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.
I do not hold chapters ransom for reviews, but I sure appreciate compliments, constructive criticism, and grammatical corrections. So if you feel like it, please press that little review button, and let me know what you think.
Hello, all! And special greetings to my reviewers. I even got two first timers, although I think one reviewed another story of mine some time ago. And I would be talking about Lady Icefyre. (smile) Careful, all that praise can be quite heady, hahaha! And welcome to SamuraiSirius! You read it all at once? You must have had a lot of time on your hands! (grin) I'm glad you enjoyed it! And yes, Kurogane was a reference to Tsubasa Chronicle. I originally had someone else, but I read the first manga just before I released this story and I figured if CLAMP wanted to make Kurogane and Tomoyo a couple, who was I to object?
And greetings to IchikoKitsuneKoumori, yaoifanboy (it happens to all of us, hahaha), Mangaka-chan (fluff? Me?), Miss Takin (I travel a lot, too, so I can sympathize), and aserene (welcome back!). Wait... One, two, three... Seven! I have hit a new high! Yeah! Thank you all!
And thank you all for sticking with me this far! I really appreciate it! Now, to tie up a couple of loose ends... - Raya
Moonlit Sakura
Chapter 41 – The Queen of Nemesis
"Mother! Father!" Diana's voice broke into the ecstatically happy moment. She ran across the clearing and tumbled deliberately into her mother.
"Diana? Diana!" Luna cried. "You're okay! Oh…"
"Diana!" Artemis yelled as he quickly joined the pile. Around them, their friends, new and old, grinned at their antics.
Super Sailor Mars was the first to suddenly remember the enemy in their midst. Her gasp and sudden turn reminded Outer Senshi, who materialized their Talismans. They relaxed a bit, however, as they realized that the three had collapsed unconscious to the ground.
Super Sailor Mars frowned as something about the pained expressions of the unconscious enemies tugged at her memory. The stray glint of light as the first beams of the rising sun hit their bodies finally brought the memory out.
Five bodies lay on the sand of the beach, surrounded by the two groups of senshi. The afternoon sun sparkled off of the trim of their suits. Just minutes before, the gold and silver trim had been stained and tarnished. Now, it glowed cleanly on the suits of three of the five. The woman dressed in the long grey dress did not look much different, but her face seemed a little softer. The blood red dress of their leader sparkled as if it were dusted with glitter. The faces of all five were clenched and tight, as if they were in great pain.
"They've been healed," she said as she relaxed even more. "Look at the trim on their suits."
"Even the boy?" an alto voice asked. Everyone spun to face the woman. The senshi relaxed a little, once again, as they recognized the figure in the shimmering blood red dress. Taking their cue from the women, Yue and Shaoran slowly lowered their weapons. Cerberus slowly folded his wings in, although he continued to stand protectively near the apparently defenseless king.
"Empress Night…" Luna said in surprise as she rapidly disentangled herself from her family. Quickly, the three cats sat primly by one another, Diana in the middle. The very observant would have noticed that they sat so close their sides touched.
The former enemy crouched down by the three unconscious forms and then sighed. "Yes, even the boy." Her face was very serious as she rose and brushed her long black hair back over her shoulder. "I had come to request a favor," she said as she turned her cautious green eyes to the queen. "It appears I have come too late."
"A favor?" Princess Lady asked curiously, still wrapped in her mother's arms but looking towards the foreign empress.
"Yes. I had come to ask that you spare the child, at least, from the Cleansing." Empress Night looked down at King Wisp again, and then up to the queen and princess once more. "Since I am too late for that, may I request that they be released to us on Titan? I do not think they will bother you anymore."
Neo-Queen Serenity studied her expression a moment, and felt her heart sink a little at the caution and worry she saw in her counterpart's eyes. Slowly, she nodded her permission. "Why did you want me to "spare" the child?" she asked curiously. "I understand that the light is painful to you, like too much sun, but once you recovered you seemed… pleased… to be healed. Why would you not want that for the child as well as the adults?"
Empress Night looked down, and then slowly raised her eyes back to the queen. "His mother… is very powerful. And she will not be pleased. Be on guard." She bowed her head respectfully to the queen and princess, and then made a gesture with her right arm. The four former members of the Dark Court vanished from the shrine.
"Interesting…" the bat winged girl said again in a soft voice. "The Queen of Nemesis has returned…"
"The Queen of Nemesis?" asked Tomoyo. She turned to give the girl a curious look. "Is that who she was?"
"Nemesis?" Super Sailor Venus asked sounding confused. "Nemesis was destroyed years ago. How could she be the Queen of Nemesis?"
"She didn't look anything like Prince Demand," Super Sailor Jupiter seconded as she, too, looked towards the girl.
"What do you mean, Sailor Æther?" Super Sailor Mercury asked. "Is she from a different universe as well?"
Super Sailor Æther blinked and then turned to face each of her questioners in turn. "Yes, that is who she was. You couldn't have destroyed Nemesis. Prince Demand? Who is he? No, she is misplaced only in system, not in universe."
Super Sailor Venus frowned. "Nemesis was, too, destroyed. Death Phantom used it as a catalyst for his Dark Energy and tried to attack Earth with it. Sailor Moon and Sailor ChibiMoon cleansed it, but it was so far gone it disappeared. Prince Demand was the ruler of that world and the Black Moon clan that lived there."
Super Sailor Æther gave her a disbelieving look. "If Nemesis had been destroyed, this entire system would be in chaos, if it even still existed. Unless your Sailor Moons somehow managed to shield the entire system from the shock wave of a disappearing star system? They must be very powerful, indeed, to heal a whole system at once, and then protect this one while it disappeared!"
The senshi looked at her, very confused, while Sakura and her friends watched curiously. Suddenly, Yue started. "You wouldn't, by chance, mean the theoretical brown dwarf that might be out beyond the orbit of Pluto would you?" he asked uncertainly.
"A brown dwarf? What's that?" Super Sailor Jupiter asked curiously. "Nemesis was a planet, a wandering planet that was caught by our sun's gravity centuries ago. It was dark, but I don't think it was particularly small."
"A brown dwarf is a type of star," Super Sailor Mercury said, beating Yue to the explanation. "It's small, in star terms, and dim. I've never heard of a brown dwarf named Nemesis, though."
"You haven't?" Super Sailor Æther asked, looking surprised. "How very odd. I would think you, of all people, would remember the Nemesis system." She turned to look towards Neo-Queen Serenity. "Nemesis and Sol, the sun of this world, are a double star system. Actually, they are two star systems, very close together, acting as one double star system. A very, very long time ago, the Nemesis system was invaded by the forces of Chaos. If I remember correctly, the Senshi of the Sol System tried to assist their sisters in the Nemesis System, but were unsuccessful. Eventually, all of Nemesis was lost to the Darkness. The forces of Chaos began to use Nemesis as a launching point for attacks against the Sol System. They have been known to use whole planets as giant missiles… Maybe the planet you named Nemesis was one of these."
"A brown dwarf named Nemesis, out beyond Pluto…" Luna muttered. "I think… A long time ago…"
Super Sailor Mercury looked deep in thought a moment, and then spoke again. "No, I can't seem to remember anything like that. But… I do seem to remember a theory that Pluto and some of the moons in the outer planets might be from beyond our system."
"Yes, I've heard of that theory, too," Artemis said as Luna nodded.
"Pluto is one of us," Super Sailor Mars said staunchly, looking towards the dusky warrior of Pluto. The Guardian of Time just smiled her small smile.
Super Sailor Æther just shrugged. "She is now. Whether she was originally from Nemesis or not will probably take a long time to know. The more important thing is that the ruler of Nemesis has been freed from the Darkness. They cannot be too happy about that. And if she is free, perhaps her senshi will be freed soon."
"Her senshi?" Super Sailor Uranus spoke up, suddenly more interested. "How many senshi does Nemesis have?"
"The Nemesis system had five senshi, if I recall correctly," Super Sailor Æther replied beginning to look restive. "Who knows how many they have now. No more. The rest you can learn on your own. For now, you are free. It is time for Sakura-san and her friends to return home."
"So soon?" Neo-Queen Serenity cried. "But, we haven't had a chance to thank them!"
Super Sailor Æther just shook her head. "Travel between universes is forbidden. I allowed it this time, as a way to get you home. It is now time for them to return."
As Neo-Queen Serenity hung her head and sighed a little sadly, Princess Lady pulled herself out of her mother's arms. Quickly she walked over to stand in front of Sakura. "Thank you so very much for saving my mother and my friends," she said as she swept into a deep curtsey. Sakura and Shaoran stared at her with wide-eyed surprise as she continued. "And thank you, thank ALL of you for your help in the fight just now."
"Yes, thank you," Super Sailor Venus added, as the other senshi nodded their appreciation.
"You didn't do too bad," Super Sailor Uranus said with a crooked smile.
"Heh!" Cerberus cried. "We fought more than you! In fact, we did all the hard work FOR you!"
Super Sailor Uranus grinned as Super Sailor Neptune sighed and gently shook her head. "Oh come on, he wasn't that difficult to beat," the Senshi of the Wind said provocatively. "We'd already defeated him once. We just thought you could use a little exercise, so we let you have some fun."
"Just ignore her," Sailor Vesta said with a friendly glare towards Super Sailor Uranus. "She enjoys provoking people. The more you react, the more she'll poke. Thank you for protecting the Princess when we weren't able to," she added with a deep bow to Cerberus.
"Yes, thank you," her team mates said as they, too, gave him a grateful bow.
As they were talking, King Endymion had crossed the clearing to stand next to his wife. Together, they nodded to Sakura. "Thank you so much for your help," Neo-Queen Serenity said with a bright smile.
"Nn-hnnn," Sakura replied as she shook her head. She hugged her Book a little more closely to her chest as she continued. "Thank you! Thank you for healing all of my friends, especially Light and Dark. They all tell me that they are feeling better than ever."
Super Sailor Æther sighed patiently. "Okay, now has everyone thanked everyone? It is time to go." Cerberus grumbled under his breath, but quickly made his way back to Sakura's group. Princess Lady retreated to stand next to her parents.
Once they had gathered together once more, Sakura smiled and raised a hand to wave goodbye. Her bracelets clanged musically on her arm as she waved. "Goodbye! Good luck!"
"Goodbye, Sakura-san!" Neo-Queen Serenity called back, returning her wave. "I hope we meet again, someday! Be safe on your journey home!"
Super Sailor Æther rolled her eyes and then smiled wickedly. "Maybe I should take them on a little side trip on the way back…"
As everyone looked at her in surprise, she flapped her wings open widely and raised her arms. Abruptly, with a flash of pastel rainbow light, she and the travelers from Tomoeda disappeared.
"Where could she be planning to take them?" Super Sailor Saturn asked thoughtfully.
"I hope they'll be all right…" Super Sailor Mercury added, sounding just a little bit worried.
"Don't worry," Neo-Queen Serenity said reassuringly. "She won't let them get hurt. They'll be fine."
A/N: ...Or to create a few new loose ends. I knew there was a reason I dreaded this chapter... I just gave myself more work! (smile) Any sequel will have to stand in line, though... I think this story can stand on its own, and I hope you agree!