Author's Note:
This is my third straightforward fanfiction that isn't a crossover. The two crossovers I'm working on aren't finished and I don't know if they ever will get done. Anyway, I don't own any characters of Sailor Moon. If you want to read my other fanfics, they are called 'Time Dance' and 'When Angels Cry', by PsychicDreams (that's me). If you need to email me, contact me here: Guardian4@atlantic.net. Please put fanfiction in the subject line so I know what it's pertaining to. I use a little manga attacks in here, but not much so bear with me.
Note: In this fanfiction, Naru and Umino do not get together. There is a specific reason for this later in the fanfiction, 'kay?
Crystal Hearts
When The War Ends
Chapter 1: The Heartland
The resultant blast knocked them off their feet and the little girl and baby boy began to cry. Smoke billowed up from the burning houses and dust fell in the Senshi's eyes, making it hard to see.
"We need to get out of here. This is the perfect cover. They can't see through all this," Mercury gasped out.
"Neither can we," responded a very unhappy Uranus.
"We can all make it back to the palace blindfolded from anywhere in Japan. Don't tell me we can't get back," retorted Mars dryly. Uranus had to concede that and they made a break for it while the enemy was in confusion.
For the past five months war had been waged against the Earth. What was the most saddening thing about it all was that it wasn't just the Senshi and Crystal Tokyo. The child clutched her baby brother in her arms and buried herself in the protective embrace of Mars. Survivors after the initial attack and aftermath were few and far between. The Senshi had traveled all over the world gathering survivors, but all the countries except Japan had been decimated and had very few people left to save. After all, none had the Ginzuishou, Royal Family, or the Senshi to protect them. They no longer searched the other countries though; they had gotten all the survivors and installed them in the palace, the only place left safe in the entire world.
Neptune dodged a blast from a creature that had three legs on either side of it and had a humanoid upper body. It walked and ran slightly stooped over. She nearly tripped when the explosion hit the ground near her. Heat came off it in waves, searing her entire left side. She cried out and stumbled.
Uranus put her arm around her partner's waist and kept her running.
The enemy came in all different shapes and sizes. Some were youma like in Queen Beryl's army, some were parodies of human beings, some were creatures that had more than two legs, and some were just plain monsters that couldn't be described. And above all, some were human beings. The Senshi could barely handle fighting just one! They had had to call in the Outers to help them fight and protect the Royal Family. And with no Sailor Moon…
Like a beacon in the darkness of evil, the crystal spires of the Tokyo palace rose above the horizon and gave heart to the Senshi. If they fought the five creatures pursuing them, they would die; they knew that without a doubt and they were tired and injured besides. Mars limped slightly, Jupiter had cuts all over her legs, Venus held her arm close to her chest in an effort to keep it still, and Mercury had a large gash running across her forehead.
The Outers, for all their experience over the Inners, even in the 30th Century, faired no better. Pluto's skirt was ripped from where she had torn at it to wrap it around her waist and the cut that threatened to bleed until she died. Uranus, too, was limping, yet not from a sprained ankle, but a broken leg. Neptune, in addition to the burns on her side, carried a pain inside her chest from two broken ribs. Saturn suffered breathing problems from an almost collapsed lung and leaned on her glaive heavily.
The barrier around the palace loomed in front of them and all the Senshi made a wild leap through it. Mercury, dizzy from her head, caught a blast of fire on her back and she fell to the ground just outside the barrier and did not move again.
Jupiter, angered and scared, turned around as the next attack launched against the unconscious Soldier. "Jupiter Oak Evolution!" she cried. Her attack smashed into the incoming black lightning ball and knocked it off course. Grabbing her friend, she made a mad dash to the safety of the palace.
The enemy stopped attacking then, and left. They knew they could not get through or defeat that barrier. They had used all their magic against it and for a whole month had tried to physically fight their way through. It was for naught; they never even put a dent in it.
Luna and Artemis ran up to them silently. Luna took the injured Senshi to the medical wing while Artemis picked up the little girl and her baby brother and carried them to the areas they had made for the survivors. Upon learning that their parents were dead, Artemis left them in the care of Naru and Umino who had somehow survived the direct attack to their houses. They had been the first survivors that had been found.
Saturn sat on the bed and held her hands over her chest. They glowed a light purple and soon Luna could hear her breathing normally again. Thankfully, healing no longer made Hotaru so tired so she went around to the other Senshi.
She set her hands over Pluto's waist and healed her wound first, since she seemed to be the one most injured. She had just healed Uranus's broken leg when Neo-Queen Serenity entered.
She walked into the hospital wing and found seven of her eight warriors in partially healed condition. Everything about the Queen screamed anxiety. Early on into the war, she had tried to use the Ginzuishou and had been unpleasantly surprised to find that it had had no effect whatsoever.
"Have you seen Chibiusa, Luna?" she asked, her calm and soft voice edged with fear.
"No, Your Majesty. Why?"
"I can't find her."
Breath sucked in all around. This sounded so much like a repeat of the Dark Moon Family and Wiseman, even though that was years ago, that it scared them all. "We'll find her, don't worry Serenity," Jupiter told the distraught woman soothingly.
Neo Queen Serenity nodded and left the room. Saturn had just started walking toward Venus when a cry echoed and they ran to see what had happened.
Princess Usagi, or Chibiusa, stood outside the barrier staring up at a man. He had a malicious smile on his face as he raised his hand. Purple light erupted and raced toward the girl at lightning speed. Neo Queen Serenity, seeing her daughter in such dire straits, ran in front and took the blast in the chest. She fell onto the ground, unconscious. The Senshi gasped as another attack followed the first, this time hitting King Endymion as he came out of nowhere to protect his family.
All this happened in the blink of an eye, before the Senshi could react. Two precious seconds followed as Chibiusa, only home from the past for three months when the war broke out, could stare at her upcoming death. She could not become ChibiMoon nor Sailor Moon. She felt completely useless. She crouched between her parents' unconscious bodies, the skirt of her white dress in a pool around her feet, and looked up at the full moon, now looking a dark gray instead of shining its white light down on the Earth. She sent a prayer. Please, goddess Selene, please protect us!
Selene must have heard her prayer, for that is what Chibiusa called the next event. A miracle.
The seven Senshi burst from the shield, Mars in the lead and looking furious. "Mars Flame Sniper!" she cried.
It never reached him at all. Her eyes widened as her arrow, once straight and true, turned and slammed back into her. She did not even cry out as she hit the ground.
Jupiter and Venus, whose arm was still in a sling for support since Saturn had not gotten a chance to heal it, attacked next.
"Venus Love and Beauty Shock!" A heart formed in her hand and more spiraled around her. They all came together and one large heart flew at the man.
"Sparkling Wide Pressure!" Lighting formed in Jupiter's hands and condensed into a bolt. She threw this at him with all of her strength.
Both bounced off his shield. He laughed in their faces and the ground erupted at the two Senshi's feet. Large chunks of rock and earth hit their heads, knocking them out cold and aggravating their other injuries.
Uranus and Neptune double-teamed him with their attacks from the talismans, but the power in them would not touch the man. Even he was surprised, but not for long. With a blast, they hit the ground hard.
"Dead Scream!"
The purple planet that came from Pluto's time staff hit him in the chest and he winced. Burn scars were apparent under the little remains of his shirt left after the attack had hit. He glared at her. With a thick ray of purple light, she slammed into the broken stone wall of a nearby house.
Smiling, he aimed a blast at the Royal Family again.
"Silent Wall!"
The man's attack slammed into Saturn's barrier. "Get them back inside the palace!" she screamed over the noise of the crashing powers.
The two Mau cats, still in human form, came running and dragged the Soldiers and Royal Family inside, but Chibiusa refused to leave her friend. "Go!" she told the princess. The authority in 9-year-old Hotaru's voice did not faze Chibiusa, though it paused Luna and Artemis. They had never heard her talk like that to anyone before, especially not a member of the Royal Family.
Saturn gave a growl of frustration and grabbed Chibiusa around her waist. The glaive gave a burst of white light, which blinded the man and gave the two time to get inside the barrier.
In silence, all the injured Soldiers proceeded to the medical quarters of the palace in the tall main spire of the Crystal Palace. The smaller, outward peaks of crystal were the sleeping and rec room quarters for the Senshi, Royal Family, and other inhabitants in the palace.
Now in the tall, straight spire all the survivors settled uneasily. They had had to make due with everyone and it was always quiet inside. There was no laughter, no tears, and no noise. Just silence, even from the children.
Mercury, still on the medical bed, woke, blinking in the light that streamed from the windows. Without a doubt, she would recognize the medical room. She spent most of her time there as head doctor in Japan. Sounds like I'm the Surgeon General, she thought.
Getting out of the bed, she found all her fellow Senshi asleep and being taken care of. A human Diana was consoling Chibiusa. Her eyebrows drew together in worry when she saw Neo Queen Serenity and King Endymion in two of the medical beds, and unsure why Chibiusa was crying so badly.
She walked up to Luna. "What happened?"
Luna and Artemis exchanged glances. "You had better sit down for this." When Mercury did not, they sighed. Luna took her time explaining the battle, hedging around something. Ami's frown grew during the tale. "So what's wrong with Serenity and Endymion?" she asked, interrupting something.
"They won't wake up," Artemis said after a long pause. "It isn't like the Dark Moon Family, where Serenity was encased in crystal. Their injuries have been taken care of, but…" He shrugged.
"What do you mean they won't wake up?" she demanded.
They shrugged, looking anxiously back at the couple on the beds. "We really don't know anything at all," Luna murmured. "But I fear for their lives like nothing I've ever felt before, not even during the Dark Moon invasion."
Mercury's face was skeptical as she took out her computer and switched on her visor. What could have possibly happened that was worse than the Dark Moon invasion. The normal statistics flashed upon her screen and over her eyes and impatiently she slogged through them, tapping her foot in irritation. These days she always seemed to be irritated about the little things, and she knew it was because of the war that was giving her this stress.
Her eyebrows drew together in confusion when nothing shown itself to be wrong. She tapped Neo Queen Serenity's shoulder a few times, but nothing, not even a reflex move happened. It was beginning to disturb her, how there was nothing coming up and her gut now telling her something was terribly wrong. She wanted so badly to slam her computer down, wanted to make herself believe that it just wasn't scanning right. But when she went through the slow and painful process again, nothing changed. Grabbing Serenity's shoulders, she shook her violently, even more violently than Rei had on the asteroid with Fiore, and yelled, "Serenity, wake up! Damn it, wake up!"
Luna and Artemis tackled her and pinned her to the opposite wall, far from the Queen. "Calm down!" the white haired man commanded.
Mercury took a deep breath and forced her body to relax. "I need to sit down."
They brought her a chair as the other Senshi awoke, hearing Mercury's frantic cries to the queen. Silence reigned in the room when they were told about the King and Queen's condition. Chibiusa's body tensed as she felt ten gazes boring into her back. It was her fault. Like the last time with Dark Moon Family. It was always her fault. She just wasn't a good Soldier or a good princess. What had made her think she could do something that the Senshi couldn't?
She turned around, her eyes red-rimmed. "I'm sorry," she whispered.
"As well you should be," said a voice. Although the words would normally have sounded harsh, the soft tone took the sting out. A gentle, white light filled the room and congealed into a form.
Her appearance was inhumanly beautiful, with silver hair that cascaded down her back to her feet. A strange symbol on her forehead, a crescent moon on her forehead but much more elaborate and white in color. Her eyes were dark cobalt, and with just one look they could practically see the stars in them. The white dress she wore was extremely ornate while also quite loose and nearly moved independently of her body.
She smiled gently.
End Chapter 1