Chapter Fourteen
Shadow City
"People are like stained – glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within."
-Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon.
Hey guys! I'm back. The story is finished minus some editing so I will be posting a new chapter every week. Thanks as always for the reviews. To Trish1573 and Tropical Remix, the truth about Darien and his connection to Eric will be revealed soon in the upcoming chapters. Special thanks to LoveInTheBattlefield for your wonderful reviews as always! Here's the next chapter of the story.
Zack reappeared with Mina wrapped in his arms. Mina's eyes slowly opened and she looked around stunned as she slowly removed herself from Zack's arms. They were standing in the ruins of the Moon Kingdom surrounded by billions of stars in the darkness of space. She felt the cold atmosphere causing her to shiver. She quickly spun around and saw the Planet Earth in the Earth in the distance. She then turned around and saw enormous round craters surrounding her on the ground. She turned back around looked up. She then slowly looked up and saw a dark city ahead of her with tall skyscraper buildings. One building had collapsed and lied slanted next to another one. Behind the skyline of the dark city was a pink hue in the horizon.
Mina asked looking at Zack as he looked ahead at the city. "Where are we Zack?"
Zack said, "We are on the moon, one thousand years after the Silver Millennium."
Mina clutched her neck and asked, "Why can I breathe? There is no atmosphere on the moon."
Zack said as he started walking and Mina ran to catch up. "Of course you can little one, you are Lunarian. You can breathe under water too."
Mina asked amazed, "Really?"
Zack chuckled, "No, just putting your leg. But because of our Lunarian heritage, you can adjust to any atmosphere."
Mina asked, "Why are we on the Moon?"
Zack said becoming serious again, "There are different versions of the shadow's realm. It usually depends on the last moments of a soul's former life. Many of the lost souls of the Silver Millennium wandered the galaxies looking for the glory of their past life. They could not find what they were looking for so they come to a place that resembles their past life. For many of those who died during the Silver Millennium, their souls came back here."
Mina asked, "So they continued to live in the past instead of moving on?"
Zack nodded.
Mina asked, "But I thought Queen Selenity sacrificed her life to send everyone to the Earth?"
Zack gave a half smile as he looked back at Mina. "Selenity could do that on one of her good days, but she was dying and did not have the power to send everyone to Earth. Her main concern was that Serenity, the sailor Senshi, her royal advisors, and Endyimon would have a second chance to live normal, happy lives on Earth. She sent as many as her subjects as she could to the Earth before she died, but many Lunarians' and youmas' remains were left on the moon. The war killed every living life on the moon. No Lunarian lived. In one night, our entire race and world were destroyed. "
They continued to walk towards the city. Zack continued, "Mina, I want you to know that everything we're about to see is not real. It's a ghost world and everyone is dead. They are the last souls of ancient civilization that died a thousand years ago. They only existed now in legends. However, they can harm you, deceive you, and killed you. If their soul dies in this world, they are sent straight to hell. If we die in this world, we died for real and our souls will be sent to hell."
Mina asked, "But how did Endyimon get here?"
Zack paused for a moment before answering. "In the realm of the immortals, rumor has it that after he died again on Earth, his soul roamed the universe until he came here back to the place of his death in search of his princess."
Mina asked as they continued walking towards the city, "And what are the chances of him still being good?"
Zack said, "They are not good. To survive in the shadow realm for eight years, one must have killed many to survive. The longer you stay in this realm, the longer you lose any good that you once possessed."
As they reached the barriers of the city that was surrounding by an extremely large opened black gate, Zack held his hand out in front of Mina sensing danger. Mina stopped looking ahead and seeing nothing. He said, "Mina, disguise yourself."
Mina asked confused, "What?"
Zack said looking back and forth with his eyes, "They will be here any moment. Disguise yourself. No one can know that you are Sailor Venus. Most of the dead souls here were minions of the Dark Kingdom."
Mina's eyes narrowed the said, "The Negaverse."
Mina then turned to Zack and said holding up her transformation pen, "Disguise power."
Zack turned away as Mina transformed and an orange aura surrounded her.
"You can turn around, Zack."
Zack slowly turned around giving Mina the once over. She was dressed in brown rags like a peasant girl. Her eyes were brown and her hair was brown and cut into a short bob.
Zack smiled then said, "Good disguise. Now, we could enter."
Zack and Mina entered the dark city.
The atmosphere was eerie and dark. There were no sounds except their footsteps and a cool breeze blowing around them. Mina looked horrified when she saw dozens of skeletons lying on the grounds surrounded by crumbled buildings.
Mina asked looking at the devastation around her, "What happened?"
Zack looked around at their surroundings. "We're in Crescent City. It was the capital city of the Planet Lunaria, aka what the Moon. In its day, it was one of the most vibrant cities on the moon. It was destroyed during the attack of the Moon. These are the remains of those who died during their battles. Those who souls were not sent to the Earth."
Zack said as they continued to walk, "Mina, be cautious here. This is a realm of deception. Nothing appears as it seemed and don't trust anyone. Good people might be evil. Children may not be so innocence. You might see things that look real but are not. Children are murdered here. Women are raped and men are tortured to death. If you die here, you go straight to the hell realm."
Mina looked at her surroundings where she sensed they were being watched. She caught a few eyes staring at them through the shadows. She asked, "Even if you are a good soul?"
Zack nodded. "Please be careful. Some of the youmas are more powerful than both of us combined."
"Help! Help!" They heard a woman screamed in the distance. Without thinking, Mina cried out, "Someone is in trouble."
Zack yelled after Mina, "Mina! Don't! It might be a trap!" He raced after her.
Mina continued to hear the woman's screams as she ran into a thick fog. She ran to the sound of the woman's cries.
Mina yelled out, "I'm coming."
In an empty alley, a young village girl with blue eyes and long white hair cried out as two monsters that were tall with powerful frames like body builders. One was red and the other was blue. They sported mullets on top of their heads and only wore dark pants with bare feet.
The girl looked no older than sixteen as tears gushed down her rosy and dirty cheeks as she cried hysterically. Her top was ripped apart revealing her full breasts that one of the monsters were sucking on. While the other one was ripping off her long skirt. She turned her head and looked at Mina. Her eyes widen.
She mouthed as tears ran down her cheeks, "Help me!" She cried hysterically as one of the men started to rip off her panties. The blue monster started to unzip his pants. He whipped out his enormous blue penis as he smiled evilly at the girl.
She screamed as he positioned his penis and thrust forward. Both the girl and the blue monster's eyes widen when nothing happened. The blue monster looked down to find that his penis flipping around on the ground. He screamed causing the red monster to stop assaulting the girl. The girl looked to her right along with the monsters.
A golden disc flew to their right and white gloved hand caught it as it turned into a tiara. They watched as the girl in an orange sailor uniform with golden hair placed it back on her forehead.
Sailor Venus said, "When a girl says no, she means it."
The monsters growled at Sailor Venus moving away from the girl. Sailor Venus looked stunned when she saw another penis grow on the blue monster's groin.
She said shocked, "You got be kidding me." The blue monster grinned at her then zipped up her pants. Sailor Venus yelled to the girl, "Run!"
The scared girl nodded then started to run away in the opposite direction as the youmas raced towards Venus. She took a fighting stance as she engaged in hand to hand combat with the monsters. The youmas were very powerful. Sailor Venus grunted in agony when one of them kicked her in the stomach with his powerful red thigh causing her to cough up blood as she fell to the ground.
The blue monster picked up Sailor Venus' weaken body by her golden hair and spun her around very fast creating a powerful wind before tossing her thirty miles away against a brick wall that crumbled around her as her body bounced to the ground.
Sailor Venus weakly stood up as the two monsters rushed towards her. She yelled, "Venus crescent beam smash!"
Her eyes widen when it hit the blue monster and did nothing to it. They continued to rush towards her.
She said devastated, "It did not work!"
The youmas rushed towards Sailor Venus as she stood there petrified. They yelled as they collided with her and a large cloud of smoke appeared.
The smoke slowly disappeared. The red and blue monsters high fived each other as the smoke cleared. The started grunting in confusion when they did not see her in the rubble. They looked around high and low. She was nowhere to be found.
"Mina, answer me!" Zack rushed through the thick fog in search of Mina. He came to the same corner that Mina was located at. Yet, there was nothing. There was no hole in the wall and he sensed Mina nowhere.
Zack asked himself with a sigh, "Where are you, little one?"
Sailor Venus looked downcast through the thick fog. She walked the empty streets looking for Zack but she did not see him or even sense his presence. She could feel eyes watching her through the dark corners and in the shadows of the abandoned buildings. She limped slowly holding the side of her ribs. Blood had dried on the corner of her mouth. Her arms were bruised. Venus lifted her arm from her side and saw that her hand was covered with blood. She looked down and saw blood seeping through her uniform on the side. Everything started to become blurry to her as she collapsed to her knees. She saw a blurry dark shadow approaching her with a scythe in his hand. She then took one final breath before she closed her eyes and let the darkness consumed her.
In the darkness, Mina felt warmth surround her. She slowly opened her eyes as everything looked blurry to her. As everything started to look clearer to her, she saw the girl with blue eyes and white hair smiling down her.
The girl said in a sweet voice, "You're finally waking up. You have been asleep for a day now."
Mina slowly sat up as her body felt stiff but she felt better. She looked at her arm and noticed her bruises were gone. She then felt her stomach and there was no blood.
Mina asked confused. She looked around the small room. "Where am I? Why do I feel better?" Mina noticed a blazing fire that gave the small room a red-orange hue.
The girl smiled. "That's because I healed you with herbs from the moon garden."
The moon garden sounded strangely familiar to her but she asked, "The moon garden?"
The girl smiled then said, "There was a great war between good and evil that destroyed the moon and killed our queen and princess a long time ago but there are still flowers that grow here on the moon. My mother said that its life represents our growth that better days will come for us again."
Mina asked with a smile, "Where is your mother?"
The girl said with a sad smile, "I lost my family a long time ago. It's just me now."
Mina looked around and noticed that she lived in a tiny room that was the size of her closet back home. There was a small lumpy twin-sized bed that Mina was sitting on. There was a small fireplace in the corner next to them was an old rocking chair a few feet away. There was small, dusty open hearth and a counter with a sink built in and a door that Mina assumed led to the bathroom.
Mina asked, "Why were those youmas attacking you?"
The girl said sadly, "This city has become very dangerous to travel around now day or night. I was so hungry so I was searching for food, and that's when the blue and red brothers attacked me."
Mina said, "The blue and red brothers?"
The girl said becoming emotional, "Waru's minions."
Mina asked, "Waru?"
The girl said, "Waru, an evil bastard who rules this city now. He sends his minions to rein hell on the last surviving city of our world. They kill men, rape women, and make children their slaves or kill them if they are disobedient. Many men have tried to kill him but they all die. On the gates to his castle, he impaled the bodies of the men that tried to murder him. I heard that there are hundreds."
The girl then said happily, "Now, that you are back, Sailor Venus. You will save us."
Mina asked confused, "What do you mean?"
The girl said happily, "You're the legendary Sailor Venus, the leader of the legendary Sailor Senshi, guardians of the Moon Princess. You have been dead for over a thousand years and now you have come back from the dead to save us from Waru."
Mina said waving her hands nervously in front of herself, "Wait up. I am just here looking for a guy named Endyimon and my partner Zack, the guy I came to this realm with."
The girl looked confused, "But you came alone."
Mina asked confused, "No, I came with a guy named Zack, cutie with blond hair and green eyes."
The girl asked confused, "What's a cutie?"
Mina smirked then shook her head and said, "Never mind, but I need to find him. We were separated in the fog."
The girl shook her head and said, "When a soul enters this city, we sensed their presence. You were the only presence that we sensed, and the only one that people saw enter this city was you. There was no one else." Mina looked at the girl's serious expression on her face. She sighed.
Zack walked the city in search of Mina. He walked into taverns and youmas working the black markets on the busy streets of the city. There were thousands of Queen Beryl's minions from the Dark Kingdom in the shadow realm. Only a few of the citizens were Lunarians. He asked some of the citizens in the city if they had seen her describing her as a peasant girl she disguised herself as. He knew that it would be signing her death sentence if he asked if anyone saw Sailor Venus. Most the youmas hated the moon family and the Sailor Senshi. They slowly shook their heads and continued to drink and talk to one another. He had not seen her since the day before. When nightfall came, he booked a room at a seedy motel run by an antelope looking youma to spend the night. Now, he was back out and about in the shadow city searching for Mina.
Mina was now sitting on the floor eating a bowl of porridge with the girl. The porridge was lumpy and did not have much of a taste but she was hungry so it tasted good enough for her.
Mina stared at the girl across from her whose eyes now looked blue-greenish. Mina smiled then asked, "My name is Mina. What's your name?"
"Aquamarine, but everyone calls me Marina for short."
Mina asked, "How long have you been in this city?"
Marina said softly, "All of my life."
Mina asked softly, "And how did you die?"
Marina asked stunned, "What did you say Mina?"
Mina asked slowly, "How did you die? I sensed no life in you."
Marina cried, "I died alone with no family or friends. I died from starvation."
Mina said sadly, "I'm sorry."
Marina said with a smile, "It's okay. I came back to this world because I felt safe here. I did not feel alone."
Mina asked, "But you fight death every day. Can you move on to the other realm?"
Marina looked up at Mina then said in a remote voice, "It's not that easy."
Mina gasped when she saw Marina's eyes start to glow red. Marina asked in a remote voice, "They're here."
"Who?"
"The blue and red brothers. They are coming to kill you."
Mina gasped. She turned her head and saw a window behind them.
The door kicked opened and the blue and red brothers barged in and started throwing things around in search of Mina. They grunted angrily and started speaking in a weird language to each other. They nodded then noticed an opened window.
They rushed to it and saw the girls running down the fire escape and heading towards the streets. The brothers ran out of the small room.
Mina held Marina's hand as they ran through the streets. Mina yelled angrily, "Zack, where the hells are you?" But she sensed nothing. Had he left her in this world of death alone?
Mina and Marina ran into an alley with no way out. Mina cursed, "Damn it!" She turned around to run out but stopped when the red and blue boys blocked her exit. She gulped as she slowly backed up with Marina behind her.
The blue and red brothers grinned as they walked side by side towards the girls.
Mina had a stern look on her face but inside she wondered what she could do. They were more powerful and stronger than her. She could not defeat them. She looked up to see if she could jump up to get away but sat a black spider-like youma. Every time she called for Zack, he did not respond. Maybe something was blocking her connection from him. She noticed the fog around her.
Her eyes narrowed as she yelled loudly as she held up her hand, "Venus power!" An orange aura surrounded her as light shot through the sky as everyone looked at it.
Zack heard a commotion behind him as people looked up to the sky. He turned around and saw an orange light shooting through the sky. He yelled, "Minako!" He started to faintly sense her presence again.
He noticed the thick fog around him. His eyes narrowed as a yellow glow surrounded him. He said, "I guess subtlety is no longer an option."
His eyes started to glow golden as he looked at the fog around him. He twirled his index finger in a circular motion. A windy breeze started to form picking up debris and trash from the ground. People started to run inside for shelter. The breeze became more powerful as it started to form a large and powerful tornado absorbing the thick fog.
Mina smiled then said happily when she felt the breeze, "Zack!" The monsters started to look around in confusion.
Zack's eyes returned to normal as the tornado picked up the fog and left everything clear. Mina wrapped her arms around Marina and leaped up yelling, "Venus Power!"
In a flash of orange, she vanished with Marina. The youma on top of the roof started yelling pointing behind them. The red and blue brothers turned around and saw Sailor Venus and Marina had landed behind them and was running off.
They ran after them as the black spider youma leaped across the roof. Sailor Venus looked behind her to see that the red and blue brothers were catching up to her with enormous speed. A yellow light appeared in front of the red and blue brothers.
They stopped in their tracks when they saw him and then engaged in hand to hand combat with him as the black spider youma quickly leapt across the buildings in pursuit of Marina and Venus.
The black spider youma was right on top of them. It smiled as it looked at Marina. It quickly opened its mouth wide and unleashed spider web strings that quickly wrapped around the girl binding her arms and legs to her body. She screamed as she lifted up into the air out of Venus's reach.
Venus yelled, "Marina!" Venus gave the youma an angry stare as she leaped into the air on top of the roof where the youma was. The youma smiled menacing at Venus as it held Marina in front of it like a shield. Venus moved into a fighting pose.
Zack back kicked the blue brother into a wall as they youma went through the wall. The red brother became angrier as it ran to attack Zack, who held out his hand. A power blast of yellow energy blew the youma twenty feet away.
Zack said with a grin, "Come on, guys. You are boring me now."
The brother started to get up shaking off the dirt from their dizzy heads. Simultaneously, they charged towards him. Zack smiled as his eyes began to glow yellow as he held out his hands as yellow energy balls formed out of them and blasted the brothers to smithereens. Zack then disappeared in a flash.
Venus' eyes narrowed as she looked at the spider youma. The spider started shooting spider web strings at her. Venus charged towards the youma skillfully dodging its attack. Venus then leapt in the air and noticed a weak spot in the spider's vines that entangled Marina. She yelled, "Crescent beam smash!"
The blast broke Marina freed from the spider's vines. A yellow energy ball hit the spider youma in the back causing it to scream as it shatters into pieces. Venus leapt down on the roof. Zack appeared next to her.
He asked Venus, "Are you okay?"
Venus nodded. Marina looked at the two of them in awe.
In a castle in an unknown location in the city, two men bowed before their master. One man had long icy blonde hair in a low ponytail down his back and steely eyes while the other was a brunette with short hair and light blue eyes. They were wearing purple uniforms as they bowed before their master. Behind them was a hologram of Zack and Venus standing in front of Marina on the roof.
Their master was a man with blue skin and bulging ripped muscles with a tall, lean frame. He had a crude face with dark, soulless black marbles as eyes. His hair was red and long and he wore it to his shoulders. His expression was unpleased as he looked at his slaves in front of him. He was wearing a black wife beater and black pants with black shoes. On his lap sat a medium sized black wolf with shiny fur and who had dark eyes like his master.
He asked in a deep and detached voice as he pet the wolf, "Who are these people who have invaded my realm? They are still alive."
Both of the men stood up. The man with white hair said, "It looks like the Sailor Senshi of love and a man with powers like those of the gods."
Their master asked in a bored voice, "But they are not as powerful as I am. The girl power's level is pathetic but the guy might be interesting entertainment."
His master looked at the blonde-haired man and said, "You used an emotion in describing this girl."
Zeke, the brunette smirked at Ragu, blonde-haired man, who looked as his master in shock. Ragu said quickly, "I only used as word to describe who she is since she is the reincarnated princess of Venus."
Their master said bored, "I have no interest in emotions. They are for weaklings. But why are these creatures here?"
Zeke interjected, "My Lord, they are here because they are in search of the dead earth prince who died eons ago."
Their master turned to Zeke and said, "If this so-called earth prince is in our realm, I want him killed and sent to hell. As far as our guests, the only way anyone leaves here is through death."
His eyes started to darken as he saw a vision of the gate to his realm. It slowly started to close causing everyone to panic as they searched for refugee as the ground shook around them like a powerful earthquake killing some of the citizens and causing some of the building to crumble. Some of the youmas creatures screamed as red hell portals appeared around them sucking them in it.
Zack grabbed Venus and Marina and leapt off the roof that started to crumble to the ground. Zack kicked a door opened and yelled, "Get inside."
The gates to the shadow realm slowly started to close as the master slowly moved his hands together in front of him. The gate finally closed.
As Zack and the girls hid underneath a table in an empty tavern with Mina wrapped in his arms, Zack cursed underneath his breath as the earthquake stopped.
Venus asked, "What's wrong?"
Zack said angrily, "Waru knows that we are here and why we are here. He has trapped us in the shadow realm."
Venus asked panicking, "Trapped? Can't you teleport us out?"
Zack said, "I can't Minako. I'm not strong enough. The only way out now is through death."
Venus turned to Zack in shock as he met her worried stare with his green eyes. She knew he was telling the truth.
Waru said bored as he continued to pet his wolf again, "They cannot get out now. Ragu, go greet our guests and officially make them citizens of Shadow City since their residence here is now permanent."
Ragu said, "Yes, Master Waru and what about the girl with them?"
Waru said, "Yes, Marina. Kill her. I thought I sent the red and blue brothers to kill her anyway for her crime."
Zeke said, "While it was troubled for Venus to fight them, this guy she's with killed them effortlessly along with Black Spider."
Waru said intrigued now, "Interesting! No one has ever been after to fight my minions that easily." He turned to Zeke and said, "Zeke, go to the witch and see what she can find out about this mysterious guy."
Zeke said, "Yes, my Lord." Zeke and Ragu bowed then disappeared.
Waru looked at the hologram and began to stare intensively at Mina and Zack hiding underneath a table. Zack was protectively embracing 's gaze then zoomed in on Zack.
Waru said as he continued to pet his wolf, "Who are you?"