The image of Helios and Nehelenia faded away, and once again Sailor Chibi Moon stood in her father's study. "Why wasn't he fighting?" she whimpered, holding onto her father's desk to steady herself.
Serenity put her hand comfortingly on her daughter's shoulder. "It's not too late," she said. "Helios is strong. Nehelenia won't be able to break him so easily."
Chibi Moon looked at her, eyes sparkling with tears. "What if she succeeds? What if she turns him against us?"
"You mustn't talk like that," said Endymion sternly. "If you don't want her to have Helios, then we have to be strong for him, and stop her. It's not too late; we just have to go get him."
Chibi Moon hastily dried her eyes, then looked at her father with determination. "Then I'll go now!"
"You're not going by yourself!" protested Serenity.
"We can't waste time!" Chibi Moon looked at her father imploringly. "Please, Papa, you have to send me there! I have to bring him back!"
Endymion sighed and looked at his wife. "She has a point, darling," he said, "but it's your call."
Serenity looked at her daughter, who returned her gaze with determined eyes. The ageless Queen hesitated, then said, "All right, you can go, but I will be sending the other Senshi after you as soon as possible, so don't do anything reckless. Try to stay unnoticed, at least until they get there. Okay?"
Chibi Moon flung her arms around her mother and cried, "I knew you'd understand, Mama! I promise I'll be careful, no need to worry!" She released her then said, "Okay, I'm ready!"
"Remember, Small Lady, don't be seen until the other Senshi arrive!" cautioned Endymion.
"I know, I know," said Chibi Usa impatiently.
"Okay, here we go then…!"
There was a bright flash of light, and when it faded, Chibi Moon was gone.
"Oh, please let her stay safe…" prayed Serenity softly.
Endymion took her hands in his and squeezed them reassuringly. "Don't worry, my love. She'll be okay; after all, she's your daughter."
Serenity smiled and kissed him. "What would I do without you?"
Endymion chuckled. "Who knows? Now come on, let's go get the other Senshi." And they left the study hand in hand.
As the bright light shone around her, Chibi Moon felt her feet leave the ground. She was spinning through space. Her stomach turned. She squeezed her eyes shut. After a moment it became unbearable. She felt like she was going to be sick when all of the sudden it stopped. She opened her eyes and saw that she was floating about a foot off the ground in front of an eerie fortress. She gently alighted on the hard stone beneath her and looked around.
She was standing on a precipice facing a large stone fortress. There was no horizon, no sky, and no earth; rather, everything was simply suspended in space. Chibi Moon had the suspicion that if she were to drop off the edge she would fall forever. She cautiously moved as far as she could toward the fortress, but she couldn't find a way to reach it. It stood suspended on a large rock some distance away, and she could never hope to make it by jumping.
"Now what do I do?" she huffed. Suddenly, a golden ball of light no larger than a firefly drifted toward her out of nowhere. Startled, she cringed away from it when it got close. It twinkled, as if in amusement, which irritated her. "So you think it's funny, do you?" she demanded hotly. The light simply hovered there. She sighed. "What is wrong with me? I'm talking to it like it can actually understand me!"
Suddenly, the ball of light started bobbing up and down. Chibi Moon stared at it in confusion. "What? Can you?" she asked it. It twinkled again, still bouncing. "Okay, well, can you help me get inside?"
As if in reply, the light sped off in the direction opposite the castle. "Hold on!" cried Chibi Moon. "That's the wrong way!" It stopped barely close enough for Chibi Moon to still be able to see it and began bouncing impatiently. The youngest Senshi groaned but resigned to follow it; after all, she wasn't getting anywhere standing around staring at the fortress.
Nehelenia was standing in a small circular room. The walls were lined with mirrors, and in the center of the room was a large crystal about the size of a car. It was letting off a low hum and pulsing with a deep red light. Nehelenia gently placed her hand on it and smiled. "Do you know what this is?" she asked serenely, looking to the largest mirror in the room.
The mirror in question, rather than showing the reflection of the room like the others, showed Helios, no longer bound by webbing, but simply hovering cross-legged in the empty space within the mirror. Nehelenia has put him there while he was sleeping, and for a while upon waking he'd futilely tried to find an exit. He had stopped, surprised to find that he felt ashamed, when Nehelenia had returned some time later and berated him.
"No," he answered to appease her.
Nehelenia smiled smugly. "It a peculiar stone that I came across after being defeated by those pesky Sailor Soldiers…" she told her captive. "Its power rivals that of the Silver Crystal, though as you can see it is far less portable. Still, it allowed me to snatch you right out from under their noses, so I can't complain. And once I obtain the Golden Crystal, I will be unstoppable! I will crush the Sailor Soldiers, and I will tear their young princess to pieces!"
"No!" cried Helios, but immediately realized his mistake. She looked at him lividly, making him feel uncomfortable. He sheepishly averted his gaze.
Nehelenia moved closer to the mirror. "I won't tolerate outbursts like that, Helios," she hissed. She shook her head. "I'm trying to be lenient with you, but you're making it so difficult. I'm afraid I'll have to punish you."
"I'm sorry, it won't happen again. Please don't…"
"Enough. You know you deserve it." Nehelenia placed her hand on the mirror, and a bolt of energy passed from her fingers into empty space within.
When the energy reached Helios, pain exploded through him. He gritted his teeth, fighting to not cry out. When it finally stopped he was left feeling intensely drained.
"You know I hate doing this," said Nehelenia, and the look on her face now was almost tender. "I do so love you, but I can't allow defiance. You understand that you deserved to be punished, don't you?"
"Yes," Helios said tiredly.
Nehelenia watched him silently for a moment. She had never understood what drew her to him, but one thing she was sure of was that she did love him, as much as it was possible for someone like her, someone so obsessed with her beauty and bitterness. "You will return my love, in time," she whispered, too low for Helios to hear her, "even if I must take it by force."
Okay! So! This chapter took a little longer to write than the others, but I'm pretty happy with it. I hope ya'll like it too!
So it has been brought to my attention that certain details of my story don't fit with the Sailor Stars arc of the anime. I haven't seen this arc, so just pretend the arc never happened and you'll be good! *laughs awkwardly* It just made more sense with the plot I was going for to have Helios in possession of the Golden Crystal. Anyway, I hope that it doesn't detract from the story any!
Thank you all once again for reading, and I hope to hear from you soon! God bless!