Sympathy for the Devil, Part 6 - Her True Heritage
For the first time in ages, Lucifer remained in place without knowing what to do. He thought possessing Usagi would be such an easy task, only for him to feel shocks and shooting pain whenever his skin grazed hers. He knew well the reason, and thanks to his own shout, Usagi knew as well.
Astar... he is protecting me from afar! But how, and why?
"Damn that Grammaton!" the Fallen Angel cursed once more in his impotency. "I should have figured that he would go to such great lengths to protect his-"
"Milord?" a male voice broke into the filthy room, interrupting his thoughts.
"Ah, Fréamund... Good timing!" the Lord of Light answered with glee. The tattered figure of Abadon also appeared in the place without saying a word. "Prepare another dimensional rift ritual. I need to vanquish the Angel once and for all, for he has barred me from my right."
"Of course. Accompany me."
"Astar... He is alive, isn't he?" Usagi demanded to know as she felt her sense of control over her body returning. "Where is he?"
"He is very much alive, in the realm of dreams. But not for long." He then addressed Abadon: "I will deal with the source of my lasting sorrow. Keep an eye on your future mother while I am away!"
As the villains left, Usagi felt yet another pulsating tingle across her spine. Her future son? Is that strange man wearing a hideous mask and a moldy robe another child of hers with Mamoru from the 30th Century, like Chibiusa? Despite regaining control of her senses, the leader of the Guardians did not dare to do anything to escape. And rather than speak to her outright, the possessed man started picking up the corpses that still hung around the room, piling them just outside the door.
"Abadon... Is it true what Lucifer just said?" the Guardian nervously asked. "You are my future son?"
"This I cannot tell you," he answered without stopping his self-appointed task.
"Oh... I see..." She did not feel any easier upon hearing Abadon's retort. "And... Do you know anything about Queen Serenity, and if she actually dealt with Lucifer in her time?"
The man formerly known as Fengari sighed bitterly. "That... is all true, I'm afraid."
(xx)
"Well, fuck," lamented Tigerseye as he saw yet another crack in the sky of Elysion. He and his companions in the oneiric place knew well that it forebode the coming of the foulest creature of all. His mere presence was enough to wither the entire place to the point it barely resembled the bucolic place it was supposed to be.
"What the hell do you want now, you foul beast?" the still-disembodied voice of Helios resounded.
"Settle down, children," Lucifer ordered with a discontent frown on his face and unconcealed rage in his voice. "My business is solely with the Angel. Where is he?"
Nobody uttered a single word. Tension and shook their cores and wrinkled their faces, even as they slowly entered a battle stance.
"No answer, huh?" Lucifer snapped once more. "Figured you would protect that Gods-forsaken sisterfucker. Either you hand him to me, or I will turn the realm of dreams into a never-ending font of pain and sorrow."
"You wouldn't dare..." Hawkseye sneered.
"Would you like that? I was going to do it anyway, sooner or later. May as well waste no more time and turn this into the realm of nightmares. Incubi, succubi, piscodaemons, mindflayers, all sorts of dream-eaters, they shall be the new denizens of Elysion. Not even sleep will heal the afflictions of the Universe! No realm of Existence shall go unseen by my yoke and my sight!"
"Empty threats from an empty creature," finally resounded the voice of Astar from afar. "Whatever it is that you want-"
Before Astar could speak further, the Fallen Angel glided towards him and pierced through his midsection with his entire left arm, turned into some kind of bone blade.
"ASTAR!" The Amazon Trio screamed in unison as they tried to intervene to the Angel's aid.
"Quiet! Stay there!" Lucifer ordered, and the three helpers seemed to be paralyzed in their tracks. He then turned once more to his foe: "I should have done this ages ago, if I knew you would hinder my masterplan to this point. Do you not think I forgot everything you have done against me, brother? Do you think I wouldn't have figured out that you would use the Power of the Word to protect your dear Moon Princess from my reach? Especially considering who you truly are to her?"
"I told you... and I remember... As long as I... and the bearers of... My seed... Remain... We shall always... Always..."
"ENOUGH! You will not interfere in my plans anymore!" Lucifer then took off his arm from Astar's torso and readied it for the fatal blow.
But just as he was about to deliver it, his makeshift weapon passed through without effort, but did not hurt the Angel.
He had time to use the Power of the Word one final time before apparently succumbing for good: "Go away... and never come back."
Lucifer was just as dumbfounded as the Amazon Trio when Astar's body faded away from their sight. While the denizens of the oneiric garden were lost as to what truly happened to him, he Fallen Angel knew well that he did not kill him, and his discontent became relentless, burning fury.
"OUTRAGE OF OUTRAGES!" he screamed.
"He used the last of his Power of the Word to depower Lucifer," Hawkseye figured out loud what just happened.
"You heard the man, big guy," Fisheye let himself be uncurt in front of the Lord of Light. "Get out, or we personally toss you out."
"Who in all circles of Hell do you think you are talking to?" Lucifer seethed at them.
"To a very conceited dipshit whose power and influence affects nothing on the realm of dreams," Tigerseye snapped back. The Amazon Trio then drew forth their tricks to beat Lucifer with as much strength as he could have never expected to suffer in his eons-spanning lifetime. Whatever power he may have had was completely nullified by the powers of Astar.
"Eternal maladies upon you, wretches!" was all the Lord of Light could utter as he crawled in defeat, his body broken and his ego humiliated as never before.
"Your threats and curses mean nothing anymore, and the only wretch in this sanctum is you," spoke Helios. "I, as Warden of Dreams, with the blessing of the last Angel, deliver upon you the final blow. Begone, and return to the holes of Hell."
Upon speaking, Helios materialized a new body, in the exact same shape as the one that was slain by Lucifer himself not too long ago. Without effort, the reincarnated Warden of Dreams lifted the Fallen Angel by the nape of his neck and tossed him towards the sky crack he came through, as if he was some sort of light rag. The rift closed immediately, and little by little the landscape started to recover its lush colors. Once the danger was properly dealt with, Helios plummeted to the floor, short of breath and feeling most of his energies already sapped away.
"Lord Helios!" the Maenads appeared and spoke at the same time as they went to their master's aid, together with the Amazon Trio.
"No need to worry," the young Warden said. "I just... Lost a bit of practice. Too much time without a body does that."
"But... Where has Astar gone to?" the helpers spoke again.
"He is no longer part of the Dreamscape, I'm afraid," answered Helios. "But something tells me his role in this entire plot is far from over..."
(xx)
The searching party comprised of Tuxedo Mask, Luna, Motoki Furuhata and Shingo Tsukino had decided to split up and search for possible clues to Usagi's whereabouts, but the complex and sprawling architecture of the prison complex. They met again in the central atrium of the building, tired and tense.
"By golly, we've been running for what, a whole hour already?" complained Motoki. "We scoured most of this place and did not find anything about Usagi. What do we do?"
"I have an idea," Tuxedo Mask affirmed. "Hey, Shingo. Open up your sister's Compact."
The young man obeyed and took out the heart-shaped artifact from his pocket, opened its lid and exposed the Silver Crystal to Tuxedo Mask. It started to glimmer mightily when the caped hero drew forth his own Golden Crystal. A brief golden glimmer passed by the lenses of his mask, through which he could finally pinpoint his beloved's captivity.
"I can see it now... She's in a chapel in the farthest corner of the underground complex. Let's go!"
Even as their throats and tongues dried and their muscles ached, the four did not stop their frantic run towards the prison complex's chapel where Usagi was being kept hostage. The glimmer of the Crystals served as their guide, as often they did to point out the presence of enemies. This time, it would lead them to the Silver Crystal's rightful owner, and they hoped it would not be too late
Only when they reached the front of the small parish did they stop to recover their breath. The sight ahead of them, however, was dreadful - four non-descript corpses laying down on their stomachs in a row, with a large pile of ashes and bones to the side of the front door - Ahead of which, the shattered figure of Abadon stood with arms crossed, as if already expecting their arrival.
"I'm afraid I can't let you go further," the former helper warned.
"Fengari... Please," Tuxedo Mask tried to appeal to his future son's possible hidden memories. "For the love you have for your mother... For me as well!"
"Do not goad me with sentimental skullduggery," Abadon interjected. "Now settle down! Mother needs her rest."
"So Usagi is inside!" Shingo called out. "What the fuck are you doing with her?"
"Me? Nothing. But Lucifer shall plant his seed in her, as he was contracted to do with her mother. Fate had it that someone else fecundated that old tart's womb before, though, but now he is here to correct that slight."
All of them felt their hairs creeping up their skin with Abadon's revelation, and none more literally and figuratively than Luna. She kept good part of her memories as Queen Serenity's server and confident in the Silver Millenium, and never had she heard of such a deal. Matter of fact, the existence of Hell was deeply contested back then, let alone that of its unholy leader - How could he ever make a deal with someone, especially Queen Serenity of all people? But now that Hell and Lucifer were proven to be real, there was little space for doubt as to Abadon's affirmations, and Lucifer's perfidious intention as well.
"No way we'll let that happen!" Shingo dared to affirm after a few moments of silence.
"Says who, kid? You? None will do a single thing, and I am here to guarantee that the copulation process goes ahead as planned."
"But why!?" Tuxedo Mask questioned once more. "Why would you let that happen to your own mother?"
"To become the Prophesized Prince, of course," he answered with glee. "See, if you went ahead and given rise to the Palace of Sheer Crystal with my mother, she would bear three children. Two women, and one man. They would lead such an incredibly boring existence where any and all conflict is solved with a pass of those silly little Crystals of yours. Bullshit! I shall be the sole heir, and with the Palace of Sheer Crystal risen under Lucifer's command and both Crystals on our hands, we will rule upon everything. Everything!"
"How vain and shallow," Luna spoke with disgust. "That is definitely Lucifer speaking, and not the son and heir to the Moon Princess and the Earth Prince."
"Say what you will, it will not budge my resolve." Having said this, Abadon pulled Tuxedo Mask next to him with some sort of psychic force, and lifted him by the neck with a single-hand stranglehold.
"MAMORU!" The others concernedly let out as they saw Abadon lift his future father with ease.
"And to guarantee things will truly go this way, I will get rid of you," the possessed man kept gloating, "and my continued existence will prove that I am the Son of the Devil, invincible and eternal! Die now, Endymion, and burn in Hell forevermore!"
"Leave him the fuck alone!" screamed Motoki as he tackled Abadon, pinning his much-stronger foe on the floor and freeing his best friend in the process.
"Motoki..." Tuxedo Mask was the most impressed by his pacifist friend's initiative.
"Get off me, you maggot!" Abadon insulted Motoki as he pushed him back and got up. "None of you will do a single thing against me, and if you value your lives, you will walk away and let fate run its course."
"No way!" Motoki defied him once more.
"That's right!" added Shingo. "We ain't leaving without Usagi!"
"Well, if you want to go to Hell already, I'll gladly oblige you." Abadon then flew towards the group and easily knocked Luna, Shingo and Motoki out with swift blows, and Tuxedo Mask could barely hold it together to face off against him... Not only because he was incredibly powerful, but because he was still his future son.
(xx)
"You speak of summoning Astar once more," Artemis raised a doubt upon hearing Dis Pater mentioning it. "But how exactly do we do that?"
The former villain spoke once again through the mouth of Sailor Venus. "He is very much an Angel, yes... But he still retains something of his incubus curse. I still remember vividly the blood sigil used to summon him, and I can draw it with the help of Sailor Venus. As the name implies, it requires fresh blood, so I must request that you cut a small slit on your arms. For a full summoning, it is required five liters of blood. A human being dies if they lose so much, like the innocent Junko Hagase who was goaded into summoning him originally. But there are four of you now, and I can close your wounds just fine once you drop your share."
"I guess there is no other way then," rationalized Sailor Mars as she took off her left glove. "So, how do we go ahead with this?"
"Cut the back of your forearms and drop enough until I say so." The heroines silently obeyed by forming a circle and cutting across their forearms using Sailor Venus's sword. A tense minute of bloodletting followed, after which Dis Pater spoke through the Guardian of Love once more: "This is enough. Your flesh will close now." With a brief rub from Sailor Venus's finger across the wounds, they closed and left no scar behind.
"I hope this works," Sailor Venus herself commented as she crouched in front of the pooled blood and followed Dis Pater's instructions to draw the sigil. It looked simplistic, as if a child had drawn it with sticks and figures, except for specific rune-like scriptings around it.
Dis Pater then started chanting, and all the while, Sailor Venus's eyes emitted an eerie red glow that briefly scared her companions. At that moment, all of them shared the same thought: Was this the right thing to do?
The doubt dissipated when, little by little, a male figure started to form in the middle of the sigil. All the present were awestruck in seeing their late friend among them once more.
"Astar... Is it really you?" Sailor Jupiter questioned what all the others wanted to ask.
After some moments of disbelief, during which he took a good look at his body and his surroundings, the Angel answered: "Yes... It is me! So that's why Lucifer couldn't kill me in Elysion, you girls managed to summon me in the brink of time!"
"Lucifer did what where!?" Artemis and the heroines started a brief lull over Astar's information.
"Listen, I'd love to chat with all of you about what happened," the Angel resumed, "but I need to save Usagi from the Fallen Angel. Where is she?"
"That is precisely why we called you," Sailor Venus revealed. "You... Can sense Usagi's presence in this place, right? We know she is here in this prison, but we have no idea where the Legionnaires took her to."
"Let me see..." Astar then closed his eyes and felt the life force he was seeking. Usagi's anguish at her situation exuded an aura that his powers could easily detect even from afar. "Yes. Now I know. Follow me!"
Only one question remained as the heroes obeyed and gave chase: How exactly could Astar detect Usagi's presence?
(xx)
Humiliated, Lucifer returned to the underground corner of the Tokyo Detention Center where he and his Legionnaires were stationed, and once in their presence, he let out his pent-up wrath by thrashing and screaming out like a child denied a gift.
"Lord Father, please calm down..." Lilith, Legionnaire of Lust, requested to her sire and superior.
"DO NOT TELL ME TO CALM DOWN, YOU PESTILENT FUCKHOLE!" He screamed in his absolute discontent. "How could I, the most powerful being in Existence, be tossed about like I was a sack of chaff!? And how could you, blood of my blood, let yourselves be beaten by those fucking wenches!? You spent an eternity preparing yourselves for this moment, and this is how you perform? YOU OUGHT TO BE ASHAMED! And I ought to rid myself of you useless scum once I sire the Prophesized Prince!"
Accustomed to such mistreatment, none of the Legionnaires argued back.
"There has to be another way to consummate the deal..." Beelzebub tried his hand at calming his father and leader.
After a few moments of silence, Lucifer let himself agree with the Legionnaire of Gluttony. "Yes... There has to be another way. But what? Any of you has any idea?"
"Have you tried contacting the soul of Queen Serenity?" Leviathan asked.
"Huh? What's that?" The question raised by the Legionnaire of Pride piqued his curiosity.
Leviathan continued: "We all know she is nowhere in Hell. But where else would she be if not in her reincarnated daughter's mind?"
"Makes sense to me," Belial added. "She has enough power to undo anything, even from beyond the grave. It may be a hunch, but it is worth a try."
"Oh... I guess you are all right! Where would I be without you, my dear children?" The Fallen Angel's eyes shined with delight as he made to the front door of their makeshift headquarters, his resolve recovered once more. "I take back my previous statement. All of you are useful and deserving of all that I could possibly give you! Now wait here and keep your hears pricked for my order to take over the surface.
The Legionnaires were also accustomed to their father's mood swings and felt relieved in a way. It would not be Lucifer if he was vain and petulant like that.
(xx)
Usagi spent the latest moments alone and hopelessly sobbing upon hearing Abadon's report about Queen Serenity and her deal with the Devil. Her entire existence was solely so Serenity could be a ruler once more. All the enemies she faced as Sailor Moon, all that she and her friends suffered, her relationship with Mamoru, the rise of Crystal Tokyo... Everything was to satisfy the megalomaniac whims of whom she always thought as a wise and noble woman. A fate she never asked for, but made the best possible use of, and it could end in absolute catastrophe not only for herself, but for every single creature, alive or otherwise.
But still... Something lingered on her mind, a hole in this strange plot that not even Abadon could explain: If Lucifer did not sire her as he was "supposed" to, then who did? Who was her father in the Silver Millenium? Queen Serenity never discussed this part of her lineage in the few times they spoke about their times together as mother and daughter. Chances are that she avoided it altogether, exactly because of her dealings with the Underworld.
Her thoughts were brashly interrupted by the teleporting sound of Lucifer, which materialized ahead of her once more.
"Serenity, I know you lie somewhere in the corners of your daughter's mind," he spoke imperatively. "You avoided your damnation in the Hades this way, and I commend your cunning for this. Now, however, it is the time to pay the due that you promised me in your quest to dominate this Galaxy. I am willing to pardon your deceit, as long as you give me your daughter's body and soul to breed the Prophesized Prince as we originally agreed. If you hear this and are willing to comply with this request... Awash Selyne's mind of the presence of the Angel."
Usagi felt a chill completely take over her body, and this uneasy feeling lasted for a few excruciating seconds, upon which her body shook once and laid down at ease on the propped-up bed. Lucifer then approached her once more solely to touch her breast. This time, he felt nothing.
The Fallen Angel opened a grin that mixed his delight and his wickedness. "Now, child, there is nothing else impeding me from penetrating you and implanting my seed! All in the presence of the man you love, or so you say. Abadon, please bring Endymion inside, so he can feast his eyes upon his beloved being ravaged!"
Abadon, having heard Lucifer's order from outside, dragged a Tuxedo Mask to inside the chamber, deeply hurt and bloodied as a result of his battles against the warriors that Abadon had given life, and propped him up in a way he could see the bed upon which his beloved laid down, her dress completely torn asunder. It was the first time he had seen her in the nude.
"Mamo... Mamo-chan..."
"Oooh... Usako..."
"What a pity, he has one foot on the grave already!" Lucifer gloated as he fondled Usagi's breasts. "The last moments of his life will be witnessing my ultimate triumph. Abadon, prepare yourself, because once I fecundate the Princess' womb, you will feel a fierce influx of energy coursing through your veins. Fear not, child, for it is my own essence taking over your own ascendency."
But just as he was about to lie above the Guardian, a blinding light flashed and the sound of the chapel's doorway opening could have deafened lesser people. The Fallen Angel then felt something pushing him away with incredible might.
"Argh, now what!?" Lucifer complained while covering his eyes. Once the flash dissipated, there was not a single person present in the chamber that remained unimpressed by the sight of Astar, made flesh once more and setting Usagi and the Fallen Angel apart from each other. He managed to reach the profanated place in the nick of time.
The Angel's eyes emitted a whitish glow, a signal of his Power of the Word in action. His order through it was expected, but not in the way it was formed: "You will not do anything against my daughter."
So, how do you like this change of perspective?
Many thanks to all of you who are following this fic, en especial a tí litakino1987!
Next chapter: A flashback to the Silver Millenium to detail how and why exactly did Astar father the Moon Princess.
Greetings from the Hospitaller Knight.