Attack on the Kingdom of Thunder
Part Two
Thunder rumbled
ominously in the night sky as Beryl's dark army approached the Palace of
Jupiter. Its presence was unmistakable to the hundreds of thousands
of soldiers gathered at what would undoubtedly be the site of the battle.
The rain was subsiding, and an evil hiss could now be heard splitting the
heavens as Beryl's shadow demon marched closer and closer with her massive
army. As Seiji and Princess Makoto watched from the top of the sharp-roofed
tower, they could see the evil Queen descending upon the castle.
A wicked laugh could be heard echoing throughout the kingdom, peal after
peal reverberating off each particle of the Jovian atmosphere.
"Holy mother
of God!" Makoto heard someone holler. Even these soldiers--Jovian
soldiers, the bravest and most powerful throughout the galaxy and beyond--were
frightened by the awful sight of Queen Beryl's minions storming the palace.
Each warrior drew his sword and a deep breath, preparing himself for the
worst massacre imaginable. Seiji unsheathed his own powerful sword,
letting the power of his Korin Armor flow through it.
"Soldiers!"
He shouted authoritatively to his army of frightened swordsmen. "Wait
for their assault! Be ready for their attack, and fight at your best!
This is it, the battle that will determine the fate of the Kingdom of Jupiter!"
He lied. Makoto knew he lied; this battle could not determine the
Kingdom's fate. The Kingdom would fall, no matter what anyone did
to prevent it. The Imperial Princess knew it, but she did not want
to believe it. She convinced herself that what Seiji was giving his
troops was inspiration--not blind faith.
Meanwhile,
the army waited for Beryl's attack. Time seemed to stop as the force
approached, followed by a black shadow that enveloped the sky, a creature
with huge red eyes. Beside this demon was Queen Beryl herself, the
eternal nemesis of the beloved Silver Queen Serenity. More laughing
was heard as the enigma approached, striking fear into the hearts of all
good men on the field. Amidst all the sloth and suspense, a sudden
burst of movement occurred, and all at once Beryl's troops were upon them.
Great war cries were heard as the battle broke out, and blood was shed
mercilessly as the threatening storm rolled on even stronger.
Seiji's
face took on a hard look, and he jumped down inside the tower with Makoto.
"I have to help my men," he declared firmly, taking up his helmet.
Makoto once again held his arm.
"Seiji,
you can't just jump into that battle!" She said. She was tempted
to beg him to stay, but decided quickly that the practical and intellectual
approach was more effective. "Seiji," she began slowly, "you are
the commander, you can't throw yourself out there to die! Your men
need you to lead them, as well. If you must fight, try another way.
It will weaken them much more than killing a few dozen men before someone
shoves a sword through your back!" Seiji nodded as the pair started outside
to aid the Jovian military. Seiji put on his helmet, looking at Makoto
through his visor.
"You're
right, Makoto," he conceded. "I'll find their commanders and take them
out. But this doesn't change anything! You still must go to
safety with Queen Serenity and her court! Take Minako with you, take
Princess Rei of Mars, and Princess Ami of Mercury! Whatever you do,
just go!" His eyes began to quiver and his expression became soft and pained
as he gave one last attempt at convincing the princess to leave.
"Please." His voice was gentle and quiet.
"No, Seiji,
no!" Makoto protested passionately, tugging his arm. "I am from the
noble royal family of the mighty Planet Jupiter. I never give up,
and I never run away from a battle, this one included! I will follow
you to the ends of the universe if I must, and no matter what, I will fight
alongside you." Seiji did not heed her powerful words.
"Beryl will
look for you. You're the first one she will want to kill, Makoto, you know
that. Your parents could already be...you have to hurry, before she
finds-" Seiji stared into Makoto's eyes and squeezed her hands tightly
in his own, but before he could finish his argument, a great, cold wind
overtook him and his strong-willed princess. Their eyes turned in
fear to what they knew was certain disaster. The wind intensified,
turning quickly into hurricane gusts, and Seiji took Makoto up in his arms,
shielding her, and holding her slender frame to the ground. The tower
in which they stood was not sturdy enough to withstand the robust winds
that Beryl's forces were no doubt bombarding it with. It creaked
repeatedly, and at last gave one final groan before toppling to the earth
below.
"Agh...Makoto!"
He yelled her name, closing his arms tightly around her and jumping clear
of the tower's collapse. Dust flew, blinding both Seiji and Makoto
temporarily. "Are you all right?" Seiji asked shortly, letting Makoto
free from his hold. She nodded, then searched about warily, vainly
attempting to find the source of that unexpected burst. When the
debris from the tower's collapse cleared out of the air some seconds after,
she and Seiji found themselves alongside one another, facing the floating
figure of a woman with long, pinched red hair. Her face was chalk-white,
if not tinted slightly blue, and her features were sharp--her snakelike
eyes, witch's nose, sinister grin of victory, and the fangs of a vampire.
She held in her hand a tall sceptre on which was mounted a softball-sized
orb that revealed a swirl of blue-green clouds. A dark power was
emanating from that orb, both Makoto and Seiji could feel it. Her
laughter split the air like the call of a raven, and the royal couple could
not be more certain that this was, in fact, the evil Queen Beryl.
"Ah, so
you must be Princess Makoto of Jupiter," Beryl hissed. "You do realize
the losses your kingdom has caused for me and my own kingdom of darkness?
But of course. You'll be such a pleasure to eradicate."
"Leave her
alone, she has done nothing to you!" Seiji snapped angrily, putting a protective
arm over Makoto. "Take me, Queen Beryl, it was my fault. It
was I who commanded the Jovian armies to attack your forces. I repent,
I will surrender, but only if you agree to spare the life of the Princess!"
He lied once more. Seiji had been in full command of the armies for
no more than two days! There was no way he could've launched any
attack on Beryl. Neither he nor Makoto knew whether Beryl was aware
of that fact, but--one way or the other--it didn't matter at all.
The shadow demon rose to loom behind Beryl's long-legged, navy blue-gowned
figure, and Seiji winced and fell back a step from an invisible blow that
seemed to have struck his face.
"I'll do
nothing of the sort!" Beryl said matter-of-factly. She reached out
her bony hand toward Seiji, extending her sharp-nailed fingers painted
the same blue as her dress, preparing to unleash some kind of magical attack.
Seiji bared his teeth, gritting them in anticipation, and gathered up Makoto
behind him. He pulled out his sword, and it gleamed in the lightning
as he swung it at Beryl. She flew back and pointed just one of her
fingers down at the ground, then moved it swiftly up toward Seiji.
The ground split open, creating a great chasm where Beryl had pointed,
and it grew as it moved quickly toward the brave knight and princess.
Seiji took Makoto and jumped away.
"I don't
think so, Beryl!" He challenged. He held up his sword in front of
his face and shut his eyes tightly. "Rai Kou Zan!" With a yell, Seiji
snapped open his eyes. He swung his sword down in a swift, fluid
motion toward the ground, and from it jumped a multicolored fireball that
shot toward Beryl, shocking her like lightning. Her dress was singed,
and she shook her head to find that her hair had begun to spring up; Makoto
couldn't help but laugh. Beryl rubbed her shoulder, where she had
been burned by the electric fire of Seiji's attack, and scowled.
"I'll not
be humiliated by little royal twits! You'll pay for that!" Beryl
shouted. She let out a cry and the orb at her side began to glow
with a blinding blue light. A serpentine hiss sliced the threads
of space and the great shadow demon rose up behind Beryl, its red eyes
intense in their gaze, which was fixed upon Seiji and Makoto. They
were blown backward once more, but this time Makoto was the first to stand
up and retaliate.
"Supreme!..."
Beryl smirked as a black cloud overhead and lightning began to gather before
Makoto. She curled her body, preparing to release the powerful electric
energy at the shadow beast in front of her. "Thunder!" Makoto shouted
this last word and thrust out her arms, throwing the lightning toward the
massive monster. Her gaze was hard as she watched it fly, so quickly
that it reached its target in a matter of milliseconds. Makoto gasped,
breaking out in an icy sweat as she saw--there had been no effect!
The electricity from her attack had been absorbed into the demon.
Beryl's laugh seemed distant as Makoto stared in fear at the dark shadow
blocking out the sky.
"You thought
you could overpower my shadow?" Beryl asked primly. Makoto gave a
growl and blinked back her tears of frustration. To this Beryl laughed
once more, a malevolent giggle that made the princess shiver. Another
growl was heard, this one deeper and more an infuriated roar than a growl
at all, as Seiji once again stepped up beside Makoto. She noticed
that his helmet was gone now, possibly knocked off by the impact somehow,
and his anger had deepened even more, not into hatred--he was too much
of an angel for that, Makoto was sure--but into a fierce need to protect.
He raised his sword, pointing its tip at Beryl.
"You!" he
accused, "This is all your doing! Leave us alone, this is the last
time I warn you before I destroy you!" As much as she felt they should
have given her confidence, Seiji's words only intensified the fear in Makoto's
heart. She knew he was getting discouraged, she knew he was beginning
to feel the mad angst of all his efforts being futile. Beryl only
let out another insane shriek of laughter.
"You? destroy
me? That's certainly quite funny, but I think you're taking this
knight-in-shining-armor game too far, wouldn't you say?" she asked, antagonizing
him. Makoto saw him look Beryl up and down, searching, searching...he
smiled maliciously as his eyes fixed on the smoky orb at her side.
"Come on, just give up now, save yourself the pain, Seiji, you could work
with me, rule the universe with me--all that power, Seiji, isn't it tempting?"
Beryl taunted him. She was disappointed to find that it had no effect
on him; he didn't want any of it, it seemed. Seiji knew that it didn't
matter anymore. Power was no issue to him, the only thing he had
left was Makoto, and he would lose her one way or another--by declining,
he would lose her life; by accepting, he would lose her love. She
and her royal family were done for, of this he was sure; but he would go
down fighting for it.
The lightning
flashed in Seiji's dark, violet eyes, and without a second thought he charged
at Beryl. Tears stained his face, but he ignored them, roaring and
thrusting his sword at Beryl. He swung it in a large arc as the evil
queen tried to escape the scythe; it narrowly missed her pallid face.
Her eyes shot open at the sight of dark crimson blood running down her
arm, and her staff fell to the earth below. She and Seiji both lunged
for it; Seiji was quicker, but Beryl held out her bony fingers once more.
Seiji was tossed violently backward toward where Makoto stood agape.
He crashed to the grass and dirt on his back, a small fountain of blood
spurting from his mouth.
"Seiji!"
Makoto dropped to her knees beside Seiji, all the while touching her finger
to her tiara, ready to murder Beryl with a massive Jovian storm at the
slightest movement. The knight lying beside her was badly injured,
she knew; but he could still make it through alive if she finished this
now. She stood and was about to try when Beryl's orb glowed once
more, springing the gargantuan shadow into action.
Makoto watched
in awe and horror as a mirror image of herself appeared in front of the
shadow, performing the attack she had just attempted to destroy it with.
Makoto was startled at this projection of herself, but even more surprised
to find black lightning emerge from the hands of her 'clone.' Makoto
ducked out of the way, but she found that the streak of lightning was not
aimed for her, but Seiji, who lay almost paralyzed and in pain beside her.
He had no way to escape it, and Makoto could never hope to be fast enough
to save him.
The bolt
of darkness had a shocking electrocution effect on Seiji, and he struggled
with it as it engulfed his entire body, making him radiate the blackness.
He hollered and gave quivering growls of pain, but, encased in that field
of energy, Makoto could not get to him. She could only watch as something
invisible cut and broke Seiji's armor at the shoulder, putting a deep slash
dangerously near his neck. Makoto screamed and let out another burst
of energy, which zapped away the fake projection of Sailor Jupiter and
subsequently put another burn in Beryl's hand. Her staff did not
drop out of her hand this time, but she switched it to her left hand and
tended to the one that had been electrocuted, her attention focusing on
something other than the orb. In response to this, the orb dimmed
and the shadow demon seemed to be put into a strange, docile sleep that
would remain unbroken until the orb's power was once again activated.
The effects of the black lightning ceased and subsided as the monster became
inactive, leaving Seiji burned and broken on the ground in unimaginable
pain.
"Seiji,
no!" The reality of the situation had finally broken through to Makoto,
and she once again dropped next to Seiji, his eyes full of pain and his
heart beating wildly. His soft blonde hair had become tattered, and
his already light skin had taken on a deathly pallor. The shock of
dark energy had nearly killed him in its last moments of existence--the
right arm of his green-plated armor had been torn off, as well as the chain
mail beneath it, leaving a deep slash that slowly poured a river of red
down his arm. His bones were most likely broken in several places
from the fall alone, even before the magical attack, and yet he still lifted
himself up on his elbows to talk to Makoto.
"Makoto,
it's time to stop playing games," he told her, his voice cracking from
pain and injury. She took his hand and shut her eyes tightly, denying
with all her soul that this was the end. "You must listen to me now,
Makoto. Leave me. I know it's hard for you, I know it is, it's
just as hard for me. But I'm on the verge of death, Makoto, I'm not
going to make it. It may be too late to leave, but you can still
fight without me. You mustn't tend to me, or to my wounds, Makoto..."
Seiji let out a strained cry, and his breaths began coming more heavily.
The pool of blood beside him was growing larger, and his hands were growing
colder as she held them in her own. Makoto could help it no longer--she
cried for all she was worth. "I love you, Makoto," he told her.
"Remember that always." His breaths were fainter now, and his pulse
had slowed almost to a stop. He tried to keep himself up, but he
fell back to the ground each time.
"No!
Oh, please, Seiji, hang on!" Makoto screamed, knowing that he couldn't,
but praying all the same that he would find a way. "You can't..."
"Defeat
Beryl, Makoto, destroy her..." Almost inaudibly, Seiji issued his last
command. Makoto heard him, but she did not listen--she could only
cry. Seiji's grip on her hand loosened--still he held it, but the
pressure was fading. Makoto knew that this was the end; she could
taste his blood on her lips as she kissed him once more. The moment
she pulled away, Seiji's hand dropped to the ground. This was it.
Makoto turned her head to the sky, and a great bolt of lightning streaked
across the clouds as she shrieked in angst.
Makoto turned
her head back down, shedding just a few more tears before at last standing
up to face Queen Beryl, who was laughing with delight. She turned
to look upon the battlefield where countless Jovian soldiers already had
died, her green eyes emotionless now. She called upon her powers,
and used them to shoot electricity through a good portion of Beryl's legions,
leaving each victim dead or paralyzed. She realized that she had
felled more than just a few of her own soldiers in the process--no, Seiji's
soldiers, they were Seiji's men! She didn't care if they died.
She didn't care for them at all. Why shouldn't they die? Seiji
had died...Seiji, who had meant everything to her. He had perished,
he had fallen at the hands of Beryl. If he couldn't withstand her
strength, than neither could she, neither could they, so how could it matter
how many she killed?
Makoto turned
around, fixing her blank, empty eyes on Beryl. The evil queen smiled
malevolently at Makoto's sudden act of terror and violence. That
smile widened to a malicious grin as Makoto's shoulders slumped, her entire
body suddenly slouched, and she raised her arms in surrender.
"Take me,
Beryl," she said, her voice cold and calm, somehow devoid of all anger
and hatred. "Take me!" She cried. All at once her sorrow resurfaced
in her, and her tears rolled down again, even harder than they had before.
"Kill me, Beryl, I can take this no longer, I can't fight you! I
can't win!" Beryl's smirk became more superior, and she raised her staff
for the crushing blow, either to strike Makoto or to call upon the shadow
creature to destroy her no one can know. The last thing Makoto saw
was the staff, the orb atop it glowing with a demonic light. The
staff, and then...
The marble floor of Silver Queen Serenity's grand palace, blindingly white. Makoto lifted her head to see the elegant empress standing over her with the Crescent Moon Wand. Resting inside the Wand, Makoto saw the beautiful crown jewel of the Moon children, the small but powerful Ginzuishou, shining with a crystalline light that almost matched the brilliant sparkle in Seiji's eyes.