Sailor Moon Aeons.
Book 3: Crystal City.
Act 4: Beyond Good And Evil.
Episode 24: Ultima.

By Razor Knight
Last update: May 18, 2023


"Lunar Dance."

Serenity watched the two warriors fight with both pride and interest. A decade had passed since their last war, a decade of relative peace. "Requiem Mist."

"Lunar Veil."

She focused on the battle once more. Kyouko was a good mentor, and watching her fight Mizuki was quite the show. Mizuki was twelve, and a pure Lunar Senshi, but even then, she was as strong as Kyouko had been at her age.

'She's got the potential to be a stronger Serenity than you.'

Serenity heard Gin's words and thought about it for a moment. "Has there ever been so many generations around, so many Senshi?"

'No, life was... More complicated back then. By the time a fourth generation of Senshi was born, usually it was technically the third, because all the "Elders" would have died in combat.'

"I'm more fortunate than I thought then. Maybe one day I'll let her be the queen, go back to being a writer."

Gin chuckled at that. 'She may have to fight her grandmother, mother and sister for it.'

"No, she won't. None of them wants my 'boring' job."

'It can be extremely boring at times, you know?'

"I do agree with them, at times. But I don't think-"

"Lunar Wrath!"

"- that Mizuki will want the job, either." Serenity stared at the battle. Despite being a training battle, Kyouko had been fighting at the same level as her daughter, but that last attack had been a surprise to her. "She's ready."

'Yes she is.'

Younger Saturn stood up and smiled, nodding at her daughter. She knew her grandmother was there, she could sense her, but knew Mizuki was too young to do the same. "Grandma, did you see that?"

Serenity 'appeared' and looked at the young girl with the reddish-pink hair. "I did. I guess we were really lagging behind, back then. We Elders had nobody to teach us, but still..."

Due to the number of Senshi of each planet around, the Senshi had decided, decades earlier, to use the old way of telling each generation apart. As far as Moon Senshi went, Serenity was Elder Moon, Usagi (once upon a time known as 'ChibiUsa,' and a handful of people still called her that in private,) was Sailor Moon, and Mizuki was Younger Moon. None of Serenity's generation really cared about being called 'Elder.' They were very old, after all, and some of them even seemed to like that new 'title.'

Younger Moon looked at Serenity. "Oh, you were here? Did you see, I finally beat mom!"

Younger Saturn chuckled. "That you did. Do you know why?"

The young girl put her hands on her hips and grinned. "Because I'm awesome."

Her mother sighed at that. "You've got mom's ego."

Serenity sighed. "Overconfidence can be dangerous in battle, Mizuki. Never take your victories for granted."

Younger Moon nodded. "I know, I know, I was joking. So, is there a reason other than dumb luck for me to have beaten mom?"

Younger Saturn smiled at that. "Yes, and despite losing that fight, I'm happy to know you're ready."

Seeing the young girl was confused, Serenity decided to give her a hint. "You've already done it a few times, so I don't think I need to explain it to you. Just listen to your soul, and you will know what we mean."

The girl closed her eyes and, after a few seconds, smiled. "Oh I see, I won because mom was limiting herself to Guardian level, but I... I'm already past that?"

Both older women nodded at her. "You are," Serenity said.

"Cool. Moon Eternal Power!"

Younger Saturn sighed. "An Eternal Senshi at the age of twelve. If new generations keep it up, one day one of them's going to be born wearing a Holy Senshi suit."

Serenity chuckled at that. "With all the strange things I've seen, that wouldn't surprise me at all."

Younger Moon's smirk was one sound efect away from maniac laughter. "As I said before, I'm aweso-" She realized something that made her stop her boast, for some reason she was now face-down on the ground, and her legs felt like they had been hit many times. "Ow?"

Serenity shrugged. "Lesson learnt?"

The young girl looked at her grand-grandmother in awe. "Wait, that was you? I didn't even see you move!"

"Lesson learnt?" Serenity repeated.

Younger Moon tried to standd up, but gave up and nodded slowly. "Yes, sorry."

Younger Saturn helped her daughter stand up. "We just don't want you to get hurt because of your ego. Been there, done that, but fortunately it was while training. And as you've seen, despite grandma being usually calm and nice, when she gets serious, she can really show us youngsters a thing or two."

"'Us' youngsters?" Younger Moon said with a chuckle.

"Mizuki, dear, don't make me go full Serenity on you," Younger Saturn said with an eerie smirk.

"Uh, I'll pass." The young girl noticed something different in her own suit, and gasped. "I didn't know we had wings."

Serenity chuckled as she summoned her own wings. Unlike an Eternal Senshi's four wings, Serenity had five pairs of them on her back, and it was quite an impressive sight. Still, just as quickly as they appeared, they were gone. "They're pretty much decorative, and can get in the way during combat," she commented, "so we learnt to simply put them away, like we do with our talismans."

Mizuki closed her eyes for a few seconds and her wings vanished. "I know what you mean, they're itchy, and I don't need them to fly."

Serenity nodded at that. That was just one more thing that reminded her of how 'backwards' her own training had been. Mizuki had known how to fly since she was nine.


Serenity was walking back to her room, and wondering what the Universe had in stock for them next. Because she was aware there was always something else waiting to show up. It could take years, decades, or centuries for a new threat to appear, but contrary to what she had thought in her younger years, they never ran out of enemies to fight. Speaking of enemies, or rather former enemies, Sin and her friends were all living happily with their families, and from what she had seen, they were a group as close as her own group of friends was. But none of them had asked her to undo what she had done back then. They did not want to be magicians, and Serenity could respect their choice, even though a part of her was sad to see their potential go to waste.

Apsu was a different case. She wasn't in the city anymore, Serenity could see her with her 'power' and knew exactly why Apsu had left. Crystal Tokyo was a boring city, where crime was, to most people, a word they learnt at school and never saw or commited themselves. Five years ago, the woman had asked Serenity to unlock her powers again.

"Whenever you spoke of them, you treated them as a curse," Serenity had commented.

"I've seen your past, Serenity, so I know you've also seen your powers as a curse at times. But you didn't give up, you accepted your curse, used it to defend the weak. I want to try and find a way to... Do what you used to do. Become a monster who hunts monsters."

Serenity smiled again as she recalled that chat. Apsu was now in one of Saturn's moons, in one of the many colonies of mankind through the system, and she was indeed doing what Serenity and her group had once done, fighting evil. And Serenity knew Apsu had not forgotten about where her powers came from, but just like Serenity did, she had learnt to accept some things could not (or rather, should not) be changed.


Terry Zephyr was, admittedly not the smartest or the most powerful being on the Solar System, but he was pretty certain he was at the top of the "rotten rich" charts. He had what some people - himself included - would call an unfair advantage, since he had been leading his company (and Crystal Tokyo's science division) for a thousand years now. But building his "obscenely large fortune" (not his own words, but words he could agree with,) had been one of several things that kept him busy and sane for so many centuries. He was currently in Venus, doing some field research on the toxic clouds above the planet, and looking for ways to either utilize them or cleanse them - or hopefully both.

One good thing about leaving the city he had spent most of his life in, was that there were always new sights to see in other worlds, new people to meet. This world was not as technologically advanced as others, but they were like a planet-sized version of Crystal Tokyo, with a crime rate incredibly close to zero percent, no diseases, and all its rulers had always been strong magicians. He was now meeting one such person, the young queen (or 'Dawnbringer' as her official title was,) of Venus. She was another thing that reminded him of Crystal Tokyo, as she was very, very eager to avoid protocol when possible (or even when not possible.) Officially, he was there to talk about his plans for the 'dead zone,' as Venusians called the clouds surrounding their world. However, the meeting had turned quite casual once they ran out of 'boring' things to discuss, and Terry could not complain. The young queen was smart and knew quite a bit about many different topics, traits not all rulers of their system shared.

"I must say I'm surprised. Rumors I've heard about you speak of a man who can't stop flirting, but you've been all business when speaking with me. It almost makes me feel ugly."

Terry chuckled at that. "I don't think you are, I would dare saying it's quite the opposite, actually. I admit I may have contributed a lot to that fame, lady Theia, but I try to be a gentleman most of the time."

"I suppose if those rumors were true, Lady Mizuno would not let you out of her sight."

He shrugged at that. "She's known me for way too long. She's aware that while my eyes may wander, my heart stays with her."

"I think I envy her a little, then."

He chuckled. "Dawnbringer Theia, you really remind me of Serenity herself, honest to a fault."

"I could never compare to her power-"

"Not even many of those who should - mathematically speaking at least - be able to match her power, or even overpower her easily in a fight, can usually do that, but that's not what I meant. Her honesty is one of her best traits. She hates protocol because she hates lying. I've known her since she was a clueless, lazy teenage girl, and that's one of the few thing that's never changed in her."

"I see... Well, I guess I can agree with her in that. Diplomacy is annoying, protocol is silly."

"And yet you're dealing with both, at such a young age."

"Young? By your planet's calendar, I would be almost thirty."

"Well, comparatively young, then. Excuse this old man for his lack of respect."

Theia chuckled at that. "I hope I can get to a century of age looking as young as you and your group do."

Terry nodded. "Officially, I shouldn't tell you this, but your magic power is high enough for you to have a few centuries to live. And like many powerful magicians of our past, you'll stay looking young for most, if not all, of that lifetime."

"Interesting, I never heard about non-Senshi getting such boons from using magic."

"It's a thing most humans don't get to learn about. The less they seek magic for the wrong reasons, the less we have to deal with wild cards and magic-fueled criminals."

"Oh, that makes sense, I suppose, but-" Theia suddenly looked around. "What is that?"

Terry, like most of his friends, had learnt many 'tricks' in the centuries he'd lived. One of them was being able to sense magic. His range was limited (specially compared to Rei or the older Usagi,) but the stronger the source, the easier it was for him to sense them even outside his range. Whoever was out there, was almost up to his power, and it was none of his friends. "I'll take a look, we'll speak later, Dawnbringer."

Theia shared something else with Serenity, so she noticed the way he was looking at her. Was the creature out there powerful enough to make one of the Elder Senshi feel uneasy? If so, she would order the evacuation of the city, and help fight this threat, as much as she could. She was not fond of protocol, but in cases like these, she could follow it.


Serenity was talking to Luna when she sensed it. "This is..."

'What you're sensing isn't wrong. In a way, they're back. All of them.'

"How?"

'No idea, so we can go there and ask them while we beat them again.'

Luna was used to Serenity 'talking to herself' at times, but what surprised her was that her friend's body language was... It was not often she saw Serenity this worried. "Are you sensing something evil out there?"

Serenity nodded. "Yes. Some old friends came back to visit, although they seem to be different, much stronger than before."

"Who is it this time?"

Serenity looked at Luna and let out a sigh. "The only answer I can give is 'all of them.'"

Luna knew Serenity enough to know she wasn't in a 'joking mood,' and she had been alive long enough to be able to infer what her friend meant, so she took the hint and transformed. "Where are-"

"Everywhere, all over the system. They aren't doing anything evil but - I can sense their intent, they're not here to negotiate. Our friends are already engaging them."

"Well, time to go save the world," Luna said, "all of them."


Dragon Saturn looked at his target. A part of his mind was shouting at how impossible this was, but he was too old, and almost wise enough, to know few things were impossible. Standing near him was a female figure, but her body was featureless, with thin, yellow, pupil-less eyes and white skin (or was that a suit? Hard to tell.) What was strange was what he could sense thanks to his powers. This creature had a soul that could only be described as an amalgamation of many different souls. He could sense the youma Generals, Beryl, Dimando, Wiseman, the Witches... Even Chaos was there. "Who are you exactly?"

"I am Ultima, and I am here to destroy you. Do not worry about collateral damage, my boss isn't interested in pointless killing."

The Dragon frowned. So this creature was just a pawn. Did that mean her boss was stronger than her? A part of him wanted to go visit them right now. "And who would your boss be?"

"Don't worry about that, human. You won't live long enough to meet them."

Dragon Saturn smirked as he powered up. This woman's power was on par with a Holy Senshi, but he had a thousand years of practice, so his own power was, like most of the Elders - and even some of the Youngers - far above that. "I guess your boss doesn't mind you spouting empty threats."

"We shall see how empty they are, won't we?"

The Dragon summoned his swords and nodded. "Yes, we will."


Mako was overseeing her newest restaurant's opening day. How many was it now? She had lost count when the first Kino's Restaurant in Mars opened, centuries ago. But this one was, some people said, one that just had to happen sooner or later. The first of her restaurants in Ganymede, the largest moon of Jupiter.

However, she had not planned for a special event, but the universe was, as usual, being its annoying self. She looked at the creature. Female, featureless, with a cristalline white skin - somehow similar to Khyma's real form. "Okay, I have two questions. First, who the heck are you?"

"I am Ultima, and I am here to destroy you. Do not worry about collateral damage, my boss isn't interested in pointless killing."

"Okay, second question." Mako said as her clothes morphed into her Senshi suit. "Die!"

"That is not a quest- Eeep!"

Jupiter sighed. She had guessed this creature could dodge her, so she hadn't used all her strength for that running punch, but even then, the shockwave from her move hitting the ground where this 'Ultima' had stood had been enough to shattered several glass windows around the area, as well as sending a couple parked cars flying. "Ah, fuck. Sorry everyone, I'll pay for all that once I'm done with this thing."

Ultima started floating up. "You holding back will not entertain my boss, so let's take this fight up to the sky."

Jupiter frowned. She could tell this one was evil, but she was also quite polite, apparently. "Uh, sure, I can still punch your head off while floating."

Ultima saw Jupiter float up and her green eyes shone for a second. "Let me try that!"

Jupiter caught the woman's fist... And was dragged back several meters. "Oh heck yeah, this will be fun."

"I did not foresee that reaction to finding out I'm as strong as you are."

Jupiter chuckled. "First off, like hell you are. Also, are you kidding me? Normally, I have to hold back a whole damn lot against my friends, and even against my enemies. But if you're this strong, and letting me fight where I won't wreck a whole block throwing a punch, I can for once not hold back. Thank you. Also, as I said before, DIE!"

Ultima mimicked Jupiter's previous move, catching the woman's fist - and the force of the blow sent her flying back several miles. "I see... You are indeed slightly stronger than me. That will make this fight interesting," she said as Jupiter appeared near her.

"I don't usually agree with evil creatures, but you're damn right about that. I'm gonna enjoy this."


Kyouko wasn't quite as happy. Her daughter had been asking her to take her to the Moon for years now, and she had decided to grant that wish, as congratulations for becoming an Eternal Senshi. It's not that she wasn't expecting something evil to show up. There was always something evil, but most of the time, it was also something that was either killed or neutralized in minutes, at most.

But the creature now looking at her and her daughter was not the usual rogue 'Sailor Your-Name-Here' or one of the 'Gales.' Kyouko could sense souls, and she didn't like what she was sensing at all. "Mizuki, go back to the hotel."

"But mom, I-"

Kyouko sighed as she summoned her Senshi suit. "Please, listen to me. I would love to see you fight a real enemy, but this thing is... As strong as me when I'm not holding back. It could kill you in seconds."

Mizuki frowned. "Why am I training then?"

"To fight evil, but there's evil you're not ready for yet."

Mizuki looked at the creature. It was obviously alien, but it was also just waiting there, not attacking. "Are you sure that thing is-"

"I can see its soul. It's not here for a tea party."

The creature let out a sigh. "You should listen to your mother, young Serenity. I have no intention to fight someone I could kill in seconds, I'm here to fight your mother."

"I..." Mizuki sighed. "Mom, please don't let that thing win."

"Of course," Younger Saturn said, then smiled as her daughter teleported out. "I must admit I'm surprised by your actions, or rather, your lack of actions. I take it you're not here to destroy the world or resurrect some ancient evil."

"I am Ultima, and I am here to destroy you. Do not worry about collateral damage, my boss isn't interested in pointless killing."

"Your boss decided to piss me off by sending you to annoy me and my daughter, so they're still going to get the crap kicked out of after I'm done here."

Ultima nodded. "Of course, but you have to defeat me first. Would you like to relocate to a less populated area?"

Younger Saturn blinked at that. Fake politeness or not, she wasn't going to complain if her foe wanted to give her a way to avoid having to hold back. "Sure."

Ultima floated up and waited for her foe, then shot a beam at her. Her foe dodged it, and she nodded. "Just as expected."

"Why target me, though? I would think you would be fighting some of the Elders instead."

"I am fighting them. All of them."

"Oh, so you're kind of like Aiko. Except you're an evil pawn to an unknown asshole."

"Insults won't save you, Younger Saturn."

Younger Saturn smirked as she summoned her crystal. "I don't need them to. Earth Holy Power! Moon Holy Power!"

Ultima looked at her foe and blinked. "Those weapons are-"

Younger Saturn was holding her staff, along with a sword and a small red crystal. "Surprised, are you? Good. Being one of the only two triple Senshi alive has its advantages. Talismas are powerful tools, and mine are all quite useful on their own, but I've rarely used two of them, and I never had a reason to use them in their true form."

"Interesting."

The staff started shining, and the sword and crystal flew into it. "See, my staff is meant for defense, the sword is something I rarely used in training, and the crystal is, in its own, just meant to enhance my healing skills." The sword was Caladbolg, the Staff was Kerykeion, and the crystal was Alatyr. "But when they're all fused, they become my true talisman, the Laevateinn."

Ultima looked at the weapon as it stopped shining. A long spear with a rather long tip, the crystal resting at the base of the blade. However, it would not have looked too impressive a weapon, if Ultima couldn't sense its power. "I think that's enough talking," she said before vanishing.

Younger Saturn moved out of the way as Ultima tried, predictably, to hit her from behind. "Sure."

Ultima dodged the spear as it flew her way, then rushed her foe, who started dodging as she tried to punch her. "Why aren't you attacking back?"

"I liked my grandmother's fighting style, tiring down her foes by dodging, so I started trying to learn how to do it since I was a kid. A thousand years later, I am only second to her when it comes to dodging."

"Fool, my stamina is unlimited."

"Nice boast. I suppose you never heard of Laevateinn before? I was quite amused by how much like that legend my talisman is."

"Is there a point to your ranting?"

Younger Saturn caught Ultima's fist and chuckled. "Sure is. The legendary Laevateinn, the weapon described as either a sword or a wand... The weapon that never missed its mark."

Ultima heard that last part just as she felt something punch right through her chest. "This weapon alone... Won't kill me."

"Probably, but did you know we Senshi can use magic without calling it out?" Younger Saturn said, a second before her weapon lit up and a bubble of death magic surrounded Ultima. When the bubble faded, there was nothing left of the creature. "Now back to what I was-"

'Won't you go help your friends?'

Kyouko powered down and closed her eyes for a moment. "If any 'Ultima' is still alive after I'm done checking if my daughter's okay, I will help killing them."

'It's not just because you're worried about on your daughter, right?'

"You can be really nosy, Gin. I must admit I underestimated just how much mana my talisman would eat up. I don't think I could be of much use fighting another one of those until I get some rest."

'Good. As for your daughter, she's bored and worried, but fine otherwise.'

Kyouko sighed. "Tell her I'll be there in a few minutes."

'Can't teleport either?'

"No. Lesson learnt, not going to use Laevateinn again unless it's a life or death situation."


A/N: And so begins the final "Act" for this book, and probably for the whole story.