Hello everyone, see I told you I would update my other stories soon. Anyway my muse and I have decided to work again and get my stories done. I won't waist your time with author's notes, I'll just list some information you might have forgotten.
Ceron = Artemis
Thalia= Lita
Ayden= Prince Diamond
Blake = Sapphire
Well here is the next installment, I hope you enjoy!
A Tangent in the FutureBy Crystaldove
Chapter 17
Darkness…desperation…pain; feelings that bring the strongest of men to their knees. Those were the only things he was felt now. We've all felt this before…the loneliness, the sheer lost of all hope. For some, night means a time of rest, for others it's a reminder of how dismal their existence is…they have no one to love them and no one to care about their happiness. Rain fell swiftly that night in Tokyo, a massive surge of lightening streaked across the sky…for those who were alone all they could do was think about how to get back what they once had.
Weeks had past since the incident at the park. Reeny was growing weaker yet was still annoying. Luna was never heard from again, her defiance and unfriendliness caused her not to be adopted and thusly destroyed. Even though she wasn't able to communicate with Ceron and Serena, they heard her screams as she was euthanized.
For others, it was another opportunity to bring their relationships closer together; budding relationships, blossoming in the rain. To them, the rain wasn't harsh…just a gentle sprinkle with a cooling breeze. The breeze that wrapped them closer together and they sighed in content with themselves.
Rubeus was moved to a small cell deep in the heart of the planet, the only stronghold that remained. He was in a place where even shadows were to afraid to move. From the torture from of Wiseman and the guilt that surfaced from his actions…he lost all sense of reality. Night and day were only blurred by the kinds of pain that was inflicted upon him. The once haughty and proud man had been reduced to a quivering piece of flesh and locked in his mind he was now a prisoner within himself.
Madness was something he thrived for, something that fueled his hatred; now, madness is something with he is afflicted. Rubeus lay on the floor, his body burned from the 'treatment' inflicted on him by Wiseman. In a moment of defiance, Rubeus tried to launch a blast at him, draining the last of his reserves thus causing him to feel the pain tenfold.
"Why do I hate Sailor Moon so much? In my time she is the White Queen, but she wasn't the one that banished us. It was her King... the one that hides behind the mask, the one that lets her fight for his planet, and the one who suffers without her now."
He laughed slowly between bouts of pain.
"I guess I helped get revenge on him after all. If not for that last attack, Moon wouldn't have known the lengths he would have gone to save himself. He let her fall, if not for Prince Diamond's affections for her, she would have died. Either way, he would have suffered."
Rubeus turned over as much as his chains would allow, he coughed violently, spitting out black blood.
"Its funny, the more blood I cough up, the better I feel. It's like I was...poisoned."
flash
"I can't believe that bastard sent us to this rock of a planet!! He's going to pay; they're all going to pay!"
"Our war is not with all of them Marc, just the King."
"Ayden, how can you say that? That White Witch and her masked marauding king sent us here!"
"NO! Leave Neo-Queen Serenity out of this. She was going to help us, Endymion ambushed me, attacked Blake and he gave the orders to banish us. The only one that is going to suffer is him."
Months past, the small band of traitors became accustomed to the planet, even found plant life and started communities. Ayden was chosen to be their King.
"No, I don't want to be called anything like that bastard is. No one can know who we are, saying King Ayden would alert him immediately. No...I will be Diamond, Prince Diamond. I need a court... my brother Blake, young Lord Sapphire. My hot headed friend Marc, you will be Crimson Rubeus. Hmmm I need one more."
"What about me Ayden...I've been loyal to you, extremely loyal!"
Ayden looked out at those whom were in attendance, inwardly he shuttered.
'Sinelle, the one person that defected because of me. She could care less if she was terminal ill and had to live for 5000 years.' "Yes, you have proven yourself loyal, so I will give you a place in my court"
"As royal consort Prince Diamond?"
He looked at Blake and noticed his brother was trying to keep his laughter in, trying to not succeeding.
"Uh no...as third in command under Rubeus."
"UNDER RUBEUS!!"
"Sinelle, you will refrain from using that tone and questioning my decisions. If you don't like that, I can put you to work in the kitchens...Lady Emerald."
Green eyes blinked quickly as she processed that information.
"Lady Emerald my lord? Yes, Lady Emerald of the Dark Moon."
She bowed and walked away, smirking at the other girls who wished they were in the Princes favor.
end flash
"We celebrated that night…drinking wine we made on that planet. Only the darkest of fruits we're selected for Diamond's wine… yet he preferred brandy and Sapphire didn't drink. Only Emerald and I did…those fruits grew close by the entrance to the center of this planet. Oh my…we we're poisoned by the monolith… Poisoned to hate Serenity and all she stood for. We've been Wiseman's puppets all along."
Ceron walked Lita back to her apartment as he turned to leave; she noticed how upset he was.
"Are you ok; I know I know you're still upset about Luna."
He sighed with is back to her. "I'm not upset as much as I thought I would be and I have you to thank for that Thalia, you've been my rock in all of this."
"I don't know what to stay. No one has ever needed me before."
"Well I do… more that I though was possible."
He had turned back to her as, she looked at him with eyes full of tears…joy, pain and fear all swam in those emerald depths.
"I'm so tired of being hurt, I've heard so many beautiful words before and they we're just words. My ex boyfriend used to tell me things like that. All he did was say what I wanted to hear…so he could get what he wanted. He raised his reputation and ruined mine."
Ceron looked down at her with tears running down his face.
"I know how that feels used; I will never hurt you."
The Lunarian advisor leaned in, kissing her slowly, causing her to moan as she leaned against the door. They remained like that for a few minutes before he scooped her up and carried her inside the apartment.
-- --
Lita stood on the balcony glowing with contentment as lightening surrounded the building. It was her element and it embraced her like she would a lover, more like her lover. Ceron found her this way as he walked out and joined her. He smiled as he wrapped a blanket around her, covering her nakedness.
"You're going to catch a cold like that."
She spun in his embrace and noticed his lack of clothing.
"You should be the one to talk Mister. Besides, how come you're up, did I wake you?"
"Well, it's not every night I fall asleep with a beautiful woman beside me, so I got worried when I reached out and you weren't there."
"I'm sorry, I couldn't sleep while my element celebrated our joy."
He looked out at the sky as sharp bolts of lighting streaked around the building. Ceron smiled as he brought her against his chest.
"Oh really, I've only just begun." He breathed into her ears causing Lita to shiver. "Let's give the heavens something else to celebrate." With that, he led her back into the apartment to 'celebrate' more.
Wiseman sneered from the visions his crystal ball was showing. Lust turned out to be the dominating factor in this entire struggle. Emerald's lust for Diamond caused her to sell her soul and Darien's lust for Serena would cause him to lose his. Wiseman kept his thoughts to himself only revealing his observations about Darien after Emerald had joined him.
"So the prince of earth has dropped his respectable façade and sees the princess like he never allowed himself to before."
Emerald looked confused and turned to him.
"But how will we be able to use this to control the rabbit?"
"Look at her; she is her mother with subtle differences. We can manipulate the prince's perception and allow him to see the princess instead of the child. The rabbit won't complain, if she can deceive the young Endymion into thinking she is Serenity so she can have him…she would practically give the crystal to us!"
"Brilliant master…I think it's time for me to go to Tokyo and make a new friend."
"You won't have to go as far as that… just tell her the bargain and she will agree."
Emeralds' shrieks once again filled the air as she vanished in a cloud of sulfur smoke. Rubeus, overhearing their plan, began to think of his own in the corner. He didn't like the idea and knew that Emerald was being manipulated, yet his hatred of her kept him from saving her…from herself.
'I need to find Diamond…I was wrong to hate Neo-Queen Serenity and Sailor Moon. They need to know what's going on and I'm the only one that can tell them.'
Wiseman thinking Rubeus was no longer a threat allowed him to suffer quietly in the corner while he went to prepare the monolith to harness the power of the silver crystal.
Pluto stood that the gates looking hopelessly into the void that was once the future.
"So, he has finally seen the light. I may have to intervene and save him. My Princess, I hope you are ready for this…I hope we are all ready for this."
Darien had a study session that evening so Reeny was on her own. After the rain stopped she went to look for Luna unaware that she was being followed. Emerald heard her call out Luna's name and knew she was looking for the former advisor of the princess. She created a small black cat and set it loose in the area. Reeny saw it and gave chase, following it to an alley. She was about to pick the cat up when it was snatched from her reach. Reeny looked up and was about to scream…
"Save it kid, I'm not here for you."
"Give me my cat!" Her tiny hands reached out to grab what she thought was Luna and watched in horror as Emerald snapped the cats neck and threw it to the ground. "Luna! No, why did you do that?"
"That wasn't that mangy feline."
Emerald pointed to the cat and Reeny looked as yellow smoke emitted from the things skin and it vanished.
"I just needed to get you alone…" Reeny began to back away but was stopped by a droid. "Look, I'm not here to kidnap you, just to offer you something you've always wanted."
"You can't give me anything, I'm a princess…"
"A princess without a prince…" Emerald interjected and that caught Reeny's attention. "A princess must have her prince, but there seem to be a shortage of them here. But I know of one that would want you…if you want him and I can help you get him…I can help you get Darien for yourself."
Reeny looked at her thinking a moment.
"How, he actually wants Serena and even if she was gone he wouldn't want me."
"But if we made him think you were Serena, he would want you."
"I'm listening…"
"My master has great power but it is weakening in this time. We need the silver crystal to bring out his full strength. Do you understand?"
"You will give me Darien and I will give you the crystal."
"Simple isn't it."
"But the crystal is my legacy, my future…"
"But you'll have Darien and that's all that matters…"
As Emerald was speaking, a black mist swirled around Reeny, bewitching her and turning her eyes from clear to an opaque pink.
"Yes Darien is all that matters…I will have my prince. I don't need anything else but him. Death…death to the White Moon!!"
Emerald laughed as she watched Reeny grow and mature to Serena's age and they both vanished into the time stream.
Later that night, everyone converged at the Takonda residence and joked with Lita and Artemis on just how close they were lately. Though teasing and laughter, Serena gasped.
"Something terrible just happened."
Serena looked around to see if the others felt it also. They looked confused while Ayden and Blake looked at each other and nodded. Mina turned to Blake and noticed that he and his brother didn't look as confused as the others.
"Blake, do you know what they are talking about?"
Blake sighed and watched as Ayden nodded again.
"It's Wiseman."
At her continual look of confusion he continued.
"When we first came to Nemesis, we stumbled upon an entity that called himself Wiseman. He was a malevolent being that poisoned our people with making us hate the White Moon and all it stood for."
"Why, what did the princess do to him?"
"She existed…she is the light of the universe and light destroys darkness. Destroying the White Moon would allow his darkness to spread beyond the boundaries of Nemesis. Our people comprised of those who hated the king and his laws…he took that hate and placed its focus on the queen. After living on Nemesis, somehow, his influence dwindled. You would think his control would be stronger there but it took more of his power because we longed for what was here on earth."
"It was his idea to come for the crystal in the 30th century. He convinced all of us that it was the silver crystal that fueled the beauty and prosperity on earth…if we had it Nemesis could become a second Earth. Ayden was crowned our ruler, leader of the traitors…from his deep hatred of Endymion. With the powers granted by Wiseman, we were able to observe the abuse placed on Serenity by the king. In secret, Ayden decided to save the queen and focus all of our peoples' hatred back where it belonged…with Endymion. My brother deeply admired Serenity but knew she was devoted to the king. So he convinced Wiseman to bring the assault to a time where they were weaker…that's why we pursued Reeny…we knew she would come here."
Blake sat by Mina and grabbed her hands, afraid to look in her eyes.
"His power is fueled by a monolith that resides in the core of Nemesis. We would draw upon his power to create droids and send them here. When Serena healed our people, she shielded his source of power, thus rendering all of his devotees powerless. That's why he wants the silver crystal…if the monolith absorbs it, he will have an endless power source."
"But you have to be born of her line to…Reeny." Amy spoke. "She's a princess, the daughter of Endymion and Neo-Queen Serenity…Darien and Serena's future daughter!"
Gasps we're heard from the girls ask Ayden looked at Serena.
"Yes, that's why I sent her to live with Darien. Having her live in close proximity to me and the crystal would have caused her to become more of a threat. I know, if she gets my crystal, they would take it from her, put it in the monolith…and destroy the world."