The Senshi, Shitennou and Endymion appeared at the Time Gate. The soldiers there gave a short bow, not relaxing their alert.
Sailor Pluto stepped forward. "Attention, soldiers!" she called. "Has anyone attempted to pass through the gate before now?"
The soldier in command stepped forward. "Forgive me, Sailor Pluto, but I must ask you to state the password."
Sailor Pluto gave a tight smile. "Very good, soldier. The codeword was Anomaly."
He nodded low. "Thank you. No, Sailor Pluto. No one has attempted to cross through the Gate of Time. It has been silent since you left."
"Arigatou, soldier. We need you to stay here and continue to guard the gate for a short time longer. I will come and relieve you as soon as our business is complete."
The soldier nodded, and stepped back into rank. With that, the group of invincible royals stepped through the Gate of Time.
X
The materialized again in the Great Hall of the Crystal Palace. It was oddly quiet, as in this time stream, time was still stopped. Outside, the citizens of Crystal Tokyo were frozen in their celebration of the Awakening.
The instant King Endymion felt the floor of his home under his feet, he began to run up the great spiral stairs, shouting Serenity's name. The Senshi followed him grimly, matching his pace.
"Serenity!" Endymion cried haggardly, bursting through the doors of the master bedroom. Haruka almost ran him down because he froze in his tracks.
The royal master bedroom was in a state of shambles. The massive king sized bed was overturned. Rolled sheets were strewn around it. The floor was littered with shards of glass from the regal full body mirror framed with solid gold. At some point in the struggle, it had been shattered by something. Or someone. There was a tiny trail of blood droplets trailing from the mirror to the middle of the room, then stopping oddly.
The black and hot white sears of energy attacks were all over the walls. Naru and Serenity were nowhere in sight.
Endymion's mouth fell in horror as he slowly walked his room, taking in every detail.
"Don't touch anything. Ami. Can your computer analyze these burn marks, the way things are lying on the floor, and show us what happened here?"
Ami frowned. "I've never tried such a thing. But I'm sure I can do it."
She and Zoisite went outside into the hall, hovering around the tiny Mercurian device.
Haruka walked the scene, careful not to disturb anything. She paused, looking at the walls.
"Look at this, Mamoru. Some of these marks are black; some are white."
Endymion was trembling slightly. Whether for worry or pent up rage, Haruka didn't know. "So?" he answered shortly, his eyes darting around.
Uranus gave a sardonic grin. "Well, we know we were successful in changing the timeline back to normal. And it seems that due to some old cliché, only the bad guys use black energy signatures. And only Serenity's signature is completely white."
She crossed her arm, her grin widening. "I think our Sleeping Beauty was most definitely awake. And I think she went out fighting."
Sailor Jupiter crossed her arms. "Good. I hope she took a piece of whoever this enemy is with her."
Sailor Mars looked strangely puzzled as she approached the wall with the dramatic energy burns on it. Jadeite wore the same look of frustrated incomprehension.
"What is it?" Neptune asked.
The two tamers of the spirit realm looked up at the same time, but Rei answered.
"We have encountered this energy signature before now," she said softly, puzzled.
"But its been mutated," said Jadeite, continuing for her. "since we last fought it. I can't identify it."
"But who would want to do this?" Venus asked. "Why go through all the trouble, risking the stability of the timeline, just to get us away from her? What's the motive?"
"It could be Diamond," Saturn suggested. "Wasn't he obsessed with Serenity?"
"Hai, but Diamond wasn't strong or smart enough to pull this off," Kunzite observed. "No way."
"Plus," Sailor Pluto inserted, "When I stopped time when we fought them, he was affected by it."
"It might not be the Black Moon at all," Nephrite said. "It could be someone else, who chose to alter that timeline because of opportunity. Perhaps it was the easiest place to send an anomaly."
As they discussed, Endymion stood silently in a corner.
That was over 50 years ago. Over 50 years ago I broke up with her because of a dream. She forgave me. She took me back. Now we're married, and soon we'll begin our family. For over 50 years, we've been happy.
Still, that mistake comes back to haunt me. That one moment of weakness over 50 years ago is the reason my wife is in the hands of a madman.
He blinked back his stinging tears of regret. That could be her blood on the floor.
"King Endymion!"
He was startled out of his self-loathing by Sailor Mercury. "All of you stand back," she instructed. "We've programmed the computer to project holograms of Serenity, Naru, and the enemy. This hologram will not show who the enemy is. We've programmed it to project him as a man in black. The computer is able to show every step, due to the smallest imprints in the carpet."
Everyone moved into the hallway. Luckily, the entrance to the master bedroom was through two huge double doors which could open outward as well as inward. So the whole crowd of them filled the doorway, watching as Ami and Zoisite set the tiny computer on the floor, and pressed a button.
In an instant, holograms of Serenity and Naru appeared. Serenity was struggling on the bed, tied down by sheets so she couldn't harm herself. Naru was kneeling beside the bed, soothing her silently.
Zoisite pressed fast-forward. Naru didn't move much. She stayed near the bed, either kneeling, standing, or sitting next to it. But Serenity's movements grew more and more weak and subdued. When Serenity's eyes suddenly flickered open, Zoisite slowed it back down.
Naru was crying joyfully, and stood from the chair and walked towards the bed to untie the sheets. But suddenly, a man in black appeared in the middle of the room. But his feet never touched the ground.
He yanked Naru away from Serenity, tossing her across the room. She knocked her head on the wall, and fell to the floor, stunned.
Serenity was groggily struggling at her bonds. Her mouth moved, her face shining with regal anger, but the holograms were silent.
The man in black walked on air over to Naru, putting a weapon to her head. She froze. Serenity then burst through her bonds, and opened her palm. Her scepter appeared in her grasp, and she shot a blazing white beam at him. He dodged, throwing himself away from Naru.
An energy fight ensued, causing the bed to overturn and littering the floor with debris as the attacks flew through the air. Serenity was wobbly on her feet, and her eyes were still slightly glazed, but she stood in front of Naru, defending her with her scepter. But eventually, the Enemy got a hit in on her shoulder. She fell in pain. The man in black, walked forward, and threw Serenity into the mirror.
At this point, Endymion sucked in a furious breath.
Serenity stood slowly, dizzy and bleeding from a few cuts. At that point, Naru threw herself onto the man in black. He blasted her away, and Serenity ran forward, her blood sprinkling the floor. She raised her hand in surrender. Her mouth moved again, her face angrily pleading.
A pause, and then she opened her palm and her weapon disappeared. After this, the man in black grabbed her violently, snagged Naru, and all three of them disappeared.
Afterwards, no one spoke. Only Sailor Uranus was strong enough to break the silence.
"It appears our Enemy doesn't walk. He flies," Haruka observed grimly.
Endymion shook himself away from the images he'd just seen, and whirled to face her. "What did you just say?"
"I said he fli—," Haruka began, but he interrupted her. His face was stunned, his tone, amazed.
"Kami. She knew all along. She knew all along and she was trying to tell us. Kooin ya no gotoshi. Time flies."
He looked up, fire blazing in his eyes. "It's Wiseman. Wiseman did this."
XXXXXXXXX
Where Serenity was, she couldn't see a thing. She sensed Naru was nearby. The poor woman had fainted.
Her arms were tied behind her, around a pole. So were her legs. She knew she was losing blood from several deep cuts from the glass.
She didn't struggle. She was weak, and her adversary knew it. But her adversary also knew that she could make the rope untie itself just by thinking about it. So she was patient.
"I've waited for this moment a long time, Serenity," a cold, dark voice came through the darkness. "And I believe after all this time, we will be more evenly matched. Especially since that brat isn't alive to help you with another Silver Crystal."
"Why not attack now?" Serenity asked calmly. "I am weak after that stint with the time sickness. I must say it was a creative move on your part, though."
A chilling laugh rumbled towards her. "I'm waiting for the audience, of course. Besides, I'm sure your husband is dying to take his anger out on me."
Serenity still remained calm. The years had taught her that much. Never to show fear or anger or any emotion. "Why should you invite them? I am the one you want. And I am certainly too weak to defend myself. But they, however, will be fueled by their energy and their anger when they get here."
Another skin-crawling laugh. "I know. That's what I'm counting on, Serenity. Besides, I want them to get here before I explain everything to you. I don't want to tell the story twice."
Serenity felt her face muscles twitch with anger at his arrogance. She had no idea how he'd survived all those years ago, but that didn't matter anymore.
"You won't get away with this. All your effort is for naught," she spat. "We are stronger since we last met, Wiseman. Exponentially stronger."
Another deep, chilling cackle. "As am I, Serenity. As am I."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
I know, I know. It's horribly short. But I wanted to update before the sight went down. I know you won't be able to review right away, but please don't forget to come back and review!
I promise the next chapter will be much longer. And it will be the grand finale, followed by an epilogue. See you there!
-rosa lunae