Chapter Eighteen
For once, Ryuhi was a little slow off the starting blocks, as Urawa strained his considerable magic power to speed up the reaction times of the party with a Fast spell.
With the enhanced speed, Kara quickly went through the motions and summoned her most powerful companion: Bahamut. The legendary grey dragon peered at it's target briefly, then unleashed a devastating blast from it's mouth that shook the entire cavern, causing pebbles and dust to rain down from above.
Zeromous responded in kind by forming several bolts of lightning around his body, and then sending them forth over his opponents' ranks, causing severe damage.
Sephiroth, fortunately, was quick to respond with a Cure spell, neatly healing the effects of Zeromous' attack, while Saturn covered with a Death Ribbon Revolution attack.
Seeing his opportunity, Ryuhi focused his chi, and called out, "Kaio- Ken times 15!" Hammering away at his opponent, Ryuhi ended up fighting a two front battle as he attempted to fight down his disgust at Zeromous' surface texture, while simultaneously hitting him as hard as he could. After the enhancement wore off, the martial artist delivered one final kick, and hopped back.
Zeromous then responded in appropriate fashion by briefly eliminating all light in the area. The party muttered in confused fashion until Urawa shouted, "He canceled the spell!"
With this tidbit of information, it became the party's prime focus to direct as many party members to damage their opponent as fast as they could. Before they could set about their new course of action, however, a searing pain coursed through their bodies as they all felt sick to their stomachs. A retching sound could be heard as somebody threw up, but nobody had the time or opportunity to look and see who the unfortunate individual was.
Struggling to her knees now that the initial bout of nausea had passed, Venus brought her hands together and threw them palm outward at Zeromous, shouting the attack phrase, "Love and Beauty SHOCK!" The energy heart blasted a sizeable hole in the monster's body, which had the added effect of eliciting a roar of pain from the recipient.
Urawa whispered something in Mercury's ear, to which she shook her head at first. After he whispered something else, she pursed her lips, nodded, and as Urawa cast his Holy spell, the ice senshi attacked with Aqua Rhapsody. Just before the attacks hit, they fused into each other, forming a fine, golden spray over the monster. This weakened Zeromous further, but the personified rage responded with its most powerful attack.Meteo.
Hundreds of magical meteors hammered the senshi and their allies as they screamed in pain. Though the attack only lasted for a few seconds, it seemed like hours. Though all managed to stay on their feet, all were on the verge of collapse. Sephiroth and Urawa quickly pooled their efforts and got everyone back in tip top shape, just in time to fight off another bout of nausea.
In response to this, Serin rushed forward, attacking Zeromous with two powerful swings of his sword. As he retreated, Jupiter prepped her own attack, and shouted, "OAK EVOLUTION!" A flowery blast of lightning slammed into the creature's body, the inherent energy arcing and sparking across its body. With little more than a flicker of response, Zeromous again cast his cancellation spell...but since there were no effects to neutralize, the senshi and their allies saw this as an opportunity to deliver some real damage.
Tag teaming with Kara and Sephiroth, Venus used her Wink Sword attack this time, having them cast their spells on the energy blade as it soared toward her target, having it further augmented by their own Fire spells. Several of the party members would later swear that their eyebrows were singed from the heat blast that resulted from the explosion.
It was at this point that Serin noticed something strange. It seemed like this...monstrosity did have a face. And it appeared to be...smiling???
Just as the paladin noticed this, Zeromous formed a blast of fire underneath each party member, consuming them in a personal inferno. Screams of pain resounded throughout the cavern, even after the attack was over. With a degree of struggle, Urawa managed to hastily cast a healing spell over the party, but was unable to focus enough to completely heal his comrades. Nonetheless, this provided Sailor Moon with enough to hit the Lunarian mage with a Spiral Heart attack, almost sending the behemoth back a few steps. Struggling to his feet, Serin's face held a look of hope that this might have done the job. Unfortunately, it quickly died as Zeromous unleashed another bombardment of meteors on the group
A scream from behind, different from the others, caught his attention, and he saw Mercury collapsing in a heap, motionless. Urawa screamed, "NO!", which was echoed by the others, and ran to her side, his face streaked with tears as he supported her up.
Serin saw nothing more, because at that moment, he gritted his teeth, charged at Zeromous, and used his Crescent Slash skill, the moon that he sliced into his enemies skin exploding with raw power to draw out a scream of rage from the monster. Just as he prepared for another attack(and another, however many it would take...), a male voice called out, "CLEAR!"
Placing the voice, Serin instantly obeyed, backing away as fast as he could from Zeromous. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ryuhi holding a Spirit Bomb above his hand...but this one made his hair stand on end as he looked at it. Gulping amid the flash of hope, Serin started to mention that this may not be a good idea, but the martial artist was too quick, whipping the attack at his target with a growl of effort and rage. With Zeromous possessing no mobility, the outcome of the throw was predictable.
Everyone braced and flattened themselves against the floor, groaning against the shockwave that forced them back. Even before the results were over, Serin was impatiently scanning through the blast, trying to determine how successful the attack was.
Ever confident, Ryuhi laughed. "Yeah! Eat that, you deformed FREAK! Bite me!" he taunted.
Suddenly, several orbs appeared surrounding the martial artist's body. Confused, he glanced around at them, until they suddenly converged on him, exploding with severe magical energy from within. For a moment, he simply stood there, as if defying his attacker once again, but then he coughed, and slowly collapsed, motionless, to the floor.
'No...oh, no, please no...' Jupiter prayed. She fervently hoped that that attack was only Zeromous' last gasp, and not...
But her hopes, and everyone else's, were in vain as they saw a familiar grotesque form appear in the dust caused by the Spirit Bomb. Despite their strongest attacks, Zeromous was still alive.
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"WAHAHAHAHA!!! You see?!? Your power is nothing compared to mine! Your efforts to resist are futile! Now...you shall DIE!" the personified rage gloated.
Before any of the group could hope to get into defensive or attack postures, Zeromous unleashed yet another blast of meteors, managing to successfully take out all but three of the group, with all on the verge of collapse.
Sephiroth, using his Masamune as a cane, glanced over at his remaining conscious comrades, then up at their enemy. Seeing another attack coming, the swordsman resigned himself to the inevitable, and cast a powerful Cure spell on the two of them just before the creature cast the same spell used to claim Ryuhi.
Serin, who felt exceptionally stronger, felt a fleeting sense of despair as he eyed his comrades lying on the ground; dead, for all he knew. Fighting down a sense of hopelessness, he tightened his grip on the Crystal Sword, and glanced at his sister, Sailor Moon, who wore the same look of steely determination that he was certainly bearing himself. The two siblings, their eyes locked, nodded as one.
Serin began to charge at the creature, his sword extended behind him for a powerful instantaneous slash. As he did so, Sailor Moon began charging up to fire off a Spiral Heart Attack. Just as the paladin leapt, the senshi leader shot off her attack, scoring a hit right on her brother's sword, which glowed brightly with barely contained energy. As he reached the apex of his jump, Serin tensed his muscles, and swung with every ounce of strength that he had left in his body, plus some he didn't have. The sword bit into Zeromous, and as the young paladin descended to the ground, it became obvious that the energy inherent in the attack had proceeded to cleave the monster in half.
As Serin hit the ground, he immediately collapsed to one knee, supporting himself with the sword and his free hand. As he looked up, a faint, ethereal form of Zemus stood there, an enraged look still easily visible on his face.
"So.you managed to defeat me. Well done. However, don't think that this means you've truly won. Not only will Zeromous, and by extension myself, never disappear due to the dark thoughts in man's heart.I have one last card to play."
With those words, a rumble became noticeable throughout the room, which somehow served to awaken the others who had, fortunately, only been knocked unconscious during the fight.
"With my last ounce of energy, I have set this world ship on a collision course with earth.with Crystal Tokyo right in the center! Live in despair, fools, as the human race is destroyed before your eyes!" With that final statement, Zemus slowly vanished.
While everyone else began to panic, Urawa simply swung his staff to encompass everyone in the group, and shouted, "EXIT!" With a kaleidoscope- like flash of light, the party found themselves standing in the entrance to the castle they had seen earlier.
Kara quickly recovered from the disorientation, as Urawa had taught her that spell long ago, before she felt the calling to be a summoner(pun intended). Glancing up at Lunaria's 'sky', she gasped in horror and pointed.
It appeared to have been a faint hope that Zeromous/Zemus had been lying.unfortunately, he hadn't been.
Earth, which at Lunaria's original distance had been little more than a blue orb with white highlights, was now close enough to see the size and shape of the various landmasses.and judging by the increasingly stronger wind that was blowing by everyone, the two planetary bodies were getting closer.
Serin took a moment to look back, but noticed as he did that his sister was gone. Frowning in confusion, he headed back into the castle, heading as far back as the crystal room before.
"PRINCESS! NO!!!"
At the shout, the paladin spun around in surprise, as he hadn't even been aware that he was followed. The look on the other senshi's faces did little to relieve him, however.
"It's all right, guys," their leader calmly stated as she called forth the Imperium Crystal from its customary place in her locket. "I did this before, and everything turned out okay, remember?" So saying, she metamorphosed into her regal self, that of Neo-Queen Serenity.
"But that was an asteroid, not a moon! And Fiore's not here to save you again! Don't use the Crystal!" Mercury shouted desperately.
Sephiroth whispered to Saturn, "What's going on?"
In a low voice that carried a trace of fear, she replied, "She's planning to use the Silver Imperium Crystal to break Lunaria apart, in order to save the Earth. But."
"But what?" Sephiroth urged.
"But if she doesn't have the necessary strength.she could." Unable to finish her sentence, Saturn buried herself in the swordsman's arms with a deluge of tears. She knew Serenity.perhaps not as well as the Inner Senshi did, but well enough to know that her mind was set, and that she would save the Earth.or die trying.
As if on cue, the warrior-princess held the crystal over her head, and its glow intensified. The shouts and pleas of her comrades went unheard, as she focused every fiber of her being into this one, all- important task.
As it was, she wasn't aware that Serin had stepped in front of her until he placed his hands on her shoulders. Startled, she dropped her hands, and blinked.
For a brief moment, her brother gazed deep into her eyes, and then gave one of his trademark smirks. "Not alone, sis. 'United we stand, divided we fall.' I understand your determination...but you will never have to go this road alone again." And with those words, he unsheathed his weapon, pulled the crystal from midair, and placed it in its specified niche. As soon as the two were attached, the entire sword began glowing brilliantly, and Serin lowered his hands from it, leaving it floating in midair. Sighing, and steeling himself, he looked back up at his sister, and raised an eyebrow. "Ready?"
Unable to stop herself from giggling, despite the enormity of the task ahead, she nodded. "Let's do this."
The two siblings joined their hands on either side of the suspended sword, and began to concentrate, sending the energy they had into their last hope. At first, both of them gritted their teeth as they each felt the strain on their body and soul. Little by little, however, both Serin and Serenity could feel the strain on their bodies lessen as their comrades joined them. For Serenity, it was like déjà vu; for Serin, it was a teamwork exercise with a big prize-a home to go to.
Before too long, Serin could feel that all of their friends had joined them in their effort-and that it wasn't enough. Trying his hand at telepathy, he called out, 'It's not enough, Serenity! We can't take this strain for much longer!!!'
When he didn't receive a reply, the paladin opened his eyes to see his sister concentrating even more fiercely than normal. And soon, he could feel the strain on everyone lessening even further.
The shock evidently showed on his face, because when his sister opened her eyes, she gave a devilish smirk that was remarkably similar to his own, and shouted, "Everyone's joining in! Endy-chan, Chibi-usa, Mars...everyone!"
Serin's brow furrowed in confusion until he felt the distinct energy signatures that had just joined in the effort. Understanding dawned on his face, and he nodded.
The queen, however, knew that it was going to be close. The Lunarian world ship was breaking apart quite quickly due to the Earth's atmospheric friction, and the Crystal's total power, but she knew that they still had to divert its course away from Crystal Tokyo.away from any habitats, for that matter.
Just as the thought crossed her mind, the pressure against her body and soul again eased, to the point where it was barely noticeable. Her surprise was mirrored by Serin, who shot a questioning look at her, only to receive a shrug in return.
They received their answer as a familiar ethereal voice stated, Our assistance, we shall lend.
[For the Earth,] a second stated.
{And for the memory of Lunaria,} chorused a third.
Faintly, through the entire moon, a rumbling was felt, and Serenity, along with those facing the same direction as her, gasped at the sight that could faintly be seen through the open door.
Not only was Lunaria closer than originally thought to Earth, but from the direction the ground was moving, the Elemental Crystals were joining in with enough power to direct the planetoid remnants somewhere where it wouldn't do any harm upon impact.
As the ground raced closer, everyone unconsciously braced for impact; and was unaware of the bright light that whisked them out of the castle.
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Serin stood on a cliff overlooking the crystallized remains of what had once been the Pacific Ocean. Far from shore, smoke and steam billowed from a huge crater that had been gouged out as the Lunarian Palace hit.
Sailor Moon came up at that point, and then tiptoed the last few feet. When she got within range, the young senshi put her hand on her brother's shoulder and said softly, "Hey."
Much to her disappointment, Serin barely jerked as he turned to face her. "Hey, sis, what's up?"
"I just got off of the communicator with Uranus and the others. They'll have a transport here within fifteen minutes."
Smiling, the paladin returned his gaze to the sea. "That's good. After all that's happened, I feel like having someone chauffeur me around for a bit."
Laughing, his sister sat on a nearby rock. After a moment passed, she asked, "So.what do you plan to do?"
Serin was silent for so long, that Moon was about to repeat her question when he answered, "Well.first off, Jupiter and I plan to get married. After that.I dunno."
Her eyes goggled as she processed this bit of information. "WHAT?!? Why didn't she tell me?"
Serin shot a wicked smirk back at his sister and quipped, "Gee, maybe it's because things got kind of busy?"
Sailor Moon shot daggers with her gaze, only to be met by one of Serin's best innocent looks. After a moment, she smiled.
"I suppose. In any case, congratulations. You better treat her right, or I'll send a Rainbow Moon Heart Ache attack up your butt!"
Serin laughed, and then turned serious. "What about you? I mean, I think it's kind of obvious that you'll be returning to Crystal Tokyo, but.well, you got anything specific in mind?"
A sudden mischievous look appeared on her face as she was reminded of why she had originally come up here. Adopting a carefree attitude, she said, "Oh, of course I'll return. The only problem I see is that I'll be creating a few new offices, and well...I'll need people to fill them."
Serin blinked and frowned at that. "Oh?"
"Yeah. Of course, I've got a couple candidates in mind to fill those positions. The only problem is that one of them is boorish, rude, and completely uncivilized. He couldn't possibly fit in the position that I have in mind!"
Narrowing his eyes playfully as he started to catch on, Serin asked, "Really, now? And what, pray tell, is this individual's name?"
Giggling, Moon dropped the game and stated simply, "You, you big goof!"
Serin chuckled, and then tilted his head. "Okay.it's not like I've got any other big plans for the future. What office?"
A slight smile crossed the queen's face as she answered, "You and Sephiroth are going to be a type of check and balance against me should something like this happen again."
This time, it was Serin's turn to get goggled eyes. After a moment, he finally captured his voice. "Why? I mean, it's kind of obvious why, but...you don't honestly think something like this will happen again, do you?" he asked.
A trace of sadness was evident in Sailor Moon's voice as she replied, "I can't take the chance. I'm still frightened at how easily and quickly Zemus was able to subdue Crystal Tokyo to his will. And...you heard what he said..."
Serin nodded solemnly. "You think that the next time, he'll be smarter...and possibly win."
Sailor Moon half nodded. "Yes and no. I believe in my friends and you, but as I said...we can't take that chance."
Serin pursed his lips, and slowly nodded as he processed this information. After a few moments of silence, Sailor Moon added with a hint of playfulness, "You and Jupiter will be able to talk to each other any time you want, without having to go through our dispatchers."
She didn't need to mention anything else.
For once, Ryuhi was a little slow off the starting blocks, as Urawa strained his considerable magic power to speed up the reaction times of the party with a Fast spell.
With the enhanced speed, Kara quickly went through the motions and summoned her most powerful companion: Bahamut. The legendary grey dragon peered at it's target briefly, then unleashed a devastating blast from it's mouth that shook the entire cavern, causing pebbles and dust to rain down from above.
Zeromous responded in kind by forming several bolts of lightning around his body, and then sending them forth over his opponents' ranks, causing severe damage.
Sephiroth, fortunately, was quick to respond with a Cure spell, neatly healing the effects of Zeromous' attack, while Saturn covered with a Death Ribbon Revolution attack.
Seeing his opportunity, Ryuhi focused his chi, and called out, "Kaio- Ken times 15!" Hammering away at his opponent, Ryuhi ended up fighting a two front battle as he attempted to fight down his disgust at Zeromous' surface texture, while simultaneously hitting him as hard as he could. After the enhancement wore off, the martial artist delivered one final kick, and hopped back.
Zeromous then responded in appropriate fashion by briefly eliminating all light in the area. The party muttered in confused fashion until Urawa shouted, "He canceled the spell!"
With this tidbit of information, it became the party's prime focus to direct as many party members to damage their opponent as fast as they could. Before they could set about their new course of action, however, a searing pain coursed through their bodies as they all felt sick to their stomachs. A retching sound could be heard as somebody threw up, but nobody had the time or opportunity to look and see who the unfortunate individual was.
Struggling to her knees now that the initial bout of nausea had passed, Venus brought her hands together and threw them palm outward at Zeromous, shouting the attack phrase, "Love and Beauty SHOCK!" The energy heart blasted a sizeable hole in the monster's body, which had the added effect of eliciting a roar of pain from the recipient.
Urawa whispered something in Mercury's ear, to which she shook her head at first. After he whispered something else, she pursed her lips, nodded, and as Urawa cast his Holy spell, the ice senshi attacked with Aqua Rhapsody. Just before the attacks hit, they fused into each other, forming a fine, golden spray over the monster. This weakened Zeromous further, but the personified rage responded with its most powerful attack.Meteo.
Hundreds of magical meteors hammered the senshi and their allies as they screamed in pain. Though the attack only lasted for a few seconds, it seemed like hours. Though all managed to stay on their feet, all were on the verge of collapse. Sephiroth and Urawa quickly pooled their efforts and got everyone back in tip top shape, just in time to fight off another bout of nausea.
In response to this, Serin rushed forward, attacking Zeromous with two powerful swings of his sword. As he retreated, Jupiter prepped her own attack, and shouted, "OAK EVOLUTION!" A flowery blast of lightning slammed into the creature's body, the inherent energy arcing and sparking across its body. With little more than a flicker of response, Zeromous again cast his cancellation spell...but since there were no effects to neutralize, the senshi and their allies saw this as an opportunity to deliver some real damage.
Tag teaming with Kara and Sephiroth, Venus used her Wink Sword attack this time, having them cast their spells on the energy blade as it soared toward her target, having it further augmented by their own Fire spells. Several of the party members would later swear that their eyebrows were singed from the heat blast that resulted from the explosion.
It was at this point that Serin noticed something strange. It seemed like this...monstrosity did have a face. And it appeared to be...smiling???
Just as the paladin noticed this, Zeromous formed a blast of fire underneath each party member, consuming them in a personal inferno. Screams of pain resounded throughout the cavern, even after the attack was over. With a degree of struggle, Urawa managed to hastily cast a healing spell over the party, but was unable to focus enough to completely heal his comrades. Nonetheless, this provided Sailor Moon with enough to hit the Lunarian mage with a Spiral Heart attack, almost sending the behemoth back a few steps. Struggling to his feet, Serin's face held a look of hope that this might have done the job. Unfortunately, it quickly died as Zeromous unleashed another bombardment of meteors on the group
A scream from behind, different from the others, caught his attention, and he saw Mercury collapsing in a heap, motionless. Urawa screamed, "NO!", which was echoed by the others, and ran to her side, his face streaked with tears as he supported her up.
Serin saw nothing more, because at that moment, he gritted his teeth, charged at Zeromous, and used his Crescent Slash skill, the moon that he sliced into his enemies skin exploding with raw power to draw out a scream of rage from the monster. Just as he prepared for another attack(and another, however many it would take...), a male voice called out, "CLEAR!"
Placing the voice, Serin instantly obeyed, backing away as fast as he could from Zeromous. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ryuhi holding a Spirit Bomb above his hand...but this one made his hair stand on end as he looked at it. Gulping amid the flash of hope, Serin started to mention that this may not be a good idea, but the martial artist was too quick, whipping the attack at his target with a growl of effort and rage. With Zeromous possessing no mobility, the outcome of the throw was predictable.
Everyone braced and flattened themselves against the floor, groaning against the shockwave that forced them back. Even before the results were over, Serin was impatiently scanning through the blast, trying to determine how successful the attack was.
Ever confident, Ryuhi laughed. "Yeah! Eat that, you deformed FREAK! Bite me!" he taunted.
Suddenly, several orbs appeared surrounding the martial artist's body. Confused, he glanced around at them, until they suddenly converged on him, exploding with severe magical energy from within. For a moment, he simply stood there, as if defying his attacker once again, but then he coughed, and slowly collapsed, motionless, to the floor.
'No...oh, no, please no...' Jupiter prayed. She fervently hoped that that attack was only Zeromous' last gasp, and not...
But her hopes, and everyone else's, were in vain as they saw a familiar grotesque form appear in the dust caused by the Spirit Bomb. Despite their strongest attacks, Zeromous was still alive.
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"WAHAHAHAHA!!! You see?!? Your power is nothing compared to mine! Your efforts to resist are futile! Now...you shall DIE!" the personified rage gloated.
Before any of the group could hope to get into defensive or attack postures, Zeromous unleashed yet another blast of meteors, managing to successfully take out all but three of the group, with all on the verge of collapse.
Sephiroth, using his Masamune as a cane, glanced over at his remaining conscious comrades, then up at their enemy. Seeing another attack coming, the swordsman resigned himself to the inevitable, and cast a powerful Cure spell on the two of them just before the creature cast the same spell used to claim Ryuhi.
Serin, who felt exceptionally stronger, felt a fleeting sense of despair as he eyed his comrades lying on the ground; dead, for all he knew. Fighting down a sense of hopelessness, he tightened his grip on the Crystal Sword, and glanced at his sister, Sailor Moon, who wore the same look of steely determination that he was certainly bearing himself. The two siblings, their eyes locked, nodded as one.
Serin began to charge at the creature, his sword extended behind him for a powerful instantaneous slash. As he did so, Sailor Moon began charging up to fire off a Spiral Heart Attack. Just as the paladin leapt, the senshi leader shot off her attack, scoring a hit right on her brother's sword, which glowed brightly with barely contained energy. As he reached the apex of his jump, Serin tensed his muscles, and swung with every ounce of strength that he had left in his body, plus some he didn't have. The sword bit into Zeromous, and as the young paladin descended to the ground, it became obvious that the energy inherent in the attack had proceeded to cleave the monster in half.
As Serin hit the ground, he immediately collapsed to one knee, supporting himself with the sword and his free hand. As he looked up, a faint, ethereal form of Zemus stood there, an enraged look still easily visible on his face.
"So.you managed to defeat me. Well done. However, don't think that this means you've truly won. Not only will Zeromous, and by extension myself, never disappear due to the dark thoughts in man's heart.I have one last card to play."
With those words, a rumble became noticeable throughout the room, which somehow served to awaken the others who had, fortunately, only been knocked unconscious during the fight.
"With my last ounce of energy, I have set this world ship on a collision course with earth.with Crystal Tokyo right in the center! Live in despair, fools, as the human race is destroyed before your eyes!" With that final statement, Zemus slowly vanished.
While everyone else began to panic, Urawa simply swung his staff to encompass everyone in the group, and shouted, "EXIT!" With a kaleidoscope- like flash of light, the party found themselves standing in the entrance to the castle they had seen earlier.
Kara quickly recovered from the disorientation, as Urawa had taught her that spell long ago, before she felt the calling to be a summoner(pun intended). Glancing up at Lunaria's 'sky', she gasped in horror and pointed.
It appeared to have been a faint hope that Zeromous/Zemus had been lying.unfortunately, he hadn't been.
Earth, which at Lunaria's original distance had been little more than a blue orb with white highlights, was now close enough to see the size and shape of the various landmasses.and judging by the increasingly stronger wind that was blowing by everyone, the two planetary bodies were getting closer.
Serin took a moment to look back, but noticed as he did that his sister was gone. Frowning in confusion, he headed back into the castle, heading as far back as the crystal room before.
"PRINCESS! NO!!!"
At the shout, the paladin spun around in surprise, as he hadn't even been aware that he was followed. The look on the other senshi's faces did little to relieve him, however.
"It's all right, guys," their leader calmly stated as she called forth the Imperium Crystal from its customary place in her locket. "I did this before, and everything turned out okay, remember?" So saying, she metamorphosed into her regal self, that of Neo-Queen Serenity.
"But that was an asteroid, not a moon! And Fiore's not here to save you again! Don't use the Crystal!" Mercury shouted desperately.
Sephiroth whispered to Saturn, "What's going on?"
In a low voice that carried a trace of fear, she replied, "She's planning to use the Silver Imperium Crystal to break Lunaria apart, in order to save the Earth. But."
"But what?" Sephiroth urged.
"But if she doesn't have the necessary strength.she could." Unable to finish her sentence, Saturn buried herself in the swordsman's arms with a deluge of tears. She knew Serenity.perhaps not as well as the Inner Senshi did, but well enough to know that her mind was set, and that she would save the Earth.or die trying.
As if on cue, the warrior-princess held the crystal over her head, and its glow intensified. The shouts and pleas of her comrades went unheard, as she focused every fiber of her being into this one, all- important task.
As it was, she wasn't aware that Serin had stepped in front of her until he placed his hands on her shoulders. Startled, she dropped her hands, and blinked.
For a brief moment, her brother gazed deep into her eyes, and then gave one of his trademark smirks. "Not alone, sis. 'United we stand, divided we fall.' I understand your determination...but you will never have to go this road alone again." And with those words, he unsheathed his weapon, pulled the crystal from midair, and placed it in its specified niche. As soon as the two were attached, the entire sword began glowing brilliantly, and Serin lowered his hands from it, leaving it floating in midair. Sighing, and steeling himself, he looked back up at his sister, and raised an eyebrow. "Ready?"
Unable to stop herself from giggling, despite the enormity of the task ahead, she nodded. "Let's do this."
The two siblings joined their hands on either side of the suspended sword, and began to concentrate, sending the energy they had into their last hope. At first, both of them gritted their teeth as they each felt the strain on their body and soul. Little by little, however, both Serin and Serenity could feel the strain on their bodies lessen as their comrades joined them. For Serenity, it was like déjà vu; for Serin, it was a teamwork exercise with a big prize-a home to go to.
Before too long, Serin could feel that all of their friends had joined them in their effort-and that it wasn't enough. Trying his hand at telepathy, he called out, 'It's not enough, Serenity! We can't take this strain for much longer!!!'
When he didn't receive a reply, the paladin opened his eyes to see his sister concentrating even more fiercely than normal. And soon, he could feel the strain on everyone lessening even further.
The shock evidently showed on his face, because when his sister opened her eyes, she gave a devilish smirk that was remarkably similar to his own, and shouted, "Everyone's joining in! Endy-chan, Chibi-usa, Mars...everyone!"
Serin's brow furrowed in confusion until he felt the distinct energy signatures that had just joined in the effort. Understanding dawned on his face, and he nodded.
The queen, however, knew that it was going to be close. The Lunarian world ship was breaking apart quite quickly due to the Earth's atmospheric friction, and the Crystal's total power, but she knew that they still had to divert its course away from Crystal Tokyo.away from any habitats, for that matter.
Just as the thought crossed her mind, the pressure against her body and soul again eased, to the point where it was barely noticeable. Her surprise was mirrored by Serin, who shot a questioning look at her, only to receive a shrug in return.
They received their answer as a familiar ethereal voice stated, Our assistance, we shall lend.
[For the Earth,] a second stated.
{And for the memory of Lunaria,} chorused a third.
Faintly, through the entire moon, a rumbling was felt, and Serenity, along with those facing the same direction as her, gasped at the sight that could faintly be seen through the open door.
Not only was Lunaria closer than originally thought to Earth, but from the direction the ground was moving, the Elemental Crystals were joining in with enough power to direct the planetoid remnants somewhere where it wouldn't do any harm upon impact.
As the ground raced closer, everyone unconsciously braced for impact; and was unaware of the bright light that whisked them out of the castle.
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Serin stood on a cliff overlooking the crystallized remains of what had once been the Pacific Ocean. Far from shore, smoke and steam billowed from a huge crater that had been gouged out as the Lunarian Palace hit.
Sailor Moon came up at that point, and then tiptoed the last few feet. When she got within range, the young senshi put her hand on her brother's shoulder and said softly, "Hey."
Much to her disappointment, Serin barely jerked as he turned to face her. "Hey, sis, what's up?"
"I just got off of the communicator with Uranus and the others. They'll have a transport here within fifteen minutes."
Smiling, the paladin returned his gaze to the sea. "That's good. After all that's happened, I feel like having someone chauffeur me around for a bit."
Laughing, his sister sat on a nearby rock. After a moment passed, she asked, "So.what do you plan to do?"
Serin was silent for so long, that Moon was about to repeat her question when he answered, "Well.first off, Jupiter and I plan to get married. After that.I dunno."
Her eyes goggled as she processed this bit of information. "WHAT?!? Why didn't she tell me?"
Serin shot a wicked smirk back at his sister and quipped, "Gee, maybe it's because things got kind of busy?"
Sailor Moon shot daggers with her gaze, only to be met by one of Serin's best innocent looks. After a moment, she smiled.
"I suppose. In any case, congratulations. You better treat her right, or I'll send a Rainbow Moon Heart Ache attack up your butt!"
Serin laughed, and then turned serious. "What about you? I mean, I think it's kind of obvious that you'll be returning to Crystal Tokyo, but.well, you got anything specific in mind?"
A sudden mischievous look appeared on her face as she was reminded of why she had originally come up here. Adopting a carefree attitude, she said, "Oh, of course I'll return. The only problem I see is that I'll be creating a few new offices, and well...I'll need people to fill them."
Serin blinked and frowned at that. "Oh?"
"Yeah. Of course, I've got a couple candidates in mind to fill those positions. The only problem is that one of them is boorish, rude, and completely uncivilized. He couldn't possibly fit in the position that I have in mind!"
Narrowing his eyes playfully as he started to catch on, Serin asked, "Really, now? And what, pray tell, is this individual's name?"
Giggling, Moon dropped the game and stated simply, "You, you big goof!"
Serin chuckled, and then tilted his head. "Okay.it's not like I've got any other big plans for the future. What office?"
A slight smile crossed the queen's face as she answered, "You and Sephiroth are going to be a type of check and balance against me should something like this happen again."
This time, it was Serin's turn to get goggled eyes. After a moment, he finally captured his voice. "Why? I mean, it's kind of obvious why, but...you don't honestly think something like this will happen again, do you?" he asked.
A trace of sadness was evident in Sailor Moon's voice as she replied, "I can't take the chance. I'm still frightened at how easily and quickly Zemus was able to subdue Crystal Tokyo to his will. And...you heard what he said..."
Serin nodded solemnly. "You think that the next time, he'll be smarter...and possibly win."
Sailor Moon half nodded. "Yes and no. I believe in my friends and you, but as I said...we can't take that chance."
Serin pursed his lips, and slowly nodded as he processed this information. After a few moments of silence, Sailor Moon added with a hint of playfulness, "You and Jupiter will be able to talk to each other any time you want, without having to go through our dispatchers."
She didn't need to mention anything else.