*******************************************************
**A Soul Reclaimed**
By Brickgirl
Brickgirl@hotmail.com
http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/palace/7112
Rated: PG
Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and friends do not belong to me.
Adonis, Thalia, and this story do.
**Part 7: Ties Not Easily Broken**
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Neo Queen Serenity sat in a small room painted in beautifully
muted colors. Next to her was a bed. Her eyes focused on the bed’s
occupant, a young woman with beautiful copper colored hair.
"Do you really think that it could be her, Luna?" Serenity asked
the cat who sat on her lap. Luna gazed at the sleeping figure before
answering.
"You should know better then anyone if it was her. You were
closest to her."
Serenity sighed. "But she died so long ago."
"So did you, for that matter. We never found her body."
"True. I suppose we will just have to wait until she wakes up."
Luna hopped off of the Queen’s lap. "I will check back later, to
see if she has woken up? Shall I have someone bring you dinner?"
The Queen shook her head minutely. Luna sighed quietly and pushed
her way out of the door. Artemis sat waiting for her outside of the
room.
"Did you tell her?" Artimis asked. Luna shook her head.
"I didn’t have the heart. We have no evidence that Thalia is
still under Metallia’s influence."
"We don’t even know if that *is* Thalia, Luna. Beryl was killed
off years ago. How could she have survived all of this time? Where was
she?"
Luna looked pointedly at Artimis. "It happened before. For now,
I say that we trust that that is Thalia, and she has returned to her old
self."
"But how can we trust her? She committed unspeakable acts under
Metallia’s command."
"So did the King. If I remember correctly, he nearly killed
Serenity. Do you question him?"
Artimis was shaken. "No, not . . . not at all," he stammered.
"But this is different!"
Luna swatted him with a paw. "No it isn’t, you dolt. Don’t you
dare say a word of this, to the Queen, the King, the Senshi, or anyone
else, do you hear me?" She glared threateningly at Artimis before
running off. Artimis breathed a sigh of relief as she left.
"Yes, your Majesty," he muttered under his breath.
__________
was Thalia’s first thought. She blinked slowly,
trying to bring the room in to focus. A worried face, quite familiar,
hovered above hers. Thalia gasped. How could . . .
"Queen Serenity?" she gasped, her voice nothing more then a weak
croak. The woman looked puzzled for a moment, then laughed gently.
"No. Well, yes, in a sense. Thalia, it’s me. Princess
Serenity."
"Princess . . .?" Thalia struggled into a sitting position. She
studied the beautiful room around her. "Where are we?"
"My city. Crystal Tokyo. On Earth"
"You have your own city on Earth?"
Serenity smiled. "My friend, you have quite a bit of catching up
to do."
__________
"You were a Senshi?" Thalia said several hours later. "I still
don’t believe it." Inwardly, she remembered the young girl who had
foiled Beryl’s plots so often. She seemed to remember this girl being
the Moon Princess, but this Sailor Moon had been very . . . clumsy. "I
can’t imagine you doing something so undignified."
Serenity laughed. "Usagi was quite different then Princess
Serenity. She may have been silly and somewhat of a clutz, but she had
the strength to come through for her friends many times. I am both
Usagi and Serenity. I may be a Queen but I am willing to fight for my
people, as my mother was, even if I am no longer a Senshi."
"What do you mean?"
"In order to create Crystal Tokyo and start this new era of peace,
sacrifices had to be made. I used much energy, and no longer have the
power to transform into Sailor Moon."
Thalia shook her head. "Doesn’t that bother you?"
"Not really. I still have most of my power through the
Ginzuishou, and the results were worth it. Look around you. It’s like
the Silver Millennium all over again, but this time, there are no petty
power struggles and political games. There is no war between the Earth
and the Moon."
"But the Moon is dead."
Serenity seemed unfazed by the blunt comment. She gently touched
her forehead. "The Moon lives on through me, and will live on through
my daughter as well. She to will be a Senshi and fight in the name of
the Moon."
Thalia yawned. Serenity stood. "You should get some rest.
You’ve been through a lot."
"Thank you. For everything. And I’m sorry I
wasn’t there for you during the years."
"Don’t be," Serenity said gently, her eyes glittering in the
light, as though through a sheen of tears. "You did more then anyone
else ever did for me. You were my sister." She left the room.
Thalia leaned back, but was unable to sleep. Images spun through
her head, a strange blend of her days on the Moon and her time as Beryl.
Gardens and Balls mixed with carnage and corpses until she could no
longer tell one from another. With a cry, she smashed her fist into the
crystal wall by the bed. The pain shocked her back to herself, and she
flung herself back on the bed, weeping.
"Thalia?"
The voice caught her by surprise. She whirled to see a small
figure sitting on the floor. "Luna?"
The cat padded over and leapt onto the bed. Thalia reached over,
hugging her gently with one arm, wiping her tears away with her other
hand. "Oh Luna, everything is such a mess!"
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"I can’t. I . . . I just can’t."
"I already know, Thalia."
Thalia stiffened. "What do you mean?"
"I know about Beryl."
The air seemed to go out of Thalia. She said nothing, but
continued to stroke the cat with a small trembling hand.
"She told me they planned it," she finally murmured.
"What?"
"Metallia told me that Serenity and Endymion arranged to have me
killed so they could be together. I knew it wasn’t true, but she showed
me them . . . together. I was so upset, and then . . ." She gestured
with her hands. "I did all of those horrible things."
"You didn’t . . ."
"Everything is my fault!" Thalia cried suddenly. "The destruction
of the Moon Kingdom, all the people who were killed, Queen Serenity . .
." She Buried her face in her hands.
"Did you do those things of your own free will?"
Thalia looked at Luna in shock. "Of course not!"
"Then how can it be your fault?" Thalia tried to protest but Luna
cut her off. "Metallia possessed incredible power. No one person alone
had the strength to resist her will. She almost forced Endymion to kill
Serenity with but a fraction of the energy with which she held you.
There is nothing you could have done against that sort of dark power."
Luna shifted her position. "Do you still have your henshin stick?"
Thrown by the change of subject, Thalia fumbled for a moment.
Closing her eyes, she summoned the wand. When she opened her eyes, she
gasped with surprise. The henshin stick had changed. It was much more
elaborate, trimmed with gold and crystals.
"You have the power to help your friends again," Luna told her
sternly. If you choose to sit around and feel guilty, then you let
Metallia win. She may not be forcing you to do evil anymore, but she
succeeded in impairing your ability to do good. Don’t let that happen
Thalia. You can rise above the past and become a Senshi again. Reclaim
your identity."
Thalia stared at the henshin stick for a long moment. Then she
stood. "Where are the training grounds?"
"Just past the East Garden. Why?"
Thalia laughed softly as she paused at the door. "Don’t tell me
you’ve gone soft, Luna. You should have been the first to say that I’m
out of practice."
Luna watched her leave with a smile. "Welcome back Sailor Earth,"
she murmured.
__________
Thalia soon found herself in a large field dotted with metal
posts. Most bore scars from previous training exercises. Summoning her
henshin stick, she raised it and shouted her transformation phrase.
"Earth Crystal Power Makeup!" She blinked in surprise as energy
swirled around her. Where had those words come from? That hadn’t been
her transformation phrase.
The transformation finished, Thalia looked down at her fuku. It
too had changed. Her gloves had been replaced by pale blue crystal
gauntlets that ended in a point over the top of her hand. The bow on
her chest now extended to a small crystal breastplate. Her boots no
longer laced up and ended with a crystal knee guard.
"Very interesting." Thalia turned to see Luna perched on one of
the posts. "It would seem that the power of your crystal evolved during
the period that Sailor Earth ceased to exist. Do you still have the
original crystal?" Thalia reached up and found the crystal still at the
center of her bow. Pulling it free, she transformed it into a sword
simply with a thought. Smiling, she set to work, ‘killing’ all of the
posts in her way.
__________
"This isn’t working Venus!" yelled Mars, dodging a huge
crystalline fist. The Senshi had encountered two of the monsters while
patrolling the city, and were now desperately fighting for they’re
lives. This encounter was different then the last. These creatures
seemed to have no qualms about killing any innocent pedestrians that got
in their way, and seemed very eager to crush the senshi.
"JUPITER OAK EVOLUTION!" The massive burst of energy smashed into
the larger of the two monsters. As with the previous attack, it seemed
to have no effect.
Mercury, who had been trying to track the teleportation, gasped in
shock when she saw the results of Jupiter’s attack. "Guys!" she yelled.
"These creatures are absorbing the energy of our attacks! Using our
powers make them stronger. We need to use physical attacks!"
"We don’t HAVE any physical attacks!" Mars yelled back.
Venus stared at the two monsters for a moment. "Mercury, could we
hit them with enough power to overload them?"
"Too dangerous," Mercury shot back. "I can’t calculate the amount
of energy such a strategy would require. We might simply supply them
enough energy to seal our own fate."
"Great," muttered Jupiter. "I don’t think that’s a plan to try."
A scream caught their attention. One of the monsters had cornered
a young man who had been hiding behind the side of a building. The
Senshi watched in horror as the creature stabbed him through the stomach
with a sharp crystal arm. The man convulsed, then stiffened as the
monster began to drain his life energy.
"My god," murmured Jupiter in horror. The creature turned and
hurled the corpse in their direction. The Senshi scattered. Venus
rolled to her feet. Seeing a crumbling stone statue, she had an idea.
"Mercury, blind them!" The area filled with mist. "Mars!
Jupiter! Aim for the base of that statue!" At the two Senshi poured
forth fire and electricity, Venus formed a energy chain. She looped it
around the top of the statue and pulled with all of her might.
With a rumble of ancient masonry, the statue slowly crumbled, then
collapsed, directly on top of the two monsters. As the dust cleared,
the Senshi cautiously approached the pile of rubble.
With a roar, the creatures burst forth. The Senshi jumped back,
though it was unnecessary. The monsters were obviously injured. One
had cracks running up its side, while the other was short one arm. With
a guttural moan, the creatures teleported away.
Mercury noted something glistening in the rubble and walked over
to investigate. Brushing aside the rocks, she found the arm that the
monster had lost. She scanned it with her computer.
"Hey guys, come look at this." The Senshi gathered around. On
the screen of the computer was a perfect 3D replica of the crystal arm.
The image turned into a framework of glowing lines. Inside could be
seen the form of a human arm.
"These things are actually human?" Mars asked in disbelief.
Mercury snapped her computer shut. "Or were. There seems to be
some sort of symbiotic relationship between the human host and the
crystal exostructure. I will need to bring the sample back for further
analysis."
"Then do it," Venus said. She walked over to where the body of
the young man lay. She leaned over and gently shut his eyes. "We need
to learn how to stop these things. Before anyone else dies."
__________
Thalia wandered around the gardens, still in the form of Sailor
Earth. Finished reacquainting herself with her powers, she had decided
to do some exploring. It was wonderful to simply walk around and enjoy
the simple beauty of nature after subsiding so long in the darkness,
"I still can’t believe that all of these plants were grown by
magic," she said to Luna, who trailed behind her.
"It’s much easier to manipulate the formation of life on Earth,
since it occurs naturally here. Is something wrong?" the cat asked,
realizing that Thalia had stopped suddenly.
"Up there, behind that hedge. Is that . . ."
"King Endymion."
Thalia swallowed. In her mind, she saw Endymion writhing on a
stone slab, screaming as the dark power tore his mind apart. She shook
her head, trying to banish the vile images.
"You are going to have to face him sometime," Luna said, guessing
at the source of Thalia’s discomfort. The girl nodded and hesitantly
walked forward.
Endymion heard her approach and glanced up from the roses her was
studying. His face broke into a smile.
"Thalia! It’s so good to see you up and about. Are you feeling
better?"
Looking into his handsome, kind face, Thalia felt all of the old
longings in her heart, both her childhood crush and Beryl’s overwhelming
lust. It was all she could do to keep from breaking into tears. Would
he really be so kind if he knew what she really was? Would Serenity?
"I’m fine," she managed, her voice shaking.
"Is something wrong?" he asked, his voice filled with concern.
She could hear Beryl’s voice screaming for her to claim what was hers.
She slowly baked up.
"No. I . . . I have to go." She turned and fled, following the
twisted paths in wild circles around the castle. When she was sure he
was not following her, she collapsed and let the tears flow freely.
Hearing a noise, she turned, but it was only Luna.
"Oh Luna, I can’t do this!" she sobbed, throwing her arms around
the small cat. "I can still feel her inside of me! I don’t want to
hurt anyone again!"
"Maybe Serenity can use the Ginzuishou to . . ."
"No! I can’t tell her about this, Luna. She’ll hate me."
"You know that’s not true."
"I . . . just can’t. Not right now. And maybe not ever."
Luna cuddled next to the weeping girl. She wished she could tell
Thalia what to do, but, for once, she herself didn’t know.
__________
Endymion back silently away from the hedge where he had been
listening to Thalia and Luna’s odd conversation. He and the others had
been confused as to what had actually happened to Thalia over the years
she was mysteriously missing. Her garbled explanations had made little
sense, but they had been content with the knowledge that a long lost
friend had returned. Now, Endymion was curious.
"What could be so horrible that she couldn’t tell her closest
friends?" he mused as he walked back to the castle. He turned back to
where he had walked from. He only hoped that she could let them help
her with whatever it was before she let it tear her apart.
__________
Serenity sat in a soft chair in her private drawing room. One
hand was clasped on her growing belly. She smiled as she felt a small
movement.
"Hello Serenity."
"Hello Setsuna," she replied without looking up. "What brings you
here today?"
"We are approaching an important event in the timeline. It will
determine the fate of the future of your Kingdom."
Serenity looked up at the Guardian of Time. "Don’t they always?"
"I’m quite serious, Serenity. The Small Lady may be in danger."
"What?" Serenity asked sharply.
The destructive forces that you have recently encountered are much
more dangerous then realize. They possess enough power to destroy this
world, and they are crazy enough to do. And at the present time, you
are in no shape for battle."
"The Senshi . . . "
". . . will not be enough. You need the aid of the Senshi of
Earth."
"Thalia."
"Yes." Setsuna kneeled beside Serenity. "She has been hurt.
Badly. There are things that happened to her that she can’t bring
herself to talk about. Not even to you. She thinks her past is still
with her, but it is only the ghosts of the past. You need to give her
the strength to fight both past evils and present. If she can’t
everything is lost."
Serenity was silent for a moment. "I love Thalia with all my
heart, and I always have. I’ve trusted her with my life. If she needs
my help, I will do all I can."
Setsuna placed her hand on Serenity’s belly, smiling when she felt
a kick. "She’s going to be quite special."
"I know. I’ve already met her, remember."
"Of course. How many mothers can claim that?"
Serenity smiled at her friend. "Now whenever she’s being a real
brat," she joked, "you’ll send her back to the past for me, right?"
"How you curse your younger self."
"Don’t talk about my daughter that way!"
Setsuna chuckled, then grew serious once more. "I will do my best
to protect the Small Lady, but there are limits to what I can do."
"I don’t ask you for any more then that."
"I know." Setsuna turned to leave. "Remember, help Thalia. Her
soul is very fragile right now. She needs your love more then she
knows." With that, she vanished.
__________
The two crystal creatures reappeared in a cavern deep beneath the
ground. They approached a intricate throne and bowed deeply.
"My lord, we were repelled by the Senshi."
"As expected."
"Haion was badly injured," the creature continued, gesturing to
his one-armed partner.
"So I see." A massive crystal claw lashed out of the darkness,
smashing the unwary Haion to pieces. "There. He looks much better
now."
"Uh . . . yes my Lord," the remaining creature said, nervously
eyeing the crystal shards that now cluttered the floor. "Shall we
continue our assault on the city?"
"Of course. Young Serenity chooses her alliances poorly. Her
mistakes must be . . . corrected. Her Senshi will not be able to stand
against our might."
"Yes, my Lord." The creature bowed deeply, then retreated into
the surrounding darkness. He flinched nervously as dark, insane
laughter followed him. He walked faster down the tunnel, but the echo
still followed him.
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This part came out a bit later then I hoped, but not as late as I was
afraid it would be. I still haven’t work out all of the kinks in the
plot past the first half, but will as I go along. It keeps getting
better as I go along, thankfully!
Not much to say this time. I’ve been busy with a new semester and all.
I do want to thank my friend Katie for being so supportive of my fanfic
and listening to all my complaining. If you are a Tuxedo Kamen otaku,
visit her page, Tuxedo Mask’s Rose Garden at
http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/ginza/2679.
Until next time!!
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