Chapter 11 – Dark History
"What are you talking about, Mercury? We have to go help the others!" Sailor Moon's voice had a sense of urgency that she hadn't used in a long time. With everything that had happened thus far today, even she was amazed at how calm she was managing to keep herself.
Sailor Mercury did not immediately answer Sailor Moon's question and cast her eyes down to the dirty floor, drawing out the lingering silence between the four of them. This made the levels of fear and anxieties grow exponentially. Off to her right, Neo-Queen Serenity stared at the blue haired guardian with an intensity that matched her daughter's. Sailor Mercury could feel their gazes and the power they contained. She lifted her head and glanced over at her queen. As she had suspected, Neo-Queen Serenity's eyes contained that fierce determination that she had seen before when facing their previous enemies. However this time, she saw fragments of confusion and her gaze held a questioning tone as she stared back at her. That alone told Sailor Mercury that her queen was still in the dark about what she was trying to delicately lay out for her and King Endyimon as the princess.
"We need to even the playing field or at least try to get the balance of power more in our favor if we are to have a chance of defeating our enemies." As she spoke, her blue eyes searched each face that stared back at her and she immediately knew that she would have to go further into detail. King Endyimon had kept his silent vigil ever since the group had first gone down into the detention cell level to interrogate the Scorpion, but now he spoke up, his tone flat and his face emotionless.
"How exactly do you propose that we do that, Mercury?" His voice wasn't hostile or accusing in any way, just…empty. Sailor Mercury theorized that this was due to his emotional struggle in coming to terms with the ongoing destruction of his city and his desire to not give into rage and despair because of it.
"I think it might help if I explained my reasoning for coming to this conclusion first." Although she did her best to try to mask the nervousness that lingered in her voice, she failed. She herself hadn't fully come to grasp what she was about to tell them even with all the evidence she had witnessed. In the silent pause that ensued, the three faces surrounding her searched her expression for any signs of a hint or clue that might indicate what she was referring to. A low rumbling sound could be heard through the energy shield above them and several small piles of dust fell from the ceiling towards the floor, settling in small heaps all around them. As one, they all looked up at the ceiling. They each knew what was making those sounds. The Black Moon was still attacking the city and every explosion or rumble was a sign that they were causing more chaos and pain, probably death, and definitely suffering. They all were aware that the longer they stayed down here, talking, the greater the likelihood that they would lose everything. As the silence among them stretched on, Neo-Queen Serenity straightened her shoulders and took a small step towards the center of the circle they formed so everyone's eyes would be locked on her as she spoke.
"Go ahead, Mercury. Tell us what's going on." Gradually, everyone's gaze shifted back over to Sailor Mercury. She sighed heavily before she spoke. She could tell that the queen had just barely caught herself and stopped herself before saying 'please hurry'. The queen had known her brilliant guardian for centuries, and in that time they had grown to respect each other to the point where they didn't speak to each other like one when addressing children. After all, Sailor Mercury was mature enough to understand the severity of the situation and didn't need any outside sources telling her.
"Since the Black Moon's arrival, I have been making several mental observations that have been giving me cause for great concern. Things that are different from the time period that we encountered when we first fought the Black Moon." Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endyimon's faces lit up with recognition as they thought back to that point in their respective pasts. Sailor Moon, however, just kept staring blankly as she hadn't been around during that era and thus could not follow the conversation. Sailor Mercury saw the look on Sailor Moon's face, and it only supported her theory, and fully cemented the plan that she'd been forming into place. She looked directly over at Sailor Moon and waited for the young guardian to make eye contact with her before speaking. When she did, Sailor Mercury began to clarify what she was referring to for her.
"When we first traveled back to this point in the time stream, there was only one space ship. The one commanded by Prince Diamond. However, now there are two flying battleships." She paused, letting her unsavory words register with her audience. "The evil Black Crystal hasn't appeared anywhere around the Crystal Palace as of yet, so for the time being, we still have the power of the Silver Moon Crystal on our side." Sailor Mercury paused again as she watched a flash of hope flicker into existence in everyone but especially Neo-Queen Serenity's eyes. She could feel a small sliver of it inside herself, as well. She resumed speaking again, but this time her voice was lowered a bit, as if the gravity of the situation was just too much of a burden and that it was weighing it down. "The re-appearance of Scorpion, and the revelations of the technological contributions that the Vulture and Doctor Octavius made to the rise of the Black Moon clan and the people on Nemesis, is the most troubling observation I have made since…" She broke off and found Neo-Queen Serenity's gaze before continuing on. "the alternate version of King Endyimon that we encountered the first time made no mention of those individuals when he explained the history of the Black Moon to us shortly after we arrived in Crystal Tokyo." She stopped talking again and watched the faces of the Royal Couple. They remembered that conversation and nodded their heads in agreement. Their support only confirmed that she was correct in her observation. When both the king and queen's eyes were on her again, she continued. "When you also add in the facts that Chibiusa is a grown adult and Neo-Queen Serenity is not comatose and encased in an unbreakable shell of crystal, it means that we are dealing with a completely different timeline and therefore, we can't predict the outcome based on our past experiences. The energy shield that I installed was meant to counter the attacks of the Black Moon and to prevent myself and the other Inner Sailors from having to power a protective barrier of planetary energy and thus render us inactive for any sort of counter offensive. As we saw before when we travelled here, we would not have been able to do anything else since we would have had to constantly maintain that barrier. At least now, we have more warriors ready to battle against the Black Moon's forces."
As if in response to her statement, another series or rumblings and tremors could be heard, and the ground visibly shook beneath them, stabbing fear into all of them that they were determined to keep hidden from the others. The sound was louder than before, and it made the three adults wonder if the intensity of the Black Moon's bombardment had increased since the last assault. They were running out of time and they needed to get moving. Sailor Mercury snapped her head back from the ceiling to her audience, and this time didn't bother waiting for them to give her their attention before she spoke.
"We know that our true enemy is the Death Phantom. We've defeated him before, but we needed two Silver Crystals to do it. When we face him this time, we will only get one chance to destroy him. That means we need to come at him with everything that we have."
"What are you proposing, Mercury?" King Endyimon asked, trying to keep the conversation flowing towards the conclusion that would hopefully reveal her plan to save them and Crystal Tokyo. Another series of quakes came and more dust and chunks of bedrock fell from the ceiling, heightening their sense of urgency.
"We need Sailor Moon to go back through the Door of Time to the past and bring back the original Sailor Moon and the Inner Sailors to this time period, just like what her alternate version did in the past. That way, when we face off against the Death Phantom, we will have the power of three crystals: the Silver Moon Crystal, the silver crystal from the past, and Sailor Moon's Pink Moon Crystal." Sailor Mercury counted each crystal on her fingers for them all to see so they would understand what she was telling them. Her audience was silent as they took in exactly what their chief tactician was saying to them. Sailor Moon looked a little worried, and the color in her face visibly drained a little as the reality of Sailor Mercury's plan dawned on her and more specifically, her role in it. She could feel the sudden weight on her shoulders. The success of this plan rested solely on her, and she would be completely on her own in a world and time period that she knew nothing about other than the stories that her parents had told her growing up. This meant that if she failed, their destruction would be her fault. Neo-Queen Serenity could see and feel her daughter's nervousness and internal tension, so she moved closer to her and put her arm around the young woman, drawing her in for a quick embrace.
"I know that you're scared, but you are my beautiful, strong daughter, and you must not let those emotions distract you. Everything you need to complete this task is already inside you." Neo-Queen Serenity pulled Sailor Moon in closer as she spoke, tightening the embrace that they were sharing. Sailor Moon rested her head on her mother's bare shoulder. That single act seemed to de-age the pink haired guardian, and she seemed younger and more vulnerable, almost like a child in her mother's arms. King Endyimon moved to Sailor Moon's other side, giving her additional comfort in his presence. Neo-Queen Serenity lifted her head slightly to look over at her husband. Nodding in silence, the queen gently shifted her daughter's weight and attention over to her father. Sailor Moon lifted her head at her mother's movements. She was confused at first, but when she looked over and saw her father waiting, with his arms out to embrace her, she relaxed her body and fell into his arms.
"My little Usa-ko. You must always believe in yourself, no matter how difficult things may become. Your mother and I believe in you, never forget that."
"Papa…" Sailor Moon whispered as she tightened her arms around her father. His words warmed her heart just as much as her mother's had, and she was trying to hold back her tears. The pressure that she had been feeling moments ago disappeared and in its place was a surge of strength that her parents' words had instilled inside her. She didn't finish her sentence as there was no need too. The silence stretched on for a few more seconds, letting the tender father and daughter moment have a little more peace without interruptions. With all the evil that had happened today, it was a welcome sight to see such a heart-warming tableau.
Another series of rumbles and tremors echoed through the open spaces of the detention center, breaking the tender moment. All of them perked up like they'd been in their own little world, becoming lost in the heartwarming display of parental love, and were just been awakened back to the reality that was terrorizing them.
"We need to go, now." Sailor Mercury's voice was flat with resignation. Sailor Moon broke away from her father and she squared her shoulders for the task at hand. Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endyimon nodded their heads. Without hesitation, they all rushed out of the cell block, leaving the Scorpion alone again as they hurried towards the secret chamber that housed the Door of Time, and the guardian of revolution, Sailor Pluto.
Emerald was intrigued as she sat and let her mind pondered on what had recently occurred. Prince Diamond had sent her a message from the middle of the initial attack on the Crystal Kingdom a short while ago, asking her to bring the Black Crystal to Earth and join the fray as well. She couldn't help but grin to herself.
This was going to be fun she thought to herself. It was her chance to get revenge for every wrong that had ever been done to her and show her arrogant prince the folly in keeping her behind. Did he think that she was just going to sit idly by while he took the rest of Black Moon clan to attack Earth and act like nothing was wrong? Avenging their parents and elders' exiles while building up their interstellar empire so that all of their futures would be bright while she was left behind? No, she didn't think so and she would prove how mistaken Prince Diamond was to believe that he could.
She'd already taken matters into her own hands and paid a visit to the dark realm of Negonall. While she was there, she'd found a demon, and he'd made her an offer that she couldn't refuse. If she brought it an innocent human, she could trade their soul for her very own symbiote. This was her overall plan for wreaking havoc and revenge on all those that that humiliated her…especially Sapphire, Prince Diamond's younger brother. When he'd set her aside for the Four Sisters and even had the nerve to fall in love with the oldest, Petz, she'd almost lost herself completely to the rage and pain that had flooded her system. Sapphire had been a means to an end, a way for her to get close to Prince Diamond so that she could make him fall in love with her and make her princess of the planet, Nemesis. Once that had happened, she was going to take it a step further and eliminate Prince Diamond altogether so that she would be the sole ruler.
Sapphire had instead rejected her advances and used her instead as a tool to further advance his own standing as Prince Diamond's number two. She'd vowed that that was never going to happen again. She had found a way to transport to and from Earth without Prince Diamond or any of the other Black Moon clan members' knowledge. She had kidnapped an innocent girl and brought her to Negonall. As promised, the demon gave her a symbiote that he had come into possession of from a previous transaction with another demon.
Her symbiote's name was Sidhu, and it was something else altogether and not what Emerald had been expecting. Like humans or other species in nature, symbiotes had a tendency to excel at certain aspects or be gifted with specific aspects. Emerald had quickly learned that Sidhu's attributes centered on the occult and mystical. Emerald had come to the conclusion that in the symbiote world, Sidhu would be considered a witch in a sense. Magic was something that ran through Sidhu's veins, and now that she had become a part of Emerald, it was more powerful than ever. Just the other day for example, Sidhu had been given free reign over Emerald's body, and it had come back with a feeling of self-satisfaction that Emerald immediately felt in her brain when she regained control of her body because it had wiped out an entire legion of Crystal Tokyo security guards, using the liquid nitrogen that she had stolen from one of the Crystal Kingdom's research facilities.
Prince Diamond's chief advisor, Wiseman, had been the only person to learn of her secret activities. He had appeared to her in private and confronted her about her ambitions to be queen of Nemesis and his desire to help her achieve that goal. He had presented her with a crown made of obsidian-coloured metal. She had quickly learned that Wiseman was not her ally and just another being that she would have to eliminate. As it had turned out, the magical power contained in the black crown that Wiseman had given her, in his attempt to try to trick her into believing that he could make her into Prince Diamond's queen once they'd overthrown the Crystal Kingdom had unexpectedly reacted to her symbiote inside her, transforming her into a monstrous dragon. In the ensuing thrashing that she had committed due to the surge of dark energy that coursed through her new body, the black crown had been knocked loose from her crocodilian head.
Once the crown had left her head, she'd immediately turned back into her human form, but it had very nearly killed her because she hadn't been able to control the crown's power. She and Sidhu had been fighting against each other at the time, their bond not fully cemented yet and that was what Wiseman had been counting on she had come to conclude. Now, however, the two beings were fully working together, and with their combined powers, Emerald felt that she could now control the dragon form that the black crown would turn her into. She still had the crown, stashed away in the cloth sack that hung from the belt of her uniform.
She patted the crown now, lovingly as she sat in her apartment on Nemesis, almost like a pregnant woman would pat their protruding stomach. According to the prince's orders, she was to deliver the Black Crystal to him, but that didn't mean that she couldn't have her own personal playground on the ruins of the Crystal Palace when she got there. Sapphire had been the leader for all the excursions that had resulted in the stealing of the various pieces of technological equipment that Doctor Octavius had required from Earth as well as the numerous other dimensions that they had invaded. She'd been along on every trip, but he'd treated her no differently than the other pawns that he was bossing around even during their so-called relationship. That had raised her ire more than anything else, and she wasn't at all happy with it even after so much time had passed. That was just one more thing on her list that she was going to lash out for.
She closed her brown eyes. Emotions were running through her, and she refused to let them take over. One thing that she'd learned was that if she had any emotions in her at all, it only made her weaker. She stood up from her chair and pushed her long bright green hair back behind her shoulders. It was time to carry out the prince's orders but it doesn't mean that I can't take the scenic route to retrieve it, she thought to herself with a smile.
Sometime later, she stood before the enormous black crystal. It towered several stories above her, like some giant mountain. From her position at its base, she could see it pulse with energy and it was emitting a purple glow that lit up the darkness of the area around it. She was supposed to bring it immediately, but as she stared at the powerful crystalline formation, she again thought that she might as well let her prince sweat a little more. If things weren't going well right now for him so much the better for her and her goals. It would do him some good to learn some humility. She smirked to herself as she thought about Prince Diamond's arrogant demeanor. Maybe it would teach him a lesson if he discovered that he isn't as good as he thinks he is. She perused her long red fingernails as if she had nothing better to do with her time.
The air shimmered in front of Prince Diamond as he reclined in his throne with another glass of red wine. His hand gripped the underside of the glass almost to the breaking point. If this wasn't Emerald reporting that the damn Black Crystal was in place by the Crystal Palace, then he was going to send Rubeus after her. She was taking her own sweet time, and he wasn't happy about it in the least. Things seemed to be changing around here, and his orders were being met with more and more resistance from all sides. If he was going to be the one great king of the new kingdom that would rise out of the ashes of the devastated ruins of Crystal Tokyo, then he needed his orders to be carried out with a little more urgency and less opposition.
The air shimmer clarified, to reveal a woman in battle armor with brilliant green hair. In her hand, she griped a pink half-moon shaped fan. He did not to show it, but he was relieved that Emerald had decided to finally show up. That meant that the Black Crystal was in place and would give his forces more power as well as neglect the power of the Silver Moon crystal, making it useless to Neo-Queen Serenity. That alone would ensure their victory.
"What took you so long Emerald?" His voice was low and menacing, and his words came out as a bark when he addressed her before she even had the time to bow to him.
"Forgive me, my prince. There were a few other pressing matters that I needed to attend to immediately and personally before I could deliver the Black Crystal." A small sneer appeared at the corner of Prince Diamond's face when she finished speaking and her response registered with him. It clearly sounded to him like she was actually telling him that her own personal digressions were more important than his orders or the outcome of this war. His hands clenched into tight fists, and Emerald physically trembled when the wine glass exploded in his hand.
"Go and make sure that there's an army of droids around the Black Crystal to guard it. Then get back here and explain to me why I shouldn't flay you alive for disobeying me. My orders were to come immediately. Not whenever you felt like it." Emerald nodded her head and gave a silent promise that she would, before the air shimmered again and she started to vanish. At the last second, however, she looked up at him, and for a brief moment, he could see something ferocious flashing in her dark brown eyes.
Prince Diamond found himself staring at the spot where she'd vanished for several seconds. A worrisome chill passed over his heart at the feral look that she'd just given him. It told him that she was only obeying his orders because it happened to suit her own ambitions at this moment in time. That was a disconcerting thought in and of itself, and he was far too busy trying to run command of this war to worry about being stabbed in the back by those that called themselves his supporters. If she was the only one that was acting out like this, then he could simply eradicate her and be done with it. If, however, there was a growing mutiny on his hands, which would be a bigger threat to deal with than the one posed by Neo-Queen Serenity and her guardians. He'd have to consult with Wiseman on the matter to see what the best strategy would be from here on out where Emerald was concerned.
He finally opened his hand, letting the shards of broken glass trickle out to collect on the floor with a chorus of sounds. He stared for a moment at his white gloved hand, seeing the rips in the smooth fabric where the glass shards had cut through, and the bright red liquid seeping through the stark white from the various wounds underneath. If he didn't bring Emerald under control soon, he might have weeping wounds elsewhere on his body, and that was something completely unacceptable. He'd have to set Rubeus on her to follow her, then report back to him on her movements. All of his angles needed to be covered, because it was already hard enough to concentrate on this war when those mystifying blue eyes of Neo-Queen Serenity kept repeatedly floating into his field of vision.