Hell Awaits, Part 1 - The Next Steps
A tense stand-off followed the appearance of Astar in the unholy church that sat beneath the Tokyo Detention Center. Lucifer, Lord of Hell, found himself completely unable to raise a single finger against Usagi, due to the Angel's order emitted with the Power of the Word. Tuxedo Mask, despite being hurt and tired, had a strong resolve to get up and fulminate the Fallen Angel with the power of his Golden Crystal... But some kind of encroaching weakness impeded him from even rising his hand towards him.
No less tense were Usagi and Astar, after the latter impulsively revealed his true liaison with the leader of the Sailor Guardians. Silently, the Angel went to his erstwhile daughter, whose clothes were torn off in Lucifer's attempt to possess her, and retreaded the underwear and the linen dress she was draped with.
"Astar..." Usagi muttered in her confusion.
"Usagi! There you are," a deeply hurt Luna called from the door. Artemis, no worse for wear, brought the Compact that contained the Silver Crystal that was hers by right. Right behind them came the other Sailor Guardians. Sailor Mercury and Sailor Jupiter carried, respectively, the unconscious and battered bodies of Shingo and Motoki, and Sailors Jupiter and Venus promptly followed.
"Girls... You came too!" Usagi muttered in relief. It did not escape her attention that they all wielded brand new battle equipment. They also felt the same heaviness that was inflicted on Tuxedo Mask. Just the presence of Lucifer was able to weaken their bodies and their souls.
However, the Lord of Light himself was not in conditions to put up any fight. He could barely conceive his fury, as he literally seethed and shook all over his composition. "This cannot be... This was supposed to be my ultimate triumph... And instead, I carry nothing but defeat and humiliation!"
"Begone already!" Tuxedo Mask ordered as he also went to his beloved's side, wiping blood that tricked from his nose. "You will not touch a single hair on Usagi, you hear me?"
"SILENCE, YOU WRETCH!" Lucifer screamed as he got up. Soon, however, he felt an atypical dizziness. "Ugh, I feel... Weak. Why!? Abadon, what in all hells are you waiting for? Don't just stand there, rip and tear through these fleshbags!"
The future son of Usagi and Mamoru simply stood ahead of the chapel's door. For a few seconds, everyone present expected him to release some sort of attack against the heroes, but he did nothing and shook his head in disapproval. He had realized that, had Lucifer managed to possess his mother, he would no longer exist as he was, possessed or not.
"Abadon, what is the meaning of this!?" Lucifer pressed on. "I issued you an order, oblige me NOW!"
The possessed man said nothing as he casually left the packed place, bearing no more will to fight for any reason whatsoever. It was the final insult to Lucifer's defeat.
"Gods-damned pissants! ALL OF YOU!" The Fallen Angel bellowed out in his discontent. "Confound all of this! If I can't sire the Prophesized Prince to rule upon this wretched plane of Existence, then I will destroy it! Serenity, your act of betrayal will cost you everything and then some, you hear me? Pazuzu! Humbaba! Get me out of here!"
A fiery portal formed beneath him, through which two corpulent demons came out and carried him away. "This is not the end, by any means," the Lord of Light threatened as he descended back to Hell. "Be afraid of things to come."
Differently from advised, all the present knew this was no empty threat. Even if no longer present, the words of the master and ruler of Hell still made their chests sink in fear.
"Did... Did we win?" a frightened Artemis rhetorically asked.
"Not yet," Astar answered. "He retreated to the Hades upon seeing his plan come to naught. But he is as cunning as he is devious and will not take this lightly. And even if you could strike Lucifer down, he would still rise again and again. He cannot be felled by normal means, but if he seemed weak... Then it means the Heavenly Kings are doing their part and destroying his Hearts of Darkness in Pandemonium."
"The Heavenly Kings..." Sailor Mars mused. "They are helping us? How, and why?"
Astar promptly answered: "It's a long story, and we may need some time to assess everything. For now... Let us leave this cursed place. What matters is that Usagi is safe now."
Little by little, the Guardians, the wise cats and Tuxedo Mask winded down and stepped out of the chapel and towards the exit of the Detention Complex altogether. Astar and Tuxedo Mask flanked Usagi, and the three stood behind the Sailor Guardians and the wise cats. Usagi, however, was still trembling in fear of what she had just seen and heard. And only then, with danger away, she put thought in the words of Astar. The Angel was her original father all along, the one that sired her instead of Lucifer. She instinctively went to her forebear and embraced him, longing first and foremost for some kind of protection. "Astar... I... I am so afraid..."
The Angel felt the warmth of love subduing his own apprehension as he felt Usagi next to him, and he wrapped his right arm around her. "Be not afraid. Things are not over yet, but we have what it takes to prevail. Per aspera ad astra - Through hardships towards the Heavens."
His words were like a balm to the Guardian's mind, if only momentarily. Still, she couldn't shake off the fear that afflicted her to the core. "I just... I just want this... This nightmare, to end. I..."
"It will end," the Angel guaranteed. "All of us will work for it. Be strong, my dear... As I know you are."
Beside them, Tuxedo Mask shared some of the joy of seeing everyone safe, especially his own beloved. Still, he was somewhat unsure about how to address Astar. "All along... You were Princess Serenity's father, right? Unbelievable, even if it's true..."
Astar gave Tuxedo Mask a tranquil smile. "My dear son-in-law... I could not ask for a better suitor for my one true heir. It is only a shame that the truth came to light in such a manner."
"Son-in-law? What!?" Sailor Venus blurted out in confusion. Her companions were no less taken aback by the little conversation they managed to catch up.
"Girls, as I said, there is way too much to assess and unveil," Astar explained. "Let us leave this place and meet up somewhere else. Usagi, we shall have a conversation with Serenity in your mind while you sleep through the day. Mamoru and I will deliver you back home."
"Of course." Usagi felt calmer upon seeing Astar, Mamoru, her companions and friends, and even her brother, broken all over as he was for daring to come to her aid.
"In the meantime we'll bring the boys to the hospital," Sailor Mercury affirmed, referring to the passed-out Shingo and Motoki.
"And the others will search for our families and see if they are well," Sailor Jupiter added, concerned about her aunt Shizune. The others agreed, especially Sailor Mars, who lost contact with her grandfather as the possessed UN troopers arrested them both.
"Excellent. Little by little we'll rebuild ourselves." Tuxedo Mask affirmed with a bit more optimism as they reached out the prison's exit, where the break of dawn received them. He also thought of his future son's apparent dismissal of his hellish domination. "Fengari... He left the Devil behind out of his own free will. Perhaps there is still hope to heal him back. Him and the New Kings as well. I wonder where he went to?"
(xx)
"The password, please."
"Lazarus."
The front door of Osa-P then opened and Abadon strolled in without commotion. He and Umino didn't speak a single thing to each other. In fact, the young man was at his most tense in quite some time, even if he trusted what was going to happen due to his recovered Fate Seer power. He then directed Abadon to the backroom where the Royal Consorts were kept safe.
Ryo, Yuuichirou, Shinozaki and Daisuke still remained in their sleep-like stasis, with little more than a couple of months since they were slain by the Heavely Kings that gave away their names and titles to them in the Underworld. Abadon then materialized the Shadow Jewels on the palm of his left hand, and promptly inserted them in their respective bodies. The glimmer of the planet symbols that guarded them faded away, and little by little they opened their eyes, which all had hues of green in their sclerae and pupils instead of their natural colors. They sat on their futons for a few moments and got up on their own, all in the same synchrony, and then followed Abadon outside.
"Uh, what is this- Oh dear!" Naru and her mother Mayumi had just woken up with the little noise that came from the shop, and were astonished to see the four men alive once more, now wearing what looked like military uniforms with colored trimmings. The shop's owner was just as unsure as her daughter that this was the right course of action, though she couldn't help but feel relief that they would finally go their own way after such a long uncertain wait.
"Naru Osaka?" Shinozaki turned around to address her before passing by the exit.
"Y-yes...?"
"...Nephrite sent his regards. He told you to be strong, to be good to your family and your beloved."
The mention of Nephrite, her first love who died brutally and bloodily trying to defend her from unspeakable monsters, sent Naru's mind into a frenzy. She silently retired to the backroom where the New Kings were kept, and she sat down to weep softly on her hands.
"Naru... Are you alright?" Her mother and Umino came in to check on her.
She did not know how to answer. "I... Oh God, I'm... I'm sorry, mom... Umino... I just... I just remembered him, Nephrite. He... Well, you know about him, don't you?"
All the young man could do was to offer his own shoulder for her. "Don't worry... I know, and I don't mind."
It was all she needed to hear to slightly recover her composure. "Thank you... Thank you very much. Oh God, please... Please don't ever leave me!"
Umino couldn't help but chuckle as his girlfriend snuggled up to him in search of comfort and the certainty of love. "Oh, I won't. You know me! I wouldn't go to a battlefront even if my life depended on it."
"Classic Umino, heh..." As she sniffed and wiped off her tears, Naru asked: "Are you... Sure that this is the right thing to do? About the guys."
"Absolutely," he answered confidently. "He and I know the outcome of this, and if it were adverse, I wouldn't have even bothered talking to him, let alone let him inside."
"I saw it all, and I still can't believe it," Mayumi added. "I also hope this was the right thing. To think those boys came back from the dead, dear God..."
"It's all for a good cause, mom," Naru guaranteed as she and her boyfriend got up.
"Oh, I don't doubt that," Mayumi replied in the middle of a yawn. "Now come on, if I'm gonna be of any help, it's gonna be with what I know to do. Who's up for salmon and miso for breakfast?"
"We do!" the young couple gladly answered in unison.
(xx)
Usagi's Dreamscape
The Princess of the Moon saw herself as a child of eight years, laying on perhaps the softest bed she had slept on. The room was incredibly well-lit, painted light-pink with chiffon drapings forming a canopy atop her bed. By her side was her past mother, Queen Serenity, who told her a tale of her own conquests as a bedtime story.
"With the fall of Bakene, the final Rainbow Crystal was upon Mani's hands, and this way she could finally form the Sacred Crystal, whose glimmer alone sent awe and shock upon the impure hearts of the demons that still infested Terra and the Moon." She then closed the book, and leaned in to kiss her daughter's forehead. "Tomorrow we can continue. Rest you well, dear."
"Mama, can I ask you something?" little Selyne innocently asked her mother.
"Anything, my love. What is it?"
"What happened to Papa?"
The semblance on Serenity's face furled, though not to the point of obvious anger. "I told you already, dear... You don't have a father, in the strict sense of the word. You were conceived from a piece of a star. Is that not enough?"
"Liar." The little girl then took over her own mind, growing to her real life's height and age and crumbling the pastel-toned walls of her old room. The eternal night sky of the Moon served as the backdrop
"What... What is the meaning of this?" Serenity queried, feeling an impending sense of doom. The figure of Astar then finally materialized beside his daughter, confirming her worst fears. "You... Why?"
"Stand back and listen," Astar ordered with his Power of the Word. "I told you already, have I not? If you didn't tell Usagi that I was the one who sired her with you in the Silver Millenium, then I would. And if I did, things would not go your way."
"No... No!" Serenity screamed in despair and readied her hand to blow Astar away. "Get out of my daughter's mind, now!"
"Mother..." Usagi positioned herself between the gust of wind that the old Queen had released in a vain attempt to drive away the Angel's soul as she usually did. It stopped just as it touched her inner self. The Guardian knew she was in charge of her own Dreamscape, and would let it be known with her stance. "This is my mind you are into, so I'm the one who decides what happens here. And I want Astar to speak."
The Angel thanked Usagi with a short nod, and then addressed Serenity once more: "Lucifer tried to violate our daughter... All because you did not honor your own promise with him. Hell, why would you even deal with him at all? Do you have any idea what you have done?"
"Of course I have!" the former Queen spat out. "I hoped... No, I was certain I could control the Devil, He of Many Names, if he was reincarnated as my son. I would conquer the final breach between dimensions. But then... You appeared, and the rest is history."
"Are you telling me... I am a mistake?" Usagi questioned with gravity.
"By no means, no!" Serenity quickly answered. "You were my daughter still... And I fought tooth and nail to guarantee you would be my heir and go ahead with this plan of mine. To guarantee you would be the sole sovereign in life and death."
"Things would never go the way you thought they would, and you know it well," the Angel argued. "What did you have in mind when you thought to yourself you could control the Fallen Angel?"
"I... I just... I did what I had to do, alright?" the old Queen spoke gravely. "The planets were always in bloody conflict with each other. Hunger, wars, exploitation... Those were the plagues that afflicted the people in the First Age of Humans. And even now in this world, humanity fell to the same vices it always did, to shame and segregate, to exploit and colonize, to waste the boons that nature left them, to do everything against each other! My hope was that, if not me, then my child could carry this duty! To lead them to a Universe without pain... Without the tragedy of losing your family to war, losing your friends to famine"
"Listen... I understand well the despair you fell into, as the Queen of the Moon. But at the same time, I see the danger of falling for such methods. Your intentions, noble as they may have been, would have plunged the Universe into inescapable chaos. Remember this: Some of the biggest atrocities unleashed upon humanity were committed by people who wanted the best for them. Some of its brightest minds lent their hands and skills for works that brought nothing but death and misery. As such, this argument you present does nothing to diminish the fact you have attempted to bring Hell to the surface. It does nothing to mitigate the fact that the Galactic Commonwealth fell to other factors."
"There is not a single day where I don't reflect upon these deeds, and it brings me a fair hand of shame and guilt... But what else can I do? Let myself and everything else succumb to Lucifer?"
"Things would end up this way regardless of whether you would have given birth to the Devil incarnate," argued the Angel once more. "Everyone knew of your ambitions, even back then in the Silver Millenium. That is why your parents burned their souls to summon me."
"What...?" Even Usagi looked shocked upon this revelation.
"You heard me. Queen Biela and King Hyperion, Sixth of His Name. They died the final death in order to make me reincarnate and open a dimensional gate to let me out of the Hades. They knew you would give yourself to Lucifer, and requested my help to avoid this tragedy. Even if it meant passing as him in the act."
"My own parents... From beyond the grave, they would betray me!? How could they!?"
After spending all this time mulling in silence during the spat of her original parents, Usagi finally lashed out: "They would have been more honorable than you would have ever been. Have you ever thought about me? About what I truly wish to be? You didn't! You would let Lucifer rape me for all you cared! All for what, your idea of a perfect Universe? Some kind of redemption for your own soul?"
"If it weren't for the fact you were my daughter reincarnate, bearer of the Silver Crystal and the leader of the Guardians, you would be lost in life forever..."
"I'd rather be one lost soul, rather than lead every single living being to a fate they never asked, and that won't bring joy and purpose to anyone. And if that is what is supposed to happen... Then I don't want it! I will not raise Crystal Tokyo, or the Palace of Sheer Crystal or whatever name it has. I may have been Princess Selyne in the olden days... But today, I am Usagi Tsukino, daughter of Kenji and Ikuko and sister of Shingo. That's all I want to be. And if it means your soul will fade away forevermore... At this rate, I couldn't care less!"
And as she spoke, the tiles and ground of the Palace beneath Serenity crumbled and plunged her into what seemed an endless abyss. It was all the former Queen feared for herself, the rejection of her scion and the impossibility of her vision being built. She closed her eyes in a futile attempt to avoid the sight of her ultimate doom as she no longer felt any firm ground beneath her soles.
But she could still see and feel some light... As well as a hand grabbing her left forearm, followed by another grabbing the right one, pushing her to safety. She opened her eyes, and saw the least likely to save her at her darkest moment.
"Astar... Selyne... Why are you saving me?"
At first, the Angel spoke nothing as he helped the soul of the old Queen get back on her feet at a safe level. He looked into her eyes and asked: "Do you repent?"
Serenity, for her part, was obviously taken aback at such a question. "What..."
"What's past is past," Astar argued. "The Silver Millenium is no more, and this day and age is for Usagi and her friends to live in. Despite the unspeakable tragedies that human societies provoked upon the land they live in and against each other, they can still rise up, learn from their mistakes, and go ahead with the time they are given. Perhaps you too have learned something from all of this?"
"Why... Why are you asking me this?" Serenity asked befuddled.
"Because there is still a chance for you," the Angel answered in a reassuring, cadenced tone. "I am not Lucifer. I am willing to give you another chance, to redeem yourself to the humanity you claim to love. For your daughter... Our daughter."
She was completely overwhelmed by that offering of peace. "I... I accept. If there is any possibility, any at all, to seal Lucifer forever... Please do it." Soon after, Usagi joined them, and Serenity, keeping her profile low, addressed her heir: "Selyne, I cannot for the life of me ask you to forgive me after all of this. But I promise you... I will use whatever is left of my power to help you out in whatever path you decide to take. You are the rightful wielder of the Silver Crystal... And your soul carries the essence of the Angels. None in this plane of Existence are more powerful than you, and as such, you are naturally free to be who you are and who you wish to be."
"I cannot hate you, even if I have enough reasons to do so. But if Astar has given you another chance... Then I will, too."
This was enough for Serenity to recover her composure, and finally notice that neither Usagi nor Astar looked at her with judgmental eyes. Instead, their souls were full of compassion, willing to forego her incomplete slights
"Usagi has grown stronger than we could possibly imagine," the Angel proudly stated. "This will be her most daunting task yet... But I trust you can overcome this, as you already did so many times before."
"And so do I," Serenity added.
"Serenity... Astar... Mother, father... Thank you so much!" Upon saying this, the Guardian smiled and offered her hands to her original parents. As soon as Serenity and Astar touched Usagi's hands, a beam of holy light shot upwards from the broken ground that almost victimized the Queen's soul, and when it dissipated, it revealed an upgraded version of her weapon, almost to her height and resembling a two-pronged lance - with six Angel wings and the Royal Crest of the Moon Family serving as its cross-guard.
"Oh... What is this?" Usagi asked, impressed by the sight.
"The weapon you must use to seal the minions of Hell forever," Astar answered. "Let's call it... Elegant Longinus."
"Sounds nice!"
"Go ahead and take it," Serenity asked, as the light of reality started to cover the entire Dreamscape. "It is made of the antithesis of what Hell has become. The force of your love and compassion, allied with those of your fellow Sailor Guardians, should put an end to this nightmare. When you wake up, you may have only the faintest memory of this tense but necessary dream. But you will retain this force, and you will know what must be done to seal the usurpers of the Underworld forever. We are with you, Selyne... Or better yet, Usagi Tsukino."
With nothing more resounding on the oneiric landscape, Usagi took the Elegant Longinus, and soon felt its immeasurable power cover her inner self, and then... She opened her eyes to the real plane of Existence.
(xx)
When Usagi woke up, she felt the first rays of sunlight of a warm weekday morning covering what she recognized as her own bedroom. The Guardian felt the peace, health and will she lacked for quite some time. If she could, she would rest some more and take her time, but as soon, a
"USAGI! Oh, thank everything sacred, you're awake!" None other than her father Kenji greeted her beside her bed with a fierce but loving embrace.
"Ooh, dad... I'm sorry if I caused you so much worry."
"Don't worry about that! If anything, your mom and I should be the ones asking for your forgiveness for giving you out to those monsters... But what matters now is that you're here with us again, and you look damn great! Just you wait, your mom is gonna explode with joy when she sees you!" Kenji was already halfway out of her room when he called his wife to see their daughter awake and safe.
A few moments later, Ikuko entered and beamed with joy, promptly hugging her firstborn while unleashing her tears of grief and relief. "USAGI! Oh my God... I thought I would lose you!"
"Mom... You won't lose me anytime soon," the Guardian guaranteed her mother.
And quietly, the last member of the Tsukino household peered from outside the room. Shingo had his left arm hanging on a cast and his right eye was still somewhat swollen, the last visible signs of his own struggle to save his sister. He greeted ever so briefly, as if it was just a normal day in their home. "Hey..."
"What the heck, kid?" The youngster's father complained. "Your sister spent the last two days in a coma and all you say is hey?"
"Aw, come on, dad... I just woke up, and I'm not exactly fine myself... I'll talk to you later, okay?"
"That boy ain't right," Kenji whined as he shook his head in disapproval.
"Ah, leave him be, dear," Ikuko requested, understanding her son's personality.
Just as he was about to climb down the stairs, Shingo quickly turned around and gave his sister a wink and a smirk. All was right between them, and Usagi herself knew well of his efforts in that indescribable encounter with the Lord of Light and his Legionnaires.
"I bet you must be incredibly hungry," Ikuko told her daughter. "I'll make sure you'll have the best breakfast you ever had right away!"
"And I'll help out in making it, even if it's just buttering toasts!" Kenji proudly stated, though remembering his own particular lack of tact in the kitchen. "All for my beloved family!"
"Mom? Dad?" Usagi asked them as they were about to leave her room.
"Yes?" Both turned around and answered at the same time.
The girl smiled timidly but confidently. "Thank you for being there for me... And thank you for being who you are. I couldn't ask for better parents if I could choose them!"
Moved by their parental instincts, Kenji and Ikuko went to their daughter's side once more for another embrace.
(xx)
After a long and tortuous journey, the Heavenly Kings finally managed to reach their objectives. Each remained in the four farthest circles of Hell, where the Hearts of Darkness that kept the entire Underworld together stood, and each were responsible to destroy in conjunct with the Sailor Guardians - Jadeite remained in the Helvetesfonster, a dark forest filled with spiny trees and brambles that exhaled a foul smell of brimstone and rotting matter. Nephrite was in the Lake of Hali, a pitch-black body of water surrounded by white sands and twisted buildings, and whose sky was black as a tar pit. Zoisite stayed in the Necrohol, a city-like structure of dilapidated buildings, permeated with all sorts of indescribable creatures. As for Kunzite, he managed to reach the red-hot Malebolge, where the Lord of Light himself would reside. All of them remained in place, conserving their energies for when the Sailor Guardians came to their aid in destroying the Hearts.
"So, what Fréamund told me is true..." A malignant voice echoed through the stony walls and floors of the place.
"No, this cannot be..." the former King uttered. He knew well this was a returning Lucifer speaking to him.
"It is." A large, red-skinned imp with three heads and long claws formed in the lava pit at the center of the Malebolge. "Care to tell me what are you doing in my personal space? Depending on the answer, your punishment may be more or less severe."
Knowing well he would still suffer an unimaginably terrible fate regardless of how he spoke, Kunzite stood his ground as valiantly as he could. "I will not say a thing."
"Ah, for crying out loud..." Lucifer complained. "You must be thinking yourself a brave lad for taking such a defiant stance. Whatever, you and your friends are fucked six ways to Sunday anyways." Having said this, Lucifer grabbed Kunzite and squeezed him to the point of full suffocation.
Oblivion, the death and disappearance of the soul, seemed near to the white-haired man as the senses of his soul faded away by the second. "Zoisite... Aphra... Daisuke... I'm sorry..."
(xx)
The Legionnaires of Hell had been summoned to the Erebus for a brief audience with their father Lucifer - Including Beryl, the newly-appointed Legionnaire of Vanity, who despite not being a child of the Devil, gained the right to substitute Dis Pater as the eventual eighth Legionnaire.
Due to the damage done by the Heavenly Kings to his Hearts, and due to spending most of his energy in the surface, Lucifer only appeared once more as an effigy. A decapitated goat's head propped up on a spike served as a speaker for his voice, with the carrier demons Pazuzu and Humbaba flanking it.
"First things first: Beryl, as my welcome gift to you, I shall give you back the souls of the Heavenly Kings so you can do as you well please with them. I caught them in my personal domains, no doubt conspiring with the wretched whores to take us down from within."
"Eternal gratitude to you, o Lord," the witch gladly greeted while the Fallen Angel retributed with a wry smile.
"As for the rest of you, my children... You will stay put for now. We suffered something of a setback in coming too soon upon the surface. But soon enough, I predict they will enter our realm in their vain attempt to seal us. They are not to be underestimated, but if we play our cards right, they shall be thwarted and crushed easily."
"Lord Father," called Lilith, Legionnaire of Lust. "If you permit me to inquire... Are you not afraid the wenches could destroy the Hearts of Darkness?"
"Not at all," the Lord of Light promptly answered. "After all... Each and every single one of you shall carry one. And in the Hades, you are all invincible. The constant flow of damned souls that enter our realm keep it alive. You, just like me, are part of Hell itself, and as long as the flux of souls enters, it keeps us well-fed and ready for everything. This they will never know."
"And what of Abadon, Lord Father?" asked Moloch.
"I should have not expected the future child of Selyne and Endymion to remain on our side. But who knows... Maybe he is conspiring against them as well? Let us take our time. The portals to the surface are still open and cannot be closed from outside anyways, so our invading demons shall keep the world busy while we rest ourselves. Plan ahead about how you will destroy them, but remember... Keep their True Star Seeds with you. They will be ours, and so will the Golden and the Silver Crystals. Let their hubris be their undoing, let their blood and entrails moist our grounds, and let their souls burn forever under our reach. This is not over yet, dear children... Hell shall wait for them."
Finally, I came around to update this fic! There's still plenty to unpack, though I don't intend it to last that much longer.
Eternal gratitude for all of you who are still following this fic. Gracias especiales a litakino1987 por ser mi más fiel seguidora y amiga ;)
Next chapter: Astar reveals what needs to be done to defeat the forces of Hell once and for all, and the New Kings appear to the Sailor Guardians... Though not in the way they wanted.
Greetings from the Hospitaller Knight.