Hmmm…this should be good. Now I'm in The Return of the King (always saves time when you're taking away half a book). Oh, what will happen to Ami and Diana? What's up with Chibi-Usa's scheme? And what is happening to the rest of the Senshi? I can't answer all of the questions this chapter, but I'll see what I can do!
Sorry about the short chapter before. I had to reload it so many times to get it all there. Urgh.
Elven Cherry Blossom: The Death Busters originated shortly after a fire where Mugen School was being built, which killed Hotaru's mother and badly hurt Hotaru herself. Her father was rebuilding her as a cyborg super-being when there was a storm and the beings arrived, taking over Kaorinite (his assistant at the time) and gave him the daimon eggs to place within humans and such. My best guess about the Witches 5 is that they were 'created' by Tomoe and were trying to raise up to the level that Kaorinite was at, which was a Magnus (high witch). Kaorinite, as well, was trying to get more power and become the one that would join with their master, Pharaoh 90, when he came to Earth to join with it. Instead, Hotaru awoke as Mistress Nine, the one who had been Pharaoh 90's partner from the other 'home world'. A Tau system is supposed to be a system in another dimension or reality. Their powers relied a great deal on some warped lines of Sailormoon's power, that of the ginzuishou and the planets. One of the reasons Sailorsaturn could defeat 90 was the fact that her power was slightly different. She dealt with Death, Destruction and Rebirth, so in a sense her power was more of a 'darker' form, making it negative and harder for 90 to absorb, like he did with Sailormoon's attacks and the attacks of the Senshi near the end.
For SailormoonStars, the Galaxy Cauldron is actually the place where all stars are born, and where all of the Sailor Crystals/Star Seeds go to when they die. A Sailor Crystal, which is what helps to create a star/Senshi, can choose to either stay within the Cauldron after it returns there, or be reborn. For Sailorgalaxia, she was collecting Star Seeds/Sailor Crystals to put into the Cauldron so she could release Chaos. Her idea was that she could fight Chaos, defeat it, and then create a new universe where she was a god and had the star that she deserved. Galaxia didn't have a good childhood, or life, until she found out she was a Senshi. With that, she looked for a planet that she would deem 'worthy' of her powers, but found none until she found the Cauldron. There, she found out about Chaos, and went about collecting and destroying planets and their Senshi, except those that would join her (the Sailor Animates). When Galaxia was collecting the Seeds/Crystals, Chaos merged with the Cauldron, which started to warp it. She sent in the Seeds to feed Chaos, and they were (supposedly) destroyed. Since the Quartet was unconscious, their seeds were still within them. Chibimoon needed both the Seeds of Mamoru (yes, he's kinda a Senshi) and Usagi to exist at the same time for her to be around in that timeframe, but because Mamoru was killed by Galaxia at the Cauldron, she disappeared, as did her Sailor Crystal. ChibiChibi is kinda the same as Sailormoon, but with a very powerful Crystal. In the end, when Sailormoon goes and fights off Chaos in the Cauldron, calling upon all the Star Seeds, they are reborn and so is everyone that died, including Galaxia (I guess…hopefully she'll have a better life this time round).
Confusing? Sure. If you want to have some better general idea about the whole thing, I suggest www.eternalsailormoon.org. They've got a huge section on the manga and anime, the differences, and also the storyline and villains. I can only tell you so much and still make it sound interesting.
Silver Angel: She was having a nightmare/memory! Saruman happened to be in it…
Misfit: sorry, I only got a part of my story up the last time! Oops. ^^;;
Part 9: The Battle of Evermore
Oh the war is common cry, Pick up you swords and fly. The sky is filled with good and bad that mortals never know. Oh, well, the night is long the beads of time pass slow, tired eyes on the sunrise, waiting for the eastern glow. The pain of war cannot exceed the woe of aftermath. The drums will shake the castle wall, the Ring wraiths ride in black…
--Led Zeppelin
"The storm is gathering too close," Boromir said, Haldir next to him with the enchanted blade they had found within the house and equip him with. Nearby, the girls held their henshin items and finally raised them above their heads. "Pink Moon Crystal Power…"
"Pallas Crystal Power…"
"Vesta Crystal Power…"
"Juno Crystal Power…"
"Ceres Crystal Power…"
"Make-up!"
Haldir seemed a little stunned by the transformation, but continued to watch his part of the house and Time Gate. He had slowly learned a little about each of the girls over time. Pallas was childish, but very much into justice. Vesta liked fire, and was slightly level-headed. Juno was a little more level-headed then the others, and very acrobatic. Ceres loved flowers and was, in some ways, the leader. Their true leader, though, was Chibi-Usa, who was known as Chibimoon. They were strong, and Haldir respected that from his few days with them.
Boromir seemed to be alerted of something, and touched an unseen place with the staff he now carried. A small window opened and Boromir looked through, Haldir seeing only a horse holding Gandalf, now dressed in white, and the girl Elenaithil, and a smaller one, a Hobbit, but which one Haldir couldn't tell.
"There is more then one storm brewing, I fear," Boromir said, "Hopefully, they will ride this out and we will see them all alive and well."
*
Elenaithil wandered the enforcing streets and walls of Minas Tirith almost like a ghost, sometimes looking here and there, other times helping with water and food storage in case of siege. No message came from Gandalf to her, and Pippin was now a man of Gondor, having spoken to Denethor, the Steward of Gondor.
Elenaithil, though, was worried. The odd girl with the grace of an elf and the hair color of dark, cold water, as well as eyes that shone like a deep mountain lake, became one of the few things that puzzled the Steward and others. Pippin told only what he knew of her: she was a warrior of another place, where she was called a Senshi of Ice and Knowledge, a warrior who could control the rivers and lakes and ice. She was smart, and learned languages quickly. She knew Common well enough, but spoke a strange language as well. She now had a companion, a small grey kitten with a bell around her neck. She was here to protect the man Aragorn, called Strider by some, from an evil that didn't name itself. She was a mystery to the Hobbit as well, but she was nice and nicknamed him Gu-kun.
So the odd girl Elenaithil stayed wandering the city, watching and preparing for the oncoming battle.
*
"We ride to the Path of the Dead," Aragorn told the group. Theoden seemed to shudder at the thought, but Diana's mind wasn't on that right then. She jumped over to Legolas' shoulders and looked at the group, noticing that Aragorn seemed much aged, and also haggered.
He is becoming the king, and new weight is upon him, she thought, and I must protect him. I am unsure as to what lies in this Path, or with Theoden'ou, but…Yes, I will give Merry something to be a good luck charm! I have the power to, so I must.
Diana jumped over to where Merry was, and spoke as the group was ready to leave. "Meriadoc-sama, I have something to give you."
"Oh, don't call me 'sama'. I'm no lord," Merry said, blushing slightly.
"But you may be, and anyway, you're older then I, and I must give you it. I want you safe, so that Mercury-sama doesn't chide me for letting you be hurt when I was supposed to make sure all of you are okay." Diana turned in a circle once, then jumped up and flipped over in the air. As she did this, a small light appeared, then flashed to show a small gem that was meant to go into a handle. It was a diamond of sorts, and within it could be seen, only faintly, a yellow crescent moon.
Diana picked it up with her mouth, jumped up to Merry's sword, and placed it at the hilt, where the handle and blade met. The diamond joined with it, and glowed only slightly before becoming a regular gem.
"This gem will give you good luck, and glow when the beings of Chaos are nearby, so you can know where to avoid, or if they are chasing you. I want you to make sure they don't come after Theoden-king, for you protect him now with the rest of the Rohirim."
Merry looked at the sword's new stone, then nodded. "Thank you, Diana."
Diana smiled, then jumped over to Legolas' shoulders and got up on top of his head once more. "Sayonara, Theoden'ou-tachi!" Diana called out as the rest rode with Aragorn towards the Path.
*
The battle had begun, and Elenaithil helped how she could, but not much could be done. She met Faramir and heard his tale of meeting Frodo and Sam in the Wilderness. She saw what was between he and his father, and before he left, she met up with him.
"Faramir, you love your father?"
"Yes."
"Then do not die, for that will be the death of him. He does not love Boromir better then you, but he showed it more without realizing what ill effects it could have in the future. Ride forth and battle, but do not die. I will not forgive you if you die."
Faramir smiled slightly at Elenaithil, nodded, then rode forth as she watched him, then turned to one side, where the Rohirim would come from. "You have someone to meet, and my presence here cannot stop that meeting. What will she do without someone else who shares in the pain of being kept away from the fight?"
When Faramir returned, poison in his veins, not even Elenaithil's plea to help him would reach the Steward's ears. He stayed by his son, and left Gandalf and others to rule his armies.
Finally, Elenaithil had enough.
"Denethor-sama, you are as much of a baka as your son Boromir, though Boromir made only a little more sense, perhaps a gift from his mother! You cannot stay by one side to see if someone will wake before they die. They do not. I have died before. There is no pain unless it is made to be painful. Lead your people, Denethor, so that maybe your sons can look and see what a fine father they have!"
"You do not comfort me, witch!" Denethor yelled out, "I will wait by my son, and you will leave."
Elenaithil stood, then sighed and whispered something in her language before leaving. Despite what might have been though, no one could say it was anything but a blessing or a prayer.
*
"Gu-kun!" Pippin stopped in his finding of Gandalf to speak with Elenaithil, then raced off when she told him where to find Gandalf and also raced, this time to find Beregond.
"Beregond!" she said as she saw him starting to leave his post, "Don't be frightened, I come with you. I answer to a Master higher then yours, and so I shall do what she would wish, if she was here."
"Would I but to have such a Lady, to tell me to leave."
Elenaithil thought for a moment, then said, "Can you keep two alliances?"
"Yes, why…"
"Give me your sword, and swear allegiance to the Princess Mercury, Lady of
Water and of the Court of the Moon, and come with me to find your other-lord, Denethor."
"All this is too swift!"
"Then say you will follow me until I release you from your allegiance and come! We must save Faramir!"
Beregond nodded and raced with Elenaithil towards the place that Denethor and the rest would go to hold a funeral.
*
The sword's gem had not glowed, even when Merry came to the aid of Theoden as he fell before the Witch-King, or helped Eowyn, formerly Dernhelm, to kill off the leader of the Nazgul. The battle was long, and soon, Aragorn and others came to join in, the Dead following them, Diana once more in her human form, the deadly cat-claw sword of hers slicing into the orcs of Sauron as willingly as it had into the orcs of Saruman.
And during this battle, another was fought as well. Gandalf and Pippin raced to the house of the dead, where they found Beregond holding back men, and Elenaithil holding closed the door, the lyre unable to be used.
"Do as I have bidden!" Denethor's voice came, "Slay me this renegade, or must I do so myself?" The doors were flung open, and Elenaithil raised up her caduceus even as Gandalf came forward, yelling to Denethor to stop.
"Since when has the Lord of Gondor been answerable to thee?" Denethor asked, glaring at them all, "Or may I not command my own servant?"
"Beregond is, right now, my servant, and servant to the Court of the Moon, where I serve the Queen Serenity and her husband, King Endymion. When you have done with this madness and are of rightful mind, I may return such a man as noble as this one to your service."
Denethor spoke that his son burned, and Gandalf proved it false and took him away. In his dreams he called for his father, and Denethor wept. When he showed the palintir, Elenaithil seemed to hear something, and once more she spoke to the distraught Lord.
"You know that you have two sons living, though one cannot be with you?" as she said this, she touched the lyre, bringing some water to the top of her staff. She raised the caduceus above her head, and from it sprung a wave of water that seemed to create a hole, water lining the edges. Inside, standing as if there, was Boromir.
"Boromir…" Denethor said, his hand loosening its hold on the stone, then dropping it as Boromir spoke, his voice also mingling with Elenaithil's voice.
"Father, do not despair. Hope there still is, for what you have seen are all lies. The Dark Lord has also a palintir, with which he ensnared the wizard Saruman as his puppet. You must be strong, father. I cannot come to you, because, in too many ways, I have died in Middle Earth only to be revived within Time. I cannot live once more on Middle Earth, least I die from the wounds I had received. A storm brews here as well, father, and we cannot hold it back long. Stay alive to see Faramir wake, and tell him that I was always envious of him. He had more will then I did. Now please, father--."
"It is such a storm!" another voice said, and Elenaithil seemed to blink before whispering, her voice strangely soft. "Chibi-Usa-chan?"
"Boromir, we must have more power, or else it will swallow us up!"
"No, go to the Gate!"
"Chibimoon!" Elenaithil yelled out, and the water surrounding the opening seemed to swirl, turn, and go within itself, pushing at some unseen force as the color drained from Elenaithil's face and the symbol of Mercury blazed on her forehead.
"Elenaithil! Stop!" Pippin yelled out just as, above it all came a voice that rang like a clear bell, and made their hearts rise up without much idea of the feeling. "Ami-chan, please, stop. You're draining your energy. You must fight the greater evil that will come. Think of your Shashu. Live for me, Ami-chan."
Tears came to her eyes, and the rod disappeared, as did the hole into space. Denethor cried out for Boromir, and Pippin only made it just in time to catch Elenaithil as she fainted. The water used to line the hole splashed down upon the wood, and ran the oil out, so that Denethor had to also be taken to the House of Healing.
*
Legolas took the stairs three at a time, with Diana close behind him in cat form, and Gimli simply watching with some amusement as he also climbed the stairs. "Never come between love and an elf," he muttered before spotting Pippin and walking over to him, losing sight of the archer and the kitten. "Well, are you okay?"
"Oh, better then that, it was Merry who had some blows, though. And Elenaithil, she was dead tired from some very odd magic she did to convince the Lord Denethor to not burn himself and his son, Faramir. Where's Legolas?"
"Gone to see Elenaithil, and with the kitten on his heels. Dark days come to Gondor, and we will march to Mordor, if I'm not mistaken."
"Poor Merry, he probably won't be able to go. Will Elenaithil?"
"Even if we tie her to her bed, I think she'll go. Now, let us see Master Merry before Legolas and the others show up."
*
Legolas came through the door, seeing Elenaithil sitting up in bed and reading a book very seriously. She looked up at him and the book was forgotten as she placed it down and got out of bed to embrace him and the Diana.
"What did you do to get into the House?" Legolas asked.
"A silly thing that required my hime to tell me not to do. It must have been here, though she sounded…older. I suppose it was that Sailorcosmos that we have heard of from Usa-chan and the Quartet. But how was your trip?"
"I will tell the curious Hobbits and you. Gimli must have found them."
"And I know where they are, so let us go, ai no Mercury." The two walked over to Merry's room, and listened to what happened on the journey. They got the story of what happened to Merry, Pippin and Elenaithil, and all sat around thinking of what would happen.
"We go to battle soon, to the Black Gate," Elenaithil said, "I know that it is there I will find something, and if not, then I must return to my home to destroy what may be left of it."
Short chapter, but the third book is mainly people talking and such. I had to cut some of it out, and I'm doing the quick version to get to the end. Yeah!
But hey, they still have to face the one who's creating the storm in Time, and find out what's happened to Pluto-san. More to come!