Author's Note: ::see a flimsy fort made out of couch cushions with a bruised and battered hand rising from it:: Please don't kill me! I've figured out the secret to my server's bad attitude problem and have started getting around it, but it is a lot of work and I'm a certified couch potato. ::head pops up:: No rotten fruit? Yay! ::cushions go flying and Ayeka sits in front of her computer:: Now, I'm going to write the ending to this o-so-beautiful work of mine!
HE shifted in his dark lair, waiting. HE could sense the time was near, and the battle would begin anew. This time it would be different, they would be evenly matched, and he doubted Terra would destroy herself again. A sudden darkness hit his soul and HE rose once again!
Serenity was exhausted. The shadows had been attacking non-stop for three days. Her Senshi had split up to cover more area, and were defending their settlements in shifts. Serenity had ended up with Pluto, who seemed to spend most of her time worrying when she should be resting, and staring off into space when she should be fighting. It was straining the young queen's patience. Still, she allowed the eldest of her order some leeway.
Serenity blasted another creeping shadow and continued to meditate. It was the easiest way to sense the little buggers, eyes were easily fooled. She felt a strong power behind her and turned to blast it, but a hand caught her wrist. Serenity stared. "Pluto! You should be resting—"
"HE's here," Pluto said solemnly.
The pink-hared Senshi frowned. "Who?"
Pluto looked at Serenity meaningfully. "HE." Serenity nodded and looked out at the lightening sky, it was almost dawn. "You won't see him, HE's too good for that. I wanted to warn you so you wouldn't go running off after him. HE is Sailor Terra's nemesis, and will brush the rest of you aside like so many moths. Can you tell the rest to stay where they are and not interfere?"
Serenity nodded. "Yes, but why can't you tell them?" Pluto shook her head and disappeared. Serenity pouted, then remembered she had some people to contact. Senshi? It's Serenity…
"HE's coming."
Ayeka looked at Pluto. "I know." She turned back to her paper work and finished it with a dot. The queen had finished her ascent into power, and seemed to actually glow. Her hair hung perfectly down her back, and a strange starburst design had appeared on her forehead in bright white. Her eyes were almost completely empty, and her face void of emotion. Pluto felt dread, a familiar feeling for one who sees the future, but it was an intense dread that felt like her own death. Ayeka held out a hand. "I expect they are all safely away."
Pluto nodded. "Of course." Ayeka hadn't needed to ask, she already knew, but Pluto was touched at this attempt at conversation.
Ayeka gave an empty smile. "I shall join the fight, then." She faded away.
Pluto collapsed to the floor and cried so hard she thought she'd suffocate.
Odin was outside the palace with the other Guardians, waiting tensely. The shadows had stopped attacking a moment ago and they were all feeling something big approaching. Tsunami could feel the plants die, Washu could hear the animals run or get caught under the leviathan. Odin had tuned his powers out and was searching for his lover. Where was she? She wasn't dead, or gone, she was inside that being who was the Queen of Terra. Odin searched for that silver chord. He needed the strength of that bond about now.
His concentration broke when the ground shook. Washu shouted something, Odin couldn't make out what, and he turned toward the sounds of heavy feet. Fading into existence in front of the tree palace was a strange Gundam. It was big as Gundams went, but this one was different from any other. Where metal and sensors should've been on the head, there was Ayeka's face. Her hands were skin and bone, but her armor was that of a Gundam. The light glinted off her shiny surface as she pulled out her twin daggers and faced the forest.
"Ayeka?" Ryoko squeaked. Their queen looked down and Ryoko cowered. This was the goddess in her true form, as she had been born. Humanity had been created in her image with all the harsh edges smoothed over. Terra abruptly leapt into the sky with enough force to shake the ground and blow up dirt. The Guardians below had to shield their eyes from the dust and looked up just in time to see a shadow cover the sun as it pursued Sailor Terra into space.
HE followed his archrival with energy. Soon, she would no longer stand in his way and the universe would be his. Why was she leaving the planet behind? If he wasn't mistaken, she fought only in strong gravitational fields. No mind, this suited HIM just fine.
Terra stopped abruptly and turned. HE slowed and stopped. They floated for a time, in orbit around the sun and its planetoids. You are mine, Terra! HE shouted. Terra smiled and her empty eyes gave a brief sign of life.
Poor Kane, you don't understand, do you? Terra crossed her knives in front of her face. We're gods, and don't die. I became mortal, but was reborn. You ceased to exist when I did because the universe maintains a balance, not because I destroyed my planet. As she spoke, she'd closed her eyes, and now she opened them. They were, bright, shining, and full of life and emotion. "This ends now!" Ayeka shouted, and she threw one of her golden blades at HIM. He moved out of the way, but the dagger followed him and sank deep into his darkness. Then Ayeka held out the other dagger and stabbed herself.
What are you doing! Ayeka grinned as blood the color of sunshine dripped from her armor. She took a deep breath and shouted, "Terra's Wrath!" HE and Ayeka screamed as the blades tore them apart and dispersed their essence all over the universe.
~20 years later~
Odin looked up from his desk. "Come in." The door opened and Queen Serenity came in. He smiled and got to his feet. "Serenity! How nice to see you again."
She smiled. "It's a pleasure to be back." Then the queen sat down in front of Odin's desk and said solemnly, "We have to talk about…Ayeka."
He lost his ready grin. "You mean Terra, don't you?" he asked. "There was no Ayeka left when we had our final showdown with HIM." His face was hard.
Serenity reached across and touched Odin's hand. He looked at her face and saw tears. "Odin, she's back."
Epilogue:: (I didn't feel like uploading another chapter just for this.)
Ayeka survived the final battle because At the last moment, Terra regained control and sent her mortal reincarnation back into Terra's core to regenerate once more. (Remember the hair left behind to keep that spot ready for her?) It didn't take as long as before because Ayeka retained much of her god-like power once she and Terra separated. Odin was, er, enthusiastic about her final return. The immortal couple have decided not to rush things and start off with maybe two kids in the next thousand years or so. (But they lucked out and got triplets. Teehee!)