The Sun is the Moon - 21
Chapter 21
previous
Mars glanced up at Tux. He was perched on one of the various ledges, high in the tunnel. He looked very alone by himself, the absence of his princess glaringly obvious to the Martian scout but she had been needed elsewhere. His cloak hid him within the darkness around him. Below him, the Inners were concealed in whatever shadow they could find while the battle trained Guardians scouted the cavern ahead.
Mars looked back to the entrance that the three Guardians had disappeared through and smiled softly. She had almost choked when she had sensed where their argument had led Serena and Darien while still on the moon but now she was very glad that they had made their peace with each other when they had the chance. There was a very high probability that one or many of them would die within the next few hours. If it was slightly strange to see that particular pair behaving like the lovers they had become then it was offset by her satisfaction that for the first time in his life Darien was content. All they had to do was get the whole Negaverse issue sorted out and they would be fine.
In the distance she saw a slight lightening of a shadow were Artemis’ coat colour betrayed him. She was glad that her own Guardians had remained on the Moon with Saturn’s, Mercury’s and Luna... and her grandfather and Chad of course Unlike most of her fellow scouts she was already very close to her Guardians and the thought that they would be at risk in a battle was intolerable. She did not envy either Venus or Sun the pain should either Terran or Artemis be killed. At least the others had not had the time to form strong emotional attachments in this lifetime. Gods willing, they would the chance in the future... while she would have to explain herself to the men in her life. She sighed at the thought.
A piece of darkness detached itself from the wall and Io motioned for the scouts and their leaders to enter. Silently Tux detached himself from his hiding place. Without a pause he loped into the room and vanished into another shadow. Mars followed more slowly and didn’t attempt to hide herself once she was in the cavern. She neither possessed Tux’s ability to disappear or the need for it. Like her fellow scouts, she was bait.
Not that there was a reason to go seeking confrontation, she mused to herself as her fellow senshi flanked her. Yet the Negaverse showed a definite trend towards overconfidence where they were concerned and if the enemy happened to believe they had four easy targets who was she to complain. There would be enough vindication when her hidden allies proved them wrong.
A quick examination of the cave confirmed what she’d been told and she knew it was almost time for the little group to separate.
“Looks like Zoisite was telling the truth,” Jupiter whispered from beside her. Mars glanced at the two exits which both led to the throne room via different tunnels.
“Yeah,” Mars agreed reluctantly and glanced to where the huge wolf waited for them.
As soon as he had their attention he trotted off, into the right tunnel. The two panther-sized moon cats appeared and then separated. Artemis followed Terran while Io ghosted into the left tunnel, Tux close in his wake. Without a word, the four scouts split into the prearranged groups and followed after their respective guides. Tuxedo Mask, Jupiter and Mercury trailed Io while Mars and Venus followed Terran and Artemis.
The right tunnel was narrower than Mars found comfortable but its high ceiling gave both of the Guardians more room to leap if an ambush occurred. The lack of light was oppressing and the priestesses sent a brief prayer to request that any youma they came across glowed. As if thinking of them summoned them, two youma chose that moment to make themselves known.
The first Mars knew of their presence was when Artemis dived to the side. Instinct prompted her to follow suit and she narrowly missed being hit by a hissing jet of some foul smelling substance.
“Trespassers!” one growled and the other spat in agreement.
Mars wasted a moment to curse the miasma of dark energy permeating the cavern system that prevented her from sensing the approach of youma before she responded. “BURNING MANDALA!”
“LOVE AND BEAUTY SHOCK!”
The two mantras burst out simultaneously and the satisfyingly short work they made of the youma made Mars grinned in triumph.
“Beryl hasn’t educated all of her youma about us after all,” Venus gloated as she stepped around the bubbling pile of goo that remained.
“We’d hoped so,” Terran said from in front of them, “But we can’t be sure that that’s always the case.”
Mars looked up briefly. “Don’t worry Furface, we won’t get cocky.”
“Don’t call me Furface,” the wolf retorted and Mars smiled at the slight lightening of the tension around them.
“Path’s clear,” Artemis hissed from someway ahead and the small group quickly moved to catch up.
Dim light came from a metre or two beyond the crouching Guardian as the candles and torches that lined the throne room shone through. As soon as they reached the end of the tunnel they flattened themselves against the walls and did everything they could to merge with the shadows. A quick peek past the narrow opening and into the chamber beyond showed a gathered horde of youma and abominations.
A slight scrape from behind her told Mars that Venus was already attending to her duties and setting the charges that would collapse the tunnel as soon as the order was given. The fiery scout glanced at Terran and frowned. She really wished that it wasn’t necessary for him to be here but there was nothing that she could do. It was too much for just Venus, Artemis and herself to cover this tunnel on their own. Wistfully she thought of Sun and Sol and wished that they could be there.
At that moment the pair were in the Grounds, utilising its strange properties to age themselves the final few days they needed to come of age. While they were there only an hour would pass for the rest of the scouts but it would be a very long and arduous hour. For as long as Mars had been a scout she’d known that it would take the moon princess to defeat Beryl and the confrontation was imminent but the princess was not yet ready. It was up to the rest of them to buy her the time she needed.
Venus flattened herself opposite Mars once more and said almost soundlessly, “It’s ready. Just give the order.”
Mars nodded. “All we can do is wait now.” She remembered her original desire to command the scouts and for the first time gave fervent thanks that she didn’t. The little taste of responsibility she was being given was a bitter brew indeed and she pitied Sun whose duties meant that she worried for all of them all the time. Blue eyes gleamed in the dark and Mars shivered, understanding that despite the darkness her fellow scout understood what was in her mind all too well and what was more agreed with her wholeheartedly. They were soldiers, not commanders and they should thank their lucky stars that it was so.
Time seemed to drag by. The princess was so close to her coming of age that Mars could almost smell the changes happening, despite the distance and dimensions between them, and she urged them to hurry. As she had told Darien on the moon, she knew where the Imperial Silver Crystal was hidden and hidden it would remain until one of two things happened: Serenity reached full power naturally or she was forced into it. Personally Mars knew which method she favoured but she had a very bad feeling that her preferences would not be heeded. And still time slipped past.
*****
“Quill and Uranus have separated,” Tux warned Jupiter and Mercury as he felt the second team split into two smaller groups. “Be ready.”
“Always,” the taller scout responded seriously, her fist tangled in her Guardian’s multi-coloured fur. Io was in charge as the group awaited the last of their allies to get into position. The Moon cat was the size of a lion in preparation for battle and Tux wished that he had Luna or Terran to fight with him as Artemis would with Venus and Io with Jupiter.
He glanced through the opening to the wall of the throne room, a little way to the side and several metres above them where another opening could be seen. It was a gaping maw of darkness but he didn’t need to see into it to know that Terran and his group lay in waiting just out of sight. Much as he would feel more confident with Terran at his side, the young warrior wished even more that his Guardian were beside his young lover. Her presence blazed in his soul, even in this dark place, and he dreaded the thought that she might be injured, let alone killed. Still she was safer in the Grounds than Mars and Venus were here.
He smiled sourly when he realised that he now perfectly understood how she’d felt when he’d gotten himself hurt the last time they were here. He finally had her and a perfect future with her was within his grasp but he knew how fragile his dream was. If their plan didn’t work… If their plan didn’t work then Tux was left with one option. Ever since Mars had told them all where the crystal was hidden and they had learned that Sun must be at full power to receive it there had been no doubt that time was of the essence. He also knew a way to force his love into full power and he dreaded it with all his soul for it would mean a senshi would lose their life.
“Hey Tux?” Jupiter hissed.
He looked at her in surprise. What could she possibly want now?
“Can I ask you a question?”
“You already have,” he whispered blandly, “Two in fact.” She glared at him and he motioned for her to go ahead.
“You and Serena-”
Tux blushed slightly. For a split second the only thing that ran through his head was, please don’t let her ask about that! Anything but that! At least Venus wasn’t with them.
“-‘s uncle have gotten quite close right? What I mean is, does he call you Thorn just because you throw roses?”
He let out what he hoped was an unobtrusive breath of relief. That was a question he could answer without embarrassment. “Partly. Mostly it’s because for the first month he trained me in the Silver Millennium I was considered the thorn in his side.” Tux’s mouth twisted slightly at the thought of the man he thought of like a father.
*Set the explosions to go off in twenty seconds and go!* The thought slashed through his mind as the last two teams moved into place.
“Twenty seconds!” Tux snapped and the two scouts and the Guardian dived out of the tunnel. The man waited only long enough to start the count down and then he erupted into the throne room.
Across the chamber shouts of surprise and alarm rose from the denizens of the Negaverse as the senshi boiled from the four entrances. Before any had a chance to react the earth was bucked as the bombs each team of avatars had set went off in a pulse of fury. Several of Beryl’s servants lost their balance while the ground beneath their feet shook as the only ways into and out of the chamber were destroyed.
“WHAT?!” the shriek raised the hairs on the back of Tux’s neck but he did not pause to wait for Beryl’s next comment. Jupiter and Mercury split up ahead of him, each of them darting towards one of the four compass points and the dim glow of the torches was soon eclipsed by four multicoloured columns of light as the inner senshi created a barrier of power that would keep even Beryl locked within.
Without a thought he destroyed two youma before they recovered their equilibrium. The illumination provided by the shield let him see the outer senshi and the Lunarians as they wreaked havoc on the Negaverse court. The Lunar Knight fought side-be-side with Sailor Pluto and both warriors demonstrated the advantages of having millennia in which to perfect their skills. Saturn’s youthful energy compensated for what little she lacked in experience but the slender scout still seemed terribly vulnerable without the Solar Knight at her side. Neptune and Uranus had also gravitated towards each other across the battlefield and yet another of the senshi’s deadly duos cut a swathe through Beryl’s minions.
Still the five warriors were to do no more than to buy Tux the time in which to approach Beryl. At the thought of the witch Tux glanced quickly to where she sat in silence, her incandescent rage warping the air around her. Nearby Terran unleashed his own brand of mayhem. His savagery was unbridled in presence of the one who had destroyed his entire world a millennia past. Anything that was allied to Beryl was the target of a silver-grey blur and soon a great deal less than that.
The man in the tuxedo managed to break through to where his guardian fought and effortlessly moved into place beside him.
“The shield’s holding,” Terran reported, his voice muffled by the arm of a courtier that he held in his teeth. With efficient violence he tore the arm off and the Negaverse denizen staggered back.
Tux hurled a rose in their wake and the courtier collapsed as it pierced his heart. “Yes,” he replied with a mental grunt as they stepped over the corpse, “But for how long?”
“For as long as they have to,” the wolf answered.
“HOW DARE YOU!!” Beryl’s furious words finally broke through her stunned incoherency. “HOW DARE YOU ATTACK ME?!”
Terran looked at Tux, his eyes glimmered softly emerald and his teeth were bared in a grim smile. For the smallest instant Tux recalled his all too brief moments with Serena in the planning room on the moon. Then he nodded at Terran, turned and with a blast of golden magic he broke through the last rank of the enemy and stepped out to face Beryl.
“We dare because we are Avatars and our very existence is to destroy the plans of those like you!” his voice rang out strongly. Tux was vaguely surprised. The woman in front of him was nothing like he imagined the bogeyman of the past three years to appear. She was tall and had a presence, he would admit that much, yet her red hair was course and unkempt, her skin pale and sickly and her eyes showed nothing but madness. She was evil and dangerous, true, but no more a demon than many of criminals that walked the streets of any city.
She looked at him. Part of her expression revealed confusion and another part showed avarice. The unadulterated lust that he saw made Tux’s skin crawl but the presence of Terran behind him gave him the strength to control his revulsion. She smiled cruelly. “Well now, what have we here? Do you come to surrender to me?”
“That’s strange,” Tux drawled, “I’ve come to ask you exactly the same thing.”
“What?!”
He smiled slightly, mocking her. “You’re clearly outmatched Beryl. Every avatar that this system has produced is in this room with you now and we’re stronger than ever while the last few centuries have only made you weaker.”
Her eyes narrowed in anger. “Weaker? Weaker Little Man?! I am Beryl! Queen of the Negaverse and I am in no way weak!”
“You could have fooled me,” Tux replied lightly and brushed some dust off his sleeve. “After all, for the last three years you have been held at bay by only myself, two Guardians and seven scouts. Count them, seven! No Knights, several scouts still missing, most of the Guardians captured and Princess Serenity still hidden. Now you have no generals…” He paused and looked around before he continued with a smirk. “No more youma or other assorted servants, no more prisoners and no way out. This is a win-win situation…” He grinned wolfishly. “For us! You can surrender or you can die. Personally I would prefer your head detached from your shoulders and your blood decorating a blade but several of my companions are more merciful and our princess would also favour a minimum of bloodshed.”
Her evil laughter echoed across the, now still, field of battle. It was the reaction that he had expected given what he knew of Beryl but it still annoyed him immensely.
“Little Man you amuse me,” she snickered, “Your piddling Sailor Brats may have caused a small amount of damage here yet what do I care for these fools? They are nothing in the grand scheme of things and neither are you. The Solar Knight is too much the coward to join you as is his companion. You still lack Earth’s defender and you’re little princess is nowhere to be found. As for my once loyal generals, I will deal with the traitors in my own time. They will wish that their mothers had never even heard the word ‘male’! Degenerate wretches that they are, I will crush them!”
“Small problem Beryl, you have to find them first and then you have to get at them.”
“Tell me where they are and I might have mercy on you.” She watched him from under her lowered lids and added, “Or I might not.”
Tux was neither impressed nor intimidated, only bored. “With friends. Powerful friends,” he answered with a brief thought of the strange aliens that the twins knew so well.
“And you didn’t bring these powerful friends with you? Very unwise of you Little Man.”
Tuxedo Mask shrugged, unconcerned. “We don’t need their help and I’ve already told you why.”
“And I have told you why you will not win,” she spat back.
The Terran prince shook his head in feigned disappointment. It was almost too easy. She reminded him of a lonely old lady that would swap recipes with an axe murderer just for conversation. Surely she realised that time was on their side. “You don’t get it Beryl. What you see is not necessarily what you get.”
“What I see is an incomplete set of avatars and a minor mage as a second-rate fill in.”
“Second-rate? I am in no way second-rate Beryl. If you believe so then you really aren’t everything that you’re cracked up to be yourself!”
“I am so frightened.”
“You should be,” Tux said honestly, “For the first time since the founding of the Moon Kingdom the moon princess is more than just warrior trained.”
“What do I care?” Her nostrils flared.
Behind him he felt a flash of amusement and Terran whispered an irreverent observation. “Y’know you can see all the way to her shrivelled up brain from here!”
“I did not want to know that,” he replied dryly, “What I would is how long before the change is finished within the twins?”
“Soon. Trust me you’ll know when it happens. I think you’re going to feel like someone set off a supernova inside of you when it happens. Besides they’ve been in the Grounds for less than an hour of our time. There’s at least another fifteen minutes before they can return.”
“I thought Serena could get around that,” Tux hissed in a low voice.
Terran answered in a growl that would be indecipherable to anyone further away than his master. “Only if someone she cares for is threatened.”
Since they were all in deadly danger, Tux guessed that the absent blonde would be blocking her perceptions for all they were worth. At least he hoped she was. She must not return too soon.
A bolt of dark energy shot past Tux and Terran yelped in pain. The air was filled with the stench of burnt fur and Tux turned to find his friend lying unconscious on the ground. Carefully he knelt besides the injured Guardian and gently laid his hand on the ruined torso. His healing magic rose within him and he directed the energies directly into the wolf. With a magical twist he severed the spell so that it would continue without supervision and returned his attention to the evil queen. He needed to stall for at least ten more minutes.
“I don’t like pets in my presence,” Beryl told him smugly.
Tux snarled and gestured to what remained of her youma and other minions. “Then what do you call those?”
“Pawns.”
“Blind, arrogant witch,” he told her intently, “So blind as not to see the danger in front of her, too arrogant to realise the answer to her problems. You are nothing because you are alone. Even surrounded by a thousand slaves, you are alone because you cannot trust them. Not one would raise a hand to defend you should there be the slightest chance of replacing you. Shall I demonstrate?” With no more warning he hurled a crimson rose infused with golden power directly at her.
It implanted itself in her stomach and she doubled over in shock. With a jerk, she yanked it out and crushed it in her hand. Tux just grinned fiercely and conjured another. “Who are you Little Man?” she hissed as she batted the projectile aside. Her power began to shimmer as an unnerving dark corona around her and those that still live on the battlefield all trembled. Her patience was almost gone and Tux knew that he needed something to keep her attention.
He sneered at her. “Don’t you know oh mighty queen?” His tone dripped with contempt and derision. “You destroyed the worlds of my fellow avatars, you killed them and millions of others, including a great and noble queen, you took my love from me and now you attempt to take my world. I think not Beryl.” With a hiss of anticipation he leapt at her, the power of Earth roaring inside of him. In the split second that he spent in the air his tuxedo became armour, his cane became a sword and it was as the Earth knight that he landed in front of his enemy.
“You wanted the Earth Knight?” His sword sang as it sliced through the air and her eyes widened in sudden fear. “You got him!”
She threw herself away from him and his sword missed her to carve straight through the stone back of her throne. She drew herself to her feet as he whirled to face her and before he could strike again her hand snaked out and he was launched backwards until he hit the scout’s shield.
*****
Tranquillity grit his teeth and beside him Pluto gasped as Endymion fell and lay stunned. If anything would provoke his niece to come prematurely it would be her soulmate being injured. Without a thought the Lunarian stepped around the pile of dust that was that remained of several youma and deflected the next blast aimed at stricken prince.
Beryl looked at him in surprise and the man could tell that she had not noticed him before. The silver haired man drew himself up proudly and stared at the woman across from him expressionlessly. A ball of darkness formed in her hands and she sneered at him. Without another thought he brought his blade to bear. “For my sister,” he hissed and then intoned, “MOONBLADE ECLIPSE!” The energy from his attack surged from his sword and towards the witch. “ETERNAL SILENCE!”
“SPACE SWORD BLASTER!”
“SUBMARINE REFLECTION!”
“DEATH RIBBON REVOLUTION!”
Off to the side other voices called out and the outer senshi added their strength to his. A bright conglomeration of energies concealed Beryl in a wash of light but when it faded away the witch remained untouched, her expression mocking.
“You think that those meagre magicks are enough to stop me?” she scoffed, “I think not. Now it is time to stop playing and thus the last memory of the Silver Millennium will be erased. Goodbye fools.”
At first Lunari was able to defend against the barrage of spells but even he could not match the power of Beryl. For the first time he directly experienced the evil that had murdered his twin and he understood how the wielder of the Imperium Silver Crystal could possibly have fallen to Beryl. He knew where her power sprang from but before he could think to tell his fellow senshi, Beryl’s death spells breached his shields and his world began to spin. The last thought in his mind was to let his niece know but the mesmerising darkness drowned all thought.
*Metallia…*
*****
*Metallia…* The thought ricocheted from Serena’s mind directly to Travis’ and both Tsukinos stiffened in horror.
*UNCLE QUILL?!!*
Travis stared at his twin in shock as Serena jumped up from next to him and before he could blink a portal had formed in front of them. Even as it formed Serena was enveloped by the magic of transformation and it was the Silver Sun who dashed through the gate without a word of explanation. Not that Travis really needed it. He mightn’t have had his sister’s perception but he had more than enough to pick up the appalled realisation directly from her own mind. Their uncle had been struck down and Serena had automatically changed into the warrior who protected the knights. The only problem with that, Travis thought as he followed in his sister’s wake, was that she had a more powerful transformation that she had overlooked.
“Of course this didn’t happen after we came of Age, did it?” he spat as he transformed himself. He exited the portal and surveyed the scene in a sweeping glance. The gate had taken them straight to Beryl’s Arctic base. The four inner scouts were still maintaining a barrier as had been planned, a barrier that Sol noticed that his sister had breached with ease. It was something that Sol made a note to remember if he survived, it would be interesting to learn if it was another property of his sister was that she was just born to do the impossible. Uranus, Neptune and Saturn were all sending attacks at a woman the Solar Knight presumed to be Beryl. The Guardians present were all dutifully watching what remained of the Negaverse minions even as they monitored the senshi anxiously. In the distance Sol could see Endymion staggering to his feet but it was the crumpled figure of Lunari that held his eyes.
He raced towards where both Pluto and Sun crouched near the fallen warrior and blanched as he realised the seriousness of the man’s injuries. Blood trailed from the corner of his mouth, the crimson liquid only emphasising his uncle’s extreme pallor. Sun furiously poured magic in the failing senshi but to no avail. Even the addition of Sol’s power to his sister’s made no difference and High Prince Tranquillity breathed his last.
“So you really did have a complete set of avatars,” a mocking voice cooed, “Pity I broke one.”
Sol staggered but not because of Beryl. It was the flood of rage that engulfed his sister’s mind that unnerved him. Yet Beryl continued her taunting, heedless of the danger she courted.
“Still you have a replacement for that one don’t you? Isn’t there a moon brat that will take his place for you?”
Sol noticed the two remaining golden glints in his sister’s hair and stared at them with a strange fascination. Even as he watched, one of the glints turned silver and a growl arose from the woman’s throat. It was a pity that they hadn’t had even an hour longer. He had no doubt that Beryl would be defeated by his sister if she possessed her adult strength, after all she had slipped through a spell cast by four senshi without disturbing it, but she wasn’t an adult yet and nor was he. With a fatalistic sigh and a regretful thought of Sailor Saturn, he drew his sword but his sister’s sudden glare froze him.
She turned back to Beryl and howled, “You want a moon senshi then you have one!” Ribbons of light and feathers danced around her and Sol was breath taken by the sheer beauty of the change. He had seen Saturn transform before yet this was of a different order completely.
Beryl’s composure slipped slightly as Sailor Moon appeared before her but the sneer returned with a greater edge of maliciousness than before. “So the Sailor Brat has returned after all and most likely is the almighty Princess Serenity as well.” Her features took on a sharper cast as she began to glow with power. “How fortunate, the warrior trained princess can follow her predecessor without a wait.”
Sun’s eyes narrowed in a mixture of pain and anger and the clear stone in her tiara started glowing. With deliberate motions Sol’s twin pulled the gold band from her forehead and formed it into a glowing disk between her fingers.
“MOON…”
For some reason Sol felt dissociated from his body. His uncle was dead, his soulbrother was injured and his sister was challenging the woman who had brought about the downfall of the Silver Millennium yet he didn’t feel anything other than peaceful. Once more the knight’s eyes were caught by a glint in his sister’s hair. The golden glint seemed to be shining brighter than any one strand of hair should. It’s golden length almost deliberately separating itself from the silver mass.
“TIARA…”
There was no doubt about it in Sol’s mind that brightly shining strand was the last one of gold his sister possessed and he wondered what would have happened if it had been given the chance to turn silver. She would have grown more powerful, he had no doubt, but surely there would have been more to it than that.
“MAG-“
Sol smiled. Apparently he was about to find out. Even as he watched a light that was almost identical to one of his twin’s miniature silver suns travelled along the golden length, from the tip to the base, bleaching the colour from the strand and leaving only silver-white. Sailor Moon’s eyes were wide in surprise and then they drifted shut in rapture as she floated off the ground. A silver aura danced around her slender form and Beryl blanched, her face leeched of what little colour it possessed. With what Sol recognised as growing desperation, Beryl launched an attack at the glowing woman but the globe of darkness only dissolved as it touched the silver light.
Then Sol’s own vision was engulfed in silver as his twin’s premature coming of Age triggered his own. All he could feel was power rushing through him. Most of it was warm and golden and he would no doubt have identified it as the essential strength of the sun but it was the lesser part that registered stronger in his abstracted mind. Amplified by his sister’s mind, the magic that consumed him was silver, the power that was his heritage as a son of the moon and twin to Queen Serenity the seventh.
next
previous
Mars glanced up at Tux. He was perched on one of the various ledges, high in the tunnel. He looked very alone by himself, the absence of his princess glaringly obvious to the Martian scout but she had been needed elsewhere. His cloak hid him within the darkness around him. Below him, the Inners were concealed in whatever shadow they could find while the battle trained Guardians scouted the cavern ahead.
Mars looked back to the entrance that the three Guardians had disappeared through and smiled softly. She had almost choked when she had sensed where their argument had led Serena and Darien while still on the moon but now she was very glad that they had made their peace with each other when they had the chance. There was a very high probability that one or many of them would die within the next few hours. If it was slightly strange to see that particular pair behaving like the lovers they had become then it was offset by her satisfaction that for the first time in his life Darien was content. All they had to do was get the whole Negaverse issue sorted out and they would be fine.
In the distance she saw a slight lightening of a shadow were Artemis’ coat colour betrayed him. She was glad that her own Guardians had remained on the Moon with Saturn’s, Mercury’s and Luna... and her grandfather and Chad of course Unlike most of her fellow scouts she was already very close to her Guardians and the thought that they would be at risk in a battle was intolerable. She did not envy either Venus or Sun the pain should either Terran or Artemis be killed. At least the others had not had the time to form strong emotional attachments in this lifetime. Gods willing, they would the chance in the future... while she would have to explain herself to the men in her life. She sighed at the thought.
A piece of darkness detached itself from the wall and Io motioned for the scouts and their leaders to enter. Silently Tux detached himself from his hiding place. Without a pause he loped into the room and vanished into another shadow. Mars followed more slowly and didn’t attempt to hide herself once she was in the cavern. She neither possessed Tux’s ability to disappear or the need for it. Like her fellow scouts, she was bait.
Not that there was a reason to go seeking confrontation, she mused to herself as her fellow senshi flanked her. Yet the Negaverse showed a definite trend towards overconfidence where they were concerned and if the enemy happened to believe they had four easy targets who was she to complain. There would be enough vindication when her hidden allies proved them wrong.
A quick examination of the cave confirmed what she’d been told and she knew it was almost time for the little group to separate.
“Looks like Zoisite was telling the truth,” Jupiter whispered from beside her. Mars glanced at the two exits which both led to the throne room via different tunnels.
“Yeah,” Mars agreed reluctantly and glanced to where the huge wolf waited for them.
As soon as he had their attention he trotted off, into the right tunnel. The two panther-sized moon cats appeared and then separated. Artemis followed Terran while Io ghosted into the left tunnel, Tux close in his wake. Without a word, the four scouts split into the prearranged groups and followed after their respective guides. Tuxedo Mask, Jupiter and Mercury trailed Io while Mars and Venus followed Terran and Artemis.
The right tunnel was narrower than Mars found comfortable but its high ceiling gave both of the Guardians more room to leap if an ambush occurred. The lack of light was oppressing and the priestesses sent a brief prayer to request that any youma they came across glowed. As if thinking of them summoned them, two youma chose that moment to make themselves known.
The first Mars knew of their presence was when Artemis dived to the side. Instinct prompted her to follow suit and she narrowly missed being hit by a hissing jet of some foul smelling substance.
“Trespassers!” one growled and the other spat in agreement.
Mars wasted a moment to curse the miasma of dark energy permeating the cavern system that prevented her from sensing the approach of youma before she responded. “BURNING MANDALA!”
“LOVE AND BEAUTY SHOCK!”
The two mantras burst out simultaneously and the satisfyingly short work they made of the youma made Mars grinned in triumph.
“Beryl hasn’t educated all of her youma about us after all,” Venus gloated as she stepped around the bubbling pile of goo that remained.
“We’d hoped so,” Terran said from in front of them, “But we can’t be sure that that’s always the case.”
Mars looked up briefly. “Don’t worry Furface, we won’t get cocky.”
“Don’t call me Furface,” the wolf retorted and Mars smiled at the slight lightening of the tension around them.
“Path’s clear,” Artemis hissed from someway ahead and the small group quickly moved to catch up.
Dim light came from a metre or two beyond the crouching Guardian as the candles and torches that lined the throne room shone through. As soon as they reached the end of the tunnel they flattened themselves against the walls and did everything they could to merge with the shadows. A quick peek past the narrow opening and into the chamber beyond showed a gathered horde of youma and abominations.
A slight scrape from behind her told Mars that Venus was already attending to her duties and setting the charges that would collapse the tunnel as soon as the order was given. The fiery scout glanced at Terran and frowned. She really wished that it wasn’t necessary for him to be here but there was nothing that she could do. It was too much for just Venus, Artemis and herself to cover this tunnel on their own. Wistfully she thought of Sun and Sol and wished that they could be there.
At that moment the pair were in the Grounds, utilising its strange properties to age themselves the final few days they needed to come of age. While they were there only an hour would pass for the rest of the scouts but it would be a very long and arduous hour. For as long as Mars had been a scout she’d known that it would take the moon princess to defeat Beryl and the confrontation was imminent but the princess was not yet ready. It was up to the rest of them to buy her the time she needed.
Venus flattened herself opposite Mars once more and said almost soundlessly, “It’s ready. Just give the order.”
Mars nodded. “All we can do is wait now.” She remembered her original desire to command the scouts and for the first time gave fervent thanks that she didn’t. The little taste of responsibility she was being given was a bitter brew indeed and she pitied Sun whose duties meant that she worried for all of them all the time. Blue eyes gleamed in the dark and Mars shivered, understanding that despite the darkness her fellow scout understood what was in her mind all too well and what was more agreed with her wholeheartedly. They were soldiers, not commanders and they should thank their lucky stars that it was so.
Time seemed to drag by. The princess was so close to her coming of age that Mars could almost smell the changes happening, despite the distance and dimensions between them, and she urged them to hurry. As she had told Darien on the moon, she knew where the Imperial Silver Crystal was hidden and hidden it would remain until one of two things happened: Serenity reached full power naturally or she was forced into it. Personally Mars knew which method she favoured but she had a very bad feeling that her preferences would not be heeded. And still time slipped past.
*****
“Quill and Uranus have separated,” Tux warned Jupiter and Mercury as he felt the second team split into two smaller groups. “Be ready.”
“Always,” the taller scout responded seriously, her fist tangled in her Guardian’s multi-coloured fur. Io was in charge as the group awaited the last of their allies to get into position. The Moon cat was the size of a lion in preparation for battle and Tux wished that he had Luna or Terran to fight with him as Artemis would with Venus and Io with Jupiter.
He glanced through the opening to the wall of the throne room, a little way to the side and several metres above them where another opening could be seen. It was a gaping maw of darkness but he didn’t need to see into it to know that Terran and his group lay in waiting just out of sight. Much as he would feel more confident with Terran at his side, the young warrior wished even more that his Guardian were beside his young lover. Her presence blazed in his soul, even in this dark place, and he dreaded the thought that she might be injured, let alone killed. Still she was safer in the Grounds than Mars and Venus were here.
He smiled sourly when he realised that he now perfectly understood how she’d felt when he’d gotten himself hurt the last time they were here. He finally had her and a perfect future with her was within his grasp but he knew how fragile his dream was. If their plan didn’t work… If their plan didn’t work then Tux was left with one option. Ever since Mars had told them all where the crystal was hidden and they had learned that Sun must be at full power to receive it there had been no doubt that time was of the essence. He also knew a way to force his love into full power and he dreaded it with all his soul for it would mean a senshi would lose their life.
“Hey Tux?” Jupiter hissed.
He looked at her in surprise. What could she possibly want now?
“Can I ask you a question?”
“You already have,” he whispered blandly, “Two in fact.” She glared at him and he motioned for her to go ahead.
“You and Serena-”
Tux blushed slightly. For a split second the only thing that ran through his head was, please don’t let her ask about that! Anything but that! At least Venus wasn’t with them.
“-‘s uncle have gotten quite close right? What I mean is, does he call you Thorn just because you throw roses?”
He let out what he hoped was an unobtrusive breath of relief. That was a question he could answer without embarrassment. “Partly. Mostly it’s because for the first month he trained me in the Silver Millennium I was considered the thorn in his side.” Tux’s mouth twisted slightly at the thought of the man he thought of like a father.
*Set the explosions to go off in twenty seconds and go!* The thought slashed through his mind as the last two teams moved into place.
“Twenty seconds!” Tux snapped and the two scouts and the Guardian dived out of the tunnel. The man waited only long enough to start the count down and then he erupted into the throne room.
Across the chamber shouts of surprise and alarm rose from the denizens of the Negaverse as the senshi boiled from the four entrances. Before any had a chance to react the earth was bucked as the bombs each team of avatars had set went off in a pulse of fury. Several of Beryl’s servants lost their balance while the ground beneath their feet shook as the only ways into and out of the chamber were destroyed.
“WHAT?!” the shriek raised the hairs on the back of Tux’s neck but he did not pause to wait for Beryl’s next comment. Jupiter and Mercury split up ahead of him, each of them darting towards one of the four compass points and the dim glow of the torches was soon eclipsed by four multicoloured columns of light as the inner senshi created a barrier of power that would keep even Beryl locked within.
Without a thought he destroyed two youma before they recovered their equilibrium. The illumination provided by the shield let him see the outer senshi and the Lunarians as they wreaked havoc on the Negaverse court. The Lunar Knight fought side-be-side with Sailor Pluto and both warriors demonstrated the advantages of having millennia in which to perfect their skills. Saturn’s youthful energy compensated for what little she lacked in experience but the slender scout still seemed terribly vulnerable without the Solar Knight at her side. Neptune and Uranus had also gravitated towards each other across the battlefield and yet another of the senshi’s deadly duos cut a swathe through Beryl’s minions.
Still the five warriors were to do no more than to buy Tux the time in which to approach Beryl. At the thought of the witch Tux glanced quickly to where she sat in silence, her incandescent rage warping the air around her. Nearby Terran unleashed his own brand of mayhem. His savagery was unbridled in presence of the one who had destroyed his entire world a millennia past. Anything that was allied to Beryl was the target of a silver-grey blur and soon a great deal less than that.
The man in the tuxedo managed to break through to where his guardian fought and effortlessly moved into place beside him.
“The shield’s holding,” Terran reported, his voice muffled by the arm of a courtier that he held in his teeth. With efficient violence he tore the arm off and the Negaverse denizen staggered back.
Tux hurled a rose in their wake and the courtier collapsed as it pierced his heart. “Yes,” he replied with a mental grunt as they stepped over the corpse, “But for how long?”
“For as long as they have to,” the wolf answered.
“HOW DARE YOU!!” Beryl’s furious words finally broke through her stunned incoherency. “HOW DARE YOU ATTACK ME?!”
Terran looked at Tux, his eyes glimmered softly emerald and his teeth were bared in a grim smile. For the smallest instant Tux recalled his all too brief moments with Serena in the planning room on the moon. Then he nodded at Terran, turned and with a blast of golden magic he broke through the last rank of the enemy and stepped out to face Beryl.
“We dare because we are Avatars and our very existence is to destroy the plans of those like you!” his voice rang out strongly. Tux was vaguely surprised. The woman in front of him was nothing like he imagined the bogeyman of the past three years to appear. She was tall and had a presence, he would admit that much, yet her red hair was course and unkempt, her skin pale and sickly and her eyes showed nothing but madness. She was evil and dangerous, true, but no more a demon than many of criminals that walked the streets of any city.
She looked at him. Part of her expression revealed confusion and another part showed avarice. The unadulterated lust that he saw made Tux’s skin crawl but the presence of Terran behind him gave him the strength to control his revulsion. She smiled cruelly. “Well now, what have we here? Do you come to surrender to me?”
“That’s strange,” Tux drawled, “I’ve come to ask you exactly the same thing.”
“What?!”
He smiled slightly, mocking her. “You’re clearly outmatched Beryl. Every avatar that this system has produced is in this room with you now and we’re stronger than ever while the last few centuries have only made you weaker.”
Her eyes narrowed in anger. “Weaker? Weaker Little Man?! I am Beryl! Queen of the Negaverse and I am in no way weak!”
“You could have fooled me,” Tux replied lightly and brushed some dust off his sleeve. “After all, for the last three years you have been held at bay by only myself, two Guardians and seven scouts. Count them, seven! No Knights, several scouts still missing, most of the Guardians captured and Princess Serenity still hidden. Now you have no generals…” He paused and looked around before he continued with a smirk. “No more youma or other assorted servants, no more prisoners and no way out. This is a win-win situation…” He grinned wolfishly. “For us! You can surrender or you can die. Personally I would prefer your head detached from your shoulders and your blood decorating a blade but several of my companions are more merciful and our princess would also favour a minimum of bloodshed.”
Her evil laughter echoed across the, now still, field of battle. It was the reaction that he had expected given what he knew of Beryl but it still annoyed him immensely.
“Little Man you amuse me,” she snickered, “Your piddling Sailor Brats may have caused a small amount of damage here yet what do I care for these fools? They are nothing in the grand scheme of things and neither are you. The Solar Knight is too much the coward to join you as is his companion. You still lack Earth’s defender and you’re little princess is nowhere to be found. As for my once loyal generals, I will deal with the traitors in my own time. They will wish that their mothers had never even heard the word ‘male’! Degenerate wretches that they are, I will crush them!”
“Small problem Beryl, you have to find them first and then you have to get at them.”
“Tell me where they are and I might have mercy on you.” She watched him from under her lowered lids and added, “Or I might not.”
Tux was neither impressed nor intimidated, only bored. “With friends. Powerful friends,” he answered with a brief thought of the strange aliens that the twins knew so well.
“And you didn’t bring these powerful friends with you? Very unwise of you Little Man.”
Tuxedo Mask shrugged, unconcerned. “We don’t need their help and I’ve already told you why.”
“And I have told you why you will not win,” she spat back.
The Terran prince shook his head in feigned disappointment. It was almost too easy. She reminded him of a lonely old lady that would swap recipes with an axe murderer just for conversation. Surely she realised that time was on their side. “You don’t get it Beryl. What you see is not necessarily what you get.”
“What I see is an incomplete set of avatars and a minor mage as a second-rate fill in.”
“Second-rate? I am in no way second-rate Beryl. If you believe so then you really aren’t everything that you’re cracked up to be yourself!”
“I am so frightened.”
“You should be,” Tux said honestly, “For the first time since the founding of the Moon Kingdom the moon princess is more than just warrior trained.”
“What do I care?” Her nostrils flared.
Behind him he felt a flash of amusement and Terran whispered an irreverent observation. “Y’know you can see all the way to her shrivelled up brain from here!”
“I did not want to know that,” he replied dryly, “What I would is how long before the change is finished within the twins?”
“Soon. Trust me you’ll know when it happens. I think you’re going to feel like someone set off a supernova inside of you when it happens. Besides they’ve been in the Grounds for less than an hour of our time. There’s at least another fifteen minutes before they can return.”
“I thought Serena could get around that,” Tux hissed in a low voice.
Terran answered in a growl that would be indecipherable to anyone further away than his master. “Only if someone she cares for is threatened.”
Since they were all in deadly danger, Tux guessed that the absent blonde would be blocking her perceptions for all they were worth. At least he hoped she was. She must not return too soon.
A bolt of dark energy shot past Tux and Terran yelped in pain. The air was filled with the stench of burnt fur and Tux turned to find his friend lying unconscious on the ground. Carefully he knelt besides the injured Guardian and gently laid his hand on the ruined torso. His healing magic rose within him and he directed the energies directly into the wolf. With a magical twist he severed the spell so that it would continue without supervision and returned his attention to the evil queen. He needed to stall for at least ten more minutes.
“I don’t like pets in my presence,” Beryl told him smugly.
Tux snarled and gestured to what remained of her youma and other minions. “Then what do you call those?”
“Pawns.”
“Blind, arrogant witch,” he told her intently, “So blind as not to see the danger in front of her, too arrogant to realise the answer to her problems. You are nothing because you are alone. Even surrounded by a thousand slaves, you are alone because you cannot trust them. Not one would raise a hand to defend you should there be the slightest chance of replacing you. Shall I demonstrate?” With no more warning he hurled a crimson rose infused with golden power directly at her.
It implanted itself in her stomach and she doubled over in shock. With a jerk, she yanked it out and crushed it in her hand. Tux just grinned fiercely and conjured another. “Who are you Little Man?” she hissed as she batted the projectile aside. Her power began to shimmer as an unnerving dark corona around her and those that still live on the battlefield all trembled. Her patience was almost gone and Tux knew that he needed something to keep her attention.
He sneered at her. “Don’t you know oh mighty queen?” His tone dripped with contempt and derision. “You destroyed the worlds of my fellow avatars, you killed them and millions of others, including a great and noble queen, you took my love from me and now you attempt to take my world. I think not Beryl.” With a hiss of anticipation he leapt at her, the power of Earth roaring inside of him. In the split second that he spent in the air his tuxedo became armour, his cane became a sword and it was as the Earth knight that he landed in front of his enemy.
“You wanted the Earth Knight?” His sword sang as it sliced through the air and her eyes widened in sudden fear. “You got him!”
She threw herself away from him and his sword missed her to carve straight through the stone back of her throne. She drew herself to her feet as he whirled to face her and before he could strike again her hand snaked out and he was launched backwards until he hit the scout’s shield.
*****
Tranquillity grit his teeth and beside him Pluto gasped as Endymion fell and lay stunned. If anything would provoke his niece to come prematurely it would be her soulmate being injured. Without a thought the Lunarian stepped around the pile of dust that was that remained of several youma and deflected the next blast aimed at stricken prince.
Beryl looked at him in surprise and the man could tell that she had not noticed him before. The silver haired man drew himself up proudly and stared at the woman across from him expressionlessly. A ball of darkness formed in her hands and she sneered at him. Without another thought he brought his blade to bear. “For my sister,” he hissed and then intoned, “MOONBLADE ECLIPSE!” The energy from his attack surged from his sword and towards the witch. “ETERNAL SILENCE!”
“SPACE SWORD BLASTER!”
“SUBMARINE REFLECTION!”
“DEATH RIBBON REVOLUTION!”
Off to the side other voices called out and the outer senshi added their strength to his. A bright conglomeration of energies concealed Beryl in a wash of light but when it faded away the witch remained untouched, her expression mocking.
“You think that those meagre magicks are enough to stop me?” she scoffed, “I think not. Now it is time to stop playing and thus the last memory of the Silver Millennium will be erased. Goodbye fools.”
At first Lunari was able to defend against the barrage of spells but even he could not match the power of Beryl. For the first time he directly experienced the evil that had murdered his twin and he understood how the wielder of the Imperium Silver Crystal could possibly have fallen to Beryl. He knew where her power sprang from but before he could think to tell his fellow senshi, Beryl’s death spells breached his shields and his world began to spin. The last thought in his mind was to let his niece know but the mesmerising darkness drowned all thought.
*Metallia…*
*****
*Metallia…* The thought ricocheted from Serena’s mind directly to Travis’ and both Tsukinos stiffened in horror.
*UNCLE QUILL?!!*
Travis stared at his twin in shock as Serena jumped up from next to him and before he could blink a portal had formed in front of them. Even as it formed Serena was enveloped by the magic of transformation and it was the Silver Sun who dashed through the gate without a word of explanation. Not that Travis really needed it. He mightn’t have had his sister’s perception but he had more than enough to pick up the appalled realisation directly from her own mind. Their uncle had been struck down and Serena had automatically changed into the warrior who protected the knights. The only problem with that, Travis thought as he followed in his sister’s wake, was that she had a more powerful transformation that she had overlooked.
“Of course this didn’t happen after we came of Age, did it?” he spat as he transformed himself. He exited the portal and surveyed the scene in a sweeping glance. The gate had taken them straight to Beryl’s Arctic base. The four inner scouts were still maintaining a barrier as had been planned, a barrier that Sol noticed that his sister had breached with ease. It was something that Sol made a note to remember if he survived, it would be interesting to learn if it was another property of his sister was that she was just born to do the impossible. Uranus, Neptune and Saturn were all sending attacks at a woman the Solar Knight presumed to be Beryl. The Guardians present were all dutifully watching what remained of the Negaverse minions even as they monitored the senshi anxiously. In the distance Sol could see Endymion staggering to his feet but it was the crumpled figure of Lunari that held his eyes.
He raced towards where both Pluto and Sun crouched near the fallen warrior and blanched as he realised the seriousness of the man’s injuries. Blood trailed from the corner of his mouth, the crimson liquid only emphasising his uncle’s extreme pallor. Sun furiously poured magic in the failing senshi but to no avail. Even the addition of Sol’s power to his sister’s made no difference and High Prince Tranquillity breathed his last.
“So you really did have a complete set of avatars,” a mocking voice cooed, “Pity I broke one.”
Sol staggered but not because of Beryl. It was the flood of rage that engulfed his sister’s mind that unnerved him. Yet Beryl continued her taunting, heedless of the danger she courted.
“Still you have a replacement for that one don’t you? Isn’t there a moon brat that will take his place for you?”
Sol noticed the two remaining golden glints in his sister’s hair and stared at them with a strange fascination. Even as he watched, one of the glints turned silver and a growl arose from the woman’s throat. It was a pity that they hadn’t had even an hour longer. He had no doubt that Beryl would be defeated by his sister if she possessed her adult strength, after all she had slipped through a spell cast by four senshi without disturbing it, but she wasn’t an adult yet and nor was he. With a fatalistic sigh and a regretful thought of Sailor Saturn, he drew his sword but his sister’s sudden glare froze him.
She turned back to Beryl and howled, “You want a moon senshi then you have one!” Ribbons of light and feathers danced around her and Sol was breath taken by the sheer beauty of the change. He had seen Saturn transform before yet this was of a different order completely.
Beryl’s composure slipped slightly as Sailor Moon appeared before her but the sneer returned with a greater edge of maliciousness than before. “So the Sailor Brat has returned after all and most likely is the almighty Princess Serenity as well.” Her features took on a sharper cast as she began to glow with power. “How fortunate, the warrior trained princess can follow her predecessor without a wait.”
Sun’s eyes narrowed in a mixture of pain and anger and the clear stone in her tiara started glowing. With deliberate motions Sol’s twin pulled the gold band from her forehead and formed it into a glowing disk between her fingers.
“MOON…”
For some reason Sol felt dissociated from his body. His uncle was dead, his soulbrother was injured and his sister was challenging the woman who had brought about the downfall of the Silver Millennium yet he didn’t feel anything other than peaceful. Once more the knight’s eyes were caught by a glint in his sister’s hair. The golden glint seemed to be shining brighter than any one strand of hair should. It’s golden length almost deliberately separating itself from the silver mass.
“TIARA…”
There was no doubt about it in Sol’s mind that brightly shining strand was the last one of gold his sister possessed and he wondered what would have happened if it had been given the chance to turn silver. She would have grown more powerful, he had no doubt, but surely there would have been more to it than that.
“MAG-“
Sol smiled. Apparently he was about to find out. Even as he watched a light that was almost identical to one of his twin’s miniature silver suns travelled along the golden length, from the tip to the base, bleaching the colour from the strand and leaving only silver-white. Sailor Moon’s eyes were wide in surprise and then they drifted shut in rapture as she floated off the ground. A silver aura danced around her slender form and Beryl blanched, her face leeched of what little colour it possessed. With what Sol recognised as growing desperation, Beryl launched an attack at the glowing woman but the globe of darkness only dissolved as it touched the silver light.
Then Sol’s own vision was engulfed in silver as his twin’s premature coming of Age triggered his own. All he could feel was power rushing through him. Most of it was warm and golden and he would no doubt have identified it as the essential strength of the sun but it was the lesser part that registered stronger in his abstracted mind. Amplified by his sister’s mind, the magic that consumed him was silver, the power that was his heritage as a son of the moon and twin to Queen Serenity the seventh.
next