Sailor Moon Ever After Part 2
© 1999 Daerlyn
Author's note: All characters are property of Naoko Takeuchi, except for Lilith, who is property of White Wolf Games Studio, with a few of my own alterations thrown in. Please don't sue me. :) This story is based on the original Sailor Moon TV series, not the American censored version that got force-fed to six-year-olds. If you don't like the fact that Rei is a bitch and Mako and Mina think it's funny, go read someone else's fic, 'kay?
Lilith. The first woman and wife of Adam. Some said the first demon. If Mamoru had been Christian (or spent way too much time in White Wolf RPGs like your author), he would have been terrified.
As it was, he blinked.
"Lilith?"
"Have you never heard of me?" Her smile and her voice deepened. Her hair melted into her body, which elongated and took on a greenish shade as she turned back from the door. Scales sprouted the length of her as two great wings shook themselves free from her back.
Mamoru gasped at the winged serpent that was larger than he was.
"Have you never heard of the serpent who tempted Eve, and doomed all humanity to an eternity of toil?" The voice was deep and sibilant, but Lilith's crystal tones echoed in it.
Mamoru shook his head dumbly, unable to formulate a coherent thought.
Lilith reassumed her original form and smiled again. "Well, I am she."
Mamoru's mouth worked, but no sound came out.
Lilith ignored this. "I am called Dark Earth now, but I am made of True Earth."
Mamoru started functioning again. "True Earth?"
"The earth of the Garden, where I and my birthmate were created by the Firstborn." The capitalizations were evident in the way she emphasized the words.
"The Firstborn?"
"Jehovah, the eldest of the Shining Ones, the Elohim. My creator and my brother and my beloved."
Mamoru shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs that seemed to gather even as he watched her.
"So why am I here?" If he had heard correctly, this woman had just said she was one of the Kami, the gods.
Lilith looked at him for a long time before answering. Out of nowhere, she pulled a cloak of midnight blue embroidered with stars that seemed to sparkle as if they were set in the evening sky. She wrapped herself in this and settled to the floor. Lilith considered her answer carefully, then spoke.
"I was created from the True Earth of the Garden. I am still True Earth. I have a physical connection to this world. Each depredation by humans and their chemicals sickens the earth, and so do I sicken and waste away." She paused, gazing at him as if deciding how much to say.
"You, as the Prince of this world, have a psychic connection to it. As it is attacked by minds from the past, future, and Dark Dimensions, your grip on sanity grows ever weaker." She took a deep breath. Mamoru realized with a jolt she had not visibly breathed until that moment.
Lilith continued. "We are the two people on this planet who are closest to the Earth beneath our feet."
Mamoru gaped at her. "Not possible. I'm sane. Steady as a rock."
"Really?" Lilith smiled mockingly. "How many times have you abandoned your soulmate? Tried to kill her? Are these the acts of a sane man?"
He jerked his head to the side, refusing to look at Lilith, wishing he could block his ears from her cool voice.
"I am not insane!"
Her words sent a chill down his spine. "Not yet."
The pale green drapes shut the sunlight out of Makoto's living room. Their owner was apparently asleep, curled up in a brown armchair. Minako sat on the floor at her feet, arms clasped loosely around her knees.
Michiru lay stretched out on the couch, staring blankly at the ceiling. Artemis was curled up on her stomach. She petted him absently.
Haruka paced around the small living room, going 'round and 'round the coffee table. Finally, Michiru caught at Haruka's hand as she passed.
"Haruka, sit down."
Obediently, Haruka perched on the edge of the couch, but was up again in a second.
"I can't keep still!" she fretted. "Hotaru is in there, Usagi is in there, Rei is in there, and they're all in danger! What if whatever got Usagi is just waiting to grab them while they try to help her? Ami won't know what to do! Setsuna didn't even know this would happen!" Haruka was letting all sorts of cats out of the bag in her hysteria.
Setsuna had grabbed Haruka and Michiru as they arrived, to fill them in, and mentiona few things she hadn't told the other Senshi.
"I don't know what's going on. This isn't supposed to be happening!" Setsuna was as worried as Haruka and Michiru had ever seen her. Her green brows shadowed her wine red eyes with fear.
Michiru took Setsuna's hands in her own, trying to comfort her. "But what happened?" she asked. "Is Usagi still being attacked?"
Setsuna shook her head slowly. "I don't think so. Hotaru said she's hiding. But . . . I don't think she's alone . . ."
Minako stared. "This is unplanned?!" Her voice went up a few octaves.
"Yes, it was." Setsuna's voice was flat as she stood in the doorway to the bedroom. "We can discuss it later. Michiru, we need the Aqua Mirror." Turning in a swish of green hair, she disappeared into the bedroom again.
Michiru and Haruka exchanged glances, then Michiru rose and followed Setsuna.
Haruka sank down onto the couch again, pounding her fists together absently. Makoto slumbered on.
Minako picked up Artemis and hugged him close. He snuggled into her arms.
Haruka couldn't take all this apparent inactivity any more. She jumped up and yelled, "Uranus Planet Power, transform!" She blurred into her sailor fuku. Cherry blossoms floated across the living room, carried by a phantom breeze.
"Sailoruranus is coming, you —"
"Coming where?"
Cut off in the middle of her speech, Sailoruranus lowered her fist and looked around. Minako was surprised, Artemis doubly so. Makoto still appeared to be sleeping.
"Get real, Haruka-kun. You don't even know where to start looking." Definitely Makoto.
Sailoruranus glared, then sighed. "You're right. But I can't just sit here. I have to do something!"
Makoto finally lifted her head. Sailoruranus blurred back into Haruka and dropped onto the couch again.
"Haruka-kun, all we can do is wait. You know that."
Mamoru's wrists were hurting again. It was still damp and cold, and he was still only wearing his undershirt and shorts. Lilith still sat before him, wrapped in her cloak.
"Are you ready to listen to me?"
"Will you give back my clothes?"
Lilith didn't answer verbally, but held out her hands. Mamoru's clothes appeared in her grip. She droped them on the floor in a heap. Mamoru's wallet floated up out of his slacks, and she plucked it out of the air.
"Is this what you wanted so badly?" She flipped open his wallet and pulled out the rose petal.
Mamoru clenched his teeth, determined not to let his anger show.
Lilith smiled, then shredded the rose petal.
Mamoru gasped.
"You see, Endymion-sama, how easy it was? I have just taken away your power. Without the magic of your roses to protect you, Tuxedo Kamen cannot appear. Prince Endymion cannot protect Princess Serenity. You are simply . . . Chiba Mamoru."
Mamoru could only stare at the tatters of the petal that she had let flutter to the floor.
"No! That was . . . that was suposed to be indestructible!"
Lilith smiled her icy smile. Mamoru wanted very much to hit her.
"Mamoru," her intimate address made his cheeks burn. "I have a lesson. I teach it to all who need my help."
"I don't want your help!"
Lilith rose smoothly to her feet, letting her cloak slither to the floor. She stepped close to him, and laid her cool fingers on his temples.
"Pain makes you stronger, Mamoru."
Usagi was wandering in a desert. She was hot, sweaty, and dirty. She felt like she had been wandering for days.
She was alone.
"Mamoru!" Her voice was almost lost in this huge wasteland. "Mamo-chan!" She could hear her cries echo in the chasm behind her. Usagi refused to look at the chasm. She could feel it pulling at her, and it was too easy to fall in.
She was scared. Mamoru was dead, she was sure of it. What else explained his refusal to answer her? The thought made her stumble and fall, weeping, her tears tracking through the grime on her cheeks.
"Serenity-sama."
Usagi tried to rise and face this new challenge, but couldn't. She settled for rolling onto her back to see the person.
A tall woman with masses of silver hair stood before her.
Usagi gave a short scream and scrambled to her feet. "You! You attacked us! You killed Mamoru!!"
The woman frowned. "My name is Lilith. I have come to teach you, Serenity-sama."
"I can't learn anything from you!" Usagi was screaming.
Lilith raised one silver eyebrow, patently uninmpressed.
"Usagi-san!"
Usagi and Lilith both turned to stare. It was Hotaru.
"Hotaru-chan! What are you doing here?" Usagi looked around her as if for the first time. "Where are we?"
"I've come to take you home, Usagi-san."
Usagi looked frantically from Hotaru to Lilith. "But — but what about Mamoru? I have to find him!"
Lilith's voice was as dry as the desert. "I thought he was dead?"
Hotaru's teeth clenched, and she grabbed Usagi's arm. Usagi collapsed on her, and she stumbled back under the weight.
Rei! She cast her thought as far as she could. Bring us back!
Slowly Usagi's weight was taken from her, and she realized she was back in her own body. She opened her eyes.
"I'll go get the others."
© 1999 Daerlyn
Author's note: All characters are property of Naoko Takeuchi, except for Lilith, who is property of White Wolf Games Studio, with a few of my own alterations thrown in. Please don't sue me. :) This story is based on the original Sailor Moon TV series, not the American censored version that got force-fed to six-year-olds. If you don't like the fact that Rei is a bitch and Mako and Mina think it's funny, go read someone else's fic, 'kay?
Lilith. The first woman and wife of Adam. Some said the first demon. If Mamoru had been Christian (or spent way too much time in White Wolf RPGs like your author), he would have been terrified.
As it was, he blinked.
"Lilith?"
"Have you never heard of me?" Her smile and her voice deepened. Her hair melted into her body, which elongated and took on a greenish shade as she turned back from the door. Scales sprouted the length of her as two great wings shook themselves free from her back.
Mamoru gasped at the winged serpent that was larger than he was.
"Have you never heard of the serpent who tempted Eve, and doomed all humanity to an eternity of toil?" The voice was deep and sibilant, but Lilith's crystal tones echoed in it.
Mamoru shook his head dumbly, unable to formulate a coherent thought.
Lilith reassumed her original form and smiled again. "Well, I am she."
Mamoru's mouth worked, but no sound came out.
Lilith ignored this. "I am called Dark Earth now, but I am made of True Earth."
Mamoru started functioning again. "True Earth?"
"The earth of the Garden, where I and my birthmate were created by the Firstborn." The capitalizations were evident in the way she emphasized the words.
"The Firstborn?"
"Jehovah, the eldest of the Shining Ones, the Elohim. My creator and my brother and my beloved."
Mamoru shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs that seemed to gather even as he watched her.
"So why am I here?" If he had heard correctly, this woman had just said she was one of the Kami, the gods.
Lilith looked at him for a long time before answering. Out of nowhere, she pulled a cloak of midnight blue embroidered with stars that seemed to sparkle as if they were set in the evening sky. She wrapped herself in this and settled to the floor. Lilith considered her answer carefully, then spoke.
"I was created from the True Earth of the Garden. I am still True Earth. I have a physical connection to this world. Each depredation by humans and their chemicals sickens the earth, and so do I sicken and waste away." She paused, gazing at him as if deciding how much to say.
"You, as the Prince of this world, have a psychic connection to it. As it is attacked by minds from the past, future, and Dark Dimensions, your grip on sanity grows ever weaker." She took a deep breath. Mamoru realized with a jolt she had not visibly breathed until that moment.
Lilith continued. "We are the two people on this planet who are closest to the Earth beneath our feet."
Mamoru gaped at her. "Not possible. I'm sane. Steady as a rock."
"Really?" Lilith smiled mockingly. "How many times have you abandoned your soulmate? Tried to kill her? Are these the acts of a sane man?"
He jerked his head to the side, refusing to look at Lilith, wishing he could block his ears from her cool voice.
"I am not insane!"
Her words sent a chill down his spine. "Not yet."
The pale green drapes shut the sunlight out of Makoto's living room. Their owner was apparently asleep, curled up in a brown armchair. Minako sat on the floor at her feet, arms clasped loosely around her knees.
Michiru lay stretched out on the couch, staring blankly at the ceiling. Artemis was curled up on her stomach. She petted him absently.
Haruka paced around the small living room, going 'round and 'round the coffee table. Finally, Michiru caught at Haruka's hand as she passed.
"Haruka, sit down."
Obediently, Haruka perched on the edge of the couch, but was up again in a second.
"I can't keep still!" she fretted. "Hotaru is in there, Usagi is in there, Rei is in there, and they're all in danger! What if whatever got Usagi is just waiting to grab them while they try to help her? Ami won't know what to do! Setsuna didn't even know this would happen!" Haruka was letting all sorts of cats out of the bag in her hysteria.
Setsuna had grabbed Haruka and Michiru as they arrived, to fill them in, and mentiona few things she hadn't told the other Senshi.
"I don't know what's going on. This isn't supposed to be happening!" Setsuna was as worried as Haruka and Michiru had ever seen her. Her green brows shadowed her wine red eyes with fear.
Michiru took Setsuna's hands in her own, trying to comfort her. "But what happened?" she asked. "Is Usagi still being attacked?"
Setsuna shook her head slowly. "I don't think so. Hotaru said she's hiding. But . . . I don't think she's alone . . ."
Minako stared. "This is unplanned?!" Her voice went up a few octaves.
"Yes, it was." Setsuna's voice was flat as she stood in the doorway to the bedroom. "We can discuss it later. Michiru, we need the Aqua Mirror." Turning in a swish of green hair, she disappeared into the bedroom again.
Michiru and Haruka exchanged glances, then Michiru rose and followed Setsuna.
Haruka sank down onto the couch again, pounding her fists together absently. Makoto slumbered on.
Minako picked up Artemis and hugged him close. He snuggled into her arms.
Haruka couldn't take all this apparent inactivity any more. She jumped up and yelled, "Uranus Planet Power, transform!" She blurred into her sailor fuku. Cherry blossoms floated across the living room, carried by a phantom breeze.
"Sailoruranus is coming, you —"
"Coming where?"
Cut off in the middle of her speech, Sailoruranus lowered her fist and looked around. Minako was surprised, Artemis doubly so. Makoto still appeared to be sleeping.
"Get real, Haruka-kun. You don't even know where to start looking." Definitely Makoto.
Sailoruranus glared, then sighed. "You're right. But I can't just sit here. I have to do something!"
Makoto finally lifted her head. Sailoruranus blurred back into Haruka and dropped onto the couch again.
"Haruka-kun, all we can do is wait. You know that."
Mamoru's wrists were hurting again. It was still damp and cold, and he was still only wearing his undershirt and shorts. Lilith still sat before him, wrapped in her cloak.
"Are you ready to listen to me?"
"Will you give back my clothes?"
Lilith didn't answer verbally, but held out her hands. Mamoru's clothes appeared in her grip. She droped them on the floor in a heap. Mamoru's wallet floated up out of his slacks, and she plucked it out of the air.
"Is this what you wanted so badly?" She flipped open his wallet and pulled out the rose petal.
Mamoru clenched his teeth, determined not to let his anger show.
Lilith smiled, then shredded the rose petal.
Mamoru gasped.
"You see, Endymion-sama, how easy it was? I have just taken away your power. Without the magic of your roses to protect you, Tuxedo Kamen cannot appear. Prince Endymion cannot protect Princess Serenity. You are simply . . . Chiba Mamoru."
Mamoru could only stare at the tatters of the petal that she had let flutter to the floor.
"No! That was . . . that was suposed to be indestructible!"
Lilith smiled her icy smile. Mamoru wanted very much to hit her.
"Mamoru," her intimate address made his cheeks burn. "I have a lesson. I teach it to all who need my help."
"I don't want your help!"
Lilith rose smoothly to her feet, letting her cloak slither to the floor. She stepped close to him, and laid her cool fingers on his temples.
"Pain makes you stronger, Mamoru."
Usagi was wandering in a desert. She was hot, sweaty, and dirty. She felt like she had been wandering for days.
She was alone.
"Mamoru!" Her voice was almost lost in this huge wasteland. "Mamo-chan!" She could hear her cries echo in the chasm behind her. Usagi refused to look at the chasm. She could feel it pulling at her, and it was too easy to fall in.
She was scared. Mamoru was dead, she was sure of it. What else explained his refusal to answer her? The thought made her stumble and fall, weeping, her tears tracking through the grime on her cheeks.
"Serenity-sama."
Usagi tried to rise and face this new challenge, but couldn't. She settled for rolling onto her back to see the person.
A tall woman with masses of silver hair stood before her.
Usagi gave a short scream and scrambled to her feet. "You! You attacked us! You killed Mamoru!!"
The woman frowned. "My name is Lilith. I have come to teach you, Serenity-sama."
"I can't learn anything from you!" Usagi was screaming.
Lilith raised one silver eyebrow, patently uninmpressed.
"Usagi-san!"
Usagi and Lilith both turned to stare. It was Hotaru.
"Hotaru-chan! What are you doing here?" Usagi looked around her as if for the first time. "Where are we?"
"I've come to take you home, Usagi-san."
Usagi looked frantically from Hotaru to Lilith. "But — but what about Mamoru? I have to find him!"
Lilith's voice was as dry as the desert. "I thought he was dead?"
Hotaru's teeth clenched, and she grabbed Usagi's arm. Usagi collapsed on her, and she stumbled back under the weight.
Rei! She cast her thought as far as she could. Bring us back!
Slowly Usagi's weight was taken from her, and she realized she was back in her own body. She opened her eyes.
"I'll go get the others."