Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon.

Chapter Thirty-One

Seleine P.O.V

Time slowed as I released the energy that I had buried so deep within that it was just a simple annoyance. I let it go. I let it all go. Tattoos covered my entire body, a warning to whomever I chose to fight that I wasn't holding back. The surrounding energy reverberated.

I heard someone behind me suck in a breath. I looked up. The two women were a mere few feet away from me. I called forth my sais. They were different. Not sharper, but stronger.

I jumped and landed behind them. I crossed my arms and struck a sai in each of their ribs. I dragged it across their midsection.

When I let time take its natural course, they stumbled, and blood seeped out of their midsection. They grabbed their sides and looked for me. They turned back to me. Their faces were already paling.

Galaxia charged. Our weapons clashed. Galaxia was stronger than when she fought my sister the first time. Galaxia was also a skilled swords woman. If I wasn't the heart of darkness, she would be my ultimate rival; but I am the heart of darkness.

I jumped back from her attack and called forth her energy. Dark tendrils seeped out of her and into me. She collapsed on the ground.

Nehelenia teleported behind me. As Galaxia and I were fighting, she was gathering her energy to deliver the killing blow. She pushed dark spider like threads toward me. I turned toward her as they reached me. They circled around me and then flew into Nehelenia. Nehelenia screamed as the threads tore into her body. Blood started seeping out of her eyes. Her body thinned and crashed to the ground. When the threads dispersed, there was nothing left of Nehelenia but her corpse that soon turned to dust.

I turned around to face Galaxia. She was lying on the ground. She was gasping for breath. Her chest was rising sporadically. I slowly walked toward her. Her eyes rolled to the side to watch me. Her eyes begged for mercy. I grabbed a hold of her wrist and sucked what little energy she had left out of her body. Her eyes remained open as her body turned to dust.

I stood up and brushed the dust off of my fuku, I drew in a shaky breath and commanded the tattoos to fade. It took a minute, but they finally disappeared.

I turned to my allies. Kaorinite walked out of the barrier. She did a once over to make sure my energy was under control. When she was satisfied, she turned and nodded her head to the Witches 5.

The witches let the barrier down. Kakyuu and the Starlights hesitated, but when the Shittenou came to my side and still lived, they thought it was safe.

"What? Didn't care to be present Saphir?" I asked as Saphir appeared.

He smirked as he walked towards me. "I wasn't aware you wanted an audience," he said. Then his expression turned somber.

"What is it?" I demanded.

Saphir looked to Kakyuu. Kakyuu avoided his eye and turned to me. "Earth is no longer safe for the senshi," she said.

I froze. Not safe? How can earth not be safe for the senshi?

I turned to Saphir. "As you know Endymion joined Serenity's side after she seduced him and is now pregnant with Small Lady," he started. I looked to Fighter. She clenched her jaw and looked away. "When Endymion took her side, Serenity and Hikari brainwashed the humans. The humans now hate the senshi and think we are the evil that must be stopped."

"What?" I seethed. "How could you let this happen?"

I rounded on Kakyuu. Fighter and Healer instinctively stepped in front of their princess. I was so angry that I didn't even notice the senshi teleport back.

"When did this happen? Did it not occur to you that we have nowhere else to go?" I screamed. I nearly launched myself at Kakyuu when Neptune held me back.

"Seleine!" She screamed in my ear. She pulled me back and shook my shoulders as she stood in my way. "Get a hold of yourself. This is no time to start fighting amongst ourselves."

"What do we do now?" Jupiter asked.

I turned to Jupiter and caught a glimpse of Mercury behind her. The blank stare in the direction of the starlights calmed me down. I pulled away from Neptune.

"Mistress, perhaps-"

"What the hell are they doing here?" Uranus interrupted Tellu. Uranus called her sword and charged Kaorinite. Kaorinite didn't move as Uranus stabbed her in the stomach.

"Uranus!" I screamed. I ran to Kaorinite and pulled Uranus off of her. "They are not our enemy!"

"Like hell they aren't!" Pluto yelled. She brought her staff up to attack Kaorinite. The Witches 5 jumped in front of Kaorinite and I.

"Stand down."

Eudial turned her head to look at me. She nodded her head and stepped aside. I turned back to Kaorinite. I ripped her dress just a little more to take a look at the stab wound. It was deep, and she was on the verge of bleeding out.

"This may feel a little uncomfortable," I informed her as I put my hand over her wound. I closed my eyes as I felt her skin stitching back together and mine ripping apart.

When I was positive her wound was closed, I pulled away and lifted my tunic. There was the stab wound right on my midsection. It was there for a moment, then the energy I took from Galaxia stitched my skin together.

I rolled my tunic down and looked at the senshi. "The Witches 5 are not our enemy. They are my pupils," I said. "In the past on one of my excursions from the Moon Kingdom I met them and trained them. They are fiercely loyal to me. When you first met them, they were your enemies because they didn't remember who they were.

"Before I trained them, they were evil, but then they saw that I was more powerful than them and still good. When I met them, they were young and scared, now they are older and stronger than before," I pleaded with them. The outer senshi weren't budging, but the inners were contemplating. "They deserve a chance to prove they aren't evil."

"You can't be serious," Pluto said. "They're the reason Hotaru became Mistress 9. Kaorinite is the reason Small Lady nearly died! We can't just forgive them for that."

I turned to Saturn. I could tell she wasn't quite sure what to think.

"I trust you Momma, but you can't ask me to trust them," Saturn said quietly.

"Other than your word, we have no knowledge that they are actually good," Neptune said.

I rose my head in defiance. "Proof is what you want?" I asked no one in particular. I turned to the Witches 5. "They want proof, so give it to them."

They all looked down. They stretched their left arm completely out and stretched the right arm halfway out. The right hand called forth a knife. The Witches 5 closed their eyes as they drew the blade across their wrists deeply. Kaorinite was the only one to keep her eyes open. I fought the urge to run to them and take their wounds.

The Starlights moved to intervene when Kakyuu stretched out her arm stopping them. This wasn't about them.

"Great Goddess Seleine!" Mars screamed as the inners ran to the Witches 5.

"Why would you ask them to do that?" Mercury asked me as she tried to bind Viluy's wounds with a torn piece of her fuku.

"I didn't," I said. I turned to the outers. Saturn and Pluto were horrified. Neptune and Uranus forced themselves to remain neutral. "Where they come from, this is how they show fealty. This is how they show surrender."

Saturn finally broke from her trance and ran to Kaorinite. She clamped a hand over Kaorinite's wound.

"The question is, do you accept?" I asked Neptune and Uranus.

"We accept, we accept!" Jupiter screamed.

I didn't move a muscle. The inners frantically tried to stop them from bleeding out.

"Goddamn it Uranus!" Mars screamed standing up. "They are about to fucking bleed out. Accept their surrender!"

Uranus started shaking with rage. Neptune and Pluto started to get nervous. Neptune turned to Uranus.

"Uranus," Neptune pleaded.

"Fine!" She screamed. "We accept!"

I turned to the Witches 5 and Kaorinite. I stretched out my arms. I tilted my head back and moved energy. The bleeding slowly stopped and whatever deep wound they possessed, was transferred to me. The inners took the makeshift bandages off of the witches and all was left of their sacrifice was a scar on their wrists.

I dropped to my knees as I started to feel weak. The energy I took from Galaxia was used to heal Kaorinite's stab wound.

Nephrite appeared behind me and helped me stand up. I tried not to take his energy, but the energy from the earth around me. There was just enough energy to nearly close the wounds. They were mere cuts now.

Uranus strode to Eudial. Eudial looked up at Uranus meekly.

Uranus was heaving. She bent down so she wasn't towering over Eudial anymore. "You made me watch as you tortured Neptune. You made me watch her die," she said through clenched teeth. "For that, I will never forgive you."

Eudial's head dropped as Uranus said those last words. Uranus stood up and backed away from her in disgust.

"You may not trust them," I said as I attempted to stand on my wobbly legs. "I'm not asking you to trust them or forgive them, I'm asking you not to kill them. I'm asking you to trust me."

The senshi said nothing. After what happened in the Silver Millennium, I didn't expect them to trust my every word.

"What happened here?" Mars asked.

"Seleine defeated Galaxia and Nehelenia," Ciprine answered.

"Galaxia and Nehelenia?" Pluto asked with raised eyebrows.

"Yes," Ptilol said. "Seleine called for them as she called for us. She gave them the choice to surrender and they refused. So, she defeated them."

"I'm sorry to interrupt this reunion, but as I said before, earth is not safe for us anymore. We must leave. Now," he said. I followed his gaze to a mob of civilians marching toward us.

"We need to teleport. Now," I said.

"Where do we go?" Saturn asked me.

"The only place we can go," I said taking her hand and Kaorinite's. "To the moon."