"This isn't over." Sailor Venus said as she stepped away from where Kunzite lay, blood still soaking the ground. She narrowed her eyes. "Beryl."
Seemingly forming from the mist, Beryl smiled and the shadows around her danced. "I remember who you are now, Venus." She laughed. "You are not the princess. I congratulate you on your deception. I should have known." She paused. "But now I will end this."
"Why did you hate us so much!" Sailor Mercury called out. "What did we do to deserve what you did?!"
"Your princess stole what was mine!" She answered bitterly, trembling with anger. "She stole Endymion from me."
"The prince didn't belong to anyone." Sailor Venus said. "He chose to love Princess Serenity."
"She bewitched him!" She shouted. "She deceived him!"
"No." Sailor Jupiter said. "You deceived yourself."
"Enough of this." Beryl said angrily as she summoned the shadows around her and looked at Sailor Venus. "You don't have your queen to protect you this time. I'll kill you all and then everything will be mine."
"You're insane!" Sailor Mars answered. "Do you want to rule a ruin?"
"I'll destroy you and then I'll find Endymion." She said. "I care not what's left after that."
"He didn't choose you then, he won't choose you now." Sailor Venus called out. "It doesn't have to be this way!"
Beryl raised her arm to collect the dark power that swarmed around her and everything slowed, like a scene in slow motion. Sailor Jupiter brought her hands together to call her attack, energy swarming dangerously around her. Sailor Mars grabbed Sailor Mercury to pull her out of harm's way and blocked her with her own body. Sailor Venus stepped forward to shield her friends and clutched her chest in pain.
The world exploded.
Minako woke up in a garden of silver light. Pale roses bloomed in starlight and snow colored ivy wrapped around alabaster stone. It was quiet and still and she felt a peace she hadn't felt in a millennia. She lifted her eyes to meet the gaze of the one she knew was there, the one she loved the most.
"Princess." She said with tears in her eyes. "Princess I'm so sorry."
"It's not your fault Venus." Princess Serenity said as she reached her hand out to touch the face of her guardian, brushing a strand of pale hair away from her eyes. "You did nothing wrong."
"I couldn't protect you." Minako cried. "I failed."
"How were you supposed to protect me from myself?" The Princess answered with an uncharacteristic bitterness. "What did I think of the ones I loved when I made my choice? It was I who left you alone. I should not have gone where I did not want you to follow."
"Princess… I…" Minako said.
"No." She answered. "I was wrong. It is I who should ask forgiveness."
Minako cried as Princess Serenity embraced her. "You are so strong, Venus. You don't always have to be so strong."
"I hated myself so much." Minako said as she cried. "I felt so lost and stuck. I failed the girls. I wasn't a good leader."
"Shhh Venus." Princes Serenity. "You did not fail. Least of all me."
"But I did." Minako said. "I didn't stop them. I let them destroy our paradise. I wasn't with you, if I had been with you…"
The princess interrupted her. "It wouldn't have changed things" Her voice was gentle. "I was young and knew little of the world. The outcome would have been the same."
"But what's happened now? Is it over?" Minako asked. "Am I dead?"
"No Venus." Serenity said quietly. "You still live."
"Then the crystal…" Her eyes widened with sudden realization. "It's here isn't it." She placed her hand over her heart. "It's been here all along. It's what's been making me sick. I've been feeling it for a while but it's been getting worse. Why?"
Serenity nodded. "When my reincarnation died the crystal needed somewhere where it would be safe. The leader of the princess's guardians was the best candidate. You were the strongest." She sighed. "But it was a flawed plan. You are not of the moon and so it poisons you as you keep it safe. It drains you to hide itself. It will drain your strength until there is nothing left."
Venus nodded. "I have it but I can't use it."
"No." Serenity said sadly. "You cannot."
Venus was quiet for a long moment. "We can't defeat the Dark Kingdom without it, everyone will die. I can't use it." She paused. "But you can. You can use the crystal. But you don't... " She looked up with understanding. "You have to do it!"
"If you do this." Serenity said gently. "You will not survive it. Your body was not meant to contain or use that much power."
"There isn't any other choice!" Minako said. "If we don't then everyone else will die. I can't let that happen. Not again. Not when I can stop it."
"Oh Venus." Serenity said sadly. "I wish I did not have to ask this of you."
"It's okay." Minako said and smiled. "It's worth it. For the girls. For the planet you loved so much."
Serenity embraced her and she knew no more.
"Venus." Jupiter was yelling as she shook her shoulders. She felt heavy and strange. It had been a long time since she had felt a physical form and the pain was almost sweet. "Please wake up! Something happened!"
"It's all right." She said as she pushed herself up with Jupiter's help. "Everything will be as it should be."
"Venus?" Mars asked as she looked forward to where Beryl was hunched on the ground, dark energy floating around her like a cloud, a malevolence more than jealously or revenge. "What are you talking about?"
"I am going to end this." She said, "As I should have back then, Beryl is just a puppet for the true darkness. But I have the crystal. We will finish what was begun a millenia ago"
"What?" Mercury said as she spun around, concern in her eyes. "I suspected you did. But you can't use it."
"Venus cannot use the crystal." She said, "But I am not Venus."
"Princess?" Mars said with wide eyes.
"How is this possible?" Mercury said quietly. "How can you be here? What happened to Minako?"
She shook her head. "There isn't time. Our true enemy is here now, it was never Beryl. We must destroy Metalia before she fully materializes in this world. If she does I don't know if anything can stop her."
The trio of guardians turned to where Beryl was standing. She was bent forward with her hands over her face, poisonous power crackling over her skin as her hair floated around her as though electrified. When she looked up she wasn't Beryl anymore.
"Princess.." Metalia said with malice. "You were wise to hide from me. But now you will die."
"Metalia." She said fiercely. "You will not poison this planet anymore. It is under my protection."
"This Planet is mine." She said, "I have claimed it for the Dark Kingdom. You will not stop me."
The princess narrowed her eyes as she held out her arms. "Then I will send you back to hell."
She cradled her hands and from her chest the crystal bloomed. It hung in the air before she caught it and held it close.
"Jupiter, Mars, Mercury…" she said as the trio stepped close to her. "I can't stop her alone. Please lend me your power."
Mars nodded and placed her hand on the princess's shoulder. Jupiter followed and finally Mercury's slender hand rested atop the rest. She felt the thrum of power as they all connected and called forth her own guardian star.
"Are you ready?" Serenity asked.
"Yes." Mercury said with a sense of finality. "Let's end this once and for all."
The princess nodded and raised her arms.
Brilliant light filled the air as raw power swirled around the huddled quartet, the princess's arms outstretched as she cradled the crystal in Venus's hands. Metallia screamed in fury as the pure energy surrounded her, the ozone smell burning the air as the light purified everything it touched. Mars closed her eyes against the onslaught, the intensity of the crystal burning her skin as she gripped the princess's shoulder tighter. She could hear Mercury's breathing, the scrap of Jupiter's heels as she dug them into the ground for purchase.
Suddenly she remembered everything. Moments of joy in the courtyard of the moon palance, the princess's silver laugh. Days of training, pushing her body with her companions until she could bend without breaking. Watching the stars as she sought out her own distant home, a tiny light among billions and knowing her home would always be next to the one she had sworn to protect. Wise Mercury whose curiosity brought light to their world, steady Jupiter whose loyalty was a gift, and Venus who carried it all, whose only sin was falling in love.
She remembered their crystal fall, the moment her fire burned brightest before burning out and for the first time was grateful she hadn't lived to see her princess's broken body.
Now at last they were connected, strong together and sure in their resolve. She could feel Mercury and Jupiters power combine with hers as they gave everything they could to Serenity. It seemed to go on forever until finally in a burst of power that threw the trio of guardians back, Metalia dissolved into dust and the sense of dread that had permeated the air like miasma vanished with the wind.
The princess lowered her trembling arms, her gloves had burned away and the skin beneath was blistered and raw.
Jupiter was the only guardian who hadn't fallen to the ground but she leaned forward, bracing herself with her hands beneath her legs. "Is it over?"
The princess turned slowly to face her protectors and studied each of their beloved faces. She could feel Venus's body beginning to fail, atoms collapsing onto themselves in a cacophony of broken capillaries and dying cells.
"I'm so sorry." She said sadly. "I wish there had been another way."
Like a marionette whose strings were cut, Venus fell soundlessly to the ground. Moving faster than she could think Rei caught her before her head could hit the ground and kneeled, cradling her head in her lap. Minako's face was ashen and blood was leaking from her eyes and ears.
"Venus." She said, blinking away the tears that threatened to blur her vision. "Minako please say something." She looked up and saw Jupiter and Mercury kneeling beside her, pain that mirrored her own on their faces. Mercury took Minako's burned hand in her own small one.
"The princess was able to use Venus's body to use the crystal, her soul made it work." She said quietly. "But it didn't just destroy Metalia, it destroyed Minako too."
"Isn't there anything we can do?" Jupiter said with a break in her voice.
"No." Ami said gently. "None of us could have withstood this. And it wouldn't have worked if Minako hadn't agreed."
"You mean she knew what would happen to her?" Rei said with an anger she couldn't direct.
"Worth it." Minako's voice was quiet. "It was worth it. Protect you all. No choice."
"Minako." Tears flowed like rivers down Rei's face. "You can't die. We need you here."
"I'm sorry." Minako said, her voice even fainter than before. "Had to make it right. Failed before."
"You never failed us." Ami said. "You were our leader and our friend."
"Don't you see how much we love you?" Makoto said.
Rei opened her mouth but no words came out.
Minako's voice was soft but clear as her eyes fluttered closed. "I love you all so much." She took one final stuttering breath. "Tell Artemis..."
Minako exhaled and was still.
Rei sobbed and Ami held her, Makoto's hand resting against her back. The sky turned to twilight and still they stayed.
In the shadows a black cat watched.
Well here we are four years later... I apologize for such a long delay. On the positive the final chapter is half done. That plus the epilogue are all that's left. My goal is to finish by the end of the summer and close the door on this 10+ year old story that started as the ghost of the idea. If you are still here I appreciate you and hope the ending will satisfy. Don't worry, it will not end this sad!