Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Consequences: Book One- A Changing Destiny ❯ Chapter Fourteen ( Chapter 14 )

Title: Consequences: Book One- A Changing Destiny &nbs p;

Rating: 13-R ; &n bsp; ; &n bsp;

Genre: Alternative Universe & nbsp; &nbs p; & nbsp;

Author: Sean Wright

Editor: Amethyst Serenity &nbs p; & nbsp; &nbs p;

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon; I'm just a fan.

Chapter Fourteen

It was a battle for the ages.

With Cap'n Crunch and Golden Grahams in one large mixing bowl on her lap and a large soupspoon in her hand, Bunny, the mediator, sat on the Mizuno's patio and watched Ami and Lita go at it like two super-powered Titans.

Sailor Mercury dove out of the way to avoid Jupiter's deadly accurate barrage of lightning bolts. While retreating, Mercury sidestepped a tree root to avoid tripping, but to hers (and Bunny's) surprise, the root shot up and wrapped about the Ice Senshi's right ankle. She crashed to the ground with a loud thud. Mercury lay on the ground moaning in pain, thus leaving herself open to Jupiter's physical assault. A kick to her side sent Mercury flying across the lawn and plowing her into a tree trunk. A bolt of lightning slammed into the Senshi of Ice, leaving her half fried and moaning helplessly.

Jupiter walked over, looked down at Mercury and then dropped down to her knees, right on top of Mercury's injured back. Mercury cried out as Jupiter grabbed a fist full of her hair, pulling her head and upper back to its breaking point.

"Are those tears?" The Joven Senshi taunted as she slammed a fist into Mercury's left kidney. "I thought you were stronger than this, Athena Diana." Then in a low growl, Jupiter ordered, "Fight back."

Mercury was hurting; this body wasn't the seasoned fighting machine it had been back during Silver Millennium. She was soft and weak; moreover, she had been conditioned to rely upon the others to protect her while she analyzed their enemies from the sidelines. Her Princess was a better warrior if she allowed herself to lie on the ground while Jupiter pummeled her kidneys.

Roaring with long pent up frustration, the Mercury pushed herself on her arms and bucked the Joven off her back. Jupiter fell down but used the momentum to roll forward into a low crouch. She performed a perfect backhand spring and her booted feet hit the unprepared Mercury full in the chest.

Mercury stumbled back a few feet until the same tree that had tripped her stopped her backward advance. Mercury dropped to her knees, a hand going to her chest as she tried to regain her breath, but Jupiter had no intention of allowing her a reprieve. Yelling a blood-curdling war cry, Jupiter charged at the downed Senshi, her hands holding a bolt of lightning like a club. Mercury looked up sharply and rolled out of the way just as bolt almost came in contact with her head. The smaller Senshi came up quickly on one knee with a silvery blue bow in her left hand. Mercury had an ice arrow notched and ready to fly. Jupiter spun around and almost did not suppress her grin. Ami was indeed learning; Athena Diana would not allow herself to be defeated. Mercury released her arrow but Jupiter batted it away with her lightning bolt and, at the same time, threw her Flower Hurricane at the archer. Mercury hastily erected an ice shield to deflect the attack. Mercury waited just a breath after the magical energy-charged flowers disappeared before she retaliated with a surprise of her own. "Aqua Rhapsody," the blue haired Senshi shouted before her shield completely dissolved.

This training session had just been kicked up a notch. Jupiter grinned and countered, "Oak Evolution!"

The two attacks collided with each other in a brilliant display of power and lights. Bunny felt a presence behind her. She turned away from the battle to see Mina standing behind her chair. Mina's eyes were on the two Senshi. Her expression was unreadable to Bunny but any other Senshi would have noticed her displeasure.

"I should be content with the fact that we can summon our elemental attacks," she murmured to herself.

Bunny looked at her questioningly, "You are not pleased with your progress?"

Mina glanced down at Bunny and then looked back at the battle. Jupiter had beaten back Mercury's attack. The Ice Senshi was losing ground as Jupiter was literally pushing her back.

"Put your weight into it, Athena," Mina barked without thinking. "Concentrate on a smaller area and push."

Mercury did, stopping Jupiter's advance.

"Did you see Artemis?" Bunny asked after a few minutes.

Mina nodded curtly. "The terrans will allow us to act as a support group. It was all Endymion was willing to concede."

"So when do they plan to leave?"

Mina frowned, sensing the energy shift within Jupiter. She wasn't using her own power but drawing it from the ions around her. Mercury did not stand a chance unless she did the same or…

Mercury ducked and the blast went right past her, crashing into three trees and taking out the back wall of the stone fence. While she crouched down, Mercury swept Jupiter's feet from under her. Caught unawares by the sudden attack, Jupiter lay on the ground, staring blankly at the sky until a shadow fell over her. The tall Joven Senshi blinked owlishly as she turned her head to the right; standing over her with a notched arrow on her bow was Mercury.

The Mercurian placed one booted foot on Jupiter's neck, her dark eyes as welcoming as the element she commanded when she demanded, "Do you yield?"

Jupiter looked up the grim-faced warrior and burst into uncontrollable peals of laughter. "Hai, Merc, I yield. Now get your damned foot off my neck so I can sit up."

Mercury lowered her bow as she stepped back. Jupiter was still lying on the ground laughing; it looked as if she could not get up. For a moment, she did wonder if Jupiter banged her head on rock when she fell.

"Are you going to stand there all day or are you going to offer a friend a hand up?" Jupiter asked, sitting up. With a careless shrug, Mercury stuck out her right hand and hauled the other girl up. "Look at you," Jupiter continued to rib her, "All strong and silent. When did you become Wonder Woman, Ames?"

"Nike, Athena," Mina called to them from the patio.

The taller Senshi looked down on her partner and laid a hand on her shoulder. "You've improved, Merc," Jupiter said warmly. "Despite what was done by Luna, you are still a strong and capable warrior. You have proven Luna and Rei wrong about you. Most importantly, you proved Ami wrong. I knew you could take me."

Mercury returned her smile, "There were a couple times when I thought you had me."

"But you didn't give up and that is what was important." Jupiter detransformed. "Now let's go find out what the terrans have offered us." They trotted over to where their leader stood with their Princess. "Well, Commander?" she asked, using Mina's long forgotten title.

The grim-faced Venusian Senshi drew herself up. "We go to war tomorrow."

"What time do we deploy?" Ami asked her.

"0400 hours. We will join them at their Tokyo base and then travel to Point D." Mina looked away then, "King Ares has asked us to come to the Hikawa Jinja tonight for a ceremony."

"What kind of ceremony?" Bunny asked. "And what's with the military talk? You're kind of confusing me."

Mina ignored the last part but answered the first question. "I don't know what kind of ceremony it is, but I hope it's one for strength." Mina said gravely, "Because we are going to need all the help we can get."

The agreed upon time was eight-thirty. The shrine was closed and Chad had been given the night off. Jonathan had prepared a small feast for the Senshi and their Queen. Eiji had stopped by earlier to prepare an altar for Ilene.

Once everyone was fed and contented, Jonathan rose from his place at the head of the table and asked everyone to follow him outside to the shrine's garden. The altar for Selene gleamed brightly under the white light of the full moon. Ilene went to it and knelt. Bunny followed suit and then the Senshi and Eiji.

Jonathan invoked the spirit of Ares to lead them into battle and secure the Senshi's victory. Blessing each of the girls' bowed heads; he laid a touch of blessed oil where the gemstones of their tiaras would touch their brows. He anointed them in the blood of his father, asking the great God of War for the safe return of the Senshi.

Eiji rose and prayed to his mother, the Goddess Athena, to keep them on the paths of right and justice and to end the tyranny of Beryl and Metallia through the Senshi, bringing peace to Terra and honor back to Silver Millennium and the Silver Alliance.

Ilene thanked him and turned to face the young warriors, standing before them as their Queen once more. In response, the girls transformed.

Queen Serenity smiled warmly at them.

"My Senshi," she said softly. "Protectors of our kingdom. Guardians of our Universe, how it pleases us to see you as you are now. For there have never been, in any kingdom's history, soldiers as courageous or fearless as you three. You are a credit to your worlds and bring honor to the memories of your parents. And more so, you are an honor to yourselves. I would have never asked this of any of you. Yet, Eros, Nike, and Athena Diana, you chose to look beyond what happened in the Silver Millennium to each of your comrades and fight our enemy once more. For that selfless bravery, I commend you. And to secure your safe return, I bless you in the ancient powers of your forebears." She held out her right hand and her Crescent Moon rod appeared with her flowered Silver Imperial Crystal in its center.

She raised it towards the moon and it began to glow. "I grant eternity to the daughters of Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter." Their star broaches began to glow. "Strength, love, wisdom, and courage. Each is a virtue as timeless as the universe and as important as every star. Go forth, my Senshi, bring honor to yourselves and to your brethren who are with us in this life and those who have passed before us. Honor our kingdom. May the Silver Millennium guide you and bring each of you back to us." She lowered her rod and gestured for the Sailors to rise.

"Wait," Bunny said nervously, "Um, I have something I want to say before we go our separate ways tonight."

Queen Serenity stepped back to allow her daughter the floor.

Bunny smiled at her friends. "Tomorrow, we go to face our kingdom's greatest foe. We are not going alone but when we face that evil, we will be by ourselves. There will be no terrans to support us, no other Senshi than we four. Through our actions will this battle be won or lost." She held out her hands to them. "You are my sisters-in-arms and you are my friends. I want us, when this battle is over, to stand in the field of victory together. We will not fail in our mission; we have come too far and seen too much not to have our victory. We have lived and died; we came back for a chance at happiness and the lives that we were denied thousands of years ago. I will not allow any of you to suffer. Beryl and her demon will be destroyed and we will have peace, this I promise you as your Princess and one of your own." A rod made of silver imperial crystal, pearls, and gold appeared before her. Bunny grasped it, with her silver imperial crystal resting on top of it, and raised it high. "Sailor Crystal power of this Solar System, gather thy power to this rod."

"Dear Athena," Eiji said in frightened awe. "What is this power?"

"The power of universe," Jonathan told him. "It's no more than a child's toy to her."

The awesomeness of Bunny's light, the power of her spirit, sent her own mother to her knees in reverence. "Serenity," the Queen whispered as she watched her daughter's crystal change. Queen Serenity gasped and held out her hands as a golden, bejeweled covered chalice appeared before her. "My grail," she said in an agonized whisper. "Serenity…"

The Senshi were caught in the spell created by their Princess. They had willingly offered up their power to her, a sacrifice that would only reap them nothing but the sweetest of rewards.

"All of our power," they said in unison, "Right here."

"To Serenity's crystal," the very weak, exhausted Bellona, Senshi of Mars rasped.

Jonathan felt the others, all of their power, although one was giving it reluctantly and going through a great deal of pain by trying to fight Princess Serenity's call.

What happened next went by too fast to actually be seen by mortal eyes. Every Sailor Moon she could have been flew by in a myriad of colors. From her first transformation when she first took her broach, she went through three tiaras before her crescent moon shone brightly in the sky: another tiara; Super Sailor Moon holding a chalice like Queen Serenity's with a fat golden crescent on its bejeweled cover; and finally the Eternal Warrior. White wings opened to reveal a silvery blonde angel with pale silver eyes and a gently glowing crescent moon on her brow. It should have stopped; she should have not gone beyond. Yet, her power continued to ascend until the Eternal form became an illusion. Jonathan was sure that only he could see who or what was beyond the projection and he was awed.

"I take you beyond the stars and the boundaries of our Universe, past eternity. Let the heavens be ours, realizing the dreams of the cosmos. We are those precious dreams." Her chalice had changed too. "This is your reality. My power and yours, beyond time and space. Take it now and know you hold the power of Cosmos in your hands."

The power returned to their rightful souls. Queen Serenity stood strong beside her daughter, her power infused by the blessing of her daughter. She looked at the others and they had changed as well. The Senshi stood on their feet, looking very much like the warriors they once were. Queen Serenity smiled through her tears. They were more than illusions of the past; they were living representatives of their home worlds.

"Eternal Senshi." Jonathan slapped Eiji on the shoulder because he could not control his over-brimming joy.

"Ah, but they are a beautiful sight." Eiji laughed merrily.

Princess Serenity reached for her mother's hand and the Queen hugged her. "You did well, Serenity." Her mother whispered. "I am proud of you, Bunny."

Remember: NO FLAMES. IF YOU DON'T LIKE THIS, DON'T READ IT.