Chapter Twenty-Four
LadyPrin
Disclaimer Applies.
The battle in the throne room was immense, but no one outside the throne room door knew anything of it.
The battle went un-noticed by the Palace staff and the civilians of the Moon Kingdom.
Queen Serenity or Princess Serena could have called via their mind links to the outer Scouts who were just a couple floors up, but the idea hadn't occurred to them yet. The outer Scouts were not as connected with the Princess or Queen yet so they didn't feel the fear Serena felt, not like the inner Scouts had.
The battle raged wildly, uncontrollably, but the good side seemed to be winning.
Each attack the Scouts sent out hit their mark straight on.
Each energy ball that Prince Alan and Ann managed to conjure up hit their marks as well.
Queen Serenity wiped out dozens in waves of great energy.
Prince Endymion cut down many with his sword, and distracted many for the Scouts to destroy by hitting them with sharp-stemmed roses that he conjured up and threw as if they were darts.
When Alan didn't have enough energy left to spend on energy balls, he drew his sword and used it just like Endymion used his.
Ann spent most of what little energy she had left on energy balls, and then just leaned against a wall, willing herself not to fall down. She didn't want to get stepped on, accidentally or otherwise.
In what seemed like years, but was only hours, they managed to stop the flow enough for Pluto to close the doors of the Gate.
"Call the others!" Pluto cried above the horrible noise that the monsters and the clashing of swords on stone, metal and armor made.
"What others?" Queen Serenity cried as she used her long scepter to send another wave of energy at the monsters.
"The outers!" Pluto cried in reply as she used her staff to hit the monsters and block their blows that were aimed at her.
Queen Serenity tried their mind links.
"I can't reach them!!!" Queen Serenity cried after a moment.
"Neither can I!" Serena yelled, as she struck down a monster with the same sword she had used in the previous battle back on Earth, the crescent moon on its hilt glowed a bright gold.
She had summoned it a while back, when the monsters had closed in too much, and she had been in danger of hitting one of her friends as well as the enemy.
Serena's head jerked around as she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Where are they?" Ann asked her urgently.
Serena paused for moment, her eyes going out of focus.
"I can't speak to them via my mind link, but I can sense where they are. They're two floors above us, in the training room." Serena informed her.
Then she paused long enough to run her sword through another monster, and then turned back to Ann.
"Touch foreheads." She commanded.
Ann leaned forward and touched her forehead to Serena.
Thus Serena gave her the directions to the training room.
At the first possible moment when the way to the staircase was clear, Ann made a run for it.
She made it to the staircase, ran up it and disappeared from the view of the others below.
The others below continued to fight, though their energy was becoming increasingly depleted.
But now since the doors to the Gate were closed there finally seemed to be an end in sight.
Serena bumped backs with Mars.
"I wish this would stop!" Serena yelled so that Mars could hear.
Mars turned her head slightly.
"I do too, Serena! Be strong, it looks like it's almost over!" She cried.
Suddenly someone screamed.
Nephrite went down with a whole in his shoulder.
"Why I'm gonna'—!" Jupiter cried as she jumped the monster that had thrown the dark matter ball.
She tore it limb from limb. Literally.
After she was done, Jupiter turned half around to look at Nephrite who was staring at her in amazement.
"Are you okay?" She asked, her green eyes blazing, a strand of auburn hair hung in her face having escaped the ponytail holder.
"I'll be fine." Nephrite assured her as he stood back up, holding his good hand to his bad shoulder.
Then he took his good hand away and lightening bolted a nearby enemy.
Venus had taken her fight up to a balcony that overlooked the dancing floor.
She was sending her high heels repeatedly into the monster, kicking it for all she was worth.
Then it got the best of her and managed to knock her over the side of the railing.
"VenusLoveMeChainEncircle!" Venus cried hurriedly.
Though her words had strung together with the speed at which she talked, she got the result she had wanted.
The chain materialized in her hands and she threw it up and hooked it around the railing. She came to a stop with a jerk, and then started climbing her way back up.
The monster realized what she was doing, and threw a dark matter ball at the chain.
It hit the chain and not only broke it, but electrified it as well.
Venus cried out in pain as it burned through her gloves.
She let go and fell toward the floor of the room.
Kunzite caught her with a grunt.
He held her for a second just staring at her.
Venus stared back at him, blushing a slight rose.
Then she smiled at him, which seemed to awaken him from his trance.
He sat her back down on her feet.
"Be careful next time." Kunzite muttered, glancing away from her.
"There won't be a next time." Venus assured him, and as he looked at her again, she blew him a kiss.
Then with a smile she jumped into the air, and went high enough to land back on the balcony railing.
With a few well-aimed kicks at the surprised enemy she pushed it and another one over the side of the railing.
Luckily Kunzite had moved out of the way before they landed.
He looked at them for a moment, but as they started getting back up he threw an energy ball at them and finished them off.
Then he looked up at the balcony, and grinned.
Venus smiled and winked back at him, then jumped from the balcony over to another one to fight some more.
Across the room Jedite had been knocked down by two of the enemy.
Mars came up and finished those two off with fireballs.
"Hey, those were mine!" Jedite cried.
"Well if you weren't laying down on the job you would've gotten them!" Mars replied. "Now get up, you've got a job to finish!"
Jedite stood up.
"Miss Bossy." Jedite stated with his hands on his hips.
Then he ran by Mars who was turning red with rage at him, and he whispered to her: "I like that in a woman."
Mars's face turned from red rage, to a red blush in to two seconds flat.
Mercury had her visor down over her eyes. She had it scanning each monster for its weak points and then she attacked them in those points.
"Enemy behind you." The visor stated in its calm mechanical voice.
Mercury whipped around, her short blue hair flying.
She saw a wooden club bearing down on her.
It was only inches away from her face when something went straight through it and shattered it to pieces.
Some of those pieces bounced off Mercury's visor and she flinched by reflex.
Then she looked back at the monster, located its weak point and hit it.
Then she looked to see who had thrown whatever it had been that had shattered its weapon.
Zoisite smiled a shy smile at her and then turned to fight another monster.
Mercury saw that he had his own little visor, similar in design to hers, down over his own eyes, and she smiled a shy smile back.
She didn't know it, but he saw that smile.
Serena was in trouble.
She had lost her sword again. It had been knocked from her hand and had scattered across the floor, getting kicked around by dozens of feet until it disappeared from her view.
She backed up a couple careful slow steps.
Then the monster hit her with its monstrous paw and she slammed up against a wall.
She collapsed onto the floor, tears clogging up her eyes.
She wanted this to stop; she wanted the pain to stop, she wanted Beryl to stop.
She struggled to push herself up onto her arms as the monster readied a final blow, but two swords that clanged together to form an X just above Serena blocked the monster.
Prince Endymion and Prince Alan pushed the monster back and stood between the fallen Serena and her attacker.
The two men glanced at each other only briefly, then raised their swords and charged the monster as one.
Serena didn't wait for Endymion and Alan to finish the monster and help her up.
She stood up herself.
She tried to produce herself another sword, but it wouldn't come.
She tried two more times, but then realized that her energy had finally run too low.
The only reason she wasn't lying on the floor unconscious and dying was because the Impearium Silver Crystal gave her just enough energy to live and stay awake and alert, but that was all the energy it could spare.
It's power and attention was split, giving the Queen what she needed to fight and keeping Serena alive.
The Crystal was powerful, but to ask it for more after it had done so much already was a death sentence in itself. There was only so far even the Crystal could stretch before it destroyed itself.
Serena just leaned against the wall and tried to stay out of the way.
From her standing spot by the wall opposite the staircase, she saw the last three Sailor Scouts come running down the steps into view.
Saturn ignored the last twenty or so steps and just leaped over the railing.
As she landed she wielded her glaive with deadly precision.
Urnus followed her lead, yelling her attack phrase while she was still in the air.
"Urnus World Shaking!"
She struck the floor as she landed with her fist, and the whole floor of the room shook itself, cracking open straight down the middle of the room.
Everybody found it hard to stay standing up; most of the monsters couldn't manage it.
The good side took advantage and destroyed the ones who had fallen.
Neptune leaped the railing too, yelling her attack phrase while she was still in the air as well.
"Neptune Deep Submerge!"
A tidal wave rushed over everyone in the room, but this time the good side was ready for it.
They stayed standing as the wave rushed over them, then attacked the rest of the monsters while they were stunned.
Silence ruled over the moment as everyone took a breath and looked around.
No other monster was in sight, but Mercury and Zoisite weren't taking any chances.
They scanned the room to try and find any that used invisibility to shield itself.
They found it at the same time, but their warning came to late.
The monster was on the staircase, just behind Ann who was leaning on the railing for support.
It became visible just long enough to stab Ann in the back with one of its sword like arms.
Ann's head jerked back as a gasp of pain escaped her mouth.
Alan cried in despair as the monster withdrew its arm, and Ann slumped over the railing, and then slowly fell over it.
Alan rushed to catch her, as all the Scouts combined their powers and threw it at the monster before it could become invisible again, destroying it completely.
Alan caught Ann just in time, but fell over backward with the force of her fall.
He sat up and cradled Ann in his arms.
Tears overfilled his eyes and spilled out onto his cheeks.
"Ann! No, Ann! Come back to me Ann! Please!" He whispered to her, his voice choking with pain.
Ann didn't open her eyes, and her breathing was becoming more of a struggle.
The others gathered around them.
Alan looked up at them.
"Ann could heal herself if only she had enough pure energy, but she's spent almost all of it. There's none left for her to use. I'd try to heal her, but I don't have enough energy either. The only way to heal her is if I got her to the Life Tree in the next couple seconds, but even using Pluto's Time Gate I wouldn't get there in time!" Alan exclaimed.
Serena kneeled beside Ann opposite Alan.
"She needs pure energy to heal herself, right?" She asked.
Alan nodded.
Serena looked to her mother, then looked back at Ann.
She placed both her hands onto Ann, and closed her eyes.
Her crescent moon symbol glowed bright, and then she and Ann started glowing as well.
Since the Impearium Silver Crystal's power was no longer split, Serena had enough energy from it to spare enough for Ann to heal herself and regenerate.
It took a few minutes, but Serena did it.
Ann's eyes flew open and she gulped in a lung full of air.
Her wound was healed completely though there was still a sizable whole in her ragged clothes.
After she breathed deep breaths for a moment, her eyes closed and she relaxed into a peaceful sleep.
Alan smiled and started rocking Ann back and forth.
"Thank you! Thank you!" He whispered to Serena.
"You're welcome!" Serena said cheerfully.
Then she collapsed on the floor right beside Ann.
She too was also in a peaceful sleep; content in the knowledge that the Crystal lent her that Beryl was no longer here on the Moon. The monsters could no longer get in. Everyone was safe.