From Then, To Now, 'Til Later
Chapter 8: The Final Battle, Part 2
By: AutumnHime
The smell of roses, scorched earth, and blood was overpowering. Amidst the crimson blossoms, a single golden bloom stood. Shadows surrounded her, swirling and circling too quickly for the human eye to catch. The golden bloom dropped to one knee as claw marks and scratches appeared on her body. Blood oozed, thick and dark.
*Help me, guardian planet Venus, help me to defeat these demon spawn!* The Senshi of Venus screamed mentally, gazing at the twinkling heavens while keeping an eye on the minions of Beryl that flanked her. A thin red line trailed over an eyelid, slithering over one pale cheek. The orange and blue uniform of the Princess of the Moon's captain of the guard had been destroyed. The bow at the back was gone, and her skirt had been torn to shreds.
"How now the famed beauty of the Princess Venus?" A single voice mocked. The speaker appeared above Venus's head in a cyclone of rose petals, her (1) blond hair tied back by a green ribbon, and the grey outfit she wore immaculate.
"Zoisite," Venus croaked; hatred and pity blazing in her cerulean eyes. "What do you want? No matter how hard you try, someone else will always be more beautiful than you, for beauty is something of the soul, not of the skin!"
"How dare you!" A whipcrack of power sliced open Venus's other cheek. "Besides, once we take over the castle and kill off those two last scions of the royal Moon line, no one will be thought to be more beautiful than I. And they will die, just as soon as my fiends kill you!" Zoisite laughed, a horrendously high, tittering giggle, one of impending doom and already victorious evil.
*Here my daughter, take this last gift. But if you use it, beware * A bright sphere of light formed in front of the Princess of Venus's face. Inside the glowing ball, a stone sword waited to be clasped. She struggled to her feet, reaching out for the hilt. Zoisite, too caught up in her evil plans, noticed the sword too late.
"KILL HER!" She screamed to the grinning monsters.
Venus responded with the last of her strength. "ARTEMIS SWORD," she screamed the battle cries of a warrior going to her doom and relishing it, "SWEEP!" Venus spun, destroying wave after wave of the demonic horde. The dead piled up until the glowing top that the Soldier of Venus and the sword formed begun to slow, began to wobble, just a bit. The monsters pressed in again, eager for the kill. Venus crashed to the ground, transforming back into Minako during the fall. Yet the hard landing that she had expected never came. A wordless scream of pain, the fourth of those sounded that night, hair-raising and mind shattering in its intensity filled the night to the point where the air itself seemed to shriek, and then shattered even that; and immediately before her bruised and battered body met the earth, arms grasped her. She had barely enough time to gaze into Nanashi's concerned green gaze before the earth spun once more, black dots waltzed in front of her eyes, and she tumbled free of her mortal coil.
Nanashi set Minako gently upon a bed of lilies. His eyes changed from their concerned look to one of emerald hardness. He glared at Zoisite.
"Oh dear, did I hurt your beloved? Sooo sorry," she mocked, unaware of the danger that Nanashi truly posed.
The normally quiet god grew savage. "Zoisite, for the crimes you have committed against the Reign of the Moon, you will die. For the death of my fiancee, if I were you, I'd pray that you are never reborn. Every time silence suddenly falls, you will fear that I am right behind you, and I will be. You will have to live in constant noise, never a peaceful, quiet moment, for I will stalk you from this day forward, through this millennium and the next and every one after that. You will grow slowly insane and ever more paranoid, until one day, when you least expect it, I'm in front of you and you die once again." The cold rage in his eyes suddenly ignited, as he gathered what energy he had left from getting here so quickly into a single attack. "Now DIE! SILENT ARROW STRIKE!"
Crimson burst through the air as Trowa sank down next to Minako, touching her golden hair once more and cocooning himself in the silence, before he drifted peacefully into a coma.
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In an untouched corner of the Palace of the Moon, a sleeping woman stirred on a bed. The two cats sitting at the foot held their breath and waited.
The sheets rustled again. Silvery lavender hair drifted lazily across satin pillows. A face pure and strong in its beliefs twitched, and eyelids rose to reveal wise sapphire eyes. Queen Selenity had finally awoken. She glanced down at her two advisors' faces.
The cats responded to the unspoken question in her face. "Your Majesty, the Moon Kingdom is under attack. Beryl and her hordes escaped their prison and have descended upon us without mercy. We can no longer feel four of the Princesses' energy." Luna stated.
"Serenity?" The queen's voice drew out the name into a question, breathless, afraid of the answer.
Artemis merely shook his head. "She's the only one that still has some energy left, but how much longer..."
The queen ran out of the bedroom before he could finish his statement.
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Above the garden resting place where Minako and Trowa lay in peace, Serenity paced the marble balcony. She had felt every single one of her friends and guardians die, heard their last thoughts and wished them a peaceful rest. They would be called back. They always were. But for a little while they could drift in that warm oblivion.
"I'm sorry, my friends," she whispered softly, "Sorry that I was stubborn and blind and a fool." Her eyes, haunted by the deaths of the last few hours, drifted closed.
"That's right, Serenity. You are a pathetic excuse of a Lunarian noble." Endymion's voice oozed out from behind a column, his words burning Serenity's heart, as the cretin of Earth stepped around the column. The black armor he had worn earlier pulled all the light in the room into it. "And now, you are going to die, moon-bitch. I wish I had time to torture you more, but it was so much fun to watch you wallow in self-pity and torment yourself that I already feel revenged for the insult you and your friends gave me that first day." He drew his sword, dark and gleaming with the silvery red blood of the people of the Empire of the Moon.
"I am harder to kill than you think, bastard." Serenity hissed; eyes luminescent with her anger. She called upon the silvery long sword given to her by the Princes of the Planets in case, they had said, they were no longer there to protect her. "En garde, Prince," She spat and lunged at the Prince's heart.
Silver and black lights clashed and danced back and forth across the room. Surprise had been Serenity's single hope, for despite her skill, she had only been training with the sword for two weeks. Endymion, driven back with the Tsuki no hime's first attack, quickly regained his balance and played with Serenity. A cut there, a slice here, and the Moon Princess began to falter. Another few movements of the sword minuet, and she began to tremble in exhaustion, and from blood loss.
"Give up, Serenity, and I may kill you quickly." The Prince of Earth offered as he continued to torment her with his superior weapons skills.
"I will not give up, Endymion. You may destroy me, but you will have to do it without my help." She lunged forward on her last word, slicing open the Prince of Earth's cheek. Endymion raised a single startled hand, before raising his sword for the final blow at the unprotected princess.
Serenity bowed her head, waiting for the sword to drop and take her away from this life. It never fell.
Swords clanged together once more. "You won't leave me that easily, Sere-chan," a husky voice teased. In front of her, a dark grin on his face as he glanced back at his beloved princess, Ares stood, locked in combat with the evil prince.
"Ares!" Endymion screamed in frustration, focusing his attack on this latest defender of the Moon. Ares slowly forced Endymion back, back toward the balcony, and back toward the door. With every swing of the sword, Endymion lost ground. Endymion gave up. At his current level of power he was no match for the God of War. He turned, swift even in his black armor, and raced for the ledge. He jumped, reaching out to Queen Beryl, drifting along in space. With his sword pointed to her, Endymion cried out, "HELP ME, O QUEEN!"
Beryl smiled evilly, red hair flying back, as she pointed her hands to her servant and sent a ball of dark energy towards him.
Ares cursed. "Stay here, Serenity," he snarled, preparing to jump off the balcony. He paused, one foot on the railing. "Serenity," he declared more gently, "I love you." With that statement, and a flick of one of his hands back towards the Princess of the Moon, he leapt towards Endymion.
Serenity ran to the balcony rail. "HEERO!!!" she cried, catching the golden star-shaped locket that he had thrown her. "ARES!!!!"
Beryl prepared an attack. The dark power flowed, striking Ares with nega-energy formed lightning.
Serenity cried out, feeling his pain, and jumped off of the balcony as well, mindful only of her need to get to him. Sparkling drops of diamonds left Serenity's eyes, her commander's uniform changing into the gown of the Princess of the moon. Her coronet reformed into her formal hairstyle, as her hands reached for her love. Heero turned; stretching his hands out as well as another wave of dark energy overtook them.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The wail, the fifth one to be heard in all of the history of the Moon Kingdom, burst from the lips of Queen Selenity. Selenity, seeing the broken body of her daughter and the man her daughter loved, did the only thing she could to save her only child.
"SILVER IMPERIUM CRYSTAL LOCK!" she screamed. Energy burst out of her chest, bathing her and all of the palace grounds in a silvery sphere of light. As the energy hit it, the darkness screamed and vanished, caught up in the crystal itself. As it came to the fallen Senshi and Princes, it gently picked them up, bathing their wounds until no physical scar was left upon the body. They were then sealed inside of the crystal as well, to sleep for a millennia before waking up to a life where they would never have to face this anguish again, she hoped. Unfortunately, the Queen, from the position she had stood, thought that Endymion had been helping the Moon Kingdom to fight. He was not locked back into the Negaverse, but left to roam free...to seek evil again.
The light gently faded, leaving Queen Selenity resting upon a dais of rock. "Luna, Artemis...I'm sending you to earth with the last of my strength. Take care of my daughter...and her court..." The queen waved one pale hand, and another flash of light caught up the two royal advisors and tumbled them gently to earth.
The queen cushioned her head against the stone bier. She was just about to let go when the four outer guardians arrived. "YOUR MAJESTY!" They all cried, rushing towards the fallen queen.
The queen smiled, drained from her last use of the Imperium Crystal. "My loyal outer Senshi, I have tasks for all of you. Saturn," she called the youngest of the Senshi, and the most troubled yet also one of the purest souls to ever exist. "You will be reborn. The other senshi will have no cause to remember you, their memories will be gone. Be wary of whom you deal with, and do not fear the dark, my Soldier of Rebirth. Light will always find you." Saturn bowed, black hair tumbling forward, violet eyes sparkling with unshed tears.
"Uranus and Neptune," The queen summoned the next two. "My two fiercest and gentlest protectors, you too will be reborn on Earth. Do not forget one another, and always remember to search for the Messiah of Light. She will appear. However, your job is to protect the galaxy from outer threats, first and foremost, as always. Do what you must!" Golden and aquamarine hair fell gently as the two Princesses of Uranus and Neptune bowed and backed away.
"Pluto," The Senshi of Time stepped forward, key staff lightly chinking on the ground. Her wide maroon eyes registered only concern. The queen smiled, knowing Pluto already knew her task. Her duties as queen, however, made her say it. "I ask that you guard the Gates of Time from all invaders. As you know, this means that of all of the Senshi, only you will not be reborn at approximately the same time as the rest. I'm sorry for the loneliness you must endure, and please realize that I do not do this to punish you. I do it to protect the galaxy!" The queen's words became shorter, harsher, as breathing became harder.
"You three..." The queen gasped, closing her eyes, "must remember your pure hearts..." Her hand, upraised to point at Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto, fell without control to the queen's side.
Pluto banged her staff against the ground. "The Queen of the Silver Millennium is dead. All mourn for the end of this glorious reign, and the death of a great queen."
Uranus followed through, as if in ritual. With great dignity, the four stepped out of the queen's burial chamber, serious and silent. Uranus turned, and raised a short sword sparkling with jewels to the heavens above her. She pointed the sword without a word to where the queen lay. The marble stones of the palace crumbled around, forming a tomb around the last ruler of the Silver Millennium.
Still without words, Pluto waved a single last good-bye and stepped through a portal opened with her keystaff to the Time Gates. Saturn, silent, tapped her glaive three times upon the rubble that had once been the most revered site in the galaxy.
Once. Life.
Twice. Death.
Thrice. Rebirth.
A sphere of purple light grew from the glaive's point. Hotaru, Haruka, and Michiru gathered together, as the last scions of the royalty of the Silver Millennium disappeared (*).
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End Arc 1--the Silver Millennium.
(1) I know that in some cases, Zoisite is considered a guy, but I decided that the part fit her better as a female.
*--Selenity couldn't control the range of the Imperium crystal, so when she used it, everybody, all of the planets' royalty, etc. disappeared. They left only ruins which would be discovered some millennia afterwards.
If you liked this arc, please tell me. I need to know if I should actually write the next one and post it. I can always dream it in my head!
AH