Thanks to reviewers:
Shaded Truths
LoveInTheBattleField
Magic713
shields07
So I tried not to end this in cliffhangers, as I will likely be unable to post for the next two weeks (hence my reason for posting Thursday rather than Friday). I also feel I should mention that this will more than likely be my final story in the Change series, meaning I probably won't go into Sailor Super S or Sailor Stars. The reason for this is that I am way out of new ideas, and I also want to take a break from the Sailor Moon fandom to explore others. Plus, I really have to focus on my original works. I apologize for this, but I really don't think any other stories would be good enough to post, so this will be the final story. But I will continue to write in the fandom, just not as much.
I do not own Sailor Moon.
Ken reached up to stroke Lita's face as his world darkened and his body went limp. The daimon roughly pulled Lita away from her lover and restrained her. Lita just barely had time to register what was happening as pain ripped through her chest.
Ken, please hang on…Hurry up, Sailor Scouts…
The sound of shattering glass caught the daimon's attention, and it barely had enough time to release Lita and move before a swirl of gold and blue hit the wall just past where it had just stood. The daimon ran off, not wanting to be destroyed prematurely. But the connection had been there just long enough that the small crystal floated in front of Lita's chest.
Sailor Uranus quickly rushed over to inspect the crystal before returning it to Lita.
"It's not one of the talismans," she said to Neptune.
"Then we should go," Saturn replied. "The others will be here soon."
Before Lita could reawaken, the three disappeared into the night. It wasn't a minute later before the inner scouts arrived.
"Lita!" Venus shouted.
The brunette had fell to the floor and was finally beginning to come to her senses.
"Ken," she mumbled.
"He's lost a lot of blood," Mercury said, hoping she spoke too softly for Lita to hear. "We should get him to a hospital. Soon."
"Jadeite, Zoicite, you heard her," Kunzite said, as the other generals arrived. "Take care of Lita," he added, looking to Sailor Venus.
Zoicite offered Mercury a reassuring smile as he lifted his friend up. Following the orders of their leader, they quickly rushed off to the nearest hospital.
"Where did that thing go?" Kunzite asked.
"It was gone before we got here," Venus answered.
"The outer scouts must have been here."
"We need to get Lita home," Mars said.
"I'm fine," Lita insisted.
"Mercury, Mars, get Lita home. She needs to rest," Venus said.
The two nodded before helping their friend to her feet. Venus grabbed Kunzite's hand and dragged him from the building.
"The daimon couldn't have gotten far," she said, studying the surrounding area.
"There!" Kunzite suddenly shouted, seeing a flash flit off to the park.
He drew his sword and the pair ran after it, only to lose sight of it once more.
Darien slowly became aware that they were not falling. He slowly opened his eyes, finding that Serena was clutched closely to his chest and the two of them were lying in a vast field of dead grass. Any sign of the Time Gate was gone or never there at all.
"Serena," Darien softly said, gently brushing short strands of hair from her face.
The blonde groaned and brushed his hand away. Chuckling softly at the normal reaction- Serena never was a morning person- Darien tried again.
"I'm up," she mumbled, wiping at her eyes before realizing where she was.
Serena jumped, falling back away from Darien. Her prince stood and pulled her up with him.
"Where are we?" Serena asked, glancing around.
Darien shook his head in reply.
"We're lost in the Time Gate?!" Serena shrieked.
"Just calm down, Serena. We'll be fine."
"Calm down? Darien! Do you have any idea what this means?"
"Trista will-"
"Trista's missing!" Serena looked around wildly before digging through her pockets, pulling out the broken broach and her communicator.
"What are you doing?"
"What do you think? I'm going to try contacting the girls. Surely Luna or Artemis know a way out of here." She suddenly threw her communicator on the ground. "It won't go through."
"Don't you have the time key?"
Serena reached back into her pocket before frowning and trying the other. "I must have dropped it when we fell."
Darien started scanning the ground, looking for any sign of the small golden object.
"Dammit," Serena muttered, feeling tears well in her eyes as she dropped to the ground to look for the key.
"Serena."
"Why can't things be easy just once?" she shouted. "Is it so much to ask for a short time of peace? It's not like I'm asking to be normal. I've accepted that I'm Princess Serenity. I'm…starting to accept that I might…not be Sailor Moon anymore. Is asking for a quick find the answers and defeat the bad guy still too much? Why is fate so against me?"
Darien pulled her back against him, hoping the gesture would offer her some comfort. When he looked up again, the dark shadows were closing in on them once more.
"We have to get out of here," he said.
"But the key-"
"We don't have time. We'll just have to find Trista."
"We don't even know where to look," Serena argued.
"If we keep wandering we're bound to run into her eventually. Hopefully we can come with something before then, but I really don't want to find out what happens when those things catch us."
Serena looked at the slow moving shadow. "Maybe we'll figure out a way out."
The two joined hands and took off running, hoping that wherever they were going it would help them get home.
Chad and Greg waited patiently in the hallway as doctors worked around Ken, hooking him to various machines and trying to get his body to accept the blood transfusions. It felt like hours were passing, though the two generals knew it was only minutes. They had never felt more helpless as they were waiting outside the door.
"You can go in now," the doctor told them. "Your friend is lucky. We almost lost him more than once, but he should make a full recovery rather quickly. Of course we'll know more when he wakes up."
The two barely let the man move before rushing into the room. Ken was still unconscious, but the blood that had been dripping from the wounds on his head had been cleaned up and he was covered in bandages.
"You stay with Ken," Chad said. "I'm going to check up on the girls."
Greg nodded, moving a chair to sit next to the bed.
Knowing where Lita's apartment was from walking Raye there more than a few times, Chad went off in that direction. The girls had told him that they were taking Lita home, while Mina and Andrew planned to find and destroy the monster. Chad was just coming up to the apartment complex when Raye walked out.
"How's Lita?"
Raye jumped, having been too immersed in her thoughts to notice him standing there. She relaxed when realized who it was, but shoved him away from her.
"Don't scare me," she snapped.
"Sorry."
"Amy's staying with her. Where is Greg?"
"He's with Ken. The doctor said he'd be alright. Greg is going to stay at least until he wakes up. Have you heard from Venus?"
"No. We finally got Lita calmed down, and Amy told me to go find them."
"Hopefully they're alright," Chad said.
"I'm sure Mina's fine. As sailor scouts we can handle ourselves," Raye said teasingly.
"You forget one thing."
"What?"
Chad smirked as he pinned Raye to the side of the building they were closest to. Raye's eyes widened as he leaned down to brush his lips to hers. A moment later he pulled back slightly.
"You sailor scouts are in our territory," he whispered in her ear.
Raye pushed him back, but his arms still remained her cage. "What do you mean by that?"
Chad started at her for a moment, with a look in his eyes more serious than Raye had ever seen. Finally he leaned down to kiss her forehead and released her.
"I will do everything I can to protect you."
Raye frowned, visions of the silent darkness swallowing up everyone she loved echoing in her mind. She turned from his serious expression and walked away.
"We should find Venus and Kunzite."
Luna and Artemis sat in front of the computer screens, somewhere they hadn't been in quite some time. It wasn't that they'd forgotten about the little room beneath the arcade, they simply hadn't needed it in some time. This new enemy however required knowledge the two felines did no possess.
"I got it!" Artemis exclaimed.
Luna instantly jumped up beside him. "The Holy Grail?"
On the screen was the image of a beautiful golden trophy-like object. A crescent moon was molded on the top, and it was encrusted with what appeared to be red garnets.
"It says: in the hands of the Messiah the Holy Grail has the power to save or silence the world."
"That's exactly what the outer scouts said," Luna replied. "Isn't there anything else?"
"No."
Artemis pawed a few other related topics, suddenly gasping as he pulled up another page.
"Sailor Saturn."
The two cats skimmed the short bit of information, each deeply shocked by what they had uncovered.
"I knew she was the scout of death and rebirth," Luna said. "But does she really have the power to destroy the world?"
"Should we tell the scouts?"
"Artemis, would Hotaru really destroy the world? She's fighting to save it. Her entire existence is a contradiction."
"You don't think she'd turn against the scouts, do you?"
Neither had an answer for that. Hotaru was the youngest of the scouts, though she also seemed to be one of the wisest. Even so, she was the borderline. She wasn't considered an inner scout, and even though she was officially an outer scout, she seemed separated from them. It was as if she were her own group. Even in the silver millennium she was apart from the rest. Only on rare occasions was she seen, and of all scouts she was the most feared.
"Could Sailor Saturn be the Messiah?"
Venus and Kunzite circled the park, refusing to split up lest either of them become a target. It had been hours since the last sighting of the daimon. Not only was the sun setting, but the streets were clearing of civilians. The couple was about to go home when two figures joined them.
"Amy decided to stay with Lita," Mars explained.
"And Greg is with Ken," Jadeite added.
"Is he alright?" Venus asked.
Jadeite's frown gave her the answer she feared.
"Was he awake when you left?" Kunzite asked.
"No. Greg will let us know if he does come to."
"What about Lita?"
"She's shaken up," Mars explained. "And ready to murder the outer scouts. They ditched the scene after checking the crystal."
"I'll deal with them later," Venus muttered. "We can't do much else tonight. Meet here in the morning. I'll get Lita, Amy, and Greg to do the same-"
A frightened shriek pierced the air. Without a second thought the group rushed towards it. Near the fountain in the center of the park a young teen stood, trapped by the same daimon that had just targeted Lita. As the girl slumped forward, the heart crystal floated toward the daimon but was intercepted by none other than Sailor Uranus.
"If you think we're going to let you get your hands on the crystal, you're wrong," she said, cradling it in her hands.
Neptune and Saturn dropped down on either side of her.
"Give her back the crystal!" Venus commanded.
Uranus uncurled her hands, letting the crystal float back to the dying teen.
"You won't interrupt me again!" the daimon shouted, charging toward the trio of outer scouts.
The three broke apart and at once they threw attacks at the creature. In a multi-colored flash of light, the daimon was defeated and the outer scouts were gone.
"They didn't stick around long," Jadeite muttered.
Having gotten away from the darkness for now, Serena and Darien finally slowed down to rest. Serena leaned against her lover, letting his arms snake around her.
"I'm so tired," Serena murmured.
"We should be safe here for a little while," Darien said.
Serena nodded. She slowly pulled out the crystal, running the tips of her fingers over the shattered shards. Sensing her sadness, Darien gently pried the broach from her hands before putting into his own pocket.
"Darien?"
"You don't need it."
"I…I'll find a way to fix it."
"Until then, I'll hang onto it."
"Darien, that's not fair."
"Serena, you don't need it. If anything happens I'll protect you, and once we get out of here, the scouts will protect you."
"And who is going to protect you?" Serena demanded, whirling around to face him. "I remember what it's like to be helpless, to watch everyone fight for me and be able to do nothing when they're hurt or…killed. You learned to fight with the generals, you fought with them. I was a helpless princess to be protected."
"Serena, no one thinks you're helpless."
"I don't have powers," Serena cried. "I don't even have the silver crystal anymore. I have nothing, Darien."
"That's not true."
"Isn't it?"
Darien reached forward to wipe tears from her eyes. "No matter what happens, you will always have me. You will always have the sailor scouts, and the generals, Luna and Artemis. We'll keep earth safe with or without the crystal."
Serena's arms slid around his neck as she let him hold her. As he soothed her fears, the world around them slowly began to melt away. When Darien's hold tightened to the point she feared he would suffocate her, Serena looked up. She clung to Darien as the world around them disintegrated, leaving them in a grand black hall. A single door stood ajar at the far end. The couple exchanged a glance.
"Should we check it out?" Serena asked, reflecting the thoughts of both individuals.
"There's no where else to go right now."
The door seemed to move away from them as they closed in on it, as if it was simply teasing them with a way out. By the time they finally reached it, the light was so bright that it nearly blinded the two. Tightly holding hands, they crossed the threshold.
IMPORTANT REMINDER: Chapter 5 will not be posted until March 29th (2013...) due to PR's spring break.
I'm also still trying to decide whether or not to include Rini. I know you guys either love her or hate her, and honestly I'm still trying to figure out what her purpose would be in this fic. But I know she was present during this time (at least in the anime, I haven't gotten this far in the manga) so let me know what you guys think please!