Standard disclaimers apply. Most of these characters were created by Naoko Takeuchi, and rightfully belong to her. I'm only borrowing them for a while. New characters, and this story, belong to me. Ask before you use them. :)
Hearts of Darkness
Part 9: End of the Beginning
by JG Chan
"How much further is it?" Mars asked. The four Senshi and Jadeite were still running along the dark hallways of the crystal palace. A section of the ceiling cracked and fell towards them, but Venus casually blasted it to dust.
"Not too far," Jadeite replied. "I'm pretty sure Adamantite's heading for his private quarters. It's a dead end, but I have no idea what he keeps in there."
They ran on for another minute or so, when suddenly Mercury leapt forward and tackled Mars to the ground. A bolt of lightning passed over their heads as Adamantite's last remaining general appeared before them.
"So, wanna play with thunder, don't you?" Jupiter said. "SUPREME THUNDER!"
The enemy commander countered with his own attack as bolts of lightning arced across the hallway like a web from Jupiter's tiara. The two attacks collided and disappeared, and the dark warrior charged, only to find that Jupiter wasn't there anymore. He looked up just in time to receive Jupiter's boot in the face, and flew back several feet, cursing. Before he could get up again, Jupiter took him out with a Thunder Dragon, and the group moved on.
Soon after they reached a pair of large open doors. Adamantite stood waiting for them, hefting an enormous axe of black metal. His eyes burned angrily as he saw the Senshi.
"Cripes, that thing's huge!" Venus exclaimed, eyeing the greataxe.
"Give up, Adamantite!" Mars shouted. "This ends right here."
The dark lord snarled at her and raised his arm. A ball of dark energy impacted against Jadeite's hastily raised energy shield, forcing him back a few steps.
"SUPREME THUNDER"
"SHABON SPRAY!"
A stream of electrified bubbles splashed onto Adamantite from his left, staggering him but unable to pierce his armour. He retaliated with a heavy swing of his axe, which both Senshi nimbly avoided. The dark lord turned, ducked under a Crescent Beam, and charged Sailor Mars. She raised her arms in defense, but he simply grabbed them and slammed her into the wall. She groaned in pain as negative energy flowed into her, even as Adamantite's other hand raised the axe.
"Rei!" Jadeite yelled. He unleashed a blast of pure magical energy that struck Adamantite's hand, knocking the axe away. The dark lord countered by throwing Sailor Mars at him. As the blond general caught the Senshi of Fire, Adamantite moved to attack, but was interrupted when Jupiter kicked him in small of the back, where his armour didn't quite cover. He grunted and whirled to return the attack when thick mist suddenly surrounded him.
"CRESCENT BEAM SHOWER"
"FIRE SOUL BIRD!"
The twin attacks struck him from two directions, the heat warping the black armour. With a furious roar, he flung energy out in all directions, grimly satisfied at hearing several groans of pain.
"Fools!" he shouted in a hollow voice. "Did you think you could defeat me so easily? My plan might be ruined, but you will all die here! I am invincible!"
"I suppose so..." Athan agreed impassively from behind him.
Adamantite looked down in shock at the spear blade sticking out of his stomach...and then he broke apart, the flames within him dying out. The mist faded, and the Senshi stared disbelievingly as pieces of black armour fell to the ground, as did Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen who had just reached the room.
"What the...?" Jupiter began.
"This was a decoy," Athan explained. "Adamantite is known as the Armour Fiend in the Dark Kingdom; he can animate his armour to fight in his stead."
"Did he escape, then?" Sailor Moon asked, her heart sinking.
"No," Athan replied. "He's a clever general, but he's also very proud and vindictive. We've ruined a plan he's been hatching since before Beryl fell, and he'll want to get revenge. He should be gathering what remains of the Dark Kingdom's energy in order to strike back at us." He paused. "I can take you to him, if you're ready."
Sailor Moon looked at each of her friends in turn. There was a sense of finality at that moment, and it brought with a kind of peace. She found that she was not at all afraid, and looking at her friends and Tuxedo Kamen, she saw that they shared that feeling.
"So this is it, huh?" Mars said quietly.
"If Adamantite faces us with all he has, then this battle will determine the fate of the Dark Kingdom," Mercury noted. "All or nothing..."
"Well, it's about time," Jupiter declared with a confident grin.
"And this time, we're all together," Venus finished.
"Looks like we're ready, Sailor Moon," Tuxedo Kamen said with a smile. "Let's finish what we came here to do."
Sailor Moon nodded. "Yes," she said decisively. "It's time we finished this."
Seeing their resolve, Athan smiled faintly and raised his arm. In a swirl of shadows, the Senshi and their allies disappeared from the room.
A brief moment of darkness passed, and the Senshi found themselves atop the central spire of the crystal palace. Adamantite stood at the far side of the room before a large crystal glowing with purple energy. Without his outer armour, he stood as a tall, featureless black humanoid wreathed in flames. A lighter suit of armour still protected him, and the power emanating from him was palpable.
"So you've come, Sailor Senshi," he rumbled, his voice filled with the crackling of fire. "Fine. I shall leave you nothing but scattered ashes!"
"Your evil schemes end here, Adamantite!" Sailor Moon said. "We won't allow you to hurt those we love anymore. Neither you nor the Dark Kingdom will ever threaten Earth again!" She walked in to stand in front of him, her Moon Rod held ready. Tuxedo Kamen and the other Senshi fanned out on either side of her. 'This is it,' she thought. 'It'll finally be over.'
Adamantite roared and flung several bolts of flame at the gathered Senshi. Athan and Jadeite immediately moved to the front, blocking the attack with their shields of shadow and force. Meanwhile, the Senshi prepared their assault.
"SHABON SPRAY FREEZING"
"FIRE SOUL BIRD"
"SUPREME THUNDER DRAGON"
"CRESCENT BEAM SHOWER!"
The four attacks combined into a mass of swirling rainbow energy in front of them. Seeing that, Adamantite broke off his barrage and began gathering power for a single, massive strike.
"SHINING ROSE BOMBER!"
The golden rose entered the blazing energy, forming it into a perfect sphere. Athan and Jadeite took that as their cue to move out of the way, clearing the path for the final clash.
"For love and justice, your reign of terror ends here, Adamantite. MOON PRINCESS HALATION!"
Sailor Moon's attack slammed into the sphere and combined with it, sending the whole flying towards Adamantite. The dark lord unleashed his own attack,
the purple blast slamming into the iridescent sphere. But his fury was no match for the united hearts of the Senshi, and the blast disintegrated, allowing the shifting rainbow energy to envelop him.
"NOOOOOOOO!!" The dark lord's voice rose in a scream as the power of love consumed his body and black soul. The fire in his eyes flared for a moment before going out, and he disappeared.
"We...we won!" Sailor Moon shouted triumphantly. She ran into Tuxedo Kamen's arms. "We did it, Mamo-chan!"
The others looked on, smiling. Sailor Mars unconsciously moved closer to Jadeite, and Sailor Venus glanced curiously in Athan's direction. The mood was suddenly broken, however, when the walls and ceiling started to shake with a low rumbling sound.
"We've got to get out of here!" Mercury said urgently. "Without Adamantite's power, this palace will crumble!"
"Why does this always happen?" Sailor Moon asked no one in particular.
Athan raised his fist, and shadows surrounded everyone once more. They reappeared on the hill outside the palace, watching as it caved in on itself and collapsed into a heap of shiny debris. The storms outside had stopped, leaving the area as calm as the rest of the Arctic.
"I guess this is the end of the Dark Kingdom, huh?" Mars said.
"Yes..." Athan agreed quietly, his dark eyes distant.
The newly revealed sun was shining over the now silent plain. Tuxedo Kamen had wrapped his arms around Sailor Moon at some point, and now she pulled them closer together. The feeling of peace that washed over her at that moment was one of the greatest things she had ever felt. 'Yes...it is over now,' she thought. 'I...all of us can just be normal people again.' And with that thought in her mind, she led the others away from the site of their latest triumph, ready to return home.
FRIDAY
"Waaah, everyone's lunches look soooo delicious..." Usagi gushed. The others sweatdropped, waiting for her to bring out the puppy-dog eyes, especially seeing as her own lunch didn't turn out too well. "...especially yours, Mamo-chan," she continued. "Why didn't you tell me you were so good at making sandwiches?"
"And have you eat me out of my apartment?" he replied fondly. "Besides, they're nothing special. I just don't have time some days to make anything else."
Usagi beamed at him as she took a bite out of the sandwich...then turned to her friends and gave them a smug little smile. It's nice to catch them off guard sometimes.
The group was sitting under one of the sakura trees at the park, having been let out of school early for hanami. The blossoms were indeed very beautiful, but to Usagi, that came second to having fun with her friends.
She snuggled closer to Mamoru's shoulder and looked around. Umino was still trapped in his sleeping bag behind Naru; Ami was talking to Minako with Ryo sitting beside her, neither noticing that their hands were touching; Kenta was blissfully gorging himself on one of Makoto's lunches; and Rei was pointedly not talking to Jadeite, who sat slightly apart from them. Usagi's eyes slid past the group and caught another figure, sitting alone under a different tree, and her expression sombered a little.
"Go on, Usako," Mamoru said, seeming to have read her mind. She nodded and gave him a quick smile before rising from her spot.
The target of her thoughts was sitting with his back against the tree, eyes closed. He was wearing jeans and a plain white shirt, looking for all the world like any ordinary man in his twenties, despite the lock of silver hair above his right eye.
"Hey, onii-chan," Usagi greeted him as she approached.
"Hey, Usagi," he replied quietly, opening his eyes. The black orbs were peaceful, but somehow the blonde could feel the guardedness behind them, as if he could never truly relax. It struck her then how right Luna had been when she said that they were opposites, and she wondered what had made him this way.
"You sure you don't wanna join us?" she asked lightly, sitting down next to him. "We have lots of yummy food, if you haven't brought your own."
"No, I'm alright," he answered with a faint smile. His gaze turned upwards toward the drifting pink petals. "It's been a long time since I've seen something like this."
"It's really pretty, isn't it? But it's kinda sad, too. They only get to blossom for a little while before they fall..."
"But that's part of their beauty, isn't it?" Athan replied wistfully.
"I guess you could look at it that way..." Usagi watched the sakura for a bit longer, then turned to Athan. "Onii-chan, are you sure you're okay with this?"
"...You mean about Luna?"
Usagi nodded. "I don't know what's wrong with her. I mean, I've never seen her react to anything like that. Even after you sealed your powers, she's been telling me over and over not to trust you or talk to you, and..."
Athan shook his head. "Usagi," he said gently, "I'll be fine. To be honest, Luna's reaction was entirely natural. I did something horrible back in the Silver Millenium, and I don't expect her to forgive me anytime soon. Still, it's better that I come right out and face her than sneak around behind her back." He paused. "It might be easier if you just did as she told you, though."
Usagi shook her head vehemently. "You know I won't do that!"
The dark-haired man shrugged. "I suppose not."
"...so, what did you do?" she asked carefully.
"I think Luna should be the one to tell you that, whenever she's ready. Just please, don't worry yourself over me, alright?" He gave her a muted but clearly affectionate smile. "I can live with things as they are now, but I'd feel much better if you were happy, little sister."
Usagi considered that for a bit, as Athan leaned back and went back to watching the trees. His contemplation was cut short a moment later when she suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled. Caught off guard, he failed to put up any resistance and allowed the much smaller girl to pull him to his feet.
"Usagi, what...?"
She smiled brightly at him. "You said you wanted me happy, didn't you? Well, you'll have to work for it. Come on, come on!" And with that, she dragged the bemused man over to her friends, filled with a deep certainty that whatever was wrong, they would fix in time. Right now, it was time to be a normal fourteen-year-old girl, and have fun and enjoy the day out with her friends.
THE END
End Notes: One series down, more to go. :) So, what do you think? I'm not quite sure what to say here, but anyway, I hope that you've all enjoyed this series in some way. As the chapter title might suggest, this is only the beginning. I'm off on vacation until the end of February, and by then, I should have the next series on its way. Thank you to all of you who've read this, and I hope to see lots of reviews when I come back. :D So, until then, all the best to you.
JG