Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon.

Chapter Twenty

Seleine P.O.V.

I let out a sigh as I watched the senshi struggle to fight the shittenou. This was going to be a very long day. Uranus was indeed the strongest one. Neptune, Saturn, and Pluto were close, but they were too easily knocked off their feet. Uranus had resorted to using her sword instead of her power. She was good with a sword, but Kunzite was better. He knocked her on her ass in mere seconds.

I let my groan escape my mouth. I knew they heard me. I didn't care if it made them feel bad. They needed to get better. They needed to push themselves harder.

"Their powers are preventing them from getting better," my sister said from behind me.

I craned my head to peer at my sister over my shoulder. She sauntered over to lean against the balcony with me. She looked out at the senshi and Mars's failed attempt to land a blow on Zoisite left her wincing.

"How do you suggest I fix that then?" I asked sarcastically.

Her head snapped toward me and her eyes narrowed. I sighed and looked back at the senshi. She also let out a frustrated sigh. It was a sound I was used to hearing when dealing with me.

"Why not give them a power-up?" She asked.

"I can't give them my strength during battle. That's insane. I'll die and then the power I gave them will disappear. Then they will all certainly meet their deaths," I voiced.

"I said, 'give them a power-up,' not 'lend them your power.'"

I slowly turned my head to her. She couldn't be serious. "They're not my senshi. I can't give them a power-up. Only the gods could possibly know what would happen if I did," I reasoned with her.

"Since when do you care about consequences or the gods?" She inquired.

"How am I supposed to give them a power-up? Only their princess can give them a power-up."

"Are you not their princess like I was?" She asked me. I wanted to argue, but she was right. I was their princess like she once was. Could it work? I looked down at my senshi and saw them struggle against the shittenou once more. Seven senshi against four shittenou and they couldn't win. I felt the hope that I once had drain from me.

"What are you afraid of Seleine? If it doesn't work, it doesn't work, and we'll find another way to give them more power," she reasoned with me.

I turned toward her, and I knew she was telling me the truth. This could really work. I knew it would work, but that's not what I was afraid of.

I turned my head and looked at the senshi once more. "I'm afraid that my darkness will wither into their hearts and turn them. If I destroyed what they were now and turned them into something dark, I would never forgive myself," I admitted. When people spill their darkest secrets, normally they feel relieved. I didn't. I had kept that secret to myself for so long. I never voiced it out loud because then that would make this fear real.

"You're right," I snapped my head back to her. Her eyes were completely focused on mine. This was it. This was going to be the moment she was going to kick me out of her palace or kill me. Was this all a ruse? Was she pretending that she loved me, so she could be the one to deliver the killing blow? "You do have a darkness in you. You'll probably transfer a little bit of that darkness to the senshi, but is that such a bad thing?"

What? It felt like I just had the wind knocked out of me. What the hell? I had no words. There was nothing I could say to her after that remark. I tried to make my mouth move to produce words, but nothing came out.

"Just because you have a darkness in you doesn't mean you are evil. Plus, the senshi aren't all light either. They have darkness in them already and you giving them a little more won't hurt them. Maybe it'll even do a little good," she said with those knowing eyes of hers.

I bared my greatest fear to my sister. I feared her judgment my whole life. I did everything I could to embrace the light and not be evil. Was it really okay to have a darkness inside of you? If that was true, how much darkness could you have and still not be dark?

I had so many questions to ask her about it but didn't have the chance. "That's enough for today," she announced. Part of me wanted to be possessive of my senshi and tell her that she didn't command them, I did.

They all looked at me briefly and when I nodded my head they started to disperse. "Pluto, may we have a moment?" I asked her. She had concern written on her face but nodded nonetheless. I turned toward Serenity to see if she still meant that this was a good idea. To see if she still thought to have darkness was okay. She merely nodded and spun around on her heel.

I began to follow my sister with Pluto trailing behind me. I wasn't sure where we were going, but I knew I had to follow. She was taking us to the core of the palace. The first and last time I had ever been in there was when I read the forbidden books. Then we stopped. It was the door to the library where the forbidden secrets of the past were kept.

Serenity placed her hand on the door. A crimson light glowed around her hand. Then the door opened. She walked through the doorway and beckoned us inside. It was a cavern. It was almost like an emptied pool where there would be battles waged inside. I cast a curious glance at my sister. I felt Pluto tense behind me.

"What are we doing here? What is this place?" Pluto asked.

"This is where I read the forbidden books in the past. No one but the Moon Queen knows the location," I said. I lifted an eyebrow as I turned to my sister.

"Yes, this is where the forbidden secrets of the past were kept," she said. She looked at the room as if she were seeing every memory she had of coming down here. "I do still keep the forbidden secrets here, but they are safely hidden away in a chamber."

"What are we doing here?" Pluto asked again.

Serenity turned toward Pluto. She surveyed Pluto for a moment and then looked at me. I nodded my head telling her that I trusted Pluto more than anyone else.

"We are here to give you a power-up," Serenity said. "More specifically, Seleine is going to give you a power-up."


Setsuna P.O.V.

I was utterly shocked. Serenity was the only one that has ever been able to give us a power-up. "Can you do that? Is it safe?" I asked Seleine.

She shrugged her shoulders in answer. "I'm not sure if it will work. I don't even know how to go about doing it, but we have to try and you're the only one I trust enough to do it," she pleaded with me.

This was absurd. There is absolutely no way that this will work. Seleine was right, though. If we don't try, we'll never know if we can be strong enough to win this war. I looked back up to Seleine; she was just as nervous about this as I was.

"Very well. How do we start?" I asked.

"Well, when you normally get powers from Serenity, you were in danger and you really needed them. That's the only way I know of how to give you your powers," Seleine explained to me. Her eyes showed worry and concern.

"Yes," I said thinking for a moment. If I did this, and I got stronger, we might actually be able to win this war. "I am ready."

Understanding shown on Seleine's eyes. "You do understand that you may come to the brink of death, and I will not be able to stop, right?"

I did not know that. Was this really worth it? I looked into Seleine's eyes. Desperation and restraint were very visible.

"I trust you," I said. The words flew out of my mouth before I even felt them. The words rang true, but it was terrifying. She nodded, and I knew she was preparing herself for this.

Then, her eyes distorted. Her eyes were now dark. This battle was going to be strenuous. It was going to be fast and painful. Hopefully, fruitful too. She was releasing all restraints she had. Her aura took a sinister transformation that left me frozen in my place.

Instantly, she vanished. Instincts told me she was going to be behind me. I was wrong. For she was above me. She dropped down like a hawk hunting its prey. I lunged out of the way, but not before searing power struck my arm. Claw marks raked across my skin.

Seleine's power wasn't like the senshi's. There was nothing natural about it. Seleine's power was just that, power. She controlled everything. She commanded every particle in the air and could make it do anything she wanted.

She opened her palms on either side of her. Her flaming hair created a halo around her head. She commanded a blazing tornado and hurled it toward me. I managed to dodge it, but it the tornado curved back toward me and scorched my skin. Seleine was behind me in seconds. She ripped the air from my lungs and propelled me across the room. I barely managed to hit the ground when she was there again. She grabbed my neck and shoved me into the wall. Ice cracked behind my head as my bewildered mind attempted to refocus.

I commanded my powers to come into play and threw Deadly Scream into her stomach. She was prepared for that as well. Deadly Scream had thrown her back ten feet before she commanded it to stop. She held the purple orb in her hands. She pushed it from hand to hand.

Seleine dragged those demented eyes back up to me. Those soulless eyes. If we hadn't discussed this before, I would have thought she had really turned dark on me. She fired the power back at me. I didn't have a chance to evade it until it crashed into me. I flew back and hit the wall yet again.

Seleine didn't bother being sneaky anymore. She strode up to me. I barely had had the chance to call Chronos Typhoon before she was merely a few feet from me. She flew up into the typhoon but when she reached the top, she flung her arms and legs out and dispersed the typhoon. She dropped down to me, and I managed to use the garnet orb to create a barrier.

Seleine dropped onto the barrier. She was stung but it looked like it barely fazed her. She walked back up to the barrier and pushed it. She kept pushing it. She sucked the power out of it and suddenly I felt drained. She dragged herself to me. She stopped when she was right in front of me. That's when it happened. That's when the thought that this was going to be how I died entered my mind. She slowly drew her hands back out and I saw the tendrils latch onto my body. They stung my arms and legs as they drained all of my strength from me.

She leashed the tendrils and instead summoned dark bolts. They were like lightning bolts, but instead of lightning, they were made of shadows. These weren't ordinary shadows. The shadows Seleine created crept into the deepest depths of your soul and twisted it. She threw a bolt into my thigh. I screamed as the searing pain hit me. Despair instantly crept in. Another bolt and sadness was found. Bolt after bolt and my hope was beginning to fall.

Seleine crouched down in front of me. She latched those feral eyes on me. I could feel her creep into my mind. I forced my eyes away from hers and turned my head. She grasped my face and brought those eyes to me once more. I instantly shut my eyes, but she crept into my mind and I didn't have the mental strength to fight her.

"Pluto," she said smiling at me. Her eyes were back, but she was not. We were in the same position as we were before. Her smile grew wider as blood seeped from her mouth.

She stood up and moved out of the way. And there she was. Small Lady was hung up with her arms wide out. Each hand was bound with tendrils and holding her up. Her head was dropped down, and her eyes were closed. There was a gaping wound on her chest. My eyes drew back to Seleine; she had the heart in her hand and continued eating it.

I stuck my hand out and felt Seleine's actual presence. I was ejected out of the dream and was back in reality. My hand was glowing. It was glowing a dark purple almost black color. The color I was given when I became a senshi. I screamed, and a black force threw Seleine across the room.

I managed to make my bruised bones stand me up. I was facing her and could feel the blood dripping from my mouth. Seleine stood back up and sprinted for me. I threw my fist up and saw those black tendrils she was using earlier to stop her. They latched onto every appendage available. I squeezed my hand and saw blood start seeping through the tendrils. Seleine's blood-curdling scream vibrated the walls. Bits of dust fell from the ceiling.

I wanted to tear her apart. I wanted to rip out her heart and make her watch me eat it as she did in the dream. I felt the power around me shift. I merely spoke one word and knew what was going to happen. "Ruin."

It was too late, though. Serenity threw up a barrier and drained all magic. Seleine dropped to the ground and drew in a deep breath of air. She was on the ground heaving. I knew it wasn't real and that she would never hurt Small Lady, but I couldn't help it. The hatred I had for her at that moment was too much.

Seleine gripped the earth and green light flowed through her fingers. She let go of the dirt and was able to breathe properly. Serenity let down the barrier and walked down the threshold. She stopped at Seleine's side and helped her up. Seleine had enough energy to stand but was in no way to battle any longer.

"You did it Pluto. I'm sorry I had to creep into your mind. It was the only thing I could think of that might force you to truly hurt me," she said regretfully.

"I know," was all I could manage to say in a steely voice.

"You commanded the darkness of the underworld. You brought it to the surface and used it to your intent. Did you even realize your fuku changed?" Seleine asked me.

I looked down at my body. My skirt was gone. I now wore tight-fitting black pants that were tucked into my boots. My arms were still bare, but my gloves were not as long. They were tight and merely covered my hand. They were still white with a very dark purple thread around them. I no longer had a bow on my shirt, but my shirt was black with my red-purple orb now turned into a crystal. This was no ordinary crystal. This crystal vibrated with power. Just by looking at it I could feel how much power was in there.

I looked up at Seleine and knew I did it. I had ascended into my final phase. This was it. This was entirely what I was going to look like from now on. Serenity handed me a compact. I opened it and looked at myself in the mirror. My normal earrings were gone. In their place were dark purple tendrils snaking up my ear. My lipstick was much darker now and my eyes were extremely piercing. They were the same color as before, but a darkness surrounded the outside of my pupil. My tiara was nearly the same, except various ruins were sketched into the gold.

I gave Serenity the compact and realized what I had become. I had become what I wouldn't be without Seleine. The darkness that was inside me I fully embraced and was capable of harnessing that power. I looked up at her. She was pale and was barely holding herself up. She was leaning heavily on Serenity. The bags underneath her eyes told me that she did the best to hold back without letting her darkness consume her. Giving me the boost of power really drained her. I wasn't sure how she was going to survive to do this for all the senshi.

"Just wait till you fight Uranus. This will be a fight you definitely become the winner in," she said with a grimace.

I lightly smiled at the thought of beating Uranus at a fight for the first time ever.


Haruka P.O.V.

After the grueling day of training, Seleine, Pluto and Serenity were out of sight. They were missing for the majority of the day. I was so frustrated. I needed to confront Seleine about my vision. I needed to know the truth. The truth was the only thing I could think about all day. It distracted me from training and now I have a huge bruise on my rib to prove it.

I walked around the whole palace looking for Seleine and could not find her. It had been three hours since training. I decided that I should check her room one last time before I called a quit and went to my rooms for the rest of the evening.

I trekked up the stairs to her bedchambers and brought my hand up to knock on the door. Before I positioned my hand to knock, I had heard a shatter and then a muffled curse.

I threw the door open and saw Seleine on the floor. A shattered vase lay next to her. I was stunned for a moment but managed to snap out of it when Seleine glared at me with that ferocity that I've come to admire.

I lunged to the ground and immediately helped her up. I got her sitting up on her bed and noticed her side was bleeding.

"Your bleeding," I said. She looked up at me and then looked at her side.

"Oh. Pluto and I did some training and she managed to stun me for a few seconds," she trailed off. What? Pluto stunned her?

"Let me take a look," I insisted pulling up the side of her shirt. She let out a sharp gasp as I peeled the sticky shirt off of her wound.

I looked up at her. "This is more than just a stun, Seleine. This is a very deep puncture wound," I informed her. She had other cuts on her arms, none as deep, but definitely showed signs of a beating.

"Don't worry about it. They're just flesh wounds. I'll be alright," she said stalking to the window. I sensed she needed distance from me, but I couldn't stay away from her. Every time she walked away from me, I had the feeling that something was wrong. That something was missing.

"Seleine, let me help you," I pleaded.

She turned toward me quickly. "What? You're a doctor now?" She sneered.

"No, but I know what could heal you," I walked up to her. Her breath caught in her throat at my closeness. "Does it have to be sexual energy to help heal you?"

She gulped. "No. Any energy can sustain me. Sexual energy is just easier to get out."

I nodded and held my hand out. She looked at my hand then back up to me. I nodded my head and she grasped my hand. Instantly, I felt energy leaving me. I could practically see the energy flowing through me into her.

She let go of my hand and walked onto the balcony.

I followed her onto the balcony. "I actually came to discuss something with you," I said.

She turned toward me and raised an eyebrow. "Yes?" She said impatiently.

I cleared my throat with urgency. "I'll just be frank with you then. I remember my death," I said. She froze. This wasn't something she was expecting. Of course, she had to know that I would remember and want to know the rest. That I would want to know everything.

I told her everything that happened in my vision. She turned away from me and leaned against the railing. "Tell me what happened."

She bowed her head slightly. Her body started shaking. I wanted to go to her and comfort her and tell her everything was going to be okay. I wanted to tell her that she didn't need to tell me everything, but she did. I needed to know what happened.

She drew in a breath and turned toward me. She couldn't look me in the eyes, but I knew she was telling the truth.

"After you had died, I was stunned. I held what ashes of yours remained in my hands. I don't know how long I sat there with your remains. It could have been seconds or hours. I didn't even hear my mother tell Serenity and Endymion to run. Serenity refused to leave but Endymion dragged her with him. They were the future of the kingdom; they had to survive.

"My mother stayed with me and tried to bring me back to reality. But I couldn't come back. My soul was with you. It was escorting your soul to the heavens almost. My mother entirely forgot about Serenity and Endymion and figured they made it away safely. But they didn't. They lost each other in the crowds fleeing the palace, for the dark moon kingdom had attacked the palace. Beryl got to them just when they met each other and killed them both.

"She came back to me very briefly. She didn't get very close because your death had settled in. I lost control of my powers. My anger flowed through me and my grief overwhelmed me," she choked. Tears were tumbling down her face. This was too hard for her to tell me. I needed her to stop. I wasn't ready to hear all this.

"I destroyed the Moon Palace with all the magic I gained. I killed the people from the Moon. My mother was the only one left alive due to her putting a shield around herself. She watched as the entire kingdom died.

"Eventually, my powers were drained. I collapsed over your ashes and sobbed for hours. I cried, and I screamed. When my mother found Serenity and Endymion dead, she assumed I killed them. I was too wrapped up in my grief to even understand they were dead. That's when she killed me. That's when she banished me to Hades for an eternity."

She suddenly stopped. She blurted out the rest of the story so quickly I barely understood. She whirled toward me and got incredibly close to me.

"I couldn't stop it. The spell was too powerful and when I got to you, the person who my soul was entwined with, I couldn't do it. When I raised my sword to strike you, my heart broke in my chest. It squeezed so hard that I thought I was going to die. Our mating bond stopped me from killing you. But I killed everyone else. I deserve to be hated for the rest of my life," she sobbed and dropped to her knees.

She leaned into the balcony and pounded her fists into the stone. I was stunned. I wasn't sure what to say. I wanted to hate her. I wanted to tell her this was all her fault, but my mind was stuck on the fact that we were bonded. That she was my soul mate.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry," she kept repeating as she pounded her fist into the stone. Her hand was bleeding profusely. Seeing all the blood ripped me out of my stupor and I grabbed her hand before she could pound it into the stone one more time.

She looked up at me, and I found myself gliding towards her. I entrapped her mouth in a kiss. It was a brief soft kiss, but it left my heart racing. I pulled away, and she looked into my eyes. She jumped for me and kissed me harder. Her fingers snaked into my hair and I pulled her against me.

Her tongue roamed my mouth. Vanilla invaded my senses. She pulled away breathing heavily, and I kissed her neck. I kissed up to her jawline as she let out a moan. I traced her jawline with kisses until our mouths were finally connected again. The heat was intoxicating. I was drunk on her taste and never wanted to be away from her.

She wrapped her legs around my waist. I lifted her up and walked into her room and dropped her on her bed. I pulled away from her. Her eyes spoke of lust and something else. I curled my fingers around her dress and slowly lifted it over her head. I was stunned at the body underneath. She was so pale. There was no trace of war on her perfect skin.

Furious that I stopped touching her, Seleine pulled me back on top of her. Her kiss was hungry, as was mine. I began to drag my fingers up her thigh when her door was thrown open. Seleine lunged for her dress and draped it over herself. We turned towards the door and saw Serenity standing in the doorway with an evil grin on her face.

"You two should be getting ready. Or you're going to be late for the ball," she said.

Seleine and I looked at each other. What? Neither one of us knew what she was talking about. We turned back to her, and she was still standing there grinning like a cat.