Hey there, we're back…. Yeah I know…. Not again! Well tought luck! Cuz' we're back….AGAIN! And we still don't own Sailor Moon… damn!
As promised, here a list containing the pairings for this fanfiction (and the children :P):
Ami / Zoicite : Zander, Zane, Amelie (Astrid)
Rei / Jeadite : Jaden and Rhy (Rhyanna)
Makoto / Nephrite : Nathaniel, Nicholas, Noah, Momoko (Litany)
Minako / Kunzite : Kenta (Malachite) and Maya (Celeste)
Haruka / Diamond : Krystal, Opal & Onix (twin brothers), Topaz, Ruka (Amara)
Michiru / Sapphire : Coral (Ral) and Cianna (Mika) (twins)
Hotaru / Rubeus : Tara (Pandora)
Setsuna / Tokaji (an unusual version of Dr. Tomoe) : Tristan
As some of you probably noticed, Tristan and Tara are pretty much the eldest children and therefor will form a couple . We're not yet sure of the others, but those two pigeons were destined for each other :P.
As for the names in brackets (...), those will appear especially during the next chapters when... well, things will change... don't worry, you'll see ;)
Ok, done for now! Enjoy...
"Nephrite, get down!" the amazon queen shouted to her king. As he ducked, her thunders destroyed another group of dark beings. Immediately after ending he job, she saw him, on the floor, calling out for his powers and pointing his hands to her. Fastly, she jumped out of the way, allowing him to save her in the same way she had. After exchanging a quick smile, they resumed the battle, doing their best in emptying the palace of the remaining beasts. This routine was now going for over five hours and the couple was already turning exhausted and bored.
Finally, after passing through a shield formed of shadowsians, the two managed to reach the ballroom… pretty much the center of the palace. Entering it, Npehrite admired once again it's beauty, while making one last prevision:
"They're coming! This will be their point of origin if we don't do something… and fast!" he said, not very scared for his life, but for the safety of his family… including Makoto, who had stubbornly remained by his side.
"We'll be ready." The queen of Jupiter spoke up very determined to have everything her way. Having noticed her attitude, he could only smile. Her green eyes pierced his blue ones and her lips curved into a smile aswell. In silence they approached one another and their lips met for one last kiss. However, unfortunately for them, faster than expected, 2 huge tentacles appeared out of nowhere and pulled them apart. Luckily, the two managed to keep close by grabbing their arms and not allowing the strong arms to break them away from each other.
"Mako… don't let go!" Nephrite pleaded in pain as he felt loosing her hand.
"That'll be the last thing I do in this life!" she assured him angrily and tried to free herself, with no luck though. In response, the force wheeling the two arms made them squeeze the two hard, the queen and king of Jupiter leaving a cry of pain simultaneously. After that, the two tried to recover and on the woman's forehead the sign of her planet appeared involuntarily, while the light shitennou's eyes turned almost silvery.
"This is the end, my love!" the general said one last time to his sweetheart. "Never forget me!"
"I love you!" the senshi whispered back as her electrical powers came down to her.
In a matter of seconds, the lightnings of Jupiter and the powers of stars from everywhere combined, creating one huge explosion, olbiterating the palace from the face of the earth and even revesing gravity in some parts. Minutes later, when the dust settled… two silhouettes could be seen floating in the air with no more life inside. The two eladers of Jupiter had lst their lifes while defending the city and the palace, but had managed to almost completely destroy the shadowsian army.
"May their souls always portect our Earth up from the high heavens that they deserve!" Rei whispered as she looked at the dead buildings and at the two lovers, now being turned into two bright stars and lifted in the dark sky, their light being the only one capable to blast right through the black clouds brought by Ankhra.
The fire priestess had spoken from one of the hills surrounding the Earth's capital. She had just shed her last tear in the memory of the auburn-haired amazonian queen and wa snow returning to the path followed together with Jeadite, Ami, Zoicite, Serenity, Endymion and their children.
"What are they doing?" a very little blonde girl asked an older boy who was hiding behind several crystal rocks together with her.
"I don't know… but I'm not having a good feeling about this!"
"Should we go down there?" the girl eyed him with a pair of big blue orbs. Lavender ones stared back at her.
"Maya, don't!" he practically ordered her.
"Malachite, who do you think you are to command me?"
"Your older brother! Now keep quiet!" he silenced her and looked again at the battle field, where their parents were about to destroy and save the Nine Planet System Alliance.
"Leave us alone! Let us be! You've proven your superiority… Now leave!" Kunzite's mind answered back to one of the requests Ankhra had asked previously asked, but his body remained still, not showing the mental conflict he was engaged in. Next to him, still on the solid ground, Mina was clinging onto his thy and hand, somehow feeling the choices he was tempted to make, unwillingly though.
"Come to me! You'll receive all the recognition and power you deserve! You'll have everything you wanted!" the dark voice whispered.
"Everything?" the light shitennou's mind asked, unbelievingly, and his eyes glanced down out of reflex to meet the scared and begging blue gaze of his wife.
Having noticed his movement, Ankhra suddenly knew how to work out the situation in his favour. The following moment, thousands of whispers could be heard all around inside the general's mind, some forcing, some begging and some tempting him to take the deal… to make the pact with the shadowsian leader.
"You can take her too… She'll be yours… only yours… always… You've always wanted an eternity to spend with her… I can give you that eternity…" a voice rose above all the others and Kunzite could feel Mina painfully squeezing his hand. Staring down at her he realised how much he still loved and wanted her… and now… after witnessing his friends' deaths and the destruction of his world, he realised that she was all he had left.
By now, Aphrodite had unshedded tears inside her sapphire blue eyes.
"The entrance to Cerber's Labyrinth! It's been a while since I've last seen it!" Zoicite spoke up, after reaching two old gates, with ancient sculptures on them. Behind those gates laid Cerber's Labyrinth, and beyond that, the entrance to Elysion, the perfect world made of the terrans' dreams and guarded by Pegas or Helios, the Golden Crystal's keeper.
"It's our only escape, as well!" Jeadite came next to his friend. Worry and tiredness could be seen clearly on his features.
"What's up with you?" the green-eyed general asked, while checking out the entire room before opening their way.
"I don't think this whole situation is suitable for the children. They are too young to enter Elysion."
"It's the only way… But my psychology skills tell that's not all!" Zoicite encouraged him to go on.
"I've just seen friends of a lifetime being killed by something none of us could defeat, how would you expect me to react?" the blonde asked angrily.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk… That's not it either!" the curly-haired said and received a deadly glare, but also a straight answer.
"Kunzite is missing for a very long time now… We have no idea how the battle went and he hadn't reported back… not even now… Not to mention that after your little speech about our fearless leader's experiences in the council room, Minako vanished into thin air as well." Suddenly the scientist stopped from his work as if just having discovered something.
"You know, Maya and Kenta aren't riding back with the others." He turned to his friend and the two changed a wondering and concerned look, but didn't have time to change words for their wives, the royal couple and all the inner senshi's children (excepting for the Venusians) entered the large hall, preparing themselves for the last part of their was to Dreamworld.
As they were making their way inside the labyrinth, Ami stopped at the entrance, with her eyes locked on the display screen of her small computer. Several moments later she looked up and stared at her husband with decisive eyes. Understanding what she was trying to communicate him, he nodded and waited in silence for the children and parents to enter the hallways. After Jeadite and Rei finished the line, Zoicite moved fastly, not allowing the martians to understand his actions until after his deeds were done.
"Zoi… what are you…?" the short-haired general walked back to the gates, but got cut off by the doors that were being sealed loudly, separating the mercurian couple from the others. After having frozen and sealed the large doors, Ami remained silent and still for a moment, sustaining her husband's questioning sight.
"Something bad had just happened and the children really had to reach Elysion."
"Kunzite… don't!" Mina whispered harshly, but her words were cut off by the appearance of a large dark energy sphere… just like the one who had ordered the attack on their capital and the deaths of Hotaru and Rubeus. But her husband wasn't looking at her anymore, but at the force in front of them, deciding upon his fate, his wife's and the entire world's. "Is that what you really want?" the senshi of Love asked, having felt his thoughts and emotions. He barely nodded and she understood and accepted the change of fate he wanted for both. Suddenly, his eyes got locked on her again and his hand reached out for hers.
"It's time to go to hell, baby!" he pleaded and waited for her to make up her mind. It didn't take a long time for that and she held tightly his fingers, allowing his strength to pull her up, next to him.
"Hell is only the place I am without you!" she spoke back and the two embraced, waiting for the b lack tide of energy to surround and transform them into the traitors and the saviours of the Nine Planet System Alliance.
"No!" Maya shouted as she exited her hide, while staring at her two parents on the edge of changing sides. From behind her, Kenta appeared and grabbed her before running to the them, on the battle field. Struggling in her brother's arms, the young venusian started crying and barely managed to speak up: "Why! Why are they betraying us? Why won't they just go back to Venus? Why can't we be like we used to?"
"Sh, Celeste! I'm sure they had their reasons and that they'll return for us and for our previous lives one day!" the elder boy spoke as he finally managed to embrace his little sister, wanting to calm her down. In the end, she stopped fighting and accepted his arms around her, realising that the big brother and that he would know the best, always. Maya wrapped two tiny arms around his neck and held on as tight as her strength could allow her to. Somehow, feeling that someone was staring at them, she opened widely her eyes and saw a space and time portal opening right behind them.
"Malachite!" she shouted, in order to warn him. But it was too late! Before they knew it, they were already sucked inside the gate, travelling centuries away from that moment.
Typing fastly on her small computer, the Queen of Mercury found that the entities coming their way had discovered their location and were now heading directly for her and her husband.
"They're heading this way!" she announced.
"Don't you think we should leave the gates… just to make sure they'll have a hard time finding them?"
"You're right… but if my readings are correct… that won't do any good."
"How come?"
"I'm picking up dark energies… but the signals match ones that only senshis would have.
"Traitors?" Zoicite asked, a bit scared, thinking at the chat he had earlier had with Jeadite. Ami stared at him and slightly nodded. "Come on… lets' get further away!" he mumbled and wanted to leave, when a voice stopped him.
"I don't think that'll do!" Zoicite turned around and saw a tall man, with shoulder-length black hair, and only the ends silvery. He was dressed in a completely black tuxedo and had a long cape to match it. The clothes were forcing his white hair's ends and lavender eyes to step out.
"Kunzite…" the blonde general spoke, not believing his eyes. "What are you doing?"
"The right thing… for once!" he answered and touched his silver sword, still keeping it inside the shield though.
"This is impossible! No royal can betray his own…" Ami spoke up and made herself noticed.
"You're wrong for once, Mercury…" a feminine voice answered back and out from the shadows exited the one who once used to be Sailor Venus, the senshi of Love.
"Mina…" Ami whispered and looked at her black hair carrying only several blonde lashed and at the black tight outfit she wore, showing all the curves her beautiful body had.
"I'm sorry, old friend… but I have to!" she spoke back, staring intensely at the ice queen with eyes that hadn't changed their colour. Understanding her sight, Mercury barely nodded and attacked her former best friend, while Kunzite and Zoicite were starting a duel to the death.
"Kunzite … what the hell are you doing!" the curly-haired man asked while defending himself against a crazy attack coming from this new, yet well-known man.
"What I should have done ever since the shadowsians appeared and Diamond killed himself, trying in vane to destroy Ankhra.
"It wasn't in vain! Thanks to his sacrifice we found out exactly what we were messing with!"
"But that didn't do any good, now did it?" he asked and continued fighting like a mad man.
"At least not for us it didn't! But tell me, what will happen to your children? Maya and Kenta… have you at least thought about them?"
"You dare to ask that? You, who just sealed you children in a dream world? You, you dare to ask that!" he burst out and the two swords collided, creating a loud noise.
"Mina, why are you doing this?" Ami pleaded while running around the cave, hiding from the former blonde and still tapping on her small computer.
"Because I didn't have or want another choice! I have a lifetime to consider and I did what I considered to be the best!" she spoke as she searched for the blue-haired woman.
"Betraying your friends is the best you could come up with?"
"No! But defending the future… my future is!" she answered and in the next moment she face the Ice Queen herself.
"Kunzite, you'll regret this! Even if you win this warm our memories will hunt you down in the last corner of the Universe."
"So I'll get a brainwash!" he simply stated and they started fighting once again, until Kunzite disappeared, fading into thin air.
"Zoi, look out!" Ami shouted while running to him, away from the changed Mina and wanting to warn him about the upcoming attack. He turned around and his chest met the sharp blade of the shitennou's sword. Falling back on the floor, on the other side of them room he saw his dear wife being murdered by the black-dressed woman. In a matter of seconds, Mina threw her love-chain around her neck, grabbing her tightly. The difference was that now the chain was made of black iron hearts, all surrounded by small spikes, that at the contact with the white neck opened and allowed the mercurian's blood to cover her chest and, soon, almost entire body.
"Ami!" Zoicite whispered still alive with his eyes widened and not giving a damn about their assassins anymore. In silence, the couple disappeared as fast as they had come. "Ami?" Zoicite spoke again, barely moving on the floor, crawling over to her body. When he reached her, she was as cold as ice and her beautiful blue eyes were staring into the void, contrasting with her pale skin and the dark long cloak that was covering it. "Ami… my sweet, kind and shy Ami…" he whispered when he reached her body and laid along with her. With a gesture he closed her eyes and felt the last bits of her warm lips. For the last time, he opened his eyes and spoke: "We started together and we ended together…"
The cave's walls started quaking, some even breaking and allowing the waters inside the planet to flow outside. "For as long as the waters will cover our grave I will love you and be one with you… forever." He said, took her inert body in his arms, allowing both of them to be sunk in the cold and fertile water, soon their bodies becoming one with the vital liquid and sealing once and for all the gates to Elysion.
At the far end of Cerber's Labyrinth was situated the doorway between the material world and Elysion, a kingdom formed of people's dreams from all over the Nine Planet System Alliance and guarded by Helios, the Golden Crystal keeper. Elysion was a representation of a perfect world, where both old and young could co-exist and do whatever they've always dreamt to.
"What do you mean they've stayed behind?" King Endymion stared angrily at the light shitennou.
"Yes… apparently Ami's computer beat Rei's senses and picked up something coming down our way. So, they've decided to take care of it themselves." Jeadite spoke as he was prepairing himself to leave once again for the labyrinth.
"More deaths…" the king whispered while staring into nothingness. "And where do you think you are going?" he suddenly paid attention and followed the martian king on his way out.
"We still don't know anything about Kunzite and Mina and we have to make sure that the shadowsians won't find their way in here or manage to get inside Elysion."
"So you'll just sacrifice yourself!" the Earth king stopped his blonde friend in the middle of a hallway, forcing everyone near them to stare at the scene.
"Others… many others have done it before us and your safety, Serenity's and this entire world's is far more important right now than anything else… even my life." Jeadite spoke and left once again, this time not followed by Endymion anymore.
"Sere, would you stop crying?" Rei begged her friend and tried to escape the tight hug Serenity had been giving her for the past fifteen minutes.
"No! You are going to leave me alone and I don't want that!" the queen using the tone that Tsukino Usagi once had.
"You'll still have Endymion and Chibiusa!"
"But Haruka, Michiru, Hotaru, Makoto, Ami and Mina are gone… and now you want to leave me as well!" the queen spoke between tears, but stopped whining.
"Usagi-chan, they aren't gone! They each transformed into what they held mostly dear… they'll never be gone." The raven-haired beauty spoke comforting in a very unusual way. "Bah! Sere, take it this way… at least I'll transform into a Phoenix bird and we could see each other when all of this will be over!" she exclaimed appearing filled with energy. She had seen her husband already waiting for her and she managed to escape the queen's arms, going towards him in a hurry, grabbing his left arm and pulling him away, before the lunarian could react in any way. Barely when they left the Dreamworld in silence, Jeadite could see the tears within Rei's amethyst eyes. Smiling gently to her, he swung an arm around her body and they both found their way inside Cerber's Labyrinth together.
"Mina and Kunzite traitors… who would have guessed?" Tokaji asked and with a wave of his hand turned off the portal through which he and Setsuna had witnessed the deaths of Ami and Zoicite.
"The message did not contain this information!" the plutonian woman spoke angry that she did not see this change of situation in time.
"Well… maybe they didn't really betrayed the Alliance… maybe there's still hope." He spoke and received a deadly glare from his wife.
"I would have known! Meanwhile, those two killed the leaders of Mercury and according to the Alliance's laws they will face the penalty of death… for high betrayal!" her voice echoed inside the space they were. Tokaji glanced at her curiously and wondered for the first time in years what were his wife's true reasons to incriminate the two Venusians with so much strength.
"Have you seen Tristan?" he suddenly changed the topic.
"No… but I do believe he is on Pluto with Tara." She stopped a bit and turned completely away from him, refusing to stare somewhere else that into the void. "Ever since Hotaru and Rubeus were killed he has been spending every free moment with her…" Coming next to her, he surrounded his arms around her and, resting his chin on her shoulder, he said:
"I know how difficult this is for you… I know you've always considered Hotaru as a sister or even a daughter… But think at the sacrifice they did and why they did it. As for Tara… I'm sure she is as strong as her mother… not to mention that with Tristan's help she'll become even stronger." Tokaji ended.
"We should probably call him up here! The children and out leaders have already reached Elysion. Tara and Tristan should be going there too. Beings the eldest they could help a lot."
"Alright then!" he said and smiled again, leaving his wife's side.
"I don't want to seem rude or unthinking, but my duty was to stand by my parent's side." A very defending Tara stood tall in front of the plutonian heir. "So, why Tristan Why did you save me?"
"Because it wasn't your turn to die!" the young man said.
"My destiny is mine to decide!" she fought back.
"Your father practically ordered me to!"
"He was speaking with the mind of a dieing man who wants to place his most priceless goods in safety. You shouldn't have listened to him!" she said and her tears came back for a moment.
"And my heart said so!" Tristan revealed his final argument and Tara just looked at him with her eyes widened in surprise.
"You shouldn't think with your heart…" she whispered gently, unable and not wanting to stop her movement towards him.
"When it comes to you… it's hard not to." He closed up the space between them as she entered his warm embrace. Tristan barely took her completely in his arms, when a voice echoed inside his mind.
"Let the girl breath and get up here! You mother and I have to talk to you… You can bring Tara too…" his father's voice ended and the eighteen-year-old groaned in annoyance. He broke the kiss and took Tara's hand in his, opening a large space and time portal and pulling her inside it.
"It won't open!" Rei shouted loudly after having tried to open the doors from the other side of Cerber's Labyrinth. She backed away and allowed Jeadite to observe the closed entrance. She was getting ready to blow the doors with a huge fireball, when her husband stopped her with a gesture, while sticking his ear to the wooden surface and listening.
"Jed, move away!" she said.
"Shh!" he hushed her and received an exasperating look. But his whole attention was turned to t he small, undistinguishable noises coming from the other side. He remained still, until the sound of a clear water splash could be clearly heard.
"Rei, don't!" he said and stopped her with a hand.
"We need to get on the other side. Get Zoi and Ami!"
"Zoi and Ami are dead… and the cave on the other side is filled with water. If we'd blown the doors up, we'd be dead in a matter of seconds." He explained and they both backed away.
"But of course… Their main attack consisted in the forces of water." A male voice spoke from behind. The martian royal turned around and received the surprise of their life: Endymion and Serenity were standing right behind them, both awfully calm and silent… especially Serenity.
"Rei-chan, you should have imagined that ever since we were locked inside, They both had done their job and have fulfilled their service by giving us the opportunity to escape." The martian eyed the blonde woman and stared at her, knowing that there was something wrong about the lunarian… very wrong. Visions flashed through her mind, proving her thoughts to be correct. Jeadite's hand on her arm woke her up and made her focused on the reality again.
"We should really get back to Elysion!" Endymion stated after a long moment of silence. The two lunarian and terran leaders started walking inside the labyrinth and Serenity clung to her husband's arm.
"Are you ok?" the blonde king stared at the brunette when the two completely disappeared from their sight. She looked up and saw worry and fear in his eyes. But, above everything, self-control.
"Yeah… Are you getting the feeling that Sere and Endy aren't… themselves?"
"Kind of… Why did they follow us? I thought both of them got the picture when we left Elysion.
"I don't think that those two are the ones we left back in Elysion…" Rei answered and walked to their companions, leaving a shocked Jeadite behind her.
"What did you call me for?" Tristan welcomed his parents directly. Setsuna stared at her son and she immediately saw Tara standing besides him, as if she was already his equal and companion for life.
"I see that you're in a hurry… so I'll be short!" his father spoke on a mocking tone as he glared at him for using that sharp tone. The eighteen-year-old bowed his head, recognizing his mistake and apologizing for it.
"The leaders of Mercury died a few hours ago… and the martian royals are trapped inside Cerber's Labyrinth with two clones of Endymion and Serenity."
"Clones? Are you sure?" Tara made herself noticed. The elder plutonians shared a quick glance and then Setsuna spoke up:
"Yes… and we have reached to a conclusion, in case the shadowsians will reach within the next day Elysion: to send the children in the future.
"What?" Tristan's eyes widened in shock as his mind realised what damage this action could cause to the timeline.
"There must be some other way." Tara backed-up the young man's reaction.
"The message I received from the future allows me to believe that this situation has been changed in that time and that the world is once again safe. I cannot say the same thing about the present and these children are the heirs of the Nine Planet System Alliance. As long as they survive, the ancient powers will survive as well and order will be re-established once again. It is vital to put them to safety."
"Yes, but not in the future! Mother, you know what sending them in another time could cause! How can you even think of this?" Tristan fought back.
"Son, this is our decision, not an alternative to be discussed." Tokaji spoke harshly and watched his boy as he tried to accept his parents' words. Next to him, Rubeus' daughter held tightly his hand, proving that she was more than willing to stand by Tristan's side even in the darkest times. And now was just the perfect moment for her to do that, to prove her love and devotion.
They had wondered through the labyrinth for some time now and Jeadite was still working on how to get rid of the fake king and queen.
"I forgot it!" Serenity stopped and whined. "I forgot where the entrance to Elysion is. How could I have been such a ditz?" she spoke up and stared at Rei with puppy eyes. On another occasion, the brunette would have called her names and make fun of her. This time, she could only stare silently at the blonde. "Can you show me where the door is Rei-chan?" the lunarian asked nicely. A cold shiver passed through Rei's entire body. They were now ion the middle of the Labyrinth and the queen would have known that, no matter how much of a ditz she was.
From the other side of the large hallway, the two men watched the scene carefully: one with a weird cold sparkle in his eyes and the other ready to react at any unusual movement.
"Why can't you remember, Sere?" Rei finally asked with a sore throat.
"Rei-chan… you know how I am in such moments!"
"And how would that be?" Jeadite played his wife's game.
"A blonde ditz!" Endymion answered nonchalantly and laughed.
"Got you!" the brunette martian said determined. "Endymion would have never ever called his wife that."
"Who are you?" her husband's voice filled strongly the air. Changing their face expressions, the two stared at them and the fake Sere spoke on an inhuman tone:
"You should have tagged along!"
"Too bad… you could have been so useful!" Endymion said and they both vanished, turning smoke and then air.
In a matter of moments, the whole ground started quaking and holes appeared into the ground and walls, as if someone would have added extra heat to the Earth's core. Realising that they were about to be separated by lava, Rei left out a shout that pierced through the air and managed to rise up above the shakes' dreadful noise. Having heard her, Jeadite ran to her location, but couldn't reach her, the two being surrounded by walls of hard lava.
"Jed!" the martian queen screamed.
"Get back, Rei!" a voice filled her mind. She recognized the tone and obeyed. Almost immediately, a huge flame melt the wall between the two and the martian leader could see each other once again. They were starting to run for each other, when something pinned their feet to the ground. Leaning further, they tried to touch each other's hands, but found that they couldn't. Step by step, in a few minutes, they were covered with melt crystals and metals. It didn't burn them, but it did cover them completely and blocked all possible movements, use of powers or even consciousness. It was when t he crystals reached to her neck that Rei looked up to her husband one last time, just in time to see him staring with worry and love at her the last time before closing his eyes forever. No sound escaped her lips, but, as she accepted her destiny and stopped fussing, thus allowing the material cover her entirely, her eyes shed a single tear for her loved one. And that tear was preserved perfectly along with the two martians' bodies. Soon, the rest of Cerber's Labyrinth was drowned in ground and lava, along with the two leaders and the gateways to Elysion.
"It's over…" Tristan whispered harshly as he stared into nothingness and held tightly Tara's hand.
"The children must go into the future."
"They are the heirs of the Nine Planet System Alliance! They have to be present to this, gain their trust and powers and start with their responsibilities." Tara started decisively without her hand ever leaving Tristan's.
"They will be protected in the future; they will reach a time of peace again." Setsuna explained.
"Tara is right, mother."
"Astrid is three and a half and Krystal sixteen. You two are the only ones still capable of leadership, considering the painful circumstances. The others are either too young or still destroyed morally. All the children believe that if Ankhra has managed to kill their parents, they will mean less than nothing." Tokaji explained calmly and gazed at the two. He had already started to develop paternal feelings for Rubeus' daughter. It was amazing the power his son and Tara had gathered in these moments, only by remaining close together. He could clearly see the aura surrounding them and notice the strength the saturnian gave his son when she was next to him. One day they would make a beautiful and strong couple. But now they remained two teenagers with hidden and at least unusual powers and who carried feelings for each other.
"I know… But sending them away might affect them in the future, When they'll grow up then could start considering running away the best way to solve their problems." Tara explained herself.
"I know and that is a risk we have to take." Setsuna both agreed and disagreed with the girl.
"Pandora!" Tokaji named the saturnian by using the name her fathers had always used for her. "I have to ask you this considering your status and responsibilities.
"Yes?"
"Once the children will take the path of time, they will lose their memories. Once having reached that period they won't be able to remember anything, at least for the time being." He paused a moment, allowing her to understand what he meant. "Still, you wouldn't lose all your past, if you were to follow them. Being one of the oldest you could also guide and protect them…"
"You are asking me to leave my time and lead the young heirs into their future." Tara concluded and the plutonian king nodded silently. She felt the sudden hard cling of Tristan's hand and she looked up to see a pair of lavender eyes she simply adored, filled with love and worry for her life. That was the moment when the young saturnian understood her mission. Staring up at her beloved prince, she smiled decisively and spoke with a determined voice:
"Send us into the future, Sire!" Both the tone and the answer having surprised the two adult. Tokaji glanced at Setsuna and nodded.
"Then so shall it be!" the plutonian announced definitely and grabbed the time key, preparing a portal large enough to fit all the senshi's and shitennou's children inside and send them onto a brighter life.
"Mommy, mommy what's wrong?" a small child with pink hair wrapped up in two large odangos came up running next to Queen Serenity.
"The time has come, Usagi." The queen spoke with a whispered voice. She was laying on a large bed and had flowers grown all around her body. Next to her, on the other side of the bed stood Endymion, staring into the horizon.
"Time for what, mommy?" the princess asked again.
"Time for Elysion to start creating it's own dream world. The city of Crystal Tokyo has fallen asleep. And once with it… so shall we."
"Mommy, don't leave me!" she begged and jumped on the bed, embracing both of her parents.
"Don't worry, Usagi." The king spoke softly as he caressed his daughter one last time. "It is time to go, my little bunny." Endymion spoke as he retreated his arms from around his small child.
"But daddy!" she started, wanting to remain there.
"Don't forget… to be strong… Chibi-usa…" her mother whispered, smiled to her one final time and laid back, next to her husband, falling into what it seemed an eternal sleep.
"Mommy! Daddy!" the pink-haired princess shouted.
"Chibi-usa. You must go now." A warm voice was heard next to the bed. The child turned around and saw the Guardian of Elysion, Helios.
"Helios! I don't want to be alone!" she cried as she jumped into the white-haired teenager's arms. He smiled sweetly and held her silently for a moment.
"My little girl… Don't cry! You'll never remain alone." He said and she looked up at his eyes, Hope filled her red orbs.
"Listen to him, Usagi!" another young voice was heard and, behind Helios, the inner senshi'd daughters came up next to them. The one who had spoken was Rhy, the future martian queen. Next to her stood Momoko, who was predictably going to grow up as tall as her mother and who held protectively little Amelie's hand. The mercurian princess was the youngest, even younger that Usagi, but already held the pleasure of studying and, partly, the intelligence of both her parents. Whipping her tears, Chibi-usa left Helios' protective arms and approached her best friends. The four embraced each other, until Momoko almost pulled all of them after her, mumbling:
"Come on already! They're waiting for us!"
Few minutes later, the inner princesses reached the rest of the group, formed only by the heirs of the Nine Planet System Alliance. All of them were there… except Maya and Malachite.
A huge dark portal. They had passed through such a tunnel and ended up in the palace atemporal palace belonging to the Time Guardians. Malachite had oftenly heard of this place, sometimes even from Tristan, and was now finally seeing it himself.
It looked like the insight of a hall with tall columns that seemed holding up the sky itself and was paved with black and white pieces of marble, thus creating a huge chess board.
Malachite stood tall in one of the corners, holding his sister's back with one hand. She was clinging onto his right leg and trousers, shivering and still scared of what their parents had done, only imagining what could have happened to them.
"Welcome, heir of Venus!" Tara suddenly appeared by stepping out from another dark corner. She had greeted them with security in her voice and determination in her eyes.
"Princess Tara!" Malachite slightly bowed, never letting go of Maya. He looked at the saturnian better and could see that her left hand was turned behind, holding something or someone that was still hidden in the dark.
"Malachite, are such formalities truly necessary?" she asked and he responded.
"I'm sure you know of our parents' betrayal." A long silence fell between them. "Why have you brought us here?"
"Because you powers and lives need to survive in order to restore peace and leadership once again." A male voice filled the void and the Venusians could see who Tara's hand was holding: Tristan's fingers. The prince dressed in the long robe stepped out in the light. Malachite would've thought that the plutonian's eyes would be filled with anger, disappointment and hatred. But, instead, those lavender eyes carried forgiveness, friendship and determination, same as Tara's.
"Why us? The venusian leaders betrayed the Alliance! Why would you need us for?" the silver-haired boy asked and grabbed Maya's small body entirely in his arms, holding the scared little girl protectively.
"Sailor Venus was the Inner Senshi's leader. General Kunzite was the same for the the Light Shitennou. You two remain the same, in spite of what they had done. That… and the fact that… before killing the mercurian's, Queen Ami led us to believe that their betrayal wasn't complete… that they had remained a part of us."
"Mercurians?" Malachite whispered with widened eyes.
"Amelie!" Maya shouted and his her face in her brother's neck, crying for her dear blue-haired friend.
"We have to know if you are capable of the sacrifices that are to follow. If you will be able to fight." Tara spoke up and again walked in front of Tristan, her hand never leaving his.
"Will the other accept us?" Malachite asked as he tried to comfort Maya and stop her from shedding so many tears. Suddenly, he felt a short hand on his shoulder. When he turned around, he received the surprise of his life: all the senshi's and shitennou's children stood in front of them and the hand belonged to Zander, Zoicite's oldest son.
"It wasn't your fault. They did what they did, but you two remain the same: our friends." He spoke with a saddened voice. "But you two are a future senshi and shitennou… so you belong with us." He ended determined and pointed at the others. They had all consensed to his decision. Malachite allowed Maya to jump from his arms and run to Amelie, embracing her and apologizing over and over again. Slowly, he stepped towards his friends and was welcomed by Opal and Onix's opened arms.
"Well, now that we cleared that, follow me." Tristan commanded with a thin smile. He turned around and pulled Tara after him. Few minutes later they were on the other side of this room, in front of a large time portal. One ach side of the hole stood the king and queen of Pluto. Tokaji looked back at the, while Setsuna had her eyes closed. You could easily see that she was focused on the portal and she held tightly the Garnet Rod. In front of them a huge gap in space and time was being created… one large enough to lead them all into the future.
"Are you sure you want me to do this?"
"Are you sure you want me to let you do this?"
"Tristan!"
"Tara!" he mocked her tone while keeping his arms tightly around her waist and drowning himself into her blue eyes.
"Don't tease me! I don't want our last words to sound like these…" she pleaded and looked away from his lavender orbs.
"These won't be our last words." He promised and sealed his whisper with a kiss, gently laid on her cheek. She returned fastly, to see his eyes again, and smiled, faintly blushing. Normally he wouldn't have, but right now he couldn't help but notice that her blush matched perfectly the purple highlights adorning her red hair. She was beautiful, she was strong and she was going to be his… all his… sometimes in the future. He had seen that and he was ready to do everything in order for them to reach that moment in time.
"It is time!" his father's voice woke both of them from their daydreaming. The children nodded and prepared themselves to be taken inside the portal. Step by step, all pf them faded into their powers' and stones' coloured and went into the hole: the firsts were Krystal, Opal, Onix, Topaz, Coral, who held his sister's hand, Malachite with Celeste, who was held by Amara, Nathaniel, Jaden, Zander, Nicholas, Noah, Zane, Lithany with Astrid and Rhyana with Chibi-Usa.
"I'll see you soon, my love…" Tara whispered as she reached Tristan's lips and kissed them one last time. Wrapping his arms around her, the plutonian prince felt as if he never wanted to let go, but opened his eyes as soon as he felt the one he loved being disintegrated into a lovely game of purple and reddish lights. His arms fell down and he clutched his teeth and fists in anger for the first time since the new danger started threatening the Alliance. It was barely now that he carried the powerful bite of anger and jealousy. Tara would soon be meeting an older version of himself, while he was stuck in there… five seconds since she had passed the Time Gate and he already missed her like hell.
But, suddenly, a shock wave passed through him, his parents and the entire atemporal palace.
"Tara!" he shouted as the portal changed dramatically and collapsed one second later.
"Setsuna!" he heard his father from behind and turned, only to see his mother fallen on the floor. But, thankfully, she returned to normal several moments later.
"I'm alright!" she said determined not to accept her husband or son's help. Still, she couldn't deny Tokaji's arm around her waist.
"What happened?" the King asked while he held the plutonian queen, trying to help her stand on her own.
"The portal collapsed! Due to that shock wave the tunnel's trajectory changed. The children did not reach the timeline they were supposed to." Tristan spoke as he stared at the closed gate.
"The Alliance's heirs!" Setsuna cried out and left Tokaji's protective arm.
"Tara…" Tristan whispered, as if only for himself.
"Ankhra!" his father's voice spoke with anger and wrath. The other two turned to him and saw that his grey darkened eyes were staring at a point, somewhere in the air, right above him. Step by step, the point materialized and started growing until it formed a dark ball on energy… the same thing that Rubeus and Hotaru had once seen.
Setsuna felt that the energy in front of them was indeed the source of the time change and clung her fingers into her son's shoulders. When she didn't get a reaction from him, she gazed at his features and felt her blood freezing in her veins: Tristan was staring at the black sphere with a deadly and powerful glare, which seemed even more dangerous and inhuman than his father's.
Before the entity inside the energy ball made itself present, somewhere between Tokaji and itself appeared a tall table, carrying an ancient game of runes. Next to the board stood tall and motionless, as a rock, the former venusian king… Kunzite. He wore a dark version of his fighting armour, which accentuated his height and muscled body. From her seat, Setsuna could clearly see that, in spite of the black hair ending with silvery strands, his eyes had remained lavender shaded. So, after all, he really hadn't switched sides… at least not completely… yet.
"Shatem!" an inhuman voice started from inside the sphere. "We haven't seen each other for a long time now… brother." For a moment, Setsuna's eyes widened in shock: not even she had foreseen that change. Having understood who the voice was speaking with, she realised for the first time who was the man she had married… her son's father. Glancing again at Tristan, she finally deciphered the signs on his forehead and temples and understood where his unusual powers came from.
Suddenly, from within the sphere, a tall man appeared. He was as tall as Tokaji and had the same white white hair, only he carried it long, down his back and reaching his feet. However, his face features did not resemble the ones belonging to the man it had named "brother", but of his son. The stranger and Tristan were almost identical: both dressed in black robes and both having the same visible tattoos.
"Indeed we haven't!" Tokaji responded. "And I would have liked it better if that time had been even longer." He ended, approached the table and started the game, by moving the first rune.
"Oh, you harm me!" the white-haired man complained mockingly and made a move of his own on the board. After leaving the rune, he walked slowly to the place where Setsuna and Tristan still stood. The plutonian queen held her Garnet Rod proudly, while her son carried the same disgusted look as his father. The stranger came right her no Setsuna and traced her face with two fingers, as if wanting to understand her true nature and read her thoughts.
"My name is Al-Shamran… or Shadow…" he whispered while smelling her hair and making her feel as if she was some kind of trophy or present. After finishing his analysis, Shadow turned to his brother and spoke up. "Maybe your betrayal was worth it…" After throwing him an evil smirk, the new arrived stared at Tristan and focused on him intensely.
Whispers, thoughts, flashes and intense memories filled the prince's mind. That moment, the teenager glared directly into the demon's eyes. Pains, shouts and deaths followed, but the lavender orbs remained stuck into the black hollow holes, which served Shadow as eyes. More intolerable emotions and pictures entered his mind. Tristan should have reached by now the moment of maximum pain, he should have been on the floor, screaming for his life, begging for mercy. And still, after all those tests, he remained the same: determined to pass his private exam and prove himself a worthy part of Ankhra.
The link between the two was cut suddenly when the half-plutonian heir managed to block his mind away from the stranger's and backfired his last mental attack. Blinking, looking away and then returning to the teenager, Shadow spoke with both surprise and pride.
"He is one of us!" The he went to the table once again and moved another piece. "This is the last test, brother…" the long haired man said in another language that did not sound familiar to Setsuna, but seemed to be clearly enough understood by both father and son. "Don't screw up!" he warned Tokaji and waited patiently for the last but one move. Tokaji took his time and placed the rune. Almost immediately, Shadow smiled, made the ending move and, grinning widely and maliciously, rose and arm in the air, just before the king could disappear, trying to join his family.
A moment later, he rematerialized right in front of Setsuna, but, when he wanted to touch her, an invisible wall stopped his movement.
"Game over, brother!" Shadow shouted from behind him, as the King of Time stared at his Queen with guiltiness and pain imprinted on his face. He had placed a hand onto the wall, waiting for her reaction. In response, she smiled sadly, yet stubbornly, making him understand that neither her nor Tristan would give up and so, he shouldn't either. She rose her right palm and supported it by the wall, exactly where he had his hand, but on the other side.
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