Rated PG-13
Disclaimers: Sailor Moon and everything affiliated with her are the property
of Naoko Takeuchi, Toei Animation, Kodansha, and DiC. They are not mine, I
am 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 or dreamscape (don't worry, this will make sense eventually, I
hope).
Comments? Questions? You want to praise me or curse me out? I'm at
jnkryo@yahoo.com
Daughters of Destiny
Part 13
by: Johnny Ng
*I have to keep him distracted!* Aiden thought as he fired off a
series of fireballs at the orb. *Must give Pluto the opportunity to help the
others.*
Bane dodged the projectiles easily and laughed. "Is that the best
you can do, my old enemy? Has your long sleep dulled your powers? I am
disappointed. Meanwhile, your friends are getting a bit cramped."
Aiden smiled faintly. *Good, he's focusing on me.* "Let them go,
Bane. Your fight is with me."
The sorcerer chuckled. "You're right, I could care less about your
companions. I could crush them all like insects if I wished. In fact, I've
already started."
The metal sphere enclosing the scouts buckled again and Aiden grit
his teeth. *Damn! No choice left.* He wove a spell and a wall of
shimmering light sprang up between Bane and the scouts. Using the wall as
cover, the spirit made it sphere. He put his hand on the metal surface and
concentrated. *Can you hear me?*
Inside the crumpling prison, everyone's head looked up.
"Grandfather!" Rhea called out. "Can you do anything?"
*Hang on, everybody, I'm going to--* "Aaaggghhh!" Aiden suddenly
found himself surrounded by glowing blue bands. They pulsed and the spirit
screamed and fell to the deck.
Rhea and Daniel doubled over in agony and Trent's glow seemed to
fade.
"What's wrong?" Sailor Venus asked.
*It's Aiden! Something's happened to him.*
Bane's orb passed through Aiden's wall easily. "Did you really think
that you can hide from me with this parlor trick?" The orb hovered next to
the writhing spirit. "I think it is time I ended our little rivalry."
The bands began to glow brighter when the far wall of the bridge
exploded. There was a rush of air out the damaged bulkhead before the
_Wrath's_ security systems were able to kick in and plug the hole with a force
field, but not before the front portion of a transport shuttle fought its way
through the opening. The shuttle's hatchway opened and the three Outer
Scouts jumped out.
Sailor Uranus smirked. "Sorry about the mess."
Aiden turned his head with some effort. "The...others...in the...
sphere..."
Pluto nodded. "Our friends are trapped in that metal sphere," she
told her comrades, "we have to free them."
"Not so fast." The orb flashed and the deck split as a yawning chasm
appeared between the Outers and the sphere.
Sailor Neptune looked at the fissure and shook her head. "We can
jump that." She took a running start and leaped..."
The orb glowed red and black, writhing tentacles emerged from the
abyss and wrapped themselves around the aqua scout.
"Neptune!" Uranus shouted drawing out her Space Sword and running to
the chasm's edge. "Space Sword Blaster!"
The arc of yellow energy scythed its way towards the tentacle
grasping Neptune, but bounced off when it struck. Undaunted, Uranus jumped
onto the tentacle and started hacking away at it with her sword. She didn't
see the tentacle behind her poised to strike.
Pluto, though, did see the offending appendage reaching for the tall
scout. "Dead Scream."
The ball of destructive purple energy struck the tentacle, but like
Uranus's attack, it too just rebounded and struck the deck. The tentacle
continued its decent and wrapped itself around the blond scout.
More tentacles started to crawl out of the chasm and headed for the
only free scout left. Pluto managed to knock the first few probing
appendages away with her Time Staff before it was ripped from her hands.
Sensing she was defenseless, the tentacles struck en mass and wrapped
themselves around the time scout.
The tentacles lifted the three struggling Outer Scouts to face Bane's
orb. "A valiant effort, ladies, but too little, too late."
Uranus wasn't listening to the sorcerer gloat. She finally managed
to work her sword arm free and flung the Space Sword at the orb. *This had
better work.*
Bane merely dodged to the side and the sword spun harmlessly past
him. "Still some fight in you, huh? Maybe you should practice on your aim
some more."
"Her aim was just fine," Princess Serenity said.
Bane shifted his awareness behind him and saw that the scouts and the
others had escaped from the shrinking metal sphere. The Space Sword had
neatly sheared off the top of the sphere giving them their freedom.
"Grandfather!" Rhea cried running to Aiden.
"Stay your ground, mageling," Bane said. The bands glowed again and
Aiden grimaced. "Or else your ancestor dies...again."
Rhea fell a few steps short of her grandfather and clutched her side.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her father do the same.
*Rhea...Rhea can you...hear me.*
She cracked open her eyes. *Grandfather?*
*Rhea...do you trust me?*
*Of course--*
*Then...you must...take my hand...*
*But, Bane will kill you.*
*No, he won't...trust me...*
Rhea gulped and stretched out her hand.
Bane saw this. "I warned you." At his command, the bands glowed
brighter.
Rhea clenched her jaw against the pain but her hand continued to
reach out to Aiden, and after what seemed like an eternity, she clasped his
hand in hers.
As soon as their hands touched, Rhea felt a surge of power and the
pain she was feeling vanished. She looked at her grandfather and saw him
smile.
*Just relax, Rhea, and let me do everything.* Aiden's body began
dissolving into motes of lights and diffused into Rhea's hand.
"What's happening?" Bane asked.
The mage watched the light show enter her body.
*I am inside your body, Rhea,* Aiden's voiced echoed inside the
girl's mind. *I need you to go to you father and uncle. Hurry.*
Rhea nodded and got to her feet. She was immediately surrounded by a
force cage.
"What did you do with Aiden, girl?" Bane asked threateningly. "Where
is he?"
"He's closer than you might think," Rhea replied with a smile.
Inside her mind, Aiden sent a telepathic message to Daniel and Trent.
Daniel nodded and glided over to the cage. He stuck his hand between
the bars and his form began to change the way Aiden's did. Soon he was
absorbed into Rhea's body as well.
"Enough!" Bane roared and began to raise a shield.
Trent sensed this and sent a thought to Venus. *Hurry, throw me to
Rhea!*
Venus nodded and hurled the cube toward the trapped mage. Reaching
out her hand, Rhea managed to snatch it before the shield fully materialized.
She cupped the cube in her hand and it glowed slightly as Trent merged with
Rhea. She sensed her grandfather's command and closed her eyes.
*****
Four figures appeared in a living room.
Trent looked at himself and smiled. "Boy, it feels good to have a
body again."
"Hey, this is my living room!" Rhea said. "What's going on here?"
Aiden laughed. "This is your mindscape, Rhea. It looks like your
living room because your subconscious is trying to fill it with familiar and
comfortable images."
Trent nudged his brother in the ribs. "Kinda makes me wonder about
_your_ mindscape when I last went there. I didn't know you found forbidding
empty plains comfortable."
"I was possessed by the Philosopher's Stone at the time, brother. My
mind was slightly warped." Daniel looked at his ancestor. "What do we do
now?"
Aiden sighed. "I cannot defeat Bane, at least not as I am now. With
the magic of the Earth at his command, he is too strong."
Rhea interrupted. "Wait, you said that you couldn't beat Bane as you
are now. What does that mean?"
"Bane was right. Being dead for numerous millennia, my powers have
been weakened. There may be a way for me to increase my powers, but it might
be too dangerous...for you, my children."
"What is it?"
"I am...not complete. Parts of my soul are missing...parts that are
in all of you."
Trent snapped his fingers. "That's right. Bane told me that I had a
portion of Aiden's soul inside my own." He turned to Aiden. "If we were to
restore your soul, would you be able to defeat Bane?"
"I don't know." Aiden turned away. "And I hesitate to try."
"Why?"
He sighed. "In order to restore my soul, each of you would have to
surrender your own souls to me. Doing so would make me complete, but if I
were then destroyed...then your souls would be destroyed as well."
Daniel and Trent looked at each other and smiled. "That's alright,"
Trent said, "I've been dead before and my brother already is. I don't think
we'll mind that much."
"I'll do it, too," Rhea piped in.
Aiden shook his head. "There is no need, granddaughter. Your father
and uncle should be enough. I would not endanger you as well."
Daniel went over to Rhea. "Listen to him, Rhea. I don't want to
lose you if I can help it."
Rhea shook her head. "Oh no, I'm going and that's final." She
turned and glared at Trent. "You're not leaving me behind so I can explain
to Mina why you decided to go off and die...again." She crossed her arms and
a smug look crossed her face. "Besides, this is my mindscape and what I say
goes."
Aiden laughed. "Ok, you'll go. However, I still need a body to
focus my powers."
"Simple, use mine." Rhea glared at the people around her as if
daring them to object. "There's really no other choice. Bane has us trapped
so like it or not, I'm it. Now, if there's nothing else, let's get started."
Aiden eventually nodded and started the soul transference ritual. He
and his three descendants stood in a circle with their hands joined. He
spoke an incantation and everyone began to glow.
Rhea's vision started getting blurry. She had a feeling of
weightlessness and she felt her body dissolving away. Her last thought
before she lost coherence was to wish her grandfather good luck.
*****
Everything that had occurred in Rhea's mindscape took place at the
speed of thought, and as such less than a second had passed in the real
world.
Everyone saw Rhea's eyes open, but they all knew instantly that it
wasn't Rhea.
"Aiden!" Bane shouted, "it's you!"
The girl mage spoke and it was Aiden's voice that came out of her
mouth. "Yes, it is I, sorcerer."
The orb seemed to contemplate this change of events. "You seem...
different, my old enemy. I sense...completeness. A wholeness that you had
been lacking before." Bane suddenly understood. "You're soul is whole
again."
Aiden nodded.
Bane laughed. "You are a fool! With your soul intact, I can destroy
it and you once and for all. There will be no more descendants of Inverna!"
Aiden did not reply to the sorcerer's threat. Instead, he
concentrated and a blue nimbus surrounded his body. He flung out his hands
and two streams of blue energy spiraled out.
Bane similarly summoned a blast of red energy and threw it at his
foe.
The two conflicting energy blasts intercepted each other and battled
for dominance, and ever so slowly, Aiden's blast was being pushed back.
Princess Serenity looked on worriedly and was about to have the
scouts attack, but the Silver Crystal flashed.
Serenity, this is not your fight.
"But mother, I must do something!"
No, you must not interfere. This must be solved between Bane and
Aiden.
"But--" It was too late. Queen Serenity had already severed the
link. Taking a deep breath, the Princess told her court to stand down. *I
hope you know what you're doing, mother.*
Aiden felt himself being overwhelmed but he kept fighting. He
reached deep and tried to find the resources to counter Bane's power, but
things were looking grim.
Inside Rhea's mind, three awarenesses saw the plight that Aiden was
in.
*Grandfather, you can't keep this up much longer!* Rhea communicated.
*I know, but I have no choice.*
*Maybe we could get the scouts to help us,* Trent suggested.
Aiden grunted as he felt Bane's attack grow stronger. *No, they have
been instructed not to interfere. I am afraid that this is it. I
underestimated Bane's power. There is nothing more I can do. I have failed
my family again...and I have doomed another planet as well.*
*At least we'll be going out as a family,* Daniel said.
Aiden grinned despite the stress he was felt trying to hold back
Bane's blast. *It won't be long now. I am sorry to have gotten you involved
in this, my children. I--* At that moment, Aiden's strength failed.
Bane saw Aiden's aura flicker, but he hesitated. He had been fooled
by his enemy's tricks before, but not this time. As soon Aiden's power died,
Bane increased his own. He saw his blast strike and engulf Aiden.
Aiden arched backwards from the force of the blast, but didn't feel
it. He was dead even before he hit the deck.
"Rhea!" Sailor Venus screamed. She started to run to the fallen mage
when she suddenly stopped in her tracks. In front of her the air shimmered
and Queen Serenity's image appeared.
No, Sailor Venus, it is too late.
"What?! You mean she's dead?"
The Queen sighed. Not just her. They are all gone, she said in
a grieved voice. She explained to them all what Aiden had done with the soul
transference.
Princess Serenity saw the color drain from the scouts' faces. She
walked up to the Queen. "I will bring them back."
I am afraid you cannot, daughter. Their souls are not human; you
would not know where to look or what to look for. You would be in great
danger.
The Princess eyes became hard. "No, mother. I have stood by and
watched long enough. I will do this." Before anyone could stop her,
Princess Serenity summoned the Crystal. She grasped it in her hands and
concentrated.
*****
The Princess found herself drifting in a void. She looked around
frantically trying to orient herself. Even though her mother told her that
Aiden and the others' souls were different, she had been expecting to search
for them in a place similar to the Well of Souls, the place where human souls
went when they died.
The space around her appeared empty, but she sensed _things_ all
around her. They floated around the edges of her vision, wispy things that
seemed to evaporate when she tried to look at them fully.
Serenity shivered, not so much from cold, but from the feeling she
was getting from this place. It was an oppressive feeling. Not exactly
malevolent, more like extreme dislike. She steeled her will and took out the
Silver Crystal. *Help me find Aiden and the others.*
The Crystal pulsed gently and the Princess felt herself pulled
forward. She silently thanked the gem and headed in the direction it told
her to go. She floated slowly through the void, her uneasiness increasing
with every minute. The shadows writhing in her periphery also increased.
Nevertheless, Serenity continued forward hoping to catch a glimpse of the
souls she was searching for.
After what seemed like an eternity, the Crystal pulsed again.
Thinking it was telling her that it had found the souls, Serenity stopped.
She peered deep into the void, but the emptiness remained empty. Puzzled,
she asked the Crystal why had it signaled for her to stop.
Before the gem could answer, the lurking shadows attacked.
*****
The scouts had huddled around their Princess and looked on with
anxious eyes.
"Is she alright?" Tuxedo Mask asked Queen Serenity.
I do not know. Searching for human souls is one thing, but
searching for another race's souls is something else.
"But Trent, Rhea, and Daniel were mostly human," Sailor Venus said.
"Wouldn't that help?"
The Queen shook her head. It makes no difference. A portion of
their soul is still alien. The Silver Crystal may not recognize them.
During this time, Bane's orb hovered over Rhea's body. Even though
he should be enjoying himself now that his long-time enemy is dead, there was
just something bothering him, a sense of...emptiness. "He's dead, you say?"
he asked in an offhanded manner.
Serenity glared at the orb. Yes, they all are, and I fear for my
daughter as well.
Bane continued to float over the body. "No, he's not dead. It's a
trick." The sorcerer summoned a pair of spectral hands and picked Rhea up.
He shook the girl violently.
Sailor Mars looked at the orb confusedly. "But he is dead. I can
feel it." She grit her teeth. "You killed him, you killed them all," she
spat out the last part.
The nagging feeling struck the sorcerer full in the face. "No!" Bane
shouted again, "I will not allow it! I will not lose him like this!" The
orb flashed brightly and vanished.
End Part 13