Cyber Moon: Crystal.

Act 3: Aeons.

Episode 15: A warrior's soul.

By Razor Knight

Last update: March 18, 2009

"We're home."

Hotaru looked up from the book she was reading as Usagi and Kyouko walked in. "Kyouko, what are you doing here?"

"My trip was interrupted by a certain Black Lady woman."

"Did you fight her?" Hotaru asked, surprised at the mention of that name, which she had hoped would stay in their past.

"She tried," Usagi said, "but Hana was the one who scared Black Lady off."

"Hana?" Hotaru stared at Usagi in shock. "She must have trained a lot more than I thought."

"On the other hand, I'm useless," Kyouko muttered.

"You're not, you just lack combat experience."

"Even so, what can I do if that woman comes back?"

"Let us handle her," Usagi said.

Kyouko shook her head at that. "I'm a Senshi too, I can't just sit around while that... Creature is out there. I know I don't have a lot of experience reading people's power, but that woman didn't need to fight me."

Usagi frowned. "What do you mean?"

"She could have just destroyed Europa. Heck, I think she could destroy the Earth too if she wanted to."

"So she's playing with her prey again?" Hotaru mused. "That's what got her defeated last time."

Kyouko let out a long sigh. "I want to fight too, but I don't want to be a burden."

Usagi knew exactly how that felt, herself. Back when she first went back in time, she was always the one being shielded by the others, she was mostly useless, except for the few times when her powers burst out due to her rage or despair. Even when she gained her transformation, she had only been a minimal help to the others. Yes, her weak attack was enough to throw the balance off in their favor, but only because Sailor Moon had forced Wiseman to a stalemate. All ego aside, what Hotaru had said before was true, she was quite a lousy Senshi for the first few years. Fortunately, she had a way to help her daughter, something she had planned ever since she learnt about Black Lady's return.

"To fight her, you need to be at least at Eternal level, if not Holy. But to achieve that, you can't keep on training like you normally would."

Kyouko looked at her mother. "Is there a way to get there fast?"

"There is, but it won't be easy," Usagi said, "I won't hold back on you."

"You won't?" Hotaru chuckled. "I find that hard to believe, Chibi. "

"You will be able to see it, because you're coming with us."

That surprised the Death Senshi. "What for?"

"Because I won't be holding back," Usagi repeated.

Hotaru nodded at that, she didn't need her to explain any further to know what she meant. Kyouko didn't need a mother's training to help her reach her highest level, but a warrior's training. And Hotaru knew just how frightening Usagi could be when she stopped holding back. She had been on the receiving end of her attacks before, after all.

Kyouko seemed to understand what they meant too. "So in short, the training I need to get stronger fast could kill me."

"Yes, that's a possible outcome," Usagi said, not bothering to sugar-coat the issue.

"I'm taking that risk."

"Does Serenity know about this?" Hotaru asked.

"I discussed this with her," Usagi admitted, "and she doesn't fully agree with this method. She's leaving it to my judgement, and Kyouko's, to decide wheter the risk is worth the reward or not."

"I already said I'm going to do it."

"You don't know what I can do when I stop holding back," Usagi noted.

"I've seen it. I saw that battle between you two. It's part of the reason why I was afraid of using a part of my power."

"A part..." Usagi frowned. "You've been holding back, then?"

"Not consciously," Kyouko noted, "and trust me, I'm not happy about it."

"Well, once we get there, you need to stop holding back. If you only use a part of your powers against me, then dying won't just be something that could happen, it'll be something that will happen."

Kyouko looked at Usagi for a few seconds then nodded. "I understand that."

"Good, then let's go. The sooner we get there, the sooner we'll be back."

"Go where?" Kyouko asked.

"Somewhere you haven't been to before, and somewhere I've used to train for centuries."

Before Kyouko could ask anything else, the three of them vanished.

"They're gone," Serenity said, mostly to herself.

"Are you really going to let them do that?"

She turned to Endymion. "What choice do I have? Force them to forget about that stupid idea?"

"If anything, she's right about one thing. Senshi always seem to power up when their lives are threatened."

"Still, we've died a lot of times without any powering up."

"Kyouko will be okay. She's got a warrior's blood."

"Yes, she got that from her mother."

"And her grandmother, too," Endymion noted.

"I'm no..." Serenity frowned. No, he was right, she was a warrior at heart, too, even if she had tried to deny it time and again before. "Let's just hope Usagi doesn't go and blow up the time gate."

"Pluto wouldn't let her go near it if that could happen," Endymion said.

Serenity looked out the window, to the full moon. Just how many more battles would they have to go through before they could finally have peace? She knew the answer to that question was better left untold.

It had only taken her half an hour. She knew how this was likely to end, but it still didn't make it any easier on her. The training she had gone through before looked like a game to her now, like a kid's game, now that she had experienced what it was to fight someone this powerful.

She staggered up, slowly, noting her foe was letting her take a breather. "I thought you weren't going to hold back."

"I'm not, but I want you to be standing up and defiant when I defeat you for good."

Hotaru watched from a safe distance, and she had to admit, this was nothing like the fight she had against her. The power of a Guardian Senshi was nothing against a Holy Senshi, and even though Kyouko had scored several hits, both magical and physical, they added up to nearly nothing. Kyouko right now looked pretty bad, since Usagi hadn't held back at all, using her sword against her as well as her magic.

"When you defeat me?" Younger Saturn smiled. She could feel it, a feeling she knew well, but a feeling she had never experienced in a real battle. "If you defeat me, you mean. Moon Guardian Power!"

Younger Moon was quite surprised by the change. Kyouko's suit looked almost like her own had in Guardian level, not counting the colors. The suit was pink in some parts, like the skirt and bow, and purple everywhere else. It made for a weird yet cute outfit, something she knew could make some foes lower their guard.

"Moon Requiem!"

But she wasn't one of them. She reached out her hand and grabbed the incoming, purple energy blast. It exploded, with a bit more force than she had predicted, but still far from enough to cause any harm. "Good, you've finally started to fight for real." She saw Kyouko's body was fully healed, too, and smiled. It was a pity that wasn't going to last long.

Kyouko didn't know just how many days had passed. From what her mother told her, no time would pass 'outside,' as they were in a zone outside of the normal timelines. She could make a guess from the breaks they took to eat and sleep, but even then, she knew she was eating and sleeping a lot less than she usually did. A lot more than she needed as a Senshi, but it was still less than she was used to.

Had it been a week? A month? She didn't know, but she was, right now, very upset. All that training had only served to get her beaten up time and again, and all she had been able to do was to use both her powers in unison. Yes, she was getting better at it, but that didn't really help. It was like trying to break through a wall with a spoon... Unless you had Makoto's physical strength.

"Come on, stand up."

"I need to rest."

Moon laughed at that. "So, what are you going to do when Black Lady beats you down like this? Are you also going to tell her you need a rest?"

Younger Saturn slowly stood up. Every one of her bones was sending her brain pain signals, but she ignored them. Her mother was right, she had agreed to this with only one purpose, and she had to fight on. Even if it got her killed, she had to get stronger.

Moon didn't wait for her to attack, instead going on the offensive herself. "Sailor Moon never gives up, so I won't let you do it!"

Younger Saturn felt her anger growing. Not anger towards her mother, or even Black Lady, but anger directed at her own, weak self. She couldn't keep on being weak like this, she had to grow stronger if she wanted to return Black Lady's favor. She had to survive this training, and to do that, she would have to stop fighting like this. "Saturn Decay Power! Moon Eternal Power!"

Saturn couldn't help to gasp at that. True, there weren't many dual Senshi around, but none of them had gone this far, to activate both her upgrades at the same time. Her mind was telling her to be ready to do what she was meant to, but she told it to shut up.

Moon didn't really care about the change. "Finally, I was starting to fear you just wouldn't get to that level."

"Shut up," Younger Saturn said, her voice almost a snarl. "Serene Blade."

Moon guessed what would happen, and leapt to the side just in time. A building-sized blade had popped out from the ground where she had been standing. Holy or not, that attack would have still hurt her. "Impressive."

"And that's not all I have. Deadly Heart Dancer."

Moon saw a few dozen pink hearts appear all around her, and couldn't help but smile at that. "Now we're talking."

Younger Saturn said nothing more as her open palm pointed at Moon. She then clasped her hand shut, and the hearts all shot in at Moon, causing a quite large explosion which knocked both warriors off their feet. "Touche."

Moon appeared right behind her, kicking her down to the ground. "Never take a victory for granted."

Younger Saturn stood up, growling, then noticed something. "You're bleeding?"

"Don't act so surprised," Moon muttered. "While an Eternal Senshi has no chance in hell to win against a Holy Senshi, someone with dual powers like you can still manage to do some harm."

"So if I get to Holy level..."

"Power-wise, you may be stronger than a normal Holy Senshi. Since you also have a Ginzuishou, you could in theory be stronger than me, or even Serenity. But there's something you're lacking, experience. "

"Hey, what's with the talking?" Saturn shouted from afar.

Moon chuckled. "I said I wouldn't be holding back, and I said this kind of training could kill her. I never said that I would train her until she died, did I?"

Younger Saturn smiled. "That's good, because using this new level is..."

Moon saw her daughter fall to the ground, knocked out, and nodded. "I guessed as much."

Saturn appeared next to her. "Oh, I see. You knew she didn't have much power left anyhow, that's why you didn't let her attack again. "

"There's a difference between not holding back and being reckless. "

"Good to see you still remember it," Saturn said. "So, you think we'll be here for much longer?"

"She's only just reached her Eternal level."

"This could be dangerous," Saturn noted. "If she gets to that level and hits you with an attack..."

"I'm no weakling, Hotaru, and just like she's prepared for that, I am too."

Hotaru paled (moreso than her usual skin tone,) at that. "So you knew she could kill you if she..."

"If that happens, she can revive me."

For a few seconds, there was silence, but then Hotaru let out a dry chuckle. "I keep on forgetting the simplest things, huh?"

"Old age's making your memory fail," Moon joked.

"Don't make me use my glaive, Chibi."

While Kyouko had no idea how to measure time inside the time tunnel, the other two women had been there long enough to know how much time had 'passed' inside the tunnel. And today was the first day of the third month since they arrived here.

Kyouko and Usagi had been fighting as much as they could, never stopping unless Kyouko was knocked out. Twice this last month, Hotaru had to heal Kyouko back from near death, and she could see something in Usagi's eyes, something that she was fearing not seeing again.

Yes, Usagi wasn't holding back anymore, going to the limit, and often getting hurt herself in battle, but those two times where she almost killed Kyouko, her eyes showed that she was totally shocked at herself. She still didn't hold back, but it was clear that she didn't enjoy going this far, not with someone that wasn't an enemy, at least.

And right now, Younger Saturn and Younger Moon were once again fighting. The difference in power made melee a moot point, but Kyouko still tried to punch her foe down sometimes, only to get punched away in a blink. Her attacks weren't much of a help, though a few of them could weaken Moon slightly. Overally, Kyouko was always fighting to win, but knew that it just wasn't possible with her current level.

Moon frowned. Her daughter was close to Holy level, she could feel it. But just like reaching Eternal level, she might need a 'little' push to get there. "So, kid, are you giving up yet?"

"Don't bet on it," Younger Saturn snapped, then reached her fist out. "Death Claw."

Moon had seen that attack before, as Kyouko used it a lot. A large 'claw' of death magic formed in her hand, then shot forwards, propelled by moon magic. She had let it hit the first time, but that had proven a mistake, as it drained her energy pretty quick. So this time, she didn't wait for it, instead teleporting behind Kyouko and stabbing at her with her sword.

Younger Saturn wasn't fast enough this time around. It had happened before, the first time she got nearly killed, but she thought she had learnt to read her mother's intentions by now. "That hurts, you..."

Moon sighed. "You can't lose focus, even for a moment, Kyouko."

"I know that," Younger Saturn said, growling. She was bleeding a lot, both from the wound in her stomach, and her mouth. But she felt something else right now. A rise in her power that she hadn't sensed the first time. "Don't you lose focus, either. Saturn Holy Power! Moon Holy Power!"

Moon phased away from her fast. The transformation didn't take more than a couple seconds, and when it was done, Younger Saturn's suit was once again changed. But this time, the suit wasn't a mix of colors, it was now mostly white, with two thin lines crossing her chest diagonally, one pink and the other purple. "Nice suit."

"If the suit looks good to you, then you'll love this. Moonlight Curse!"

Moon saw no attack coming at her from her daughter, and for a split second didn't react. That was a big mistake on her part, because she had no time to react when she realized where the beam was coming from. A large, pink beam of energy, coming from behind, which washed over her, turning her suit into rags, and causing her damage that could've been enough to knock her out, if not for her mental strength.

Kyouko realized something at once, and rushed to her mother. "Mom!"

Moon was kneeling on the ground, visibly in pain, but still smiled at Kyouko. "I'm okay, I'll live."

Saturn had already appeared besides her, and started healing her. "You'll live, yeah right. If I wasn't here, you could bleed yourself to death."

Younger Saturn looked away. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Moon said. "Not holding back? You did hold back. "

"I hit you with all I had, I didn't think about the consequences, what if I had..."

"That wasn't going to happen. But as I said, you did hold back. You didn't attack me a second time, that shows you're a warrior."

Kyouko nodded at that, then looked at her own hands. "But this power, it's simply..."

"You don't have to tell us that," Saturn noted. "We know quite well how it feels. but you're not invincible, remember that."

"Of course," Kyouko said. "And I'm still weaker than you, right?"

Moon stood up, her wounds already healed. "You only have basic control of the Ginzuishou, and not enough experience in battle."

"It's been a fun three months," Saturn commented.

"Three months?" Kyouko shouted. "That means I'm seventeen?"

"Don't worry about missing your birthday," Moon said, "you'll have a party in two months, once we get out of here."

The three appeared in the throne room, and Serenity noticed the change in Kyouko at once. "Amazing, you got her up to Holy..."

"And she didn't die to get there," Usagi said.

Kyouko smiled. "Now where's that Black Lady monster?"

"We don't know," Serenity started, "or even where her boss..."

Just then, Ami appeared in the room. "Serenity, we've got some unexpected visitors."

"Black Lady again?" Usagi guessed.

"No, the Kh'Sun ships."

Hotaru frowned. "The Kh'Sun? I thought there were only three of those ships."

"There were only three," Ami said, "and they're all heading for the Earth right now."

"So our enemy sends us yet another ancient evil to deal with," Serenity said, not a trace of humor in her voice. "We have to fight them, but stay alert. This could be a trap."

"Maybe I should go there, before any of them upgrades."

"Your thoughts are noted, but such an action is not required. Besides, what fun would it be to send you there right now?"

"I can make their deaths fun enough."

"I'm sure you would, but I have other things in mind for them. If the Kh'Sun fail, which I'm sure they will, then I have another enemy to send their way."

As he said that, another creature appeared. A female, that was obvious, wearing a tank top and a short skirt, both of which were made of a material that seemed to change colors every second. Her hair and eyes also had that effect, and it was both unnerving and intriguing. Even though she didn't care for looks, Black Lady had to admit this woman was simply... Perfect. "Who is she?"

"We am Ultima," the woman said. For some reason, her voice had a reverberation, like an echo, to it, and it sounded eerily familiar to her.

"You must be wondering what she is," the man guessed. "The answer is quite simple, at least to me. She is a creature made of the essence of every major enemy the Senshi fought, not counting you."

"Major enemy? What do you mean?"

"She's Cygale. She's Metallia. She's the Death Phantom, the Pharaoh, Neherenia and Chaos. She has even some of the Dark Mana in her."

Black Lady had to admit this woman sounded pretty powerful, and from what she was sensing, could really take care of the Senshi. "So, you'll send her there to kill the Senshi?"

"I'll send her there to do that. Whether she completes her mission or not is not important to me, as long as I am entertained by the battle."

"I see..." Black Lady was starting to figure out this man, this god who had created her, and apparently her whole universe. He wasn't sending all those attacks to kill the Senshi. No, if he wanted their lives to end, she was pretty sure he could do it with a wave of his hand. He wanted to be amused, and his only amusement was the suffering of others. That whole Universe of his was like his ant farm, and dead ants weren't too interesting to look at.

But to hell with it, there was no way she would just fight for his entertainment. She finally had enough power to destroy all those Senshi and be the strongest being in her home universe. She would play along, but once she was sent down there, things would be over very fast.

There was a difference in power from the last time the Kh'Sun appeared. There were more Senshi than back then, and they were all up to Holy level, at least those who were already trained for battle. But it wasn't only the Senshi, the Earth's army was far more skilled than it was in the past. And also, the Nemesian army was sending help in, adding numbers to the humans and youma already waiting for those three ships to arrive.

The Senshi were waiting for the invaders, all of them standing outside the city's limits, except for their queen. Serenity knew the shield around Crystal Tokyo wouldn't take a direct blast from all the three ships, so she was still inside the palace, feeding the shield with her own magic. The shield was clearly visible now, a white dome surrounding the whole city, greatly contrasting the usual, barely visible, transparent bubble the citizens were used to.

It could be easy for them to just destroy the three ships on the spot. But there was one request given to Younger Moon by Serenity herself, a request the princess wasn't too sure was possible. Serenity was, however, right. Those ships were filled not only by Kh'sun, in fact the Kh'sun were a minority inside the ships, but a minority that controlled a large mass of slaves. And as much as Moon kept on telling herself that the lives of those they were protecting were more important than the lives of slaves that had long ago abandoned any hope, she didn't believe it.

They had killed those slaves in the past, back when Tokyo was still the old city, and she knew her mother had never really forgotten that, what she had been forced to do to save their world. Now, fate, or rather the guy behind this attack, was giving them a chance to correct this mistake. But just how could they...

Millions of ships poured out of the larger ones before she could finish her thoughts, but she had a hint of what to do. "Kyouko, Terry, can you identify souls?"

"Of course," Terry said, not surprised that the princess knew about it, since she had lived and trained with Saturn for centuries.

"Same here," Kyouko said, "but why are you asking this?"

"Can you tell the Kh'sun apart from the other creatures in those ships?" the princess asked back.

"I would be able to, if I get to see one close," Kyouko admitted. "Wait, what are you planning?"

"I just figured out a way to kill the Kh'sun without touching anyone else."

Hotaru looked at her, then frowned. "Kyouko can't do that."

"Hey, I can drain energy just fine."

"Yes, but can you control the power once you start?"

"You two taught me that fearing my own powers was bad. Let me show you both that I learnt that lesson well."

Hotaru shook her head. "I'll trust your judgement, if only because we have nobody else that could do what we need to do." She turned to Usagi. "I think I know what you want us to do. Send one of us to each of those ships, and have us drain the Kh'sun dead. But what after that's done?"

"Those slaves are not loyal to their masters. Loyalty never spawns from fear. The moment they realize their leaders are gone, they will give up."

"Let's hope you're right about that."

Queen Serenity could sense a great ripple of death energy. Her senses let her see things that others couldn't see, and things only a few could see. She reached up with her senses, through the shield, and could sense the deaths of many thousands of creatures. If all had gone as she hoped, then those would all be Kh'Sun. She could also feel three beacons of power, three of her Senshi, but one of them was having problems controlling the energy. Serenity knew that was Kyouko, and for a moment considered helping her. However, the power stabilized soon, and she sighed in relief.

But her relief didn't last long. There was something out there now, something powerful, something insanely powerful, even to someone like her. She didn't hesitate this time, vanishing from the shield room before whatever was coming had a chance to appear.

Just as Serenity appeared outside, another figure also showed up. The Senshi looked at the creature. Female, humanoid, and the color of her clothing, hair and eyes kept on changing as they looked. The woman stood there, studying the Senshi, then chuckled. "And this is what we had so much trouble fighting before? We are glad getting our revenge is going to be easy."

"We?" Rei muttered. "Is she talking about herself?"

"There's a reason for that," Serenity said, "this being is not just one creature."

Ami scanned the creature. "I sense traces of Metallia's power in her, and also of dark mana."

Serenity nodded. "I can see much more than that in her. The essence of every major enemy we fought. And her power is just..."

"Out of your reach," the woman said. "But of course, if you want to try and fight us, we will be happy to obligue."

The Queen was the only one who could sense just how much power this woman had, and that wasn't a good thing right now. If this creature was just an underling, then what hope was there to defeat its boss?

No, she couldn't start thinking like that now, she wasn't going to give up, she wasn't even going to shrink down to this creature's power. "Of course we will fight, monster."

"Attack us all at once, if you want," the creature said, "that will show you just how superior we are to you."

"Don't mind if we..." Dragon Venus started.

"No, wait," Serenity said, "she's right, even our attacks combined wouldn't work."

Usagi gasped. "Mother, are you giving up?"

"Never," Serenity said, "but you guys stand back. I'm going to take care of this myself."

"Great, she finally cracked," Dragon Sun muttered.

"We are surprised at your words, Serenity. We would have expected you to sacrifice all your friends for naught before you decide to fight us."

"If you're trying to make me angry, that won't work. Unlike you, I can see my own flaws, both those I had and those I still have. That makes me stronger than you in a way."

"That's just priceless, Serenity. We will have fun destroying you. "

Serenity vanished, appearing right behind her enemy, and gatherin as much energy as she could into her fists. However, the woman was ready for this, and spun around just as Serenity tried to punch her back. She grabbed Serenity's hand with hers and smiled coldly. "You cannot defeat Ultima, little human queen." A wave of dark energy shot through the queen's body, and she screamed in pain. Ultima laughed as Serenity fell to the ground, barely conscious. "Killing you would be boring, I will kill all your Senshi first," the woman said and turned to look at the others.

"We won't go down easily," Usagi snapped.

Ultima was about to say something, but then heard Serenity's laughter. She turned back to see Serenity staggering up. "You don't know when you're beaten."

"Yes, that's a birth defect," Serenity said, "and you should know better than underestimating us, Ultima."

Ultima smiled. If this woman wanted to die before her friends, she would grant her that wish. "Any last words before I kill you?"

"Only three," Serenity said, "Moon Aeon Power!"

A/N: Nothing shows motherly love like beating your daughter to a pulp until she grows powerful enough to blow a planet up... Right?

LordHalo: Nope, it's "just" an average, omnipotent godlike creature. A bored, omnipotent god. Bored enough to do what he just did, at least. I mean, the guy created an evil Mary-Sue.