why it got you in the past -"
"I KNOW WHO HE IS!" Beryl yelled, cutting him off, the static electricity forming full green bolts in the air around her, popping sharply as the thick mist of the time dimension gathered around her like storm clouds, darkening their surroundings even as winds formed to whip around her and lash out towards them. Her hands were in fists and as she slammed them down thunder boomed, her voice carrying with it as she screamed, her eyes shut, "He's OURS! Your son and mine from the future WE MAKE together when all this is OVER! " When she opened her eyes again her sclera were tinged with green and her irises were ruby red, and they glowed in the darkness that gathered around her.
- Usako had been able to transform here; which meant he should be able, too, in direct contact with Earth or not. He just needed to remember the phrase -
"That Sailor Pluto is responsible for this, isn't she?!" she hissed, "I chose not to kill her, and in revenge for that mercy she reached into the rightful future to kidnap our child and subject him to this!" she screamed, "To the poisonous lies of the White Moon, stealing him from me, too! Well, I WON'T HAVE IT!" She bellowed again and green lightning burst blindingly around her -
"Golden Crystal Power, Transform! " he called for power quietly, but even as it activated and he felt the warmth spreading out from his chest, he knew it wouldn't last long; it pulled from him, his stores, and those were already dangerously depleted. He'd just have to make it count. While he knew they'd never be able to find him, if they were even there to receive the transmission in the first place, he deftly twisted the communicator watch to noon to open a channel. They had to know, even if he were unable to hear anything that could have been transmitted back to him as the storm around them rose to a deafening crescendo of thunder and wind. Rin's hold returned at his back, his small form crowding in close behind him. If she believed Rin was theirs, she wouldn't hurt him. Right? So he still had a little more time to try.
The light faded and Beryl, too, was transformed. Gone was the dress from the Golden Kingdom, replaced with a blood-red gown, fitted to her form; the horn-like growths on her shoulders had elongated and sharpened into something that looked like fangs, a matching set at her wrists now, too, and her bright red hair fanned out around her behind a tiara that looked like the broken headdress from that last Doom and Bloom girl, but for its size and beryl-stone coloring, not unlike the gem in her old simple circlet. "I am Queen Beryl of Rose Tokyo, of the Neo-Golden Age, -" She raised her hand above her head and a staff materialized there - the same staff from the recordings he had seen in the control room within the Crystal Palace. Metallia may have been rejected in its attempt to pull him back to the meteor, but it must have managed to make it through within Beryl, and now Beryl's transformation was complete. "- And I will burn out this corruptive influence once and FOR ALL and MAKE THINGS RIGHT!"
Her staff above her head started to glow and pulsate, the globe at its end focusing to show that same light pattern from the rock formation in the meteor - like a black soundwave against a glowing pool of orange plasma. What was she going to do?! "Beryl! " he yelled above the cacophony, trying to stop her, to buy them time, to talk some sense into her - " Don't do this! You're not yourself, you've been lied to! Stop, before it's too late!"
"It's already too late!" she yelled back, looking up at the staff and then back at him, her expression softening as she met his eyes, "For them, Endymion. It'll all be over soon, and then you'll be free, and our future will go back to normal. We'll fix things here, in this 'now', and then I'll go back to your time and do the same. I'll save you from this confusion and heartache. It will be alright, just leave it to me."
The staff grew brighter, pulsated faster, bathing them all in surreal orange light; whatever was happening, whatever power she was amassing, there wasn't much time left. As he called a rose to hand, he gently reached behind his back to separate himself from Rin. If Metallia were fully in Beryl, and it was preparing to destroy Crystal Tokyo and everyone in it, he had to stop it. Even if that meant… Even if that meant he had to fight her. "Run back to the time-door, Rin," he called, turning his head to be heard but keeping his eyes on the new form of his old friend. "Make sure they know what's coming and are prepared. It's up to you, alright?"
"I won't leave you," Rin whimpered, and Mamoru swallowed, keeping calm despite the increasing frequency of the light. There wasn't time to argue.
"You have to, Rin. You need to warn your mother and the others. You don't want her to be alone, do you? You have to go."
He sniffled, swallowed wetly, and his voice cracked after his initial hesitation, "I can't. I lost my key."
The key. He opened his hand behind his back revealing the little golden tool, trying not to think about what that meant for what Rin was doing out here earlier, how afraid he must have been, only to find him and for things to somehow get worse. "Take it and go, I'll find my own way back." The key was lifted from his palm. "Run fast, okay Rin?"
With another feeble whimper from behind him, Rin ran off, and the rose in Cardinal King's hand transformed into a sword.
"You would put him in danger?" Beryl asked harshly, " Are you so corrupted?"
"It's only dangerous if you choose to make it so," he returned, holding the sword at the ready, "Yours is the corrupted heart, Beryl. Release the staff and reject Metallia. I don't want to hurt you."
"Then don't," Beryl stressed, " Just wake up, realize what's going on here isn't right - it has never been right. The Moon -"
"Stop it. "
Her mouth closed, as did her eyes, with an expression of defeat. "It is good he took the key. Now I know you'll stay put -"
The staff's light was solid, complete in whatever it had been attempting, and he was out of time. He quickly adjusted his grip on his sword to aim its tip at her midsection and ran forward in a burst of all the energy he had left in him, gritting his teeth against what he was being forced to do, and the heavy cost. Had there been another way? Could he have separated them, somehow, without resorting to this - to dooming Beryl to an eternity of emptiness by his hand?
Her sentence had cut off in a sharp intake of breath, surprise at his choice, and she twisted out of the way before his sword fully connected. Instead, it sliced through her side, rather than right into her, and as his momentum carried him past she brought the staff down on top of him, swinging it at his back and knocking him to the ground. As he slammed into the cold surface on his stomach he felt his transformation fade away: protecting him from the reactive attack had taken it past its limits, and exhaustion fell on his adrenaline like a weighted blanket. He managed to flip over, bracing himself on his left elbow as he raised his hand, palm out towards her, and willed the last of his energy - all of it, from the tips of his toes to the depths of his heart - into that hand.
He hadn't meant for it to end like this, but he had chosen this path: he wanted to help Rin, and in the process led his friends and Usako onto this path, and now they and Usagi's senshi would have to face this threat without him when - without him - this threat may well not have existed. He could end it here, and while he may not be able to join Beryl in an afterlife, at least she would know she wasn't going out alone.
She pointed her staff at him in response to his raised hand, her mouth a thin line and her brows twitched in concern. She looked from him to the gash in her side, pressing her hand against it to come away with blood that was too dark in color to be human. Her expression changed, hardening, and that hand moved to join the other on the solid glowing staff. "He's not himself," he heard over the roaring winds as the crystalline orb thrust towards him shifted to show that same pattern, and in the depths of the undulating darkness he saw a glimmer of something darker and reflective, and could practically feel the energy being pulled from him before he could send it out -
And then she was body-checked by Princess Sailor Moon. While smaller than Beryl by nearly a head now, Usako had come in running full force, her forearms crossed in front of her, and collided solidly with Beryl's arm, knocking them both over in a heap. His heart was in his throat as the pair went down and Usagi screamed in surprise, but she rolled out of the way and came back up onto her knees closer to him, her sceptre in one gloved hand, ready and wary as Beryl gingerly started to rise back up, one hand on the gash and the other pointing the staff towards them again.
"Where's Beryl?!" Princess Sailor Moon demanded.
"You!" Beryl seethed, the storm around them becoming even more violent as she got to her knees, pressing the end of the staff on the floor to help her stand.
Sailor Moon pointed her sceptre at Beryl and started in - " Moon Princess -!"
"She's Beryl! " Mamoru warned, dispersing the energy he had gathered so he could move again, Usako's arrival suddenly reopening the possibility of cleansing Metallia's influence. Surprised blue eyes met his, colored with concern, but her hold on the wand changed and she swallowed her phrase to change it:
"Moon Healing -"
"Ha! " Beryl mocked, coming to her feet and bringing the glowing staff to bear, " Healing ?!"
He grabbed for the discarded rose he had used as a sword and threw it at her, needing it to distract her and let Sailor Moon finish charging her attack; he didn't give it enough power to do much damage, but in some twist of luck or fate, it landed stem-first in her chest. She caught her breath, reaching up with one hand to curl around the flower incredulously, red eyes finding his again in betrayal.
" - Escalation! " Sailor Moon cried, and pale moonlight streamed from the end of the Moon Wand, the silver crystal's energy sparkling in the soft white glow that enveloped Beryl, and he held his breath… but the white light was soon outshone by the sick orange-yellow of Metallia's staff, the area around the orb darkening as the silver light was absorbed into its depths. Usagi cut off the flow when she realized what was happening and hopped up onto her feet, favoring one arm as she faced off against Beryl, who muttered something to herself - or to Metallia.
"Fine! Hand over the Crystal," Beryl then demanded, " and I won't burn you to a crisp where you stand!"
"What?!" Sailor Moon squeaked, taking a step back towards him protectively, and he put as much effort as he could muster into getting up: Beryl wasn't bluffing. With the animosity she had shown towards the Moon Kingdom and Usagi in particular, he had no doubt she wanted her dead, but to give up the crystal would be giving up part of herself - what would happen if she were separated from her soul gem again? He didn't want to find out.
"Three…"
"She's too far gone," Mamoru called quietly, managing to sit up, shakily getting his legs beneath him. "You have to fight her!"
"But she's still in there!" she contradicted.
"Two…" Beryl adjusted her hold, the orb directed straight at Princess Sailor Moon, and fear pumped adrenaline through his shot system yet again. He staggered to his feet, reached out to pull Usako back to step between them -
"Moon Twilight Flash!" Usagi yelled out quickly, and, as Beryl flinched and moved to cover her eyes with the intensity of the light, he was pulled along behind Princess Sailor Moon as she ran back into the storm. The suddenness made him clumsy, his legs like gelatin beneath him, but his hand in hers was enough to keep him going, until electrically-charged fire sliced through the air beside them, his hair standing on edge as it passed, and as it exploded through space it blew them as easily as they would have been thrown bodily. She screamed and he cried out as they became airborne, and while she tightened her hold on his hand he wanted to tell her to let go - to run without him. He was holding her back, and the danger he faced here was nothing compared to what was against her.
"One!" Queen Beryl's voice cut through like thunder.
They hit the ground hard, their hands breaking apart as they rolled. Panting in the effort of the run against the energy he had left, he pushed himself up onto his elbows and begged her form to move, and as she picked herself back up he urged "Run!" but she was already coming back for him, kneeling down to help him up. "She won't hurt me -" he all but pleaded with her to understand what he knew - "but she will hurt you! Run!"
"Keep away from him!" Beryl warned, appearing out of the dark and angry clouds the mist had once been, Metallia's orb flashing. From where she crouched, Usagi held up her crescent wand defensively.
"This isn't you, Beryl," Usagi reasoned with quiet intensity, her heart ever on her sleeve, "I know we haven't always seen eye-to-eye on things, but you have to know that this isn't right -"
"You're the one that's not right!" Beryl shot back, thrusting the orb forward, but the solar plasma did not rush out of it again. "No," Beryl spat through grit teeth, "we kill her now, screw the Queen, we'll recharge and face her later!"
" -agi-chan?! " an ethereal voice called, echoing faintly around them, and hope surged in recognition of Yuu's voice.
"We're here!" he called back, willing the cavalry to arrive in time, but the second call was his name, and it seemed to get farther rather than closer. " Run! " he quietly urged her again as Beryl/Metallia's disagreement abruptly ended as she realized help was coming. He hated this - he couldn't help her, he couldn't protect her, but Princess Sailor Moon wouldn't leave.
"We can work this out," Usagi insisted intently, standing "No one has to get hurt, Beryl, there's a better way -"
"There is no-"
A tunnel of flame crashed in out of the gloom, completely unrelated to Queen Beryl, aimed directly for her, and as it struck her she cried out in surprise, managing to dash out of the flame towards them . Her hair singed, quick as a snake she wrapped her free hand around Princess Sailor Moon's throat and lifted her from the ground, just out of his reach. Queen Beryl choked out a snarling cry - "Fine!" and thrust the staff up over her head -
"No!" he yelled, seeing stars as he threw all he could muster at her in fear with his heart in his throat; the attack hit, but at that moment the pair of them - Queen Beryl and Princess Sailor Moon - vanished. His heart stopped as darkness fell upon him, the sickening light of Metallia's orb gone with them. "Usa...ko?" he called against all hope of her somehow being left behind, struggling to get back up onto at least hands and knees, but his muscles failed him. He wanted whatever Queen Beryl had tried to have failed, that she would suddenly be there and be alright and not have been taken right in front of him when he had been able to do nothing. But the world around him lit up in dim red light originating from some point above him, and they weren't there. North King slid in beside him, calling out something that he couldn't understand, pointing at where she had been for someone to follow, but suddenly jerking forward to catch him as he fell, the world going dark again.
She wasn't there.
So ~anyway~ we'll see how this turns out xD
I'D LIKE TO THANK LITERALLY EVERY COMMENTER ON THIS SERIES - I literally save each notification email and open them and look at them like this (๑꒪▿꒪)* for motivation and hearing from everyone just refills my little writer batteries (◍•ᴗ•◍) ✧*。 Even when creativity was at it's lowest, whenever I got a notification of a comment I would zip over and just : read it and get all happy.
Thank you!