Author's Notes:
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 don't own Sailor Moon. It is the property of Naoko Tacheuchi.
Crystal Hearts
When The War EndsChapter 9: For A New World
Mercury led the Shitennou to the security room. It held computers and monitor screens galore. The other Senshi were already there, except for Pluto. Mars and Jupiter gave the Kings a suspicious look, but didn't say anything.
Mercury sat down and brought up an information database that she had made on the enemy. "Okay, first off, there is no specific kind of enemy here. You have all sorts of creatures. Two, they are extremely hard to kill and very powerful. We haven't yet seen a particular motive other than kill, maim, destroy. And three, the Ginzuishou doesn't affect them at all and neither do the Outers' talismans."
The Shitennou exchanged glances. "The Ginzuishou doesn't work against them?" repeated Zoisite. "That certainly means that this enemy is very hard to defeat. We haven't heard of anything that hasn't ever been affected by the Ginzuishou."
Mercury turned around in her chair to stare at the Kings. "Okay, besides fighting prowess, do you have any magical powers? You obviously have some to have lived as long as you did without any help," she added wryly.
"Each of us has a few special abilities that I guess you could call magical powers," Kunzite said slowly. "Not much that would be of help here, though. To use them to any effect, most of us would have to be in direct combat."
"What are they?"
"Zoisite has a few abilities that might be classified as healing, but only where he can keep the wound at bay long enough for someone else to heal it. For the most part though, his magic revolves around ice or more specifically, ice spears. He has always had an uncanny ability to read an enemy's patterns of movement and attack. We don't think it's a mind-reading ability, but something akin to it."
"Interesting," she commented. "How about the rest of you?"
"Nephrite, obviously, with his ability to read the stars. Magic wise, he really doesn't have an element to command. He has a number of spells at his disposal, and most are on a wide-range scale, dealing damage from the skies most of the time. However, it takes a little longer to use these spells, as they are not specifically like your powers that they are summoned in mere seconds. Nephrite does have very strong telepathy, which makes it quite easy to coordinate moves and strategy. However, he can only use this particular ability among his friends and those that he's either known for a very long time or who have a marginal ability for telepathy themselves.
"Jadeite you might say is a jack-of-all-trades. His magical abilities are few, though, but well placed. He has numerous spells that can enhance us or disable enemies, such as temporary blindness. However, some spells only work on some kinds of enemies. He is quick and agile, though, so if the spell doesn't work, he can get out of danger before he's harmed. Jadeite's true strength is in his summoning spells."
"What can he summon?" Neptune asked, curious.
"Anything that I've seen before," the King in question answered.
"And yourself?" Mercury prompted.
"I have a few powers, but not so many. A few earth-based attacks, but my strength lies in my physical fighting and tactical strategies. But as you can see, our powers are really abilities. They would do us really no good in a war, not if the war is to stop. They are useful in short battles, but not in the kind of war-prevention or ending as you wish to have."
"What do you suggest then?" Uranus asked, almost no heat in her voice as she studied the warriors before her with a glint in her eye.
"Well—"
"I think I've found it," Pluto stated, walking into the room.
The Senshi and Shitennou jumped. They hadn't heard her enter at all. "Found what?" demanded Jupiter.
"Why Selene said that we needed the stones that would help us win the war."
"Really?" asked Mars excitedly. The sooner the war was over, the sooner it was that she could get Jadeite out of her sight, preferably not alive, and things would get back to normal.
"Okay, keep in mind that I am the Time Guardian and some things are privileged information so don't repeat it to anyone besides the Royal Family or Luna, Artemis, and Diana, okay?
"Now a long time ago, when the Silver Millennium was just created, an enemy that was extremely powerful attacked. Seems like a reoccurring theme, right? Evil is always drawn to goodness. The Queen of the Moon at the time hadn't had the time to completely master the powers of the Ginzuishou, therefore rendering that kind of attack useless. So the Senshi of the Inner planets came up with a plan that would defeat and keep the enemy away forever.
"Since the Moon and the Earth were on good terms at the time, they collaborated with five kings that were all over the world. They had never met each other before until they were summoned to the Moon. They agreed to go through with the plan."
"What was the plan?" asked Jadeite.
"I'm getting there," she snapped. "They had had an idea. You see, they knew that if the enemy was ever sighted again, it would completely get passed the outer reaches of the system by then so beginning another war was fruitless and they would never win. So the Inner Senshi had decided to make a spell that would prevent the war from occurring ever again.
"They would make a star circle. They needed someone from each of the planets of Mercury, Venus, the Moon, Mars, and Jupiter. However, since Earth was the most populated, they needed five people from that planet to willingly be apart of the spell and they needed the people to be from the four corners and center of the Earth to represent a whole.
"These kings agreed. The Moon Family line would always be the star from the Moon and the Senshi of the Inner planets, no matter who they were, would be the stars of their planets. On the other hand, only the descendants of the five kings of Earth would be the people able to be the stars of their planet. They had to be descendants or the spell wouldn't work.
"When the spell was ready and the participants agreed, the Inner Senshi and the Moon Queen made a five pointed star. Facing each of the Inner Senshi and the Queen were the five kings of the Earth, making another star inside of a star.
"With their will and power united, the spell was created, completely banishing the enemy. As long as the kings and their descendants were always on good terms with the Inner Senshi, the Moon, and themselves, and provided that they lived at the same time, the spell would remain complete and intact. It took power to actually banish the enemy, but to keep up the invisible barrier around the solar system did not. They had decided to tie the barrier part of the spell to the relations between the kings, Senshi, and the Moon Family so it would be easier. They could not foresee that one day relations between the Moon and Earth would be estranged.
"The reason the Ginzuishou doesn't affect the enemy now, even though Neo Queen Serenity has complete control over it, is because the star spell didn't incorporate the Ginzuishou. Will gave power and that was what they used. Also, because of the feel of the Ginzuishou that they had a long time ago, they now have defenses against it.
"Now here is the situation. Selene said that if Serenity hadn't sent Chibiusa back into the past, Nehelenia wouldn't have awoken. The Inner Senshi would then have had the time to find the stones, therefore finding the Shitennou in front of us. The Shitennou are important because they are the descendants from the original kings from the star circle. Endymion is the fifth king. We have to do this spell to get rid of the enemy."
There was silence.
"Oh, that's just perfect," Mars stated sarcastically. "Did it ever occur to you Setsuna that there are a few problems with this whole plan? For one, the Inner planets no longer exist, thanks to the Dark Kingdom and helped by the Shitennou." She glared at the Kings. "And in case you haven't noticed, relations between the Inner Senshi and the Shitennou are about as estranged as it can get."
"I can see that, Mars," Pluto retorted. "That is where the problem lies. In order for this spell to work, and it is the only way to defeat the enemy, you have to come to an agreement. The spell will settle for anything less than open hostility. You don't have to like each other, but you have work together in some kind of semblance of a good relationship. The Outers and myself will distract the enemy while you power the spell. I suggest you get working on that relationship because it may be awhile before you can get to the point where you aren't showing open hostility. This is why it was almost imperative that you had found the crystals before Crystal Tokyo."
"Why?" asked Jupiter, not at all happy about the components for the spell.
"Because if you had then we wouldn't have this problem of relationship right now," she explained. "You would have gotten over what had gone on in the past and because of the arrival of the Shitennou and the good relationship that would have eventually would have happened, this war would have been prevented. Besides, the spell called for the Senshi of the Inner planets, not for the planets themselves."
"It's all because of Beryl that this happened," Venus muttered under her breath. "I despise that woman."
Pluto beckoned to the Outers. "We have to tell the King and Queen about this."
They departed and the Inners and Shitennou found themselves alone with each other in the room. There was an awkward and antagonistic silence.
Mercury sighed and glanced at Venus. Her eyebrows drew together in confusion. The leader of the Senshi had the most peculiar expression on her face. Something like pain.
"Okay, guys, we have to try to work together," the orange Soldier stated. "If we don't, Crystal Tokyo will fall and us with it."
"Exactly how are we going to do that?" asked Mars. "How can I forget what they did to my planet? To all the planets? They're evil, for crying out loud!"
"For one, we need to stop thinking they're evil because they aren't. You of all people, Rei-chan, should know that since you have your psychic power."
Mars looked away. The Shitennou listened to the conversation in silence. The Inners seemed to have forgotten that they were even there. They glanced at each, sharing a very sad look. This was not their time and they were unused to it. They couldn't help but feel as if they should have died a long time ago. And even though they could not remember anything about the things they were supposed to have done to the planets and what made the Inner Senshi so angry, they felt bad about it all the same. Their presence was causing all of this stress, but they didn't know what to do about it. They couldn't just leave Endymion. It was their sworn duty to protect him and that was what they were going to do while they still had breath to do it.
Venus turned to the Shitennou. "Okay, this is how the spell is going to work. Kunzite, you will be my counterpart, Nephrite will be Jupiter's, Zoisite will be Mercury's, and Jadeite will be Mars'. I suggest we spend time with our counterparts and get to know them. Maybe that will help."
The other Senshi did not look thrilled about this concept, but Venus was the leader and they did as she said.
Three days later, the maximum amount of time they could have to get a semblance of a good relationship going, the Royal Family, all the Senshi, Luna, Artemis, Diana, and the Kings gathered in the security room that monitored the entire palace.
"Well?" asked Pluto to the Inners.
In the three days that they had been given, relations had lessened from open hostility, but there was still much anger against the Kings.
"Good. We'll do the spell just outside the barrier. Let's go."
The Outer Senshi left first, outside the palace and barrier. They engaged the enemy ferociously and a minute later the concentration of the foe's attention was fixed on the battle and nothing else.
The Inner Senshi and the Shitennou slipped out of the barrier quietly, positioning themselves into two large five-pointed stars. Endymion was the counterpart of Serenity and she smiled at him. Mercury avoided looking at Zoisite for the most part. Mars and Jupiter glared at Nephrite and Jadeite most of the time. Venus just stared into Kunzite's eyes sadly.
Her soulmate was in front of her and she loved him, but she was also feeling the same things for him as the other Senshi were. Anger and resentment for what their evil counterparts had done. She was fighting a battle against the love and hatred and it was tearing her apart inside.
Five lines of power and white in color connected the four Senshi and the Queen. Then a golden star was made, connecting the Shitennou and the King. The Inner Senshi's auras flared up toward the sky in a beam in their colors and white did the same for the Queen.
Golden beams emitted from the Kings and Endymion. Suddenly Mercury found herself looking deeply into Zoisite's eyes and he into hers and she couldn't pull away. It was as if the spell was forcing them to connect soul to soul to each other and read each other's minds.
Mars, Jupiter, and Venus felt the same. The only people who did not try to fight it were Venus, Serenity, and Endymion. The enemy's attention snapped to the star and attempted to attack them, hoping to stop the spell.
In doing so, they took their attention off of the Outer Senshi who took the opportunity to launch an all-out offensive. Forced to defend themselves, they could only watch as the spell began to reach its completion.
The two stars brightened and launched into the sky, white and gold both. Released from the spell, the Inner Senshi collapsed, caught by the Shitennou who were near falling with exhaustion as well. Both stars flew across the planet, destroying all the creatures that attacked the Earth.
When the stars passed by them, the Outers discovered that it went straight through them without harm. In fact, they felt themselves grow warm at the emotions coming from the power. The ten people had been united in one common goal and that was to defeat the enemy ravaging the Earth. They smiled at each other; it was a feeling unlike any other when that kind of goal was the same for everyone.
Light seemed to come from the Earth itself, propelling any creatures that had not been killed into the depths of space. When all the enemies were gone, both stars floated back to the Earth and were absorbed into the ground, creating the invisible barrier around the planet that would soon expand until it encompassed their entire solar system.
End Chapter 9