Rei could feel something in the air as they moved quickly through the
tunnel. Time was running out. She had tried once already to teleport
directly out of the cave to Serena but there was some sort of magic around
the cave that prevented anyone from entering or leaving like that. It
meant that they had to take the slower route, walking carefully through the
cave. She wanted to run, but even with her light, the shadows were long
and hid any number of hazards. If she broke an ankle here, trying to run,
she'd be of no use to any one in a fight.
All the while, Jadeite walked silently at her side. She watched him out of the corner of her eye as he walked, lost in thought. She wanted to know what those thoughts were and what they meant. And she wanted to know why she still cared- after all that they had done to each other and had done to them, she wanted to know why she still cared what this man thought. She shouldn't but she did.
Finally, she saw a light up ahead that had nothing to do with the fire cupped in her own hands. Walking as quickly as she could, Rei walked towards the entrance. Finally she stepped out of the shelter of the cave and back into the fierce arctic wind and endless expanse of snow.
"We're coming Serena. Hold on." Rei muttered, hunching her shoulders against the sudden, all consuming cold.
* * * * *
Mina could feel the press of time, weighing heavily on her. They had to hurry this up but Malachite wasn't going to just do whatever they asked without explanation. And now, with him just standing there, thinking, Mina was desperate.
"Malachite." She said softly.
The man turned to look at her, eyebrow raised in a questioning look.
Mina knew that look. It was one that had always irritated her. That was probably her only defense for her actions.
Mina pulled back her arm and slugged Malachite, right in his arrogant jaw.
Malachite stumbled back a step before turning back to her. This time there was no hint of the aloof businessman as he yelled in her face, "What the hell was that for?"
Mina took a step forward, putting herself nose to nose with the man, "We don't have all day for you to sit there and think. Make a bloody decision!"
"You have got to be kidding me. You people kidnap me from my own office, tell me some crack addled fairy tale and expect me to do what you say?" Malachite hissed at her, ignoring the rest of the world in favor of the small blonde challenging him.
Mina glared back, "If it's just some stupid fairy tale, then prove it. Take the oath."
"Fine, I will!" Malachite yelled, his nose mere millimeters from Mina's.
"Fine! Get on with it!" Mina challenged.
The two stood there, glaring at one another, for several seconds. Finally Malachite broke away to glare at Darien, "What do I need to do?"
* * * * *
Serena felt the air around her charge a second before a beam of pure darkness shot from the crystal in Rini's hands, plowing a furrow through the concrete, throwing dust and debris up into the air all around. She threw up her arms at the last minute before the blast hit her, protecting her head. Instead of feeling the blow, she heard twin screams to either side of her. Opening her eyes, she saw the streak of power had split just in front of her, each of the two arms of energy going after Mercury and Pluto where they stood. Both had been caught unaware by the sudden change in attack and took the full brunt of the attack. Dark power coursed through them unrestrained as Serena watched. It seemed to take forever for the power to disappear around them, but in reality it was only a couple seconds before her two friends crumpled to the ground bonelessly.
"You should have brought more Guardians." Rini said with a sadistic chuckle.
"And here I thought, since this was Sailor Moon's party, being late would mean being on time."
Serena looked up to see Rei, standing on the shield with Jadeite, "Sailor Mars!"
"You picked a horrible time to start being on time to things." Rei said as she fell gracefully through the hole in the shield that Serena opened up for the two newcomers.
Rini sneered down at them, "Calling in reinforcements? When are you going to finally face me, Sailor Moon?"
Serena took a step forward, "Rini, enough! Pluto told me Wiseman did something to you, twisted your mind somehow to make you think things happened differently than they really did!"
"No!" The energy surged around Rini in an angry pulsing, "The Wiseman saved me. You are the one twisting the truth! I won't let you win!"
* * * * *
Malachite repeated the lines of the oath after Darien, his eyes locked on the petite blonde behind the dark haired man. But as the last word of the oath left his mouth, his world disappeared and a new one, this one formed from some unknown void, appeared in its place. But still the dark haired man, Darien, remained.
"Malachite."
Malachite looked up and felt the first stirrings of something, some recognition building inside of him.
"Do you choose to walk with us again?" Darien asked.
The image of the blonde pulled at him and he answered before he had a chance to think, "I do."
"Then remember, old friend, and fight with us again."
As Darien's voice faded, images of several lifetimes exploded around him. Flashes that were too fast to make out and yet were burned into his brain forever. And in them was Mina, glaring, laughing, crying... fighting.
When he opened his eyes, it took him a moment to realize that he was no longer looking at memories. That the beautiful blonde holding his head was not a ghost of the past but the real thing, somehow returned, against all odds, to his side. And he made a second vow that day, to never lose her again.
"Mina?" He croaked, his throat parched for some reason.
"Do you remember?" His angel asked, concern written clearly on her face.
"Yes." He said quietly.
"Good. Because I have a thousand years of issues to talk to you about." Mina growled, dropping his head onto the hard concrete.
Malachite winced in pain and struggled to sit up. A hand was thrust into his vision. Grasping it, Zoicite pulled the man to his feet and grinned at him, "Good to have you back."
"Thank you." Malachite said gravely, turning to the still angry blonde hell cat that was currently glaring daggers at him.
"I believe that we are in a hurry. You may kick my ass later, of course." Malachite said formally, bowing before Mina in the ways of the old Court.
Malachite smirked at the look of pure rage that Mina sent him before turning away.
And only Darien saw the small, answering smile that Mina had.
* * * * *
Jadeite attacked, swinging his sword at Rini. His sword stroke was suddenly stopped by another sword, this one long and thin and pure white. Some sort of design ran along the entire blade but as the two began to fight in earnest, it was impossible to make out.
"Mars Fire Ignite!" Rei screamed out her attack as fire rushed towards the man fighting with Jadeite.
"Helios!" Rini cried out, warning him in time to create a shield of dark energy to hold of Mar's flames.
Jadeite tried to take advantage of his opponent's momentary distraction, thrusting but Helios was quick and agile, dodging the blow and attacking with renewed vigor.
Serena pulled as much energy as she dared from the silver crystal to throw at Rini. Pure, clear energy smashed into the black void of Rini's. For several seconds the two powers were evenly matched but slowly the black energy began to push back the energy of the crystal.
"Sailor Moon! Drop the shield!" Ami screamed at her.
Serena, feeling beads of sweat pouring down her face as she concentrated, minutely shook her head. The shield was the only thing that was protecting the innocents from the fight. She felt it each time power hit the shield. Each time the strength of one of her scout's attacks or her enemies' attacks spilled over its intended target. Each time, if the shield hadn't been there, there was a chance that the crowd of people down below could have been hit or one of the surrounding buildings. She wasn't going to risk innocents getting hurt in this fight.
Suddenly new strength poured into her. Looking back, she saw Lita on her knees, leaning against Nephrite, and reaching out to touch her elbow. She felt Lita giving her what strength she had, and through her, Nephrite's strength as well. The darkness stopped approaching her but she could not push it back. And then Ami was there as well, adding her strength to Serena's and very, very slowly, the darkness began to recede.
"No!" Rini screamed in frustration.
Seeing her chance as the other woman yelled, Serena whipped out her wand.
"Moon Healing Activation!" The added power of the wand sent the light streaming straight at Rini.
Just as the light was about to encompass Rini, Helios broke off from his fight with Rei and Jadeite and shoved her out of the way. The white light slammed into him with all the force that Serena had at her call and the man crumpled to the ground.
Rini stared is shocked horror at the man at her feet lying lifeless.
After a drawn out moment of silence, Rini's head snapped up and she glared at Serena.
"How dare you?" Rini's voice came out low, the word hissed like some huge angry cat.
As Serena watched, Rini's eyes slowly bled to black, as the dark power of the crystal she held surged with new strength, the dark power around her swirling faster and faster. The crystal hung in the air in front of her for a second before plunging itself into her chest. Rini screamed in mingled anger and pain, her entire body bowing and convulsing as black flames leapt up around her, hiding her from sight. The power exploded outward, shattering the shield Serena had worked so hard to maintain like glass.
And from the flames, Rini emerged. Her hair and eyes now the same deep black of the crystal she had once wore about her throat. Her black dress had changed into a black armor that seemed to absorb all light, trapping it. Only her pale skin, peaking out from the cracks in the armor, interrupted the darkness that she had become.
And down below, in the streets, Sailor Moon could hear the screams of the people.
* * * * *
AN: Once again, major thanks to my beta, Mercurial, for checking up on me and reminding me that I am supposed to be writing. Without her, this would be even later getting to you all and probably be complete gibberish because the author was high on cold medicine.
shevon - Thanks! Glad to see you like Helios. He's a hard one to write at times.
Bluejello - sorry about the shortness and all. But at least I'm posting something, right? Right?
Mercurial1 - Ah, love those reviews by my wonderful beta.
Lil-PrincessK - Anime fights are fun, because anything can happen from some little two year old haveing the power to destroy the universe to angels appearing. Keeps it interesting.
lazzykane - well, hopefully you get this and you find a new computer. I know I would cry if my computer died. I had panic attacks when it had a virus.
Silver Ash - Thanks. Your review means a lot. Especially about the originality comment. There are so many SM authors out there it sometimes seems like it would be impossible to write anything original.
BenRG - Yes! I always thought I was the only one who thought that SM's justice in the future was a little sketchy. Thus the was Rini is in this story. But it is great to hear that other people thought the same.
cosmoscat - Wow, you read through this entire monster. I am impressed. And overjoyed to have gotten a new reader (especially one who reviews).
siren - hee hee, funny you should mention the parental units...they should be in the next chapter.
tangentsferret - um...sorry? lol. Thanks. I love it when my readers yell at me. Makes me feel special.
AnGeLeYeZgUrL121 - Thanks for the midterm luck. Hopefully I passed it all and can relax (at least until finals. Bleh!)
buffy_p3 - Wow. Thank you so much for that review. It really meant a lot. I do have some other story ideas that I want to play with after this, some fanfic and some original. Thanks for the major vote of confidence.
Miaka Kiri - Wow, compliments on my cliffhangers. I'm speechless. Thank you so much.
QueenofMercury - Thanks! Hope the rest of the story continues to please!
happygolucky111 - No problem. The recap was something that I think was needed so when it was suggested, I was glad to add it.
Serenity2006 - I can't garuntee it'll be finished soon timewise, but there aren't that many more chapters left (I hope).
missaw - I really feel like I'm picking on Malachite lately...
Sorceress Aeris - I'll throw your e-mail adress onto my updates list.
hotohori's empress - na, I like the replies.
Moon's Rose - Not offended at all. I love when people ask questions. It helps me out a lot and people are always pointing things out to me that I didn't think of. As to why Darien didn't just ask, I really don't know. Most of the conversation isn't actually given, since its from Mina's POV and she's kind of panicky and thinking her own thoughts. Actually, I'm not sure if I like the way the scene turned out in this chapter between Malachite and Mina. Believe it or not but that is actually the third version of events written.
roswellachick - So...what did you think? As I told another person already, that Malachite scene was rewritten several times and I'm interested in if people liked it. Let me know.
Pori-Pori - Thanks! Love the reviews that are short and sweet.
Moon-Princess13 - Thanks! Sorry if this is just another cliff hanger. Hope the story is still fun to read!
Adilande - Okay, wow. First off, you rock. That review totally made my day when I read it. Thank you so much. And I love it when people write long reviews. It gives me a better idea of what they like and don't like about my story. Wordy is good! Second, thanks for the heads up on the spelling thing. I am not the best at rereading my own stuff, thus the reason formy awesome beta. But I'll try and watchout for the definitly/defiantly thing. It all goes back to the fact that my typing skills aren't the greatest.
Chicken Stars - No, questions are good. I love questions. I just can't promise answers. But...The flaw in the crystal is important. Can't say how yet. Need some surprise in the story.
Ocianne lol. I got 'glomped'. I feel so special. Oh! And thanks for pointing out the name switch in the last chapter. I will be fixing that.
Kitsune Moonstar - As one of the Mina/Mal fans, let me know what you think of their scene. It was one of those things that got rewritten several times and I'm no longer sure if it is any good. Love to hear your opinion.
X5-452Star - I fully admit that I don't like writing big fights. I can never seem to do them justice so please feel free to give any suggestions you might have or point of weak points in the story so that I can work on them. Thanks!
Chibi J - Thanks. Yea, the family thing is important. I didn't mean to leave it out of the re-cap. I wrote it rather quickly and, as I was writing it, realized there had been a lot of things that had happened so far. So yea, Serena being disowned should have been in there. My bad.
Phoeaix - I'm a beacon drawing all the twisted people to my story? Wow, that is the nicest thing anyone has said in a long time. Twisted is good.
kalinda - lol. The sign of one of my long time readers, patience in the face of long delays.
All the while, Jadeite walked silently at her side. She watched him out of the corner of her eye as he walked, lost in thought. She wanted to know what those thoughts were and what they meant. And she wanted to know why she still cared- after all that they had done to each other and had done to them, she wanted to know why she still cared what this man thought. She shouldn't but she did.
Finally, she saw a light up ahead that had nothing to do with the fire cupped in her own hands. Walking as quickly as she could, Rei walked towards the entrance. Finally she stepped out of the shelter of the cave and back into the fierce arctic wind and endless expanse of snow.
"We're coming Serena. Hold on." Rei muttered, hunching her shoulders against the sudden, all consuming cold.
* * * * *
Mina could feel the press of time, weighing heavily on her. They had to hurry this up but Malachite wasn't going to just do whatever they asked without explanation. And now, with him just standing there, thinking, Mina was desperate.
"Malachite." She said softly.
The man turned to look at her, eyebrow raised in a questioning look.
Mina knew that look. It was one that had always irritated her. That was probably her only defense for her actions.
Mina pulled back her arm and slugged Malachite, right in his arrogant jaw.
Malachite stumbled back a step before turning back to her. This time there was no hint of the aloof businessman as he yelled in her face, "What the hell was that for?"
Mina took a step forward, putting herself nose to nose with the man, "We don't have all day for you to sit there and think. Make a bloody decision!"
"You have got to be kidding me. You people kidnap me from my own office, tell me some crack addled fairy tale and expect me to do what you say?" Malachite hissed at her, ignoring the rest of the world in favor of the small blonde challenging him.
Mina glared back, "If it's just some stupid fairy tale, then prove it. Take the oath."
"Fine, I will!" Malachite yelled, his nose mere millimeters from Mina's.
"Fine! Get on with it!" Mina challenged.
The two stood there, glaring at one another, for several seconds. Finally Malachite broke away to glare at Darien, "What do I need to do?"
* * * * *
Serena felt the air around her charge a second before a beam of pure darkness shot from the crystal in Rini's hands, plowing a furrow through the concrete, throwing dust and debris up into the air all around. She threw up her arms at the last minute before the blast hit her, protecting her head. Instead of feeling the blow, she heard twin screams to either side of her. Opening her eyes, she saw the streak of power had split just in front of her, each of the two arms of energy going after Mercury and Pluto where they stood. Both had been caught unaware by the sudden change in attack and took the full brunt of the attack. Dark power coursed through them unrestrained as Serena watched. It seemed to take forever for the power to disappear around them, but in reality it was only a couple seconds before her two friends crumpled to the ground bonelessly.
"You should have brought more Guardians." Rini said with a sadistic chuckle.
"And here I thought, since this was Sailor Moon's party, being late would mean being on time."
Serena looked up to see Rei, standing on the shield with Jadeite, "Sailor Mars!"
"You picked a horrible time to start being on time to things." Rei said as she fell gracefully through the hole in the shield that Serena opened up for the two newcomers.
Rini sneered down at them, "Calling in reinforcements? When are you going to finally face me, Sailor Moon?"
Serena took a step forward, "Rini, enough! Pluto told me Wiseman did something to you, twisted your mind somehow to make you think things happened differently than they really did!"
"No!" The energy surged around Rini in an angry pulsing, "The Wiseman saved me. You are the one twisting the truth! I won't let you win!"
* * * * *
Malachite repeated the lines of the oath after Darien, his eyes locked on the petite blonde behind the dark haired man. But as the last word of the oath left his mouth, his world disappeared and a new one, this one formed from some unknown void, appeared in its place. But still the dark haired man, Darien, remained.
"Malachite."
Malachite looked up and felt the first stirrings of something, some recognition building inside of him.
"Do you choose to walk with us again?" Darien asked.
The image of the blonde pulled at him and he answered before he had a chance to think, "I do."
"Then remember, old friend, and fight with us again."
As Darien's voice faded, images of several lifetimes exploded around him. Flashes that were too fast to make out and yet were burned into his brain forever. And in them was Mina, glaring, laughing, crying... fighting.
When he opened his eyes, it took him a moment to realize that he was no longer looking at memories. That the beautiful blonde holding his head was not a ghost of the past but the real thing, somehow returned, against all odds, to his side. And he made a second vow that day, to never lose her again.
"Mina?" He croaked, his throat parched for some reason.
"Do you remember?" His angel asked, concern written clearly on her face.
"Yes." He said quietly.
"Good. Because I have a thousand years of issues to talk to you about." Mina growled, dropping his head onto the hard concrete.
Malachite winced in pain and struggled to sit up. A hand was thrust into his vision. Grasping it, Zoicite pulled the man to his feet and grinned at him, "Good to have you back."
"Thank you." Malachite said gravely, turning to the still angry blonde hell cat that was currently glaring daggers at him.
"I believe that we are in a hurry. You may kick my ass later, of course." Malachite said formally, bowing before Mina in the ways of the old Court.
Malachite smirked at the look of pure rage that Mina sent him before turning away.
And only Darien saw the small, answering smile that Mina had.
* * * * *
Jadeite attacked, swinging his sword at Rini. His sword stroke was suddenly stopped by another sword, this one long and thin and pure white. Some sort of design ran along the entire blade but as the two began to fight in earnest, it was impossible to make out.
"Mars Fire Ignite!" Rei screamed out her attack as fire rushed towards the man fighting with Jadeite.
"Helios!" Rini cried out, warning him in time to create a shield of dark energy to hold of Mar's flames.
Jadeite tried to take advantage of his opponent's momentary distraction, thrusting but Helios was quick and agile, dodging the blow and attacking with renewed vigor.
Serena pulled as much energy as she dared from the silver crystal to throw at Rini. Pure, clear energy smashed into the black void of Rini's. For several seconds the two powers were evenly matched but slowly the black energy began to push back the energy of the crystal.
"Sailor Moon! Drop the shield!" Ami screamed at her.
Serena, feeling beads of sweat pouring down her face as she concentrated, minutely shook her head. The shield was the only thing that was protecting the innocents from the fight. She felt it each time power hit the shield. Each time the strength of one of her scout's attacks or her enemies' attacks spilled over its intended target. Each time, if the shield hadn't been there, there was a chance that the crowd of people down below could have been hit or one of the surrounding buildings. She wasn't going to risk innocents getting hurt in this fight.
Suddenly new strength poured into her. Looking back, she saw Lita on her knees, leaning against Nephrite, and reaching out to touch her elbow. She felt Lita giving her what strength she had, and through her, Nephrite's strength as well. The darkness stopped approaching her but she could not push it back. And then Ami was there as well, adding her strength to Serena's and very, very slowly, the darkness began to recede.
"No!" Rini screamed in frustration.
Seeing her chance as the other woman yelled, Serena whipped out her wand.
"Moon Healing Activation!" The added power of the wand sent the light streaming straight at Rini.
Just as the light was about to encompass Rini, Helios broke off from his fight with Rei and Jadeite and shoved her out of the way. The white light slammed into him with all the force that Serena had at her call and the man crumpled to the ground.
Rini stared is shocked horror at the man at her feet lying lifeless.
After a drawn out moment of silence, Rini's head snapped up and she glared at Serena.
"How dare you?" Rini's voice came out low, the word hissed like some huge angry cat.
As Serena watched, Rini's eyes slowly bled to black, as the dark power of the crystal she held surged with new strength, the dark power around her swirling faster and faster. The crystal hung in the air in front of her for a second before plunging itself into her chest. Rini screamed in mingled anger and pain, her entire body bowing and convulsing as black flames leapt up around her, hiding her from sight. The power exploded outward, shattering the shield Serena had worked so hard to maintain like glass.
And from the flames, Rini emerged. Her hair and eyes now the same deep black of the crystal she had once wore about her throat. Her black dress had changed into a black armor that seemed to absorb all light, trapping it. Only her pale skin, peaking out from the cracks in the armor, interrupted the darkness that she had become.
And down below, in the streets, Sailor Moon could hear the screams of the people.
* * * * *
AN: Once again, major thanks to my beta, Mercurial, for checking up on me and reminding me that I am supposed to be writing. Without her, this would be even later getting to you all and probably be complete gibberish because the author was high on cold medicine.
shevon - Thanks! Glad to see you like Helios. He's a hard one to write at times.
Bluejello - sorry about the shortness and all. But at least I'm posting something, right? Right?
Mercurial1 - Ah, love those reviews by my wonderful beta.
Lil-PrincessK - Anime fights are fun, because anything can happen from some little two year old haveing the power to destroy the universe to angels appearing. Keeps it interesting.
lazzykane - well, hopefully you get this and you find a new computer. I know I would cry if my computer died. I had panic attacks when it had a virus.
Silver Ash - Thanks. Your review means a lot. Especially about the originality comment. There are so many SM authors out there it sometimes seems like it would be impossible to write anything original.
BenRG - Yes! I always thought I was the only one who thought that SM's justice in the future was a little sketchy. Thus the was Rini is in this story. But it is great to hear that other people thought the same.
cosmoscat - Wow, you read through this entire monster. I am impressed. And overjoyed to have gotten a new reader (especially one who reviews).
siren - hee hee, funny you should mention the parental units...they should be in the next chapter.
tangentsferret - um...sorry? lol. Thanks. I love it when my readers yell at me. Makes me feel special.
AnGeLeYeZgUrL121 - Thanks for the midterm luck. Hopefully I passed it all and can relax (at least until finals. Bleh!)
buffy_p3 - Wow. Thank you so much for that review. It really meant a lot. I do have some other story ideas that I want to play with after this, some fanfic and some original. Thanks for the major vote of confidence.
Miaka Kiri - Wow, compliments on my cliffhangers. I'm speechless. Thank you so much.
QueenofMercury - Thanks! Hope the rest of the story continues to please!
happygolucky111 - No problem. The recap was something that I think was needed so when it was suggested, I was glad to add it.
Serenity2006 - I can't garuntee it'll be finished soon timewise, but there aren't that many more chapters left (I hope).
missaw - I really feel like I'm picking on Malachite lately...
Sorceress Aeris - I'll throw your e-mail adress onto my updates list.
hotohori's empress - na, I like the replies.
Moon's Rose - Not offended at all. I love when people ask questions. It helps me out a lot and people are always pointing things out to me that I didn't think of. As to why Darien didn't just ask, I really don't know. Most of the conversation isn't actually given, since its from Mina's POV and she's kind of panicky and thinking her own thoughts. Actually, I'm not sure if I like the way the scene turned out in this chapter between Malachite and Mina. Believe it or not but that is actually the third version of events written.
roswellachick - So...what did you think? As I told another person already, that Malachite scene was rewritten several times and I'm interested in if people liked it. Let me know.
Pori-Pori - Thanks! Love the reviews that are short and sweet.
Moon-Princess13 - Thanks! Sorry if this is just another cliff hanger. Hope the story is still fun to read!
Adilande - Okay, wow. First off, you rock. That review totally made my day when I read it. Thank you so much. And I love it when people write long reviews. It gives me a better idea of what they like and don't like about my story. Wordy is good! Second, thanks for the heads up on the spelling thing. I am not the best at rereading my own stuff, thus the reason formy awesome beta. But I'll try and watchout for the definitly/defiantly thing. It all goes back to the fact that my typing skills aren't the greatest.
Chicken Stars - No, questions are good. I love questions. I just can't promise answers. But...The flaw in the crystal is important. Can't say how yet. Need some surprise in the story.
Ocianne lol. I got 'glomped'. I feel so special. Oh! And thanks for pointing out the name switch in the last chapter. I will be fixing that.
Kitsune Moonstar - As one of the Mina/Mal fans, let me know what you think of their scene. It was one of those things that got rewritten several times and I'm no longer sure if it is any good. Love to hear your opinion.
X5-452Star - I fully admit that I don't like writing big fights. I can never seem to do them justice so please feel free to give any suggestions you might have or point of weak points in the story so that I can work on them. Thanks!
Chibi J - Thanks. Yea, the family thing is important. I didn't mean to leave it out of the re-cap. I wrote it rather quickly and, as I was writing it, realized there had been a lot of things that had happened so far. So yea, Serena being disowned should have been in there. My bad.
Phoeaix - I'm a beacon drawing all the twisted people to my story? Wow, that is the nicest thing anyone has said in a long time. Twisted is good.
kalinda - lol. The sign of one of my long time readers, patience in the face of long delays.