AN: Howdy, sorry again. This chapter is also short. But, on the bright side, at least its not set in the Himalayan Mountain complex! Any ways thank you so much for reading this story! Sorry its so terrible.
Oh, and one more thing. In this chapter Chibi-Usa, Usagi Tsukino's daughter, is called Princess Lady Serenity. Because according to some concept art thats what she's supposed to be called before she becomes Queen.
The spires of tainted crystal rose higher and higher, corrupting the few rays that could pierce the crimson sky. This was crystal Tokyo. Long long ago it was a symbol of peace. It was a symbol of light, and love, and justice.
Now it was fortress. It was a mausoleum. A sickly reminder of what could have been.
Today, in this city, there was to be a coronation. It'd been a month since the accident. The hellish catastrophe that destroyed the crystal palace, the fateful event that was supposed to be just a ball, the tragedy that robbed the people of their Queen,
Rumor has it that a diplomat is to blame for all this. No one can say for certain. After it all went down none of the guests could be found. Bits and pieces of flesh, yes they found that mixed in with what used to be the palace, but they could not find a body.
People were filled with hope when the Guardian of Mercury appeared. Because she was supposed to be at that party, it was her and the Queen and the other guests.
But this guardian said nothing. She murmured in pained tones. But she told them nothing.
So there was to be a Coronation, in this City, today. The Queens daughter would take the throne as it was foretold. To be perfectly honest she was supposed to take the throne a long time ago. But, the Aoen war happened. Such a shame, it was all such a shame.
Today was the day. When she'd become Queen. And Princess Lady Serenity couldn't take her eyes off of the crimson sky. She remembered when it was blue. When it was blue like her mothers eyes.
"Are you nervous?"
Princess Lady Serenity spun around, quick as a top, she had already summoned her golden crystal. She had to stop herself mid attack when she saw exactly who was in front of her. Her cheeks heated up. Her eyes met violet staring right back at her, "You're early".
Sailor Saturn kept her peace. She was not early. Princess Lady Serenity was late. She should have been here 20 minutes ago. That was not normal for her. It was not like her at all.
Saturn paused, and then she gave her friend a nice big hug. Princess Lady Serenity was shaking.
"It's okay to be scared", whispered Hotaru.
Princess Lady Serenity returned her friends hug. She was not longer shaking. But she was quiet. Her expression was . . . unreadable.
Eventually, Princess "small Lady" Serenity let go. After a moments hesitation Sailor Saturn also released. The Sky was still red. This world was still broken. And soon, Princess Lady Serenity would be Queen.
She'd Queen over all of this.
"We'd better go"
-0-
Outside the air was chilly. There was no snow. It rarely snowed in Crystal Tokyo. It was always cold in Crystal Tokyo. It'd been that way for centuries. And today Makoto Kino, dressed in her finest dress blues, couldn't decide whether her memory was a blessing or curse.
Step by step she snaked through Terran military officials. Many of them did not remember spring or summer. Many of them did not remember anything other then the crimson sky. She was different.
Memory by memory her ragged mind repainted a world that few could remember. Makoto could recall the early era of Crystal Tokyo. Furthermore, she remembered Tokyo. And the rain, she missed the way it used to rain. Before the water was poisoned. Before this world was poisoned.
She Imagined the beautiful crystalline structures that once reached towards the sky, uncorrupted by dark energy. In her mind she could almost hear laughter. Part of her yearned for this, and then she took another step.
"Kotonechka!"
The ghosts of her past scattered.
There was an old man walking towards Makoto. He wore the equipment and fastenings of a Martian Grunt. His eyes were brown, his cheeks were high, and he was of average Martian height. In other words his head barely came up to Makoto's chest. .
"Commodore Rotministrov, what are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing Kotonechka. For, sure as there are rules against a foreign official of my rank being at this ceremony, there are rules against a Sailor attending. I am sure you remember King Endymions latest announcement."
"Its been centuries since I've-"
"Ah yes, but that does not mean you are not a Sailor. "
Makoto's lips formed a thin line. She glanced away, "I am not worthy of the title"
"Surely you are Joking. How could you say that? After all that you've done! Sailor Uranus, the Butcher of the Migou, has not killed as many Serenity damned enemies as you have. Surely you remember"
"I remember Arkady. I remember everything"
"So why aren't you proud? You have done so many wondrous things. Through out all the stars our enemies do not dare to speak your name. "
" I know"
"And just think of all the planets you brought into the Fold. Your faith did not sway when the Outer Guardians began to doubt the Queens vision. Across a thousand planets battles raged, and you were there. You were a force of nature. You, you are a natural born killer!"
Makoto closed her eyes. She whispered, "I know"
"You have done so many astounding things. You should be proud", the Commodore insisted. "My dear Kotonechka-", he began again.
Makoto opened her eyes. Quick as lighting she struck the Commodore. Her upper cut was too fast for the eye to see. His body went up, and then it fell. He fell. He fell like a sack of bricks.
Makoto took several ragged breaths. The Commodore did not appear to be breathing. There was blood running down his face. His brown eyes stared up at her, lifeless. His face bore a certain expression, a grin.
Makoto stumbled back. The dead man did not rise. She turned. She ran. Her powerful legs sent her hurdling through the crowd. A Natural born killer, she was a natural born killer.
-0-
Princess Lady Serenity needed a place to think. Sure, she was supposed to be at the coronation site in 15 minutes. But first she wanted to think. She wanted to breath. So she covered herself to a cloak and went to a place where few dared to tread. She traveled Makoto's old Bakery.
Sailor Saturn was at her side, drabbed in a silver cloak that hid all of her features, but still carrying the same old glaive. It's a wonder that no one followed her. A great wonder indeed.
The red-eyed princess, who would soon be a Queen, put a hand on the door nob. When she twisted it and pushed against the door. It creaked open. She stepped inside. Saturn followed her.
"There's evil in here", whispered the Senshi of Silence.
Princess Lady Serenity could hear chanting. It was coming from a back room. Walked towards the counter, and nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw a figure slumped against a wall.
Princess Lady Serenity screamed, and the chanting stopped. The Figure who was slumped against the wall suddenly rose to their full height. They towered over them. She, towered over them.
"Chibi-Usa? Hotaru? What are you doing here?"
"We could ask you the same thing", blurted out the princess.
"Me, I um", Makoto rubbed the back of her neck, "Something happened. I hit a commodore and he didn't get back"
"Oh", breathed out Princess Lady Serenity, "So that explains that. But why were you chanting"
"I wasn't- you could hear that too?"
Saturn quietly stepped towards the door that led to the Kitchen. She pulled it open and threw herself inside. Princess Lady Serenity moved past Makoto and fallowed her through.
The Kitchen was bathed in a hellish light. Everything just felt . . . wrong. After a few centuries in Crystal Tokyo Princess Lady Serenity had built up quite a resistance to the off-putting nature of varied magic, somehow this was different. It was different in a bad way. This didn't feel like a run of the mill ritual site. Something old was at play. It was interacting with something else that Princess Lady Serenity had grown all too used to, dark energy.
Saturn prowled towards the oven, and stopped. She crouched down. Her hand started to reach for her communicator but she hesitated. Her eyes flicked back towards Princess Lady Serenity and with out saying a word Saturn threw her body forwards. Towards what she could only assume must be a ritual site.
The Princess who would be Queen followed her friend, and found herself face to face with a very nervous looking cultist. At this point the cultist was chanting so quickly that their words were blurring together. Hellish light was springing forth from the summoning circle they had in front of them.
"In the name of Queen Lady Serenity", announced Saturn, "I will punish you"
The Cultists stopped their chanting. Looked down at their hands, and smiled. "Its too late for me, and its too late for you".
A beam of crimson light exploded from the circle. It blasted through the celling and for a moment Chibi-Usa could see only one thing, red. It was blinding.
When the light faded, and darkness resumed, the Cultist was gurgling on the floor. Foam was dripping from their mouth. Their eyes started to glow red. They changed. Muscle expanded until their skin popped off of them like a balloon and . . .
"Death Ribbon Scream", interrupted Saturn.
A small green ball surrounded by purple lightning flew towards the Daemon. There was a flash of blue light. And then, silence.
There was silence.