In the Hands of Fate
By: Mask of Twilight
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all of it's characters do not belong to me, but to the wonderful Naoko-sama. I am only borrowing her extravagant cast of super-heroes and villians for this little fic of mine. ^_~
AN: Sorry this took so long. I've been really busy...I hope all of my reviewers haven't left me...*sniff...sigh* But as my dad would say, "No excuses; Just results!" So, if they have deserted me, I suppose it's my own fault. Well, here's chapter 5!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter V
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Encumbered forever by desire and ambition
There's a hunger still unsatisfied
Our weary eyes still stray to the horizon
Though down this road we've been so many times...
~Pink Floyd
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So, now that we've got Sailor Moon back," Minako said with a wink to her friend. "What do we do next?"
Usagi smiled back at her half-heartedly. She sat on a low windowsill that looked out to the devastated garden, not really paying attention to the others. Usagi hadn't spoken much since her ordeal, and wasn't her normal, happy self. The senshi were getting worried, but tried not to show it. They decided it was better to wait until she was ready to tell them what happened, than for them to ask. And according to Mamoru, she hadn't even told him the whole story.
"Well, we should do something!" Makoto said impatiently. "I hate all this waiting around; I wish we could just go and get rid of them all!" Usagi stiffened slightly, but said nothing.
"Yes, but it's not that easy," Ami said matter-of-factly. "We don't even know where the enemy is."
Rei sat down beside Usagi. She had never apologized for her harsh words, but had been slightly softer towards her friend since. She knew she had hurt Usagi's feelings, and in truth, was sorry. "Usagi," she said gently. "Do you know where the Black Moon family is? I mean, you were there, right?"
Usagi looked at her, her eyes holding a slightly odd expression in them. She shook her head, saying, "No, Rei, I don't know where they are...though I wish I did..." This last part was said so quietly that even Rei didn't hear. Rei sighed in exasperation and stood up, just as the palace shook as if something had knocked into it. Rei practically toppled over, but managed to regain her balance just as another blast hit the palace.
"What's going on?!" Minako yelled over the noise.
"I don't know...but we'd better transform!" answered Makoto. They all did so, including Tuxedo Kamen, and rushed out of the palace. Usagi sighed and transformed as well, and after making sure Chibi-usa was in King Endymion's care, followed her friends.
Outside, they were greeted with a less-than-pleasant sight. A hideous youma was thwacking the palace walls with one of its three long tails, causing the palace to shudder every time. The Senshi paused before attacking, allowing Sailor Moon to recite her famous "punish you" speech. But it didn't come; Sailor Moon seemed distracted. The Senshi looked at one another. Sailor Mars shrugged and took over.
"Hey you!" The youma stopped its mad rampages and turned to look at her. "What are you doing, attacking the palace like this?! For your obvious stupidity, I'll punish you! Burning Mandala!!!" Fire arched towards the monster, but it quickly dodged. It laughed, its voice sounding like a strange growl. Using one of its furry, spiked tails, it knocked Mars to the ground. This seemed to wake Sailor Moon out of her trance. She glared at the youma and took out her scepter. "Get it, guys, so I can moon-scepter this creep!"
Jupiter nodded and shouted, "Sparkling Wide Pressure!" Lightening shot out of her fingertips and hit the youma full in the face. It screamed and clutched its smoking eyes, blindly thrashing its tails. "Perfect!" Jupiter congratulated herself.
Taking her chance, Sailor Moon raised her scepter and shouted, "Moon Princess Halation!!!" Magenta sparks flew out of the scepter and formed into a point. The "sharp" end impaled the monster, and with one final, agonizing cry, it was destroyed. The senshi breathed a sigh of relief, but too soon. As they attempted to regain their breaths, green lightning struck the ground, each shock sounding like the crack of a whip.
"What's going on?!"
"I thought we killed it!"
Suddenly, Esmeraude appeared in midair; laughing, though not with her usual gusto. "What's wrong, Sailor Senshi? Is it too much for you?" Laughing again, she disappeared, then reappeared at Sailor Moon's side. "You know," she said, amused, "You're not half the woman Demando makes you out to be. In fact, I easily surpass you."
As Esmeraude said those words, Sailor Moon was filled with a fury she had never felt before. A jealousy she knew she shouldn't feel was steadily growing. What was wrong with her?
Esmeraude laughed at Sailor Moon's reaction to her words, and disappeared once again. All was silent. The Senshi slowly relaxed, hoping she was gone, for now. But they all looked towards the palace as a small figure rushed out of the doors.
"Hey! Did you beat it?" Chibi-usa cried. Before the Senshi could answer, Esmeraude reappeared in front of Chibi-usa, and before the child could react, the woman had her in her arms, laughing victoriously.
"Chibi-usa!"
Venus was the first to react. Standing up, she yelled, "Venus love-me chain!" A golden chain flew towards Esmeraude, glancing off her cheek. Though it was a minor wound, it caused her to drop Chibi-usa. Tuxedo Kamen caught the girl just as Esmeraude fired a green bolt of energy at Sailor Venus. Venus dodged as Mars sent a stream of flames towards Esmeraude.
A furious battle followed, and by the end of it, Sailor Mars, Venus, and Mercury were severely hurt, but Esmeraude knelt on the ground, her body trembling with pain and a sense of failure. She had been smitten with numerous attacks, and sported many hideous wounds. She glared at the Senshi, hate filling her emerald eyes. Blood issued from her mouth as she spoke. "How dare you..." Hideous coughing wracked her body as she struggled to speak. "How dare you all defeat me like this?!" The coughing was becoming more violent. "...I'll never...ever...forgive you...for this...Sailor Senshi!"
The Senshi watched the tragic display unfold with minimal interest. They all knew she was dying. Her words were no more than empty threats.
Esmeraude let out a horrible, piteous sob that even the Senshi were heartbroken to hear. "All I wanted was to please him!" she sobbed. "All I wanted was his love..." The Senshi looked on, only guessing at the meaning of Esmeraude's words.
"Demando!!!" The woman cried out the name of her prince; the last distinguishable word ever to issue from her mouth. She was caught up in a fit of coughing and sobbing, blood pooling around her. Her face was extremely pale now; her body was visibly weakening. And with one last fatal breath, Esmeraude slumped to the ground, never to rise again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By: Mask of Twilight
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all of it's characters do not belong to me, but to the wonderful Naoko-sama. I am only borrowing her extravagant cast of super-heroes and villians for this little fic of mine. ^_~
AN: Sorry this took so long. I've been really busy...I hope all of my reviewers haven't left me...*sniff...sigh* But as my dad would say, "No excuses; Just results!" So, if they have deserted me, I suppose it's my own fault. Well, here's chapter 5!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter V
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Encumbered forever by desire and ambition
There's a hunger still unsatisfied
Our weary eyes still stray to the horizon
Though down this road we've been so many times...
~Pink Floyd
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So, now that we've got Sailor Moon back," Minako said with a wink to her friend. "What do we do next?"
Usagi smiled back at her half-heartedly. She sat on a low windowsill that looked out to the devastated garden, not really paying attention to the others. Usagi hadn't spoken much since her ordeal, and wasn't her normal, happy self. The senshi were getting worried, but tried not to show it. They decided it was better to wait until she was ready to tell them what happened, than for them to ask. And according to Mamoru, she hadn't even told him the whole story.
"Well, we should do something!" Makoto said impatiently. "I hate all this waiting around; I wish we could just go and get rid of them all!" Usagi stiffened slightly, but said nothing.
"Yes, but it's not that easy," Ami said matter-of-factly. "We don't even know where the enemy is."
Rei sat down beside Usagi. She had never apologized for her harsh words, but had been slightly softer towards her friend since. She knew she had hurt Usagi's feelings, and in truth, was sorry. "Usagi," she said gently. "Do you know where the Black Moon family is? I mean, you were there, right?"
Usagi looked at her, her eyes holding a slightly odd expression in them. She shook her head, saying, "No, Rei, I don't know where they are...though I wish I did..." This last part was said so quietly that even Rei didn't hear. Rei sighed in exasperation and stood up, just as the palace shook as if something had knocked into it. Rei practically toppled over, but managed to regain her balance just as another blast hit the palace.
"What's going on?!" Minako yelled over the noise.
"I don't know...but we'd better transform!" answered Makoto. They all did so, including Tuxedo Kamen, and rushed out of the palace. Usagi sighed and transformed as well, and after making sure Chibi-usa was in King Endymion's care, followed her friends.
Outside, they were greeted with a less-than-pleasant sight. A hideous youma was thwacking the palace walls with one of its three long tails, causing the palace to shudder every time. The Senshi paused before attacking, allowing Sailor Moon to recite her famous "punish you" speech. But it didn't come; Sailor Moon seemed distracted. The Senshi looked at one another. Sailor Mars shrugged and took over.
"Hey you!" The youma stopped its mad rampages and turned to look at her. "What are you doing, attacking the palace like this?! For your obvious stupidity, I'll punish you! Burning Mandala!!!" Fire arched towards the monster, but it quickly dodged. It laughed, its voice sounding like a strange growl. Using one of its furry, spiked tails, it knocked Mars to the ground. This seemed to wake Sailor Moon out of her trance. She glared at the youma and took out her scepter. "Get it, guys, so I can moon-scepter this creep!"
Jupiter nodded and shouted, "Sparkling Wide Pressure!" Lightening shot out of her fingertips and hit the youma full in the face. It screamed and clutched its smoking eyes, blindly thrashing its tails. "Perfect!" Jupiter congratulated herself.
Taking her chance, Sailor Moon raised her scepter and shouted, "Moon Princess Halation!!!" Magenta sparks flew out of the scepter and formed into a point. The "sharp" end impaled the monster, and with one final, agonizing cry, it was destroyed. The senshi breathed a sigh of relief, but too soon. As they attempted to regain their breaths, green lightning struck the ground, each shock sounding like the crack of a whip.
"What's going on?!"
"I thought we killed it!"
Suddenly, Esmeraude appeared in midair; laughing, though not with her usual gusto. "What's wrong, Sailor Senshi? Is it too much for you?" Laughing again, she disappeared, then reappeared at Sailor Moon's side. "You know," she said, amused, "You're not half the woman Demando makes you out to be. In fact, I easily surpass you."
As Esmeraude said those words, Sailor Moon was filled with a fury she had never felt before. A jealousy she knew she shouldn't feel was steadily growing. What was wrong with her?
Esmeraude laughed at Sailor Moon's reaction to her words, and disappeared once again. All was silent. The Senshi slowly relaxed, hoping she was gone, for now. But they all looked towards the palace as a small figure rushed out of the doors.
"Hey! Did you beat it?" Chibi-usa cried. Before the Senshi could answer, Esmeraude reappeared in front of Chibi-usa, and before the child could react, the woman had her in her arms, laughing victoriously.
"Chibi-usa!"
Venus was the first to react. Standing up, she yelled, "Venus love-me chain!" A golden chain flew towards Esmeraude, glancing off her cheek. Though it was a minor wound, it caused her to drop Chibi-usa. Tuxedo Kamen caught the girl just as Esmeraude fired a green bolt of energy at Sailor Venus. Venus dodged as Mars sent a stream of flames towards Esmeraude.
A furious battle followed, and by the end of it, Sailor Mars, Venus, and Mercury were severely hurt, but Esmeraude knelt on the ground, her body trembling with pain and a sense of failure. She had been smitten with numerous attacks, and sported many hideous wounds. She glared at the Senshi, hate filling her emerald eyes. Blood issued from her mouth as she spoke. "How dare you..." Hideous coughing wracked her body as she struggled to speak. "How dare you all defeat me like this?!" The coughing was becoming more violent. "...I'll never...ever...forgive you...for this...Sailor Senshi!"
The Senshi watched the tragic display unfold with minimal interest. They all knew she was dying. Her words were no more than empty threats.
Esmeraude let out a horrible, piteous sob that even the Senshi were heartbroken to hear. "All I wanted was to please him!" she sobbed. "All I wanted was his love..." The Senshi looked on, only guessing at the meaning of Esmeraude's words.
"Demando!!!" The woman cried out the name of her prince; the last distinguishable word ever to issue from her mouth. She was caught up in a fit of coughing and sobbing, blood pooling around her. Her face was extremely pale now; her body was visibly weakening. And with one last fatal breath, Esmeraude slumped to the ground, never to rise again.
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