Sailor Moon ran.
She knew not where she ran, or even the layout of the huge, darkly gleaming palace around her – only that she felt the black power increasing with every step, and she knew that she was nearing Hades' dark power. She probed deep within herself, but she could not feel the presence of any of her friends, even slightly.
What is this? she wondered as she ran, her scepter gripped tightly in her hand. Why...it's almost as if it is a battle between the gods...
She nearly stopped in her tracks, her boots sliding across the polished floors. The gods had been known to have had squabbles in the past. Why, there was the usurping of Uranus...and Saturn...and then, of course, Troy.
Troy was perhaps the most poignant example...for in that war, humans had been used as mere props. The war had been begun by the gods, and perpetuated by the gods.
Were they in a mere battle between the gods...?
But no...behind them were the strength of Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, and Mars, four of the greatest Olympians, and Luna, a powerful goddess. The only one that stood against them was Hades, the god of the underworld...and Saturn's powers were under the control of that one as well...
Was Hades, with the aid of Saturn, attempting to rise against the Olympians? He had never wanted to become an Olympian himself, refusing to meet with the other deities on the great Mount Olympus. Had his refusal just been a way of biding his time...? And Saturn had been upset by the great Jupiter so long ago...
Sailor Moon tightened her grip around her scepter and pounded her boots harder against the ground. What the gods chose to do was no concern of hers. She had to fight for her friends...for her sisters...for her love...and for her soul.
Suddenly the hands on her neck became unloving, and hard...they squeezed her throat, cutting off vital air.
Sailor Venus writhed under Kunzite's pressure, struggling to unclamp his hands. She reared back her leg and pushed her knee into her attacker's groin; when he flinched, she pushed the heavy weight of Kunzite from her body and rolled out from under him, pulling herself to her feet and heaving deep breaths.
Not that it hadn't been difficult. Oh, the sweet feeling of her love's arms wrapped around her, his warm hands caressing her face...
She regarded Kunzite. His grey eyes were confused, staring at the hands he had so recently had around his enemy's body. They darkened, then lightened again, and he stared at Sailor Venus.
"Mina...ko..."
"You remember."
"Yes." His eyes were dark. "I am to kill you."
He lunged at her, but she fell away. In retaliation he brought a heavily booted foot against her stomach, and she exhaled sharply, falling to the ground.
Sailor Venus girded her mind.
Kunzite was now her enemy.
Sailor Moon was still running when a torrent of demons, the most horrifying she had encountered yet, washed over her, knocking her down and filling the area with a foul odor.
She stood to fight them, but the room went pitch black, and she felt herself riding on the waves of demons. She screamed, tried to fight her way out of the army...but they weren't hurting her.
She felt her motion stop, and she was dumped from the legion of demons. As abruptly as the light had disappeared, it reappeared, albeit dimly. Sailor Moon looked up from her position on the blackly shining floor to regard the demon queen herself, Queen Beryl, seated in a black stone throne on a dais above where Sailor Moon stood.
A small, wicked grin curved over Beryl's face.
"So, Queen Serenity...we meet again."
"For the last time," Sailor Moon said defiantly, standing.
Queen Beryl laughed loudly, then waved her hand at Sailor Moon. "You really think you can stand against me? You don't even have the help of your powered Sailor friends." Her smile widened. "Your sisters were made short work of by the sentries. They tore them apart quite quickly after you left...literally."
Sailor Moon winced visibly, and Beryl chuckled a bit.
"Yes...and the other four are being taken care of by their former lovers...my wonderful generals," she continued, clapping her hands. "Isn't it just coincidence that your four soldiers are held under such a spell by my foremost generals?"
"What did you do to them?" Sailor Moon asked, incensed.
"Ah, and that is my finest masterpiece," said Beryl. "You see, little sailor girl...the four men whom your friends loved so much also happened to be the foremost warriors of King Endymion's army. The four strongest generals...and they all had special powers as well.
"But each of them has a weakness – the love of four women from their home countries. And although they pledged allegiance to Elysian...their true allegiance was to their loves." Beryl smiled wickedly. "Love...it is such a funny thing! It claims to bond people together. And yet it can be used to divide. As now. Where are your friends now, Serenity?"
Sailor Moon tightened her grip around her moon sceptre. "You've used their love to twist their minds," she replied harshly.
"No," Beryl said. "I only used their love to divide. Their minds are already twisted." She stood to her full height, smiling down at Sailor Moon. "Speaking of love...I'd like to introduce you to someone."'
Her smile widened.
"Princess Serenity, I give you my partner nation's leader..."
The light shifted, revealing a slightly smaller throne to her right.
Endymion smiled serenely.
Serenity gasped. "Ma..Mamoru?"
Endymion stood, what dim light there was seeming to fall directly onto him. "Princess Serenity.." His eyes, already a midnight shade of blue, darkened.
"Princess?"
"With your trespass, do you really think I would receive you back as my wife?"
"But..." Sailor Moon heaved, grasping desperately for words. "Mamoru...I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you or seem distrustful...I was scared by my sisters. Your counsel about not letting them convince me was right. I am so sorry." Her lip quivered. "I love you."
There was a perceptible flicker in Endymion's eyes, but they quickly returned to the darkness that shrouded them. "Betraying my trust and setting my room on fire? That was dark."
His arm tightened, and for the first time Sailor Moon glimpsed the wickedly glinting golden blade in his hands. "But your infidelity cannot be excused!"
He was nearly on top of her by the time she saw the movement, the gleaming blade heading straight for her throat. A quick avoidance got her out of harm's way, but she lost her balance and tumbled to the floor. Almost as quickly Endymion slashed again. She rolled across the cold obsidian, aiming to avoid his quick thrusts of the blade to avoid being skewed across it.
Beryl laughed.
"Infidelity?" she asked, heaving.
Endymion brought the sword up again, slashing towards her, and she yelped and scooted away, finally bringing herself back to her feet.
"Don't play the dolt," he replied icily, lifting himself from the ground. He swung the heavy sword at her again and she tried to dodge it. Missing and losing her balance again earned her a neat slash in her side. She yelped in pain.
"I don't know what you mean...I have been looking for you since the day you left!"
"Liar." Another slash, this time into the flesh on her leg. It buckled, and she fell again.
Endymion's face twisted into a wicked smile, and he brought his sword to Serenity's throat. "You'll feel the pain of lying to me, lunar scum."
Serenity looked up and, for the first time, stared into the darkness present in Endymion's eyes.
She woke up.
Endymion brought his sword above again.
It clanked.
Sailor Moon had whipped out her Moon Sceptre, and she used it to parry Endymion's blow. The two were held in a deadlock, Sailor Moon staring at the darkness evident in her beloved's eyes.
Something is wrong.
She focused her energy and pushed Endymion's sword from her own, then jumped to her feet, wincing at the pain in her leg.
Endymion seemed to nod in both annoyance and satisfaction. He would be gaining a fight, but he wasn't sure he wanted to fight with Sailor Moon. There was determination in her eyes, and he knew that Serenity was no timid person.
"What is wrong with you, Endymion?" Sailor Moon asked, and she surprised him by striking the first blow. He deflected it and fought back, gripping his sword with both hands and swinging at the senshi. She parried the blow and came back with another.
They were fencing. Beryl watched, eyes narrowed.
"With me?" He seemed surprised at her boldness. "The question, my dear," he spat, bitter venom on the last word, "is what will be the matter with you...adulteress."
"Adulteress?" Sailor Moon was so surprised by the word that she allowed Endymion to get in a vital hit, slicing her across her arm. She barely felt the pain – the emotional tack had been much harder to deal with. "I would never commit adultery against you!"
"Liar!" Endymion's passion was so great, he stopped mid-attack and heaved, pointing his sword at Sailor Moon. "Not only did you wrong me, you wronged me with my best friend!"
The last came out on a sob.
It hit her like a stone.
"With...Helios?" Her eyes lit on Queen Beryl. She actually looked...worried.
"You!" She lifted her scepter and pointed at the evil queen. "You tricked him!" She turned back to Endymion. "You saw Helios, heard his declaration of love?"
"And saw your wistful expression of return."
"You saw the Golden Arrow of Eros!"
Endymion's face contorted from one of anger and hurt to one of shock.
His eyes flickered ocean blue.
"A...a golden arrow of Eros," he said. He looked at Sailor Moon, annoyed. "Those were my father's weapons!"
"One was in Helios's leg...on the way to the underworld," she said, flickering a glance at Beryl. "He had been shot by two of the guards in the palace, who chased him as he escaped. And blindfolded him. When he came to me, I untied his blind. I was the first one he saw."
"And so he fell into infatuation." Endymion fell quiet. "How...would the guard..."
His eyes slowly drifted to Beryl. He blinked, and his eyes cleared briefly.
"You...tricked me?"
"No!" Beryl said adamantly, advancing forward and pointing towards Sailor Moon. "She...she betrayed you! You hate her!"
"I...Serenity?" Endymion shifted his gaze back to Sailor Moon. Slowly, his eyes began to clear. "I...am sorry."
Sailor Moon smiled.
"I..."
Suddenly the room went completely dark, and a fluttering came into it. A deafening shrieking descended onto the room. Sailor Moon covered her ears in pain, falling to her knees in shock.
The eerie shrieking was soon joined by more – that of an Endymion in pain.
As suddenly as it began, it was over, and the room's dim lighting returned. However, when Sailor Moon opened her eyes, only she and Beryl were in the room.
"You – what did you do to him!" she shrieked at the older woman.
The dark queen seemed just as angry. "Shut up, you stupid girl," she said irritably, and for the first time to Sailor Moon she seemed human, given to emotional displays. "He shall be fine. I have to repair the world of damage you did!"
She stormed towards the moon princess. "I finally gather his confidence and his love and you come to take it all away!"
"His love?" Sailor Moon scoffed. "You think you have his love? You have a lot to learn about love!"
"And you thought you knew all as well," Beryl shot back, bitterly. "But I suppose you thought wrong – or did your friends not leave you for their past lovers?"
Sailor Moon narrowed her eyes. "You think you're in control. You can't control something as strong as love...or the souls of those who take it," she replied curtly. "It will backfire on you, Beryl."
"Ah...but by the time it does, you'll be dead." She smiled wickedly, and with a horrific shriek called forth an innumerable wave of demons.
Sailor Moon swallowed the yelp that threatened to emerge from her throat as the demons battered her. Only fifteen minutes had passed and she was already in unbearable pain, barely able to stand under the force of the demonic force. The demons tore through her flesh; she was losing blood rapidly, and her head was spinning out of control. Another tear knocked her to her hands and knees. She cried out in pain. Surely another hit would knock her unconscious, and a few more would render her dead...just as Beryl had said.
She cried out again, a simple cry to the goddess Selene, to carry her body away to the dreamworld rightly.
Suddenly she felt a strong surge of power deep within her. She shot to her feet, nearly toppling from the force. In shock, she looked down at her feet.
They were glowing bright red.
Mars!
Her quick reconnaissance took the demons aback, so she took a quick moment to tap into that power. Sailor Mars...she could feel her again. Why...how? She concentrated deeply on Mars' power. It was definitely increasing her strength, her ability. What was happening?
What is happening?
I am praying, she heard return.
And so am I!
Sailor Mars had released her reliance on herself; she was relying on the gods, the powerful beings who channeled power into her and her friends. As was Serenity herself. Their simultaneous prayers were reconnecting them.
Reconnection! She had to get the others...
Tell them all to pray, she said shortly, and thrust back at the demons with new confidence.