Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Fragility of Time ❯ "Into the Fire" ( Chapter 18 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

The Fragility of Time
Chapter 18: "Into the Fire"
Author: etj4Eagle
Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com
http://www.geocities.com/etj4eagle
Lasted Edited: 12/6/00

Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story,
all rights are owned by others.
If you distribute the story, do only
so freely and inform me of where you post it.

_______________________________________

The Sailor Senshi, their princess, her daughter, the Earth Prince,
and Urawa stood, in front of the Hikawa Shrine. While each attempted
to put on an air of bravo and confidence, fear of what was to come
raced through each of them. Looking around each could see the fear in
their friend's eyes, but they had no regrets of what was to come. The
delay in finding the exact coordinates of D-point had allowed them to
spend a few hours with each of their families, each saying things
that needed to be said in case they never returned. Of course, only
Usagi's family knew the true reason for the sudden love, though
Grandpa Hino had an inkling of what was to befall his daughter, from
his own meditations with the Great Fire. For Usagi, she had spent a
fair portion of that time writing six letters, one to be delivered in
each of the families in case none of them made it back.

"Minna-san we should be going." announced Ami.

"Hai" the others agreed softly and formed a circle around their two
passengers, Mamoru and Urawa. With a shout, each of the girls called
out their transformation phrases, Mamoru shifted into his prince
form, and Urawa returned to his true form, though deciding to remain
in the visible for now. Then with a second call of power they were
gone, beams of energy arching through the sky. From the gate of
Spacetime, Pluto watched her princess head into battle, a tear
falling down her cheek over her inability to aid her.

* * * * * * * *
D-point

Arriving, the Senshi found themselves deposited in the bitter cold of
the artic. They shivered for a moment, not so much because of the
cold, but because of the evil that permeated the place. Quickly
getting their bearings, they readjusted their circle such that it now
included their princesses and ChibiMoon in its center. Deploying her
visor, Mercury began scanning the area, looking for the site of
Metalia's portal.

"That way," she said pointing towards a darkness on the horizon. As
they began walking in that direction, Mercury felt a hand squeeze
hers; she knew it to be Urawa's and also knew that his battle senses
would have told him the same tactical information that her visor had
told her. He would therefore also know the number of youma that faced
them up ahead, a number so great that at least one of them and
probably more would fall in their attempts to stop Metalia.

Detecting an energy discharge, Mercury and Urawa swung their heads to
their left in time to see Kunzite's teleport. "Endymion!" Kunzite
called, announcing his presence.

Stopping, Endymion turned to regard Kunzite. With a look to his love,
he stroke a hand across Sailor Moon's face, "Serenity, Usako, I have
to face Kunzite alone. This battle is internal to my planet. Don't
worry I will be fine, and remember I will always love you." With
those final words his fingers lightly stroked Sailor Moon's face, and
then he turned to face Kunzite and broke formation from the others,
moving to meet the challenge.

The two men stood facing each other, neither moving initially. "You
have sold your soul to Silver Millennium and in your lust for
Serenity you have betrayed your people, selling them into eternal
bondage. For these acts of treason, you no longer deserve to be the
prince. And I, as the last remaining guardian of this planet will
take vengeance in the name of the Earth." Red energies, flung at
Endymion punctuated the declaration of vengeance in the name of the
Earth.

Endymion easily parried the two blades with his sword. "Kunzite, open
your eyes. I have not betrayed my people. It is Beryl; in her jealous
rage, she has unleashed the evil that is Metalia. And it is Metalia's
evil has tainted your soul and those of Beryl's other warriors a
thousand years ago."

"You lie!" responded Kunzite as he pressed the attack even stronger,
forcing Endymion to take a step back.

* * * * * * * *

Watching her love fight one of his former friends, Serenity said a
silent prayer for his safety and Kunzite's soul. But, all too soon
Venus had them on the move again, leaving Endymion behind and heading
towards the battle ahead. As they walked Mercury kept watch for
traps, frowning slightly she noticed many of the energy signatures
disappear. Realizing what was about to happen, she yelled out, "Hit
the deck!"

Very quickly the group flung themselves to the ground, only moments
before a patch of the ground slightly in front and to their right
exploded outwards in a blast of energy. The energy blast passed
through the space they had been occupying only moments before. The
startled warrior began picking themselves up, a bit stunned by their
near brush with death. However, before they had gotten much farther
than their knees, youma began pouring out of the hole in the ground,
moving to attack the warriors

"World Shaking."

"Supreme Thunder," responded Jupiter and Uranus, the first of the
warriors back onto their feet. Their attacks were soon followed by
attacks from the others, as they too stood back up. Some of the youma
took multiple hits to fell, others fell only when Sailor Moon's tiara
sliced them, and still others fell under only the lightest of
attacks. Something about the ease of dispatching those youma troubled
Mercury. Turning her attention to them, and activating her computer,
she scanned them.

"ChibiUsa-chan!" cried Sailor Moon as she saw a youma holding
ChibiUsa by her neck. Mercury looked at her leader and then looking
ahead to where Sailor Moon was dashing with all her might and saw
ChibiUsa. she thought. And
then looking more closely at her visor's readings, Mercury realized as her visor
reveled the ChibiUsa to be a youma. Glancing back at where Sailor
Moon had begun her dash, she noticed ChibiMoon not too far distant
from there.

Moving quickly, Mercury quickly covered the distance to "ChibiUsa" as
well. As she ran she analyzed her options, her best strategy would be
to unleash a Shine Aqua Illusion attack. However, Usagi did not yet
know about the illusion, eliminating that option. Only one option
remained with the time she had left, and so with one last leap
Mercury reached the two youma and grabbed the fake ChibiUsa in her
arms.

As the two rolled on the ground, "ChibiUsa" shifted into its true
form, a youma. The youma quickly wrapped its arms around Mercury and
with a release of dark energy, Mercury cried out in pain.

"ChibiUsa's" shift had caused Sailor Moon to come up short. Then her
friend's sacrifice caused her to softly cry out "Ami-chan!" with a
couple of tears.

As Sailor Moon watched Ami's torture, she began to jog over to her
friend. Pulling off her tiara she looked for a way to throw it
without hurting her friend. But before she could find an opening, an
explosion ripped across the plain of ice and the situation resolved
itself. As the shockwave from the blast blew across the plain, Usagi
shielded herself from flying youma parts. The explosion had tossed
the blue haired Senshi into the sky, while a shadowy figure with a
brightly glowing golden crescent moon stood in the epicenter.
Changing her course, Usagi moved to catch her friend as she fell back
to the earth.

* * * * * * * *

The luck of the other Senshi ran equally poor in their fights with
the youma. While they were not the targets of the directed illusions,
they still had to contend with the duplicate youma illusions. The
illusions fell quickly to any attack, but they still required time,
focus and energy to be destroyed. Consequently the Senshi, except for
Mercury, unable to tell the real threats from the illusions were
quickly finding themselves overwhelmed by the shear number of
threats.

Uranus and Neptune fought side by side to one part of the battle,
while Venus and Jupiter remained standing by ChibiMoon, protecting
her. Mars had taken off after her Odango-Atama when Usagi had been
fooled by the illusion. Turning her head scanning the area, Venus
glimpsed a slight motion out of the corner of her eye. Moving on
instinct, she jumped to place herself between the movement and
ChibiMoon. The object she moved to intercept was located behind her;
consequently, she spun as she leapt to bring her face to face with
it. However, before she had finished the spin, something impacted her
back, sending her to the ground.

Venus tried to stand, but found that her legs no longer seemed to
work. The next sense her fuzzy mind processed was that of a child's
terrified scream. A scream she shortly recognized to be ChibiMoon's,
Venus realized that she must now be lying at the feet of ChibiMoon.
As she struggled to bring her vision into focus she felt the tell
tale tingly of her skin that accompanied one of Jupiter's thunder
blots, which was soon followed by the screams of a dying youma.

Her breathing now labored, Venus's vision finally came into focus.
Turning her head she saw ChibiMoon and Jupiter standing beside her, a
large and growing red stain of red on the ice also grabbed her
attention. She felt a hand, Jupiter's, grasp hers as Jupiter pleaded
with her not to leave them. Minako wished that she could do as Makoto
instructed however, she could already feel the energy of her body
begin to fade away. Beside her on the spiritual plane lay the
remnants of her Sailor Crystal. Its energy had been released and was
now diffusing out in the environment and back into the megaverse.
Venus could now see those shiny fragments of her Star Seed as her
awareness faded away. Then with a final gasp, her chest lay still.

Giving a loud yell of pain, Jupiter summoned all her energy and
unleashed a tremendous amount of raw energy. As the energy left her
hands, it shared in her rage and formed into a dragon. The semi-
sentient Thunder Dragon born of Makoto's rage and sorrow flapped its
wings and dove into the nearest group of youma, giving a battle cry
of its own. Sizzling and the sounds of a wild beast followed, and
soon the sent of charred flesh could be smelled on the wind. The
smell lasted for a few minutes, while the youma slowly turned into
dust and blew away.

* * * * * * * *

Jupiter's cry grabbed Uranus attention and she looked over from the
youma she was battling. Seeing Venus's dead body she cried out "No!"
While she had not gotten to know the Guardian Senshi that well in
this life, she still had half memories of them from the Silver
Millennium. Her momentary distraction from looking Venus's dead body
was all that the youma she was battling needed. The next thing she
knew, she was flying through the air and then coming to a rough stop
on the ground.

Angered at being caught off guard she gritted her teeth against the
pain and stood back up. Looking down she noticed the whole right side
of her uniform was torn away and that the skin below it was blackened
from the blast. Attempting to take a step forward, she collapsed back
down to the ground from the pain, useless to the others. Hearing a
noise, she looked up and saw that creature standing over her,
preparing to finish the job. She closed her eyes and awaited the
final blow.

Instead, she heard "Deep Submerge" and the demon was blasted apart.
Looking up she saw Neptune. Neptune quickly closed the distance to
her love. "Haruka how badly are you hurt?" she asked

"Bad, I can't fight anymore." She replied, knowing what Neptune was
thinking she added "Don't worry about me love, you need to protect
the princess. Now go." She commanded the reluctant Neptune.

* * * * * * * *

Usagi watched over where she had laid Mercury on the ground, wishing
that there was some way to take her friends injuries into herself.
Feeling a familiar, but foreboding energy sweep through her, she
looked up. "Minako, no!" she softly cried, as she placed the energy.
Having given her cry, her head collapsed down onto Ami, as sorrow
racked her body for her departed friend.

"Usagi, don't worry about us. We are making this sacrifice because we
love you, not because we have to. You have to go on and defeat Beryl
and prevent her from releasing Metalia." Mars said trying to
encourage her leader. Mars had known before they had even left that
she would not be coming back from this mission, that none of the
Guardians were. The Great Fire had told her that, but she had kept
that to herself. They did not have a choice, and to tell Usagi would
only have meant that she would feel even more guilt as each of the
Senshi died. As Rei tried to comfort Usagi, she wrapped an arm around
her best friend and pulled Usagi into her own chest.

After a few moments, Rei was able to get Usagi's tears back under
control, the youma thankfully had for the moment been leaving the
three of them alone, focusing their attention on the other Senshi. A
weak voice caught their attention, "They are using illusions, got to
stop them." Mercury mumbled as she began to pick herself up.

"Ami, you are in no shape to go fight!" exclaimed Usagi.

"No choice princess, only me and Ryo-kun can stop these illusions.
Unless we do so, more of us will fall." During Mercury's explanation,
Urawa had moved up beside his love, and taking her hand the two of
them disappeared back into the battlefield.

Watching Mercury walk away, Usagi hung her head in defeat. Sorrow
filled Mars's soul as well over Ami-chan's sacrifice, lending
strength to her best friend, she hugged Usagi even tighter.

The sound of crunching snow brought the arrival of Jupiter carrying
ChibiMoon. Seeing her daughter, Usagi perked up at least for the
moment now that she had someone whom needed her strength. Taking
ChibiUsa from Jupiter, Usagi went about trying to reassure her
daughter. As Jupiter gave up the child, she caught Mars's eye and
silently asked a question. The shake of Mars's head confirmed her
fear; looking out over the snow, she prepared herself for the next
youma to arrive.

* * * * * * * *
The realm of the Gate of Spacetime

Pluto stood watching the battle. She saw Venus's sacrifice, the
destruction of her Sailor Crystal and her subsequent death. Death for
any being comes when their Star Seed is crushed, releasing its
energy, the soul. A Sailor Crystal being lit by the light of a planet
is much harder to destroy, but it too can be destroyed. After being
released, a soul will slowly diffuse through the physical plane into
the fabric of the universe itself; thereby rejoining with the
fundamental energy that gives rise to new life.

Venus's soul no longer anchored by its Star Seed, now drifted lost
along the battlefield. Pluto with her powers could interact with the
lost soul; awaken it from the semi-conscious state it now drifted in.
But the flow of time was too fragile at this point for her to risk
any interference. Instead, she watched the condemned soul who was
soon to be one of many just drift. Feeling another energy begin to
join that of Venus, Pluto saw Uranus fall to the ground. For the
moment Uranus still lived, but not for long, her Sailor Crystal was
slowly crumbling.

Shedding a tear for the sacrifices of her sisters, Pluto shifted her
gaze till it was focused on her future queen. From the Gate of
Spacetime, Pluto looked more closely at her queen, to confirm
suspicions that she held. As she looked at her queen, she could feel
Usagi's energy, and then grasping the time-strands connected to
Princess Serenity she gasped at what she saw. She had already
surmised a stronger bonding of the Ginzuishou with Serenity at this
point in time this time around, however, even with that, she was not
prepared with how strongly Serenity had already bonded. The energy of
the Ginzuishou was nearly fully weaved into Serenity's soul; they
were now almost one. Princess Serenity was now far more power than
any previous ruler of the Silver Millennium, and already her power
was rivaling that of Sailor Galaxia's

While Serenity and the Ginzuishou were destined to bond, it was a
criterion for what was to come, a bonding of this level was not
supposed to happen for many years. Serenity was rapidly becoming far
stronger than even her previous future Crystal Tokyo Monarch self.
Pluto's staff clanged to the ground as the gate showed her a very
possible future that had now been created.

Picking up her staff, Pluto wondered how she was going to complete
her mission now. Of the Sailor Senshi, only she knew of their true
mission. A secret so great that not even the monarchs of the Silver
Millennium were ever given a hint of it. Only the Guardian of
Spacetime could ever know the true reason why this planet had Sailor
Senshi so different from the rest of the galaxy.

Unlike the others, the planets of this system each were associated
with one of the elemental magics, including that of death/rebirth and
spacetime. Great scholars across the galaxy had debated this issue,
especially why this backwater planet was home to the Guardian of
Spacetime. Many had wondered why this system was entrusted with the
keeping of spacetime. Of all, only Sailor Galaxia had an inkling to
the truth. Being the Sailor Senshi of the galaxy, she knew that the
Sol system was destined to give birth to an extremely powerful Sailor
Crystal, but that was all she knew. Thankfully for the sake of the
final acts of an ancient war to be played out in a few years, Galaxia
did not know anything more.

Pluto did not swear her loyalty to the Silver Millennium. For her
duty, the Moon Kingdom could rule as a strong empire or it could be
ruthlessly crushed and its people placed in bondage. Her only
interest in the kingdom being to ensure that the line of Serenity
survived unbroken to the current princess, and for that princess then
to face trial by fire. This princess, born through the magic of the
Ginzuishou was not just of the moon, but also of the entire Cosmos
itself. When a triad of other powers combined with her own, she would
awaken to her true form, not of Sailor Moon, but of Sailor Cosmos.

The awakening of Sailor Cosmos was her sworn duty, given to her by
the universe itself when it choose her to guard the Gate of Spacetime
all those timelines ago. She herself no longer existed in any of
these timelines; once she accepted the position, time changed such
that she was never born. Looking at the Senshi joining Venus in death
she knew as cruel as it sounded, they were expendable as well.
Following its guardian Senshi's death, a planet will always give
birth to a new princess. For each of the fallen Sailor Senshi, a new
soldier would stand to take their place once their planet was again
inhabited. But if Princess Serenity were to die, the cosmos would
never again be able to give birth to its princess. Though Saturn's
Death Reborn Revolution did provide a last chance, by destroying
everything followed by rebirth, it could potentially capture
Serenity's soul allowing it to be reborn. Failing that, the attack
would turn unstoppable and destroy the universe, ending the timeline.

Turning her attention to another part of the battle, Pluto saw
Endymion battling Kunzite. Currently they appeared evenly matched,
but she knew that to only to be illusionary. It was impossible for
Kunzite to win, as long as he retained some of Earth's elemental
power he could never kill Endymion, no matter how hard he tried. And
to revoke that power now would kill Kunzite.

Changing her view once again, she looked at the whole planet. The
dark energy now ran freely along the planet and through the solar
system as well, she noted. Massive sun spots had begun to appear as
earth quakes and severe weather racked the Earth. Though even with
all that, Earth's energy levels continued to climb, and the planet
began to glow with a golden light, visible from space.

* * * * * * * *

Mercury and Urawa moved around the side of the enemy forces to the
rear where her visor indicated the illusions were being generated.
With the youma being simple-minded creatures, they, for the most
part, did not take notice of the two. A few nearby youma did move to
intercept them, but between Mercury's Shine Aqua Illusions and
Urawa's melee attacks they did not have any trouble dispatching them.

As they walked, Urawa suddenly felt an unease and pulled Mercury to a
stop. Scanning the area he suddenly got images of Ami being brutally
ripped apart. Quickly acting, he grabbed his love and dove to the
ground while at the same time unleashing a blast of a black-violet
energy in the space they had just occupied. As they hit the snow, a
previously invisible youma screamed in pain.

Picking themselves up they saw that it was not alone. Arrayed around
them like a triangle were the other two, and the first one was
already beginning to pick itself back up as well. Turning towards the
one nearest her, Mercury unleashed an attack, while Urawa attempted
to hold off the other one. A blast from the now recovered third youma
sent the two of them back into the ground. Standing up again
Mercury's visor began flashing. Looking at the readouts Ami pointed
toward the youma Urawa had been fighting. "That one on the right,
with the gem in its forehead is the cause" she called out to Urawa.

Urawa nodded his head and vanished as he phased invisible. "Don't
worry about me," he whispered as he moved to his target. Standing her
ground, she flung another blast of super chilled water at the two
other youma who now stood near each other. Her attack succeeded in
wounding one of them, but the other youma quickly responded with an
attack of its own, which flung her light frame a couple hundred feet
away. Raising her head, she saw Urawa appear beside the illusion
creating youma, and then saw his body begin to glow a very dark
violet, which ended in a black glow at its edges. she thought. Having finished charging
his body, Urawa flung himself at the creature. The primal energy of
destruction coursed up and down his body and upon impacting his
target flowed into the youma. At such high levels it proved instantly
lethal and obliterated the youma, not even dust remained. Spent from
the attack and unable to draw any more magic for the time, Urawa
slumped to the ground.

Ami saw her love in his weakened state and the two remaining youma
move in for the kill. Her desire to protect him providing her
strength, she got back up on her feet and with a leap placed herself
between them and her love. Drawing power as never before from her
planet, the fresh water manna of Mercury resolved itself into a blast
of super chilled water. Hitting the youma, the demon became enveloped
in ice and then was nothing more than dust.

Turning her attention to the other creature, she prepared to unleash
a similar attack. However, its grin caused her to pause, which was
all the time it needed. A shockwave radiated outward from where its
remains now lay and picked up Mercury and Urawa throwing them a
distance away as the heat burned across their body. Landing beside
each other, Ami grabbed Urawa's arm and pulled him against her body
as the two of them felt their world's go black. were her final
thoughts. And then once again two more Star Seeds were destroyed and
the body's energy now diffused out into the environment.

* * * * * * * *

As the illusions vanished, the youma pulled back unsure of how to
proceed. Taking a moment to rest the Senshi did not pursue. The break
in attacks also provided Neptune with an opportunity to join the
group. Sailor Moon looked over her surviving forces; only Jupiter,
Mars and Neptune still lived. She could also still feel Endymion's
energy, meaning that thankfully he was alive. His death in addition
to those of her friend's would have been too much for her to bear,
but with him still living she somehow found the energy to take one
step and then another forward.

As she began marching towards the enemy's strong hold, memories of
time spent with her now departed friends came back to her and her
determination firmed. With a flick of the wrist, her scepter was out
and ready for use. ChibiMoon walked next to her mother scared out of
her wits from the death of the three Senshi and Urawa. But, she knew
that she would not have been able to bear being left behind while her
mother went out to battle. So, she too tried to put the death behind
her and instead to borrow some of her mother's strength to face the
enemy in front of them.

"Moon Princess Halatation." Sailor Moon called out, unleashing a
sweeping arc of her magic.

The golden energy turned an array of youma in front of them into
dust. Unfortunately, two more of the youma that had killed the other
Senshi hovered off to the sides. Diving out of the skies like bats
out of hell, they took the Senshi by surprise, each carrying away a
victim: Jupiter and Neptune.

Reacting quickly, Mars began casting her Burning Mandela attack.
Sensing the impending attack the youma ceased their flight and
instead rotated such that they now held their captives in front of
their bodies as shields. Cursing, Mars dropped her hands, knowing
that any attack she launched would just hit her friends instead of
the demons.

From where they hung in the sky Jupiter and Neptune knew the
conundrum that faced their friends. Saying a final prayer for her
princess, Jupiter raised her lightning rod while Neptune began
gathering her element. Catching each other's eyes, they let their
attacks fly towards one and another. As they met a large flash of
light followed by a thunderclap rang out in the sky, momentarily
blinding those on the ground. When the glare had passed, two soldiers
with large electrical burns lay motionless on the ground in a pile of
dust.

"Kami-sama" gasped Mars as she realized what had happened. The two
had unleashed the full force of their attacks at the same time at
each other. The salt water of Neptune's attack provided the perfect
electric conductor to fry the youma, and it turned them instantly to
dust. Unfortunately after using that much energy, they did not have
sufficient reserves to withstand the point blank attack either, and
their Sailor Crystals were shattered, leaving two more dead bodies on
the artic ice.

Sailor Moon collapsed to her knees as she saw the sight of the dead
Makoto and Michiru. "Mako-chan, Michiru-san," she silently sobbed.
ChibiUsa clung tightly to her mother, tears in her eyes as well. In
her future, the Senshi were alive, but now only Mars was left alive,
and Pu at the gate. The future had changed, it was all gone, and the
life she knew wiped out and with it any assurance of her mother's
safety. That if her mother died, she would cease to exist never
really crossed the little girls mind; instead, she was focused solely
on her mother's welfare.

"Sailor Moon get up, you can't give up now." Mars said as she tried
to pull her best friend back up to her legs. She saw the expression
that was beginning to cross Usagi's face and spoke quickly before
Usagi thought too much of it "You cannot give up, do not even think
about giving them the Ginzuishou. What about Naru, or Hotaru-chan? Or
even your family? They are all depending on you. You are their only
hope."

Usagi looked up not quite sure she believed what Mars was telling
her. But, she did not get much chance, for something grabbed Mars's
attention. Looking at the horizon for a moment, Mars turned back to
Usagi and said, "It is my turn princess." Getting to her feet she
began to walk off, though after only taking a few steps she paused
for a moment and turning back added, "I trust in you, you won't let
our sacrifice be meaningless." And with that, Mars disappeared into
the distance. A few minutes later, a heat wave passed over Usagi and
ChibiUsa announcing the death of Mars.

* * * * * * * *

Endymion continued to spar with his former general and good friend,
Kunzite. The threats and verbal exchanges had ended a while ago, each
realizing that the other would not budge. Kunzite currently held the
advantage, having given Endymion a couple of minor wounds, and with
each attack was forcing Endymion backwards.

Reaching down into his
body he tried to find the will to fight Kunzite. As he reached, he
suddenly felt the same energy he had felt the other day, the golden
energy of the earth. As he exerted control over the energy that was
rightfully his, he felt the Earth begin to respond. Through his
Sailor Crystal, he could draw upon the energy that was giving the
Earth its golden glow.

As the energy flowed into his body, he also felt a change occur in
the energy field, almost as if something had been disconnected from
it. Coincidently with the flutter, Kunzite momentarily faltered.
Subconsciously Endymion knew Kunzite's aura had changed. No longer
was he one with the Earth. Drawing himself to full height he
addressed Kunzite "The Earth has passed judgment on you Kunzite. For
your actions your position as one of its elemental avatars and
protectors has been revoked."

Looking up at his former prince, Kunzite knew he had lost. However,
he was bewildered over the outcome,
Trying for one last shot Kunzite attempted to draw upon the energy of
the Dark Kingdom. Pulling in what he could he erected a shield.

"My friend I wish there was another way, but your soul is too stained
by the evil of Metalia." Said Endymion as he drew his sword. In
preparation for the strike the energy he had accumulated flowed down
out of his body, down his arm and into his sword, causing it to glow
with a bright golden light. A quick swing and the sword easily passed
through Kunzite's shield, which was unable to withstand the mighty
onslaught of the Earth's vengeance.

Kunzite saw his shield collapsed and then he was on the ground with
the sword imbedded in his chest. As it reached it maximum
penetration, the golden energy rushed down into his body, consuming
the blackness wherever it encountered it. For the first time in over
a millennia, he began to feel his mind fully awake as Metalia's magic
was driven from his body. Even if the sword wound had not been fatal,
Metalia's magic had changed his body too much for him to survive
after it was driven from him. In any case he did not care, as he was
finally free again.

Now with the evil driven from his body, he could see the recent
events for what they truly were. The Earth was correct in rejecting
him. What he felt yesterday was the rejection of his authority as
they once again accepted Endymion as their prince. With their
rejection, he had begun to loose some of his Earth powers. And with
Endymion's declaration just now, the final string had been snapped
and he had lost all of his powers. But, being stabbed by Endymion's
sword, which swarmed with Earth's energy, had at least saved him from
eternal damnation.

Endymion saw the expression change on his former friend and knew
Kunzite was no longer under Metalia's spell. He knelt down next to
his friend, unsure of what to say. "Endymion don't grieve for me, I
betrayed you and our people. This was the best I could hope for; at
least now, my spirit is free from damnation. Our magics have finally
been released back into the earth. When they are pooled together
again you will once again truly have access to the power of the
earth."

"Kunzite," Endymion called out, holding the general's hand. But, all
too soon, Kunzite became still. Endymion took one last look at his
friend, closing the man's eyes he began to trudge over to where he
felt his love's presence. Behind him, Kunzite's body blew away as a
mixture of golden dust and rose petals on the wind.

* * * * * * * *

Usagi lay on the ground down on her knees, unsure if she still had
the ability to carry on. She clutched her terrified daughter to her
chest. Since Mars's defeat the plain had gone quiet, no more youma
came her way. While she did not doubt that Mars took many of them
with her, she knew that still some must have remained. However, Beryl
wanted to kill her herself, and so Usagi knew she would face no more
youma. They had only been here to kill of her friends and dishearten
her.

Feeling a presence behind her, she looked up and saw Endymion.
Endymion looked down at his love and saw the sorrow in her eyes. As
he did, he felt his body both tire and strengthen at the same time.
Looking at his body he saw that he had changed to his Tuxedo-kamen
form, he thought.

Looking up into her love's eyes see found once again the energy to
continue. Climbing to her feet, she placed ChibiMoon on the ground as
Endymion wrapped an arm around her waist. Then with a deep breath,
they set out towards Beryl, knowing that they themselves would
probably not survive either.

* * * * * * * *

Inwardly Beryl
smiled, as things had gone just as she had planned, the other Senshi
were dead, Endymion still lived and she would be able to kill
Serenity herself. Though she figured, she would start with that
child. With that thought Beryl
released a teleportation spell to bring Serenity and the other two to
her.

* * * * * * * *

Usagi, ChibiUsa and Mamoru walked towards what they new to be the
heart of the dark kingdom's base. Ahead of them now lay a large rock
outcropping, which radiated immense amounts of dark energy. As she
walked closer Usagi felt the evil and hate making her feel cold, but
she would not pay it any attention. Her friends had gotten her this
far; it was now up to her to ensure that another planet did not fall
prey to the destruction Metalia brought with her. She would ensure
that the world of the future was a safe one in which her daughter
could grow up without fear.

Feeling something amiss, she paused in her march forward and looked
up at her destination. She could not make it out at first, but then a
rapidly moving ball of red energy became apparent. Acting on instinct
she spun, pulled ChibiUsa to her chest and dropped to the ground such
that she covered her daughter's body. Only moments after hitting the
snow, she felt the impact of the energy sphere and cried out in pain
before darkness over took her.

* * * * * * * *

ChibiUsa quickly found herself on the ground with her mother on top
of her. However, before she could ask Usagi what was going on, she
heard Usagi cry out in pain and then she no longer felt the snow and
ice under her feet and instead felt a cold hard surface. Usagi
remained draped over her body and she realized that her mother had
passed out. Carefully she untangled herself from her mother's
protective embrace to she where she was.

What she saw was a large cavern, the dark energies were so strong
here that she felt herself drowning in them. Looking back at her
mother, she saw her to be slightly battered and burned from the
teleport, but to otherwise be fine. Turning a bit she saw her father
laying a distance from Usagi also out, but not as badly hurt. Beside
him was a strange woman, who surprising was apparently seeing if he
was hurt.

* * * * * * * *

With the arrival of her guests, Beryl moved to check on Endymion. "My
love, soon you will be free of that Moon brat's spell. She may have
tricked you into siring a child of hers, but I forgive you. Together
we will rule this world. However, the only way to break the spell is
to kill her. So forgive me, but I am forced to place you in this
stasis field till I have my revenge on her and her spawn. Then we can
be together again forever.

Having cast the spell, Beryl stood up and turned towards her
adversary, the woman who had stolen the one she loved: Princess
Serenity. That bastard child lay against Serenity begging her mother
to awaken. Moving quickly, Beryl grabbed the child by her neck and
threw her against one of the far walls. "I will take care of you
later. But for now you can watch your mother suffer."

Having said that, Beryl turned back to Serenity who was now getting
to her feet. With a swing of her hand, she slapped Sailor Moon across
the face and knocked her back down. "Who said you could get up? You
have stolen the one I desired, and you will die for that!"

Sailor Moon looked up at Beryl from where she lay on the ground, once
again she tried to stand, but was blasted back into the ground by an
energy blast. Screaming in pain, Usagi collapsed back to the ground.
Beryl quickly moved in at the prone figure and picked her up by her
neck. Slowly squeezing Usagi's neck Beryl turned such that Usagi was
now held between her and where ChibiUsa lay on the ground. A smile
crossed Beryl's lips as she flowed immense amounts of dark energy
into the little princess's form. Usagi screamed out in utter pain,
never having felt anything like it before. Her mind wanted to shut
down from the pain, but it was too intense for even that self-defense
mechanism. Instead, her body went limp.

From where she lay on the ground, ChibiUsa heard her mother scream
out in pain yet again. Mustering all her might, she creaked open her
eyes, and saw a sight that would be sure to terrify her for years to
come. But, now the only emotion it evoked was rage, rage over the
pain that the one she loved so much was being forced to face.

Suddenly Small Lady found the strength to stand, the pain totally
gone. Taking first one step and then a second, she could feel her
aura burst to light and screamed out "NO!" as she began running
forward. Running forward, her emotions flowed into the shadow
Ginzuishou and it too flared to life with the full power of the
Silver Crystal and its energy washed over her body. She remained in
her Senshi form, but she now had an aura of untouchablity about her
as her form sparkled.

Hearing the scream, Beryl moved her arm holding Sailor Moon to look
and saw the child. Tossing Sailor Moon to the ground, she prepared to deal with
this minor annoyance. However, her confidence quickly turned to
horror as the spell she cast was simply deflected off of Small Lady.

Approaching Beryl, something happened to Small Lady, which had not
happened in a while, but was inevitable with the shear amount of
energy running through her system. Her tiara exploded out in a shower
of moon dust to reveal the brightly gleaming crescent moon on her
forehead. At the same time, her body began to glow a bright white and
as she reached Beryl the energy detonated in an explosive release.
With Small Lady as its epicenter, a meter diameter column of white
energy erupted upwards, vaporizing a hole in the ceiling of the
cavern up to the surface. Beryl, herself, was thrown back against one
of the walls from the force of the blast. Her energy spent, Small
Lady collapsed to the ground, as her Senshi form faded out.

Seeing her daughter unconscious on the floor, Usagi found that she
did indeed still have some energy left. Moving quickly, she was
beside her daughter on the ground and then had her in her arms.
Warmth crossed her heart for her daughter's sacrifice, but then dread
replaced it. Looking up she saw the extremely pissed form of Beryl
and knew that it ended here now. She no longer had the energy for
fighting; in the back of her mind, she knew that in exchange for her
life the Ginzuishou could give her a moment of immense power. But,
she did not have sufficient energy even for that ultimate sacrifice.
So instead, she dropped her head, knowing that she had failed her
friends, family and her daughter. Hugging her daughter closer to her
body she let herself remember the good times and warm feelings while
she awaited her death.

Beryl smiled evilly at Sailor Moon's admission of defeat. Finally,
the nightmare would end and she would have Endymion. Casting a quick
spell, she created a black crystal sword to cut off Serenity's head
with. Bringing it back, she began her swing, but that is as far as
she got, as suddenly her limbs went numb and she fell to the ground.
With effort she moved her arm and removed a single golden red rose
from her chest. Looking up she saw Endymion, who had been released
when ChibiUsa's attack caused her to lose control of her stasis
spell. And then her world went dark as the golden energy of the earth
swept through her body destroying the darkness. Ironically, her sworn
enemy probably would have shown her mercy, but the earth was not
willing to show mercy and blasted her soul into oblivion.

Returning to his Tuxedo-kamen form, he knelt down by his love.
Realizing that she was indeed safe Usagi threw herself into Mamoru's
arms with tears of relief streaming down her face. "Ooh Mamo-chan its
over, finally its all over." She managed to get out between her sobs.

ChibiUsa who was not really hurt from her recent attack, just drained
woke up. She was being crushed between her two parents, as Usagi
still held her tightly to her chest (not that she minded in the
least, she was just glad that the two were okay).

The two stood and prepared to find a path to leave this base of the
Dark Kingdom, when a chill went through all three of them.
"Something's not right," announced Usagi.

* * * * * * * *

The being known as Metalia at one point in time had power that would
rival galactic empires. Yes, there were others with similar power,
but the balance was even. Then the younger races came, at first none
of the first ones paid them any attention. But, then some of the
first ones took an interest in those younger races and had ideas
about what should or shouldn't be done. Suddenly the peace and
stability, which had existed for eons was shattered, for suddenly an
issue polarized the first ones.

On one hand, Galaxia and her followers promoted a path of aiding and
helping these younger races. And, on the other side was Chaos and its
servants such as Metalia. For one reason or another Chaos had deemed
this outlaying system critical to success and had dispatched Metalia
to take it. The fight had been easy, as the inhabitants of the world
were very primitive and only a handful of protectors lived on its
moon. By herself Metalia quickly ravaged the defending Moon forces,
when a woman stood her ground before her. Metalia still did not know
what happened but somehow that woman awoke the souls of the other
eight planets of the system, calling forth their avatars.
Outnumbered, they forced Metalia to retreat, but then as she tried to
open a dimensional jump portal to escape that silver haired woman
blasted the portal with her crystal, turning it into her prison, a
prison that she lived in for eons more.

A thousand years ago, she was released from that prison by a human
mage. Finding the mage to be a comrade in arms, they launched a joint
attack on the Silver Millennium, leveling the thriving planet states,
and razing the Moon Kingdom itself. But, before she could get her
revenge the blood descendent of the one who had banished her, she was
banished again.

But, now she was free once again. She had felt Beryl's death, but the
final spells had already been cast before this final battle had
begun. As the world rushed into a point and then exploded outwards
from her perspective, she found herself standing back on earth. This
time the blood descendent of Serenity was only a child and would be
no challenge to kill. Extending her consciousness, she briefly
touched that of the child and began moving in that direction.

* * * * * * * *

"Usako, what is it?" asked Mamoru.

"Metalia, we are too late she is here." Usagi stated simply. The
other two were about to ask her how she could be so sure when they
heard Metalia's laughter, and then the demon stood before them.

"Beryl was a fool to let a child such as yourself destroy her. But,
don't worry little one I won't fail. Finally I will have my vengeance
on Serenity I for banishing me from this existence." Pausing for a
moment, she regarded the other two. "You I think I will have to kill,
I can not let anyone possessing a Sailor Crystal to live, it is my
mission. You on the other hand," she began while looking even more
closely at ChibiUsa. "Very interesting, very interesting. I think I
will let you live. So you are little Princess Serenity's daughter
from the future, with your power to handle both the Silver and Golden
Crystals you would make the perfect vessel."

With a sudden movement, Metalia lunged forward to try to grab the
child. However, her lunge came to an abrupt stop mid-flight as she
smashed into an energy shield. Reacting even quicker Usagi had thrown
herself in front of her daughter while the Ginzuishou activated
protecting both of them. Howling in rage Metalia roared back and
unleashed dark energy at the shield. Usagi maintained her shield, but
was slowly being forced to the ground under the onslaught. Feeling a
familiar presence, she knew Tuxedo-kamen had come up next to her to
lend his support. As he touched her, the silver shield flashed golden
before blasting outwards, repulsing the attack and flinging all
combatants backwards.

Hitting the back wall once again, Sailor Moon quickly returned to her
feet to find the cavern utterly destroyed. All that remained of it
was the rock they stood around everything else was gone. They now
fought out in the artic open. Giving a roar of rage, Metalia charged
at Sailor Moon. Pulling out her scepter, Sailor Moon parried the
first blast of energy. From the side Tuxedo-kamen attempted to fight
the demon. Unfortunately, except for those times he managed to
somehow tap into the golden energy of the Earth, his powers were
quite limited, and a blast from Metalia sent him flying through the
sky unconscious.

As the blast hit her love, Sailor Moon let out a cry of pain, the
soul bond transmitting the pain back to her. She could still feel his
life force, but it was weak, very weak, such that at any moment it
might be snuffed out. However, she could not think about that now.
Metalia had to be stopped both the Earth and her daughter's well
being depended on it. Putting one foot in front of the other she
attempted to walk forward to Metalia, attempting to use the Moon
Scepter to block as many of the attacks as possible, though not
getting them all.

* * * * * * * *

The Earth and the whole solar system trembled in response to the
battle being fought in the artic. The Dark Energy reacted violently
with the magical energy of the planets. On the Earth this led to
violent weather and at the center of the Solar system, at its magical
apex sunspots began covering the sun.

Some people ran proclaiming the end of the world, others hid in their
houses scared, and still some, though a small minority, tried to go
on about their life as normal. Those who attempted to live their life
normally either believed that the Senshi could solve the problem or
thankfully did not have an inkling of what these violent reactions
indicated.

For whatever reason, Hotaru and her father were one of those brave
souls in the Tokyo area that braved the elements. Of all the beings
in the city, Hotaru's reaction was probably the strangest, for she
did not fear what was happening and instead felt strangely refreshed.
Her good spirits and apparent health that day had caused her father
to decide to take her to an amusement park outside of Tokyo. He had
promised her a while back that he would take her to one now that she
was healthy most of the time. While the happenings with the weather
and the sun worried him, he was glad to she that they did not worry
his daughter and felt that a trip to the amusement park might keep
her from picking up his and everyone else's worries.

Slightly exhausted from a busy day, Professor Tomoe decided to sit
down on one of the benches, which was conveniently located next to
two rides that Hotaru had been switching between this past hour. With
many people being scared away by the weather, there was a light
turnout at the amusement park and Hotaru did not have to wait in
going from one ride to another. The two rides that currently held her
attention were a fairly nasty looking roller coaster, from her
father's point of view, and a slightly less nasty looking but very
complicated looking ride which involved lots of spinning within
spinning, making him dizzy just from looking at it.

Squealing with delight, Hotaru left the spinning ride and began
making a beeline with a couple of other patrons towards the roller
coaster, when suddenly she stopped. From off in the distance she felt
a cry for help, turning she tried to look for its source, but she did
not see its owner. But, just as soon as she decided it couldn't have
come from here, she realized that she knew where it was coming from.
She still could not identify its owner, but knew that the voice was
familiar and that she should know its owner. Just as quickly as that
knowledge came to her mind, a phrase came to mind as well. Speaking
softly, but with a voice that would carry nonetheless she said,
"Minna let's join our powers together."

With her words spoken, she fell into a trance as the violet sigil of
Saturn began glowing brightly on her forehead. The children around
her began to back away as an eerie violet-black energy began to
course along her skin while her eyes dilated. With the energy
approaching an apex circular winds began blowing around Hotaru, while
her own hair was blown backwards and upwards.

Professor Tomoe heard the words spoken by his daughter and looked up
from his paper to see whom she was speaking to. The sight he saw
before him made his heart freeze, that of the possessed body of his
daughter. "Hotaru-chan!" he called as he attempted to run to her. But
the winds were too strong, forcing him down to the ground. During all
this, the energy coursing along her body continued to build. All too
soon, the glow of energy around Hotaru blotted out his view of her.
But, what he saw scared him greatly, the expression on Hotaru's face
made him fear for his life.

With the energy reaching a climax, Hotaru closed her eyes and fell
even further into her trance. As she mouthed a wish, the energy
erupted from her body heading straight up into the sky for a hundred
feet before bending over and heading north.

Her energy spent, Hotaru collapsed to the ground as the violent winds
and her aura vanished. Tomoe quickly gathered his daughter up in his
arms, unsure and scared over what had just happened. He only hoped
that the Wiseman when he arrived would be able to help her.

* * * * * * * *

From her realm, Pluto heard the uttering of a phrase, something that
should be impossible here. Yet, the power that would carry those
words across the world also carried it to the realm where time had no
meaning, a realm where time was no different than any other
dimension. Pluto instantly recognized Saturn's voice, even as her
body erupted forth in a similar pillar of energy. As the pillar left
her body, it bent over and headed towards the gate, a gate, which had
somehow opened on its own accord in anticipation.

* * * * * * * *
D-Point

Death for the Sailor Senshi had been neither quick nor painless;
consequently, their souls were trapped at the place of their death
unable to return to the rest they deserved in the galactic cauldron.
For now until eternity, they would be forced to walk the land of
their death, unless something freed their tormented souls.

Mars looked off to the north, where her princess had gone. she
thought. Feeling the clasp of the hand of another soul, she turned to
see the rest of Serenity's guards with her.

"She can defeat Metalia, don't worry everything will work out for
those three." Jupiter said trying to raise everybody's hopes. But it
did not work; even she did not believe what she had said. ChibiUsa
knew all of them from her own time in the future; therefore, the
future had changed with their death.

Each of the four Senshi looked north and wiped a tear from their eyes
for what they knew was about to befall their princess. Slightly
offset from them stood Sailor Uranus and Neptune, neither had much
chance to get to know their princess in this life. Even still, they
were also lost in mourning for the tragedy that was about to befall
her.

Then a whisper on the wind, bringing hope with it, spoke to them:
"Minna, let us join together our powers"

As the whispered words carried from far off reached each of the
Senshi's ears, their tiaras faded away to expose a glowing sigil on
their foreheads. As each sigil was revealed the wispy form that was
their soul erupted into a fountain of light, pouring all of its
remaining energy skyward. None cared what happened to their eternal
soul, only that they now knew that they had a way to help their
princess and so the energy streams grew even brighter as they climbed
skyward. The energy beams continued until nothing was left behind,
all of the energy of their soul being sent skyward to their princess.

As the four guardian streams climbed, they joined with the two from
Uranus and Neptune. From the heavens came a seventh stream and from
the south came the final stream of energy. Combined into one focused
stream of energy, the energy carried across the artic towards its
target

* * * * * * * *
The battle

Sailor Moon now lay on the ground, unable to stand, her left leg was
probably broken and she knew that she had busted a half dozen ribs.
To her right lay Endymion, unconscious. At first she had feared that
he was dead, but through her link with him she could still feel his
faint vital signs. In front of her was ChibiMoon, and standing above
the child was the demon Metalia.

She wanted to move, to get ChibiUsa to safety, but she could not. She
was helpless to watch as Metalia prepared to forcibly take the body
of her daughter. She had attempted to stop that demon, but Metalia
was too much for her and now she knew all was lost. Though the battle
would be instantly over once Metalia possessed ChibiUsa's body, as
she would now have the ability to use the power of the Ginzuishou.


With a grunt, she somehow forced herself back to her feet; using the
Moon Scepter as a crutch, she began the slow process of walking over.
She did not know what she would do when she got closer. At best, she
hoped that the demon would kill her, thereby erasing ChibiUsa and
saving the child the horror of being possessed.

As she hobbled across the snow, the combined energy stream narrowed
in on its target and dived down through the clouds. Undetected by all
present, it slammed into Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon suddenly felt
herself being lifted up as energy began to seep into her body from
all around her and new knowledge formed in her mind. With the
knowledge, came five words which she repeated: "Moon Eternal Power
Make-Up!" As she finished speaking those words, the energy of her
soul blasted out of the shell that formed her body. And, as the light
died down, her true warrior form was revealed. Left standing there in
the snow was Sailor Moon's final form.

Sensing a sudden release of energy, Metalia looked up from ChibiUsa
and turned to face Sailor Moon. The energy being emitted from Sailor
Moon's final henshin forced her to step back as it was too much for
her.
Metalia screamed in her mind, over what she was seeing. But, there in
front of her stood a winged warrior of the Moon.

The energy of the Ginzuishou flowed through the very being of this
warrior. A Prophecy from the beginning of the Sailor Wars had been
fulfilled. A being with an infinitely pure heart had completely
bonded to the Ginzuishou, they were now one. As a result, the power
she now held was greater than that of any Queen before her and
surpassed that of even Sailor Galaxia. She alone had the power to
destroy Chaos and to redefine the universe, but because of her pure
heart, she would not.

Forgetting about the child that was to become her vessel, Metalia
drew all her energy from her stores into herself. Much as the late
Queen Serenity had only one final last-ditch option left to avoid the
inevitable, Metalia realized the same held for her here. Queen
Serenity did not have the power to kill, only to banish her again,
but this being in front of her could. She had to stop the Messiah of
Light now, or all she had worked towards would be lost. Metalia
realized that the Messiah of Light was the reason why Chaos had
deemed this world so important. Metalia only wished that she had had
more time to prepare for this final time, as she was still weakened
from her years of banishment and then from the transition itself.

Attempting to draw even more energy, black lightning left her body
and began snaking across the planet, draining any it touched. Eagerly
sucking in that energy, she let it build for a moment before she
released a blast of energy to test her adversary.

Sailor Moon let the blast slam into her body and the ground around
her, being unaffected by any of it. The ground responded to the blast
by erupting into a tower of ice. Reaching its highest extension, the
top portion splayed open forming a pad and revealing Princess
Serenity standing in its center. No longer in her Senshi form, she
stood in the last gown she had worn on the Moon Kingdom. No longer
hiding her true nature, majestic angel wings sprouted majestically
from her back. Nestled at her chest lay the Ginzuishou, glowing
brightly with power. With a mental command, it flew to her
outstretched hand and the battle began.

Energy arced between the two beings, for the moment, neither held the
upper hand. Metalia tried to taunt Serenity to reduce her resolve and
make her momentarily weak. But, Serenity remained strong under the
onslaught, knowing that she owed it her friends to defeat Beryl for
their Sacrifice. Suddenly she felt an arm snake around her thin
waist. She did not need to turn her head to look to know that it was
Endymion; somehow, he had found the strength to drag himself back to
his feet to stand this last battle with her.

Drawing on the moral support that he provided and her desire to
protect her daughter, Serenity reached deep into her soul and into
the Ginzuishou to find the energy to defeat Metalia once and for all.
From the energy of the eight planets she held in her soul, each
planet began pouring its energy into her body and from there into the
Ginzuishou. Surrendering herself to the call of the Ginzuishou,
Serenity began pouring her own energy into the crystal. With an
explosion of light, the Ginzuishou released its stored energy,
quickly washing over the planet and out into space, erasing all
traces of the Dark Kingdom and Metalia.

Turning dull, the Ginzuishou fell to the ground as the ice pillar
Serenity stood on collapsed. Picking herself up from the ground,
Serenity half crawled to where her daughter lay. Pulling ChibiUsa
into her arms, she fell to the ground against Endymion who had
followed her. As her breathing slowed to a still she held her
daughter closer and just wished that she could have protected her
better. Then the last of her energy left her and her world went dark
and the artic was still once again.

* * * * * * * *

Slightly off in the distance Pluto's projection watched Serenity's
final moments, a tear in her eye. Every time she stood in this spot,
unnoticed by the combatants watching her queen's final moments. She
wished there was some way to avoid this outcome, but any attempt to
avoid it would risk too much damage to the time line. Pluto stayed
till she felt the magic of the Ginzuishou come full circle, giving
life to death and then the artic plain was truly quit

-End Chapter 18
-End Book One: War Without End

Endnotes:
-Well hoped you liked the chapter, this is one of my more
favorite ones, and I had been anxious to get to it.
-As you may have noticed with the End Book One statement above
I have realized that this story really has two kind of distinct
parts in it, so taking another cue from Babylon 5 I have
decided to mark those larger divisions as well. Chapter 19:
"Phoenix Rising" will begin Book Two: "Falling Towards
Apotheosis".
-Well all have a good set of holidays and hopefully I will have
19 out by the end of the month or early in January.