A cloud of dust flew as the four landed
just outside the Crystal Palace.
"We're here." Sapphire stated
unnecessarily.
"Wow… it's so beautiful…" Emerald
sighed in awe.
Taking a deep breath, Diamond sighed in
contentment.
"It smells so wonderful here…" He took
another inhale.
A dark figure walked out of the palace doors. Her face was unrecognizable until she
reached them. Her dark hair shimmered
in the fading sunlight, while her eyes burnt a silent scarlet rage. The black sailor uniform almost matched her
personality, though at times it was even more desolate.
Ebony's eyes went wide.
"P-Pluto…" she whispered, the woman
unable to hear her.
"Are you Diamond?" Her voice was firm,
though low and fluent.
"Yes. We've come to see Serenity." He
told her solemnly.
"Where is she." She more demanded than
asked.
"Who?" he asked her, not knowing what
she was talking about. Then it clicked.
"Chibi Usa. The princess. Where is
she?" her voice grew a bit louder, and more stern.
"She's right here, uh, what did you say
your name was?" Emerald inquired, being friendly.
"I'm not getting on a first-name basis
with you. This is business, and I intend to keep it as so. Now where is she?"
she re-asked.
"I told you, she's there!" Emerald
huffed.
"Where?" Her voice became more urgent
than before.
"I-I'm right here, Pluto." A small
voice came from behind. Ebony stepped out from behind Diamond, her face red to
be in front of her old friend, Pluto, after she had grown so much.
"Good lord, what on earth happened to
you?!?" Her eyes nearly bugged out when she saw her small friend so- grown.
"I need to get into the palace, so I
can talk to Neo Queen Serenity." Ebony's voice turned firm-though it tended to
waver- and more into an adult role.
"Why did you just refer to your mother
like that?" Setsuna demanded once more.
"We have an appointment. Just ask the Queen herself- Diamond made it
yesterday." She stood tall.
The dark woman shook her head and
sighed.
"Chibi Usa, do you know what you're
saying? Have you been brainwashed?" she asked panickedly.
"Setsuna, please. I know what I am
saying. I made this decision. And it's me that has to carry it out. So let
us through to the queen."
Pluto looked at her oddly.
"What is wrong with you? What has
compelled you to act this way?" she kept asking.
"Sailor Pluto! I have asked you to let
us through, and you haven't listened once. Don't you dare think that these wonderful people have anything bad to do
with me at all- that is a nasty
assumption and I hope shame falls upon anyone who dares think that way of
them!" she shouted, taking the woman by surprise, though she did nothing to
show it.
There was a silence for a moment, then
the scout soundlessly lead them to the door, and opened it for them. On the way in, she leaned to Ebony's ear and
whispered:
"I thought you were better than them,
Chibi Usa. I really thought you were."
"Well, I'm not better than them,
Setsuna. I'm one of them. And my name
is Ebony. Please try to remember that." She nodded her head, then walked off
with the others to receive attention to the queen.
Diamond was the first to greet the
Queen's eyes. He glanced at them, but did not keep direct eye contact at all.
Looking freely to the rest of the chamber room, he saw the walls glittering
with crystal, decorated slightly with such items as pictures, Japanese scrolls,
old staffs and henshin sticks and brooches.
"Hello, Queen." He greeted her in a
normal manner.
"Yes, hello, Diamond. And to the rest
of you." She stated, not much in a chatty mood-her daughter was missing-it was
strictly business.
"Before you speak with your daughter, I
want you to know that-" Diamond began.
"I don't want to hear it, prince. Just
bring me my daughter." Serenity ordered.
"-that I stand behind her and
everything she says 100%, and that though I stand behind everything she is
telling you, I didn't enforce the ideas into her head. They are totally hers,
and no brainwashing, convincing, blackmailing or bribing was done in order for
her to think them." He continued, a bit annoyed.
Neo Queen Serenity was silent, but not
impressed.
"Alright, Diamond." She said at last.
"I believe you."
A smile of satisfaction erupted on his
face.
"Thank you." Turning, he faced
Sapphire, but wasn't looking at him; instead, behind him.
"Ebony, you can come out now." He
called.
"Ebony? Oh god." Serenity rolled her
eyes.
Hesitantly, she stepped out from
behind, timid but standing strong. Her eyes seemed to glow brighter than before.
The aura around her made Diamond hold his breath, as to not gasp in sudden
emotion for her.
"Hello, Queen Serenity." She greeted.
"Chibi Usa, what's the meaning of this?
You're acting immature." She scoffed.
"Oh, geez, queen, can't you just listen
to what I have to say? You have never done that before- you should try it
sometime- I might actually have something to say." She threw sardonically.
"That's a very disrespectful thing to
say to your mother." She squinted her eyes in anger.
"Yet is nothing in comparison to how
you've disrespected me." Ebony told her.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Serenity asked snottily.
"You know very well what that's
supposed to mean." She cleared the hair from her face, though they fell back
again. "All my life, you have loved me in a sense that a mother is supposed to
love a daughter. But you've denied me so much by not believing in me, by not
caring about my opinions or what I represented. And by sending me back to get
help from your former self, I met the
former you. You were an asshole. Usagi was the meanest possible person you
could have sent me to. She hates me with all her heart, and wanted nothing
better that to hit me, as hard as she could. I respected her and you, in every way that I could have and got
nothing in return except the usual child courtesy, which is none to speak of.
When people saw me, they saw a child, with growing ideas, but not a
ripe-brained human. I am 900 and so
years old and I have never once received any kind of woman-to-woman kindness,
just of a mother to a young child. Don't you think that made me feel bad to
look as I did? To be treated unfairly and ignored because I looked as if I was
10? I own so many emotions, so many feelings, so much more than you could ever
dream of, and nobody has ever even asked for my opinion. For goodness' sakes, I
can't even attract guys of my mentality, because the ones who share the same
maturity look too old for me, causing people to freak out, and the ones who
look my age think about nothing of importance, and aren't searching for…" she
sighed. The Queen tried to say something, but Ebony interjected. "—I'm not
finished yet. Hear me out. All my life I have respected you, and Usagi for as
long as I have known her. I've respected you for who you are, and the love you
have in your hearts, and your aura, and everything that was good about the both
of you. Neither of you have returned that courtesy, not once, and I feel I deserve it, what with living without it
my entire life—900 years, need I remind you—a long time to live without it. And
that's why I'm here. I want to redeem this and all that I deserve, along with
you're apology."
"That is the most idiotic thing I have
ever heard." She finally stated, standing.
"And why is it stupid, Queen? Because
you realized how stupid you've been,
or because it's stupid to think that I have ever had anything productive to
say?" Ebony shot at her, cruel yet true.
For once, she was silent.
"And why is that so hard to believe?
What's so insane about me having feelings? Emotions? Ideas? Love?" she turned
quietly to Diamond, then back. "Is it because I don't have the right to have
any of those? Am I a freak not worthy of praise? Of happiness?" A look came
into her eyes, almost teary, and Diamond tried with all his might not to go and
kiss her to make the tears go away.
"Why are you being so irrational, Chibi Usa? I have given you more
than anyone could have wanted! I've treated you with fair respect, and hope
only for you to take after me in my role as Queen! This is not good enough for
you?!?" she shouted to her daughter, hurt and yet more angry than not.
"No, Queen, it's not. I would rather be a pauper with respected
ideas and thoughts, instead of the ignored, lonely rich child you were bringing
me up to be." Ebony said quietly, calmly.
"I
am your mother and as your mother I deserve to hear you address me as so! I
can't—" Serenity was now screaming, though Ebony didn't even flinch.
"I am calling you your name, which is
fucking respectable compared to the way you address me as Chibi Usa when I come
to you as Ebony!!!" Her voice grew louder and louder until she was screaming as
shrilly as the queen herself.
The two stared at each other, both as
stubborn as the other, though neither willing to admit it.
Turning to her side, the Queen Serenity
reached to the back of the chair, or the throne on which she sat. Pulling out the Ginzuishou, her eyes
narrowed and her lips grew thin.
"You are not the girl I know and love…
you are-are a wicked lady!!!"
"Oh, come now, Serenity. Is that all you can call me? That sounds
like a name of someone on Toonami or something. I mean, a queen of your status
must be able to come up with something better than that!" she threw snottily
with a sarcastic tone. "Besides, I am not the girl you know and loved because even
if I was the weak-souled Chibi Usa once more, I am a different person than you
ever knew. And I'm not your little girl anymore anyway. Had you been paying attention, you would
have known that I became a woman 800 years ago—graduated out of childhood and
everything!" Ebony scoffed, and her voice once again had its malicious tone.
"I don't believe you, Diamond. Not
anymore." Neo Serenity's crystal began to glow as she looked at Diamond and
scowled.
"Serenity, he did nothing but what I
wanted him to do! I asked him to and I wanted to tell you this—he just gave me
the opportunity." Ebony stood straighter, remembering the night of
transformation—but not about the physical change. Her mind swarmed with the
thought of that kiss he gave her, the one that begun the passion, that made her
fall in love… and all the kisses after that…
"I don't care. People will say anything
while under hypnosis or after being brainwashed. First, I'm going to destroy Diamond." Ebony bit her lip to stop
from crying out. "Then, I'm going to change you back. You are filled with black karma, you deep, dark, black lady! Even
your name means Black Lady—was this one purpose or just coincidence? Never
mind, I'm just wasting time." She stood and her crystal grew even brighter.
"No, you're not. You're not going to
destroy Diamond." She whispered, loud enough for the queen to hear.
"And why not?" Serenity asked rudely.
Turning to face the surprised and
spectating Diamond, she grabbed his face, and pulled it to hers.
Catching her drift and feeling his own
passion for her, he threw his arms around her and held her ever-so-close to his
body. Their tongues danced in a fury of love and passion, and an endless desire
to bare all to the infuriated queen.
As they parted, Diamond smiled.
"I was wondering when you were going to
do that." He whispered so quietly, she almost had to read his lips to hear him.
"Enough of this!!! I'm going to get rid
of this man, I don't care who he is and I'm changing you back, Chibi Usa!!!"
The aura from the crystal shot out at them out of nowhere, blinding them in
it's heated wave of electric inferno.
"Watch out, Diamond!!!" Ebony screamed
as she put out her hands last-minute, blasting all her energy and emotions out
with them.
"YYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
her voice raised above all else, crashing the ginzuishou's light to the very
palms of Serenity.
Her raging screams continued as more
and more force was pressed out of her hands, crashing into the queen and
knocking her to the floor.
"STOP IT!!! STOP IT NOW!!!" She shouted
in mauled and angered defeat, covering her head as well.
The crackling flames of electricity
stopped abruptly as Ebony smiled, though gasping for breath.
"Had enough?" She grinned, resting
unnoticeably on Diamond's shoulder.
"What do you want from me?" the queen's
voice came out in a low, harsh grumble, rattling in her throat like beans in a
can.
"I want you to let the Black Moon
Family's banishment be vetoed, and them to be let back on this earth, even to
the extent of Tokyo. I want them to be able to roam freely and not be bound to
the limits of one place or another." She stated proudly.
"But-but you saw the way they treated the people on earth in the future! They
destroyed Crystal Tokyo and every inhabitant of it except for the Sailor
Scouts, who gave their life and devotion to protecting me, me who stayed
unconscious and almost dead for thirty years, until they couldn't hold out any
longer and died, killing me from no protection. This man-this same man blew up the quartz-the same quartz I was
embedded in, finishing me off." She pointed her finger, her voice visibly more
weak.
Ebony glared at Diamond.
"Ebony, please believe me. I was trying to get her out… Oh, god, Ebony…
I wanted to get her out…" The pleading tone in his voice, so true, so pure,
left Ebony soft-hearted for him once more.
"I believe you… Diamond, I know you
wouldn't hurt her… Not back then…" she whispered.
"You believe him… How can you…" she
sighed. "What can I do? Go find the other scouts so I may tell them your wish."
A smile erupted from ear to ear on
Ebony's tanned cheeks, now pink with sudden excitement.
"Yes, queen. Gladly."
Spinning to Sapphire and Emerald, who
didn't physically do anything for her, but were there in case she needed them,
Ebony took hold of one of each of their hands.
"I-I just want to thank you… for being
there for me… even if you didn't have to say anything. It just made me feel
good that you were there for me… Thank you both so much…"
Both of them smiled.
"Ebony, we're the ones who should be
thanking you. Without you, we
wouldn't be able to live on earth again, never to be part of the world we have
known… I commend you for that with all my heart." Emerald embraced Ebony
warmly, and they stood there for a second, indulged in momentary sisterly love-
the grate hug from woman to woman.
"I'm going to find the scouts—I'll be
back eventually." Kissing Diamond, she smiled and darted from the room.
Diamond just stared at the door until
her footsteps were no longer heard in the echoing halls of the palace.
"I guess you three might as well go
look for the other scouts as well." Serenity swallowed hard and sighed.
Emerald and Sapphire hesitantly walked
to the door, slowing emerging from its crystal frame. Diamond, however,
strolled at a more rapid pace, walking in the opposite direction from Emerald
and Sapphire. Waving them a simple goodbye, he placed his hands in his pockets
and set off.