Sitting in her throne room, Beryl gripped her viewing crystal so tightly between her hands that a few small fracture lines started to form on the ball’s surface. Several of the youma nearest to the enraged queen backed away quietly.
“How dare they,” she hissed as she watched Kunzite’s demise. The Dark General’s death didn’t upset her as much as the fact that the Senshi were approaching before she was ready.
Shifting her glare from the splintering crystal to the gathered horde of youma, Beryl’s eyes flashed darkly. “They must be delayed. Which of you thinks that they can fulfill my wish?”
A quintet of bee-like youma stepped forward. Their appearances were identical to each other except in coloration. If one looked closely, their color pattern seemed similar to that of the Senshi. “We, the DD Girls, will gladly fulfill your wish.”
“Go. And do not fail.”
“C-c-c-c-cold!”
Sailor Mars turned a glare towards her leader. “Of course it’s cold, you dimwit! We’re in the Arctic!”
“F-feels more like the refrigerator to me! Besides, my attic isn’t very cold. Dusty, yes. Cold, no.”
“I SAID ‘ARCTIC!’ NOT ATTIC!”
“Well, you don’t have to yell about it! Sheesh, is it my fault you can’t speak clearly?”
Sailor Jupiter shook her head as she tuned out the others. She slowly let her gaze travel over the bleak, desolate landscape. A cold shiver that had nothing to do with the temperature ran down her spine. ‘This is… where I died. Or will die… We all will…’ Another shiver ran through her as she wrapped her arms tightly across her chest. She was snapped out of her by Sailor Mercury.
“Over that way!” The blue Senshi pointed off in the distance where a strange, dark cloud formation could be seen.
Moon and Mars dropped their argument instantly as everyone but Jupiter turned and began running. The Senshi of Thunder stood where she was, considering the fact that she had foreseen her death and the death of her friends just a short distance away. Fear gripped her as she tried to brush it off. Unlike any other time when doubt had assailed her, she felt with a grim certainty that she was going to die. The fact that she had died once before, during the Silver Millenium, reinforced the certainty.
Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking up in startled surprise, she saw that the hand belonged to Sailor Venus. The blonde girl’s expressive eyes looked into hers with concern. “Are you all right?” When her friend didn’t respond, Venus gave her a warm smile. “I know Siofra will be all right. That’s why we’re here, to make sure that the people who hurt her and countless others will never get the chance again.”
With dawning realization, Jupiter understood the truth behind that statement. The shame she felt at her fear for her own mortality vanished as she remembered the reason why she was going to die: To save her family and the families of her friends. Grim determination took hold as she stopped shivering and nodded. “Let’s do it.”
As the pair raced to catch up to their friends, Venus and Jupiter were stunned to see what appeared to be Tuxedo Kamen. He was bound in midair by chains that seemed to be attached to nothing. It also looked like he had been tortured. Moon cried out as Mercury and Mars tried to hold her back.
“It’s an illusion!” Mercury cried out. “Tuxedo Kamen is safe at home, remember!”
Moon continued to struggle and pulled free from her two friends just as Venus and Jupiter caught up. Sailor Moon was only a few feet away from the apparition when Jupiter finally reached her. A flying tackle knocked the girl to the ground just as deadly vines shot out from the torso of the Kamen impersonator. The deadly attack missed the princess completely, but Jupiter found herself wrapped up. When dozens of vines shot from several locations buried in the ice, Jupiter knew that the moment had come.
Erupting from their hiding places, the DD Girls rose into the air, the captive Senshi held at a distance between them. The other Senshi cried out as Jupiter was hauled further into the sky. Without wasting any more time, Mars and Moon began to combine their attacks with the hope of cutting their friend free. Before they could finish, the youma closed the distance between each other. The other Senshi froze, unable to attack without hitting their comrade.
Jupiter screamed as electricity suddenly shot through her body. She could feel that the charged bolts were not only killing her, but they were acting like a siphon as well, draining her energy. The malicious cackle that the strange, bee-like youma gave off echoed in her ears as pain threatened to render her unconscious. ‘This is it,’ Jupiter thought to herself through the agony. Suddenly she suffered an epiphany. Her death was going to CAUSE the death of her friends. Mercury would give up hope that she could survive and would try to lead the youma away from the others. Venus would be killed when she decided to follow in her friends’ footsteps and suicide strike to take out one of the youma. Mars would fall because alone she just didn’t have the power to stop the remaining youma without sacrificing herself. And Moon would die because her friends were gone. Serene’s words whispered themselves through her mind, “The path I foresaw when I used the Crystal was flawed.” ‘She saw only a possible future… maybe I did too! I have to survive to save my friends!’
A stray memory from her time on Jade came to the forefront of her mind. Breeze’s voice whispered in her thoughts, ‘That’s because it’s a spell, a pattern from a previous life, sexy. You just need to learn some new spells, or if you can find a scroll or something else to teach you how to do the Supreme Thunder when you aren’t transformed, then you will be able to cast it both ways.’ In that one moment of clarity, Jupiter realized what she had to do. Her mind working at an accelerated, Zen-like speed, she did something that most master magicians would have a hard time doing. She rewrote two spells on the fly.
“SUPREME!”
Moon and the others stared in horror as they watched their friend begin to cast a spell that would probably kill her.
“THUNDER!”
The Senshi wanted to turn away, but they couldn’t. The horror of the moment was too much.
“MANA!”
Horror turned to confusion in a single moment. ‘That’s not how it goes,’ was the thought shared by the companions.
“BURN!”
Now it was the youmas’ turn to cry out in agony as the energy they were draining suddenly became toxic. The violent detonation of magic tore Jupiter from their grasp and blasted the youma out of the sky. Only Venus had the presence of mind to dive under Jupiter’s falling form as the youma and their intended victim came crashing out of the sky.
As her friends gathered around her, Jupiter slowly cracked open an eye. “Ow.” Suddenly she couldn’t breathe. Panic gripped her for a moment before she realized that it was Moon’s arm around her neck that was chocking the life out of her and not the youma.
Mars managed to pry her leader off of her comrade before the girls complexion turned too ugly a shade of purple.
Mercury and Venus helped Jupiter to her feet. “What did you do?” Their gaze turned towards the fallen youma. Four of them suddenly jumped into the air and vanished, but the fifth one remained on the ground. It was thrashing about, it’s hands at its throat as it made choking noises. After a while it lay still, and a few moments later it’s body turned to dust.
“Gave ‘em indigestion. Hope dad doesn’t get too mad ‘bout experimentin’ with magic. Had ta rewrite that Mana Shock spell real quick and mix it with my Supreme Thunder.” She gripped her head in both hands for a moment. “And I don’t recommend trying it. Anyone got an aspirin?”
The Senshi gave a light chuckle for a moment before they started to continue towards Beryl’s base. “So, do you think you got them all?” Moon asked hopefully.
Jupiter shook her head. “Only got one real good. The other’s manage to pull out fast enough.”
A beeping noise from the Mercury computer caught their attention. “They’re coming back!”
The hiss of steam was enough of a warning so that the Senshi all managed to dive away as part of the ice they were standing on gave way to a geyser of magma. Everyone but Mercury scampered quickly away, but the blue-suited Senshi just blinked a few times. ‘What is magma doing here? That’s impossible!’ Her thoughts were cut off as a ball of fire erupted from the stream and came barreling towards Moon.
Venus fired off a Crescent Beam, but to her surprise it was just absorbed by the ball. Mars’ and Jupiters’ follow-up attacks also had no effect. “How are we going to stop that?”
Mercury, a short distance from the others, had a better view of the ball as it tried to run down her companions. She could make out the forms of several youma inside the fireball. ‘But how is that possible?!’ A passage from one of the texts she had read earlier suddenly came to the front of her mind. ‘When something seems magically impossible, there is a fair chance that it is, in fact, impossible and therefore an illusion.’ ‘An illusion! Of course!’ She began tapping keys on the Mercury computer as quickly as she could.
While the other Senshi continued to attack and dodge, Mercury remained hunkered down behind some ice and out of view of the youma. When the Mercury computer finally gave an affirmative warble, the blue-suited Senshi let an uncharacteristic smirk cross her face. Standing up, she turned to face the fireball and closed her eyes. “Hey! Try that with me!” She yelled.
The fireball veered off its course and headed straight for her. Mars and the others cried out to her to run, but Mercury just stood there with a look of intense concentration on her face and her fingers flying across the keyboard of her computer.
Moments before the fireball would have impacted, a terrified scream erupted from it. Suddenly the forms of three youma came diving out of the object, their forms wreathed in fire and their skin showing signs of severe burning. Moments later, the fireball winked out of existence, leaving behind the charred form of a youma with a crystal in its forehead.
“What happened?” Jupiter asked curiously as the youma turned to dust and the crystal shattered.
“Using the Mercury Computer, I figured out that the youma wasn’t generating the illusion itself. It was using that crystal. My studies in illusions revealed that illusory attacks created by an external artifact do not have quite the safety factor of one created by will alone. Also, unlike will-generated illusions, those generated by artifacts have the power to affect someone who is aware that it is illusory. Only completely inanimate objects are unaffected. I used the Mercury Computer to tap into the crystal’s programming and remove the safety block that protected those youma from it. I also overrode the youma’s ability to shut it off. When that went down, the youma were attacked by the illusion themselves. Since the crystal was attached to the head of one of them, it couldn’t escape and was destroyed.”
The Senshi blinked at their friend, having only grasped a small part of what she said. “And why did the crystal shatter?”
“The power feedback from having the safeties removed was too much for it, I think.”
“So, how many are left?” Moon asked.
“I’m only picking up the readings from three of them now.”
Jupiter couldn’t help but repress a smirk. When she had seen the fireball heading for Mercury, she was afraid that her friend was going to die despite everything Jupiter had tried to do. The relief she had felt at her friends quick-witted victory had been extreme. “And they’re hurt, too. My attack, plus Mercury’s little trick might have scared them off.”
A glowing ring underneath Moon proved that hope as false. Venus, the only one who saw the glow in time, threw a body check at her princess, knocking her out of the way just as a mass of vines shot out of the ice, latching onto the Senshi of Love and lifting her into the air. Unlike the first time, however, the youma had no intention of leaving the safety of the ice and began pulling Venus downwards. Jupiter dashed forward and managed to latch onto Venus’ waist before she could be pulled all the way down. Mercury leapt to her aid and together they struggled to keep their comrade from going under.
Unfortunately, the youma had learned from their mistakes and, while the others were distracted, attacked Sailor Moon. Only a dark premonition gave Mars any warning of the attack. As it was, she only had enough time to throw Moon out of the way before two sets of vines shot out of the ice and wrapped around her. A moment later, she was yanked under the ice.
Jupiter, Mercury, and Moon cried out, but it was too late. Turning their attention back to Venus, Jupiter and Mercury tried desperately to save their friend. Venus finally managed to work an arm free of the vines gripping her. Reaching down with it, she touched the forehead of the youma that held her captive with a cry of “Crescent Beam!” The DD Girl only had a moment to comprehend what was about to happen before the energy beam carved its way through her head. The back-blast from the attack lifted Venus out of the hole and sent everyone sprawling.
Moon just continued to stare at where Mars had vanished. She could hear the sounds of fighting echoing out of the hole, but she could also hear Mar’s cries of pain growing weaker. Tears started to form in her eyes as she desperately hoped for a miracle.
When the ice started to shake all around them, Moon didn’t know if her prayers had been answered or if they were just about to get worse. “Worse,” she muttered to no one in particular as a huge, monstrous form suddenly rose from the ice. It took the Senshi a moment to realize that it was not breaking through the ice, but seemed to be made out of it. As the thing rose higher and higher, the Senshi could only stare in fear. The monster was easily fifteen feet tall and had enormous, clawed hands. The head was an array of jagged ice and the eyes were glowing with cold, blue fire.
Fear turned to surprise as they noticed a figure sitting on the creature’s head. Mars’ battered form was cheering it on as the ice giant smashed its hands into the ground. When it pulled them back up, the forms of the last two youma were barely visible in its grasp. The claws clenched tightly and the youma screamed for a moment before being crushed noisily. A moment later, dust fell from between its fingers.
The Senshi felt the fear return when one of those enormous hands reached towards Mars. Relief returned when it simply held out its palm for Mars to step onto and lowered her to the ground.
Moon carefully slid up next to the Senshi of Fire and whispered to her, “What is that?”
“Oh. Everyone, this is… err… his name is really hard to pronounce. He was killed a long time ago when Beryl set up her base here.” The giant bowed in greeting to them. “He heard my call for help and saved me.” Turning towards the behemoth, Mars bowed in gratitude. “Thank you.”
Moon whispered again, “You really can talk to the dead?”
Mars gulped a bit, afraid that her friend was about to abandon her. “Yes.”
Moon’s smile could have lit up the dark side of the moon. “Good! I have this report due on Nobunaga Oda and I was wondering if you could talk to him and have him help me?” Mars had to suppress the urge to strangle the blonde.
Mercury let out a relieved breath. “Now we just need to get into Beryl’s fortress.” She pointed towards the distant wall of ice that blocked the way to where a huge column of dark energy was rising from the Earth.
“Beeerrrrylllllll!”
The Senshi, even Mars, were stunned with the amount of hate in the giant’s voice as it broke into a run. It’s long, loping stride quickly ate up the distance between it and the fortress.
“What’s he doing?!” Jupiter called out.
“I don’t know! I think he’s gone berserk! Beryl killed him and his family. He hasn’t had a chance to rest in peace because of her presence!”
The giant cried out in pain as a dark aura suddenly surrounded the wall and engulfed the creature. As the energy began to eat away at the creature’s form, it reared back an enormous hand. With an angry bellow, it slammed its fist into the wall. Ignoring the pain, it repeated the motion with its other hand.
Mars called out to it to stop. She could feel its spiritual energy being torn apart by whatever barrier Beryl had erected around her fortress. If the giant didn’t step away, the barrier would destroy it forever.
Heedless of the pain and the priestess that had called it back from the dark vale, the giant continued to hammer at the wall. Fractures became cracks which soon turned into a gaping hole in the fortress. With a triumphant cry, the giant stepped forward.
Gaping in shock, the Senshi watched the behemoth begin to enter the fortress when suddenly a veritable horde of youma poured out of it. Sparkling beams of energy, waves of fire, and arcs of electricity plowed into the huge creature, driving it backwards. The giant fell to its knees as dozens of youma continued to hammer at it mercilessly. With a final rattling cry, the ice creature fell.
The Senshi stared in horror at the mass of youma that were now pouring over the ice towards them. “H-how are we going to stop th-that many?” Jupiter was ashamed of the amount of fear in her voice.
Venus fired off a Crescent Beam, but, while it hurt one of the youma, it didn’t put it down. Jupiter and Mars met with equal success while Moon simply tried to figure out what to do.
Mars began to feel her anger taking over at the injustice done to the giant, its family, and the futility of her attack on the incoming horde. Anger burned brightly in her eyes. Suddenly a whisper from the past spoke in her ear. Holding up her hand, she gather her energy there and glared down at the horde. “Fire Soul!” The small fireball formed and launched itself towards the enemy. “Bird!” The fireball suddenly burst into the shape of a phoenix. With a piercing cry, the bird rose up before diving down into the middle of the horde. Several youma were instantly incinerated while many more were blasted away.
Moon, Jupiter, and Venus stared in shock. Mercury, however, was having a hard time focusing. The cry of ‘Fire Soul Bird’ had started something working in her head. Words and patterns floated about in her mind in a confused muddle. She knew there was something that could help them, if she could only sort it out. A vague memory of cold seemed to be the key. Cold. Colder. Freezing. Mercury’s eyes shot wide as the knowledge flowed into her. “Bubble Spray Freezing!”
As the surprised Senshi watched, the youma at the front of the rushing horde suddenly froze as Mercury’s attack slammed into them. The youma behind them couldn’t stop in time and plowed into their immobile comrades. Many of the chilled monsters shattered as their brethren impacted with them. Those that didn’t tripped up the creatures behind them and the charge suddenly turned into a huge traffic jam.
Seeing Mars’ and Mercury’s new attacks triggered something in Venus’ memories as well. “Crescent Beam Shower!” A barrage of beams erupted from Venus’ finger and blasted into, and often through, the youma.
Jupiter recalled what her Breeze told her about her powers and the fact that they are memories from a past life. She focused on that link to the past for a moment, trying to remember where she had seen those spells before. A moment later her eyes flew wide open as the answer presented itself. Pointing towards the largest concentration of youma, she powered up her attack. “Supreme Thunder Dragon!” The column of dragon-shaped electricity blasted into and through the youma, carving a wide path through their enemies.
In a short time, all of the youma were dead or fleeing. The Senshi, except for Mars, were cheering each other and feeling relieved at surviving the horrible fight. Mars, however, was kneeling over the body of the ice giant. Tears fell from her eyes as she tried to sense if any of its spiritual energy. Just as she was about to give up hope, she felt a faint spark still inside of it. Concentrating on that spark, she begged it to let go of its hate and join with its family. If it didn’t let go, its spirit would die and possibly vanish forever. She finally felt it let go when she swore that Beryl would pay for her crimes. With tears in her eyes, she prayed for its safe journey to the afterlife.
A hand on her shoulder brought her back to reality and she looked up to see the faces of her friends. Determination filled her heart and she nodded to them as she stood. “Let’s end this.”
Inside her throne room, Beryl raged. The shattered remains of her viewing globe lay scattered on the floor. No youma remained behind for her to vent her rage on. She turned to the dark portal behind her and considered calling upon Metallia’s powers. “Not yet,” she hissed to herself. “I can still win. Those youma were weak and pathetic, and that is why they fell. I am Beryl, Queen of the Dark Kingdom! No snotty little upstarts can stand up to my power!” Maniacal laughter that would have reminded the adult Kinos of a certain deranged gymnast.
“I don’t think so. In the name of the Moon and the people of Earth, we will punish you!”
Beryl whipped her head around. Standing behind her were the Senshi, with Sailor Moon in the lead. “YOU!” Beryl screamed. “You’ve ruined everything! I’ll destroy you!”
“Suck it!”
Jupiter added an extra swing or two to the pounding she was going to give her father.
Beryl screamed in rage as she brought her hand and pointed it towards Sailor Moon. A huge bolt of black energy lanced across the distance between them. Reflexively, Moon held up the Moon Stick. The Silver Crystal embedded in the magic wand flashed brightly and the attack splashed against an invisible barrier.
Beryl unleashed a barrage of blasts, all of which met the same fate. Howling in fury, she held her hand over her head. A long spike of dark crystal formed over her and with a flick of her wrist she hurled the javelin towards her most hated enemy.
Each of the Senshi threw themselves in front of their princess in an attempt to block the attack. Venus ended up in the front with her arms crossed in front of her protectively. Just before it struck, something went flying over her shoulder and shattered the spear. Venus shut her eyes to protect them from the flying shrapnel and when she opened them again she saw one of the shards sticking out of Beryl’s chest.
The Dark Queen was also staring at the crystal. Her eyes slowly tracked back towards the Senshi to see Tuxedo Kamen standing next to Sailor Moon, his cane held at the ready. “NO!” She started to take a step forward but a burning pain in her chest stopped her. Looking down she saw spider-web cracks forming on her skin, spiraling out from the shard embedded in it. “No…” She turned back to the dark portal behind her as her strength began to leave her body. “Metallia! Help me!”
“No.” The calm, cool tone in Sailor Moon’s voice stunned the Senshi. “Beryl, it’s over.”
“NEVER! Metallia! Take me now!”
Sailor Moon shook her head sadly for a moment before pointing the Moon Stick at the Dark Queen. “Moon Healing Escalation!”
With her defenses down and her body falling apart, there was nothing Beryl could do to stop the holy power that slammed into her. She could feel tendrils of Metallia’s power starting to join with her, but when they came into contact with Sailor Moon’s energy, the tendrils shriveled and withdrew.
The Dark Queen was shocked, but what surprised her more was the one tendril of power that slowly withdrew from her mind. She had never noticed it before, but as it disappeared and her body began to fall apart, a sense of clarity she hadn’t felt in so long came upon her. She remembered the jealousy she felt over the loyalty and love that Serenity inspired in those around her. She envied the immortality that the people of the moon enjoyed. She remembered the whispers of the dark stranger that built up on that envy and jealousy and sent her searching for Metallia. She remembered the way she betrayed her kingdom to that dark entity in exchange for the power and immortality she sought. She remembered how her free will vanished, as did that of all of her people. She received the loyalty of her followers just as she wished, but it was the mindless servitude of slaves rather than the inspired loyalty that the Moon Kingdom gave its queen. Her body was also twisted. Metallia’s power increased her beauty, but it made it darker, more sinister like a succubus as compared to the angelic appearance of Serenity.
As the power of the Moon Healing Escalation shredded her corrupted body, it also freed her soul. Beryl felt a tear form for the first time since that day she gave herself to darkness. It wasn’t a self-serving, piteous tear. It was a remorseful, silent apology to her people whom she had destroyed twice for her own selfish desires. As the tear struck the ground, the last of Metallia’s energy left her body and she collapsed to the floor.
Tuxedo Kamen’s eyes went wide as the Dark Queen’s body twisted and shrank. Her blood-crimson hair shifted to a more natural red and her skin went from pale ivory to a healthy pink. He quickly moved and knelt next to her, holding her hand. “Queen Beryl?” He asked with a trembling voice. This was the queen he remembered from back before the Earth betrayed the Moon Kingdom.
Beryl smiled softly at her former retainer. “Endymion…” Her gaze shifted to where Sailor Moon stood in shock with the rest of the Senshi. Beryl’s smile grew a little before her eyes slowly closed.
Tuxedo Kamen continued kneeling next to her, a tear falling from his eye. Suddenly, he stood up in fury. Spinning to face the dark portal, he growled deep in his throat.
“You. Can. Not. Harm. Me.” The dark voice echoed through the chamber like a thousand howler monkeys. “Only. The. Crystal. Can. Harm. Me. And. It. Will. Kill. You. Too.”
Moving to stand next to Tuxedo Kamen, Sailor Moon glared at the portal. “We will find a way, you monster!”
“I. Am. Eternal. I. Have. Been. I. Am. I. Will. Be. You. Can. Not. Change. This.”
“We’ll see about that!” Moon and Tuxedo Kamen began their attacks, preparing to unleash righteous fury on the entity within the portal.
“Stop!”
The Senshi turned to stare at Beryl’s body. To their surprise they could see a ghostly apparition standing over where her body used to be. “Metallia spoke truly. If you use the Crystal, you can destroy her, but it will destroy you as well. I do not wish to see you destroyed. Not any more.”
“We can’t just leave that monster alone! Metallia must pay for all the people who’ve been hurt! And if we just leave, Metallia will be free!”
“Metallia can only affect this world if someone opens the bridge. Without me, the only ways for her to do any more harm is for someone to give themselves to her or to open a channel through the portal by attacking. If you do nothing, she can do nothing.”
“But what if someone comes along and frees her?”
The ghostly Beryl smiled sadly. “Seek the Council of Mages. If they still exist, they can seal her away forever.” As the Senshi watched, her form began to fade. “My time is short. I… cannot ask for your forgiveness. My jealousy destroyed not only your kingdom, but my own. Twice. I just want to say, ‘Thank you.’ Thank you for freeing me from Metallia’s control. And Endymion… take care of her.” With that, Beryl’s ghostly form vanished.
Sailor Moon stared at the spot where she had been for several moments before turning and burying her face in Tuxedo Kamen’s chest. The Prince of Earth wrapped his arms around her as she bawled. The other Senshi slowly enveloped them both in a group hug.
After Moon finally got control of herself again, she looked up into the face of her beloved Tuxedo Kamen. “Not that I’m complaining, but what are you doing here?”
“I… just felt that you needed me. I could hear you calling me, even in my coma. And as I swore long ago, I will always be there for you.”
With hearts in her eyes, Sailor Moon gazed up at him. “Oh, Tuxedo Kamen!” She suddenly flung her arms around him and squeezed with all of her might. Judging from the sounds of bones being popped out of place, all of her might was quite a lot.
Venus finally decided it was safe to interrupt, while Mars did her best to pry Moon’s arms open enough for Tuxedo Kamen to survive. “So, what do we do about Metallia?”
“I guess we try and find this Council of Mages,” Moon humphed a bit after Mars successfully pried her off of her prince.
“Is it safe to just leave Metallia where it is right now? Can we trust what Beryl said?”
Tuxedo Kamen nodded slowly. “I think that we can believe her. She was different in the end, just like the queen she used to be when I served her during the Silver Millenium.”
Mercury finally piped in. “I’ve run scans on the portal and it looks like she’s correct. There’s a barrier over it that prevents anything on Metallia’s side from getting out unless a foreign influence acts as a bridge. Since the base is in the arctic, the chance of someone just stumbling over it is very remote.” She refused to think about the Lovecraft novels she had read where just that sort of thing had happened. “And I doubt any of the youma that escaped will last very long without Beryl or the Dark Generals to provide them with energy.”
“That’s good,” Moon said with relief. “So, we can go home?” When Mercury nodded affirmatively, the blonde continued. “How are we going to find this Council of Mages?”
Jupiter piped up. “Maybe mom and dad will know. We can ask them when they get back.”
Venus nodded in agreement. “Sounds like a plan to me! We came! We saw! We cankered!”
Everyone but the two blondes facefaulted. As Mercury picked herself up, she informed Venus that the phrase was supposed to go somewhat differently. Venus just shrugged it off like she usually did. Together, the five Warriors of Love and Justice and the Prince of Earth headed home.
The next several days passed quietly. The natural disasters and sunspots subsided and the world at large returned to its old routine. A few of the escaped youma had tried to attack, but they were cripplingly weak due to lack of energy and were easily dispatched by the Senshi.
For the Warriors of Love and Justice, life went on. Usagi, when she wasn’t at school, could almost always be found attached to Mamoru’s arm. She still pigged out on ice cream, laughed maniacally at manga, and did her best to irritate Rei, but everyone could sense a difference in the young girl. She didn’t bumble as much and was even starting to show up right on time at school. Her teachers were starting to wonder if they should take out extra life insurance.
Rei continued her training with her grandfather. The day after returning from the Arctic, the young priestess swept the steps while lost in thought. ‘We came real close to dying out there. And there’s so much I wanted to do.’ Looking over to where Yuuichirou was also sweeping up around the temple, she considered one of those things. Placing the broom on the ground, she strode purposefully over to the young man.
Yuuichirou, for his part, just watched in stunned in amazement as the object of his affection stalked up to him with a strange look in her eyes. When she reached up to grab him by the face, he silently wondered what he had done to upset her this time while preparing for a pounding. He was quite pleasantly surprised when she pulled him down and gave him a long kiss on the mouth. He was, however, too stunned to react.
After a few moments Rei broke off the kiss. The ‘deer-in-the-headlights’ look that she saw in his eyes almost made her break out laughing. Instead she turned around, walked back to her broom, and continued sweeping like nothing had happened.
It would be a good three hours before the young man moved again, during which Phobos and Deimos, Rei’s pet ravens, found that he made quite a lovely perch.
Minako finally found the time to join Ami and Makoto in their study sessions. Siofra was recovering much faster than expected, much to her sister’s relief. Only the final wound, where Kunzite’s boomerang had left a deep cut in her shoulder, still remained after the third day. The quick recovery worried the young redhead a little, but she pushed her concern to the back of her mind.
Luna and Artemis also joined them in their study sessions now. Though she would always deny acting any differently, the girls noticed that anytime Siofra needed something, a pencil, snack, or whatever, Luna would be the first to provide.
It was nearly a week after the fateful battle in the Arctic when a glowing portal opened in the middle of the Kino living room. Luna and Artemis were fortunately not present as Ranma and Ukyou returned to their home. A few flying body-tackles and a tearful reunion later, the Kino family sat around catching up on their lost time. Ami and Minako bowed out gracefully to give their friends some time alone.
“So, mom, dad, what took so long?” Makoto asked. She was a bit surprised to see the strange look her parents gave each other, followed by a shudder.
“Don’t ask. Please. Ucchan and I decided that we’d pretend the last few days just didn’t happen.”
“Huh?”
“What Ranchan means is that we should have actually been here a few days ago, but he pulled a Ryouga and got us lost. Again.”
Makoto and Siofra ‘Ooohed’, remembering the stories their parents had told them about the Eternally Lost Boy’s sense of direction. “So, what’s so bad about that? I mean, you got back all right, didn’t you?” She looked both of her parents over carefully, trying to find anything out of place.
“Err, yeah… But where we ended up… it was… sick and wrong. And we ain’t sayin’ nothin’ more about it. Ever. Got that?”
“Sure, dad, whatever you say.”
Ranma suddenly sniffed the air. “That’s odd… I smell blood.” He gave an intense look towards his older daughter. “Did you get hurt while we were gone?”
Makoto laughed nervously while putting a hand behind her head. Siofra couldn’t resist chuckling at the way that particular maneuver appeared to be genetic. “Well, not really…” ‘Dad’s gonna kill me… if mom doesn’t first.’
“Makoto,” growled Ukyou.
“It was my fault, mother,” Siofra finally stepped in. She explained what had happened in the fight against Kunzite. After a rather intense debate, followed by an argument, followed by a stern lecture about who gets involved in saving the world, Ranma and Ukyou finally calmed down.
Ranma started to talk, but stopped. He did that several times before getting up and heading for the kitchen. Makoto and Siofra heard the sound of running water for a moment and then Ranma came back as a redhead. “Look, we’re proud that you went and protected the innocent. We’re also proud that you applied your ‘Anything Goes’ training to your spells. I’m really proud about that, by the way. At the same time, we’re severely disappointed in you for letting Siofra get involved.”
Before the younger redhead could respond, Ukyou cut her off. “And we’re also disappointed in you for getting involved in your sister’s problems. You know how magic hurts you worse than normal people.”
The adults fell silent while Siofra and Makoto looked appropriately ashamed. “That said, I can’t tell you how proud I am that the two of you stuck together no matter what.” A tear formed in Ranma’s eye as she spoke, which startled both of the young girls. “I just can’t tell you how good that makes me feel. I… I love you girls so much. I just want you both to be safe, okay? I know you can make your own decisions in life, and you’ll probably put yourselves in danger again. I just hope you’ll realize that I’ll never quit worrying about my girls, all right?”
Makoto and Siofra hugged their parents fiercely, and they returned the embrace with equal fervor. After a while, Ranma excused herself and headed out the door. Makoto looked a bit confused, so Ukyou explained. “Your father… was brought up funny. His father gave him some pretty weird ideas about how he was supposed to act, and I still haven’t managed to break him of some of them. He just has difficulty expressing himself.”
Makoto nodded in understanding. “So, now what?”
Ukyou got a strange gleam in her eye, which set off every paranoid bone in the young girl’s body. “Now what? Two words: More training! You nearly got your butt handed to you in the Arctic! I think we’re just going to have to increase the difficulty of your training. After all, you are the daughter of the great Ranma and Ukyou Kino! Adventurers Extraordinaire! And no daughter of ours is going to get a reputation of just squeaking through her battles! Mwuahahaa!”
Makoto began to edge away from her mother. Siofra couldn’t resist chuckling at her sister’s predicament. The chuckle died a horrible, mangled death when she felt a hand land on her good shoulder. “And just what are you laughing at, missy? I seem to remember you being our daughter as well. I think it’s high time we started working on your self-defense techniques as well. We’ve always respected the fact that you didn’t have much of an interest in it before, but if you’re going to be adventuring with your sister, you’re darn well going to learn how to protect yourself.”
Siofra could only whimper at the gleam in her adopted mother’s eyes. She looked over at Makoto for help, but the older sibling just had a ‘misery-loves-company’ smirk on her face.
Meanwhile in the Arctic, a shadowy figure carefully stalked its way through the remains of Beryl’s fortress. Slipping from shadow to shadow, just in case there were any watchers, the figure made its way to the throne room. Finally it stood before the portal to Metallia’s realm.
“Release. Me.”
“No,” the figure responded, still cloaked in shadows. “Not yet.”
“Release. Me. Now.”
“Tsk, tsk, my dear. Don’t worry, you’re still useful to me, have no fear of that. I won’t let the Council seal you away. But I’m also not ready for you to be released just yet. It just doesn’t fit in my plans, my dear.”
“Release. Me. Or. Suffer.”
The figure laughed mockingly. “You don’t remember who I am, do you? Ah, well… I suppose it has been a while.” The figure held up a strange object. Pressing several indentions on it, the figure tossed the artifact into the portal. There was a blinding flash after it passed through into Metallia’s realm. When the glare subsided, Metallia was gone and a nether shadow stood in its place. Though far weaker than the ancient evil known as Metallia, the nether shadow was still quite powerful. Its presence would keep the Council from suspecting what had really happened.
“Let the Council seal this away. My tool is safe from their meddling hands.” Holding up a crystal ball, the figure gazed into its curved surface. Within the sphere, the Kino family could be seen having dinner. “Both of my tools are safe.” Without any further sound, the figure slipped back out of the fortress and vanished into the frozen wastes.