Disclaimer: I do not own anyone from "CardCaptor Sakura". They are all owned by the ladies of CLAMP who are much more talented than I. (smile) I also do not own anyone from "Sailor Moon". They are all owned by Takeuchi Naoko whose vision will live eternally. (smile) (Much to Elflina's dismay...) All other characters are my own. Feel free to steal them.
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Sorry it's so late... But it will be worth it, I promise! (smile) Greetings to Mangaka-chan, xo Concrete Angel ox, and IchikoKitsuneKoumori! Thanks for reviewing! Now, everyone take a deep breath... Your next update won't be until Monday night. And then Wednesday, and then it will all be over... But sad thoughts aside, please Enjoy! - Raya
Moonlit Sakura
Chapter 40 – Release and Dispel
Tsukimine Shrine Crystal Tokyo
Princess Lady lowered her Crystal, and looked at the strange group with startled eyes. The beautiful flowing dress of the one holding the book caught her attention. "Princess?" she asked, sounding confused.
"XGIFRA XTEC HO MRIL!" King Necro snarled as he desperately seized his chance to catch her off-guard. A blackish blood red ball of power gathered at the point of his wand, and then blasted towards her.
As Princess Lady spun back towards him with a cry of surprise, four streaks of pink flew from the group of strangers towards her as well. She cried out again, turned her head, and threw up an arm to protect her face as the five lights met and exploded in front of her. When she lowered her arm, she saw four large pink cards hovering protectively in front of her.
"No-one hurts our Princess," she heard Sailor Ceres say in a firm, but whispery voice.
"How low can you get?" Sailor Juno asked, her whispery voice sounding disgusted.
"Slime," Sailor Vesta growled.
"Are you all right, Lady-chan?" Sailor Pallas asked with a worried tone in her whispery voice.
"G-guys?" Princess Lady stuttered, looking around excitedly. "Guys, where are you?"
"Right here, Princesse," Sailor Ceres said in a hard, determined tone. "Join!"
Princess Lady's eyes grew wide as the four cards in front of her began to glow. Quickly, a shield formed around her. "Guys!" she gasped as she recognized the power that generated the shield.
"Noooo…." King Necro growled in shock and frustration as he, too, recognized the power. "That's impossible! You're dead! Gone! Banished forever! Deleted!"
"We're back, creep," Sailor Juno said a little viciously.
"It does feel odd, though," Sailor Pallas said reflectively. "I don't feel quite myself."
"We're still linked to the Cards," Princess Lady heard Super Sailor Mercury say from amid the group of strangers. The Senshi of Wisdom sounded a little disappointed. "It's really weak, but it's still there."
"Watch out!" one of the newcomers shouted as King Necro threw several balls of electricity at the shield around the princess. The four Cards in front of her glowed briefly as they absorbed the energy. King Necro's expression grew wilder and more furious with every attack that they blocked or absorbed. Suddenly, he launched a ball of acid towards the unprotected group of travelers.
"Look out!" Diana called from across the battlefield.
Simultaneously, the young woman holding the book cried out. "SHEILD!" A pink streak left the book in her arms and met the acid attack inches away from the young man who had instinctively raised his sword. For a brief moment, Super Sailor Jupiter flickered into view.
"That's it!" the young man shouted suddenly. He spun to face the girl holding the book. "Sakura! Not Shield. Protection! Use the new names!"
"Protection!" she called obediently. Her group watched with bated breath as another of King Necro's attacks hit the Protection Card. They let it out in a sigh of disappointment when Super Sailor Jupiter flickered into and out of view again.
Sakura got a thoughtful look on her face. "Not quite…" she said slowly. "There's something more…" Frantically, she tried to chase down the idea that was just at the edge of her consciousness as the enemy continued to throw attacks at them.
"Forget that!" the winged cat yelled as a fireball came a little too close for comfort. "Use another one! Quick!" He leapt away from his group, and roared a fireball towards the enemy, trying to throw him off by attacking from a different angle. King Necro growled and threw giant ball of liquid at him. The ball split into three, one attacking each group of defenders.
"War!" Sakura called out. Another pink flash came out of her book. This one dodged the attack he had flung at them, and transformed into a fireball that attacked his shields.
"Yeah!" the cat yelled with delight as he dodged the attack thrown at him. His shout drowned out the cries of pain made by the four Cards guarding the Princess. His happiness was short lived, however, when he realized that the fire attacks were not getting through to the enemy. "That's not working. Use another one!" he growled as he shook his wings impatiently.
"Um… Revolution, Rebellion, Affinity..." Sakura mumbled, trying to remember the names of the new Cards. Beside her, the angel summoned his bow and shot several ice arrows towards the enemy. Like the fireballs, the arrows broke on his shields.
"Oh, come on, Yue, you can do better than that!" the cat taunted as he extended his wings. The wings began to glow. Suddenly, he flapped them towards the enemy, and then leapt over a ball of wind. Several feathers flew through the air and became fiery darts.
Yue lifted an eyebrow, and gave the cat a smug look as the darts bounced off. "At least my attacks actually hit, Cerberus. What about yours?" he asked a little smugly. Cerberus just growled in response and sent more fire darts towards the enemy.
The young man suddenly threw a piece of paper into the air. "Thunder God, I summon thee!" he cried. As he used the flat of his sword to hit the paper, bolts of lightening flew from it towards the enemy. Like the fireball attacks, however, the lightening just writhed around the outside of the shield, unable to penetrate it.
"Arhhh! I can't take this anymore!" Super Sailor Jupiter called out sounding aggravated as a ball of wind hit her shield again. "Jupiter Oak EVOLUTION!"
The defenders gasped in shock as the Protection Card glowed brightly, and then began to spout branches and roots. Sakura staggered as it quickly formed a cage over the remaining travelers and then grew into a tall tree centered over them.
"Interesting…" the bat winged girl said as she looked around curiously. "A giant oak tree… Evolved."
The ball of fire representing War paused in its attack, and then seemed to glow a little brighter. "So… My turn! Mars Snake FIRE!" The fireball began to move faster and faster, elongating itself into a giant, flaming snake. Quickly, it wrapped its coils around King Necro's shield and began to squeeze and burn. Once again, Sakura staggered, this time bumping into Yue as she almost collapsed.
"Sakura!" the dark haired young woman cried worriedly. The young man looked over his shoulder, broke off his attacks, and quickly raced to the reeling sorceress' side.
"Are you all right?" he asked in a voice full of concern. Sakura looked up at him with a shaky smile and nodded.
"Okay," Super Sailor Jupiter said tightly. "How… 'bout this? Jupiter… Coconut… CYCLONE!" Brown, hard coconuts began to form on the upper branches of the oak tree which then flung them towards the enemy. With a glare, he began to blast them out of the sky.
"Ooo…" the bat winged girl crooned. "Even more interesting! Coconuts in an oak tree. This trip might not be boring after all." She looked curiously at Sakura as the girl grimaced in pain and sagged into her boyfriend. "Hmmm… Energy depletion… That won't do."
Above them, the tree began to wilt and collapse. It formed back into a Card again, and floated down to lay before Sakura. "Watch out!" the young woman called, staggering back up right. The bracelets on her wrist clanged musically together as she reached out towards the War Card.
Yue and the young man acted simultaneously. The angel fired a rapid series of arrows, knocking away the golden haired boy who was weakly attempting to reach for the Card. "Wind God, I summon thee!" the young man cried out, throwing another piece of paper into the air. Immediately, a whirlwind flew from the paper, wrapped itself around the Card, and drew it to safety.
"Thank you, Shaoran," Sakura said gratefully as she accepted the Card from him. Slowly, she bent down to pick up the Protection Card as well. When her head spun dizzily, she fell to her knees and braced herself with one hand to wait it out.
"Sakura-chan?" the dark haired woman cried out anxiously. She watched as Shaoran dropped to one knee beside her friend.
"I'm… I'm okay, Tomoyo-chan. Just a little tired," Sakura called reassuringly.
The bat winged girl raised an eyebrow, shook her head with a frown, and then raised her right hand into the air in front of her heart. Cupping it, she carved out a stylistic infinity sign made of two hearts. As her hand passed through the air, it gathered a small ball of energy. She tossed the first ball at the Protection Card, and then repeated the gesture, moving a little to her right as if to form a chain. The second ball of energy she tossed to the War Card.
"More… power…" King Necro growled insanely. Queen Fey and King Wisp cried out in protest as he began to drain them once again.
"What's going on out here?" a strange voice called. Everyone spun to look at the two men, one old and one young, who stood on the path from the heart of the shrine. The white and grey hakumas they wore indicated that they were resident priests.
"Get out of here!" Princess Lady shouted frantically. "Run!" Diana forced her way to her feet, and began to stumble towards them.
"This shrine doesn't open until after dawn," the older man called again. "Please come back later."
King Necro grinned with evil delight and reached out towards the two men. Just as Diana leapt to knock them down, an orange light surrounded them and knocked her away. "Fresh power. Perfect!" King Necro gloated as the two men began to scream in pain.
"Stop it!" Princess Lady and her four guardians yelled. "Leave them alone!" Princess Lady continued on her own.
"Guys!" Sailor Ceres called commandingly.
"Right!" her team mates responded. A shimmer, similar to a heat wave, appeared between King Necro and his new prey.
He growled in frustration as his energy siphon was cut off by the Quartet's new shield. The two priests collapsed silently to the ground. "No matter, I got enough," he said viciously as he moved his wand through another pattern. "XGIFRA XTEC HO MRIL!"
A blood red ball of power flew through the air and into the shield around Princess Lady. The four senshi guarding her screamed in pain as they managed, barely, to deflect it.
"Guys!" the Princess called anxiously as the shield around her flickered and went out. Quickly, she held out her hands to catch the falling Cards.
'Nooo…' she heard them wail in her mind as she caught them. 'Not again! We can't fail again! Lady-chan…'
Across the clearing, King Necro also felt the shield collapse. With a burst of hopeful energy, he threw another attack at the Princess while she was distracted.
Watching helplessly a short distance away, Tomoyo saw the attack leave his wand. "Look out!" she cried frantically.
Cerberus also saw the attack and raced to intercept the ball of pulsating energy. Just as he landed and absorbed the blow, Princess Lady dove to the side, curled protectively around the Cards of her friends.
"Kero-chan!" Sakura gasped as she saw smoke begin to rise from his wings.
"I… I'm fine," he called bravely back to her. He stood protectively in front of the Princess and summoned another fireball to throw at King Necro. "Think, Sakura, think! Use another Card! Something that will eliminate his blasted shield!" he growled as he watched the attack bounce off uselessly once more.
Yue quickly moved in front of Tomoyo leaving Shaoran to protect Sakura as King Necro turned to face them with an ugly expression, and threw another attack at them. "I… had… them…" he growled with a wild look in his eyes. "I had them!"
"Destruction, Death, Beauty…" Sakura said, continuing her recitation, as Yue, Cerberus, and Shaoron frantically deflected and destroyed his attacks and tried to get in a few of their own.
"How about Wisdom?" Tomoyo asked with sudden insight. "Maybe that will help you know which Card will best stop him."
"That's a good idea, Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura said looking a little livelier. "Wisdom!" The Card floating in front of her began to glow. From it a cloud spread to surround her. "Ah!" she and Super Sailor Mercury exclaimed simultaneously. "That's it!"
"What?" Sharoan asked urgently. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah," she replied reassuringly, slowly climbing back to her feet with Shaoran's help. "Let's do it!"
"Everyone! Channel the power back to Sakura-san!" Super Sailor Mercury called out urgently.
Across the clearing, Princess Lady looked towards Sakura, trying desperately to find where Super Sailor Mercury's voice was coming from. From the corner of her eye, she saw King Necro throw yet another attack at her strange protector. "No!" she cried, throwing an arm up. Immediately, power flowed out of her and created a shield in front of the distracted giant cat, saving him from a ball of lightening.
"Protection! War! Wisdom!" Sakura called. The tree and fire-snake appeared again, hovering protectively over the group and the cloud that represented Wisdom. The three incarnations of the Cards began to glow in their respective colors.
Beside Sakura, the bat winged girl drew another stylized infinity sign, and threw the ball of energy into the cloud that represented Wisdom. As Sakura powered up her Cards, she repeated the gesture for each of the remaining senshi and for the king thus completing a full chain of hearts around her.
"Affinity!" A large, watery, indigo mirror appeared in front of the tree. It reflected the enemy, and began to suck power out of his crumbling shield.
"Rebellion!" A giant yellow whirlwind appeared. Its gusts were as sharp as blades as it shredded leaves and grass. It, too, attacked King Necro's shield, making him focus all of his power there rather than in attacks.
"Revolution!" A swirl of black sand appeared and joined the yellow whirlwind.
"Beauty!" A golden, glowing chain of hearts, very similar to the chain being etched in the air by the bat winged girl formed outside of the tree barrier. It glowed blindingly bright and orange as it writhed like a snake as if daring the enemy to attack.
"Hallucination! Distraction! Optical Illusion! Daydream!" The four Cards in Princess Lady's arms began to glow. Slowly, they rose in front of her and then faded into a mottled kaleidoscope of light and color spread throughout a new shield around her and Cerberus.
"Destruction! Life!" Sakura almost ran the words together in her fear of what the Destruction Card would do. A sharp, purple crescent of light appeared and flew to hover in front Cerberus. The grass underneath it began to wilt and die.
But, a green shoot sprang up from amid the withered grass and appeared to be unaffected by Destruction's power. Quickly, it grew into a tangled rose bush with long vine-line branches. These branches spread quickly throughout the clearing, until each Card incarnation had one under them. Suddenly, big red roses blossomed all over it. Energy seemed to flow up from the roses in a sparkling stream to the spirits above them.
"Purify and separate! PURITY!" Sakura yelled. A silver pink white glow spread from the Card she held up. Slowly, it floated out of her hand.
In the distance, the Crystal Palace suddenly shone as bright as the moon on a dark night. The silver crystal which protected it accepted the energy of the generators that Vital had charged up, transformed it into spiritual energy, and fed it to the Queen. Serenity felt the distant power waiting for her use. Quickly, she reached for it, pulled it in, and then pushed it back out in a healing wave.
As the light from the Purity Card touched the incarnations of the other Cards, they trembled and split. Super Sailor Mercury was the first to reappear. In her hands, she held two Cards, and her face lit up triumphantly as she realized she was free.
Super Sailor Jupiter was next, followed by Super Sailor Uranus, Super Sailor Neptune, and Super Sailor Pluto. Luna was held in Super Sailor Pluto's arms. Super Sailor Venus appeared with Artemis wrapped around her feet. Super Sailor Mars and Super Sailor Saturn seemed to appear together.
The three enemy warriors screamed in pain as their failing shields were eroded by the light. King Necro and Queen Fey instinctively curled over in an attempt to protect themselves and King Wisp from the light.
When the light finally touched the princess and her shield, Sailor Ceres, Sailor Vesta, Sailor Juno, and Sailor Pallas appeared in front of Cerberus. King Endymion landed gently in front of Princess Lady as he reappeared, and was almost knocked down by his crying, ecstatic daughter.
Finally, Neo-Queen Serenity appeared in front of Sakura, transformed by the power the sorceress and the distant Palace had given her to use. As the light died down around her, she turned her eyes to the two Cards that she held. They glowed briefly for a moment, and then sluggishly rose into the air and floated to their Mistress.
"Light! Dark! You're all right!" Sakura exclaimed in relief. "Thank heavens…. I'm so glad!" she said as she gathered them gently to her chest. From around the shrine, the other Cards were released by the senshi and returned to their Mistress.
"Mama?" Princess Lady called out in a choked voice, almost unable to believe her eyes.
Neo-Queen Serenity spun around quickly at the sound, her face brightening with joy and relief. "Small Lady!" she cried, holding her arms out wide.
"Mama!" the princess cried, tearing herself out of the safe haven of her father's arms and racing over to her mother. For a moment, the two women hugged each other fiercely. "Oh, Mama! I'm so glad! You're all right!" the younger one sobbed. "You're safe? You're safe!" her mother mumbled in return. "Thank goodness!" All around them, their friends smiled.