Disclaimers: Sailor Moon and the Sailor Scouts and everything affiliated with them are the property of Naoko Takeuchi, Toei Animation, Dic, and many other big name people and companies with lots of money and lots of lawyers. I do not own them so don't sue me; I'm only borrowing them for a little while. Any other characters are mine. If anyone wishes to use them, please notify me first.
Just a bit of clarification:
the * * signify a person's thoughts
the ***** before a section signify either a memory or a shift into the mindscape (don't worry, this will make sense eventually, I hope).
Please email me with your comments and/or criticisms at jnkryo@yahoo.com. Heck, flame me if you want to. I'd like any feedback I can get. Enjoy the story!
Brother's Keeper
Part 10
by: Johnny Ng
*****
Queen Serenity appeared in a featureless gray plain. She took a moment to orient herself before she took a look around. It was not what she expected. Daniel was nowhere in sight.
"A poor choice for a battleground, Your Majesty," Daniel's mindvoice boomed out around her. He suddenly appeared in front of her. "For here in my mindscape, I control everything."
"No, you do not," Serenity responded, "You do not control me...and you do not control that." She pointed behind him.
Daniel turned and saw the Philosopher's Stone, enlarged to the size of a large boulder. It gleamed with an eerie red light. He looked at his ring and saw that it was empty.
The magus laughed. "You're right, I don't control it. I don't need to. Its power has already become a part of me."
"Then I shall have to take it from you."
Unbeknownst to them, the Stone suddenly pulsed.
Daniel immediately grew angry. "No! The Stone and its power are mine!" He fired two plasma bolts at the Queen.
Serenity leaped out of the way of the projectiles and was able to glimpse the Stone pulsating wildly, almost frantically. She waved her hand at the Stone. "Can't you see? The Stone is controlling you."
"The only thing I see is a soon-to-be-dead queen in front of me."
Serenity ignored his threat. "The Stone is feeding off your power, your ambition. It will overwhelm you."
"But not before I destroy you first!" He teleported in front of her and grabbed her by the neck. Serenity didn't even try and resist when the magus began to choke her.
The Stone's glow increased to a point where it would have been painful to look at...if anyone chose to look at it. The same glow was echoed in a smaller degree in Daniel's eyes. Eyes that were staring straight into Serenity's own.
As he gazed into those crystal blue orbs, Daniel felt as if he was looking into the depths of a bottomless ocean. The glow from his eyes was reflected back at him, piercing through the anger generated by the Stone. He blinked, his eyes dimming.
"Wh...what's happening to me?" Daniel asked in a quiet voice. His hands relaxed slightly allowing Serenity to draw a breath.
"The Stone's power...you must fight it!" Serenity said hoarsely.
Daniel let his hands drop from Serenity's neck and he clutched his sides. "I can't! The Stone is too strong. I need the power!" He fell to his knees.
Serenity knelt beside him. "No." She grabbed the magus's shoulders. "I will help you." She began to give her energy to Daniel, but it wasn't enough. The Queen closed her eyes and sent a cry for help.
*****
Serena had regained some of her strength, but was still pretty weak. She and Trent had tried to revive the others, but they had no such luck. Suddenly, the Stone in Daniel's ring pulsed brightly.
The two of them were recovering from their sudden blindness when they both heard Serenity's telepathic cry.
*Serena...Trent...you must help me...*
"Mother?" Serena looked at the Queen still frozen next to Daniel. "Mother! What do I do?"
Trent grabbed her arm. "You don't do anything. You're still too weak."
"But she's my mother!" In a surprising display of strength, Serena broke away from Trent and ran towards the frozen couple and placed her hand on the Queen's shoulder. Immediately, her sigil flared as the glow engulfed her.
"Serena!" Trent cried, but there was nothing he could do. He sighed and glanced at the still comatose Scouts. "Don't worry, I'll keep her safe." He placed his hands on Serenity's other shoulder.
*****
Serena and Trent appeared in the mindscape together. They saw a large glowing mountain and Serenity was kneeling next to Daniel at the mountain's base.
"Mother, we're here," Serena said running up to them, "What do we do?"
Serenity threw her daughter a heartfelt smile. "Serena, I'm glad I was able to reach you. I need you to help me save Daniel.
"Save him!" Trent screeched pointing at his brother's writhing form, "He tried to kill us all!"
The Queen sighed. "No, it wasn't his fault. The Stone was controlling him."
"I don't care. He's hurt me and the ones I love too many times. I will not be a part of this."
"I was not asking your permission," Serenity replied coldly, "If we don't save him, his mindscape will collapse and take us along with it."
"I'll help," Serena said softly.
Trent looked at her incredulously. "What are you doing?! Have you forgotten what he has put us through?" However, he saw that Serena's mind was made up and turned away in disgust.
Serena looked at her mother. "I'll help, but I don't know how. The Crystal was destroyed..."
Serenity smiled sadly at her daughter. "It's alright, dear. Just take my hand."
Serena did and immediately felt herself transforming into Princess Serenity. She faced the Queen. "I understand, mother."
"Good." The Queen called out to Trent, "I will need your help as well, mage."
Trent let out a long sigh and turned around. "If it will us get out of here, I'll help."
The Queen nodded. "I need you to stop the Philosopher's Stone from growing."
"Okay, where is it?"
She gestured at the glowing mountain.
Trent was puzzled, "You mean it's inside the mountain?"
"No, it is the mountain."
Trent just stood there flabbergasted. "You've got to be kidding!"
The Queen smiled reassuringly. "Just do what you can and pray that it will be enough."
The mage grinned to response. "Don't worry, it will be." He turned and teleported away. *I hope.*
Once Trent was gone, Queen Serenity turned back to Daniel. Her daughter was trying to comfort the magus as best as she could, but it wasn't having much effect. The Princess looked at her mother sadly. "How are we going to help him?"
"Place your hands on my shoulders, Princess. I will do the rest."
She did as she was told and saw her mother place her hands on the sides of Daniel's head. The Queen's hands began to glow and Princess Serenity felt her mother giving their energy to the magus. *I hope this doesn't take too long, I don't know how long I can keep this up.*
Trent reappeared floating halfway up the side of the Stone 'mountain'. *Well, let's see what I can do.* He fired a fireball at the Stone.
The flaming sphere sped towards the rack face, but before it hit, it disappeared.
Trent frowned and tried a lightning bolt next.
The electrical energy arced from his fingers to the Stone, but it struck a barrier before it hit the surface. Trent's frown deepened as he tried to dissipate the lightning...but nothing happened. The electric arc was still connecting him with the Stone. Trent suddenly began to feel weak. *It's...draining my power...one chance..."
With one hand still emitting the lightning, the young mage used his other hand to summon a grayish ball. Aiming carefully, he threw it at the lightning. The ball struck the electricity and blew up in a cloud of gray dust. The lightning immediately fizzled out. Trent grinned. *Powdered silicate. I'm sure glad I passed physics.* He turned his thoughts to the Stone and suddenly had an idea. "So, you like to absorb energy, huh? Well, I've got just the thing for you."
Trent floated backwards to give himself some room. *I sure hope I'm strong enough for this. I've never tried to make one this large.*
He took a deep breath and started chanting and the space around the Stone began to shimmer. Trent's forehead furrowed in concentration as sweat glistened on his face. When he finished, he opened his eyes and saw a force dome covering the Stone. *I did it.* He turned and saw Queen Serenity and her daughter still dealing with Daniel. *I hope they're doing ok.*
The Princess was feeling as if she had run a marathon. Her whole body felt tired and numb and she knew her mother was feeling, if possible, even worse than she was. Daniel still struggled and convulsed.
When the Princess felt she didn't have an erg of energy left in her body, she felt her mother ease. She opened her eyes and looked at Daniel. He was sitting upright with a relieved look on his face.
The Queen looked up at the Stone mountain and smiled. "He did it."
Princess Serenity looked up and saw the force dome Trent had erected. It surrounded the Stone completely and it seemed to be working. The Stone appeared to be shrinking. She smiled and got up, her gown dissolving.
"Well, what do you think?" Trent asked appearing next to Serena.
She turned and hugged Trent fiercely. "You were great!"
"Whoa! Careful there Serena or else Mina might get jealous," Trent said wryly.
Serena immediately let go and started to sputter denials, her face turning redder with every word.
"Hey, do I get a hug, too?"
Trent turned to his brother. "No." He sighed. "I don't have a brother anymore." He brushed past Daniel and made his way to Queen Serenity. "What now, Your Majesty?"
"Now we wait." She looked at the dome. "How long will it hold?"
"As long as it keeps draining the Stone's power, indefinitely. It runs on the energy it absorbs."
Serenity nodded. "Good. The Stone must be drained of its energy before I destroy it."
Daniel looked sadly at his brother. He was hurt by the coldness of Trent's rejection but he knew he deserved it. He just didn't know what to do.
Serena picked up on the magus's distress. She walked over to him and gently put her hand on his shoulder. "It's Trent, isn't it?"
Daniel sighed. "Yes. I can't say I blame him for treating me this way, though. God knows I treated him worse. He and I have never seen eye to eye, but deep down, I really do love him. After our father died, he was the only family I had."
"Just give him time. I'm sure he'll come around."
Daniel was about to reply when the ground he was standing on trembled.
"What's happening?!" Serena shouted.
The magus turned and looked at the Stone. It was flaring with power and the dome surrounding it was fluctuating wildly. "Uh oh."
Serenity sensed the first power flare before she saw it. "Watch out!"
Trent was puzzled by the Queen's warning and when the Stone pulsed, he was thrown to the ground by the shockwave. "What the...?" Then he understood. "The Stone...it's trying to overload the dome by forcing it to absorb too much power too fast!"
As soon as he said that, the dome began to shimmer and twist. "It's not going to hold!"
"Maybe I can help," Daniel's voice called out.
Trent looked at his brother skeptically, by Serenity was more responsive. "Do whatever you can."
Daniel nodded and teleported to the base of the mountain. He closed his eyes and started chanting and loops of chains formed at his feet. When he was finished, he staggered wildly. *Whoa, that went so well when I had the Stone's power to help me.* He looked at his handiwork. *And the chains were stronger with the Stone's help, too.* He shook his head and grabbed the chains and mentally commanded them to wrap themselves around the mountain. Once that was complete, he teleported back to the group.
"The chains appear to be having an effect, Daniel," the Queen told him.
"Yes, the dome seems to have stabilized," Trent grudgingly admitted.
Foolish mortals! a voice echoed in their heads.
"What is it?" Serena asked worriedly.
"It is the Stone," the Queen said grimly.
Indeed it is. You thought you could contain me with these pitiful magics? The Stone pulsed again and this time the dome along with the chains all shattered. You cannot hope to control me!
Daniel felt the Stone's influence again but this time he was ready for it. "No! You will not take me again. I will no longer be your pawn!"
The Stone seemed to be amused. You have already served your purpose magus. You have destroyed the Silver Crystal and its guardian is powerless. Now there is no force that can stand against me!
A defeated look crossed Serenity's face. "It's right. I can sense it. It has grown too powerful. There is nothing that can defeat it now."
A sudden thought came to Daniel. "Except for itself..."
"What did you say?" Trent asked suspiciously.
Daniel smiled sadly at his brother. "I know I haven't done much to earn your trust, Trent, but just this once, trust me."
Trent saw the sincerity in his brother's eyes and relented. "Alright, what's your plan?"
"Don't worry, you'll know it when you see it." Daniel smiled and teleported away.
Trent looked at the spot where his brother had been. *Dammit, what are you doing?!*